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FootballGAF 2019/2020 |OT| Does Your Team Got What It Takes To Be Crowned?

Dark Rider

Member
Di Maria's wife "I begged Angel, any place but England. And 1 year later we were in Manchester, a shithole"


The interview has much more, she went ALL IN :messenger_grimmacing_
 

DKehoe

Member
Di Maria's wife "I begged Angel, any place but England. And 1 year later we were in Manchester, a shithole"


The interview has much more, she went ALL IN :messenger_grimmacing_

Even as a United fan, I have to laugh at her comments. It was pretty obvious that Di Maria didn't want to be at United. He was just there because Real Madrid had to clear room for James Rodriguez and United were the only club willing to pay enough for him. He's pretty emblematic of United's transfer problems over the years: buying big name players just because you can and not thinking of how well they will fit in the team or if they want to be there. He did show a lot of promise at first, like this fantastic goal



But Van Gaal clamped down on the creative freedom allowed by the players and the football became so dull to watch and it really restricted a player like Di Maria who flourishes through moments of individual skill. And I get it, if you're from Argentina and have just come over from Madrid then Manchester is going to be a big culture shock for you. But he got so demotivated that Ashley Young took his place in the starting 11.

Young seemed determined to prove a point next time they met

 

Dark Rider

Member
Even as a United fan, I have to laugh at her comments. It was pretty obvious that Di Maria didn't want to be at United. He was just there because Real Madrid had to clear room for James Rodriguez and United were the only club willing to pay enough for him. He's pretty emblematic of United's transfer problems over the years: buying big name players just because you can and not thinking of how well they will fit in the team or if they want to be there. He did show a lot of promise at first, like this fantastic goal



But Van Gaal clamped down on the creative freedom allowed by the players and the football became so dull to watch and it really restricted a player like Di Maria who flourishes through moments of individual skill. And I get it, if you're from Argentina and have just come over from Madrid then Manchester is going to be a big culture shock for you. But he got so demotivated that Ashley Young took his place in the starting 11.

Young seemed determined to prove a point next time they met



The public reason to outsiders looked to be solely to make room for James Rodriguez, the secret reason though was that Di Maria was a trouble maker to the board. He complains A LOT and he demands A LOT and he whine A LOT and he asked for big wadge rises every single year (yes every single year not even contract renewal)
What made it worse is that he was one of those players with a switch, in games he cared about (and was in the mood to play) he was a top world class player but all the other games he was so bad that he hurt the team performance really badly. Most people did not know that because they did not watch Real Madrid week in and week out. Di Maria was more trouble to the club than benefit in my humble opinion.
When we sold him to Manchester United everyone was laughing at us thinking we made a grave error, I was glad to get rid of him for a decent pay he was a headache.

About what happened with him at Manchester United, he is top world class player only in those few matches he's in the mood but when LVG took away his creativity and ask him to not do any of it you are just left with nothing at all.
 

DKehoe

Member
The public reason to outsiders looked to be solely to make room for James Rodriguez, the secret reason though was that Di Maria was a trouble maker to the board. He complains A LOT and he demands A LOT and he whine A LOT and he asked for big wadge rises every single year (yes every single year not even contract renewal)
What made it worse is that he was one of those players with a switch, in games he cared about (and was in the mood to play) he was a top world class player but all the other games he was so bad that he hurt the team performance really badly. Most people did not know that because they did not watch Real Madrid week in and week out. Di Maria was more trouble to the club than benefit in my humble opinion.
When we sold him to Manchester United everyone was laughing at us thinking we made a grave error, I was glad to get rid of him for a decent pay he was a headache.

About what happened with him at Manchester United, he is top world class player only in those few matches he's in the mood but when LVG took away his creativity and ask him to not do any of it you are just left with nothing at all.

I think a good comparison for Di Maria at United is Falcao. Bringing in Falcao was another expensive mistake by United around that time but in my experience United fans don't hold any ill will towards him because it was clear he was trying and wanted to make it work. He just couldn't physically go at that point. Di Maria on the other hand had the ability, an incredibly talented player in his prime. But, as you put it, he switched off. Again, there were circumstances outside of just him but you shouldn't go from being the Champions League final man of the match to getting benched by Ashley Young.

But fuck, the football under LVG was so boring.
 

