The Football Thread - Season 2017/2018

Status
Not open for further replies.

Marc

TPer Emeritus
Messages
34,255
Edit My Images
Yes
The one stop shop for all your footy chit-chat.
 
What a game..... just got back in from the Emirates, emotions all over the place, sore throat, and some awful defending!
 
I see the Coutinho rumours seem to be true, and he has put a transfer request. :( When Barca come callin, another wants go. :( :rolleyes:

If a player wants to go, then let them go, but you get the money you want or he doesn't go anywhere. And he gives 100% till he goes. Rarely works like that they of course, and the old non specific 'bad back' is in effect. :whistle: Liverpool say he is still not for sale.

Barca (and PSG) have dramatically inflated the market, and so will have to pay top $ if Liverpool decide to take the cash speculated to be €150m. :eek: It is not like they don't have it though. :LOL:

Southampton feels will be think karma has come a knockin. :LOL:
 
By both teams, or one or the other?

By both really.... Worried me when Arsenal had no experienced CB in the starting 11. Holding, Monreal & Kolosniac, two left backs and a "junior", not how you want to go into the first game of the season... Belarin was pretty poor as well. On the upside, Lacazette looks good & suited to the Premier League, and when Kolosniac plays in his LWB role, he'll be awesome.
 
Liverpool's defending is best described as 'interesting'. The young lad did well though, he can definitely whip a cross in.
 
Wenger OUT!!!

Inept yet again, not chance of a top 4 finish playing like that but it sums it up when Wenger makes Trump look good at strategy and planning. Our defence is a joke - regardless of personnel you don't concede goals like that if you are coached properly. Of our so called defenders:

Koscielny - may have a chance of making the squads of the other bigger clubs but not as good as Cahill, Vertongen etc...
Mertersacker - Injury prone, played 1 game last season (?) and slow
Mustafi - I like him, shame he has to play in a rubbish defence which makes him forced to do 2 peoples work!
Gabriel - Waste of space, would struggle to make the team at clubs like Watford or Sunderland
Bellerin - OK going forward but shocking defensively - need to sell him
Holding - I like him, young so will make mistakes so needs to develop
Monreal - Struggles to defend, average at best Prem player
Chambers - I like him but no confidence because of Wenger, not given the chance to develop, would like him to stay but better for him to start afresh
Jenkinson - Like him but just not good enough
Kolasinac - Early days but looks good!
Gibbs - No idea why Montreal is rated more highly?

So with all those defs we have possibly Mustafi and Koscielny who are decent, possibly Kolasinac too but the rest are just not good enough, unless they are 4th/5th choices. We need a decent RB, and at least 2 world class defs, plus a world class holding mid. Elneny and Coquelin are a waste of space and good for only being 4th choices so it no surprise that our CB struggle when they crap in the FB positions and holding mid positions.
 
Oh, and Cech, worried me at times last season and poor on Friday. We should have gone for Hart or even not let Schezeny go to Juve?
 
Try being a Palace fan. [emoji24] New manager for Christmas, methinks.
 
Wenger OUT!!!

Inept yet again, not chance of a top 4 finish playing like that but it sums it up when Wenger makes Trump look good at strategy and planning. Our defence is a joke - regardless of personnel you don't concede goals like that if you are coached properly. Of our so called defenders:

Koscielny - may have a chance of making the squads of the other bigger clubs but not as good as Cahill, Vertongen etc...
Mertersacker - Injury prone, played 1 game last season (?) and slow
Mustafi - I like him, shame he has to play in a rubbish defence which makes him forced to do 2 peoples work!
Gabriel - Waste of space, would struggle to make the team at clubs like Watford or Sunderland
Bellerin - OK going forward but shocking defensively - need to sell him
Holding - I like him, young so will make mistakes so needs to develop
Monreal - Struggles to defend, average at best Prem player
Chambers - I like him but no confidence because of Wenger, not given the chance to develop, would like him to stay but better for him to start afresh
Jenkinson - Like him but just not good enough
Kolasinac - Early days but looks good!
Gibbs - No idea why Montreal is rated more highly?

So with all those defs we have possibly Mustafi and Koscielny who are decent, possibly Kolasinac too but the rest are just not good enough, unless they are 4th/5th choices. We need a decent RB, and at least 2 world class defs, plus a world class holding mid. Elneny and Coquelin are a waste of space and good for only being 4th choices so it no surprise that our CB struggle when they crap in the FB positions and holding mid positions.
It is amazing they do so well with such a '****' squad. :eek: :LOL: Must be down to the great manager. ;)

Semi seriously, I know he brought all of those players in, but could another manager get them playing to such a high level while the turnover of players starts? :thinking: That is something the next player will have to do. I suppose next season Arsenal fans will find out. Probably. ;)
 
Here's an amusing factoid which I saw in the news this week. Guess which Premiership club has the most players in their squad who have won the Champions League?

