Dark Rider
Member
After 21 goals in 16 matchday’s, Lewandowski has broke the record for most goals scored in the Hinrunde (first half of the Bundesliga season).
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FootballGAF 2020/2021 |OT| Attending every single game from our home stands.
- Thread starter Dark Rider
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Dark Rider
Member
[Jonathandveal]Mourinho has a dig at someone: "When sometimes I listen 'Player x is not playing well because the team plays this way or that way', that is bullshit. That is typical excuses from players' entourage, directors without any idea of what football is, that is just speculation."
Dark Rider
Member
[ESPN] Gareth Bale has started two league games in the past 11 months: One for Real Madrid, one for Tottenham
Dark Rider
Member
[Athletic Club] Athletic Bilbao have won the 2021 Spanish Super Cup
This is funny to me since the actual cup final from last season has not been played yet but I understand the reasons.
This is funny to me since the actual cup final from last season has not been played yet but I understand the reasons.
Dark Rider
Member
[GdS] FC Inter Milan is going to change denomination, logo and sponsor on 9th March 2021
www.gazzetta.it
A inizio marzo cambiano nome e logo: sarà Inter Milano
La società abbraccerà un brand stilizzato, minimal, con la I e la M
www.gazzetta.it
DonJorginho
Banned
Haaland news has me hyped, hoping we can throw the bag at him and team him up with Werner up top, would be a deadly duo.
Dark Rider
Member
I think he will also demand very high wadges so I'm not sure this will happen because Chelsea will have to pay record transfer fee THEN very high wadges for him.
DonJorginho
Banned
I don't think that will be a problem, only problem will be Raiola and other interest from clubs like Real and Man City.
Thomish
Member
Should sell your guy Jorginho to fund it.
DonJorginho
Banned
Who would take him?
I love the guy but unless Sarri is in management he ain't going anywhere for anything more than £30m. We don't need to make funds though thankfully, despite our summer spending spree we are only on -£68.70m in net spend charts.
We will need to sell a CB or Midfielder to make space for replacements though.
Thomish
Member
Chelsea has a lot of assets they can sell tbh. I'm thinking guys like Alonso, Emerson, Kovacic, Jorginho, Rudiger, Christensen, Kepa should all be on the selling list. Manage to sell most of those and you'd easily get over £100m in sales, which can then be used to bring in someone like Rice, and the wages shifted can also bring in more replacements.Who would take him?
I love the guy but unless Sarri is in management he ain't going anywhere for anything more than £30m. We don't need to make funds though thankfully, despite our summer spending spree we are only on -£68.70m in net spend charts.
We will need to sell a CB or Midfielder to make space for replacements though.
Honestly Chelsea at the bare minimum just need Rice, bring back Gallagher, bring back Guehi, sign another backup left back, and possibly sign someone like Donnarumma to compete with Mendy. It's very manageable.
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DonJorginho
Banned
I would personally keep Kovacic, he remains an excellent carrier of the ball and someone who is vital to help move play forward, only problem is his lack of goal threat and his inconsistency that has hurt us this season, however the rest of them bar Rudiger for depth if we got a manager like Tuchel who would like someone of his profile I agree with.
The problem is the asking prices we're demanding, looks at any of these players that have been rumoured to leave, it always ends with the other club walking away due to our demands on wages being met or the fee itself, especially with the likes of Kepa and Emerson it will be hard to sell them on. I am not fully sold on Rice giving his asking price, he is no doubt a good player but not worth £70m for me, I would much rather have Koopmeiners or Guimaraes.
Other than one of those two, signing Gimenez or Botman alongside recalling Guehi could be great business, bringing back Gallagher for depth aswell as Donnarumma and fingers crossed another striker, we could really challenge.
I sadly don't think anything will change though until a new manager comes in as Lampard is too tactically underdeveloped for me.
Night.Ninja
Banned
Never, he will probably end up going to Man City.
