***Official Football (Soccer) Thread: All leagues and competitions Part 39***

[Kaliconic]

Chelsea coming all the way back for the draw. Disappointing. But from the Chelsea perspective, dropping two points isn't much better than dropping three. So much for Chelsea competing for the league. Their campaign for the title is over before it started.

[khatskevitch]

That was one helluva game to begin the campaign and kudos to Viola for coming out and playing like that.Inter looked so good going forward but lol at the defense.And the same problems in midfield persist.We get cut up too easy.No way we can afford to lose Skriniar but also Sensi needs to stay fit.Sensi-Barella-Vidal can be sex.

[engscott]

Handball leading to the Chelsea equalizer?

[Brad_Pitt]

Chad B Rodg fuking Pep raw in the angus.

LOL@City

[LukeS1]

Pep has now spent £425m on defenders since he joined City, and they still can't defend

[LukeS1]

The opening to this Prem season has been nothing short of incredible, record goals last week, some crazy upsets and plenty more goals this time.

The handball rule is the only bad thing, what is that all about?

[Rai9]

Yeah, Pep deserves more criticism if he can't atleast win the league this season. The most backed manager in the world in every way possible.

[LukeS1]

Yeah, Pep deserves more criticism if he can't atleast win the league this season. The most backed manager in the world in every way possible.

He also hasn't really improved his teams all that much.

He inherited a City squad with KDB, David Silva, Aguero, Sterling, Kompany, Fernandinho. Basically those guys have been the core of his success, on top of that he has spent an insane amount of cash on players. Most haven't been complete flops but the amount of super expensive back ups is crazy, he essentially has always had a squad with 2 top class players for each position. £58.5m on Cancelo just to rot on the bench is a good example.

Barcalona he inherited the greatest squad of all time

Bayern he did not improve, and did not have any success in Europe



I would say as a whole, 2 Champions League titles in 13 seasons while having at least a top 3 squad each year is a pretty mediocre return

[Kaliconic]

Pep turned Barcelona into one of the greatest teams ever. They weren't nearly as good before he arrived and since he left they've been much worse. Just look at the state they are in now. With City Pep won 198 points over two years, by far the greatest two-year stretch of any team in Premier League history. It's just silly to say he's not great.

Anyway, that match yesterday was stunning. I turned it on when it was already 1-0 City and when I saw City was battering the Leicester goal it looked like the match was over. What a shocking turnaround. I'd like to think Leicester can qualify for the CL this year but I think breaking into the top four is just too difficult for non-big six teams.

[LukeS1]

Pep turned Barcelona into one of the greatest teams ever. They weren't nearly as good before he arrived and since he left they've been much worse. Just look at the state they are in now.

Replace Pep with "Xavi and Iniesta's Prime" and it still holds true.

Best midfield of all time by a mile, 3 of their defenders with FIFPro TOTY regulars, and of course that guy named Messi playing alongside Eto'o, Henry, Zlatan, Alexis and David Villa


Steve Bruce could manage that team to a UCL

[LukeS1]

Yes Pep's City have been dominant in the league, but they have been big favourites every time

But tell me another manager that has walked into a Prem team that stacked, AND was given a blank cheque. He had Aguero, David Silva, Sterling, KDB, Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, Kompany, Otamendi already there. The consistent starters he has added to the squad (Walker, Ederson, Laporte, Rodri) have all been World Record transfer fees, or close to it for their positions and he has spent £50m a piece on multiple bench warmers. There has never been an easier job from that sense, and I still stand by the fact that 5 years in and no UCL trophy, not even a near miss with that squad is a massive flop.


Meanwhile Klopp inherited utter trash, and has built the team from the ground up with half the budget Pep had and won a UCL. The only first XI player he started with was Henderson, and he has made him into a captain from a laughing stock. You basically can't find a flop from any of his big signings, and then he has uncovered a plethora of hidden gems, Andy Robertson £8m, Salah, Mane and Firmino all £37m.

[engscott]

Would like Pep to take a team like Everton (ala Ancelotti), Spurs (ala Mourinho), AC Milan, etc and turn them into a real contender again or for the first time. Build a squad, not just inherit the best team at the time

[Dontoewsmebro]

lol how does Elneny start over Ceballos....fukn trash.