Answer: Stoke City, with 5. (Jese Rodriguez - Real Madrid, 2014 and 2016; Bojan Krkic - Barcelona, 2009 and 2011; Ibrahim Afellay - Barcelona, 2011; Darren Fletcher - Manchester United, 2008; Xherdan Shaqiri - Bayern Munich, 2013.)

Chelsea have 4, Manchester City 3, Manchester United 2, Everton 2, Southampton 2, Arsenal 1, Liverpool 1, West Ham 1.
 
What do people here think about some of he high-profile contractual / transfer sagas currently playing out?

I mean, currently we have:
  • Diego Costa refusing to play for Chelsea;
  • Virgil Van Dijk wanting to leave Southampton;
  • Danny Rose wanting more money, and/or to leave Tottenham;
  • Philippe Coutinho wanting to leave Liverpool.
My take on it all is simple, though some might call it simplistic. All of these players have contracts.
  • Costa signed a contract on 1st July 2014 whereby he would play for Chelsea until the end of the 18/19 season and in return they would pay him about £39 million.
  • Van Dijk signed a contract on 7th May 2016 whereby he would play for Southampton until the end of the 21/22 season and in return they would pay him quite a lot of money. (I don't know how much but I guess it's unlikely to be less than about £15-20 million.)
  • Rose signed a contract on 22nd September 2016 whereby he would play for Tottenham until the end of the 20/21 season and in return they would pay him about £17 million.
  • Coutinho signed a contract on 24th January this year whereby whereby he would play for Liverpool until the end of the 21/22 season and in return they would pay him about £39 million.
None of them were coerced into signing these contracts. What part of that do they not understand?
 
Costa to be fair was told by his manager he would no longer be required and would no longer play for Chelsea as they thought they were getting Lukaku, so his agent started the process of him leaving. Poor man management, but then Chelsea are self distructing currently.

Danny Rose - had his head turned, shame as he's a good player, but if he's injury prone then maybe it's time for him to go. Spurs have three or four under 20/under 21 internationals just waiting for a chance.

On the other hand, for the clubs it means they can charge a lot of money for them to break the contract.
 
I have no problem with players wanting to leave their clubs. And offering them long contracts makes sense to reward them for their performances makes sense to try and keep players happy, but to also ensure the club gets maximum value should another club want to buy their players as their value increases. When it comes to a transfer though, all three party's have to agree to the move. And if they all don't, then it shouldn't happen. And if the selling club don't want to sell, then the player should knuckle down and still give 100%.

Sadly, that's an ideal world, and the players mentioned, Diego Costa, Virgil Van Dijk, Danny Rose and Philippe Coutinho don't seem to get the give 100% aspect of their contract. You never know exactly what is going on, but Costa not coming back to the country for training is surely a breach of contract. He seems to want to go to Atletico Madrid, but unfortunately they have a transfer ban until January 2018. Does he plan to stay in Brazil until then! What would be the point of a contract. :thinking:

With the other players, I'm not sure where Danny Rose is getting advice from. If you feel the club are not giving you enough money, then you play consistently to prove you are worth a wage increase, and/or you don't sign a new contract and try to find a club that will pay what you think you are worth.

Van Dijk and Countinho seem to be in a similar position, a club wants to buy them, and they seem to want to go, but their clubs don't want to sell. Their clubs either keep on saying no until the message gets through to pursuing clubs and the players, or 'no' is being used as a way to get to increased bids, and they say yes to a bid at some point. Liverpool seemed to have got the 'no' message in their pursuit of Naby Keita earlier in the transfer window, so you don't know if clubs are not giving out the right message, or their pursuing clubs won't take no for an answer. :rolleyes:

The ex pro's in the media always seem to think that an unsettled/unhappy player should always be allowed to leave, but then they are looking at things from a players pov, rather than the clubs. It is a balancing act that the clubs have to be very careful in dealing with, unhappy player potentially negatively influencing the rest of the squad, against the potential to get the player back in the team and playing 100% against the money they could receive to get rid of the problem. That is for the manager to deicide, because surely the players can't always get what they want, and those very expensive contracts need to be honoured. A maybe simplistic view, but then I am a fan. ;)
 
Talking of the Coutinho saga, according to the Mirror,
Barca haven’t really offered them £114m at all. The “true figure” is actually £80m plus a series of fantastical add-ons – such as Coutinho winning the Ballon D’Or, or Barca winning “multiple” Champions League titles, or Daniel Sturridge going an entire season without getting injured.

