The TT Football Club

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Just started watching soccer recently. It is very hard to follow, perhaps the hardest of any sport I’ve tried to follow ever. Too many good players and I don’t know what position does what. When I watch a Barcelona game m, I pay attention to two things: 1. Where is Messi? 2. Where is the ball.

Yes, I can imagine. So many leagues, each league flicking between 2-3 domestic competitions, then the European competitions, having a break every month or so for International games, friendlies, international competitions in the summer. It's hard to keep track of it all.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Pick a team to support and then it can all become easier and more difficult at the same time.

Welcome to football.

Decent win for United yesterday. (y)

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Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Shearer is still way ahead with 260, Rooney has 208 and Andy (don't Andrew me) Cole has 187. Rooney is also third on the assist list with 103. (y)
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Be great to have Fernandes in on time for Liverpool. Not expecting it. Expecting it to be a long drawn out affair just because it is United and this is how it is for us in the present world.
 
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Deleted member 766172

Guest
Looks like Xavi has turned down the managerial position for Barcelona.
 
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Deleted member 766172

Guest
Valverde will be fired soon. Barcelona wants Quique Setien. I looked him up and seems like he has taken really bad teams and made them pretty good. I wonder if he can take a really good team and make them the best.
 
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Deleted member 766172

Guest
Shame Barcelona waited until after Moyes was picked up.
Would have been the first person from Scotland to ever manage the club. Seems like 7 of the last 11 coaches have been from Spain, if you include Quique. Looks like they have agreed to terms.
 
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Tiki-Taka

Guest
Yes, 7 of the last 11 managers have been Spanish. 5 of the last 6, only Martino being Argentine. Before Pep, three foreigners in succession were in charge. Van Gaal, Antic and Rijkaard.

Bad news. Luis Suarez will have to do the drastic measure regarding the knee that has troubled him for a long time. A surgery will keep him on the sidelines for four months. Barcelona can't count on him until the very end of 2019-20 season. This tough blow could make the club look for a striker during this transfer window, but also give more opportunities to Fati and Perez. Maybe Griezmann benefits too, who knows...


For the first time since 2003, Barcelona have sacked the manager. Such contrasting results in these two cases. When Van Gaal was fired in January of 2003, Barcelona were just three points above relegation zone and twenty points or so behind Sociedad. Now, Valverde was sacked while Barcelona are top of the table on goal difference.

Should have done it in the summer when the second successive European collapse happened. And as much as I am glad he left, he deserved more honesty from the board, who repeatedly backed him for months while the fans wanted his head, but suddenly started searching for new managers in the middle of the season, with Xavi and Koeman declining the offer. I can imagine how betrayed he must feel, can't wait for certain other people to leave as well.

145 games, winning 97, drawing 32 and losing 16. Thanks for your contributions in our back to back La Liga title victories, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa, Txingurri. But this just wasn't going to work.

His replacement has signed a contract until 2022. He is someone I praised before and mentioned as one of the guys I would welcome here.
Ronald Koeman, Erik ten Hag and Quique Setien all try to impose football that Barcelona prefer so I would approve if one of them arrives.
His last two jobs include managing Las Palmas, a team he took over when they were in relegation zone and led to respectable midtable 11th place.

He really made a name for himself in Betis though. The Andalusian club finished 15th right before he joined, and in his first season as their manager, he guided them to sixth place finish which brought them Europa League football in 2018, Betis' finest moment since the mid 00s. Next season was less impressive as Betis finished below European places, but they did record a historic double of wins, beating Barcelona at Camp Nou and Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. And they did it in style.

Quique... The way he speaks and sees football, and considering he's been in Spanish football for four decades as a player and a manager, you would be excused for thinking he was one of the former Barcelona men. But this is the first time he is associated with the club.

"Victory is not worthy on its own. It must come as a result of doing things well" These words from Setien might explain why Valverde didn't keep his job even after being top of La Liga on 81 out of 95 match days he managed Barcelona.

Like his predecessor, he has never had a job this big. But their styles couldn't be more different. Ernesto wanted to play it cautious even with one of the best teams on the continent. Quique wanted to impose attacking possession football with average teams in comparison.