[Rai9]

Pep turned Barcelona into one of the greatest teams ever. They weren't nearly as good before he arrived and since he left they've been much worse. Just look at the state they are in now. With City Pep won 198 points over two years, by far the greatest two-year stretch of any team in Premier League history. It's just silly to say he's not great.

Anyway, that match yesterday was stunning. I turned it on when it was already 1-0 City and when I saw City was battering the Leicester goal it looked like the match was over. What a shocking turnaround. I'd like to think Leicester can qualify for the CL this year but I think breaking into the top four is just too difficult for non-big six teams.

Barca won another treble in 2015 boyo and has won a majority of the league titles since Pep has left. Not saying that 08-12 Barca wasn't the best Barca team. Just that it's starting to become more apparent that Pep just got the goat midfield duo (Xavi and Iniesta) plus Messi entering their prime.

[TokenV]

strong goal lol

https://twitter.com/WhaleCity_FC/sta...79285287456768

[TokenV]

Champions League draw boyos

[ButcherSir]

the king of camp nou is marching back to his training ground

[TokenV]

the king of camp nou is marching back to his training ground

[TokenV]

already a couple of small upsets in the Europa League

Wolfsburg, Sporting Lisbon and Galatasaray are out

Milan is struggling against Rio Ave at the moment, 5 minutes into first ET and 2-1 down

[TokenV]

[tekkenbruh]

Group E is chit lmao, Sevilla gonna somehow end up 3rd and then win EL again. Group H is the chit owners group.

brb oil-hoarding slavers
brb shady investors lining their pockets with money generated thanks to brand recognition
brb massive corporation making a mockery of the rules to have an autonomy, openly bringing in players from their feeder clubs for peanuts
brb PR machine for genocidal maniac

already a couple of small upsets in the Europa League

Wolfsburg, Sporting Lisbon and Galatasaray are out

Milan is struggling against Rio Ave at the moment, 5 minutes into first ET and 2-1 down

Galatasaray losing isn't an upset at all, Rangers are solid. But yeah, lmao @ Milan sliding through after penalties which came AFTER a pen in 122nd minute cause otherwise they'd be out.

[TokenV]

Galatasaray losing isn't an upset at all, Rangers are solid. But yeah, lmao @ Milan sliding through after penalties which came AFTER a pen in 122nd minute cause otherwise they'd be out.

I was just listing a couple of the bigger names that got eliminated, agreed it's not a big surprise them losing away at Rangers but that's down to the seeding and draw of course

group stage draw in 4 hours (13:00 CET)

[LukeS1]

Glazers are absolute clowns.

Sancho and Telles available for a combined like £130-140m. Two starting upgrades, and one of the top 2-3 young talents in Europe.

Get it done you w@nkers

[TokenV]

lmfao

this goal...

I don't even...

https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/st...40640066179074

[TokenV]

[GarthVader]

When does the transfer window end this season?

[TokenV]

When does the transfer window end this season?

October 5th in most countries I believe

[Raylan]

Ancelotti is a Chad

[CaliSuperSport]

Oh shiet let's go! Juve vs. Barca

Tbh I've got no time for the rivalry anymore. An era will soon come to an end boyos, and we should savor every last second of it.

Barca won another treble in 2015 boyo and has won a majority of the league titles since Pep has left. Not saying that 08-12 Barca wasn't the best Barca team. Just that it's starting to become more apparent that Pep just got the goat midfield duo (Xavi and Iniesta) plus Messi entering their prime.

Pep deserves more credit than that. He was responsible for stripping down Rijkaard's mid 2000's side. Just look at Barca's 2006 UCL team vs. 2009 and see the changes, yet they went on to dominate that year. That was a huge judgment call considering they were top of the world in 2007, the year before Pepe came in. But all those changes resulted in the greatest team ever assembled. I think most managers would not have made such bold moves on guys like Deco, Ronaldinho, Edmilson, and eventually Eto'o.

Barca 2006 UCL Winning Team:


Barca 2009 UCL Winning Team:


People put focus on Xavi, but he was in transfer talks with big clubs in 2008 and Pep convinced him to stay. Xavi was captain before then but he was injured/benched during most of their 2006 run.

[ButcherSir]

just lol if cucked seria a board wil cancel napoli juve

ofcourse sometimes players will be positive . will they stop football everytime????????????