Everything Soccer

[Cackalacky]

What's new with Goretska? I have only seen he will be joining Bayern.

 

[notredomer23]

Auba to Arsenal???

 

[Emcee77]

Auba to Arsenal???

Man, what a shot in the arm that would be for a club that really needs it right now ...

Arsenal looked very average this weekend without Sanchez or Ozil.

 

[GowerND11]

Man, what a shot in the arm that would be for a club that really needs it right now ...

Arsenal looked very average this weekend without Sanchez or Ozil.

Ugh, tell me about it.

 

[Emcee77]

Plus the rumor is that, if Sanchez goes to Man U, Mkhitaryan comes back the other way to Arsenal. Mkhitaryan + Aubameyang = instant offense. Could be the spark they need to get back on track.

I mean, they need a few other pieces as well, but it would be a hell of a start.

 

[GowerND11]

Plus the rumor is that, if Sanchez goes to Man U, Mkhitaryan comes back the other way to Arsenal. Mkhitaryan + Aubameyang = instant offense. Could be the spark they need to get back on track.

I mean, they need a few other pieces as well, but it would be a hell of a start.

Desperately needed too. Still bitter than Ozil and Sanchez will leave. When they arrived, I thought it was the start of a turn around for Arsenal. Maybe them leaving will be. Mkhitaryan and Auba would be super interesting considering how we are playing of late.

 

[Emcee77]

Desperately needed too. Still bitter than Ozil and Sanchez will leave. When they arrived, I thought it was the start of a turn around for Arsenal. Maybe them leaving will be. Mkhitaryan and Auba would be super interesting considering how we are playing of late.

Yeah it has to be frustrating. Holding and Calum Chambers just aren't good enough at the back. But Wilshere looks really good lately, and Maitland-Niles is an exciting prospect, although he's not really a fullback or wingback.

Arsenal really just need to get healthy at the back. Kos, Kolasinac, and Monreal out is a problem.

But imagine this Arsenal side:

Mustafi - Kos - Monreal in the back
Xhaka (or Maitland-Niles, when ready) - Wilshere in central midfield
Bellerin - Kolasinac as wingbacks
Mkhitaryan Ramsey as attacking midfielders (Ramsey was never a center mid, for me)
Aubameyang up top

I mean, I like that side.

 

[notredomer23]

Plus the rumor is that, if Sanchez goes to Man U, Mkhitaryan comes back the other way to Arsenal. Mkhitaryan + Aubameyang = instant offense. Could be the spark they need to get back on track.

I mean, they need a few other pieces as well, but it would be a hell of a start.

Auba's nice but you guys need defense in the worst way...

 

[GowerND11]

Yeah it has to be frustrating. Holding and Calum Chambers just aren't good enough at the back. But Wilshere looks really good lately, and Maitland-Niles is an exciting prospect, although he's not really a fullback or wingback.

Arsenal really just need to get healthy at the back. Kos, Kolasinac, and Monreal out is a problem.

But imagine this Arsenal side:

Mustafi - Kos - Monreal in the back
Xhaka (or Maitland-Niles, when ready) - Wilshere in central midfield
Bellerin - Kolasinac as wingbacks
Mkhitaryan Ramsey as attacking midfielders (Ramsey was never a center mid, for me)
Aubameyang up top

I mean, I like that side.

You're exactly right about Ramsey. You get him right behind the striker, and that's where he hurts teams. Plus you have Lacazette to throw in there. Really nice to see Wilshere having a (so far) healthy campaign.

I'd love to see another CB and someone to spell either Bellerin or Kolasinac besides a young midfielder out of position.

 

[fightingirish26]

I mean, I guess auba is fast..

 

[Emcee77]

Listened to this week's BBC Euro Leagues podcast last night ... sounds like getting rid of Sanchez and picking up Auba might be exchanging a locker-room cancer for another one. Auba's behavior has been downright bizarre lately at Dortmund. OTOH, the assumption seems to be that he is behaving bizarrely intentionally because he wants out of Dortmund, which could benefit Arsenal.

Just as a fan of the Premier League, I am crossing my fingers for all these deals to happen.

 

[Huntr]

Oh, yeah, Goretzka to Bayern on a free.

Klopp leaves the BuLi and Bayern still find a way to cockblock him. ololololol

 

[NorthDakota]

Oh, yeah, Goretzka to Bayern on a free.

Klopp leaves the BuLi and Bayern still find a way to cockblock him. ololololol

So sad. Been wanting him at Pool for years.

 

[Rogue219]

Germany is a joke. The Bundesliga should change their name to the Bayern Munich Invitational.

 

[Emcee77]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">&#55357;&#56834;&#55357;&#56834;&#55357;&#56384;&#55357;&#56384; <br><br>&#55357;&#56399; <a href="https://twitter.com/mikesanz19?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mikesanz19</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8u8tYyVYG">pic.twitter.com/r8u8tYyVYG</a></p>— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) <a href="https://twitter.com/NOT_MOTD/status/954408405845925888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[nlroma1o]

I just now was able to watch the Chelsea v Norwich match replay. What a shit show of a match. They totally messed up how they should use VAR. I watch Serie A every week and they have done a pretty solid job using it and working out all the kinks. This Graham Scott fellow has no idea how he should be using it. They should. Or have rolled it out in the middle of the year like this. Especially if these refs aren't grasping how it should be used. They need to study how Serie A is using it bc they are doing a great job there.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I just now was able to watch the Chelsea v Norwich match replay. What a shit show of a match. They totally messed up how they should use VAR. I watch Serie A every week and they have done a pretty solid job using it and working out all the kinks. This Graham Scott fellow has no idea how he should be using it. They should. Or have rolled it out in the middle of the year like this. Especially if these refs aren't grasping how it should be used. They need to study how Serie A is using it bc they are doing a great job there.

