Football season 2020/2021

[Ettan]

Dybala never wanted to leave Juventus.
Afaik he still does not want to leave.
So he asked for ludicrous sallery.

[Northern Goblin]

Lukaku officially gone. That was drawn out enough.

Was amazed we got so much for him, plus if he resells we get a further %

[RobertoCarlos]

Conte still copy and pasting from Mourinho.

Got his dream pairing of lukaku/perisic.

Better lock down matic and mctominay or he'll be off next

[Jessicka]

Conte still copy and pasting from Mourinho.

Got his dream pairing of lukaku/perisic.

Better lock down matic and mctominay or he'll be off next

He's welcome to Matic.

[Fkiolaris]

Well, with the transfer window closed in the UK now, I can say that IMO for Man Utd this has been a shambles for reasons already stated here, no reason repeating them. Also, let's not forget that the collapse of the team in the last 12 games of last season was in great part due to the destabilised DeGea (mind you, still one of my favourites regardless of that) who had one shocker after the other while he still hasn't signed a new contract and is potentially in the same boat like Pogba, ie the "I want to leave now".

Regarding the point raised here and elsewhere about why nobody made any offers for Fernandes and Eriksen and how that shows they aren't really that good, the whole thing is quite simple really. Both teams are desperate to sell them, Sporting because Benfica just got 117m for Felix and Sporting need to match their available spending power otherwise they will be playing catch-up for 3-4 years minimum, while Eriksen is at his last year and is definitely leaving if not now with a fee then next year for free. Now if you are a club that would like either of them and you are not in a desperate situation, you will wait till the last moment to make a move because the selling clubs will be at the most pressure. Why make a big offer now when either team can tell you "I will wait for better offers because I still have time"? Send them an under-priced "take it or leave it" offer on the last day and you'll see what choice they make between that and no money.

[Nerph-]

They have it in them to play great football, that was proven when Mou was sacked. I never really understood why it went to shit again for the last games. Praying it can be like Ole's arrival again but I fear I'm going to be left disappointed.

[Zantera]

I think anyone saying our window was terrible are massively over exaggerating. We fixed certain key areas while not fixing other ones, so I would say it was OK but we would have needed another CM and possibly an attacking option to really push it into "good" territory. If we can have a better defense this season I think that's a good step towards finishing higher in the table.

[Jessicka]

They have it in them to play great football, that was proven when Mou was sacked. I never really understood why it went to shit again for the last games. Praying it can be like Ole's arrival again but I fear I'm going to be left disappointed.

Fitness. Mourinho had them trained to stand around for 80 minutes. Apparently that's the big change under Solskjaer. Probably why Lukaku wanted out so bad.

[Northern Goblin]

Defence is looking solid, De Gea is still at United and we're giving youth a chance, and didnt throw a shit ton of money at someone who doesn't want to be here.

Could have gone much worse.

Last year was mental fatigue after a while, they couldn't sustain what was a mammoth catchup effort.

[Teflon67]

Well for me, the worst transfer of the whole window was Iwobi for £34 mill. I know Everton are desperate for players but man, come on!

[Zantera]

Well for me, the worst transfer of the whole window was Iwobi for £34 mill. I know Everton are desperate for players but man, come on!

I think Iwobi is a mixed bag (decent player with no end product atm) but getting him for 34m instead of splashing out 70-80m on Zaha I think is good for Everton. I think given gametime Iwobi can probably be a decent PL player. He's not gonna become a massive star who scores 20 goals in a season and carries Everton to 4th spot but he's still only 23 so even if he flops they can probably re-sell him for 20-25m in 2 years to another PL team.

The inflation is pretty crazy though. Like Palace wants 80m for Zaha who had 10 goals in 34 games last season and Arsenal got ~35 mil for Iwobi with 3 goals 6 assists in 35 games (sure some were as substitute but still). If you're gonna spend almost 35 mil on Iwobi with 3 goals 6 assists from last season why not get Ryan Fraser who had 7 goals 14 assists in Bournemouth? To me that seems like more value for your money if you're Everton. Bournemouth apparently asked for 35mil earlier this summer.

[RobertoCarlos]

Man utd vs chelsea will be interesting.

Cant really judge the league till after 10 games but its important to start well.

