Men's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer • Page 57

Has anyone in here read Zonal Marking? Just got it delivered for my upcoming flights/trips this week. Hoping it’s a good read.

 

If you like football tactics you will like it. Have you read inverting the pyramid?

 

Great rec. Jonathan Wilson is good.

 

Fair play, we are totally in our own league when it comes to selling.

Buy a player from midtable Italy, eatablish him, show he can boss two games against Real Madrid, and sell him for just €5m profit lmao

 

Starting to think there's a non-zero percent chance Amorim is sacked during the upcoming international break. Not saying it's a high chance, but two non-positive results against Grimsby and Burnley - anything other than winning both extremely comfortably - would be a disaster. Could realistically be winless until October if so.

Under the old regime, the chance would be higher. I think he'll get more time almost solely because the current regime is so tied to his success, and there have been positives so far. But football is a results business, and he needs some desperately. If things don't start to improve drastically, surviving the Liverpool game in October could be extremely difficult.

 

Speaking of managers getting sacked… Sean Dyche to West Ham by November?

 

Looking at their fixtures, you'd say they're weak enough that West Ham should be able to pick up a couple of results here and there to prolong the inevitable. But they've looked so, so bad so far - surviving to November might be optimistic.

 

I think their next five games are Forest, Spurs, Palace, Everton, and Arsenal. Could be pointless after seven games lol

 

I’m convinced we aren’t signing anyone lol this is pathetic

 

Third kit looks great though!

 

Said this to a mate the other day, but their game v Wolves in the cup is vital to relieve the pressure already. They could go into the game against Everton losing three London derbies in a row at home - it's just our luck to get them with a new manager bounce.

 

Every single transfer starts at 60m now…

 

No more Xavi Simons?

 

Triple post…

Why are United selling Mainoo? He seems like such a good, young player. Maybe I’m wrong on him, but that feels like a move they will regret later imo. He’s not a full-on no10 but I think he could play the role until we get some guys back. So I’d hope Spurs are calling to see what a deal would look like. I’ve also seen Everton linked.

 

Apparently, he's stalling on a new deal. Amorim literally said he's Bruno Fernandes' back-up this week, too. He'll want first team football in a World Cup season.

 

I’ve genuinely never seen a signing interview this good. Getting Wrighty to do it is genius, cause they both speak about Palace with such love.

At points, Eze is almost speechless at how much it means to him. He talks about how when he got released as a kid, his mum prayed with him that one day he’ll return. Loved him saying he saw every game against us as a trial. I wonder if players like Ollie Watkins have felt the same.

He hasn’t even kicked a ball for us and I fucking love this man. He gets it, and he loves the club.

Eze interview with Ian Wright:

 

I mean, he’s 20 years old lol being backup to the club captain for another season and continuing to develop behind a player like that seems like a good situation imo. But I get the desire to play more minutes. Just seems like he could be patient and it be better for his career.

 

Happy for Eze in the end, but I do think it’s odd behavior to agree to a deal with Spurs and then call the Arsenal coach to see if something can be done last minute (if that part is true, which it seems to be). It’s not even because of the rivalry. Just generally speaking, seems like poor form to do that.

But as I’ve said before, if he feels that strongly about Arsenal, it is absolutely best that he ended up there instead of with Spurs.

 

There's a distinct lack of this in the modern game. Especially when the likes of Chelsea offer 7 year-contacts to kids.

To be fair, he could better his career at Everton. A more stable coach, a better stadium, similar lifestyles in terms of the city, more first-team opportunities, etc.

 

Yeah, I like what Everton are up to this summer. If they land Mainoo after everything else they’ve done I’ll have to watch more of their games

 

Not to piss on anyone's parade, but there's minimal chance United sell Mainoo, or at least not for anything less than fuck you money. We'd be left with 3 CMs (well, 2 plus Bruno) for the season, so would have to then dip into the market ourselves.

He's a weird case and there's conflicting stories. Amorim doesn't really rate him, and he doesn't have a position in the system. He's not a 6, not a 10, he's kind of an 8 but doesn't have the physicality so needs runners around him. There's also the rumoured contract stand off (briefs about him wanting £180k p/w), but regardless he's got a few years left on his current deal so it's not exactly urgent.

Think the media have got their knickers in a twist and it's being hyped up more than it deserves. He'll stay and either begin getting drip fed minutes, or play more once the manager is sacked.

 

Bissouma off to Galatasaray

So maybe I actually will see him at the airport in a couple days lol

 

Or maybe you'll be greeted at the airport by a group of fanaticals? lol

 

This happened to me once in Ecuador. It was back in my church-going days and during the 2006 World Cup. We did a trip to Ecuador. They had just been eliminated a day or two before we arrived. And the team was arriving the same night as we did. Walked off the plane and the concourses were absolutely filled with fans. It was hard to walk through to the baggage claim.

 

Big game for Celtic kicking off in around 45mins. 0-0 first leg horror show so we need to win to qualify for the Champions League. Not confident in our bench but hopefully starting team can get it done then we can get signings in. Looks like 2 are already on their way - a LW, Balikwisha from Antwerp, and LB on loan from Boca called Sarrachi.