Plus, even the £80m will be staggered over five years. Therefore, the Reds have “flatly rejected” Barca’s latest bid.
If true, I can't say I blame Liverpool for not taking a deal like that. Barca have the cash from the Neymar deal, and were not exactly paupers before that.

I think the Sturridge part was a bit of humour, because obviously no one would take that deal. :LOL:
 
Listening to fans talk about Costa on the radio and reading other forums makes me chuckle. Why compare his situation with real life contractual conflicts in real life jobs? It's a whole different world.
 
I have no problem with players wanting to leave their clubs.. ... When it comes to a transfer though,..... if the selling club don't want to sell, then the player should knuckle down and still give 100%.

Sadly, that's an ideal world, and the players mentioned, Diego Costa, Virgil Van Dijk, Danny Rose and Philippe Coutinho don't seem to get the give 100% aspect of their contract.
My thoughts exactly.

The ex pro's in the media always seem to think that an unsettled/unhappy player should always be allowed to leave, but then they are looking at things from a players pov, rather than the clubs.
Indeed. The other day I saw Jermaine Jenas saying that Coutinho "deserves" a move to Barcelona. Well, maybe, but if he wanted to leave Liverpool, why did he sign a new 5-year contract earlier this year?
 
if he wanted to leave Liverpool, why did he sign a new 5-year contract earlier this year?
Isn't this something to do with Agents' influence in order to get higher transfer prices, therefore a higher cut for themselves?
 
Indeed. The other day I saw Jermaine Jenas saying that Coutinho "deserves" a move to Barcelona. Well, maybe, but if he wanted to leave Liverpool, why did he sign a new 5-year contract earlier this year?

He signed a 5 year contract because he was supposedly happy, and Liverpool were happy. He was getting more money for the improvement he had made, and Liverpool were locking down a prized asset for another 5 years, and by increasing his wages, and having a long contact, increased his market value. That he didn't negotiate a release clause at the time, in return for lower wages, shows that he thought he was at Liverpool for a long time. Maybe it was Liverpool doing good business by not putting in a release clause.

No one could have seen Neymar leaving Barca, especially at that price. He may have wanted to go, and being a friend of Coutinho, he may have known how he was feeling, but few would have thought the anyone would have doubled the transfer record to get him. :eek: Suddenly Barca have to find someone to replace, or at least try to replace, because Coutinho is not at Neymar's level. And of course, like Real, they think they just have to ask for a player, and everyone agrees. :rolleyes: Especially if the player is South American. ;)

It may be Coutinho's only chance to get to Barca, and he certainly wants to take it by handing in a transfer request, but for now at least, Liverpool don't want to sell. If he doesn't go, he may possibly get another chance in January if Barca don't get anyone now, or even if they did, they are in poor form come the end of the year, but Coutinho is no Suarez, who could be relied upon to be scoring and giving 100% every game, and so Barca would have the patience to take him whenever they could. If Barca get someone else, and they are in form, I don't think they will come back for Coutinho unless he ups his game a lot.
 
My thoughts exactly.


Indeed. The other day I saw Jermaine Jenas saying that Coutinho "deserves" a move to Barcelona. Well, maybe, but if he wanted to leave Liverpool, why did he sign a new 5-year contract earlier this year?

Could have been the club driving that through - look at the mess arsenal are in by not having big players tied down, it works both ways. It makes little odds to the player, he gets an increase in wages and security, and even a 100m value will not deter the big clubs now.
 
To prove he has no idea... he plays Bellerin at LB (or LWB) - a guy who struggles at RB and plays Kolasinic out of position too! Why drop Holding???

Lets swap him with Trump, then the Americans would really be screwed!!!
 
Does anyone know the BBC's rules / policies regarding Match Of The Day and iPlayer?

Last week I missed MOTD2 but I wanted to see the highlights of the Man U / West Ham game. Fortunately I was able to get the programme on iPlayer.

This week United were playing on Saturday for a change and I missed MOTD. But it doesn't seem to be on iPlayer. And last week's MOTD isn't on iPlayer either, though last week's MOTD2 is still available and the Community Shield MOTD is still available.

Any ideas?
 
Hmmm, that's anew one. MOTD was never available for a few days until after saturday airing, although last year it might have been available from the monday morning. I don't know what is going on now.
 
