Football The 2020/2021 Season Thread
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Aoami
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*Laughs in Southampton*
Raven
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I at least had a laugh at Spurs because of their new sponsor
I think someone at Dulux will be emptying their desk in the morning.
Embattle
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We've got you next on Wednesday. Fear it. Or don't, whatever.
Gray
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It's just so... Frustrating.
We have had so many games, so many chances to bang in the goals but we seem to just like hitting the ball straight at the pissing keeper. James and Sigs both really good for us. Richarlsons' play with James is good but just not the end product.
Defensively we're all over the show. Probably mentioned it previous but Holgate is such a liability and Keane has made some costly errors the past few matches. Iwobi is (Still) shocking.
I don't understand though why Carlo won't play/Trust Josh King. He was brought in to play at minimum until the end of the season and yet Carlo is not giving him the opportunities - Especially with DCL injured. He almost made an impact with the limited time he was playing. It's just like we're wasting all this money on player wages but just making them happily sit on the bench.
It wasn't a penalty - Not arguing mind! Really surprised that VAR didn't want a look at it, as much as it did look like there was a challenge made in real-time.
We have had so many games, so many chances to bang in the goals but we seem to just like hitting the ball straight at the pissing keeper. James and Sigs both really good for us. Richarlsons' play with James is good but just not the end product.
Defensively we're all over the show. Probably mentioned it previous but Holgate is such a liability and Keane has made some costly errors the past few matches. Iwobi is (Still) shocking.
I don't understand though why Carlo won't play/Trust Josh King. He was brought in to play at minimum until the end of the season and yet Carlo is not giving him the opportunities - Especially with DCL injured. He almost made an impact with the limited time he was playing. It's just like we're wasting all this money on player wages but just making them happily sit on the bench.
It wasn't a penalty - Not arguing mind! Really surprised that VAR didn't want a look at it, as much as it did look like there was a challenge made in real-time.
Next Sunday will be enough for me. The way I feel about Tottenham at the moment City could put out their U13s and win it but it'd be nice for Mourinho's reign of cowardice to come to a close with *something* to show for it.And thats all that quadruple nonsense put to bed for another year.
Just need City to continue this losing streak for another four or five games now
No idea who I want to win the CL - they're all either oil cunts, oligarch cunts or dictator-supporting cunts.
Raven
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At this rate the only thing Maureen will be doing is supplying UTD a new number 10.
I'm not a Spurs fan, but they are one of the teams I like watching, but I am getting frustrated with them, the squad is decent and with a couple of signings could easily be top 4. BUT why does Maureen not have a plan B, ever? Why did they appoint him in the first place? The issues Spurs are facing are nothing new and follow Maureen around like a plague.
I'm not a believer in the supernatural, but Maureen's contract negotiations need an episode of the Xfiles.
I'm not a Spurs fan, but they are one of the teams I like watching, but I am getting frustrated with them, the squad is decent and with a couple of signings could easily be top 4. BUT why does Maureen not have a plan B, ever? Why did they appoint him in the first place? The issues Spurs are facing are nothing new and follow Maureen around like a plague.
I'm not a believer in the supernatural, but Maureen's contract negotiations need an episode of the Xfiles.
DaGaffer
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I absolutely don't get it. Especially from someone normally as canny as Levy. Mourinho has long been poison for any club he touches and he's bang on target to do it again. Surely he's only fit for China or the US at this stage?
They appointed him because he wins *something* at every club he manages. It'd be just typical (you could say Spursy) if Tottenham were so averse to winning that they actually broke one of the most successful managers of all time.
His way of playing is fascinating when it works but just awful drudgery when it doesn't. He needs top class defenders to pull it off and we just don't have them and the ones we do have, he's managed to either shatter their confidence or alienate them. Recently he's been selecting centre backs seemingly completely randomly, it's like he hates them all but is forced to choose the pair he's hates the least every week. Then one of them will fuck up and they'll just get inexplicably dropped.