Dark Rider

Member
I think a good comparison for Di Maria at United is Falcao. Bringing in Falcao was another expensive mistake by United around that time but in my experience United fans don't hold any ill will towards him because it was clear he was trying and wanted to make it work. He just couldn't physically go at that point. Di Maria on the other hand had the ability, an incredibly talented player in his prime. But, as you put it, he switched off. Again, there were circumstances outside of just him but you shouldn't go from being the Champions League final man of the match to getting benched by Ashley Young.

But fuck, the football under LVG was so boring.

Yes I agree about Falcao, but in Falcao defense he was coming back from an injury and never could get back to his former glory but people saw he was trying to do what he can.

The football under LVG was boring but he more than compensated with his antics on the pitch sideline and interviews, the entertainment was overflowing :messenger_beaming:
 

DKehoe

Member
Yes I agree about Falcao, but in Falcao defense he was coming back from an injury and never could get back to his former glory but people saw he was trying to do what he can.

The football under LVG was boring but he more than compensated with his antics on the pitch sideline and interviews, the entertainment was overflowing :messenger_beaming:

Yeh, Falcao seemed to find some form again when he went back to Monaco and I was pleased to see that. Seems like a nice guy.

That's the thing with LVG. The football was awful but I wanted it to work so badly. Because the man was batshit insane in such an entertaining way. Also, the way United let him go was cowardly. He shouldn't have found out the way he did. Bad football or not, he deserved better than the news breaking right after winning the FA Cup.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Yeh, Falcao seemed to find some form again when he went back to Monaco and I was pleased to see that. Seems like a nice guy.

That's the thing with LVG. The football was awful but I wanted it to work so badly. Because the man was batshit insane in such an entertaining way. Also, the way United let him go was cowardly. He shouldn't have found out the way he did. Bad football or not, he deserved better than the news breaking right after winning the FA Cup.

He printed his plans for the next season and went to the training grounds to give them to the players when they told him they sacked him. Yes I agree it was very bad form from Manchester United.

The thing with LVG he can actually make a formidable team that can win trophies but the problem is that his style is to micromanage the players action on the pitch. Nowadays the players do not take kindly to that and the majority never follow his micro managing instructions and thus the football on the pitch falls apart. In the old days the players actually had more respect for their managers and the majority did follow all the managers instructions even if he's micromanaging them which is why LVG was much more successful in the past. The culture changed and now it is acceptable for the players to disregard their managers so all those managers that like to manage every little aspect of the action on the pitch are having a hard time if they manage any of the top clubs because the players no longer view the manager as someone they should respect or listen to.
 
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DKehoe

Member
He printed his plans for the next season and went to the training grounds to give them to the players when they told him they sacked him. Yes I agree it was very bad form from Manchester United.

The thing with LVG he can actually make a formidable teams that can win trophies but the problem is that his style is to micromanage the players action on the pitch. Nowadays the players does not take kindly to that and the majority never follow his micro managing instructions and thus the football on the pitch falls apart. In the old days the players actually had more respect for their managers and the majority did follow all the managers instructions even if he's micromanaging them which is why LVG was much more successful in the past. The culture changed and now it is acceptable for the players to disregard their managers so all those managers that like to manage every little aspect of the action on the pitch are having a hard time if they manage any of the top clubs because the players no longer view the manager as someone they should respect or listen to.

Early on in his run LVG was a lot more open to giving the players creative freedom and they were playing much more free flowing football. Then they played Leicester and lost 5-3 despite being 3-1 up going into the last 30 minutes. It was actually the game where Di Maria scored that beautiful chip I posted the video of. After that it was like LVG came to the realisation that you can't ever take a win for granted in the English league and things became a lot stricter in terms of the style of play and the football deteriorated. Rooney talked about how they were forbidden to ever shoot with their first touch. The style worked well against big teams who were also looking to win and go on the attack. But smaller teams knew if they sat in deep and soaked up the pressure that United would just kinda pass it around pretty aimlessly and there was no final bite to the attack.

But still, there were positives to be taken from his time. He brought in Martial and promoted Rashford. There's not too many managers who would put that sort of faith in youth. Certainly not LVG's successor.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Early on in his run LVG was a lot more open to giving the players creative freedom and they were playing much more free flowing football. Then they played Leicester and lost 5-3 despite being 3-1 up going into the last 30 minutes. It was actually the game where Di Maria scored that beautiful chip I posted the video of. After that it was like LVG came to the realisation that you can't ever take a win for granted in the English league and things became a lot stricter in terms of the style of play and the football deteriorated. Rooney talked about how they were forbidden to ever shoot with their first touch. The style worked well against big teams who were also looking to win and go on the attack. But smaller teams knew if they sat in deep and soaked up the pressure that United would just kinda pass it around pretty aimlessly and there was no final bite to the attack.

