I'm really looking forward to Big Sam becoming England manager. I think he gets a bad rep from the media and he's actually tactically very good and progressive. Also he gets the most out of the players instead of imposing a style and that for me is the true sign of a good manager and what is needed at international level. On the other hand you have to feel sorry for Sunderland if this happens because just as they were finally finding a little bit of stability their manager gets pinched by the FA!
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2015/16 Football/Soccer thread
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Has it already been confirmed? For me, Big Sam's negative reputation is unwarranted as he is just being pragmatic at using players that suit a particular style. For example, when he had Defoe at Sunderland last season, he stopped playing long balls and instead played decent football. In fact, he did a miracle by saving Sunderland from a certain drop and the turnaround in form (only 4 defeats since January in the league) is particularly impressive. Of course, you gotta feel for the Sunderland fans who thought their club is going to kick on but if they're going for an English manager, Big Sam is probably the best one they're going to get. Knows the Premier League and Championship well too. Just concerned that players at bigger clubs might not respect him but that's beside the point.
Good luck to Big Sam but not even Sir Alex could bridge the gap between how good the English media and fans think/expect the national team to be and the actual reality that they are a 3rd tier team who couldn't reliably beat Russia or Iceland.
The worst thing the English team ever did was win the 1966 World Cup because now the media thinks we are entitled to it, or at least a good run. They were reporting the Iceland defeat as embarrassing because Iceland are minnows. To me, it wasn't embarrassing because Iceland are minnows, they actually played like a team. It was embarrassing that the English media before the game were licking their lips at a quarter final because they assumed Iceland would be easily beaten.
Celtic weren't particularly impressive. But the Scottish league last I checked is a one horse race so I'm not surprised that they don't perform well in the continent.
Celtic weren't particularly impressive. But the Scottish league last I checked is a one horse race so I'm not surprised that they don't perform well in the continent.
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In any way you want to look at it, losing to Iceland was the worst result in an international tournament England has had in 50+ years.
Not qualifying for Euro 2008 is just as embarrassing imo
I think not qualifying for euro is more embarrassing than losing to Iceland in this tournament. In this tournament, they actually made the tournament(cough Holland cough) and made it out of the group(cough sweden, romania, russia, ukraine, austria cough). Still embarrassing, not as embarrassing as 2008
As long as it's not about Boca's dreadful performance of yesterday, I think it's ok.
the underdog story continues
Miguel Borja, that name could become pretty big pretty quick
sad about kante :(
chelsea aren't even in the champions league, he could have just stayed for 1 season, got experience of champions league football and then moved on to chelsea after that when the premier league top 4 reverts to normal
dunno who this Mendy person is, don't really follow football outside of Premier League, but he has some big shoes to fill, assuming he plays a similar role.
chelsea aren't even in the champions league, he could have just stayed for 1 season, got experience of champions league football and then moved on to chelsea after that when the premier league top 4 reverts to normal
dunno who this Mendy person is, don't really follow football outside of Premier League, but he has some big shoes to fill, assuming he plays a similar role.
He has some promise according to the Monaco scouts who discovered him
It was said that he rejected approaches from the Manchester clubs in favour of Conte's project at Chelsea.
Europe's Footballer of the year top 10:
- Gareth Bale
- Gianluigi Buffon
- Antoine Griezmann
- Toni Kroos
- Lionel Messi
- Thomas Müller
- Manuel Neuer
- Pepe
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Luis Suarez
No idea what Müller does on this list, he played good at the begin of the season but got worse after the winter break and didn't play very well from then on. His Euro wasn't very good either. Pepe had a good season overall but I definetely don't see him as one of the 10 best players in Europe. I think Vidal probably deserved a spot on this list since he had a very good season at Bayern and lead his team to the Copa win.
- Gareth Bale
- Gianluigi Buffon
- Antoine Griezmann
- Toni Kroos
- Lionel Messi
- Thomas Müller
- Manuel Neuer
- Pepe
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Luis Suarez
No idea what Müller does on this list, he played good at the begin of the season but got worse after the winter break and didn't play very well from then on. His Euro wasn't very good either. Pepe had a good season overall but I definetely don't see him as one of the 10 best players in Europe. I think Vidal probably deserved a spot on this list since he had a very good season at Bayern and lead his team to the Copa win.
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I would have thought that Vidal wouldn't be in the list since he plays for Chile (ie not Europe). But then I saw Messi/Suarez and I was like...what?
Vidal would easily earn a spot. I think Ronaldo will probably take it though, Champions League, 1 point behind the winners (Barcelona) and practically led his team to a International Cup (the first for his country ever). Sad that defenders/goalkeepers barely win it since people just want to see goals galore.
Vidal would easily earn a spot. I think Ronaldo will probably take it though, Champions League, 1 point behind the winners (Barcelona) and practically led his team to a International Cup (the first for his country ever). Sad that defenders/goalkeepers barely win it since people just want to see goals galore.
You spelled Pepe wrong
#centerbacklivesmatter
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AfaIk you can vote for every player who plays either in Europe or plays for an european national team. But I'm not sure if the Copa counts into the competition since it's not an UEFA tournament. But he also played a pretty good first season at Bayern so I would've expected him on the list nonetheless.
Doesnt matter, its a popularity contest anyway.
Is it just me or has the transfer period been very quiet so far? Apart from Man Utd chasing after Pogba, there doesn't seem to be much deals happening.
Real Madrid hasn't been active at all, Barcelona signing Denis Suarez, Bayern signing Renato Sanches, Arsenal signing Xhaka, Spurs getting Wanyama and Dortmund signing Dembele.
In fact, except Man Utd , other clubs seem to not have many new faces (except lower profile ones like Arsenal signing some Japanese kid)
Real Madrid hasn't been active at all, Barcelona signing Denis Suarez, Bayern signing Renato Sanches, Arsenal signing Xhaka, Spurs getting Wanyama and Dortmund signing Dembele.
In fact, except Man Utd , other clubs seem to not have many new faces (except lower profile ones like Arsenal signing some Japanese kid)
You have to imagine that after the euros, there will be a period of seeing what teams will need and some people shining in these tournaments. Also Kante went to Chelsea and Mahrez will be taken soon so there is that. Plus James Rodriguez will probably be out at Madrid and Pep will be making moves soon
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