Banjo64
cumsessed
I can pray, but we don’t normally deal with Raiola. Think we’d make an exception for Halaand though.
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Moogle11
Banned
Nice 3-0 win for Arsenal over Newcastle today. Boring first half, but played very well from the start of the 2nd half. Hopefullly that gets the squad, and especially Aubameyang who scored twice, some much needed confidence along with getting some guys like Partey and Martinelli back healthy.
Glad Ozil is finally gone and hoping that salary off the books helps get a creative midfielder in, be it during this window or the summer one.
Glad Ozil is finally gone and hoping that salary off the books helps get a creative midfielder in, be it during this window or the summer one.
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Dark Rider
Member
Raiola make transfers messy and a PR flith slinger so his involvement is actually in Chelsea favor (if Chelsea are fine dealing with him) because the other clubs prefer to deal with him.
Welcome to the Football thread
Who do you support?
If we don't get Mbappé I think we will go for Haaland so who knows where he end up
Welcome to the Football thread
I assume you support Manchester City? if not who do you support?
Also Pep is fine with Raiola I think.
Do you want Arteta to stay at Arsenal long term?
I don't see him lasting more than one more season at most to be honest.
Banjo64
cumsessed
Cheers mate, yeah I’m a City fanRaiola make transfers messy and a PR flith slinger so his involvement is actually in Chelsea favor (if Chelsea are fine dealing with him) because the other clubs prefer to deal with him.
Welcome to the Football thread
Who do you support?
If we don't get Mbappé I think we will go for Haaland so who knows where he end up
Welcome to the Football thread
I assume you support Manchester City? if not who do you support?
Also Pep is fine with Raiola I think.
Do you want Arteta to stay at Arsenal long term?
I don't see him lasting more than one more season at most to be honest.
Dark Rider
Member
[FootballDaily]"The most important thing is to qualify for the Champions League".Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says qualifying for the Champions League is the priority for his team this season
Lionel Richie
The club going into a break?
Lionel Richie
The club going into a break?
Dark Rider
Member
Cheers mate, yeah I’m a City fan
Welcome
How do you see your chances in UCL this season?
Banjo64
cumsessed
Probably not good lol, anything can happen in cup competitions.Welcome
How do you see your chances in UCL this season?
Fingers crossed we can beat Spurs in the League Cup Final, but they’re a good team who’ve had relatively good fortune against us in recent years.
We’re looking very, very good in the league and with Dias and Stones it looks like we’ll never concede another goal ever again (hyperbole)
who knows though, it’s an unpredictable season due to Covid.
Dark Rider
Member
Probably not good lol, anything can happen in cup competitions.
Fingers crossed we can beat Spurs in the League Cup Final, but they’re a good team who’ve had relatively good fortune against us in recent years.
We’re looking very, very good in the league and with Dias and Stones it looks like we’ll never concede another goal ever again (hyperbole)
I would say last season was the unpredictable season in the UCL since the knock out was done with one game only and Bayern took full advantage of that. I think this season going back to how the knock out stages work will be less unpredictable than last season. Still unpredictable but less so than last year where COVID altered how many games you play
In BPL though yes you have a good shot so far in fact if you win your game in hand you will be at the top of the table.
Dark Rider
Member
Sevilla FC's Revenue Increased 6.3% During COVID-19
www.sevillafc.es
KPMG show Sevilla's revenue has increased 6.3%
The data is based on revenue from season tickets and match tickets, television rights and income from commercial and marketing ventures
Dark Rider
Member
Monaco is interested in signing Marcelo and would offer him a three-year contract at the rate of six million euros net per season.
www.beinsports.com
Monaco veut offrir le salaire de Ben Yedder à
Selon le média ibérique Fichajes.net, Monaco va faire des efforts considérables pour attirer Marcelo.
Dark Rider
Member
[Fabrizio Romano] Inter have been so clear with Tottenham: if they want Eriksen back, they’ve to pay for the loan until the end of the season + salary.
