That was remarkable last night. I used to make fun of and laugh at Knick fans, but I’m genuine happy for them. Or at least the ones that aren’t trying to harm San Antonio Spurs fans for being San Antonio Spurs fans.
Congrats to the Knicks! Another 4Q comeback + Spurs choke. And 53 years of mostly misery is over. Much more than what Arsenal just vanquished. p.s. I looked for an NBA thread and it looks like it hasn't been active since 2022?!
The New York Knicks. First NBA team ever to win the double!! #NBA Finals #NBA Cup I'm pretty sure the Emirates managed to sponsor the NBA Cup too.
Between the Knicks and Arsenal I'm going to end up buying so much championship swag that I'll need a new closet.
Home rig was down for a bit but wanted to mention: Did we see the USA or prime Spuds on Friday night?!
Spurs now being heavlly linked to Tonali. Can't see him passing up Man Utd and us for them. He'd start for Man Utd but might be rotated with us. Rice is the only certain starter in our midfield. Odegaard next as club captain but we've seen Arteta switch up with Eze depending on form or opposition. I wouldn't say MLS is a cert starter as well. Tonali, Rice and Odegaard would be a formidable midfield, and if we bought him, I can see that as the eventual first choice but not all the time and especially with 4 competitions going on.
I'm not sure why he would leave Newcastle for Spurs unless it's down to wanting to be in London, they are offering money that Newcastle can't turn down, or Spurs offer him money he can't turn down. As for us, when Bouaddi had his massive game against Brasil the stories about who is linked to him popped up and one that linked us mentioned that Arteta does want a 4th mid to specifically "Rotate between Rice, Zubimendi and MLS". Tonali is definitely a great addition to the squad but does he add enough of a difference. Bouaddi for example does things some of our other mids can't or don't.
Arteta seems to be “world class” on selling his “project” to prospective transfers. Over the last few years, it’s sounds like we’ve largely been able to capture every rated player we’ve pursued. If I were Bouaddi, I’d definitely be interested in Arsenal for the following reasons: 1. He won’t be expected to play 90 minutes every match, and can likely sit/rest on a regular basis 2. By managing playing minutes early in his professional career, it should theoretically help him have a longer, more injury-free career to earn more money while he can. 3. He’d be joining arguably one of the top 2-3 clubs in the world right now. 4. Not only are we one of the top clubs in the world, we are also one of the best-operated clubs. 5. He’d easily and eternally become a club legend if helps us win UCL (ie. His reputation could be diminished if PSG loses UCL next year, or never wins while he’s there) PSG can offer 1-3 above and Liverpool can offer 1-2 above, but I don’t think anyone can provide all five at the level we can. My hope is that Lille doesn’t want to sell to a rival, so if he looks outside of France, he hopefully sees us as the top choice.
First 5 games of next season have been released, Man United have the "easiest run", Bournemouth have the most difficult but I always find these a bit funny especially with all the changes this offseason. Bournemouth with a new manager might be awful, or might be excellent. They have games against Man City, with a new manager and quite a bit of a list overhaul, and Liverpool who will also have a list and tactical overhaul. While in theory the newly promoted teams, especially Hull, should be seen as easier match ups, early season matches often throw up unexpected results (by the end of MD5 Sunderland were 7th with 2W2D1L while Villa were horrendous and winless 0W3D2L and Spuds were getting nosebleeds sitting in 3rd). Coventry I imagine will be up for getting a big scalp, and none are bigger than ours. And away trips to Villa ALWAYS sucks for us. Some tricky matches early.
The story is Tonali and the Spurs manager are from from Basia, Italy The story is the manager understands him. So its more personal than strategic
Big pay bump, coach he gets on with, makes sense. Same probably goes for Andy Robertson. Edit: Reports are that Harry Wilson is leaving Fulham for Leeds on a free. Not that we would go for him especially at 29 (I thought he was like 25) but I thought a bigger team would go for him since he is on a free and was probably top 3 for Fulham last year.
I don't think we are going to have an easier time repeating as champions as some think. We are the most settled club and with the people we are looking it we have to be considered favorites...again. That said, I think both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea will all challenge or possibly lead at various times of the first half of the season. The holiday season will sort things out probably. Villa, Bournemouth, Spurs...yes Spurs, will take points and be tough to beat. 85 points may be the points needed again.
Next year will be really unpredictable because it's coming off a world cup, so players will be tired later in the season, and a lot of the big hitters all have new managers. And that's before the transfer market goes crazy. And before the EPL comes out with whatever rule changes they have after everyone spent last season complaining about corners. But we have a largely settled squad, a team that now knows how to win the league, and a manager who won't settle at 1 title. We deserve to be favourites.
I can't see Liverpool ha ing back to back bad seasons. City will be tough. Chelsea will be good. Man Utd already good.
If Tottenham gets both Fernandes and Tonali, the conversation about the predicted table for the next season must change. They also had a massive amount of injuries. Everyone healthy they were a very decent side. Liverpool is the biggest question mark perhaps when it comes to transfers .A few of their transfers last season didn't live up to expectations (Wirtz), Salah had a sub par season bur he's still Mo Salah, very difficult to replace adequately.
IMO, next season should likely see a return to the traditional "Big Six" than we've seen the last few seasons. I can't see Sunderland, Bournemouth, or Villa maintaining Europe spots as they are likely to sell key players and don't think they will have the necessary squad sizes to keep up. If Liverpool get Diomande, they will definitely be a force and he's an instant upgrade over Salah. They still need to shore up their defense since Konate is gone and VdV has already been showing signs of decline. And their defense already wasn't that great last season. 'Pool bought that teenage italian last summer that was injured all season, but I don't think they can/should depend on him. Chel$ski are already making big moves and with no Europe, they will likely be tougher domestically. They seem to have finally found a competent manager who is being backed by ownership, which is also concerning. Spuds at near full-strength, no Europe, a semi-competent manager, and with rumored additions in place will cause concerns. Cheaty look like they are about to get Anderson for ~130M and will definitely round out their squad to compete. Yanited need to make substantial upgrades and look to have been sniped by other teams for their top targets so far this summer. If that continues, and with Europe and expectations to get out of the first rounds of domestic cups, they look to be 5th or 6th at best right now. I also think Carrick will get found out at some point this season, and they appear to be most likely to have a management change this season.
If Spuds decide they can match or even beat Yanited's contract terms, and he gets to stay in London in that stadium, I can see why he'd consider going there. Most likely the Spuds interest could be generated by agents to get a better deal from Yanited.
Man Utd sites are saying Spurs seem more likely than they are. What ever is happening at Spurs, the fact that very good players are seemingly interested is itself a big accomplishment.
Mendes is pimping him out to the highest bidder. That's why we backed off. He will go to whomever ultimately makes his agent the most money.
United probably have both the greater need and more money to spend than spurs. In addition, in the end the player will have some input, so if the offers are close, United offer Champions League and a compatriot with the same surname in their midfield.