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We’ll await the time-honoured Anfield tradition
1. Say he’s not for sale at any price (already done today)
2. Player signs new contract (that’ll be sorted in the next month)
3. Player leaves next transfer window for astronomical fee
He’ll be gone to Real in the summer for 160 million+
Not a bad bit of business. He’s awesome though! Truly world class. I’ve had him as captain on my fantasy football for most of the season
Great business but the problem comes with finding the next one, the one after him etc. Admittedly VVD has helped the team massively since spending the Barca money, but £200m is only useful if you need it and can replace him.
But with that and the money you get of Bayern for Firmino you’ll be able to buy Pogba 😀
Don't make me sad saying things like that. You'll be throwing in Lukaku too soon!
Luke Shaw?
I could actually see Pogba fulfilling his potential under Klop (although his potential does not match the hysteria that was trumpeted before united signed him). Shaw needs to spend a couple of years at a level just below the top 5 or 6 clubs to get some match time and regain his confidence, it is a nightmare when working for a manager that undermines you.
I commented after the last manchester derby, the difference between Mourinho and Guardiola on the touchlines, Guardiola was shouting and screaming at his players, but he was telling them what they needed to do right (and he was doing the same last year when it wasn't going so well), Mourinho was just shouting at his players that they were idiots.
where it all comes down to is this
Name players who have developed and got better under the three managers , Klopp, Jose and Pep, and worse
Jose is the only ones who list of worse is substantially longer,[ I am not even sure the other two have made anyone worse]
I think he is Wenger mark 2 had a MO that worked but failed to develop it as the game moved on. He is also a monumental **** and ists weird how his press conferences are so outlandish , as his persona, and the team so dull and workmanlike.
Jose always loses the dressing room before he has inevitable hissy fit and throws his toys out of the pram, and it’s not hard to see why.
its difficult to imagine anyone reacting positively to being publicly slagged off and undermined. His enormous ego takes precidence over everything.
Mourinho is a clique manager, he treats his inner circle of players and coaches like gods (he is the chief god of course), and those outside the clique with utter disdain. British cycling did the same. And it works(ed) if those inside the clique don't realise that not everyone is getting treated equally*. But when he attacks easy targets so publicly, like the physio at chelski and Shaw, it breaks the spell and suddenly the inner circle do realise that actually he is a **** and a bully, and they could be next. The odd thing at the moment is his clique seems to consist solely of Matic.
*The reveal can be difficult though, like life outside of sport, most successful people don't realise how lucky they are, they put success down to their own supposed hard work, rather than the randomness of opportunity which is really the deciding factor in the majority of cases.
It's usually the third season he really implodes isn't it? I'll go for November 2018 after falling behind in the title race and a few average performances in the Champions League.
At least a Jose implosion will be better to watch than most of the season for man u. Question still stands will he ever beat Newcastle.
Anyway, I’ve asked this question a couple of times already this season, but I’ll ask it again: who is the most valuable player in the Prem?
Ill ask again at the end of the season, as it will be interesting to see how the answers change over the course of the season.
For me Salah is now no. 1. Any disagreement with that?
Would be very hard to argue with that, but I'd put him and Kane very close at the top.
De Bruyne. Good at everything and works his bollocks off.
Pascal Gross. Best value premier league player EVA! (I am of course hugely biased)
I would still say DeBruyne, if you don't watch city regular you just don't understand how he controls every game, the thing is his stats are fantastic any way, but they don't fully reflect what he does, it is his passes that are responsible for 75% of the goals city scores, the decisive passe that cuts the opposition to shreds, even if there are a couple of passes after so he doesn't get "assist", also somebody posted about chances created compared to goals scored a bit further up, Agureo actually has a bit of a poor conversion rate, and think how many goals he has scored, with being rotated out of the team frequently for the first half of the season, and that tells you how many chances are being created.
However I would say that DeBruyne had a goalden (see what I did there) period up to Christmas, and has just dropped back a little bit now, were as Salah has improved, I would say with Salah's recent form he is currently the best over the past month or so, and if it continues this way until the end of the season it is going to be very close.
This season it is a real shame that only one of them will be the best player, they both probably deserve it. I think they have both raised the bar above what we have seen for quite a few seasons.
So, is anyone interested in international football anymore?
I was browsing through netfix looking for something to watch tonight, and nothing tickles my fancy, and then a sense of dread came over me as I realised "oh god I am going to watch the game aren't I" well at least I have some "edibles" to enjoy.
Nope.
Life’s too short to watch Engerland friendlies
Actually, life’s too short to watch their tediously predictable floundering and going out in the group stages at the World Cup and the Euros.
The only interest I have in these pointless Engerland games is the usual needless injuries that are generally sustained. I hope Rashford doesn’t play. I’d happily see Jose adopt Fergies approach where players like him would develop phantom injuries just before the international break, only to miraculously recover once it was out of the way
Not a bad international friendly in Manchester tonight, if I had been around I wouldn't have minded going to watch Spain vs Argentina.
Well, now that all that silly international nonsense is out of the way, normal service is resumed. I’m hoping that Everton put up a fight against City, otherwise they could win it next weekend at the Derby.
I’m not optimistic.
Spurs v Chelski is always an interesting one. The game from a couple of seasons ago where the ref decided to let both sides just kick lumps out of each other was one of the most bonkers premiership games ever! A repeat of that would be good 😀
We can go a long way to securing our premiership safety today against Huddersfield ..who seem to have a lot of injury problems ?
No excuses then ..( other than we haven't played for three weeks ! ) ..
