AxB Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Tony Pulis = Career Killer. The funniest thing would be if Chelsea ended up finishing 5th (or lower) due to an injury crisis affecting all 11 of their first team players. At the same time: Jose Mourinho has a bad result, blames medical staff to obfuscate and distract from the team performance, media says this is blatant distraction techniques, then spends the next eight days printing Eva Carneiro muck-raking for no reason whatsoever. Makes no sense. If you know he's trying to distract from the real issue, ignore the distraction and address the real issue, no? EDIT: Does Jose write the match reports on Chelsea's official website himself? https://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/08/match-report--manchester-city-v-chelsea-.html A Ramires goal incorrectly ruled out for offside with Man City a goal ahead changed the complexion of this early-season Premier League fixture.... We dominated after the interval and after Ramires’s goal was disallowed, Hazard drew a fine stop from Joe Hart. Two late City goals, from Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho, added some gloss to a final scoreline which did not accurately reflect the bigger picture... Kompany cynically scythed Diego Costa down to earn the game’s first booking as we immediately got back on the front foot, and indeed that set the tone for a good Chelsea spell that included Fabregas worrying Hart with a 20-yarder... On the other side of the pitch, Mangala resorted to WWE-style tactics to stop the ever-dangerous Diego Costa getting free down the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReiseReise Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 The first Bundesliga matchday sees - kind of - surprise wins for Ingolstadt at Mainz aswell as Hertha Berlin at Augsburg and Koeln at Stuttgart.Added to that, we had Bayern crushing HSV 5-0 and Dortmund dominating Moenchengladbach in a 4-0 in respective homegames, aSwell as a good win for Schalke in Bremen (3-0). Dortmund´s win was most surprising I´d reckon, it will be interesting to see where they can go from there. Bayern´s scoreline is almost disappointingly low tbh. HSV just seem eager to proof every point every footballfan has ever had about them in one single week: First they get eliminated from the German cup, then somebody looses a backpack full of documents with detailed information about the players wages etc,followed by something about a piece of HSV-merch showing fans from the league rivals Hertha surfaces in the media. To top it all off, they just get another beating by Bayern. Not the greatest week... Darmstadt drew Hannover at home in their Bundesliga re-appearance after a 34-year-absence, Wolfsburg and Leverkusen won their home games in slightly uninspiring fashion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Reading up on Darmstadt, their rise has been pretty amazing. From the Regionalligas to the Bundesliga in 5 years is something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReiseReise Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Yeah, especially since there was quite the downfall beforehand, a pattern that has killed many clubs with similar history to them. There is, of course, a very high possibility of them going down again and they would very likely battle against relegation in the 2. Bundesliga under normal circumstances, but it will be a cool thing while it lasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Oh yeah, I'd be shocked if this wasn't one-and-done for them. But it's going to be an amazing season for their fans traveling to Bayern, Dortmund, Schalke etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 ReiseReise -- Shame for not metioning once in that post how awesome Douglas Costa was in the Cup final against Wolfsburg and in that week 1 match against Hamburg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Second leg of the Spanish Super Cup final today between Barcelona and Bilbao with Bilbao up 4-0 on agg. goals. Barcelona already in full "I believe we can pull it off" attitude. However there's a good chance that won't be happening and this is Bilbao's way of getting back at Neymar for the Copa del Rey final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I clearly missed the first leg, but how the hell did Bilbao win the first leg 4-0? The theory we came up with over post-soccer victory beers was "Half the Barca team went to the wrong stadium for the start of the game". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Balotelli? In my Watford? It's more likely than you think! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidGoldBomb Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I clearly missed the first leg, but how the hell did Bilbao win the first leg 4-0? The theory we came up with over post-soccer victory beers was "Half the Barca team went to the wrong stadium for the start of the game". They were on 2 days rest from the extra time 5-4 game vs Sevilla in the Super Cup. And the manager Luis Enrique heavily rotated for the 1st leg so without the usual midfield, youngsters Rafinha & Roberto got over ran. With Vermaelen & Bartra playing at CB, the former hasn't played in over a year and the latter is never very good without a senior partner. Ter Stegen played like garbage too, while Messi had a couple amazing free kicks denied by the Bilbao keeper that would have been crucial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabremike Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Balotelli? In my Watford? It's more likely than you think! He so needs to come to MLS and become a cult hero in some random place like Dallas or San Jose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 He's said that he doesn't want to go back to Italy since arriving at Anfield. The Mirror's already shot down the Watford link, though. Most likely he stays, receives his large "loyalty" bonus and doesn't suit up for the first team, let alone play. Borini and Enrique have turned down a bunch of deals because they're content to collect their wages at Liverpool that no other team would be willing to give them. It's shitty but I can understand their perspective even though it doesn't reflect well on their passion to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Meanwhile, League Two is hosting the most ludicrous road trip you can ask for: Plymouth v Carlisle, whose fans traveled 778 MILES IN MIDWEEK to make the match. Sky Bet has stepped up and will foot their bills for this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidGoldBomb Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Balotelli is a loser, I hope he stays on the Liverpool youth team and throws firecrackers at them until he's too old to play anywhere else. Same for Borini & Enrique, if they'd rather collect "unemployment" than play competitively in a lower league, that's pretty pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesterCopperpot Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Meanwhile, League Two is hosting the most ludicrous road trip you can ask for: Plymouth v Carlisle, whose fans traveled 778 MILES IN MIDWEEK to make the match. Sky Bet has stepped up and will foot their bills for this one. That's a derby in MLS terms 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Wait, so guys actually wanting to make the contract they were signed to is suddenly wrong? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't take 50% of my contract "for the love of my job" either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidGoldBomb Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Wait, so guys actually wanting to make the contract they were signed to is suddenly wrong? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't take 50% of my contract "for the love of my job" either. It's not "wrong" it's just sad on all fronts. Sad that Liverpool are wasting money on overpaid player's lucrative contracts that they have already told won't be featuring for the 1st team again. It's sad that the players aren't willing to take a small pay cut to go elsewhere and increase their stock. No risk of sacrifice and no reward either. Like Balotelli, if he was to go to Watford, Sampdoria or wherever and get regular playing time and get back his old form he could be back in the national team picture again. He's rich either way, but he would rather sit around and throw money out of the roof of his Bugatti than perfect his craft, and to me that's a monumental waste of talent for a small amount of money. Loser mentality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It would be a risk, but if they were able to find the form that got them those contracts in the first place then they could get a much longer pay day with short term financial pain. That makes some sense for Balo, in particular, and Borini. Not so much for the 29yo Jose Enrique. For the previous two, it's as if they know they're careers are on a downward trajectory and are hesitant to risk losing out on one or two years of big money. Borini has a lot of suitors and will likely go out on loan, so he can play and try to rehab his value while still getting the Liverpool money. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I'm thinking all three of the players mentioned would not be looking at "small" pay cuts if they left Liverpool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I mean, Liverpool bring this shit on themselves by being the worst money managers in English football. It's pretty hard for me to have much sympathy for them, to be honest. They continuously overpay for almost anyone and everyone. As much money as Manchester City has thrown around in the last 5 years, they first of all got the right players and second of all haven't really done anything crazy the last couple years either other than... oddly, overpay for a Liverpool player who came from a club with a defined culture of players being overpaid. Balotelli being as useless as he's been at Liverpool is a surprise though, and it's pretty weird people are trying to be revisionists and claiming otherwise. This guy was a real top tier talent for a little while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidGoldBomb Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I agree, Jose Enrique I can kind of understand if he's at the end of his career, but for young players yet to reach their potential like Balo & Borini they are being very short sighted and risk damaging their reputations and future earnings potential by remaining stagnant for so long. A short term paycut now would be a bump in the road on the way back to future $, compared to many more years of lost earnings by their present actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 The cautionary tale I always come to here is "Do you really want to be Marko Marin?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I'm thinking all three of the players mentioned would not be looking at "small" pay cuts if they left Liverpool. Yes. The problem being that after their current contracts are up, they'll have to pay for next to nothing (relatively speaking, of course) and really earn their way back to being paid well. I'm not vilifying them at all. Liverpool signed them to the contracts and it's on them. Now, comparing Liverpool's profligacy to City's or any of the other big clubs' is a bit rich (OH A PUN!). City have been able to spend their way out of mistakes, something Liverpool can't really do. Remember Mangala? £28m. Fernandinho cost that much too and while he's a good player, he's probably not worth that much. Jovetic was another ~£20m. Negredo £18m. Javi Garcia £15m. Rodwell, Sinclair, etc. The list goes on and on. The point is, they can get away with it and people forget about how wasteful all big clubs are because they buy big and often. You're lucky to have every other transfer work out, regardless of how much you pay. Now, Liverpool have needed to be much more efficient with their money because they don't have the huge coffers Chelsea, United, City, and Arsenal have. They haven't done it and that's why they'll continue to be a blip on the radar barring the occasional title challenge every 5-10 years. Even teams that are efficient can't prudently buy their way to success because money buys championships, as I've said before. It's depressing and takes the romance out of the sport but that's where we are at and I'm finding myself caring less and less. Edit: funny you bring up Marin. Kovacic just signed for Madrid, a team rich with center midfielders. Hopefully Liverpool can buy Illarramendi on the cheap now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolidGoldBomb Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I'm thinking all three of the players mentioned would not be looking at "small" pay cuts if they left Liverpool. They are showing their true colors and signaling that they also (consciously or subconsciously) agree they aren't worth what they are getting paid, and are highlighting their loser mentality. Real winners have a hunger and drive to be the best, no matter what. They would take a pay cut to go elsewhere and prove the naysayers wrong and EARN that same salary again (or more) and be part of a winning team. As Oyaji said, it's like they understand their careers are on a downward spiral, but instead of fighting to improve their situation and be the best they can be, they are just gonna take the money now and run (or sit tight). This is chess not checkers, and any good manager will avoid putting losers like Balotelli with that sort of lazy attitude in their teams in the future. Big teams pay big money for winners who are always competing for that #1 spot, the right mentality has just as much to do with it as the physical tools a player has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Even teams that are efficient can't prudently buy their way to success because money buys championships, as I've said before. It's depressing and takes the romance out of the sport but that's where we are at and I'm finding myself caring less and less. I agree with this. Sure, it's fun if the team you support has some stupidly rich owner willing to lose gobs and gobs and gobs of money (Man City, Real, Barca, PSG, Chelsea, I'm looking at you), but for everyone else, it really sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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