One day I really should screengrab how highly Football Manager 2012 rated John Stones. Just to give you the hint of how low his rating was, the following members of our academy team from that season have higher ratings: Giancarlo Gallifuoco (currently at Torquay), Lee Angol (currently on loan at Lincoln City), Ruben Lameiras (currently at Coventry City), Jake Nicholson (currently at Walton Casuals), Jack Barthram (currently at Cheltenham Town) Or to put it another way... In retrospect you'd think the game was a little harsh on Michael Keane and Eric Dier, rating them at three stars and two/two and a half stars respectively. John Stones was rated at half a star. HALF. A. STAR. It all depends on how long it takes before the players turn on their caretaker because he wouldn't let them have turkey twizzlers for their pre-game meal...
Atletico are : 1. La Liga Leicester 2. Twice recent CL finalists (so if anyone is going to say eff you to a Leicester CL fairytale, tis them) .
Except that for a long time I've thought a team using old fashioned English methods like a Pullis team could give Spanish opposition a problem. Former England teams used to do this quite successfully. The thing that will stop Leicester IMO will be the referees not liking their strong arm tactics.
To be clear; 1) chelsea have a doddle of a run in and Jose and Lakaku will role over for them 2)we have a nightmare run inand are not certain of a top 4 finish Any other talk is careless and careless talk costs point so (in the words of Mother Teresa when she wrote to Nelson Mandela) STFU YOU DUMBASS MO FOS! (I may not have remembered to quote verbatim )
1. How many points do you think will be required for 4th place, 2. Subtract 68 from that, and ask yourself whether Spurs will not get them.
There's a lot of games between the runners and riders in The Top 6 Stakes. The Gooners have to play Citeh, us and United. United still have to play Chelsea, Citeh, us and The Gooners. They can't all win their remaining games. A few draws in those games would help but any result helps us somehow.
12 points from 21 leaves Man City in 4th needing 7 wins to finish above us ,they win 6 we only need 9 points which we even managed with last seasons collapse at the end. My conclusion being we have a chance of making the Champions League again !!
You guys still worrying about CL football? I'd say at this point Chelsea and Spurs are shoe-ins to get CL football. Even IF Arsenal win their games in hand, they are still 8 points behind you. It would take a worse deltmown than you had last season in order for you to drop out of the top 4 now.....I wouldn't worry.
Last chance saloon for Utd today so far as top 4 is concerned. Unlikely anyway given the run-in, even with a win away to City, but not even worth a debate with a draw or loss today. You'll all be supporting Utd today, no doubt, to ensure there's some reason to give Chelsea a game next week.
I'm expecting a fairly routine victory for Utd, although I'm not sure about the balance of your midfield. It's nice to see Mourinho winding up your fans by picking Fellaini as captain, though!
What's the Rooney story? I heard the angry Portuguese bloke say Mata was injured but "Rooney was unavailable." No mention of injury or illness. Would he be ahead of the tea lady for a game?
What's the De Gea story? Rooney will be on his way in the summer, that's clear. De Gea long goodbye looks like ending soon too.
Is the Rooney story related to him doing his usual habit of namedropping another super-rich club during a transfer window in order to bump his weekly wages - only this time the club called his bluff and told him to piss off to China if he was that interested?
Surely, De Gea's your best player? Selling him on and rebuilding pretty much the defence, DM, main striker on top is too much for anyone, let alone for a bloke who's on the edge right now? I think next season could be his last if you don't get CL next season.
I think this season was the "one more season" for De Gea. He's 26 and is just at the right stage of his career for a bumper 5 year deal at Real Madrid with Casillas no longer on the scene. I would surprised if it's not a done deal at a price Utd are happy with.
