keep navas (or sell him high in spain to valencia or sevilla)
sell the rest
nasri to PSG
Dzeko to the russians
Toure to inter
what a shocking defeat though next weeks derby will be tense
won't City be stuck in the same situation with needing to spend money that FFP won't allow. They are still in that cycle of money management for another year right? Funny how with all the money in the world, they are in a challenging position because clubs know they want to off load the "crap", and then purchase the best in return.
I'd be surprised if City recoup 50% of expenditures for the "dead wood". Some clubs may be willing to throw big money at Yaya and a few others, but I don't see them getting more than 15M each if they try and sell the likes of Jovetic, Dzeko, Nasri. Clubs aren't spending 20M+ on players who barely make your teams bench. Couple that with clubs willing to sell to City for only 20-30M, and they are once again back in the hole.
I think some of their issues this season have been just bad timing (Kompany having a horrible year, ACN tournament, etc.) -- but they def appear to have mistimed the balance of ageing players, need to reinvest / spend lots of money, and the FFP rules.
I find it a little crazy how quick some are to completely write off entire title winning squads. They did the same with United when Sir Bacon Face left. Suddenly the players were all old and not good enough, when only 6 months ago they were the best in the country.
TBH the quality in the PL has been on the dip for a while now. We consistently see the very best players drawn away to Spain and haven't really looked like putting up much of a challenge in the CL. It's been a case of the team who manages to not go through an extended period of being 'a bit shit' wins the league. It may be possible for Arsenal to be that team next year, I'd settle for starting a season with a full squad and not the usual missing a key piece. If Wenger can manage that over the summer we might stand a chance. Otherwise we're likely to see a Mou dominated league for a while until he alienates absolutely everyone, burns his bridges and flounces off into the sunset.
TBH the quality in the PL has been on the dip for a while now. We consistently see the very best players drawn away to Spain and haven't really looked like putting up much of a challenge in the CL.
I think this type of statement throws the baby out with the bath water. With the exception of the 3 top clubs in Europe (Madrid, FCB & Bayern), I'm not seeing any sort of consistent dominance that would suggest that PL teams are really on the decline. And those 3 teams aren't going anywhere ever, and will always pull the big names from around the world.
I don't doubt that other leagues (primarily the Bundasliga) are very entertaining to watch -- but pound for pound, I don't see anyone being much better than the PL from a fans perspective. And if you take a neutral fan/johnny forigner -- it's hard to really get behind many other leagues.
Spain -- with the odd exception, I'd give myself a 90% chance of picking the top 2 teams for the next 10 years in a row. I'll continue to watch the Classico and Madrid derby -- and that's about it.
Germany -- Bayern are a juggernaut that is going to sit a top the thrown for a while. I think it's great that the next 5-10 teams are constantly moving up and down the table, which is fairly aligned to how it flows lately in the PL
Italy -- sorry, but from a fans perspective (especially a johnny foreigner), I can't get behind seeing half empty stadiums
France -- billionaires play things or also rans (which is a rich statement coming from a PL fan)
Don't get me wrong, this year the PL has been meh -- but as i mentioned in an earlier poast -- i'm thinking that has more to do with all the interruptions from other stuff (WC, ACN, etc.). And a quick look at the other leagues doesn't seem to suggest that I am missing out by not watching other leagues.
Just did a smell check on the CL over the past 10 years (since '04) and with exception to the last 2 years (and now 3 years), PL teams are all over the finals (either as champs or runner-ups).
And much of the representation over the past few years (exception of last year) has either had Pep or Mou involved -- suggesting that which ever club can afford their services will have a good chance of representing in the finals.
I didn't mean to imply that the PL is somehow poor quality. It clearly isn't. But on the international level the PL teams simply aren't at the same level as the current dominant European teams. Bayern, Real, Barca would all walk the PL imho and would've done so for the last 3-4 years. Last season there was no real dominant team, Liverpool could've won the title with practically the same squad they have today and look how poorly they've faired this season. Similar things could be said about City, won it last season, although not convincingly, but have fallen off this season. The year before that it was won by the worst Fergie squad of his tenure, who've also since fallen apart. This currant Chelsea squad are the closest we've come to a quality side who could properly dominate, but even that is partially down to the poor season the other big clubs have had. Arsenal and United started very poorly, City have not quite been there since we beat them, and Liverpool failed to replace their talisman and have suffered the consequences. At the very top level of football the PL isn't quite were it once was.
The prem is missing the handful of gamechanging players that Spain has. I think if Messi/CR7/Neymar were plying their trade here the story would be a bit different. Then you have the fewer number of games and more breaks that Continental Euromangs enjoy.
But it is a much more competitive league and surely more entertaining than the bent, horses-head-in-the-bed Italian show or the straight-up Haves/Have Nots of Spain.
If you want to watch a competitive league, the Championship had this on lock for a while now.
If you want the worlds topper most top top players, it's la liga for you.
For the bestest purist football, perhaps Bundesliga or la liga.
For a best-fit bit of everything, then it's EPL for sure.
But let's not pretend it's actually best at anything other than emptying money out of a mans pocket.
Something I recently learned about La Liga is they decide league position on head-to-head results before goal difference... which is why you have teams like Grenada letting Real Madrid beat them 9-1, as it's no worse than 1-0. There's also the bent-as-you-like divvying up of the tv rights... surprised other european leagues haven't complained about it really.
