Media Stories, Rumours and Gossip

[JaneB]

And as so often happens, certain people take no notice of me at all.

Deleting the lot.

[ROTG]

Hopefully MOTD will be an improvement tonight without punditry.

When away in the parish, there is an PL Productions highlights show which last an hour, and gives each match the same amount of time along with extracts for post match interviews. IMO it a far better format than listening to the likes of Shearer and Ian Wright bimbling on with bias utter nonsense.

[Mark Kelly]

An interesting Spanish Article ( use Google translate to read it)  depicting how Barca and Uefa were in cahoots to ensure Barca and by association Unicef were able to do so well in the Champions league for so long ( spoiler alert , cheating and bribery)

https://www.futbolgate.com/investigación/unicef-uefa-y-el-barça

[xceleryx]

42 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

An interesting Spanish Article ( use Google translate to read it)  depicting how Barca and Uefa were in cahoots to ensure Barca and by association Unicef were able to do so well in the Champions league for so long ( spoiler alert , cheating and bribery)

https://www.futbolgate.com/investigación/unicef-uefa-y-el-barça

Are we that shocked? 

Couldn't half tell their games had a bit of a stench to them. 

[JaneB]

Dele Alli 'banished from Besiktas squad and told to watch from the stands' | Daily Mail Online

A cautionary tale of our times 😞

 

[Mark Kelly]

1 hour ago, JaneB said:

Dele Alli 'banished from Besiktas squad and told to watch from the stands' | Daily Mail Online

A cautionary tale of our times 😞

 

Him, Pogba, Lukaku, too much too soon, they're all rich enough to hardly care. 

[JaneB]

3 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Him, Pogba, Lukaku, too much too soon, they're all rich enough to hardly care. 

And there you’ve said it.  
 

They should actually all be gutted that they never reached their full potential. 

[Michael Tucker]

28 minutes ago, JaneB said:

They should actually all be gutted that they never reached their full potential. 

It'll be somebody else's fault, guaranteed.

[chara]

30 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

It'll be somebody else's fault, guaranteed.

Yep...but if they don't care..why should we?

[boratsbrother]

1 hour ago, JaneB said:

And there you’ve said it.  
 

They should actually all be gutted that they never reached their full potential. 

I think that's true with Ali but not Pogba and Lukaku.

There have been countless more naturally talented footballers than Lukaku who had far worse careers. If anything, Lukaku over achieved for a player with his technical ability with a ball.

Pogba was always overrated and just another flash Harry who produced occasional moments of high quality.  Never had the consistency, grit and real heart and passion for the game when things got tough. Having said that, he's a World Cup winner and had a decent enough career overall.

Ali was a real talent though but washed up at such a young age.  I have no idea  why it all fell apart so quickly for him. 

 

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, boratsbrother said:

I think that's true with Ali but not Pogba and Lukaku.

There have been countless more naturally talented footballers than Lukaku who had far worse careers. If anything, Lukaku over achieved for a player with his technical ability with a ball.

Pogba was always overrated and just another flash Harry who produced occasional moments of high quality.  Never had the consistency, grit and real heart and passion for the game when things got tough. Having said that, he's a World Cup winner and had a decent enough career overall.

Ali was a real talent though but washed up at such a young age.  I have no idea  why it all fell apart so quickly for him. 

 

Agree on Lukaku. To be a top 20 (or thereabouts, not sure if he still is or not) goalscorer in the Premier League is no shabby feat, more so if you look at the some of the quality he's ahead of. Outside of his final season at United and his last two years he's been one of the most consistent strikers in world football. Not the most gifted of players by a long shot but with a knack of scoring goals which is what his primary job is. 

Pogba should never have rejoined Man Utd. He never really fitted into the teams United had at the times and playing in midfield roles that did nothing to extract the best from him - although he still did relatively well to be impactful. I've said this for years but he needed to be playing that LCM position like he did at Juve in a midfield three. It just never existed at Man Utd and he was shoehorned elsewhere without having the work ethic or attitude to contribute across all the needed areas, something that being a LCM helped cover. Now he's a sick note having barely kicked a ball for Juventus since returning and comes with far too much off-field baggage for what you get on the pitch. 

Ali is a bum. Got far too invested in his own hype too soon, but also his attitude towards the game itself is exactly why he's where he is toward. He doesn't have the interest, the ticker, or the application to do the work needed. Getting to where he did was just half the battle, the real challenge was always going to be doing what was necessary to stay there, if not build upon it further. That's what separates the cream from the crop. 

[chrisb]

14 hours ago, JaneB said:

Dele Alli 'banished from Besiktas squad and told to watch from the stands' | Daily Mail Online

A cautionary tale of our times 😞

 

And he’s only26! I thought he was in his 30’s now! 😮

[asvaberg]

15 minutes ago, chrisb said:

And he’s only26! I thought he was in his 30’s now! 😮

Tragical, isn't it?  Both the Snapchat-covid-affair in early 2020 and the violent burglary he was exposed to in May 2020 - since then his form really declined.

[RDCW]

Real Madrid in the quarters!

[jasonb]

2 minutes ago, RDCW said:

Real Madrid in the quarters!

And City get Bayern.

Will need to play well to get past RM that is for sure.

[paulw66]

18 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

Him, Pogba, Lukaku, too much too soon, they're all rich enough to hardly care. 

I don't see the link there at all. 

Lukaku has limited technical abilities, but has had the pace and power. Belgium's all time top scorer with 68 goals. 343 club career goals by 29. 

Alli.........finished at aged 24 having achieved nothing.

Pogba probably somewhere in between, but has won quite a bit in his career, even if he has under acheived somewhat. 

 

I am not sure what the wealth has to do it. All footballers are rich beyond their needs by 24 / 25. Nothing out of the ordinary for any of these 3.

[paulw66]

11 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Agree on Lukaku. To be a top 20 (or thereabouts, not sure if he still is or not) goalscorer in the Premier League is no shabby feat, more so if you look at the some of the quality he's ahead of. Outside of his final season at United and his last two years he's been one of the most consistent strikers in world football. Not the most gifted of players by a long shot but with a knack of scoring goals which is what his primary job is. 

Pogba should never have rejoined Man Utd. He never really fitted into the teams United had at the times and playing in midfield roles that did nothing to extract the best from him - although he still did relatively well to be impactful. I've said this for years but he needed to be playing that LCM position like he did at Juve in a midfield three. It just never existed at Man Utd and he was shoehorned elsewhere without having the work ethic or attitude to contribute across all the needed areas, something that being a LCM helped cover. Now he's a sick note having barely kicked a ball for Juventus since returning and comes with far too much off-field baggage for what you get on the pitch. 

Ali is a bum. Got far too invested in his own hype too soon, but also his attitude towards the game itself is exactly why he's where he is toward. He doesn't have the interest, the ticker, or the application to do the work needed. Getting to where he did was just half the battle, the real challenge was always going to be doing what was necessary to stay there, if not build upon it further. That's what separates the cream from the crop. 

Yes, you have expanded much more on the points I made.

Alli is a bum. You summed it up perfectly.  I bet his career will finish and he will be trophyless and skint. Two things really stand out for me with him.

1. In the amazon doc, Mourinho asked him about his attitude and questioned if he had the desire to get his career back on track, and Alli just sat there with a smirk like he was being told off by the headmaster

2. After signing for Everton, he walks onto the field looking like a tramp. 

[Mark Kelly]

3 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

I don't see the link there at all. 

Lukaku has limited technical abilities, but has had the pace and power. Belgium's all time top scorer with 68 goals. 343 club career goals by 29. 

Alli.........finished at aged 24 having achieved nothing.

Pogba probably somewhere in between, but has won quite a bit in his career, even if he has under acheived somewhat. 

 

I am not sure what the wealth has to do it. All footballers are rich beyond their needs by 24 / 25. Nothing out of the ordinary for any of these 3.

It's not to do with the wealth per se , rather the  toxic personality of the player because they literally don't have to care.

Lukaku has had the club over twice , I don't mean as in "not being very good" I mean as in stringing us along , letting us think he's signing and then signing for United at the last minute followed by his transfer and  coming to us as he had to take a mandatory pay cut due to Italian tax laws and then making that turd of a self serving interview and complaining about everything til he got to go back and keep the pay increase we'd given him , he mugged us off completely .

if we take him back again it will be entirely to our detriment like it was when Pogba went back to United the risk is all ours. 

It seems many on here are happy to take him back which is lovely , I don't want him back , I don't want him back working in the club shop , he's an entitled man-baby who will ruin the next season with his histrionics before it even starts. 

[paulw66]

7 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

 

if we take him back again it will be entirely to our detriment like it was when Pogba went back to United the risk is all ours. 

 

"take him back"........he is our player. 

It's not like we are re-signing him. Nobody wants him back, but there is an acknowledgement that we may be stuck with him, and if we are, it is common sense to try and get the best out of the situation.

[Mark Kelly]

1 minute ago, paulw66 said:

"take him back"........he is our player. 

It's not like we are re-signing him. Nobody wants him back, but there is an acknowledgement that we may be stuck with him, and if we are, it is common sense to try and get the best out of the situation.

He's not our player. 

Not in his head . 

[paulw66]

Just now, Mark Kelly said:

He's not our player. 

Not in his head . 

Ok, but he is our player, and if we cant find a taker, we may have to lump it

[Mark Kelly]

Just now, paulw66 said:

Ok, but he is our player, and if we cant find a taker, we may have to lump it

I'd be exploring swap deals if it was me whilst letting him know in no uncertain terms that he needs to get his agent looking, now  otherwise he trains with the kids. 

[RDCW]

29 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

"take him back"........he is our player. 

It's not like we are re-signing him. Nobody wants him back, but there is an acknowledgement that we may be stuck with him, and if we are, it is common sense to try and get the best out of the situation.

I would contend that getting the best put of the situation would be to exclude him. Having him around the squad would be worse than the terrible waste of having a redundant asset.

[paulw66]

33 minutes ago, RDCW said:

I would contend that getting the best put of the situation would be to exclude him. Having him around the squad would be worse than the terrible waste of having a redundant asset.

I am not sure paying someone 275k to do nothing is an option. 

 

[RDCW]

2 minutes ago, paulw66 said:

I am not sure paying someone 275k to do nothing is an option. 

 

I'm not sure having a massively overpaid toxic lump around the squad is an option either 🤣. Let's hope we can keep him away from the club in some creative way.