"I don't feel sorry for West Ham - I didn't watch the decisions. I think if you talk about decisions, we are the champions of bad decisions." (Mourhino) The Smug One having a pop at the ref despite being gifted the match!
Anyone who has watched Utd's games over the course of this season wouldn't have the front to say that Utd have been lucky, especially so far as the decisions of officials are concerned. They'd look very foolish. There have been countless bad decisions in Utd's games though - just as the have been in every single team's games; that's because the officials are crap. But I have to concede that if Antonio had taken his chance, if de Gea wasn't a good 'keeper, if Mata wasn't clinical, if Rashford hadn't run rings round Nordveit, if SAF hadn't retired, if Zlatan hadn't been born, if Germany had won the war, it could all have been very different. That's the thing about fate - it's so fickle. You should be counting your blessings that half the Watford team were injured and the rest played like idiots. If Watford had played like they did against Utd, it might have been a very different result. That's luck, you see. Isn't it?
He shall be from nowforth be called "Billy Bookcase Dean". Don't expect the pundits to pick up on the underwhelming nature of the Manure revival however. Expect many to believe they'll make top 4 come the end of the season. It is after all where they're "entitled" to be. And don't mention the hundreds of millions spent, because "they're in transition".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38492059 The man comes across as such a precious, arrogant twat. I can see the media turning against him now, and exposing him for the one-trick charlatan pony he is.
I think he's also realising the grave errors of his pre-season decisions - made before he had any inkling of what it is like playing the likes of Middlesbrough and Burnley on the figurative 'cold, wet Tuesday night'. Specifically, replacing one of their most vocal and popular players with a blundering buffoon in goal. Second, thinking John Stones could replace the waning Kompany. Third, the needless posturing with another powerful, vocal player in Yaya Toure. He waltzed into this job honestly thinking it would be a piece of cake cut from the same batch he ate at Barca and Bayern. If the cracks are showing as early as January, he won't last long.
What even more than being knocked out in the Europa League? We've done our penance, we're on the way back
I like how Fraudiola says he won't be managing for many more years, already planning his escape route now that he's been shown to be a product of very fortunate timing. Pardew/ Warnock etc could win trophies with Barca and Bayern. Now he's in a league with genuine competition that has sides who can upset anyone on their day and surprise, surprise, City are looking ****e by their usual money-bought standards.
Completely agree. Not all that keen on sticking around in a league where his team will face competition from more than just one rival, is he? Why in the hell would you say something like that in a post match interview? Very very random. It's also why The Premier League is the true barometer of how good a manager really is. A manager can make all the difference in the PL, where it is far more tactical. You need look no further than Chelsea this season for proof of that, and the difference Conte has made with, largely, the same team that finished 10th last season. If you are in La Liga or the Bundesliga, and are managing Barca and Bayern.........your advantage over EVERY other club (except Real in the case of Barca), is pretty much insurmountable for all the smaller clubs in your league. Thats why, when a club like Valencia or Dortmund win those leagues, its an accomplishment. And its why Rafa and Klopp are decent managers. Not like Fraudiola.
Yeah Conte's class, shows the level of manager he is to completely change the formation to one that isn't usually played in the Prem and yet take the league by storm - although I would say the quality of your squad was never in doubt, it just massively underperformed last season and needed someone to simultaneously give a kick up the arse and arm over the shoulder. As much as I hate saying it, Chelsea look a cut above this season. The addition of Kante was great business. I expected Klopp to do well for Pool, huge fan of his, still think they're a top class keeper, CB and LB away from winning the league though.
Agree on both points. The Premier league, because of the TV money, has created more of a level playing field for the smaller clubs, where they can offer competitive wages for all the good players now. Makes it much harder for bigger clubs to poach their players. The Premier League will only become more competitive as time goes by.
It's one of the reasons I don't fully understand the hatred of RB Leipzig over there. True, no-one likes a team who have bought their way to success *nudge nudge wink wink* but Bayern are so ridiculously ahead of the chasing pack that surely any form of proper competition should be embraced? The PL has shown this to be true - it's a case of divide and conquer. There are already 3 teams to whom money isn't an issue (United, City and to a slightly lesser extent yourselves), another 2 teams to whom money is a minor issue (Arsenal and Liverpool) and 2 more to whom it is a smaller issue than most teams in Europe (us and Everton). Leipzig's rise to power will only make the Bundesliga more competitive, which in turn will make it more entertaining, which in turn will increase its appeal to emerging markets like China and the States, which in turn will lead to clubs like Dortmund, Schalke and Hertha see greater investment, which in turn will make the league more competitive, which in turn will... It's a never ending positive cycle that ultimately - if managed properly - benefits every team in the league. As soon as the Spanish realise this we are ****ed though. Even their mid table sides are capable of absolutely schooling an English team.
I genuinely cannot agree with this comment considering the dross that routinely finds employment in the Premier League despite their routine failures, for example Alan Pardew, Mark Hughes, Steve McClaren, Ian Holloway, Neil Warnock et al The issue with Guardiola is that he has never managed a club that's faced adversity before, which is hardly unique in modern football considering Moronho's CV is a list of jobs in football where it takes more talent to fail than succeed given the clubs' standings, transfer funds, friends in the media doing half the job of transfer negotiations for him, and in the case of his time at Inter the head start he had due to Calciopoli seeing their rivals either docked points or demoted to Serie B - yet when he actually faced adversity for the first time in his career he was rapidly exposed as inflexible and unable to handle the pressure. Compared to either of those two, Conte's CV has shown he can deal with adversity: rather than swan into a high-profile job because of name value (like Guardiola at Barca, Zidane at Los Ladrones, or numerous former Premier League players with great reputations who have been exposed as inept managers) he spent a few years learning his trade in Serie B where he achieved success with both Bari and Sienna. While at the time of his appointment it could have been argued that it was his reputation with Juve fans that helped him get the job, especially considering the season before he was hired was an utter disaster and the fans were mutinous, after a couple of seasons nobody could argue he knew what he was doing - and if that didn't show he could handle adversity, consider how the Italy job is sandwiched somewhere between Brazil and England in terms of the pressures the coaches are under regardless of the circumstances, yet Conte maintained his reputation and, just as importantly, has not been seen skipping through Trevi fountain wearing nothing but peanut butter and a couple of strategically-placed slices of bread.
The money thing's only part of it, I believe. They've got around the fan ownership rules, which allow them a lot more say in the run of their clubs than we have. They changed the kit, the club crest and altered the name, again skirting around the rules on sponsorship. Clubs in Germany can't call themselves after their sponsors, so SSV Markranstädt became Rasenballsport Leipzig. What does that mean? Lawn ball sports. Not in any way an attempt to dodge that rule. No sir. No way. You can clearly tell that from their crest, which doesn't say Red Bull anywhere: please log in to view this image There's also the whole issue with the links between the various Red Bull teams. All of it adds up to a cross between the bad points of Chelsea, MK Dons, Hull and Watford. I can see why people don't like them, though I do accept your point about the Bundesliga monopoly, too.
So what's the dealio with Bayer Leverkusen then? Bayer is a pharmaceutical company and they even have their logo in the Leverkusen crest.
