GWT: Champions League Matchday 6: 12/8-12/9

[Ceremony]

You do know both the EPL and UCL have a roster limit of 25 players(with some homegrown variations)? And that rebuildigna squad in Euroepan football does not happen easily, quickly or cheaply. Look at City and PSG.

True, to an extent. I think the general shambles of the squad right now can be traced back much further to the end of Ferguson's time there when he just signed a bunch of random young English players with varying levels of success (see: Smalling, Jones, Powell, Zaha) as some sort of plan for whoever replaced him. Sadly, his own ego got in the way in his last year when he signed Van Persie so he could win the league in his last year. Aside from the fact that his immediate replacement was completely out of his depth the squad then had been assembled with some vague long term plan in mind which had no chance of being realised. It's been added to by two successors with hilariously inconsistent results (Mata = good, Fellaini = bad (and then Van Gaal's assortment of truly baffling signings with an apparent focus on attackers over defenders which results in all the defenders being injured while none of the attackers are doing anything)) and the embarrassing consequences of that have been realised this season. A club of Manchester United's resources should not exit cup competitions at home to lower league opposition. A club of their wealth should not be going out of the Champions League at the group stage. Their league position is as reliant on the general inconsistencies of the other teams as anything else - that they're in that position while they've been over relying on Rooney to do a job he's incapable of, been playing as many sideways passing midfielders as they have, and that it all could have been avoided, is an absolute travesty for them.

And hilarious for everyone else since their seemingly unquestionable standards will never be reached again, because the expectations left by someone irreplaceable exceed anything that will come along to replace him. Victims of their own success. I'd say ~two decades of expectations is more than the vast majority of people get in a lifetime.

Also those other two teams are equally hilarious but they don't come with several decades worth of accumulated hubris for rivals to gloat at not being fulfilled.

 

[Jussi]

True, to an extent. I think the general shambles of the squad right now can be traced back much further to the end of Ferguson's time there when he just signed a bunch of random young English players with varying levels of success (see: Smalling, Jones, Powell, Zaha) as some sort of plan for whoever replaced him. Sadly, his own ego got in the way in his last year when he signed Van Persie so he could win the league in his last year. Aside from the fact that his immediate replacement was completely out of his depth the squad then had been assembled with some vague long term plan in mind which had no chance of being realised. It's been added to by two successors with hilariously inconsistent results (Mata = good, Fellaini = bad (and then Van Gaal's assortment of truly baffling signings with an apparent focus on attackers over defenders which results in all the defenders being injured while none of the attackers are doing anything)) and the embarrassing consequences of that have been realised this season. A club of Manchester United's resources should not exit cup competitions at home to lower league opposition. A club of their wealth should not be going out of the Champions League at the group stage. Their league position is as reliant on the general inconsistencies of the other teams as anything else - that they're in that position while they've been over relying on Rooney to do a job he's incapable of, been playing as many sideways passing midfielders as they have, and that it all could have been avoided, is an absolute travesty for them.

And hilarious for everyone else since their seemingly unquestionable standards will never be reached again, because the expectations left by someone irreplaceable exceed anything that will come along to replace him. Victims of their own success. I'd say ~two decades of expectations is more than the vast majority of people get in a lifetime.

Also those other two teams are equally hilarious but they don't come with several decades worth of accumulated hubris for rivals to gloat at not being fulfilled.

It happens frequently, not just to United but other English clubs. I've seen United lose to single wonder goal strikes to lower league clubs even when SAF was in charge and not a damn was given aftewards since it was the Worthless Cup.

Like I said, it's an unprecented task to rebuild this clubs and it can't be doen in one, two or three summers. The transfer market has changed so much in recent years, United can't and won't overspend for every player they'd like to have, that's not how things work.

 

[Savant]

David Moyes: £30m spent = Champions League Quarter Finals.

Van Gaal: £250m spent = Champions League Group Stage https://t.co/cN8WdC17Jk

David Moyes is a football genius.

 

[Power Man]

Benz now surpassed sheva in CL top scorrers list and is one goal behind Henry. .wow

 

[Edo]

Losing to Wolfsburg .

Why are people even thinking that Arsenal won't qualify? It's freaking Olympiakos.

 

[Live in the Now]

Why are people even thinking that Arsenal won't qualify? It's freaking Olympiakos.

Because they couldn't beat Olympiacos on their own patch? Shouldn't ask questions you know the answer to, they say.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Arsenal have to win by 3 no?

 

[Evilo]

I'm surely missing how PSG is an example of how hard it is to build a winning team?
They've qualified for the quarters every single year.
United spent 150M€ and couldn't bring in a defenseman.

 

[les Habs]

It's crazy but the EL could actually be quite stacked this year.

Liverpool, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Gladbach, Schalke, Napoli, Lazio and potentially Ajax and Valencia.

Sevilla, Athletic, Villarreal, Basel... You're missing some sides who make it more stacked than some of the sides you've mentioned.

His absence was almost criminal to Real's offense.

That could have been phrased differently.

Who gives a **** about the Worthless Cup? United squad for that game was already telling, in addition to the player's effort on the pitch. No one cared if they lost.

Supporters of the club? Just a guess.

Do you have anything to offer that's related to the defense of your team or no?

Also : LVG sucks

It's Ander Herrera's fault.

Show me one team in the world that would cope better with the number of injuries United have in defense.