The Prem seems to be better in that the lower teams always have a go.
Hey Le*, was in BCN this after but lacked the digits to give man a bell. Sitges is the real deal brah. So chill.
Hah, a friend was over from London, and I got hammered 3 nights running, then suffered a 4 day hangover, so wouldn't have been available for anything civilised anyway! Glad you enjoyed it, I need to check Sitges out some time.
It looks like this season has taken a pretty heavy toll on herr Klopp. I'd be surprised if he didn't take the year off just to recoup. All this talk of he off to this club or that is mostly the media talking shit. City would offer him the world, but they really want Pep. Arsene has already had to deny rumours that Kopp was going to replace him and there was a serious discussion about him going to WestHam on the TV yesterday.
Arsene has already had to deny rumours that Kopp was going to replace him and there was a serious discussion about him going to WestHam on the TV yesterday.
WestHam got dat Olympic Stadium money. If they can fill it, which they will be able to do for most of the bigger games, that's an extra 20,000 tickets every game. That could well be enough to raise them up to the dizzy heights of Europa League qualification at least. Dortmund where in a similar league position when Kopp took over.
Comments
sell the rest
nasri to PSG
Dzeko to the russians
Toure to inter
what a shocking defeat though next weeks derby will be tense
won't City be stuck in the same situation with needing to spend money that FFP won't allow. They are still in that cycle of money management for another year right? Funny how with all the money in the world, they are in a challenging position because clubs know they want to off load the "crap", and then purchase the best in return.
I'd be surprised if City recoup 50% of expenditures for the "dead wood". Some clubs may be willing to throw big money at Yaya and a few others, but I don't see them getting more than 15M each if they try and sell the likes of Jovetic, Dzeko, Nasri. Clubs aren't spending 20M+ on players who barely make your teams bench. Couple that with clubs willing to sell to City for only 20-30M, and they are once again back in the hole.
I think some of their issues this season have been just bad timing (Kompany having a horrible year, ACN tournament, etc.) -- but they def appear to have mistimed the balance of ageing players, need to reinvest / spend lots of money, and the FFP rules.
TBH the quality in the PL has been on the dip for a while now. We consistently see the very best players drawn away to Spain and haven't really looked like putting up much of a challenge in the CL. It's been a case of the team who manages to not go through an extended period of being 'a bit shit' wins the league. It may be possible for Arsenal to be that team next year, I'd settle for starting a season with a full squad and not the usual missing a key piece. If Wenger can manage that over the summer we might stand a chance. Otherwise we're likely to see a Mou dominated league for a while until he alienates absolutely everyone, burns his bridges and flounces off into the sunset.
Not that they give a shit!
I think this type of statement throws the baby out with the bath water. With the exception of the 3 top clubs in Europe (Madrid, FCB & Bayern), I'm not seeing any sort of consistent dominance that would suggest that PL teams are really on the decline. And those 3 teams aren't going anywhere ever, and will always pull the big names from around the world.
I don't doubt that other leagues (primarily the Bundasliga) are very entertaining to watch -- but pound for pound, I don't see anyone being much better than the PL from a fans perspective. And if you take a neutral fan/johnny forigner -- it's hard to really get behind many other leagues.
Spain -- with the odd exception, I'd give myself a 90% chance of picking the top 2 teams for the next 10 years in a row. I'll continue to watch the Classico and Madrid derby -- and that's about it.
Germany -- Bayern are a juggernaut that is going to sit a top the thrown for a while. I think it's great that the next 5-10 teams are constantly moving up and down the table, which is fairly aligned to how it flows lately in the PL
Italy -- sorry, but from a fans perspective (especially a johnny foreigner), I can't get behind seeing half empty stadiums
France -- billionaires play things or also rans (which is a rich statement coming from a PL fan)
Don't get me wrong, this year the PL has been meh -- but as i mentioned in an earlier poast -- i'm thinking that has more to do with all the interruptions from other stuff (WC, ACN, etc.). And a quick look at the other leagues doesn't seem to suggest that I am missing out by not watching other leagues.
And much of the representation over the past few years (exception of last year) has either had Pep or Mou involved -- suggesting that which ever club can afford their services will have a good chance of representing in the finals.
But it is a much more competitive league and surely more entertaining than the bent, horses-head-in-the-bed Italian show or the straight-up Haves/Have Nots of Spain.
If you want the worlds topper most top top players, it's la liga for you.
For the bestest purist football, perhaps Bundesliga or la liga.
For a best-fit bit of everything, then it's EPL for sure.
But let's not pretend it's actually best at anything other than emptying money out of a mans pocket.
The Prem seems to be better in that the lower teams always have a go.
b/w
Arsenal's Coq
I thought Man City, but apparently they're not interested...
Hah, a friend was over from London, and I got hammered 3 nights running, then suffered a 4 day hangover, so wouldn't have been available for anything civilised anyway! Glad you enjoyed it, I need to check Sitges out some time.
Pffft and double pffft!
PffftPfffft X infinity
Yes! There it is! That's the triple pffft!
[em]...and it was written, that so long as Arsene shall manage the Gunners, Tottenham will amount to nothing.[/em]
Tottenham had nothing to do with it.