There doesn't seem to be any plan going forward, just get it to Kane or Son and hope for the best. The plan B often comes into play after we've scored first, held on until about 10 minutes before the end and then conceded. The plan mostlly involves desperation and it's when we see the best attacking play. The infuriating thing is we could play like that from the off and probably blow teams away but he's determined to try to manage the game state in his own way.
Spurs fans hate watching Spurs in 2021, I can't imagine why somebody who doesn't "have" to would bother, we're utterly predictable and so easy to play against.
There have been a lot of good bits - he did well in the transfer window last Summer, there have been some magnificent team performances, he rotated the squad perfectly when we played 4 times in 9 days or something earlier in the season, 6-1 at Old Trafford, Kane has been better than ever this season - but 2021 has been mostly godawful. Zagreb was the last straw for all but the most ardent Mourinho supporters.
Nobody knows the specifics but the hope is that there are clauses in his contract and we can get shot at the end of the season (if he even lasts that long). Like you say, Levy is canny, there's no way he isn't protecting himself and the club otherwise it's going to be fucking expensive to get rid.
Mourinho looked like he knew he was done last night - weird team selection, weird subs, shit body language, slumped in his chair for the majority of the match. It's all just a bit shit - he looks a bit pathetic tbh, like the game has passed him by and his way just doesn't cut it any more. He said "same manager, different players" a few weeks ago (which probably went down with the "different players" about as well as you can imagine) after being asked why we were so shit, it's more like "same manager, different era".
His way of playing is fascinating when it works but just awful drudgery when it doesn't. He needs top class defenders to pull it off and we just don't have them and the ones we do have, he's managed to either shatter their confidence or alienate them. Recently he's been selecting centre backs seemingly completely randomly, it's like he hates them all but is forced to choose the pair he's hates the least every week. Then one of them will fuck up and they'll just get inexplicably dropped.
There doesn't seem to be any plan going forward, just get it to Kane or Son and hope for the best. The plan B often comes into play after we've scored first, held on until about 10 minutes before the end and then conceded. The plan mostlly involves desperation and it's when we see the best attacking play. The infuriating thing is we could play like that from the off and probably blow teams away but he's determined to try to manage the game state in his own way.
Spurs fans hate watching Spurs in 2021, I can't imagine why somebody who doesn't "have" to would bother, we're utterly predictable and so easy to play against.
Levy has had this weird obsession with Mourinho for years, I think he tried to get him before his second stint with Chelsea. I think he saw it as a bit of a Hail Mary - I don't think he believed (or didn't want to believe) Pochettino when he said we needed a "painful rebuild" and believed (or hoped) that the squad was good enough to do better than they were and win something.
There have been a lot of good bits - he did well in the transfer window last Summer, there have been some magnificent team performances, he rotated the squad perfectly when we played 4 times in 9 days or something earlier in the season, 6-1 at Old Trafford, Kane has been better than ever this season - but 2021 has been mostly godawful. Zagreb was the last straw for all but the most ardent Mourinho supporters.
Nobody knows the specifics but the hope is that there are clauses in his contract and we can get shot at the end of the season (if he even lasts that long). Like you say, Levy is canny, there's no way he isn't protecting himself and the club otherwise it's going to be fucking expensive to get rid.
Mourinho looked like he knew he was done last night - weird team selection, weird subs, shit body language, slumped in his chair for the majority of the match. It's all just a bit shit - he looks a bit pathetic tbh, like the game has passed him by and his way just doesn't cut it any more. He said "same manager, different players" a few weeks ago (which probably went down with the "different players" about as well as you can imagine) after being asked why we were so shit, it's more like "same manager, different era".
Aoami
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Spurs being a good team is a misconception imo. They've got two world class players in Kane and Son, and not much else. I couldn't name another player who get in City, Chelsea, City or Liverpool's teams. Maybe Ndombele or PEH at United?