Night.Ninja
Banned
Dele needs to go out on loan, jose is a ass for making him the team scapegoat, hes way too good to be sitting on the bench.
Prison Mike
Banned
Greetings from a fellow city fan.Cheers mate, yeah I’m a City fan
Moogle11
Banned
Well, it’s too early to say yes to hoping he stays long term, but I think he has a ton of promise and hope he does well and gets at least another year plus to prove himself. The roster was pretty shit with a lot of holes and little chance to fill them with all the deadweight on big salaries. Now Ozil is finally gone and off the books and Luis, Mustafi and Sokratis will be off this summer. Add in hopefully having fans in the stands and that revenue back hopefully means filling those gaps between now and start of next summer, with a creative attacking midfield being the main need.
Do that, and add in the young players like Saka, Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Tierney, Gabriel (and maybe Pepe if he ever gets it together) already showing a lot of promise and I think he’s well positioned to win big in a few years if given the time. He of course has to earn that time by not backsliding. I think many fans were a bit to hard on him with the bad start to the season given the squad issues and youth forced to play a ton early. Even with all that he seems to be turning it around and have them up to 10th and points off 4th and 10 off first, while dominating their stage in Europa league. Getting top 4 is a long shot still, but decent chance in Europa League and winning that and gething back in the Champions League and having that influx of money would be huge for the summer transfer window.
Thomish
Member
Ajax & Chelsea!Welcome to the Football thread
Who do you support?
Thomish
Member
Personally I'm kinda done with Kovacic - would rather us fetch some money and promote someone like Gallagher who could have a bigger impact on the squad. So our 6 midfielders would be Havertz, Mount, Kanté, Gallagher, Gilmour & if we sign him, Rice. Massive improvement and better profiles. Kovacic is a player that still hasn't established what kind of midfielder he wants to be.
Agreed pretty much on the rest though. Especially Lampard - on super thin ice at the moment. He's done a phenomenal job by getting rid of some dead wood and reinvigorating the squad with some really good signings, but he might not be there yet tactically, or with his philosophy - he still needs to figure out what type of football he wants to play it seems. Not sure he'll have the time to do that at Chelsea.
Lionel Richie
Member
[FootballDaily]"The most important thing is to qualify for the Champions League".Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says qualifying for the Champions League is the priority for his team this season
They have been on a break this past few rounds, the energy just flat out isn't there and the offensive trio is awful right now. Really bad first half in the EPL.
DKehoe
Member
It's quite weird that, because of their injuries, you'd expect Liverpool's defence to be their weakness at the moment. But instead it's their elite attack that's underperforming.
Lionel Richie
Member
Fabinho has been a revelation as a CB. Trent, meanwhile, looks like he forgot how to play football. That severely limits their build up play and the whole offensive trio is off so that makes things impossible. Meanwhile, Man C is just steamrolling everyone.
Prison Mike
Banned
They will get back in the groove we(city) looked to have finally clicked at the back dias has slotted in perfectly and leads from the back.
DKehoe
Member
I guess TAA's thing is his ability going forward. So if he doesn't have the stability of the usual centre backs to cover for him then it puts a lot more defensive responsibility on him and limits his game. I suppose with Salah and Sane preferring to cut inside, Liverpool's attack relies so much on the delivery from TAA and Robertson so when they are limited in that aspect the forwards aren't getting the service they are used to.
Fabinho is a fantastic player. I remember United were pretty strongly linked with him years back. Wish they had gone for him. He's just the sort of defensive midfielder they really need and is so versatile.
Prison Mike
Banned
DonJorginho
whats happening lad?
Night.Ninja
Banned
Lampards a plonker, I would out a better team than him.
He needs to fix up or hes gonna get sacked, needs to start playing players who will get results.
He needs to fix up or hes gonna get sacked, needs to start playing players who will get results.
Prison Mike
Banned
He has too many idividuals in the team not playing for eachother no pressing doesnt seem any urgency in that team.
