(09-18-2018 11:19 AM)bojangles Wrote:  Yep that Napoli side was the biggest spending club in Europe during the latter half of the 1980s, to think they were just some minor team is absolute bollocks. Players from that team over that period contributed over 500 caps to the Italian national team. The myth that this team was reliant on Maradona (same with the Argentina national team) is just something formed by media for the fans. Talk to any football coach and they'll tell you it's similar to the Zidane leading France to the World Cup in 1998 myth.

Argentina in 1986 were coached by Dr Carlos Bilardo and had a squad full of players who had won international club competitions in South America during a time when South American players stayed in the continent. The Argentine club sides dominated the Libertadores in the 1980s. Bilardo set up the side to maximise the talents of Valdano, Maradona and Burruchaga. Repeating it in 1990 for the newer younger players like Caniggia. All Argentine coaches that have followed have failed to do this.

Quote:‘”Bilardo saw football in a way we were not used to in Argentina – tactical, the way you were supposed to live, the way you were expected to think.” “As a coach, first of all he thinks about the ‘nil’, making sure no goals are scored against you.”

The team conceded 3 goals until the final (they conceded 2 there). That's a mean defence, find another World Cup winner with a comparable record - you won't. Jorge Valdano was La Liga Player of the Year just before the World Cup started. But I guess he must be shit, so shit that Real Madrid hired him for 2 decades because you know Maradona won the world cup alone. Same with Oscar Ruggieri who most Argentines think is the greatest defender they've ever produced, must be shit.

If the best passer, dribbler, finisher and free kick taker in World Football isn't better than Ronaldo then Ronaldo must be the greatest player ever.

Im looking forward to the Champions League tonight, Liverpool PSG being the standout game, looking forward to seeing how Joe Gomez and TAA do against Neymar and Mbappe, Mbappe is a freakish talent and he's started the season off on fire in Ligue 1 (although there's doubts about the quality of opposition). The last time the 2 teams met was 21 years ago in the Cup Winners Cup semi finals, I remember those games as we lost 3-0 at the Parc De Princes and won the home leg 2-0. Leonardo and Rai tore us apart at their ground, the tactical naivety of Roy Evans cost us. But the return leg at Anfield makes shit difficult for opposition teams, Fowler scored an early goal and Mark Wright then scored a header leading to a last 10 minutes of bombarding their goal. Lama was superb in goal for them.

Will be also interesting to see how Tottenham do against Inter, both teams have had lackluster starts to the season, Mauro Icardi and Harry Kane both going through a sort of dry patch in terms of performances. Monaco Atletico should be interesting too as both teams are going through the same as the former two sides. Bad starts to the season.

Besides the Italian talent (and Maradona, obviously) Napoli also featured Careca and Alemao, two of the best Brazilian players of the day.

I'm a big Mourinho fan but he really messes up on his 3rd seasons, not usually tactically but his relations with players on his team. It happened at Real Madrid, Chelsea and now at Manchester United.

It didn't happen at Porto and Inter because he didn't have 3rd seasons there. I wonder what the hell he does to players to turn against him.

His biggest mistake was letting Rooney go, there are no leaders left in that locker room, just a bunch of newcomers and spoiled kids like Pogba. At Porto he had Jorge Costa and Vitor Baia, at Chelsea was Terry and Lampard, at Inter was Materazzi and Motta for example.

Seems to be a bit forgotten but his time at Real Madrid was not unsuccessful, he managed to be Champion against the most doninant team there ever was, Guardiola's Barcelona.

There's an excellent (though I suspect somewhat exaggerated) book by a journalist called Diego Torres called 'The Dark Side of Jose Mourinho'. Several of the anecdotes he relays have been confirmed as true by former players at Madrid under Mourinho like Dudek. He basically squeezes all he can out of the players and creates turmoil in order to stimulate competition (and the stuff with the media isn't what he's like behind the scenes, he's much more jovial and less combative with the players day-today). It's a really interesting book, even if some of it you take with a pinch of salt.

(09-30-2018 09:16 AM)Rossi Wrote:  I'm a big Mourinho fan but he really messes up on his 3rd seasons, not usually tactically but his relations with players on his team. It happened at Real Madrid, Chelsea and now at Manchester United.

