I guess clinching the signing of someone who took Southampton to 8th place in the PL is better than getting someone who is a proven winner.
I love arrogance, as in Mohamned Ali, who had something to back it all up. All I can see with this guy is that he's pissed a couple of hundred mill of Utd's money away with very little to show for it, so far.
Sorry OS but why you are so dismissive of everyone who doesn't agree with your view about MP? I know you don't rate him and some of your criticisms are fair enough and I agree with some and strongly disagree with others (such as his appearance and how he talks) but it kind of comes across as an obsession. .. united score a decent goal so you make a dig at how we play...united have been dire to watch this season apart from 2 games against a piss poor team in Europe. You have posted some really good stuff that has made me think differently made me laugh, made me disagree but it was always well thought out but recently you have come across as...like I said, obsessed
Some very, very strong sentiments from Martinez this evening regarding Stones. The fact that he's explicitly mentioned Kenwright makes me think that they actually won't sell him to Chelsea. It's perfectly logical though - Chelsea have spent the whole window tapping him up and unsettling him publicly, but leave it to 5 days before the window closes to actually table a bid close to Evertons valuation of the player. Martinez' response is now basically: we don't have time now to find a replacement who we feel will fill Stones' shoes - which means that no amount of money will convince us to sell him as that money will be sitting doing nothing between now and January at the earliest.
LVG has already proven himself as a manager so when you're nearing the end of your career, your last big job and in charge of Utd with a huge transfer budget then no point being cautious, especially as after the Ferguson years they knew replacing him would be impossible and the years after would be difficult unless they tried to transform the squad with big names. They won't win the title this year but I expect this season we will see LVG develop his ideal team, defence will be solid, while Depay looks a superb talent, has an arrogance to his game. 75 million a year kit deal means they can piss money up the wall. If Fergie was manager I expect he would have Harry Kane, and John Stones on his wish list, but Kane would follow Anderton and turn him down.
Rich as Man U and Chelsea are,they don't need government money as Real M and Barcelona apparently do. Like rich old men buying young ladies (Hugh Heffner and his 20 year old wife comes to mind.Doubt she would have looked at him if he was like most of us.Keeping the wolf from the door!) The rich few can pick and choose,offering the players they want,the earth.While others get the leftovers (like Soldado and Lamela.Two players who have turned out to be let downs!) Could be we have,today,too many foreign players here reducing the number of home grown players getting a chance unless they are exceptional.The late bloomers have no chance.
Group A: Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana, Group D: Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, BATE Borisov Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv Group H: Zenit Saint Petersburg, Valencia, Lyon, Gent
Disappointing draw if I'm honest; no real 'group of death' this year. All 4 should progress to the knock-outs. In other news, Southampton perilously close to joining West Ham out of the Europa. Didn't see this coming at all.
The worst result of the qualifiers is Young Boys getting knocked out by FK Qarabag - because that all but guarantees we'll be playing an away game in Azerbaijan a couple of days before November's NLD.