SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2022/23

He's a dick mate..
..

.....ructions now over this Ivan Toney situation

 

Toney being left off is indeed a big snub.

What's yalls take on Jadon Sancho? Has he hit a wall in his career, or does he need a change of scenery?

 

If he brings Toney who stays behind? Rashford? That's a real banana skin, politically. Sterling? Suicidal, politically.

My take on Sancho is that the guys just not the killer people thought he was.

 

Callum Wilson . That's it. Literally his only avenue into that squad is Callum Wilson.

Now that Madisson is suspect, who knows.

 

Maddison's saying he's ready to go. Said it was just soreness.

 

Mostly a change of scenery, but not just any scenery. Hard to say. Some guys fall off when they're a big money signing. Weight of expectations plus a different club/system and added spotlight is too much on some young players. Also if he was playing for West Ham or Villa rather than Man U the media wouldn't care. I don't much care anymore but a small part of me hopes that every promising player a big club signs from BVB fails miserably. So much so that it's considered a curse. Maybe then they won't be treated like a supermarket. Bellingham is gone next year. Reyna might already if he stayed healthy. Seems the strategy is to develop young English and American players. Get a premium on sales.

 

I have to give them their props, it wasn't a smash and grab, Brentford were deserved winners over City, and it's an absolute disgrace that Toney isn't going to the World Cup.

 

I am starting to think Sancho is one of those guys who really thrives in a particular system but can't adapt to anything different. Dortmund play much more free-flowing football than the current Man United, and he had way more freedom than he does now. United used to play really beautiful, overlapping football under Ferguson and I think Sancho joined them because of that legacy, but they haven't played like that since 2013. Big mistake making that move.

 

I agree he would be much more suited to that style but i don't think he joined them for how they used to play. He joined them because it was back home and a big amount of money. If it were Chelsea or Arsenal willing to pay 70 million he'd have been there.

 

That's the thing though, he was hot property at the time and could have easily ended up at City or one of the clubs who are actually challenging for things. I think the allure of what United used to be enticed him.

 

Kind of mad that the top 2 Prem clubs are both being powered by ridiculously talented Norwegians. Shame Norway didn't qualify for the World Cup.

 

Possibly, but these things are usually just business. I don't know many how clubs at the time were willing to pay that kind of money and were actually in serious negotiations. I suspect it was few and of the few they were in England.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/8xBV_8tEiXk?feature=share

 

I do rate the guy, and I think he's got a lot in his arsenal, but it's simple stuff like not looking up when he's running with the ball, basic fundamentals. I was probably too harsh on him previously in the thread, I'm sure those flaws can be ironed out, but I'd say that transition is maybe the reason Liverpool aren't hitting the heights in the league that they reached last season. Mane was an incredible presser from the front line and it set the tempo for your whole team, plus he was obviously a fantastic finisher. Always going to be tough to replace someone like that.

 

I just thought it was funny how he worked into the fastest guys top 10.... He's been having this "torrid season" but as Feebles said anybody not-called Haaland has been having a shit season.

Losing Mane has been massive. But there you go.

 

It happens though.... The England squad of 1993 was not bad at all.... Really should have qualified

 

I'm hoping the U.S. gets embarrassed.

 

Co-sign. Club over country always.

 

I'm disappointed, but not at all surprised that there's zero World Cup talk from the mainstream U.S. media. I figured it would be this way.

If it were a typical summer World Cup, there'd be a lot of hype. But, it's a damn November WC, meaning it's NFL/NBA season, meaning those two sports dominate the news cycle over here.

 

Look at this nerdy clown:



Says UK overrates its players, which I'm sure is true, but I'll even admit that there's NO country on Earth that overrates its athletes more than the U.S.

U.S. National Team fanboys treat Pool-this-dick like he's Messi, but the UK overrates its players?

 

America plays baseball..it's called "The WORLD series"

Everybody else plays soccer. America doesn't cover it

 

That's my theory on why the MLS will never blow up here, because it'll never be the best league.

Though the World Series doesn't include the world, MLB is objectively the best baseball league in the world.

The NBA is the highest basketball league in the world.

The MLS is fighting just to be a top 10 football league.

That can't be marketed to casual Americans, since you can't throw "World" anything on the championships.

 

Pulisic is a good player he's also the best American player and has played at a higher level than any other, I can't recall anyone else, possibly Clint Dempsey who played in a major European Cup final for Fulham.

 

Outside of Pull-this-dick, I guess just Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Claudio Reyna.

I watched old games of Reyna. He was a decent #10, but you don't hear him hyped like Dempsey and Donovan.

 

John Harkes back in the day plus David Busst who suffered a horrific career ending injury..

 

Wiki says Busst is English but I do recall somebody saying he was either Canadian or American.

Eitherways.... That leg.......

 

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the USA won the group. England are obviously much better on paper but we have been playing absolute dogshit recently. Southgate has run out of ideas, was too defensive to start with and continually picks guys like Maguire, Dier and Sterling when there are in-form players like Toney being left at home. He picked Maddison to appease the fans but I bet you he won't play him. USA always come to play and that might be enough to get a result against us. US are more than capable of beating Wales and Iran.

 

For the sake the U.S. players starting to get absurdly overrated if this happens, I hope not.

Pundits who have never watched the sport before will start saying idiotic things on ESPN.

 

It has nothing to do with the quality of the league, "world champions" in teams sports is about national teams. Playing teams representing countries from well ... around the world, not a small group of franchises part of a private club.

 

Yup, can't sell that idea over here. Apparently we're the center of the universe...