Soccer discussion thread

[LetsGoPeay]

Good to see Altidore do something today. I still think his move to Sunderland was a mistake going into a World Cup year. Hopefully he can get out of that shithole next year.

[Uuaww]

liverpool now just has to win 3 of its final 4 games and they will likely win the league. Add that 2 of the games are against Crystal Palace and Newcastle who have long gone into DGAF mode.... liking their odds

[jsence2]

Fuck the Undertaker's streak

Mourinho had not lost a match at Stamford Bridge EVER before today, a streak stretching 77 Premier League matches across two different reigns at the club.

He took over at Chelsea in 2004.

[ReignOnU]

Are you saying that Vince McMahon is to blame and that there is soon to be a corporate takeover of Chelsea? If so, I'm switching my support!

[LetsGoPeay]

Dimitar Berbatov's heart beats 16 times per minute while playing soccer.

[jsence2]

Reports are coming out faster and faster this morning, that Moyes will be fired within the next 24 hours and Giggs will be player/manager for the remainder of the season.

Yesterday's performance was the most clueless, inept, tactically clueless performance I've ever seen from United. It was worse than the first leg match vs Olympiakos.

And when they interviewed him after the match, Moyes said, "I feel that we played well".

That comment was the final nail in the coffin as it finally proved what many have known for some time: the man has no idea how to manage this club, and has absolutely no tactical awareness.

If he's fired, he will go down as a manager who played 53 different lineups in United's 53 matches while he was in charge. No wonder the team has no chemistry.

[LetsGoPeay]

Reports are coming out faster and faster this morning, that Moyes will be fired within the next 24 hours and Giggs will be player/manager for the remainder of the season.

Yesterday's performance was the most clueless, inept, tactically clueless performance I've ever seen from United. It was worse than the first leg match vs Olympiakos.

And when they interviewed him after the match, Moyes said, "I feel that we played well".

That comment was the final nail in the coffin as it finally proved what many have known for some time: the man has no idea how to manage this club, and has absolutely no tactical awareness.

If he's fired, he will go down as a manager who played 53 different lineups in United's 53 matches while he was in charge. No wonder the team has no chemistry.

I know that every team in every season is an entity unto itself, but the fact that Everton is playing so well isn't exactly doing him any favors. I've always thought Roberto Martinez was highly underrated though.

[jsence2]

Reports are coming out faster and faster this morning, that Moyes will be fired within the next 24 hours and Giggs will be player/manager for the remainder of the season.

Yesterday's performance was the most clueless, inept, tactically clueless performance I've ever seen from United. It was worse than the first leg match vs Olympiakos.

And when they interviewed him after the match, Moyes said, "I feel that we played well".

That comment was the final nail in the coffin as it finally proved what many have known for some time: the man has no idea how to manage this club, and has absolutely no tactical awareness.

If he's fired, he will go down as a manager who played 53 different lineups in United's 53 matches while he was in charge. No wonder the team has no chemistry.

I know that every team in every season is an entity unto itself, but the fact that Everton is playing so well isn't exactly doing him any favors. I've always thought Roberto Martinez was highly underrated though.

He brought the same tactics that he had at Everton (very defensive, play not to lose) to United. That works at a club where you're trying to finish top half, but not at one where you need to go for the win to win the title. He didn't take full advantage of the talent he had there. Ross Barkley has developed immensely under Martinez (who I agree w you, he's vastly underrated) compared to what he did under Moyes.

His tactics were horrid; his personnel decisions are atrocious, and his transfer choices.....it leaked out today that he chose Fellaini over Thiago Alcantera because he felt that Fellani was a "better fit" for United. We then overspent on him and he's done nothing at the club, and he'll likely be sold once we can get his value back up. He's alienated multiple players (including Vidic, Rio, Chicharito, Giggs, and others) as has his backroom staff.

And maybe the worst thing of all, this whole fiasco cost us a chance to actually sign who I felt all along we SHOULD have signed--Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a man who has shown he can handle managerial duties and who knows what the club is all about. Instead he's signed on Cardiff City and has made them better, although it might not be enough to avoid relegation. The Baby-faced Assassin would have never allowed this kind of play to happen at United.

Good riddance, Moyes. Nothing in his history ever showed he deserved this job, and I would love to know why SAF chose him. Maybe to help keep Rooney at the club?

[ReignOnU]

- You overlooked his comment that Man U didn't deserve to be down at half-time
- He decided to just flip Phil Jones and Chris Smalling for no apparent reason, even though both had been doing significantly better in their roles as of late

The real question is, who's next?

The fan base seems to be about 80% behind getting Jurgen Klopp, but he's said multiple times that he wants to be loyal to Dortmund. Louis van Gaal has been noted as the obvious choice, since he's basically the best coach without a club team right now. When I see LVG, I immediately think of a more arrogant version of Popovich. The other name flying on the rumor mill is Diego Simeone. I'm not sure that I totally buy what he's done with Atletico. He's bounced quite a bit in his short run as a manager and I'm curious if his current success is a matter of circumstance.