You won’t see many more one-sided games than this in the Premiership. City are absolutely taking Everton apart, without apparently breaking a sweat
Everton lucky to be only 3 goals down at half time, city are just on another planet.
As a city fan, while happy about the success of recent years, I also missed the old days of celebrating snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, this year has washed that away.
Not good news about Ray Wilkins. One of my heroes when I was a kid. Hope he pulls through.
Well dare I say it ..but I'm starting to look up the table rather than down ..up one place to 12th but with a game in hand over both Watford & Bournemouth which would lift us into the dizzy heights of 10th place if we got 3 points from it..
Yeah sorry to hear about Butch ..not really a fan of his but hope he makes a good recovery .
I think everyone hopes Ray Wilkins makes a full recovery. Good luck to him.
Just watching MOTD, having watched the game earlier, and if anyone would like to talk me through how on Earth Mane stayed on the pitch after following the most embarrassing dive ever (he should have been wearing Speedo’s!) with the most blatant handball? He should have been off!
If Palace had had anyone up front other than Benteke, who couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo.....?
I think the ref was going to red card Mane, but the CP players surrounded him (and especially Cabaye waving the imaginary card) broke his train of thought and he decided he wasn't going to allow them to dictate his actions. What he should have done IMO was give Mane his second yellow and therefore red, and then yellow card Cabaye.
Cabaye did that for the "dive" also..so maybe he should have had two yellow cards and been sent off too?
I hate seeing players do that ..
I'm slightly at odds as to wether it was a dive though ..I watched the match live too and there was definite contact which looked minimal in slow motion ..but in real time looked worse ..and as Souness said ( not that I like to agree with one of the worst managers we have ever had ) ..all of his weight was on his right leg when the contact occurred which made things look " delayed " ..but I'm not sure it was .
I think he was unlucky to be booked and I have seen penalties given for less ..
It wasn’t a dive? Give over! The Ashley Young of a few seasons ago would have considered that a bit over-theatrical 😉
I have to agree with you about players doing the whole card thing though. Just let the red do his job. And it’s counter-productive, like you said, as Mane should definitely have been walking for that
Anyway.... Spurs Chelski later so i’ve no doubt we’ll have plenty more cards to discuss 😀
Spurs Chelski later
Rumours in the papers this morning were that chelsea were going to make a move for Pochettino. Could just be trouble making ahead of the match, but if there is any truth, I wouldn't be surprised if that forced manu's hand to also make a move.
If it does happen, it could also see a big fee being paid to spurs, akin to a star player transfer.
A bit of a wind up if you ask me ..money talks that's true but with a new stadium coming and a very real possibility of surpassing Chelsea in the not too distant ..why would he want the hassle of moving to another London team ..your other guess has more legs methinks ..
He'd have to be mad to go to Chelski. I reckon that they're doing it as a wind up as it looks like this afternoon Spurs might finally break their Stamford Bridge hoodoo. And Spurs will be in the Champions League next year. Chelski won't.
Going back to the player of the season thang, David Silva was unreal yesterday. He always is. Everyone goes on about De Bruyne, but surely Silva is the perfect all-round player. He just runs games! Sane has got to be up there too.
He'd be mad to go to Utd as well.
Silva has come on strong recently, De Bruyne has been amazing most of the season, but I was thinking yesterday that Silva must also be a contender. Funny thing about De Bruyne when you watch him make a run from his own half, it looks like he burns out quite quickly and it is only sheer will of mind that keeps him going.
Sane, Sterling and Jesus are all eligible for young player of the year, as well as stones who was fantastic the first half of the season until he got injured.
What's happening at Arsenal ?
I hadn't realised the sheer amount of fan unrest..I get the whole Wenger out thing ..although given the success he has had he would have a job for life at Newcastle..but to be honest I was shocked at the number of empty seats I'm seeing on my t.v...how fickle !
To be honest though the performance on the pitch is absolutely woeful on the evidence of that first half ..no longer a team to be remotely worried about ..
Arsenal don’t just need to be worrying about Their woeful lacklustre performances (all those empty seats speak volumes), they need to be looking over their shoulder at Burnley
They’re on a roll at the moment and I wouldn’t bet against them finishing above them
Conte getting sacked in the morning then? It’s the Chelski way! 😂
Who the hell are they going to get in next? And who the hell would want that job anyway?!
You’d have to say the UCL places are almost decided now wouldn't you?
Can’t see it changing. It’s all academic now. I expect an exercise in bus parking by Jose next weekend to frustrate City (and anyone who enjoys watching attacking football) and a procession to the end where the only interest is will Burnley finish above Arsenal and the relegation scrap which will probably go down to the last minute of the last game
Who the hell are they going to get in next? And who the hell would want that job anyway?!
It's a bonanza payday. I'm sure they'll get someone who's mercenary enough. They don't even have to succeed: Just do an average job for 6 months to a year, let top-class players manage themselves, and walk away with £5m in their pocket when it all hits the fan. Hell, even a league-winning manager gets the sack these days, so there's no real motivation to be anything other than someone who turns up and puts names on a team sheet each week.
Pardew is available.
Sympathy to all WBA fans ...but you were warned .
Hope that slimy **** never gets near another club and also hope that we don't have to suffer his " expert" analysis as a tv pundit ..and Carver ..you might love Newcastle ..but you are completely shite as a coach .
The real pity though is that once again Pardew escapes without a relegation blemish on his CV ..
Fascinating week or so of football for city, Liverpool-United-Liverpool, I give the edge to city over two legs, but am am nervous, it is far from a guaranteed win. Should be exciting though, I think every football fan will want to watch these two teams go toe to toe.
here is my combined 11.
Interesting you'd have Firmino instead of Aguero.