When can I watch Match of the Day and other BBC football programmes?
Match Of The Day returned to BBC One on Saturday 12 August 2017, heralding a new season that begins with a milestone for the Premier League and culminates in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

But the availability of these shows is a little different to other programmes in that you can’t play them directly after the broadcast.

When are they available then?
You can play Saturday editions of Match of the Day from midnight on the Sunday evening after they air (that’s the early hours of Monday morning) and Sunday editions (MOTD2) from midnight on the Monday evening after they air (that’s the early hours of Tuesday morning).

And when there are midweek episodes, they’ll be available from midnight the day after they’re broadcast. So a Wednesday episode would be available from midnight on Thursday evening (the early hours of Friday).

The episodes will be available until the next episode is shown, or for seven days after broadcast, whichever comes first.

Football Focus will be available on Saturday evening after it’s shown (the early hours of Sunday morning).

If an episode is still not available after these times, please check our Latest Programme FAQ to see if it’s a known problem or follow the “Contact Us” link below and we’ll look into it for you.

You can now choose to download these football programmes. (These downloads will expire at the same time the programmes are removed from the BBC iPlayer site).

Why the delay?
It’s due to the rights agreement we have with the Premier League.

What about non-Premier League programmes?
Match of the Day episodes dealing with competitions other than the FA Premier League may have different availability.
 
When are they available then?
You can play Saturday editions of Match of the Day from midnight on the Sunday evening after they air (that’s the early hours of Monday morning) and Sunday editions (MOTD2) from midnight on the Monday evening after they air (that’s the early hours of Tuesday morning).

And when there are midweek episodes, they’ll be available from midnight the day after they’re broadcast. So a Wednesday episode would be available from midnight on Thursday evening (the early hours of Friday).

The episodes will be available until the next episode is shown, or for seven days after broadcast, whichever comes first.
Brilliant, thanks. So I can watch Saturday's programme tomorrow.
 
Yeah, came close to getting relegated last year and won 4 out of 4 this year so far!

Relatively easy fixtures so far though. On the other hand, we've played 2 teams that were in the play-offs and one that was in the premier league last year. Quite pleased with 7 points given many of our fans thought we'd get nothing from August.

Cardiff away will be really tough next week though.
 
Last year proved that no fixture is easy in the championship for Ipswich. Brentford slammed us in the first half and should have been home and dry, but we held out. And the millwall game was a spectacle and the team did really well to keep going until the end to get the result.
 
Last year proved that no fixture is easy in the championship for Ipswich. Brentford slammed us in the first half and should have been home and dry, but we held out. And the millwall game was a spectacle and the team did really well to keep going until the end to get the result.

That's why I said "relatively". ;)
 
Does anybody here know how the Champions League draw is constructed? I was surprised to see Bayern and PSG drawn together, because I would have thought they'd be seeded. Then I was surprised to see Barca with Juve. And then Real with Dortmund.

What I've done below is list who's in each group, and I've added their rankings according to ESPN's "Soccer Power Index" metric. This is the only metric I'm aware of that attempts to put all teams, including from different leagues, onto a single comparative scale. I'm sure it's not perfect but equally I'm sure it's not hopeless. So anyway this is how it looks:

Group A: Manchester United (8), Benfica (15), CSKA Moscow (21), Basel (28)

Group B: Bayern Munich (2), Paris St-Germain (4), Celtic (24), Anderlecht (25)

Group C: Chelsea (9), Atletico Madrid (10), Roma (13), Qarabag (32)

Group D: Barcelona (3), Juventus (5), Sporting (22), Olympiakos (26)

Group E: Liverpool (16), Sevilla (17), Spartak Moscow (28), Maribor (31)

Group F: Manchester City (7), Napoli (11), l Shakhtar Donetsk (20), Feyenoord (29)

Group G: Monaco (12) , RB Leipzig (18), Porto (19), Besiktas (23)

Group H: Real Madrid (1), Borussia Dortmund (6), Tottenham (14), Apoel (30)

It turns out that I was right to be surprised. The top 6 teams - and regardless of how accurate the SPI rankings are, I think most people would agree they are the top 6 - all all drawn into 3 groups. Groups B and D really are complete non-events, other than seeing who comes a distant 3rd and qualifies for the Europa League. Group E is embarrassingly weak. Group C looks like it could be a tight 3-horse race, and Group G might be tight.

But honestly, how on earth is the seeding performed?
 
Last edited:
I'm amazed RB Leipzig get a rating of 18 that's surely a mistake?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top