But still, there were positives to be taken from his time. He brought in Martial and promoted Rashford. There's not too many managers who would put that sort of faith in youth. Certainly not LVG's successor.

Youth that have something to prove are more likely to listen to the manager instruction than established players who feel they can just ignore him until the board sack him. That being said LVG was always open to youth players and making new stars so it was not odd for him to do that, he is also does not shy away from confronting an established player if they mess up. Add to all that being Dutch and frank about everything which can sound rude to others.
 

Dark Rider

Member
DFL officially announces Bundesliga return on May, 16. Season schedule will include 2 midweek matchdays.


Football will start again with Dortmund vs Schalke!

breathingintensifies.jpg
wipesbrow.jpg
 

Dark Rider

Member
Ángel Torres (Getafe's president): "Every Getafe season ticket holder will be able to come at the Coliseum to watch Getafe's matches for free. I'll pay for it from my own pocket"



:pie_thinking:
 

Dick Jones

Gold Member

Fernandes in TOTY? Five games and in team of the year. Epic trolling by BBC Sport.
There are a few others that shouldn't be there but this one is mental.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Luka Jović has suffered an extraarticular fracture to his right foot.


Out for 6~8 weeks so that is his season over :pie_thinking:
I think he will be replaced, his first season impression is abysmal and he need to fight tooth and nail next season for a spot if he's not shipped out.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Louis van Gaal has revealed Daniel Levy left his home in the back of a car boot to avoid the press after holding talks over Tottenham job in 2014. “Daniel Levy went to my house here in Noordwijk and left in the trunk, because Jack van Gelder was outside”



:pie_roffles:
 

Meowzers

Member
Can't see Championship/League 2 going ahead if they ease lockdown rules in England.

Wales are staying the same so if the leagues were to go ahead in England would mean Swansea, Cardiff and Newport would have to train in England. As things stand until 28th May we'll only be able to introduce individual training.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Can't see Championship/League 2 going ahead if they ease lockdown rules in England.

Wales are staying the same so if the leagues were to go ahead in England would mean Swansea, Cardiff and Newport would have to train in England. As things stand until 28th May we'll only be able to introduce individual training.

Governments re more concerned about the economy more than anything at the moment and looking for solutions to save the economy with as little as possible infections.

For football I think all will just do it behind closed doors. The only issue is players training as you mentioned and I think that you are absolutely correct about the Welsh clubs training in England (the clubs participating the BPL/championship/league).
 

DKehoe

Member
Whats going to happen with the EPL now?

Still to be decided. It's sounding like they will start back up again and play games behind closed doors, possibly at neutral venues, on a condensed schedule. Maybe they are waiting to see how things go in Germany. They would be potentially forfeiting a lot of money so the clubs are probably quite eager to get back up and running.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Whats going to happen with the EPL now?
Still to be decided. It's sounding like they will start back up again and play games behind closed doors, possibly at neutral venues, on a condensed schedule. Maybe they are waiting to see how things go in Germany. They would be potentially forfeiting a lot of money so the clubs are probably quite eager to get back up and running.

They will not announce anything until they get all teams to agree to something, they want to avoid potentially being taken to court (ala the dutch and french leagues).

Again !!!



He must be one of the players Barcelona are looking to ship out :messenger_grinning_squinting:
 

Dark Rider

Member
Up to eight Premier League clubs are expected to argue against the use of neutral venues and call for Project Restart to be put back at a crucial meeting on Monday

 

Dark Rider

Member
OFFICIAL: City Football Group has agreed the acquisition of Belgian Football Club, Lommel SK.



City Football Group currently owns:

Manchester City
New York City
Melbourne City
Mumbai City
Montevideo City Torque
Girona
Yokohama F. Marinos
Sichuan Jiuniu
Lommel
 

Dark Rider

Member
[Blu Radio] Atlético Madrid deep in negotiations with Real Madrid for James Rodríguez. The same sources that told us when he moved to Bayern Munich have said the operation is 80% done. Real Madrid needs to offload James until December or he will leave on free next summer.


