Ultimate Football/Soccer Thread 2016-2017

[The Blaatschapen]

Well.

This does rather suck for Man City. Figure you'll have to fight it out for second place with Barca. Good luck!

Leicester City on the other hand, got a decent group which they should be able to get through.

And poor PSV

[Stellonia]

The draw for the Europa League group stage is going on as I post this.

Also, Stéphane Ruffier's sending off yesterday was hysterical. You owe it to yourself to see it.

[Auremena]

The draw for the Europa League group stage is going on as I post this.

Also, Stéphane Ruffier's sending off yesterday was hysterical. You owe it to yourself to see it.

Schecter's flopping like a fish was beyond ridiculous. Wasn't a great move by Ruffier though, red? I don't know.

[Auremena]

This rumour of Joe Hart loan to Torino looks pretty legit, it can only be good for him. More English players should move abroad as well, I think. It'd also mean less players that sit the bench at their clubs will be called up to the England squad.

[Osarius]

More English players should move abroad as well, I think.

They would, if they were worth the fees Premier League clubs ask, while overpaying on wages.
I'm not sure I buy the "English players aren't good enough" narrative. They're just not good enough for the money it would cost foreign clubs to sign them.

In the 90s plenty of English players played abroad. Then TV money got silly.

[Auremena]

30 mil is way too much for Sissoko. Rumour is though that Toon still owe us for Andros. If they didnt bank a 31 million profit this summer I'd have thought the dead was Levy would agree to cut some if that debt for an even bigger cut in Sissoko's final price.

[Val Halla]

There's this weird antagonism that goes about with football here

When a foreign manager comes in everyone gets mad because apparently they're ruining English football or something

Then your team signs a foreign star putting a very good English player on the bench and people are okay with that

Then when said English player moves abroad everyone hates on him.

[Great Kauthar]

Well.

This does rather suck for Man City. Figure you'll have to fight it out for second place with Barca. Good luck!

implying celtic wont get second. COYBIG

[Eastfield Lodge]

30 mil is way too much for Sissoko. Rumour is though that Toon still owe us for Andros. If they didnt bank a 31 million profit this summer I'd have thought the dead was Levy would agree to cut some if that debt for an even bigger cut in Sissoko's final price.

Yeah, I was quite surprised at that figure as well. First I've heard of the Andros debt though.

[Osarius]

There's this weird antagonism that goes about with football here

When a foreign manager comes in everyone gets mad because apparently they're ruining English football or something

Then your team signs a foreign star putting a very good English player on the bench and people are okay with that

Then when said English player moves abroad everyone hates on him.

Considering a large proportion of football fans are the type to read the Daily Mail........

[Auremena]

30 mil is way too much for Sissoko. Rumour is though that Toon still owe us for Andros. If they didnt bank a 31 million profit this summer I'd have thought the dead was Levy would agree to cut some if that debt for an even bigger cut in Sissoko's final price.

Yeah, I was quite surprised at that figure as well. First I've heard of the Andros debt though.

So minus the Sissoko deal both our clubs broke even this window. Not sure about your financial situation (I'm under the impression it's not great) and if I know anything about it, Levy holds the high ground against Ashley here. Also heard that Levy wanted 5 easy payments of 19.99 6 million. It seems very Levy to say "Hey Ashley, I'll cut your debt on Andros down to 10 mil if you cut a payment on Sissoko..." Seems very Levy to change a 2.5 million debt into a 6 million savings.

30 million for Sissoko may be some sort of bargain though, considering all I really know of Alonso was his loan spell in Wearside in 13/14, where even for a relegation faced club he was mediocre but always started because he was the only option. Unless he's improved quite significantly in the last two years, 23 million for him is far worse of a deal than 30 million for Sissoko, who at least plays well for his country. In reality I don't know what it was but up in Tyneside after Cabaye left no one seemed to have any motivation to do anything whatsoever, save for poor Andros who pretty much single handedly believed he could and tried to save Toon from relegation. Is it something in the water? The air? who knows.
Even worse, 35 million for Luiz. Umm Abrahmovic, you already made your ridiculous money off a centre back who can't defend for shit, but buying him BACK? If PSG had come to me and said you can haze Luiz for free I wouldn't have taken him even if I needed a defender. Doesn't Real Madrid or Bayern have a defender in their youth academy I could take on loan instead?
I mean don't get me wrong, he's a great passer but his positioning is poor. He'll make great friends with Batshuyai and Costa rather than Cahill and Terry because he'll be hanging up front all the time.