I also dont think Mourinho is past it. People calling him Maureen makes me cringe so much. It's not 2006 anymore. He doesn't have loads to work with and Levy isn't splashing the cash. You can't play free flowing attacking football with a shite defence and he knows it. He has turned Kane from an out and out goalscorer into a more all round footballer, which should be commended. I think he will do another season there, and Levy will give him a bit of money to spend in the summer. If he can get Spurs top 4 and a cup, that's a great season and I reckon he'd move on.
I also dont think Mourinho is past it. People calling him Maureen makes me cringe so much. It's not 2006 anymore. He doesn't have loads to work with and Levy isn't splashing the cash. You can't play free flowing attacking football with a shite defence and he knows it. He has turned Kane from an out and out goalscorer into a more all round footballer, which should be commended. I think he will do another season there, and Levy will give him a bit of money to spend in the summer. If he can get Spurs top 4 and a cup, that's a great season and I reckon he'd move on.
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Raven
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He is called Maureen because he is always moaning about something or other and blames everyone, including the tea lady for any loss.
Kane doesn't need to be a complete footballer, he needs to be Gary Linker with a bit more muscle, which is exactly what he is in the box. Great, he clears the odd ball, but what use is your target man in your own 20 yard box?
He (Maureen) is well past it, the game left him 5+ years ago.
He will get a pay-out and move on to the next victim. Has he done France yet? Monaco maybe?
Kane doesn't need to be a complete footballer, he needs to be Gary Linker with a bit more muscle, which is exactly what he is in the box. Great, he clears the odd ball, but what use is your target man in your own 20 yard box?
He (Maureen) is well past it, the game left him 5+ years ago.
He will get a pay-out and move on to the next victim. Has he done France yet? Monaco maybe?
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Aoami
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What are you basing that on though? 5 years ago he won the league with Chelsea, and since then he has been the only manager to do anything worthwhile with United since Fergie, and has done an OK job at Spurs with a pretty mediocre team. He has them in their first domestic cup final in 6 years and his win % is just behind Pochettino the fraud, who Spurs fans seem to revere as some sort of God.
Also, Kane is having his best goal scoring season in 4 years, and has just added more to his game.
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Raven
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It's based on the fact that he joins clubs that are nearly there, sits on it a bit, wins the odd thing, always first season, as soon as things start to go wrong he alienates the dressing room then gives up and waits for his pay-out.
Maybe he is a good tactician but a useless man manager...who knows, but I am sure he will have time to work it out after the fact. He has probably made more money out of being sacked than he has done from winning things.
He is a classic narcissist, amusing but ultimately won't leave any marks.
As for Kane, yeah sure, adding stuff to his game can only be a benefit but the amount of times he is way back up the field when there is a break is criminal.
And yeah, Spurs should absolutely be competing for top 4, after so many years mid-table and the amount they have spent as a club (including stadium and so on) You don't make that sort of investment to finish 8th or whatever.
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Raven
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There you go.
www.bbc.co.uk
Perfect fit. Another 5-10 mil
Flick announcement displeases Bayern
Bayern Munich says it "disapproves" of manager Hansi Flick announcing he wants to leave at the end of the season.
www.bbc.co.uk
Perfect fit. Another 5-10 mil
Aoami
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Neither United or Spurs were "nearly there" though. United were shite under Moyes, and a slight improvement under Van Gaal. Mourinho got a lot more out of them, won the Europa and had an 81 point season where they finished 2nd, miles better than anyone else post Fergie - that was not a team that was nearly there.
Spurs, I take the point a little bit, but to me it's a misconception that Spurs are a top four side. Just because they have a big stadium and their fans act like they're a big club, doesn't mean they are. He came in when Spurs were playing like shite (albeit coming off the CL final) under Pochettino, and turned the season round. They're not having a great year, they're not great to watch, but Mourinho teams never are until he has the players he wants. As I said before, who in the team is top 4 worthy outside of Son and Kane? I think he should be doing a bit better than he is, but to say he is past it and a failure... No evidence for that imo.
