2014/15 Association Football (Soccer) thread

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Heliosan

Heliosan

No Luck Involved said:
Southampton might make it into 6th but no more. I reckon top 8 probably. They have a very tough run coming up shortly and they have a small first team squad which will be tested in the second half of the season. All this talk of top 4 is very premature and what surprises me every year are the so called pundits and 'experts' that get paid a fat wage to jump on the bandwagon.

Last season was the same, Southampton were doing great around this time and then they dropped off dramatically when the tough matches came. Another example: Arsenal this time last year were 5 points clear and pundits were saying they're looking good for the title despite the fact we had played easy matches. Fast forward 2 months and the same pundits were saying Arsenal never had a chance. Football journalism is a joke. You don't see this sort of thing with F1 or even rugby.

The Utd match this weekend will be huge. If Utd lose then Van Gaal might come under serious pressure for the first time (and about time). But a Utd win would make it Wenger's worst start ever or something. Basically, Mourinho is watching and laughing and Wenger should have bought Cesc back and why is he so retarded and i don't even
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I mean, Van Gaal has always had not the most great starts whenever he first starts coaching a new team. I would say Manchester United is going through a similar phase that Bayern Munich went through some years ago. Allow me to explain:

Bayern Munich was led by Ottmar Hitzfeld who led Bayern Munich to greatness such as winning the Champions League title and multiple Bundesliga titles much like Sir Alex Ferguson did with Manchester United (somewhat of a light comparison, but has a lot of similarities). After Hitzfeld retired (along with Oliver Kahn in fact), Jurgen Klinsmann was brought on for Bayern Munich due to his success as the coach for Germany's National Team (sort of similar to how David Moyes took over after Sir Alex retired). However, Klinsmann was fired when he failed to keep Bayern Munich in the top 2 of the Bundesliga in similar fashion to how David Moyes was sacked at Manchester United.

Just like Louis Van Gaal took over after Jurgen Klinsmann (much like how he is just taking over for Manchester United after David Moyes), he had a lackluster initial start to the season much like how he is now. However, he later led Bayern Munich to the 2010 Champions League Final (did lose to Mourinho's Inter Milan, but Wesley Sneijder was just unstoppable back then) and a lot of young players debuted during Van Gaal's time that later became great players (ex. Thomas Muller). Van Gaal is in the process of doing similar things to Manchester United to fit his style.

So what am I trying to say? Basically I think right now Manchester United is in a transition period but eventually I think they will be back in the top spots of the Premier League. As to when, I have no idea, but my prediction is that they will be back in the Europa slots at the very least if not the CL spots (definitely not top 2 unless something drastic happens). Those are just some of my thoughts on Manchester United and their potential this season and the next one.
 
Soul Fly

Soul Fly

IMMA TEACH YOU WHAT SPLASHIN' MEANS
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ya but modern football has a stick up it's ass. he's probably fired this time next year if not earlier, if he can't deliver results. no one gives a shit these days about all the foundation building stuff.
 
Drift Wizard

Drift Wizard

Soul Fly said:
ya but modern football has a stick up it's ass. he's probably fired this time next year if not earlier, if he can't deliver results. no one gives a shit these days about all the foundation building stuff.
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After the David Moyes experiment, it seems like managers at Man Utd. will have less room and time for error
 
HBK

HBK

Subtlety is my middle name
Costa just cannot stop scoring. The Golden Boot is his if he manages to stay fit. For once, we killed the game off early in the first half and West Brom's fate was sealed when Yacob got sent off for that crazy challenge.
 
HBK

HBK

Subtlety is my middle name
Disgraceful performance from Arsenal. They had so many chances but failed to convert any of them. They should be kicking themselves even though they did get unlucky with the first goal.
 
Darnell

Darnell

Respected.
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Gibbs wasn't playing for Arsenal that match. Took out the keeper and scored a goal where the shot was going off target.
 
No Luck Involved

No Luck Involved

Maybe to some younger Arsenal fans but honestly it doesn't even hurt anymore. This is standard Arsenal since Vieira left in 2005. Arsenal is easy points for Utd and Chelsea, we can have 70% possession and still lose 2-0 easily because our team pushes too far forward with no balance. Ferguson, Mourinho, and now Van Gaal just tells their teams to sit back and wait for it, it's so obvious. Starting the season with two senior CBs is also classic Wenger. Sigh...
 
Myzozoa

Myzozoa

to find better ways to say what nobody says
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the problem today wasn't a lack of defensive midfielder, arteta sitting deep was what allowed us to dominate possession for the first half hour. I agree a defensive mid is needed, but today the problem was the players' decisions and focus in the final third. Players taking long shots when they should have played a diagonal ball, and not finishing chances when the right killer pass is played. Game should have been killed after 30 minutes.

Van Gaal should not be credited for shit in regards to today's result, seriously, watch the match before you credit a manager's tactics or lack thereof. If arsenal had finished their chances, we'd be discussing whether Van Gaal ought to be fired or not...
 

phalanx

Wilshere should have been sent off for trying to headbutt Fellaini

and no club is allowed to complain about injuries when facing Man Utd, or a crap back line, we had Valencia and 2 Kids there.... and Shaw got injured so had Ashley Young playing.

and we are TOP FOUR \O/
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
Myzozoa said:
the problem today wasn't a lack of defensive midfielder, arteta sitting deep was what allowed us to dominate possession for the first half hour. I agree a defensive mid is needed, but today the problem was the players' decisions and focus in the final third. Players taking long shots when they should have played a diagonal ball, and not finishing chances when the right killer pass is played. Game should have been killed after 30 minutes.

Van Gaal should not be credited for shit in regards to today's result, seriously, watch the match before you credit a manager's tactics or lack thereof. If arsenal had finished their chances, we'd be discussing whether Van Gaal ought to be fired or not...
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Yeah I agree and that's why it was painful to watch. United don't deserve any credit for this win because they really didn't do merits to win the game, didn't exactly defend well nor anything really. Yet Arsenal managed to lose in a very frustrating way. I mean I am used to seeing Arsenal lose like this, but other times you can at least say the other manager is clever or something. In this match you really can't.

And about the defensive midfielder I was talking in general, not about this match in particular, the opportunities Utd had on the counters were when Arsenal was going all out offense.
 
HBK

HBK

Subtlety is my middle name
Liverpool are basically the Chelsea of last season albeit with a weaker defence. I'd be surprised if Rodgers didn't go for a striker in Jan. Take nothing away from Palace though, they were resilient and worked their socks off. Sick free kick from Jedinak too.
 
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