Good win Every season in the transfer thread Allan gets a bad rap for no reason. He’s been a stud for us. I like ancelotti trying Hamsik in Jorginhos old role. We look more direct, but I would not put Hamsik there with Ruiz. Aside from first 25 mins Napoli looked good to me. We have some exciting young players to watch so I’m gonna enjoy week to week. Think Juventus is a bridge too far this season with Ronaldo but if they continue to play him at striker things could change.
I don't "love" them. It's just when you say (for example) he only passes sideways - it comes in handy disproving that theory. 71% of his passes were forward. haha whoscored? Oh man...Whoscored's overall ratings are an abomination. For example, they had Gonalons with a higher rating than Alisson last season. The individual stats come in handy , without question , though. Also, Kante, who you described to be "shit" , in his new role has a 7.51 rating thus far this season. Which, if you know the rating scale , is really damn high. I even agree he shouldn't have that high of a rating so far - but whoscored disagrees with us. Hazard is an incredible talent , and if you think he deserved it , you'll get no qualms from me. That's a viable argument. What isn't arguable is how valuable Kante was. He was crucial. Yeah, I've seen the Herrera vs Kante statistical debates, trust me. I'm surrounded by United/Prem fans in my daily life (like you). Here: https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/stats-show-kante-among-world-s-best http://www.sportbible.com/football/...at-the-world-cup-prove-hes-not-human-20180623 https://sports-nova.com/2017/03/23/discussion-five-effects-ngolo-kante-chelsea-midfielder/ Ferguson is merely a dinosaur to you? This is the hubris I'm talking about. At least you acknowledge it. And good, please don't compare Ander to Kante. United would kill to trade those players. As would Pogba.
I'd be most comfortable with Cavani, though not very happy about his age, ofc. Our owner is not a big spender, but he appears to keep the accounts healthy and even honorable, especially in the current world's market of madness. But then again, I only know that which I read, for I haven't really looked into it at all... Still, I would really appreciate Carlo if he could turn or old investment(Milik) into a phenomenon, which does not appear so hopeless after the first match, though it's too early to say, but that applies to almost everything we have been talking about. I mean, look at Inter and Roma. I was reading some posts written by their fans, and they were not very optimistic. Especially the fans of Inter were pretty hysterical. But then again, it's too early to judge, as Inter still needs to integrate a lot of players. Juve fans are the real sons of bitches. They didn't exactly shine but they don't seem to be worried much, as they just win, the way they did against Chievo, they don't need to shine. Their confidence and calm is just overwhelming.
I am sorry but Napoli fans are delusional. Juventus looked absolutely great. They will run away. If Ancelotti can do miracles we will finish second and do better in Europe. Inter have a phenemonal keeper, defence and with Naingollan a beast. Add Icardi and Laturo and their wings and they are great. They lack creative midfielders. Vecino, Brozovic, Valero will struggle. If they got Modric we would be in trouble. ADL needed to be smarter on goal and we needed a better guy than Malcuit, someone who can play left too given Ghoulam’s situation. The biggest problem is attack. Let’s see how Milik does but we have three competitions and zi am not sure Mertens or Verdi can play there. Everyone wanted a class striker for a reason. Btw Inglese looked good today.
Also don't forget AC Milan and Roma. AC Milan made some great signings. Very good defense and their attack is probably second best in Serie A after Juventus. Nothing too special in midfield though. Roma has a pretty good midfield as well although not as good after losing Nainggolan but still third best in Serie A after Inter and Juve. Defense and Attack are both average. Its gonna be a great battle this season. I believe Napoli, Inter, Roma, and AC Milan will all be fighting for UCL. I am a Juventus fan, and I do believe we will win it marginally but it won't be easy. You guys and many other teams will cause us trouble throughout the season.