I'm really worried that actively bad Sissoko will show up. He's even more hot and cold than Chadli. At his best he scored at his worst he was invisible. Sissoko at his best outplays the world's most expensive players, at his worst he might as well kick it into his own net. Though if anyone can get him to replicate his international form at a club level, two of them are coaches who made bids today; Poch and Koeman.

[Auremena]

There's this weird antagonism that goes about with football here

When a foreign manager comes in everyone gets mad because apparently they're ruining English football or something

Then your team signs a foreign star putting a very good English player on the bench and people are okay with that

Then when said English player moves abroad everyone hates on him.

Joe Hart? He was average at best for a top flight club. If his Italian is any good, the loan to Torino can only be good for him.
Torino is quite a lovely city as well, far nicer than Manchester. A positive change of scenery is always a good thing on a personal level.

[Eastfield Lodge]

Yeah, I was quite surprised at that figure as well. First I've heard of the Andros debt though.

So minus the Sissoko deal both our clubs broke even this window. Not sure about your financial situation (I'm under the impression it's not great) and if I know anything about it, Levy holds the high ground against Ashley here. Also heard that Levy wanted 5 easy payments of 19.99 6 million. It seems very Levy to say "Hey Ashley, I'll cut your debt on Andros down to 10 mil if you cut a payment on Sissoko..." Seems very Levy to change a 2.5 million debt into a 6 million savings.

30 million for Sissoko may be some sort of bargain though, considering all I really know of Alonso was his loan spell in Wearside in 13/14, where even for a relegation faced club he was mediocre but always started because he was the only option. Unless he's improved quite significantly in the last two years, 23 million for him is far worse of a deal than 30 million for Sissoko, who at least plays well for his country. In reality I don't know what it was but up in Tyneside after Cabaye left no one seemed to have any motivation to do anything whatsoever, save for poor Andros who pretty much single handedly believed he could and tried to save Toon from relegation. Is it something in the water? The air? who knows.
Even worse, 35 million for Luiz. Umm Abrahmovic, you already made your ridiculous money off a centre back who can't defend for shit, but buying him BACK? If PSG had come to me and said you can haze Luiz for free I wouldn't have taken him even if I needed a defender. Doesn't Real Madrid or Bayern have a defender in their youth academy I could take on loan instead?
I mean don't get me wrong, he's a great passer but his positioning is poor. He'll make great friends with Batshuyai and Costa rather than Cahill and Terry because he'll be hanging up front all the time.

I'm really worried that actively bad Sissoko will show up. He's even more hot and cold than Chadli. At his best he scored at his worst he was invisible. Sissoko at his best outplays the world's most expensive players, at his worst he might as well kick it into his own net. Though if anyone can get him to replicate his international form at a club level, two of them are coaches who made bids today; Poch and Koeman.

Yeah, we were pretty much screwed once we left the Nolan/Carroll/Cabaye era. We didn't have a goalscorer up front, and no creative players behind them. Sissoko isn't that creative, he's a more attacking version of Yaya Toure in that sense - just gets the ball and powers his way forward. The problem with the club is that there was no ambition to win from anybody - it's pretty toxic to just aim for survival every season without any ambition to win trophies or place higher in the table. Not to mention that a few players may have seen Newcastle as a stepping stone to catapult their careers like Cabaye's did, and thus didn't really care about the club itself, then getting disillusioned when things didn't go well.

Barring the loan that the club owes Ashley (or something similarly stupid), the financial situation is actually really good - or at least was, until last season possibly. But yeah, wouldn't be surprised that Ashley and Levy would do something like that.

As for Alonso, he apparently played for Bolton in the Prem as well around 2010 (albeit poorly, I hear), before moving to Fiorentina. He must have done well there over the past couple of years, so...