Back to Klopp... my biggest fear is that even with a $100m+ bankroll for this off-season, he couldn't put a team together that could play his kind of ball. MUFC is one of the slowest moving teams I've seen this season. It's almost embarrassing how sluggish the midfield and backline are. Klopp's offense is looking to push the pace and the defense is focused on high pressure and trapping. I think Rooney, AJ, Welbeck and Rafael could thrive. Mata I'm unsure of from a defensive standpoint. The one real positive I could see is that getting Klopp could be the inside track to bringing in Reus and/or Gundogan.

[ReignOnU]

The killer about his defensive style is that he played it from the start. He was content to be patient and endlessly wait for the most opportune moments. We'd find the team down 0-1 or 0-2 and by then, he didn't have the adjustments to get back to even or ahead.

A defensive style with poor defenders is never a good setup.

- Rio is done, toast... we might as well have played a stone statue back there.
- Jones shows promise, but this was the year where was learning on the fly and his mistakes cost us. It's easy to cover that up when an offense puts out 3 goals... we weren't doing that. His mistakes lead to 0-2 defeats.
- Vidic was down this year. I think he's still good at what he does, but it's irrelevant now. He's gone.
- Rafael looked like he always has. Shows glimpses of awesomeness and then makes and over-aggressive run and gets caught out of position or goes in too hard on a tackle and gets a card, which is followed by tentative play.
- Buttner.. well.. yeah. No.
- Smalling, imo, was the highlight of the defense. I think he made some big strides this season and he could be a good CB. I don't think he'll ever be mistaken for an elite CB, but I would be ok with his name being penciled into the starting XI.

[jsence2]

Yeah, him bringing Gundogan and Reus would be terrific.

I could see Fellaini working his system in terms of pressing. I think Januzaj, Rooney, Welbeck, Carrick, and Valencia would work well in his system. I think Mata would do fine as well. Evans/Smalling seem to be our best CB pairing, but they need help. Signing Luke Shaw would help us shore up the left side as Evra is well past his prime.

The odd thing is, Martinez might actually get a look to. I wouldn't have minded him from the start. I think LVG is a bad choice, he's not going to be soemone the players get excited to play for. Ancelloti might get a look as well but I'm not sure I want him; I'm very familiar w him from Milan and his style doesn't suit who we have.

I hope we get Klopp; and having a season to build to get back to Europe without having all those extra matches would give him time to acclimate the players, and not have to have a ton of depth to get through the season. Vidic's contract coming off the books, plus the sale of RVP and a few others like Nani would help give him more funds.

[ReignOnU]

Agreed. As much as I like RVP, I almost feel like signing LVB ensures that we don't move him, which is what I'd prefer. The team is too heavy up top. I didn't consider Valencia, who I agree would be a much better fit for Klopp (and Simeone). Tomorrow should be interesting. While the news wasn't officially announced today, it does sound pretty imminent, potentially tomorrow.

[jsence2]

Scholes is joining Giggs' staff

Now all we'll need is Beckham, Neville, and Bunt, and we'll have the Fergie Fledglings reunited

Moyes is saying it was handled unprofessionally, and in his statement he thanked the management, the fans, and his staff....but not one mention of the players.

[ReignOnU]

I vote for Keane and Beckham, with Simeone heading the ship. That should make for quality entertainment.

[jsence2]

I vote for Keane and Beckham, with Simeone heading the ship. That should make for quality entertainment.

Maybe even get King Eric out there as the PR guy. I'd live stream his media sessions daily.

[ReignOnU]

Anything we get at this point has to be better than the David "Eeyore" Moyes.

[jsence2]

From the Guardian:

United are deliberating between Louis van Gaal and Carlo Ancelotti to replace David Moyes after the former Everton manager was sacked in a 7.40am meeting with the club's chief executive, Ed Woodward. Diego Simeone, the Atlético Madrid coach, is also being considered but United are leaning towards a more experienced candidate and their initial discussions, involving Ferguson, have concluded that the job has come too early for Ryan Giggs, even if he exceeds expectations in his four games as interim manager.

Laurent Blanc has also been ruled out, despite Ferguson's close ties with the Paris Saint-Germain coach, and it has been made clear that the final say this time will belong to Woodward, supported by the United's American directors, rather than the most successful manager in the club's history.

Ferguson will, however, still be an influential voice because the club consider it would be foolish to discount him, even though there is now an acceptance at boardroom level that he made a serious error of judgment choosing Moyes last year when José Mourinho was available.

[ReignOnU]

I'm not going to be shocked if it ends up being Mourinho. Yesterday was a little too curious. It's almost like he's daring Abramovich to boot him so get can make a run at the job.

[BIGmike]

....yea...right...

[jsence2]

....yea...right...

They're actually going to try to go after him, it's just not expected to work