Found one.

EPL fans, stop fighting each other


Instead let's all laugh at the EPL together

No kidding. You don't see me fighting with you ******* Madridistas do you?

I tend to laugh the supporters rather than the league, although I have to say they've been tame of late.

That's what's so freaking weird about this season. It feels like they're playing terrible and yet they're 3 points back of the top of the table.

A lot of clubs in the Premiership are playing terrible. You don't have to drive too far from Old Trafford to find another club doing the same. For me it's like last season where some of the clubs who should have been challenging Chelsea more simply weren't playing to their potential. That said the teams in general aren't as strong as many think they've been the past season or two.

You do know both the EPL and UCL have a roster limit of 25 players(with some homegrown variations)? And that rebuildigna squad in Euroepan football does not happen easily, quickly or cheaply. Look at City and PSG.

What of PSG? I'd say they've done it really easily, rather quickly and relatively cheaply. If McSorely's figure of what van Gaal has spent is accurate, then compare that to the last £250m that PSG has spent. I'm not a fan of PSG and they outspend almost everyone else, but they've done some excellent work in the transfer market over the past five years much less year.

 

[bluesfan94]

Arsenal have to win by 3 no?

2, or by more than 3-2

 

[maclean]

Arsenal have to win by 3 no?

Oly beat them 3-2 in London, basically take it like the second leg of a playoff, with the added bonus for Arsenal that if it's 3-2 for them they have the better overall goal difference, the next tiebreaker.

 

[Power Man]

Arbeloa sucks but he is a total team player

https://amp.twimg.com/v/705b1499-ca20-4e1a-843b-fc57ca3a05c1

 

[Jussi]

That could have been phrased differently.

No, it couldn't have.

Supporters of the club? Just a guess.

League Cup is a useless competition for the clubs playing in Europe, it just adds in to the fatigue. The last time United won it, I don't think I even bothered watching. I usually don't bother looking for streams. The Middlesborough game I had on the pc since it was shown on the national lottery & betting agency's site but I paid more attention to playing World Of Tanks on Xbox One since it was soon obvious that the players weren't interested either. Fans are usually hoping for the team to exit ASAP.

 

[Jussi]

I'm surely missing how PSG is an example of how hard it is to build a winning team?
They've qualified for the quarters every single year.
United spent 150M€ and couldn't bring in a defenseman.

How much money have PSG spent since the shieks came in?

 

[Maverick41]

Bayern is not exactly fielding their best squad:

Ulreich - Lahm , Javi Martinez , Benatia , Rafinha - Xabi Alonso - Rode , Kimmich - Green , F. Ribery - Lewandowski

Julian Green in the starting 11 is the biggest surprise for me.

 

[Plato]

 

[Edo]

Zenit can be the 6th team to ever win all 6 in the group stage. Pretty impressive even when you consider their weak group. Would join Milan (92/93), PSG (94/95), Spartak Moscow (95/96), Barcelona (02/03), and Real Madrid (11/12, 14/15).

 

[Live in the Now]

Dinamo Kiev can be the 6th team to ever win all 6 in the group stage. Pretty impressive even when you consider their weak group. Would join Milan (92/93), PSG (94/95), Spartak Moscow (95/96), Barcelona (02/03), and Real Madrid (11/12, 14/15).

You meant Zenit.

 

[Maverick41]

How much money have PSG spent since the shieks came in?

11/12: 107,10 Mio € (transfer income: 9,40 Mio €) EL: Group Stage
12/13: 149,95 Mio € (transfer income: 4,75 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
13/14: 135,90 Mio € (transfer income: 26,50 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
14/15: 49,50 Mio € (transfer income: 2,20 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
15/16: 116,10 Mio € (transfer income: 17,40 Mio €)

Data according to transfermarkt.de

 

[Evilo]

How much money have PSG spent since the shieks came in?

11/12: 107,10 Mio € (transfer income: 9,40 Mio €) EL: Group Stage
12/13: 149,95 Mio € (transfer income: 4,75 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
13/14: 135,90 Mio € (transfer income: 26,50 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
14/15: 49,50 Mio € (transfer income: 2,20 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
15/16: 116,10 Mio € (transfer income: 17,40 Mio €)

Data according to transfermarkt.de

You got your answer. They didn't have to spend as much as United to become a CL QFinalist.
And that's not even saying that United had more big time players before LVG came in than when PSG's owners did.

 

[Edo]

11/12: 107,10 Mio € (transfer income: 9,40 Mio €) EL: Group Stage
12/13: 149,95 Mio € (transfer income: 4,75 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
13/14: 135,90 Mio € (transfer income: 26,50 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
14/15: 49,50 Mio € (transfer income: 2,20 Mio €) CL: Quarterfinal
15/16: 116,10 Mio € (transfer income: 17,40 Mio €)

Data according to transfermarkt.de

That's actually not as bad as everybody makes it out to be.

I really hope that Chelsea park the bus here and Mourinho still loses. It would be fantastic. Porto are pretty dangerous, and there really isn't that big of a difference in talent with lots of the guys from Chelsea being hyped beyond belief.

 

[Peen]

or you could watch your own must win game before worrying about ours lol

 

[Edo]

Mertesacker is soooooooo bad.

 

[Live in the Now]

Arsenal will concede quickly if they keep playing like this.

 

[Peen]

woo!!!!