DonJorginho
Banned
DonJorginho
Banned
With Chelsea? Disaster. A new manager is desperately needed to conjure enough belief within this team to get top four so we can ensure another summer spending spree to bolster our ranks.
With me? My apologies for not adding you yet! Have barely had anytime on the PS5 recently due to work, will add you when I am back from work today as am off tomorrow!
Dark Rider
Member
If Jose can get everyone else in line and perform what do you expect the manager to do when one player make it either my way or the highway?
Arsenal biggest problem for the past 4 managers was that the players are willing to sink the ship if the manager don't bend for them. I don't see Arteta would like to do that so I expect in the long run the club will get rid of him instead of rooting out the players behavior.
Welcome
Bad patches cost leagues though when you look at the table at the end of the season while being 1 point off the top
Dark Rider
Member
[Sam lee] City haven’t made renewal offers to Aguero or Fernandinho yet. Have heard the latter is weighing up several options, including staying at City, but hasn’t actually had a concrete proposal as it stands.
DonJorginho
Banned
That does boil down to his system though, if you watch us play, even in the good unbeaten run, we had no style and were winning due to individual brilliance or the odd set pieces which have dried up now in terms of output.
Lampard has no style of play other than lazily passing it from side to side and crossing it in, we need a Tuchel, Rangnick, Hasenhuttl or Nagelsmann in to really provide this squad a clear and winning philosophy.
Dark Rider
Member
OFFICIAL: AC Milan signs Mario Mandzukic for 6 month deal w/ an option to extend for 1 more season
www.acmilan.com
Official Statement: Mario Mandžukić | AC Milan
The Croatian striker is a new AC Milan player
Dark Rider
Member
Dark Rider
Member
Martin Odegaard asks to leave Real Madrid On loan
www.marca.com
Martin Odegaard asks to leave Real Madrid
There has been a radical turn with regards to Martin Odegaard's situation at Real Madrid, with the Norwegian international having sensationally requested to leave the Spanish giant
www.marca.com
Dark Rider
Member
Maddison: "We knew Chelsea switches off at set pieces sometimes...I rewatched the game after Sheffield Utd match and Jamie Carragher said I needed more numbers to play for England. We sat down to discuss how I can get more goals."
Moogle11
Banned
Sorry or weird quote boxes above, had issues editing them out after it doubled them for some reason.
I don’t see that with Arsenal and Arteta at all. And not sure who the four managers are. Wenger had if any thing too much control and was simply too loyal to his guys and not hard enough on them at the end. Emory did get hamstrung by the board at the time as they seemed power hungry after Wenger and never really gave him a chance or bought players he wanted. Ljundberg of course never had any say as he was just interim coach for a few games while they were working to get Arteta hired.
As for Arteta, he was promoted from head coach to manager over the summer, most of the front office was let go and by all accounts he has a ton of say in squad moves, transfers etc. and works closely with Edu to build the squad he wants going forward. We’ve seen him be allowed to not play Ozil this year (or even register him to be eligible to play) and then let him leave despite him being the highest paid person on the squad by far at 350k a week. We saw Matteo Guendouzi frozen out last year after attitude issues and then sent out on loan when they couldn’t sell him for a decent fee, veterans like Mustafi and Sokratis playing very little or not at all on higher wages while youngsters play etc.
If Arteta fails it will be on his own mistakes IMO. A lot of Arsenal fans bitch about the Kroenke’s spending, but the team’s salary pool is second in the EPL right now: https://www.spotrac.com/epl/payroll/. They also found money to shell out for tranfsers like Aubameyang, Pepe (73 million) etc. The problem has more been bad moves by the prior front office like giving Ozil 350k a week after he had a not great year, shelling out for Pepe who was unproven and we had bigger needs than winger (and even there Emory wanted Wilfred Zaha who wasn’t that much more expensive) etc. Only roster move under Arteta I haven’t liked is signing WIllian for 3 years. I liked the pick up as he was good last year and we needed some veteran leadership with all the youngsters playing. But at his age 1 or 2 years would have been the most I’d offer otherwise you risk what has happened and being stuck with him if he regresses. Maybe he’ll snap out of it and play better, but he’s not getting any younger.
Edit:Just saw that Sokratis is gone as well. Mutually agree to cancel contract so that salary is off the books. Looking more likely to add a midfield their window now.
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Dark Rider
Member
Wenger in his later years then Emery then Ljungberg and now Arteta.
Wenger had the power that none of the latter managers had/have but he went soft on the players and they exploited that big time sinking the ship under performing out of pure self indulgence. Wenger had the power to root them yes but he did not and let the fans lynch him instead to protect them so the end result is the same the players sank the ship and the manager payed the full price.
The board took the opportunity that the fans gave them to oust Wenger to take full control of everything and to be honest I expected them to do just that as soon as it was clear Wenger days were numbered. The players seeing how powerless the manager position has become made them grow bolder in sinking the ship if the manager was not stroking their individual egos one by one. It is like the honeymoon, get to know the manager first and if they don't like his personality or way of running things then sink the ship to send him away.
Usually when a manager get sacked because of the players purposely under performing they suddenly do their best starting the day he is gone to further solidify the perception that it was all the manager fault (or at least most of it) but they did not even do that properly with Ljundberg which was interesting. I think it was because they were just looking to care only when a "long term" manager is hired.
Wenger had the final say not just a "say"
Also that is all administrative work and even then key word here is "say" which is different than what I'm talking about, it is the players attitude toward how the manager work with them and how they perform on the pitch that is the problem.
The thing is since it is public and admitted truth that the manager get sacked if the players are sinking the ship on purpose that give those players the power to do it and the fact that the board and the club fans accepting it and in fact encouraging it if the players did not like their manager what make this process a never ending cycle.
The board were very upset with Özil for many reasons and wanted him gone, at first they wanted to get money out of shipping him out so they were not so overt in kicking him out of the registration sheets but as soon as it was clear to them that Özil will not budge and won't go anywhere they figured they are not getting money out of him anyway so might as well go all the way against him. It was more that the board wanted him buried than a show of Arteta power over the players.
Note I'm not siding with either side here neither the board or Özil just stating out how the whole thing went (and this is started long before Arteta arrived).
Fan uproar help, sometime the board fear of letting things slide if the fans were fully against a player for his actions.
All of these players are low tier players that the Arsenal board overpay and they know that now which is why they are fine shipping them out to save money, they can get the same bad performance for less money and the manager can indeed take advantage of that asking them to go too.
Everyone have to answer for their mistakes indeed but I feel people sometimes are unfair to managers because they don't give the proper weight to the players sinking the ship behavior in all of the fiasco.
The board don't care for achievements they only care to maximize profit with least spending and they felt that being top 4 is the sweet spot and want to stay there, recently they found that they cant hit that mark so they are increasing spending a little to reach then back tot he gravy train. They are failing at it thus far but don't let it fool you, they have no ambitions.
All that being said I want to note that I'm not singling out Arsenal with this problem about the players sinking their club and forcing managers out who don't appease them, most the top clubs have this plague at the moment so Arsenal are not alone in this.
Dark Rider
Member
[Marco Conterio] Roma makes 6 substitutions in their Coppa Italia match vs. Spezia, and so would have lost by default had they not lost anyway. It would have been Roma's second loss by default of the season after the Diawara situation vs. Hellas Verona
Dark Rider
Member
Rummenigge: "The UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who is incredibly careful with Covid-19, is thinking about whether it wouldn't make more sense to play UEFA EURO 2020 in just one country."
www.france24.com
Ceferin mulling single host nation for Euro 2020, says Rummenigge - France 24
Ceferin mulling single host nation for Euro 2020, says Rummenigge
www.france24.com