Men's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer • Page 743

Reports are that the Sesko deal is already underway, but let’s see how true that is lol.

 

Pretty sure I was in here calling Frank the best option two years ago when they went for Ange.

On one hand, I feel smug. On the other, I’m annoyed that they’ve probably got this right.

 

Yeah, even Spurs can't fuck Frank up. Surely? He's Mr. Stability in a nutshell.

The glaring issue could potentially be that the demands/pressure at Spurs are something he's never had to face before.

 

I’m loving everything that I’ve read about him over the last week or so. Seems like a perfect fit for the club.

 

The biggest question with Frank would be him balancing leagues with Europe competition. He hasn’t done that before, so that’ll be a tough challenge for him. I’m genuinely excited for him though. What he’s done at Brentford is truly impressive, and the way he’s gotten the best out of young players and developed them is something that will be hugely beneficial to our squad.

also curious to see how he does with a locker room that was so fully behind Ange. I don’t think he’ll have an issue winning them over, but the first few weeks will be crucial.

 

He should move to MLS

 

The relationship was never going to be healed between him/his gf and the fans. He scored THAT goal v Palace but yeah, it's time for him to go in a different direction. Somewhere like a fashion conscious city would be perfect for him, he loves his side-career of being a model.

 

Good news everyone. Invert the wing is FrankIn. All is well.

 

Might throw a few bucks on a parlay picking winners of Euro U21, Gold Cup, and the Club WC. I was 2 out of 3 on my parlay for the 3 in-season Europe competitions. Bayern winning CL was my miss.

But I really don’t know how to pick any of these upcoming tournaments lol

Spain U21, Man City, and Canada is my initial thought.

 

Grealish seems to have several clubs after him. I have no clue if I should want him or not.

I think him going to Everton would be pretty cool though.

 

England looks a little better so far today

 

England finding out what playing Kyle Walker in 2025 gets you

 

In Belfast this week for work and as N.I. are currently playing, I was unable to find somewhere showing the game. I didn’t look that hard, but still.

So, I can’t tell if it’s cause I’m watching it from my hotel room, but this game has been quite naff so far.

 

Turned off the game after I complemented England. Knew I shouldn’t have said anything lol

 

Insane price haha

 

That’s ten Hag’s budget to come get all his favorite ex players from United

 

Bring back Gareth

 

Now that Wirtz is finally sorted and Kerkez is on the way, I do wonder what we do upfront next season.

Darwin Nunez is gone, had a terrible season, can't finish his dinner, etc. It's time to move on as much as I loved Darwin's wild ride.

Diogo Jota is made of papier-mâché. When he's fit and firing, he's really good, probably the best finisher in the club between the posts, but he's rarely fit and never got to firing on the back half of this season. I imagine he'll stay as a worthy deputy unless someone comes in with a crazy offer + he wants to move on.

Luis Diaz actually ended up being our best striker this year somehow. It helped that Darwin sucked, Jota was injured, and Gakpo was bagging on the regular and someone has to be the spear, which ended up being Diaz, who did a pretty good job.

Part of the conundrum is that both Darwin and Jota both fell off massively in terms of shot creation this year. The upside of Darwin was always that he takes a lot of shots, both from being on the receiving end up of link up play as well as simply creating his own shots. But it does seem like the fall off is less to do with the players themselves being poor and more to do with Slot's style this season being more about funneling the ball to Salah in the last third. However, if Slot had an elite striker at his disposal, perhaps the style of play changes and the striker position sees more glory.

Moreover, the striker market is too risky. Isak is non-factor since Newcastle won't (and shouldn't) sell. Julian Alvarez just moved to Atletico this season, so that seems untenable as much as I would like him. Ekitike seems too raw and expensive, same with Sesko, and Gyokeres looks like a flat track bully who doesn't fit our style of play.

I could see Wirtz being a part of a double false 9/10 system with Szoboszlai. We saw that a lot in preseason last year under Slot with Harvey Elliott and Szoboszlai. We also saw it again with Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai against City in February. So, maybe we don't go in for a true striker and let Wirtz cook almost as a Bobby Firmino replacement, which keeps Szoboszlai in the team to carry Salah's water on defense and with pressing. Not to mention that Szoboszlai got 12 g+a in the league last year and I see room for more.

If the front four is effectively Diaz/Gakpo - Wirtz - Szoboszlai - Salah, then that seems really exciting. Mac Allister and Gravenberch provide deeper midfield defensive solidity, Kerkez and Frimpong/Bradley more width when needed and can/will bomb forward. Virgil and Konate keep the line as usual.

A lot of people seem to think Wirtz will effectively usurp Szoboszlai as the 10, but I have a hard time believing that to be the direction Slot will go. You don't pay 120+ million for someone to do Szoboszlai's role AND you still need a 9.

Really excited to see how it all shakes out!

 

and there's the saudi link for darwin

go forth and prosper

 

AC Milan v Como in Australia next season. If the game wasn't dead already...

 

Given the current market and compared to lesser players...not insane at all.

 

Why??? If I was a capitalist asshole and in charge of Serie A, I would bring that game to the US. But Australia? Way much further away with a way smaller market...that makes absolutely no sense...

 

Yeah, taking AC Milan anywhere but the US if you have to leave Italy when you have the US flagship player is certainly a choice.

 

Poch might not make it to the WC