Did they do anything productive with that Grealish money?Originally Posted by bm1475
Did they do anything productive with that Grealish money?
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Danny Ings looked washed up, Leon Bailey spent half the year hurt, and Emi Buendia looked like a difference maker at times but for some reason didn’t play that much. I think seeing all that money evaporate went a long way to getting Dean Smith canned. It was weird to begin with because none of the guys they signed really replaced Grealish in any way.
Betterread (05-22-2022),M2 (05-22-2022)
Blowing a £100 million windfall is probably the quickest way for a mid-table club to find itself flirting with relegation.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
bm1475 (05-23-2022)
Real players should all sign their game checks over to Courtois.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Team of Destiny
M2 (05-29-2022)
He was unreal. If he had just a normal game Liverpool has at least 2.
Madrid had about the most difficult set of in-form opponents I can remember for champions league: PSG, Chelsea, Man city and Liverpool.
What an accomplishment. Modric has won 5 champions league tournaments in 10 yrs for Madrid.
Courtois was certainly MOTM. His first half save of Mane’s corner bound bullet, and two second half saves on Salah were amazing.
M2 (05-29-2022)
General game thoughts:
- Both defenses played outstanding games. Konaté was a monster and I lost count of the almost-got-there passes in the final third Liverpool picked off. Madrid's defense was phenomenal. Carvajal and Mendy played two of the best games of their lives and Casemiro was everywhere. The plan, and we know this because Ancelotti came out and said it afterward, was to make sure Liverpool never got behind their defense. The idea was to cut down the Reds' shooting angles and trust Courtois to make the saves. Courtois obviously needed to be immense to make it work, but I thought it was similar to the game plan Chelsea deployed in their cup finals against Liverpool.
- Carvajal sprung the first goal. Four Liverpool defenders put him in a box and he somehow found Casemiro, who instantly sprung Valverde down the right, who lashed a perfect cross to Vini, who finished in the open net. It was emblematic of how Madrid plays, and has since Ancelotti first arrived. Other teams have a system they rely on. They play repeated patterns so they know where to find each other. Madrid counts on players to make things happen. If Plan A doesn't work they'll keep cycling through Plan Z.
- I'm never going to get the call that disallowed the first Madrid goal. Fabinho slid in with a clumsy challenge and knocked the ball over to Benzema. The offside rule shouldn't have been applicable. Flip side, had they used VAR to measure whether Vini was onside on his goal I wouldn't bet my life he was. However, perhaps they didn't check as a makeup for erasing the first half goal. Ultimately didn't matter, but I imagine the narrative about the game would be a lot of different if the score was 2-0.
- Liverpool has a reputation for being a high octane offense, but they scored zero goals in three cup finals. Would not be surprised if they go shopping for a #9 this summer.
- schmidty's right on the team of destiny front with Madrid. The young guys stepped this season to join the veteran core, Vini especially. Valverde, Militao, Camavinga, Rodrygo, Asensio and even Dani Ceballos made some major contributions. Basically, the Bale and Hazard contracts were so bad they had to count on development and long-term investments to supplement a legendary old guard. I think there's a lesson there - it's not about the galaticos you bought, but the ones you made along the way.
- I appreciate how Madrid ran through the top of the EPL. They're once again tied in Champions League/European Cup titles at 14. Villareal knocked out ManU too. The England-centric coverage we get tends to act like the EPL is inevitable. It's more than a little overblown. I hope this leads to some less dismissive coverage of other leagues moving forward.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Ukraine beat Scotland 3-1 in Glasgow today. They go to Cardiff in four days to play Wales for the final European slot in the World Cup.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
RedTeamGo! (06-01-2022)
Neymar’s days at PSG might be numbered. He and Messi were extremely underwhelming this past year, and the command a lot of payroll. Problem is (like Bale) only a few teams in the world can afford him. Man United may be one, after offloading the super expensive Pogba, as Ronaldo wants the club to make a major signing in order for him to stay. His agent is the same as Mourinho, so there is talk he could go to Roma. I don’t believe Ronaldo would go to a club not in Champions League.
Do any players actually want to play for Mourinho?
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
They shouldn't.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Ronaldo should go to Sporting. They're in the CL. He's a legend there. They need an x-factor scorer if they want to make any headway in Europe. Would be a feel-good story.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Tony Cloninger (07-03-2022)
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