It didn't happen at Porto and Inter because he didn't have 3rd seasons there. I wonder what the hell he does to players to turn against him.

He's a classless egomaniac, watching the Man U disaster makes for good rubbernecking and schadenfreude.

Apparently, his buyout is crazy if he gets sacked.

He has some good talent on that team, I rate the young players like Rashford, Lingard and Martial.

Lukaku isn't up to par, scores against weak team.

Say what you want about Pogba, but where is Sanchez. Dude has gone AWOL since he joined.

DeGea is the best goalie in the league and world class, imagine if they didn't have him.

Not sure about the MU locker room dynamics, but Pogba provided good leadership on the French squad's championship run.

^ If I was a player, I'd accept leadership from a John Terry, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes or Iniesta. Fuck me if I ever take it from Paul Pogba. Rude, most clubs sign contracts to only pay the fired manager as long as he's unemployed e.g Chelsea for Conte who's getting free weekly paychecks but only up to his contract's expiration or he gets a job whichever is earlier. Man Utd would be total morons to have signed anything else. But I wouldn't put anything past a Premier League Club's board. Heh.

(09-30-2018 06:37 AM)Hypno Wrote:  Match of the year today in MLS - Atlanta at New York Red Bulls, the two best teams this year in MLS. With four matches remaining ...

He also owns the MLS record for lifetime hat tricks - 6 - which he accomplished in just 1.5 seasons.

New York has Bradley Wright Phillips, who has a respectable 19 goals this season, and who will watch this match from the bench due to yellow card accumulation.

Not to piss on the MLS, but in footballing terms, it could never amount to much, especially via TV rights, international following and level of talent/play and a very big part of that failure, is the lack of promotion and relegation system at the base of the table, common to all the major leagues and a serious continental contest for the top dogs. I mean, football is nothing w/o drama, but for whatever reason, the main sources of that is blocked off. It is what it is, where were we w/ the EPL again?

Man the 2 Chelsea Liverpool games were brilliant. My team came out on the rough end of both those games (i thought we missed so many chances) but they were a good spectacle and entertaining, something I've not been able to say about games between the 2 for years. Sarri is transforming Chelsea and the way they play, they just better hope Roman stays around, keep hearing rumours about him wanting out of the club (due to visa issues).

(09-30-2018 10:49 AM)Rocha Wrote:  His biggest mistake was letting Rooney go, there are no leaders left in that locker room, just a bunch of newcomers and spoiled kids like Pogba. At Porto he had Jorge Costa and Vitor Baia, at Chelsea was Terry and Lampard, at Inter was Materazzi and Motta for example.

Seems to be a bit forgotten but his time at Real Madrid was not unsuccessful, he managed to be Champion against the most doninant team there ever was, Guardiola's Barcelona.

The issues at Utd were bigger than Rooney. If Ferguson were still at United before Moyes stepped in, he would have shipped him off. Rooney had been on the decline for a long time. LVG didnt see it but Mourhino could. It was a master stoke how he managed to ship Rooney off without causing dressing room and fan revolt.

Mourhino is stubborn and a dinosaur. The game has moved on and yet he is still unable to adapt to the modern game.

Zidane is a gamble also. Despite his champions league victories.

Look at the side he had adopted -

Midfield - Mordic / Kroos - Best central mid pairing in the world.
Strikers - Ronaldo / Bale - Speaks for itself
Best defenders - Varane / Ramos / Marcelo

Anything is better than Mourhino at this stage.

Zidane is a gamble too he lucked out with that squad but also because he told Perez he'd only take the job if he stopped interfering in picking the team. Benitez basically got fired for picking the team Perez wanted which subsequently got battered by Barca. Perez didn't want Casemiro in the squad. Luckily Zidane got his way and got to play Kasemiro.

(09-30-2018 04:42 PM)El Padrone Wrote:  

(09-30-2018 06:37 AM)Hypno Wrote:  Match of the year today in MLS - Atlanta at New York Red Bulls, the two best teams this year in MLS. With four matches remaining ...

He also owns the MLS record for lifetime hat tricks - 6 - which he accomplished in just 1.5 seasons.

New York has Bradley Wright Phillips, who has a respectable 19 goals this season, and who will watch this match from the bench due to yellow card accumulation.