[Auremena]

Yeah, we were pretty much screwed once we left the Nolan/Carroll/Cabaye era. We didn't have a goalscorer up front, and no creative players behind them. Sissoko isn't that creative, he's a more attacking version of Yaya Toure in that sense - just gets the ball and powers his way forward. The problem with the club is that there was no ambition to win from anybody - it's pretty toxic to just aim for survival every season without any ambition to win trophies or place higher in the table. Not to mention that a few players may have seen Newcastle as a stepping stone to catapult their careers like Cabaye's did, and thus didn't really care about the club itself, then getting disillusioned when things didn't go well.

Barring the loan that the club owes Ashley (or something similarly stupid), the financial situation is actually really good - or at least was, until last season possibly. But yeah, wouldn't be surprised that Ashley and Levy would do something like that.

As for Alonso, he apparently played for Bolton in the Prem as well around 2010 (albeit poorly, I hear), before moving to Fiorentina. He must have done well there over the past couple of years, so...

After Cabaye, the closest thing to a creative player you had was... Shelvey... Scary thoughts. Maybe Wijnaldum a bit but it's really weird seeing him in the centre of midfield; I think he's better in the attacking midfield, either from the centre drifting outwards or vice versa. More attack mindrd than actually creative. Who am I to know though, in his PSV days I seem to recall him playing as a holding midfielder a few times.
I think Mitrivoc could be a great goalscorer if given the proper support. Probably not Aguero/Kane levels, but maybe more like 15 goal range. He's tall and strong, not the smartest or most lethal but he'll learn. Did he stay? Perhaps a year against chpionshio defended will work like a loan, sharpen his skills a bit, be ready for an attempt at a return.
Sissoko is different than most players at Spurs. Our AMs are incredibly creative, Sonny is a bit more direct, N'Koudou was brought in to get pace off the bench, whereas Sissoko would just charge in head first and probably knock John Stones all the way back home to Manchester when taking him on in The Lane. He could also cover for Moose as a strong, powerful player with decent ball skills, and in an emergency in some freak case where Wanyama and Alderweireld were injured and Dier had to drop into defense, he could be utilised as a DM. Though I might trust Wimmer a bit more to that role, I think.

I've looked a bit more, According to Transfer market, Sissoko was valued at €13 million, likely if he was still a PL player it would be higher, and the fee was €35 million. His performance at the Euros show that he's a £30 million player. Retaining that form and he's totally with it.
Meanwhile, Alonso was valued at €9 million, and the fee was more in the range of €27 million. Look I know these days you have to beat the market value by quite a bit to buy a player that isn't necessarily for sale (Luiz wasn't for sale, PDF really wanted to keep him, said no price could buy him, then changed their minds at last minute, and he was €28 million value and a €39 million fee, that's not even 1.5x value)but triple their stated value? That's utterly, utterly insane.

[Eastfield Lodge]

Yeah, we were pretty much screwed once we left the Nolan/Carroll/Cabaye era. We didn't have a goalscorer up front, and no creative players behind them. Sissoko isn't that creative, he's a more attacking version of Yaya Toure in that sense - just gets the ball and powers his way forward. The problem with the club is that there was no ambition to win from anybody - it's pretty toxic to just aim for survival every season without any ambition to win trophies or place higher in the table. Not to mention that a few players may have seen Newcastle as a stepping stone to catapult their careers like Cabaye's did, and thus didn't really care about the club itself, then getting disillusioned when things didn't go well.

Barring the loan that the club owes Ashley (or something similarly stupid), the financial situation is actually really good - or at least was, until last season possibly. But yeah, wouldn't be surprised that Ashley and Levy would do something like that.

As for Alonso, he apparently played for Bolton in the Prem as well around 2010 (albeit poorly, I hear), before moving to Fiorentina. He must have done well there over the past couple of years, so...

