2022/23 Soccer Thread: Finals Week(s)

Personally, I'm thrilled Norwich is playing poorly, because if they DON'T get promoted, I feel like, based on recent trends, that means Fulham is going to stay up.

Truly kinda pathetic at Old Trafford. First De Jong doesn't play out, now Rabiot (who many would argue isn't up to snuff) hasn't worked out, so now they're gonna try and convince Casemiro, who, if I was him, I wouldn't make this switch for love or money.

Also, who was the last player to fall off as hard as Delle Alli has? I feel like there have been a couple mercurial English forwards in this vein in recent history. Francis Jeffers? David Bentley? Hell, at this point, Rashford?

EDIT: I am shocked he hasn't been linked to the MLS yet.

Prederick wrote:

Truly kinda pathetic at Old Trafford. First De Jong doesn't play out, now Rabiot (who many would argue isn't up to snuff) hasn't worked out, so now they're gonna try and convince Casemiro, who, if I was him, I wouldn't make this switch for love or money.

Also, who was the last player to fall off as hard as Delle Alli has? I feel like there have been a couple mercurial English forwards in this vein in recent history. Francis Jeffers? David Bentley? Hell, at this point, Rashford?

EDIT: I am shocked he hasn't been linked to the MLS yet.

David Bentley's a good shout, though I think Dele had a higher peak. Hard to believe he's only 26, this should be his prime.

Squires has described Tuchel's sprint down the sideline as looking like "a set of golf clubs shot out of a cannon."

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/GSjyAA8.png)

@utdreport wrote:

João Félix and Casemiro are two of #mufc's objectives. Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid have no intention of selling

Here we have behind the scenes footage of ManU's scouting organization:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaUPphjX0Akp2t6?format=jpg&name=large)

Mr Bismarck wrote:

Squires has described Tuchel's sprint down the sideline as looking like "a set of golf clubs shot out of a cannon."

Excellent analogy. I ain't out here trying to criticize other people's bodies, but he looked legitimately freakishly skinny there.

Report's ManU will allow Ronaldo to now leave if he finds a team...

If. Apparently, there just aren't any takers.

Someone's gonna break down eventually though.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaT_HuDaQAAwnA7?format=jpg&name=large)

Mentioning this because of Lallana, and his hamstring troubles.

I can't remember where I saw it, but I did see someone, somewhere pointing out that we, as fans, GREATLY underestimate the trouble hamstring injuries can cause. Like, once you've seriously injured your hamstring, it's never "fixed," the best you can do with it is "playable".

It's not a catastrophic injury that gets the headlines, so we don't think of it as such, but messing up your hammy can end a career just as much as a blown ACL can. Hell, I might argue moreso these days. You can replace a ligament, you can't replace a huge leg muscle.

Roke wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Truly kinda pathetic at Old Trafford. First De Jong doesn't play out, now Rabiot (who many would argue isn't up to snuff) hasn't worked out, so now they're gonna try and convince Casemiro, who, if I was him, I wouldn't make this switch for love or money.

Also, who was the last player to fall off as hard as Delle Alli has? I feel like there have been a couple mercurial English forwards in this vein in recent history. Francis Jeffers? David Bentley? Hell, at this point, Rashford?

EDIT: I am shocked he hasn't been linked to the MLS yet.

David Bentley's a good shout, though I think Dele had a higher peak. Hard to believe he's only 26, this should be his prime.

On this note i found this interesting . I didn't watch the Sunderland documentary but to go from Man City and England set ups to dropped from an Aussie teams squad in that time is quite the fall from grace.

Old Jack Rodwell eh? He did not come out of that ‘Sunderland til I die’ documentary at all well. Certainly not all his fault but definitely part of the problem.

There is a definitely sub class of footballer who hit the big time early on in their career and then let it all go to their heads. I add Jack Wilshere to this list, although I know he had more than his fair share of bad injuries. He never quite got past that one England performance where he looked almost as good as Messi.

Jeffers was always promoted above his talent - same with Joey Barton - so I do think he counts, but if Alli had kept his head in the right place I’m more than certain he’d be No. 1 on the England team sheet even now. He was exceptional for a long time and then - been terrible for years.

Medmey wrote:

Report's ManU will allow Ronaldo to now leave if he finds a team...

They are also after Pulisic and Aubameyang.

We are in the phase where every single player is going to be linked with United now.

I guess the 4th lever for Barcelona 'worked' as they registered everyone but Kounde. Obviously this is just them kicking the can down the road as they are just pulling money forward from future years. I'm not exactly sure why either. They brought in a mish mash of players but could totally see them win nothing.

Prederick wrote:

It's not a catastrophic injury that gets the headlines, so we don't think of it as such, but messing up your hammy can end a career just as much as a blown ACL can. Hell, I might argue moreso these days. You can replace a ligament, you can't replace a huge leg muscle.

I feel like you can find a large, current data point in Patrick Bamford.

jowner wrote:

I guess the 4th lever for Barcelona 'worked' as they registered everyone but Kounde. Obviously this is just them kicking the can down the road as they are just pulling money forward from future years. I'm not exactly sure why either. They brought in a mish mash of players but could totally see them win nothing.