"I like it when my team play well most of the time, having the ball, because I know that in this way I will have many more chances to win than the rivals. Sometimes football is unfair, but in the long run if you do things right you will have more successes than failures. And that is sometimes difficult to understand; this reasoning is mine"

"People want to see your team win. Many do not care about the ways. I care and I already explained this to Real Betis when they hired me. I told them 'you know how I am, you know what I'm going to do, if you're really not sure about this, it's better to sign another coach'."


There is never guarantee for success. But having someone who has the same philosophy as the one that made Barcelona such a special club makes me excited for the next season so much. As far as this one is concerned, I would be thrilled if Barcelona retained La Liga. The race couldn't be tighter at the moment, and with one of our best players out for majority of the remaining games, the challenge has become a lot harder now. But it's possible.

Benvingut, Quique!

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Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Yeah, I know you're not talking about Fernandes here but too excited before he actually signs. Seems that United and Sporting are still messing about.

United are crap, they throw money at it.. until the next window when they realise they’re still crap and do it all over again ;) seems to of been a cycle they’ve been stuck in since Ferguson left.

From what I’ve seen, he does look good. That can be said for most of their signings though.

I can’t help but think they keep looking for easy answers to a far more complicated problem, but we’ll see!
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
United are crap, they throw money at it.. until the next window when they realise they’re still crap and do it all over again ;) seems to of been a cycle they’ve been stuck in since Ferguson left.

From what I’ve seen, he does look good. That can be said for most of their signings though.

I can’t help but think they keep looking for easy answers to a far more complicated problem, but we’ll see!

Yes, we shall see. The more recent signings have done alright.

You know I was talking to you about United needing a creative midfielder. He fits in with the philosophy. Hungry tiger. I've seen it, the attackers having to create their own goals because there is no creative talent, Mata is only good against Norwich. :p . The complicated problem of having to deal with the scraps of three managers left before him. That is why patience is required, not the five or six years patience, of course.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Another Fernandes to United Instagram post was liked by one of his agents. Woohoo. :p It has been feeling a bit like the Maguire deal. I hear a deadline has been set. Can only pray to the football gods that it comes off.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Mostly a good defensive performance as well although Wolves looked a bit jaded. Could have been caught out by that same goal again with the cutback to Neves. Missed this time thank goodness.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Was funny reading an article about how United's last big January signing was a bust. That was supposedly putting them off. Seriously? What, can Bruno not play the piano? Did they not notice a world of difference, aka peak/prime/body damage etc etc etc etc etc etc. I put this down to lazy reporting.

Attacking full-backs that are not converted wingers. United are getting it together slowly but surely (we hope.)
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Harry Maguire is the new full-time captain of the ship. Now all eyes on the derby tonight. Don't be getting injured on us. Wouldn't surprise me if Woodward has paid off a Benfica player to sabotage the deal.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
'Fernandes played in the match and bid his farewells. Was funny looking at him walking past a marble corridor adorned with images of previous Sporting heroes, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who loomed large in the corridor, giving a man following in his footsteps to Old Trafford a thumbs up.'

Yeah, that's good and all but I'm starting to get a bit worried about this. Here we are a day later and still hearing about how they can't come to an agreement.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Don't want to look at a best combined 11 from United and Liverpool. I wouldn't even have De Gea as the keeper now. Would be hard to argue Rashford over Firmino, but he is certainly helping his case this season.

I am hyped for the biggest football game in the world. :cool:
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
That man Virgil. United had a decent start, Liverpool was not doing much. Then they get a corner.

Not that it wasn't expected or anything. Liverpool now clearly on top.

United are very fortunate that it is not 2-0.
 
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Feña14

G.O.A.T.
That man Virgil. United had a decent start, Liverpool was not doing much. Then they get a corner.

Not that it wasn't expected or anything. Liverpool now clearly on top.

United are very fortunate that it is not 2-0.