His mentality was his biggest problem, we'll see how this goes. Can Atlético afford his wages though? assuming they will pay a good transfer fee for him.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Juventus closes the door on Pogba by self-imposing a salary limit of 9 million euros for the new footballers of its squad in an attempt to guarantee its financial strength after the coronavirus crisis.


Manchester United MASTER CLASS to keep Pogba at the club. :messenger_sunglasses:

IF this is true
 

Dark Rider

Member
FC Köln's goat Hennes IX has been banned by the DFL. The Bundesliga return protocol establish a prohibition on mascots due to hygiene reasons. It will be the first time since 2008 that the FC plays without its goat on the sideline, when the late Hennes VII missed the last 2 matches due to arthritis.


:messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Dark Rider

Member
Toni Kroos: "You will never read one thing about me: Kroos goes to China for the next two seasons or any such story. You can forget about it. I can't imagine going somewhere else again after Madrid. I want to fullfil contract and then ask: What's the motivation? Do I want to keep playing? We'll see"


We're happy to have you even after retirement Toni :messenger_smiling:
 

DKehoe

Member
Scottish Premier League declared over, with Celtic as Champions winning their 9th league title in a row


Scotland is being a lot more cautious than England so I guess this is a reflection of that. Rangers fans will be pissed. But maybe not as much as Hearts fans. I can see them launching legal action over this.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Scotland is being a lot more cautious than England so I guess this is a reflection of that. Rangers fans will be pissed. But maybe not as much as Hearts fans. I can see them launching legal action over this.

Hearts already threatened legal action in light of this news so we will see how that goes.
As for Rangers fans I expect nothing less so maybe next season there will be more of a fight for the title in Scotland I hope.

Celtic's title achievement this season means they have now won 9 league titles in a row, a feat only achieved twice in the history of Scottish football - once by Celtic and once by Rangers. The upcoming season will see them go for the first ever 10-in-a-row

 

DKehoe

Member
He's talking about Pogba playing while in the mood to actually play and win? or Pogba the deadwood that don't care about the game mood?

I'll put my cards on the table and admit I'm a Pogba fan up front here. But the thing is with United he's so often the focus of the other team's defending since they know he's the biggest creative threat. Not saying he doesn't deserve any blame for his form being inconsistent but I do think he's treated harshly. I'm hoping that Fernandes carries some of that creative weight once they return and gives Pogba more room to operate. Pogba and Rashford getting time to heal up fully has me cautiously optimistic. Now watch my hopes get crushed lol
 

Dark Rider

Member
I'll put my cards on the table and admit I'm a Pogba fan up front here. But the thing is with United he's so often the focus of the other team's defending since they know he's the biggest creative threat. Not saying he doesn't deserve any blame for his form being inconsistent but I do think he's treated harshly. I'm hoping that Fernandes carries some of that creative weight once they return and gives Pogba more room to operate. Pogba and Rashford getting time to heal up fully has me cautiously optimistic. Now watch my hopes get crushed lol

When Pogba on the field all the other United players are not allowed to do anything on their own and have to do everything through him which make the other team job easy, just shut down Pogba and United are mostly dead. I just don't know if this is a Pogba demand or just the coach demand but it hurts United the most when Pogba is not in the mood to play. If United make sure they have at least one more vocal point other than Pogba (while Pogba on the pitch) they will do much better.
 

DKehoe

Member
When Pogba on the field all the other United players are not allowed to do anything on their own and have to do everything through him which make the other team job easy, just shut down Pogba and United are mostly dead. I just don't know if this is a Pogba demand or just the coach demand but it hurts United the most when Pogba is not in the mood to play. If United make sure they have at least one more vocal point other than Pogba (while Pogba on the pitch) they will do much better.

I can't imagine it's Pogba demanding it. I think it's just the other midfield options are McTominay, Fred, Matic and Pereria. McTominay and Fred have had very good seasons and Matic started to find some form towards the end there but none of them are the kinds of players that dictate the play like Pogba can.
 

Dark Rider

Member
I can't imagine it's Pogba demanding it. I think it's just the other midfield options are McTominay, Fred, Matic and Pereria. McTominay and Fred have had very good seasons and Matic started to find some form towards the end there but none of them are the kinds of players that dictate the play like Pogba can.

When Pogba in form and in the mood to play? yes of course.
When Pogba not in the mood to play? route all your play through them and use Pogba as a distraction for the other team. But what United do is still route everything through dead Pogba when he's not in the mood.
 
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