I'd be a bit more generous with top 4 quality players (definitely Ndombele, probably Lloris, maybe Reguilon, definitely pre-injury Reguilon) but outside City and Liverpool, which top 4 team has more than a handful of players that'd walk into another top 4 side?
In Mourinho's defence he doesn't seem to have lost the dressing room, the players still put a shift in it's just like they don't seem to know what to do which is criminal when tactical periodisation is his big thing - one of the benefits of it is (supposed to be) that players always know the next move no matter what situation they're in.
Mourinho is still affable in interviews, he still gives better answers than Pochettino, we haven't seen any of the snarky bullshit we've seen towards the end of his previous jobs. Aside from his body language the other night he seems like he's genuinely trying to fix it, he's just running out of ideas. There's a list of players who have just vanished (Bale, Dele, Bergwijn). Who knows what's going on behind the scenes but the negative stories coming out from former players of his doesn't inspire confidence.
And Flick is going to the German national team, the hope was that we could get Nagelsmann but he's more than likely going to Bayern.
We massively over-achieved under Pochettino, there's no denying it. His brief was to come in while the stadium was being built and just do as well as possible while spending as little as possible. He then proceeded to launch us into the CL in his second season and we very much got used to being there. There's no point pointing fingers about how it went wrong; Levy defenders will say that Poch was a stubborn bastard in transfer windows and had a very specific list of targets and often refused other players he was offered, Poch defenders will say Levy's a tight fucking arsehole who never spends money (which is demonstrably false but whatever).
Poch also let our academy completely stagnate, he prevented players from going out on loan and then didn't play them, it was bizarre. On the face of it this:
is pretty damning but all of our "ready" U21 players are out on loan and flying so Mourinho has done good things with the youth.
In Mourinho's defence he doesn't seem to have lost the dressing room, the players still put a shift in it's just like they don't seem to know what to do which is criminal when tactical periodisation is his big thing - one of the benefits of it is (supposed to be) that players always know the next move no matter what situation they're in.
Mourinho is still affable in interviews, he still gives better answers than Pochettino, we haven't seen any of the snarky bullshit we've seen towards the end of his previous jobs. Aside from his body language the other night he seems like he's genuinely trying to fix it, he's just running out of ideas. There's a list of players who have just vanished (Bale, Dele, Bergwijn). Who knows what's going on behind the scenes but the negative stories coming out from former players of his doesn't inspire confidence.
And Flick is going to the German national team, the hope was that we could get Nagelsmann but he's more than likely going to Bayern.
We massively over-achieved under Pochettino, there's no denying it. His brief was to come in while the stadium was being built and just do as well as possible while spending as little as possible. He then proceeded to launch us into the CL in his second season and we very much got used to being there. There's no point pointing fingers about how it went wrong; Levy defenders will say that Poch was a stubborn bastard in transfer windows and had a very specific list of targets and often refused other players he was offered, Poch defenders will say Levy's a tight fucking arsehole who never spends money (which is demonstrably false but whatever).
Poch also let our academy completely stagnate, he prevented players from going out on loan and then didn't play them, it was bizarre. On the face of it this:
is pretty damning but all of our "ready" U21 players are out on loan and flying so Mourinho has done good things with the youth.
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DaGaffer
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He may "win something" at every club he goes to, but he also leaves behind massive wreckage behind when it all goes titsup (as it always does by season 3), and he usually spends a ton of money doing it, which rather flies in the face of any idea that Levy had about his just picking up Pochettino's team; the seeds of disaster are there from day 1 if Mourinho can't bring in the usual Mou formula players (tall and bulky basically).
Now Levy will have to get rid, pay him off AND still have an even bigger rebuild thanks to all the players Mourinho has made worse. This is the danger with hiring Mourinho, you get one or maybe two good seasons for 3-5 years of damage.
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