Still plenty of time left, but yes, I think everyone plays Liverpool expecting to lose. It's probably a good weekend to play them though, with everyone else dropping points, you won't lose too much ground.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Still plenty of time left, but yes, I think everyone plays Liverpool expecting to lose. It's probably a good weekend to play them though, with everyone else dropping points, you won't lose too much ground.

Yeah, everybody around us not gaining any ground. It was looking pretty bad there for about 20 minutes. 2 disallowed goals. The game is still on.

Listening to them arguing in the studio about it not being a foul was hilarious. Keano is looking like he wants to go out there and do some damage. Evra did say it was a foul. Souness got them all laughing. NEVER A FOUL. haha
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Wasn't too bad all things considered. I do think Roy Keane was spot on about Martial's United career. You won't get many chances in this match, you gotta take the chance. Fred couldn't hit the target. Yes, there is a guy called Bruno Fernandes, he knows where the net is. But anyway, it continues. I've heard Bruno now coming out and saying he wants the move. But not putting pressure on. Agree on the fee!

Rashford going to be out a long time. Come on. Get the coin out.
 
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Tiki-Taka

Guest
Didn't expect fireworks right away as the players weren't against Valverde and all of a sudden enjoying the game like never before. It will take a while to notice changes.

Quique off to a winning start, but barely. Vidal's beautiful backheel assist found Messi who finished with his right foot with fifteen minutes left and earned a 1-0 win over 10 men Granada at Camp Nou and got Barcelona back on top.

Dominated the possession but a lot of misplaced passes in dangerous areas resulted in a frustrating evening. Nobody had a great game, and it turned out that academy boy Puig coming on was of vital performance, as he won the ball back deep in their half right prior to the only goal of the game.

After Real's 2-1 win over Sevilla and Atletico's loss against Eibar, Barca and Madrid are now eight points ahead of their nearest chasers. Bad start to the second half of the season from a neutral's perspective, but points will be dropped by all teams, more regularly than in most of the recent seasons.

Hopefully that won't happen to Barcelona on Saturday, as we travel to play Valencia at the Mestalla. They were dominated today by relegation threatened Mallorca and lost 4-1, but they won't have that in their minds next weekend.

On another note, Xavi guided Al Sadd to the Qatar Cup, becoming the first man in club's history to win that competition both as a player and a manager. :)

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Feather

Legend
As a Liverpool fan, I am delighted. 16 points clear with 16 matches to go! And we are one game behind Man City and still 16 points ahead
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
It's like something you would expect from PSG or Celtic (pre Stevie G) with the league won by August. Truly incredible stuff from Liverpool.

I see Cavani is the latest name linked that isn't going to come. Just watching that Haaland debut is sickening.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
I'm not that upset right now. I did imagine a Fernandes deal taking until the closing moments. I can only hope it does happen.

I am upset about Rashford. Coming into his own as a predator and then put on as a 'risk that didn't pay off.' Yeah , not only did it not pay off, it left us with heavy debt.

Ole has a habit of winning me over slightly and then losing me again when he opens his mouth. The corporate doublespeak. Yes, man. Pun intended.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Interesting night in the premier league. Everton let a 2-0 slip. Newcastle with goals in the 94th and 95th minute to get the 2-2.

Aston Villa won the six-pointer against Watford 2-1.

1-1 with Chelsea and Arsenal.

He is pretty good for his age but next to Roberto and Semedo he has barely featured in the first team so far. It's going to be a struggle for him to break through.

Understood. I can remember asking you about Samper a couple or 3 years ago. He was another of the highly-rated Barcelona up and comers. I see it didn't work out for him.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Word around the campfire says United have bid 30 million for that Birmingham kid. That's good, he fits in with the thing United is trying to build but we need a player that is ready to go right now.
 

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
I think it is pretty safe to say that Paul Pogba is done with United. To be fair, I'm not over the moon with him or anything but when the agent says we've failed to match his ambition you just have to say yep.
 
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Deleted member 766172

Guest
I don’t really understand futball that well, but Roma seems to play some beautiful counter attacking futbol. Just as I’m writing this Ronaldo scored, but that’s the way it goes with him.
 
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