Not to piss on the MLS, but in footballing terms, it could never amount to much, especially via TV rights, international following and level of talent/play and a very big part of that failure, is the lack of promotion and relegation system at the base of the table, common to all the major leagues and a serious continental contest for the top dogs. I mean, football is nothing w/o drama, but for whatever reason, the main sources of that is blocked off. It is what it is, where were we w/ the EPL again?

If I'm correct, the EPL has higher ratings then MLS games, though certain MLS teams like Portland, Atlanta and Seattle have been really successful in terms of attendance.

The MLS will be the best league if the average US player is just as good as the English player. We're not even close to that right now. What they really need is the African-American inner-city kids to play soccer instead of football and basketball.

The US national team has a really nice crop of younger players who might end up being pretty good. Obviously you got Pulisic. But there is also Mckinnie (Schalke), Josh Sargent(Werder Berman), Tim Weah(PSG), Carter-Vickers(Spurs), and Tyler Adams(Red Bulls)

Zidane wouldn't leave Madrid for Manchester though, he's a Mediterranean guy and his wife is Franco-Spanish.

(10-01-2018 07:42 PM)godzilla Wrote:  

(09-30-2018 04:42 PM)El Padrone Wrote:  

(09-30-2018 06:37 AM)Hypno Wrote:  Match of the year today in MLS - Atlanta at New York Red Bulls, the two best teams this year in MLS. With four matches remaining ...

He also owns the MLS record for lifetime hat tricks - 6 - which he accomplished in just 1.5 seasons.

New York has Bradley Wright Phillips, who has a respectable 19 goals this season, and who will watch this match from the bench due to yellow card accumulation.

Not to piss on the MLS, but in footballing terms, it could never amount to much, especially via TV rights, international following and level of talent/play and a very big part of that failure, is the lack of promotion and relegation system at the base of the table, common to all the major leagues and a serious continental contest for the top dogs. I mean, football is nothing w/o drama, but for whatever reason, the main sources of that is blocked off. It is what it is, where were we w/ the EPL again?

If I'm correct, the EPL has higher ratings then MLS games, though certain MLS teams like Portland, Atlanta and Seattle have been really successful in terms of attendance.

The MLS will be the best league if the average US player is just as good as the English player. We're not even close to that right now. What they really need is the African-American inner-city kids to play soccer instead of football and basketball.

The US national team has a really nice crop of younger players who might end up being pretty good. Obviously you got Pulisic. But there is also Mckinnie (Schalke), Josh Sargent(Werder Berman), Tim Weah(PSG), Carter-Vickers(Spurs), and Tyler Adams(Red Bulls)

The problem with soccer in the US is how the system is set up. Look at how other countries operate. Academy set up for each professional team that funnels talent and has great coaching all the way up through the age groups. It's usually a poor people sport that people play everywhere. The US it's a middle class sport. It also lacks a lot of popularity it has here vs other countries.

(10-01-2018 08:20 PM)911 Wrote:  Zidane wouldn't leave Madrid for Manchester though, he's a Mediterranean guy and his wife is Franco-Spanish.

The Premier League is full of Mediterranean managers. He's not going to stay in his Madrid mansion enjoying early retirement. That said, wives play a BIG role in players' and managers' decisions, and to a wife Manchester is not London.

You're exactly correct. I played the highest level of youth soccer in the states and played in college on a scholarship. Youth soccer at the highest level is extremely expensive and political. My club team consisted of rich snobby private school kids. I grew up middle class and went to public school. I was often alienated despite being a good player because I was not part of the "clique". I can't tell you how many talented kids I encountered over the years who never got the exposure or just dropped out of soccer all together due to not being able to afford the expensive costs that are associated with youth soccer. Since there is very little incentive to play in the states, most of the best athletes switch to other sports. A stark contrast from the rest of the world, in which the best athletes are playing soccer and get sponsored by the academy teams provided they have talent.

(10-02-2018 11:58 AM)The Stronger Sex Wrote:  

(10-01-2018 08:20 PM)911 Wrote:  Zidane wouldn't leave Madrid for Manchester though, he's a Mediterranean guy and his wife is Franco-Spanish.