Dude CLEARLY gets fouled in the box, then gets a yellow card for diving, and then the ref gets no help from VAR. Pretty unreal.

VAR shouldn't be rocket science. But MLS has butchered it so many times it's been impossible to count, and it was butchered in the Chelsea game as well. Just crazy. Hopefully other leagues are having better success (I only watch La Liga and the EPL, and they don't have it).

 

[GowerND11]

Crystal Palace is badddddd. That said, with the deal basically done to get rid of Alexis, I wonder if a cloud has been lifted from over all our players. Plus apparently Ozil wants to stay?!

 

[IHateMarkMay]

After intermittently watching United play today, I'm just patiently waiting for Alexis. I think it's a win/win for both as Mkhitaryan can be a hell of a player in the right system. United could use someone who has a proven record of finding the back of the net. I know Lukaku did before coming, but hopefully the pairing would bring out the best in him.

 

[ACamp1900]

Going to be very strange watching Gyasi Zardes play in another uniform this season....

 

[Emcee77]

After intermittently watching United play today, I'm just patiently waiting for Alexis. I think it's a win/win for both as Mkhitaryan can be a hell of a player in the right system. United could use someone who has a proven record of finding the back of the net. I know Lukaku did before coming, but hopefully the pairing would bring out the best in him.

Yeah, I think this is right.

I have heard others say, and I agree, that Mourinho just really isn't that into coaching attacking, in the same way that Pep isn't really into coaching defending. His philosophy of management is: organize the defense and midfield, and let playmaking attackers make plays. Alexis is exactly the type of player he needs, a guy who can just will the ball into the back of the net.

And Mkhitaryan is the sort of clever, skilled player who I think will be perfect creating triangles in the more structured Arsenal attack.

I really think this deal is win-win.

 

[notredomer23]

'pool ruins City's perfect season then drops a game to the worst team in the Prem. Consistency.

 

[Emcee77]

'pool ruins City's perfect season then drops a game to the worst team in the Prem. Consistency.

UGH, it's maddening.

Although honestly, I didn't think Liverpool played all that badly, despite what a lot of people in the media and a lot of fans are saying. Liverpool created three A or at least B-plus-level chances, including the one at the death (which was absolutely an A-plus chance); just didn't convert them. It's the sort of game that Liverpool has been losing or drawing in recent years because they just can't get a lucky bounce in the right moment, whereas Man City has been mostly getting that little good fortune at key times (as against Palace with the missed penalty, for example). Honestly, I give a lot of credit to Swansea for excellent defending. Mawson was outstanding back there. If Swans go down I am sure he will stay in the Premier League, (a la Leroy Fer, who always seems to get relegated but always catches on with another PL club).

 

[Old Man Mike]

I watched them. Liverpool is "Lightning" when they're being Liverpool. There was no "flying around" out there vs that team. Liverpool beating the Parked Bus means manic flying around creating turnovers and running through the Bus parking lot before the bus gets there. Very little of that happened as a group swarm of bees (which swarming is what it requires --- unless Salah just pulls it off solo.)

I doubt that Klopp saw any good in that game at all; just a half-hearted going at it by his boys. (Can as designated captain was also weird psychology, which is hard to imagine "working" teamwise.)

 

[Rogue219]

Liverpool looked bad against West Brom in the FA Cup. Easily the worst they've looked at home all season. Moreno, Matip and Can did not look in form.

City looked very good, though it was Cardiff. That loss at Anfield was a blip on the radar for now.

Thomas Lemar has been left out of Monaco's team the last two matches. He's not injured. Liverpool? Arsenal?

Klopp says they're not doing anything until summer. With Sturridge set to depart for West Brom on loan, they're going to be that much thinner.

 

[fightingirish26]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome to Major League Soccer, <a href="https://twitter.com/futbolmiamimls?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@futbolmiamimls</a>! <a href="https://t.co/SPDCfBJbfc">pic.twitter.com/SPDCfBJbfc</a></p>— Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLS/status/958031112957317120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IrishLion]

Now that Miami is official, the schedule is clear for the next month.

I bet Cincy gets announced as the next franchise in the next two weeks, and they'll begin MLS play in '19 to fill the void prior to '20.

 

[ACamp1900]

It's interesting how this goes situation to situation. Miami has been around for what, a year or two?? You have teams like CBFC and others that actually have established history that aren't even getting a glance. Sign me up for the tiered system, I know it will prob never happen but it would have been ideal looking back on it all.

 

[Old Man Mike]

In the Bosnia-Herzgovina game, I saw what MIGHT promise to be two good centerbacks, and two keepers who showed some potential. The guy who played defensive mid-field might be the Bradley replacement ultimately, but not yet. (This guy apparently has leadership qualities and wore the Armband.)

I didn't see much else. A little from Jordan Morris. Pretty much zero offense.

Did anyone else see much which warranted some optimism?

 

[Rogue219]

City bought Aymeric Laporte from Bilbao for $57M and there are rumors they've bid for Mahrez to test Leicester.

Madness.