Men's Soccer (Football) Thread [ARCHIVED] Soccer • Page 175

Oh for sure. And at that point, Liverpool were a selling club. Players knew there was a level above where they were, and so players were sold. Whereas City (and United have had this problem for a good while too) play players into the ground until there's very little resale value. So their fullbacks were absolutely crocked when Pep took over. They couldn't sell Zabaleta, for example, for £20 million then buy a new guy for £30 or £40 million. They had to let them go for almost nothing, and then get replacements on top.

 

Sunday is the final match of Moyes' contract...

 

Net spend is like any statistic in that it's a worthwhile measurement in some contexts but easily misused. Spurs for example have a very good squad - a World Cup winning keeper, three very good centre backs, a decent selection of full backs, a pretty good midfield, an excellent attack and a world class goalscorer. Pochettino's a very good coach doing a very good job but lots of people just point to net spend as evidence he's performing "miracles", as if players aren't assets.

It's all context.

 

Just realized we could potentially get a NLD Super Cup.

 

If you look at wages Spurs are basically paying their squad 75% of the wages that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, and Man City are paying. On top of that Spurs have one of the thinnest squads (with so many significant injuries) out of the top teams in England. I don't understand this narrative that Spurs were huge favorites against Ajax, especially after the 1st leg.

I think it is a testament to Poch's amazing man management and his underrated tactics that have gotten Spurs this far.

You have to hope Poch starts his "next chapter" with some more support from Levy, now that the stadium is finished and they are already scheduling big sporting events for this summer and next season.

Edit- Tottenham pays the same wages as West Ham, Everton, and barely more than Leicester and Soton.

Granted info about wages is hard to find and I'm not sure if performance bonuses are included.

 

You’d think this summer Levy will spend. He’s getting a ton from CL and then the inevitable Eriksen sell (which could be close to 100m according to papers). The money will be there. And Poch wants new faces.

 

I think Poch's recent comments to the press (granted they seemed like he was joking/being funny) are going to put pressure on Levy. If players like Toby and Eriksen leave (especially if Toby stays in England), and we don't invest in top quality players or at least change our wage structure to be able to sign top quality players, not sure how the fans will support the club. Ticket prices have gone up, results have continued to be great, Poch clearly wants more investment, we risk losing players in the future due to not reinvesting.

Such an important summer and I hope Levy doesn't use our CL success as an excuse to not invest in the club.

 

It'd be quite cool to see an all English Europa League final too. Going by this week though, Arsenal are going to let me down too.

 

Yeah, I think his comments this week were mostly joking but even so, he’s been pretty transparent about wanting to improve the squad. Levy is smart enough to know he can’t have a repeat of last summer.

And I really hope we can keep Toby. I have a feeling things have changed and he is more open to staying. But he definitely still wants to get paid his money. Which he deserves. I think his friendship with Vertonghen is actually a big factor. Those two love playing together.

 

Where is Eriksen headed?

 

All the papers are saying Real

 

I guess the Kroos wants out rumors are true

 

I’ll make this even better by pointing out the manager who sold Lucas to Spurs was Unai Emery.

 

How long is Firmino out? Will he be back for the final?

 

Has a country ever represented all four teams in the two major European club tournaments? Even crazier that three of the teams would be from the same city.

 

Didn’t Sevilla beat a Spanish team the year Real beat Atleti the first time?

 

Sevilla beat Benfica that year, and then two years later they beat Liverpool. Both times it was a Real v Atleti Champions League Final.

Those look like the most recent times there has been 3 from the same country in the final.

 

so fucking good

 

lol men are so stupid

 

I can't decide which of these game I want to watch.

edit: looks like Arsenal because Valencia already scored lol

 

Lovely finish by Auba.

 

another nice Arsenal goal

 

Can't believe that we got four English teams taking up the two finals. Absolutely brilliant. For those that were asking, this is the first time all four teams are from the same country.

 

United looking to close a deal for Swansea's Daniel James too, £15million. Good player with tons of potential, would be a very smart signing as they cannot keep sticking people like Rashford/Martial out on LW, they are both better through the middle.