After Cabaye, the closest thing to a creative player you had was... Shelvey... Scary thoughts. Maybe Wijnaldum a bit but it's really weird seeing him in the centre of midfield; I think he's better in the attacking midfield, either from the centre drifting outwards or vice versa. More attack mindrd than actually creative. Who am I to know though, in his PSV days I seem to recall him playing as a holding midfielder a few times.
I think Mitrivoc could be a great goalscorer if given the proper support. Probably not Aguero/Kane levels, but maybe more like 15 goal range. He's tall and strong, not the smartest or most lethal but he'll learn. Did he stay? Perhaps a year against chpionshio defended will work like a loan, sharpen his skills a bit, be ready for an attempt at a return.
Sissoko is different than most players at Spurs. Our AMs are incredibly creative, Sonny is a bit more direct, N'Koudou was brought in to get pace off the bench, whereas Sissoko would just charge in head first and probably knock John Stones all the way back home to Manchester when taking him on in The Lane. He could also cover for Moose as a strong, powerful player with decent ball skills, and in an emergency in some freak case where Wanyama and Alderweireld were injured and Dier had to drop into defense, he could be utilised as a DM. Though I might trust Wimmer a bit more to that role, I think.

I've looked a bit more, According to Transfer market, Sissoko was valued at €13 million, likely if he was still a PL player it would be higher, and the fee was €35 million. His performance at the Euros show that he's a £30 million player. Retaining that form and he's totally with it.
Meanwhile, Alonso was valued at €9 million, and the fee was more in the range of €27 million. Look I know these days you have to beat the market value by quite a bit to buy a player that isn't necessarily for sale (Luiz wasn't for sale, PDF really wanted to keep him, said no price could buy him, then changed their minds at last minute, and he was €28 million value and a €39 million fee, that's not even 1.5x value)but triple their stated value? That's utterly, utterly insane.

The closest we had to a creative player (for a while anyway) after Cabaye was probably Janmaat or Sissoko, in the sense that they could create chances in some way or another (as opposed to classically creative). Perez may possibly have developed some creativity in his time here, given he rarely plays directly up front, but time will tell. As for Mitrovic, agreed. He is staying, and played in the League Cup match after his suspension from last season. Got concussed, so missed the Brighton game. Apart from supply, his main problem is his temper and rashness. He got sent off twice last season, very much a hothead.

As for TransferMarket, ouch.

[Val Halla]

I'm amazed that Mike Ashley has been allowed to stay around tbqh

[Eastfield Lodge]

I'm amazed that Mike Ashley has been allowed to stay around tbqh

Everything he's done has been above board. Just extremely dickish and loophole-y. Also, no-one wants to buy him out for some reason. Might be because the debt the club owes him deters buyers...

[Val Halla]

I'm amazed that Mike Ashley has been allowed to stay around tbqh

Everything he's done has been above board. Just extremely dickish and loophole-y. Also, no-one wants to buy him out for some reason. Might be because the debt the club owes him deters buyers...

Can't the FA do what the NBA did to Donald Stirling and force him to sell the team?

[Auremena]

Everything he's done has been above board. Just extremely dickish and loophole-y. Also, no-one wants to buy him out for some reason. Might be because the debt the club owes him deters buyers...

Can't the FA do what the NBA did to Donald Stirling and force him to sell the team?

No, the clubs are not just merely franchises of the league, like they are in American sports. The FA doesn't really have much say how individual clubs go about their business in comparison to the NFL, NBA, etc. When teams over here are sold, the new owner usually moves then to a different city. Moving Newcastle United away from Tyneside would be ludicrous and would just never happen.

[Auremena]

Rooney's delivery on set pieces has either been a story of too deep or too slow and predictable.

[SuperFruitland]

fucking. finally.

it's been a dreadful game but at least Lallana snagged the win...

[Great Kauthar]

I retract my earlier statement, Snodgrass' first goal was beautiful & what a win for Alba

[Evil Lord Sauron]

Am I allowed to get excited about a comfortable 4-0 win over Moldova?

[Great Kauthar]

Am I allowed to get excited about a comfortable 4-0 win over Moldova?

Yes. I'm excited about a 5-1 win over Malta so

[Nazis in Space]

Well.

This does rather suck for Man City. Figure you'll have to fight it out for second place with Barca. Good luck!

implying celtic wont get second. COYBIG

Well, I wouldn't object to Celtic getting second and leaving ManCity & Barca behind.

So sure, why not?