I think at this point they are betting everything on resurrecting the Super League.

It's kind of amazing that they've got the CL money this year and will probably make the knockouts, and they're still doing financial shenanigans to get through this.

jowner wrote:

We are in the phase where every single player is going to be linked with United now.

This is genuinely the point in my FM saves where the player I WANTED to get signs with another club two days before deadline day and now I'm scrambling to find a decent CDM that we can afford.

Also, Crystal Palace want Ismaila Sarr from Watford, and I'm pretty sure if they get him, they'll be able to compete in AFCON.

Oh, and there's speculation the Glazers might be ready to sell.

EDIT: A minority stake. LOL.

"The Glazer family don't want to sell Manchester United, according to Bloomberg, but just bring in more investment to the club.

"The New York Stock Exchange has reacted to that news with United shares going up by four per cent this morning and, according to Bloomberg, any potential deal could see Manchester United valued at up to £5 billion. United are not commenting on these reports at all.

"If we're talking about bringing in investment to a club like Manchester United, there are a lot of people out there who want to invest in Premier League clubs at the moment. We saw when Chelsea were put up for sale the New York Investment Bank, who were marketing the sale, were contacted by more than 100 parties.

"There is a lot of interest, especially in the US, in investing in Premier League clubs. Why do they want to do that? They think they can get a good deal at the moment and that the value of Premier League clubs is going to boom in the next few years because they believe there will be a lot more interest in streaming and they can make money from the fans these Premier League clubs have all around the world.

"As far at the Glazer family are concerned, they effectively sold a minority stake in United before because they floated the club on the New York Stock Exchange, selling 10 per cent of their shares. They sold that stake to shareholders - this time it's about bringing in an investor."

They don't even own my club and I hate them. It's just so excruciatingly clear they view United as an investment and don't give two sh*ts about it as a football club.

One of the stated reasons Giggs was upset with his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville was because the tablespoons were the wrong way around in the dishwasher.

Mr Bismarck wrote:

One of the stated reasons Giggs was upset with his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville was because the tablespoons were the wrong way around in the dishwasher.

BRO. I just unloaded the dishwasher this morning, and there were a bunch of sporks mixed in with the spoons. Set me back a good five, maybe ten seconds. It's not okay.

Frankly, wrong dishwasher placement gives new meaning to the term "domestic terrorism."

Real Madrid and Casemiro must be grinning like Cheshire cats at Man Utd's desperation for a DM.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Mr Bismarck wrote:

One of the stated reasons Giggs was upset with his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville was because the tablespoons were the wrong way around in the dishwasher.

BRO. I just unloaded the dishwasher this morning, and there were a bunch of sporks mixed in with the spoons. Set me back a good five, maybe ten seconds. It's not okay.

Frankly, wrong dishwasher placement gives new meaning to the term "domestic terrorism."

I had never thought of organizing cutlery by type before... But I don't have a fancy dishwasher with a 3rd rack for cutlery, just one of those bins on the bottom rack with cutouts to have the cutlery sticking up.

I am very particular about plate placement though. Small plates go closest to the door so you can only open it partially after having a snack.

Maybe it's more an example of how anything could set off Giggs, and Greville must have lived in constant terror for years?

Yes, I believe that's it.

As I said, I knew he was a cheater, I genuinely had no idea he was (allegedly) this kind of abuser.

And let us not even discuss the f*cking horror that is the Mendy trial. Christ.

dejanzie wrote:

Maybe it's more an example of how anything could set off Giggs, and Greville must have lived in constant terror for years?

Yes, that was the point of my hyperbole.

Prederick wrote:

Also, Crystal Palace want Ismaila Sarr from Watford, and I'm pretty sure if they get him, they'll be able to compete in AFCON.

Continuing on that theme....

Palace going from the Hodgson Old Dudes to really smartz interesting young signings in the blink of an eye is so damn impressive. I thought they would be doomed to relegation last season but they rebuilt the squad almost instantly and are now onto bigger and better things.

Feel bad for Watford with teams like Newcastle and Palace circling their attacking three like vultures. Relegation is bad.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
dejanzie wrote:

Maybe it's more an example of how anything could set off Giggs, and Greville must have lived in constant terror for years?

Yes, that was the point of my hyperbole.

Which went right over my head...

Ryan Giggs penned a poem to Kate Greville in response to a verse from her which included the line “every day you make me proud, because you’re well endowed”.

Read Mr Giggs’ poem in full below.

It's... uh....

...can we un-invent the written word?

From the nation that gave us Dylan Thomas.

Tasty Pudding wrote:

From the nation that gave us Dylan Thomas.

William Shakespeare wants a word.

Giggs and Thomas are Welsh, Coach Lasso.

Justin Kluivert to Fulham?

This is a fantastic signing (in my FM 20 save).

No, but seriously, that could work out quite nicely, perhaps.

But how did we miss that Forest has literally signed an entire outfield 11 and 5/7 subs already?