The Premier League is full of Mediterranean managers. He's not going to stay in his Madrid mansion enjoying early retirement. That said, wives play a BIG role in players' and managers' decisions, and to a wife Manchester is not London.

And Mediterranean players. Pep's family are fine in Manchester, I'm sure Zidane's wife will be fine in the affluent Cheshire suburbs surrounding it (though Pep opted for a city centre penthouse).

(10-01-2018 07:30 PM)bojangles Wrote:  Zidane is a gamble too he lucked out with that squad but also because he told Perez he'd only take the job if he stopped interfering in picking the team. Benitez basically got fired for picking the team Perez wanted which subsequently got battered by Barca. Perez didn't want Casemiro in the squad. Luckily Zidane got his way and got to play Kasemiro.

Zidane could make tricky decisions too, ones other coaches couldn't, but due to his instant respect from his playing cred, Ronaldo accepted being rested etc. And Perez loved him as he was a player he signed.

He's definitely a gamble though, and United need a director of football etc to ensure continuity whoever is the head coach/manager. Like, ahem, City. It's normal on the continent, but the English game preferred the dictatorial 'manager' role. This most likely died with Fergie and Wenger's respective departures.

(10-02-2018 01:11 PM)Teedub Wrote:  And Mediterranean players. Pep's family are fine in Manchester, I'm sure Zidane's wife will be fine in the affluent Cheshire suburbs surrounding it (though Pep opted for a city centre penthouse).

Who said Pep's family is fine in Manchester? They're not really fine in Manchester, Pep's wife has a boutique fashion store in Barcelona and she said she goes to Barcelona up to 2 times per week.

Aguero has been living in Manchester for like 7-8 seasons now and he says he hates it. I don't need to say what Diego Costa said about living in UK, along with Soldado, Courtois, Mancini, Balotelli, Jesus Navas, David Silva etc.

Nolito even said this about living in England

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201...s-changed/

I mean, I would hate to live in England too but if they pay me 300k per week, I would shut up and suck it up but that wouldn't mean I would be delighted to live there.

Real Madrid lose to CSKA Moscow.

Rumour has it they are ready to make a $300 million bid for Neymar or Mbappe. Who would you take?

Zidane cant fix that United mess, I would be shocked if he took that position. Unless, the money is stupid which it will be.

They need a goalscorer above all. Neymar scores a lot of goals but he's not a centre forward. Mbappe is not that yet either.

I'd go for Kane or Icardi if I were them.

(10-02-2018 09:21 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  Real Madrid lose to CSKA Moscow.

Rumour has it they are ready to make a $300 million bid for Neymar or Mbappe. Who would you take?

Zidane cant fix that United mess, I would be shocked if he took that position. Unless, the money is stupid which it will be.

Problem of Real Madrid is their shitty coach. Lopetegui is the worst thing that happened to FC Porto. He managed to not be Portugal champion (or any other silverware) during two seasons and with a team with guys like Casemiro, Danilo (Man City), Alex Sandro, Ricardo Quaresma, Brahimi, Jackson Martinez (in top form), Juan Quintero, Hector Herrera, Ruben Neves, Aboubakar, Ivan Marcano, Cristian Tello... Even I was champion with this team...

He was an unfortunate big bet by out great President, this mofo had all the conditions to be successful, great players, an equilibrated team with options in every position, plus support from the board till the end...yet he failed bad. Benfica can thank him the last three titles they won. I was actually very surprised he got picked to manage Spain, and even more surprised when he went to Madrid, absolutely shitty coach. He wont last till Christmas at Madrid.

(10-02-2018 01:58 PM)Rossi Wrote:  Aguero has been living in Manchester for like 7-8 seasons now and he says he hates it. I don't need to say what Diego Costa said about living in UK, along with Soldado, Courtois, Mancini, Balotelli, Jesus Navas, David Silva etc.

Yawn. More anti-England drivel from the usual suspect. They don't like the weather, that's it. They all live in enormous mansions in incredibly affluent suburbs in Cheshire (or leafy West London for the others) and live in immense luxury - if they hate it, they can leave.

And, Mancini gave massive amounts of donations to his favourite church in the city centre, hardly a sign of someone who "hates" England. And Balotelli also did similar generous acts to locals.

We're slowly coming back...Forza Rossoneri: