Posts Tagged ‘Neymar’

Outside Of Barcelona, Paris And Brazil, Who Really Cares About The Neymar Transfer?

Posted: August 4, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Transfers
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Due to a shortage of actual, interesting transfers, Sky Sports News are treating the transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to PSG as though it was important to anybody not from one of the three locations directly affected. It isn’t, but we will now devote almost an entire article to that very subject.

Yes, there is a knock-on effect with the fee that PSG are paying for someone generally  regarded as being only the THIRD best player in the world because it will certainly drive up the fees for average players. But that alone does not make this particular transfer any more interesting to the average fan.

The average fan does not really care about how much a player is bought or sold for, he/she just cares about whether or not they can play football. (more…)

Rarely Has The Old Saying “Never Go Back” Been More True Than It Is Now About Cristiano Ronaldo

Posted: June 17, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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(Shhh! I made a mistake on my tax return but I think I got away with it!)

There is a very good chance that Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing his football at the Bernabeu again next season. Falling out with the Spanish tax authorities seems to be an occupational hazard when you are Him, Neymar or Lionel Messi.

The problem is that these players actually don’t know if they have done anything wrong or not. They employ accountants to save them money. They are probably kept informed about what is happening with their wealth although it is highly doubtful that many, if any of them, understand the intricacies of successful tax avoidance. (more…)

Even After All That Money Has Been Spent The Best Players In The World Will Still Be In Spain

Posted: June 15, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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This transfer window promises to see English Premier League clubs spend a massive amount of money, breaking the record set in the previous window yet again.

As of writing, Manchester City have already signed Bernardo Silva and Ederson, whilst Manchester United have signed Victor Lindelof. These two clubs alone are likely to spend many more millions before the window is locked until January. (more…)

Lazy Scouting And Lazy Captain Selection

Posted: June 7, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, England, European Football, Football, International Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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Is scouting the most difficult job in the Premier League? We suppose it depends on what your brief is. If, for example, we had been sent to watch Glasgow Celtic three or four years ago, we would have noticed two standout players who we would recommend be playing at a top six club. (more…)

Transfer Rumours, Injuries And Arguments And We Think The International Break Is Boring!

Posted: March 28, 2017 in Arsenal, Chelsea, European Football, Football, International Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion
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Eden Hazard is wanted by Real Madrid. Big deal. Real Madrid, like many other big clubs, has a scouting network which only seems capable of finding world class players after they have become world class.

Whether or not Hazard wants to go to Madrid is, to an extent, irrelevant. Usually when Real want a player they get that player. If Hazard does opt for the riches in Spain it should be seen as a cop out by the Chelsea fans. (more…)

Is The Premier League Really So Open This Season?

Posted: October 18, 2016 in Arsenal, European Football, Everton, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur
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(Yet again Ronald Koeman has donned his Claudio Ranieri mask in order to slip under the radar!)

If you believe everything that you read, then yes, the Premier League is very open this season. The fact of the matter is though, that it isn’t really.

What do we mean by “open” anyway? There are twenty teams in the division. For the title race to be wide open, (as in “that result has blown the title race wide open“, a frequently heard phrase), then every one of the twenty needs to be in with a chance of winning it. (more…)

Is Paul Pogba Really THAT Expensive Nowadays, Especially For Manchester United?

Posted: August 3, 2016 in European Football, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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The straightforward, down-to-earth answer to the above question is: Yes, he is ridiculously expensive and nobody should be spending that amount of money on one player. As JĂĽrgen Klopp mentioned, at least three top class players could be brought in to strengthen a team for that sort of money. Also, the knock-on effect for other clubs is frightening, particularly the smaller clubs.

The true answer is: No, United will recover the money in a relatively short space of time, effectively meaning that he will have cost nothing. In fact, I read a short while ago that advance orders for Pogba shirts totalled somewhere in the region of ÂŁ72 million, so not much more is required to achieve a complete refund! (more…)

Manchester United And Chelsea Prove That Not All Players Crave The Champion’s League, (Not Immediately Anyway)

Posted: July 30, 2016 in Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, European Football, Football, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Opinion, Tottenham Hotspur
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So, failing to qualify for the Champion’s League is not the disaster that all the “experts” predicted it would be. In fact it appears to have had little or no impact on the two main “failures” in England. These are the two teams who contested the final only eight years ago in Moscow! The ability of Manchester United and Chelsea to sign top players and managers does not appear to have been diminished at all.

It is probably true to say that a prolonged absence from the competition would begin to have a negative effect at some stage as a considerable amount of money can be made by appearing in Europe’s top competition. The loss of this money over a sustained period would prove harmful to the clubs trying to attract the best players and, by doing so, make qualifying again the following year a more difficult proposition. In this respect it is a vicious circle. (more…)

Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic A Good Signing For Jose Mourinho?

Posted: June 26, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion
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I am not so sure that this is a good move. The only possible losers in this deal are United. Ibrahimovic signs a one year deal, gets paid even more money that he doesn’t need and performs or not depending on his mood at the time. Is he another Falcao? Or is he another Sheringham? United fans would prefer the latter but, again, I am not so sure.

Ed Woodward’s almost paranoid desire to sign a big name has already backfired on the two occasions he has done it.

Falcao proved one of two things. Either that he is past it or that he was never really good enough for the Premier League. I think that his subsequent move to Chelsea actually proved that both are true.

Angel Di Maria proved something I have always thought, he is a decent player, nothing more, who, again, doesn’t have the right attributes or mentality for the Premier League. (more…)

Jose Mourinho Has More Money To Spend Than Donald Trump!

Posted: June 25, 2016 in Chelsea, Football, Manchester United, Opinion, Premier League
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He must have, you only need to read the amount of players he is going to buy and look at the total cost.

All this talk of United giving him a kitty of ÂŁ250 million to spend on transfers is obviously a smokescreen so that clubs are not aware of how much is really available.

Ed seems to have learnt his lesson! Gone are the days when he would brag that United could afford any player in the world because money is no object. Maybe he realised, shortly after making his stupid statement, that any player in whom United expressed an interest suddenly experienced a sharp hike in price. When you add that to the fact that, thanks to Ed’s propensity for dithering, they also paid ÂŁ4 million more for Fellaini than they needed to, then it is understandable that their budget is being kept a closely guarded secret and that a completely false figure has been circulated. Only the really intrepid football journalists have figured out the truth.

So, following the arrival of Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will come riding into town on his white horse. (more…)

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