⚽️The Footy Thread: Lock Thread

[macbk]

Mo at 7?

 

[LA Diggler]

 

[sonoftony]

No CL trophy and an early World Cup exit would do that

 

[rolaholic]

That ballon d'or list is trash,only player deserving of a super WC boost like that is Modric,the rest sont make sense coming ahead of Mo...

In silly news:





Zizou's joining Juve as Sporting director in October?





Well played Ajax,wish Blind well. Really intelligent and versatile player,he'd have been a sure starter if he had more pace.



Fonte to Lille

 

[Coupé It]

Yea y’all are tripping, those cr7’s are dope (I like Kobe’s).... so no Portuguese tech fleece?

 

[rolaholic]

Hmm...

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Great post. I especially thought this paragraph was poignant. England really didn't take a step forward. Their path was easier because the actual super powers faltered early on.

“L’Équipe instead saw it and the sensationalization of Gareth Southgate’s subjectively small achievements as embarrassing, with the view in France that ,whilst he had done a good job to give England a semblance of organisation of the kind that an England team has rarely seen before, their favourable route to the semi-final, over-reliance on set pieces and lack of a midfield controller were weaknesses critically ignored by the praise they received in the English press and the excitement of the country’s fans.”

Yea y’all are tripping, those cr7’s are dope (I like Kobe’s).... so no Portuguese tech fleece?

The Portuguese tech fleece is gone... The product run happened about a month before the WC & it's sold out ever where on the internets.

 

[rolaholic]

I doubt the English care how they're percieved abroad. The reality is that they usually bottle it during tourneys 9 times out of 10 and they didn't this time. Regardless of how it happened,they deserve to be a little happy about their team imo

They got bounced by Iceland last time they even made it out of the group stage...

I don't get all the effort that's been made to **** on them and implying that they shouldn't be proud of their boys

 

[Kimchi Papi]

They gonna get bounced early again... And they should take outside perception seriously because that's closer to reality than they allow for themselves.

If they addressed the criticisms from outside thoroughly, they would be better off in up coming tournaments.

If they sit pat & take the accolades given to them by the Brit pundits & plaudits, they'll experience Iceland over & over again.

 

[rolaholic]

They gonna get bounced early again...

Semi's are considered early now?

They got bounced by a better team,no bottling this time at least

 

[rolaholic]

Gonna miss Henry on Sky,his 1v1 interviews with players and managers were always appreciated as well as his reactions with Carragher

He was great on TV but I hope he can be even better as a manager

 

[ROYGBiV]

Chiesa is a gem. I want Roma to go after him but I think the Viola want 50+ for him. Inter would def look really promising this season with him. Although I wouldn’t give Perisic up.

 

[Armada]

Large majority of the England based football podcasts i listened to have been very realistic and grounded when speaking on England's run. The consensus being they are proud of making it back to the semis (which any country should be proud of doing no matter the route) but at the same time disappointed they couldn't do more and wanting to figure out what could be done to improve. Things like not panicking resort to hoofball when pressed and committing to the possession based style Southgate had been trying to have them play. Speaking on what up and comers in the England youth and who with more experience as they get older could grow into players that could fill the holes in their young squad particularly in midfield as looking back on it was their biggest weakness. But overall i've heard nothing but realistic convos from people from England around what their national team did this World Cup

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Semi's are considered early now?

They got bounced by a better team,no bottling this time at least

No, they're going to get bounced earlier than that in future tournaments if they don't fix whats wrong. They only got to the semis in this WC because the true super powers got bounced early making their path easier. Plus they were "gifted" a very easy draw.

Damn, Thierry turned down €12m from Sky to pursue his coaching career...

 

[rolaholic]

Been thinking about how France are seemingly set at the back for the next 5-6 years at least with these 2 paired up

Sheesh

Dudes proved to be such a rock solid combination during the WC,they had a better run to me than Hummels - Boateng and seemed on par with Pique - Ramos bossing it in SA.

France is pretty well set up in all areas for a nice long run if they manage to keep it together

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Except for a prototypical type striker (& keeper), Les Bleus are like 2,3,4 deep at every position with fairly young talent. They could give multiple looks & formations tactically. It’s a shame they couldn’t win the Euro. They should have both tournaments. Except for @trainspotter , we all know why...

 

[rolaholic]

Large majority of the England based football podcasts i listened to have been very realistic and grounded when speaking on England's run. The consensus being they are proud of making it back to the semis (which any country should be proud of doing no matter the route) but at the same time disappointed they couldn't do more and wanting to figure out what could be done to improve. Things like not panicking resort to hoofball when pressed and committing to the possession based style Southgate had been trying to have them play. Speaking on what up and comers in the England youth and who with more experience as they get older could grow into players that could fill the holes in their young squad particularly in midfield as looking back on it was their biggest weakness. But overall i've heard nothing but realistic convos from people from England around what their national team did this World Cup

Yea I haven't seen folks puffing their chests out overtly or anything like that. Most of the pundits I see still show pride while also acknowledging the draw they had as well as the need to improve. I still don't think that should take away from their pride,it's no one's fault but the traditional powers/big countries faults that they got bounced early. Can't penalize a team for others coming out and being much worse than everyone expected

Been encouraging to see the discussion being centered around what practical things can Southgate and the team do to get better and on the level of a Croatia rather than having the expectation that they're automatically gonna be better in 2022. Almost everyone I've seen speak about the team acknowledges that they're not near the same level as the elite in the world (France,Belgium,Brazil etc)

 

[rolaholic]

Except for a prototypical type striker (& keeper), Les Bleus are like 2,3,4 deep at every position with fairly young talent. They could give multiple looks & formations tactically. It’s a shame they couldn’t win the Euro. They should have both tournaments. Except for @trainspotter , we all know why...

It's silly when you see the list of talent

I'm glad that they've been able to finally get that hardware but I hope that it's only just the beginning and that they manage to make the most of this generation. Still hoping Deschamps retires by the next WC tbh,this squad is as equipped as any to still win while playing attractively

 

[Armada]

I dont see a way Laporte breaks into that French CB partnership. Varane and Umtiti are gonna have that locked down. He minus whale make that one time switch to Spain they gonna need some fresh young CB's soon with Pique and Ramos both on the wrong side of 30.

 

[sonoftony]

Lannisterihno got an UGLY shot

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Its rumored Real Sociedad want Jose Arnaiz, but Barca will only sell for €12m... I swear, I'll let jape spin his propaganda on this...

 

[jape]

varane and umtiti >
amazing pairing
and what's crazy is that france is absolutely stacked with talent at the CB position

umtiti
varane
kimpembe
laporte
lenglet
upamecano
sarr
zouma
koscielny
rami
benatia too could of played for the french team

who am i missing?

 

[jape]

Its rumored Real Sociedad want Jose Arnaiz, but Barca will only sell for €12m... I swear, I'll let jape spin his propaganda on this...

i don't want to sell him. i wan't him on the first team but he needs minutes... buy back clause and we are good. or just send him on loan




also, kovacic on city is gonna be a problem
pep makes everyone better and smarter....imo liverpool should be trying to sign kovacic as well
i think he would balance their midfield better than fekir would

 

[rolaholic]

Real are asking too much though apparently. They weren't down to pay 60m for Jorginho, Kovacic would be 80...

 

[rolaholic]

I dont see a way Laporte breaks into that French CB partnership. Varane and Umtiti are gonna have that locked down. He minus whale make that one time switch to Spain they gonna need some fresh young CB's soon with Pique and Ramos both on the wrong side of 30.

Yea he might as well pull a reverse Luca Hernandez cause it's gonna be tough to break through Les Bleus ranks