Paid Members air_raid Posted July 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 25, 2022 Pre-season matches mean fuck all. Ramos' Spurs beat a strong Roma 5-0 at the Lane with David Bentley scoring 2 right before the start of 08-09. Then went 10 games into the season without a single win and getting the sack, including losing to two promoted teams back to back. Again ; pre-season means fuck all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Duke Posted July 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 25, 2022 Not too worried about the results, (man u beat Liverpool in pre season, they're unlikely to finish above them in the real world), nor the transfers yet, as there is still time, although Barca are doing their best to ruin everything.  What I'm more concerned about is Tuchel's prickliness. It's been a hard 6 months, and we need some stability. Him getting fed up and packing it in is one of the worst things that could happen right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butch2000 Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Wrexham are playing Man U in a behind closed doors friendly this week. We’ll piss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CleetusVanDamme Posted July 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 25, 2022 4 hours ago, CleetusVanDamme said: Khalid's entire gimmick is @ing players he's met (spoiler: it's everyone, ever) and posting the photos of it every few hours. Haha. Within minutes of my post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Are we certain that he’s not a Kayvan Novak character?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted July 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 25, 2022 22 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said: Are we certain that he’s not a Kayvan Novak character?  He can't be, he's about 2ft shorter. N'golo Kante is standing over him for crying out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted July 25, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 25, 2022 (edited) . Edited July 25, 2022 by Devon Malcolm D'oh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 26, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 26, 2022 (edited) Here's a thought I had the other day ; is the idea of the "best 11" dead? The BBC ran an article not long ago exposing the myth of various "iconic" teams, e.g. the team remembered as Man United's best in 1999 - Schmeichel, Neville-Johnsen-Stam-Irwin, Beckham-Scholes-Keane-Giggs, Yorke & Cole, only actually started one league game together. I was reflecting on a couple of Spurs' seasons where what I remember as "the best 11" didn't actually get to play together often (or sometimes, at all). Harry Redknapp tried to stick to a "best 11" and two seasons in a row the team fell apart in March because the fullbacks and wingers were exhausted. Time was, "he doesn't know his best team" was the worst accusation you could throw at a manager, but does that really ring true any more? Rotation is more popular than ever, and Conte just gave a quote to the press that you need about 18 players at the same level where if anyone comes in or out the overall quality of the team doesn't dip. As an example, I examined the Man City starting lineups from last season. Now, I'm not ignorant to Guardiola being a frequent rotator for years but I wondered if, in a season where yet again Man City were the best team in the league, his selections over 38 games gave even a slight bias to a particular team, gun to his head. One thing that's clear is that, everyone fit, the back five always picked itself. The best teams always seem to have a bare minimum of settled goalie and centre backs, and it seems Pep clearly prefers Kyle Walker and Cancelo to any other options available to him at full back. In front, Rodri & Gundogan played far more games as part of the midfield than not. The best City team clearly has Kevin De Bruyne in it when fit, and he was played in the middle several times last season, so I'd include him there. For the selections for the front three, by who Guardiola picked last season, Bernado Silva started 33, standing out front with the most by a margin, then it goes Foden on 24, Sterling on 23, Grealish on 22. So by the numbers of the outfield players, that would suggest that Guardiola's preferred 11 would be ; Edersen Walker-Diaz-Laporte-Cancelo Rodri-Gundogan-De Bruyne Silva-Sterling-Foden Did that exact team play together last season? Yes, yes they did. Once only, at home to Spurs, a game they lost. Of course, since then Guardiola has decided Sterling was surplus to requirements, so I asked myself if the front six played together with Grealish in his place much last year? Silva, Foden and Grealish certainly played together, but often Silva was in the middle with Sterling also in the team, or in other ways muddled with a Jesus or Mahrez. So in conclusion, yes, if you want to succeed at the top of the Premier League these days, its clear that "knowing your best team" is a fallacy, and squad strength is crucial - everyone picks up injuries and suspensions and if your faith in 11 men only is absolute, you'll get found out when you have one or two missing and the players you bring in don't measure up, or the structure/fluidity of your team's play will suffer. While rotation used to be scoffed at in some quarters because teams that are "used to each other" are supposed to gel better, these days you need 15, 18 or more players that are used to each other AND manage the egos accordingly to withhold the rigor of the modern season and maintain a consistent level of results. Edited July 26, 2022 by air_raid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 2 minutes ago, air_raid said: is the idea of the "best 11" dead? ....... So in conclusion, yes To "Super-Garth" - verb, slang: for when you answer your own question with a Post of the Year contender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 26, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 26, 2022 41 minutes ago, CavemanLynn said: Post of the Year contender Nah, its only football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted July 26, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 26, 2022 My word, Russo sent that keeper into retirement. Beautiful. Sweden were very dangerous in the first half from set pieces but as soon as the first goal was scored Sweden were always going to struggle to get back into the game, England could then (and did) control the game as they are far more superior on the ball. Sweden needed 10 more Asllani's after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 I love watching Fran Kirby play. The best player I've ever played with, or seen play, is without a doubt my older sister and watching Kirby play is just like watching her. It's really eerie how similar they are. Strong, skillful, tenacious; that was a brilliant performance from her and she deserved that goal. Lovely swerve finish from Russo, brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted July 26, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted July 26, 2022 It's great to see her hit her stride for England at last. She's been the biggest reason Chelsea have achieved so much over the years, incredible footballer. She's practically Spanish the way she plays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 I take it when she bends the ball into the net it’s referred to as a Russo Swerve? If not, why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Blog Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 9 hours ago, Keith Houchen said: I take it when she bends the ball into the net it’s referred to as a Russo Swerve? If not, why not? Surely a Russo swerve would be her scoring in her own net and pulling off her England top to reveal the other teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpeg.55e5547a252a5ad1a05f197973025167.jpeg)
Recommended Posts