2019/20 Soccer Thread

Pages

Ah, that new season smell.

So the new season's fixtures are out.

For the first time in Premier League history, the clubs will get a short mid-season break in February.

The break will be staggered over a two-week period. There will be only five matches on one weekend, with the other five games from that round taking place the following weekend, ensuring that each team gets one week off.

Oh, and Real Madrid is spending big-big-BIG this offseason. Hazard, Jovic, and now left-back Ferland Mendy from Lyon, which takes their summer spending close to £300m.

Sarri out, Lampard in?

Chelsea’s options for the role appear to be dwindling. Massimiliano Allegri, whom Sarri is to replace at Juve, has indicated he will take a sabbatical “to recharge the batteries and take my personal life back in hand”. Erik ten Hag is apparently committed to Ajax, and Nuno Espírito Santo and Javi Gracia would cost considerably more in compensation to extract from Wolves and Watford respectively.

Laurent Blanc is available but may be considered an uninspiring choice, not least by a fans who, at times, made their frustration at life under Sarri all too obvious. The Italian, who was moved to Chelsea from Napoli, was close to being sacked after results deteriorated dramatically following a promising start.

Chelsea were surprised and dismayed at the breakdown in the relationship with a vocal section of supporters disenchanted with the lack of drive and urgency in much of the team’s football.

An upturn in results, which culminated in a third-place finish and success in the Europa League, left Chelsea reluctant to dismiss Sarri, only for him to make clear his desire to return to Italy, citing family reasons. Juve are expected to confirm his arrival on a three-year deal.

Yo. Let's do this.

Well Madrid are clearly acting like a team that need an influx in talent.

Over in the EPL it's mostly crickets and their window end earlier on top of that.

Liverpool and City arguably don't need to do much.

Arsenal need to do but the transfer funds available are suspect.

Spurs? Apparently Poch handed in his shopping list to Levy and is in vacation.

Chelsea are banned unless that got turned over.

United is interesting. They arguably need to do the most. Lukaku is apparently out the door. Pogba maybe. That would leave them with more money than players available and a manager no one thinks will be there next year? Honestly not sure what they do and it's not a money problem.

jowner wrote:

Well Madrid are clearly acting like a team that need an influx in talent.

Over in the EPL it's mostly crickets and their window end earlier on top of that.

Liverpool and City arguably don't need to do much.

Arsenal need to do but the transfer funds available are suspect.

Spurs? Apparently Poch handed in his shopping list to Levy and is in vacation.

Chelsea are banned unless that got turned over.

United is interesting. They arguably need to do the most. Lukaku is apparently out the door. Pogba maybe. That would leave them with more money than players available and a manager no one thinks will be there next year? Honestly not sure what they do and it's not a money problem.

Do you think City might need help? Kompany is gone, and I wonder if his leadership loss might change things. David Silva struck me this year as a player whose peak is passing. Mahrez seems to have drifted to the side. I mean, they'll clearly be a fantastic side, but I wonder if they might lose just a bit of their edge. With Liverpool being equal, I wonder if that might be enough for City to drop to second.

I haven't read much about United the past couple of weeks, but it certainly seems like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. No Champions League or a big name manager to attract top players. Players leaving or wanting to leave. A manager who has lost whatever shine he brought to the team initially. It's going to be interesting to watch how this unfolds, but I'm not sure I see a quick way up, and signs point to things potentially getting worse. The bold move would have been to fire Solskjaer at the end of the season and gone for a big name manager, but I'm not sure who they could have gotten, and firing a guy a month after you gave him a new contract would have been a bit heartless.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
jowner wrote:

Well Madrid are clearly acting like a team that need an influx in talent.

Over in the EPL it's mostly crickets and their window end earlier on top of that.

Liverpool and City arguably don't need to do much.

Arsenal need to do but the transfer funds available are suspect.

Spurs? Apparently Poch handed in his shopping list to Levy and is in vacation.

Chelsea are banned unless that got turned over.

United is interesting. They arguably need to do the most. Lukaku is apparently out the door. Pogba maybe. That would leave them with more money than players available and a manager no one thinks will be there next year? Honestly not sure what they do and it's not a money problem.

Do you think City might need help? Kompany is gone, and I wonder if his leadership loss might change things. David Silva struck me this year as a player whose peak is passing. Mahrez seems to have drifted to the side. I mean, they'll clearly be a fantastic side, but I wonder if they might lose just a bit of their edge. With Liverpool being equal, I wonder if that might be enough for City to drop to second.

I haven't read much about United the past couple of weeks, but it certainly seems like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. No Champions League or a big name manager to attract top players. Players leaving or wanting to leave. A manager who has lost whatever shine he brought to the team initially. It's going to be interesting to watch how this unfolds, but I'm not sure I see a quick way up, and signs point to things potentially getting worse. The bold move would have been to fire Solskjaer at the end of the season and gone for a big name manager, but I'm not sure who they could have gotten, and firing a guy a month after you gave him a new contract would have been a bit heartless.

United extended Ole before they needed to. Then Arsenal messed up and didn't finish in the top 4 knocking Spurs out.

We essentially delayed the Poch to United move for one more year at least.

I honestly don't know what United do either. They could unload the malcontents for top dollar and bring in a slew of top younger prospects.

That would essentially arm them in 2020 to lure the manager they want. Clean slate of a squad with top prospects and endless cash.

As for City I meant more they don't need a massive rebuild or splash. They could sign 1-2 players and pretty much keep on ticking.

Contrast that to Arsenal who need to sign 4+ new starters and the only credible rumor is a 33 year old CB leaving to Dortmund.

jowner wrote:

United extended Ole before they needed to.

Minor quibble, I think they were basically stuck between a rock and a hard place, and up until that point, it really seemed like Ole wasn't just a dead-cat bounce.

Well, I'm sure we all had Ukraine winning the U20 World Cup, right?

Of course, I will say this result is emblematic of how youth inconsistency and single-elimination formats are proof that we can't take much away from this, whereas if the US U20s had won, I would have pre-emptively declared us 2026 World Cup champions.

Prederick wrote:

Well, I'm sure we all had Ukraine winning the U20 World Cup, right?

I thought you were joking. I looked it up. And they beat South Korea even.

So Argentina is now what Spain was before they actually started winning things, right?

Sarri out is official now, heading to Juventus.

jowner wrote:

United extended Ole before they needed to. Then Arsenal messed up and didn't finish in the top 4 knocking Spurs out.

We essentially delayed the Poch to United move for one more year at least.

You actually think Arsenal is the reason Mauricio is still at Spurs? That's cute.

slazev wrote:
jowner wrote:

United extended Ole before they needed to. Then Arsenal messed up and didn't finish in the top 4 knocking Spurs out.

We essentially delayed the Poch to United move for one more year at least.

You actually think Arsenal is the reason Mauricio is still at Spurs? That's cute. :D

If he wasn't in the CL and United needed a manager....?

We'll see how Levy does with his shopping list.

Not being in the CL wouldn't be considered his fault. He went above and beyond with the resources at his disposal.

As for Man Utd, I'm not sure he'd be interested. Guess we'll maybe know next year.

Manchester United just gave 31 year-old Juan Mata a 3-year contract. Love how badly run they are.

And Atlético are about to pay 120 million for a 19 year old who only started to show something on the second half of last season. Good luck, I say.

slazev wrote:

And Atlético are about to pay 120 million for a 19 year old who only started to show something on the second half of last season. Good luck, I say.

From a Portugal perspective maybe one of the better spots for him to land and actually play/develop.

And PSG is open to selling Neymar.

Prederick wrote:

And PSG is open to selling Neymar.

This is parroting what some smarter person I follow on Twitter said, but hard to see where he'd go. He's already at PSG, doubt Pep wants to handle him at Man City, Not sure him and Hazard would work well together at Real Madrid.

Going back to Barcelona? Juventus? Manchester United? I'm not sure I'd want Neymar at the wages he'll command, even if it's a cut-price transfer fee.

The rumors I've seen are of a Barca return.

jowner wrote:
slazev wrote:

And Atlético are about to pay 120 million for a 19 year old who only started to show something on the second half of last season. Good luck, I say.

From a Portugal perspective maybe one of the better spots for him to land and actually play/develop.

I disagree. Atlético doesn't seem the right fit for him and when I say Atlético I mean Simeone. I don't dislike the man, but his style of play won't welcome Félix. I hope I'm wrong.
I'd prefer him emulating Bernardo who had great coaches and teams that elevated his natural skills.

Rumor has it Messi asked for Barca to bring Neymar back

bigred wrote:

Rumor has it Messi asked for Barca to bring Neymar back

Yeah, all the scuttlebutt I've seen is for a Barca return, which seems... odd. Neymar allegedly left Barcelona because he didn't like being in Messi's shadow.

The PSG move has not worked out great though, they keep choking in the only competition they actually care about (with Barcelona regularly getting deeper into the knockouts), and Mbappe has arguably surpassed Neymar.

If he goes back to Barca, first off, how will the fans react and second, he'll still be second banana to Messi again. Is he willing to do that?

Mbappe has been hinting at a Real move, as well - where will PSG be if their biggest stars desert them?

It would be pretty good drama to have the French champion and his diving instructor on opposite sides of El Clasico, though. The game lost something when Ronaldo moved.

Yeah, I feel safe in wildly speculating that there's some acrimony between Neymar and Mbappe.

Real has to sell before they even try thinking of buying Mbappe.

12 days until Rafa Benitez's contract is up...

The Gold Cup at the same time as the Women's World Cup is the most pointless tournament ever.

I know it was every two years so Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner could embezzle more TV money but it really should be an every 4 year tournament in the non-WWC part of the cycle.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Mbappe has been hinting at a Real move, as well - where will PSG be if their biggest stars desert them?

It would be pretty good drama to have the French champion and his diving instructor on opposite sides of El Clasico, though. The game lost something when Ronaldo moved.

The amount of banter there has been in some of the Liverpool forums I use about Mbappe coming to us has been both voluminous and occasionally very funny.

It does seem he wants out of PSG though - I think PSG are much more interested in getting rid of Neymar. I get the impression they have had enough of his behaviour and theatrics.

Edit: Good choice of Thread banner too!

Roke wrote:

Manchester United just gave 31 year-old Juan Mata a 3-year contract. Love how badly run they are.

They might not have a choice?

Apparently Ole's transfer budget is.... 100m.

Kinda makes sense if you factor in no extra CL splurge but it also sounds like they are holding £££ back.

Unless he coaches them back into the top 4 which is feasible if Chelsea wobble he's definitely not lasting until this time next year.

Pages