Will utd start like when Ole started, or more towards the end of the season.

Top 4 and getting back to champions league to entice some midfield talent has to be the priority.

Im hoping martial getting back the number 9 will do wonders for his confidence, he and rashford need to start working towards 20+ goal seasons if utd wanna get to where they need to be. Let them take the pens to get their numbers up, enough of pogba's chicken dance and he wants out of the club so they need to start looking beyond pogba and cashing in on him and replacing the midfield when possible.

I think maguire will be big for utd, maybe not VVD big for liverpool but hes the type of player utd need instead of the flashy Instagram stars. Maguire has a grit about him utd defenders have lacked since vidic/rio

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

While I'm not particularly happy about how the first half went yesterday, we managed to hold our own and get a goal. I don't think anybody was expecting us to win or even draw against Liverpool, but if we continue to play like we did in the second half then we will be able to cause problems for most of the opponents in the league and relegation shouldn't be something to be overly worried about.

At the very least, we got a better result than Barcelona. Last season Liverpool put 4 in the net against 9 league opponents IIRC and I don't see why this year will be any different.

[Zantera]

While I'm not particularly happy about how the first half went yesterday, we managed to hold our own and get a goal. I don't think anybody was expecting us to win or even draw against Liverpool, but if we continue to play like we did in the second half then we will be able to cause problems for most of the opponents in the league and relegation shouldn't be something to be overly worried about.

At the very least, we got a better result than Barcelona. Last season Liverpool put 4 in the net against 9 league opponents IIRC and I don't see why this year will be any different.

I don't think Norwich fans should feel too bad honestly. Even in the first half with 4-0 on the scoreboard, Norwich had plenty of chances and the difference was mostly a CL-winning attack on one side and a Championship-winning attack on the other side. If Liverpool weren't so deadly effective I think the game could have gone a different way. I guess the only worry for Norwich is having Chelsea in the next game and then City because 3 losses in a row even against top teams can shake the confidence. I hope Norwich gets going against teams they have a more realistic chance of beating.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I don't think Norwich fans should feel too bad honestly. Even in the first half with 4-0 on the scoreboard, Norwich had plenty of chances and the difference was mostly a CL-winning attack on one side and a Championship-winning attack on the other side. If Liverpool weren't so deadly effective I think the game could have gone a different way. I guess the only worry for Norwich is having Chelsea in the next game and then City because 3 losses in a row even against top teams can shake the confidence. I hope Norwich gets going against teams they have a more realistic chance of beating.

Our next game is Newcastle at home, which shouldn't trouble us as much. If we continue to play like we did yesterday, we'll get the 12 wins and a handful of draws you need to stay up. I just hope Farke doesn't get spooked by a couple of inevitable losses and does a Hughton.

[Northern Goblin]

City aren't fucking about. That wasn't fun to watch from a neutral PoV, impressive though.

[draykorinee]

Gross, city didn't even break a sweat against a team that should be top half.

[Zantera]

Gross, city didn't even break a sweat against a team that should be top half.

West Ham is team choke though. Pellegrini is a bit overrated as a manager IMO. He can't seem to organize a defense to save his life, similar to Wenger in his last 10 years at Arsenal. People thought Norwich's defending was shocking on Friday but West Ham has no excuse because they're a PL experienced team that have spent enough money to challenge for top6. City seemed like they were playing at 75% of their capacity and that was the crazy part.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

West Ham is team choke though. Pellegrini is a bit overrated as a manager IMO. He can't seem to organize a defense to save his life, similar to Wenger in his last 10 years at Arsenal. People thought Norwich's defending was shocking on Friday but West Ham has no excuse because they're a PL experienced team that have spent enough money to challenge for top6. City seemed like they were playing at 75% of their capacity and that was the crazy part.

To be fair, our defending in the first half was pretty bad. The difference being that we turned it around in the second half and took the game to Liverpool. West Ham didn't do that.

[Zantera]

To be fair, our defending in the first half was pretty bad. The difference being that we turned it around in the second half and took the game to Liverpool. West Ham didn't do that.

I think first half against Liverpool you guys probably had as many chances to score as they did but their attack was super efficient. That's the kind of game that IF you guys had been a bit more lucky and more clinical with finishes you could have taken a point probably.