That is true, but then again, it was Chievo. The point is we probably can't afford to spend as much for one player as Juventus. So we should concentrate on the miracles, I mean, if you can't prove that we can throw away 130 million for a guy who is over 30... Even if we had the means, with DL that would be THE MIRACLE, we could make a movie based on it. So I think that yes, Napoli fans are delusional, but mostly because they expect DL to act like a shark on the market, whilst he is a puppy. I have never said that when I look at the team we will win or sth, I just think that considering the circumstances we can only try. We could have bought Cavani but Juventus would still have CR, so the scales would still remain in their favor. I believe our best course of action is to act patiently and wait for the talent in our previous purchases to show, hoping that one of the greatest coaches in the world knows his thing and is telling the truth. If he is lying, then we are screwed.
Good game and Happy with the help. We were nervous in the start and defensive screw-up lead to the 1st goal. Otherwise I thought we had a pretty solid game. Insigne MOTM for me ( setup the 1st goal and scored the second ). Even Milik played well. Finally he runs and not just stand around. All this gloom and doom talk earlier on is probably pre-mature but so is any idea that things are just fine as we lack reinforcement and will come back to bite us later into the season, as it often does.
Inter won't get Modric. That transfer is doomed. No way Real Madrid let him go. BTW, Inter just lost their opening match of the season. One way or another Inter always find way to self-implode. I'll give some time for Milik to proof himself. He has redeemed himself recently.
I think Milan may struggle again. Their midfield sucks and defense is young. Gattuso is not a coach I would want. Higuain is a real threat. If Roma young guys do well and Nzonzi and Pastore get back to top form they will do well.
We have to hoe things go well. My big worry are injuries and CL. The new system relies on a big striker and not Mertens up front.
But this is what annoys people about ADL. No one said spend billions or like Juventus. We needed someone who can play left and right back and a new striker. ADL said he bid 50M for Alisson. He can’t buy one more striker.
I don't know, if Ghoulam gets back and our new purchase is good, I think we pretty much have it covered. Yes, we could have bought better players, but that is gone now, we have what we have and it is not at all that bad. The striker is an issue, but let's see what happens. Perhaps Carlo wants to experiment with that position.
Hard to say about Milan. I think their defense has a lot of potential. Romagnoli & Caldara, despite being still young, they have had a fair amount of playing time and both played in the Europa League before. I believe they are really hungry and will want to prove themselves. I wouldn't say their midfield sucks, but it is not the best. Bakayoko is a young and fast player who I think will do well with AC Milan. Bonaventura has always worked very hard despite lacking talent. Then either Kessie or Biglia will be a regista. Neither of them I rate very high, but I wouldn't say their midfield sucks. Regarding Gattuso, I really don't know. I feel he could be good, but he is still inexperienced. He might often get his tactics wrong.
It’s relative when I say they suck. But they have the weakest midfield and coach among the top 6 teams.
I believe the midfield between AC Milan & Napoli is a toss up. Now without Jorginho, and Hamsik getting old, Napoli's midfield is very questionable as well. However, Ancelotti as of now is much superior to Gattuso and has way more experience. Juventus, Roma, Lazio, and Inter though all have a better midfield.
The Milan comment is a joke. There is no doubt that Jorginho was the best midfielder in the league. But I take Napoli’s midfield any day over Inter’s. Fabian is arguably the biggest talent in Serie A and Zielinski, Diawara and Rog have a lot of upside. Hamsik and Allan are proven. Roma lost Naingollan and I am not sure how good Nzonzi and Pastore will be. De Rossi is aging. On paper they are stronger but Napoli midfield has been together for 3 years and Diawara played in games against Real Madrid ahead of Jorginho. Napoli is more creative than Roma and will keep more possession but Roma is more compact. Juve is probably the strongest with Pjanic but the rest are ok. I see midfield as Juve’s weakest position.
Why are we talking about midfields as if they're not connected to two other lines? When everyone is fit we have the best back four in the league imo, and when Hamsik plays well we have one of the best midfields as well - I just dont think our attack is as impressive as the other top teams in Italy especially when Mertens isn't fit and scoring the goals - key word here for me would be a major lack of consistency in the final third, who here doesnt remember all the misses against Inter, City and Roma last season just to name a few? After Milik's performance I'm not worried in the same way as before the Lazio game; I'm no longer that worried about quality I'm just worried Milik will break and we're stuck with a 31 year old Mertens playing (and killing himself chasing after defenders) a full 90 mins every 4 days