2018/19 Premier League - Page 78 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

devo22 · 02-18-2019, 01:18 PM

United absolutely ruthless, two wonderfully crafted goals.

Bagor · 02-18-2019, 01:42 PM

Time to look ahead and get Matic off

devo22 · 02-18-2019, 02:04 PM

Pogba will get all the plaudits, but Herrera has been simply incredible today. He's everywhere.

Senator Clay Davis · 02-18-2019, 02:12 PM

Well the whole team deserves plaudits, they've played basically a perfect road match.

Bagor · 02-18-2019, 02:15 PM

Chelsea like the old Man U.
One player in the box

devo22 · 02-18-2019, 02:16 PM

they're down 2-0, bring on a defender and let Hudson-Odoi sit on the bench for 90 again. They never learn.

Senator Clay Davis · 02-18-2019, 02:27 PM

It's actually kind of impressive Chelsea have won two of the last five PL titles when you consider what a trainwreck of a club they are. Zidane seems kinda insane to even consider wanting to manage that mess, but money talks so I'm sure Roman is throwing stupid money at him.

Bagor · 02-18-2019, 02:42 PM

Swansea v Man City
Watford v Crystal Palace
Wolves v Man Utd
Millwall v Brighton

Meh, not great, ...at least avoided city.

devo22 · 02-18-2019, 02:47 PM

ffs. Away to Arsenal, away to Chelsea, away to Wolves. Meanwhile, City get a Championship team after playing a League 2 team this weekend.

d_phaneuf · 02-19-2019, 01:51 PM

Things are going really well for chelsea it seems

https://mobile.twitter.com/TeleFootb...79377973600256

Slava · 02-19-2019, 02:12 PM

^ you realise how this goes though? They keep Sarri until after City crushes them in the Carabao Cup final and then whoever they bring in gets a performance from these guys against us.

devo22 · 02-22-2019, 04:33 AM

aaaaand there's the transfer ban. I guess they'll appeal and be able to delay this for a year though, like Barcelona did.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1098884557179363328

Slava · 02-22-2019, 05:55 AM

^ meh, two windows of no signings? We just did that!

In all seriousness though, they got off light. 29 players were signed illegally, which is just unreal, and they got only two windows and can push it back with an appeal. I still think they’re in trouble because Hazard apparently has one foot out the door, Hudson Odoi wants out and I just don’t see Higuain/Pulisic as adequate replacements there. But then what do they do? You have a summer to prepare for this, and a manager you almost surely want to fire, so it’s not as though you give him a boatload of cash to run around make signings?

devo22 · 02-22-2019, 06:25 AM

yeah I imagine it won't be as bad as it originally looks. They have already confirmed that they will appeal the decision, and given that both Barcelona and Atletico were able to postpone this for a while, I expect them to be able to do the same. They'll probably get to delay this until 2020, so that'd give them some wiggle room. Could be an interesting summer for them because they'll probably have to sell both Hazard and Hudson-Odoi while also splashing a ton of cash to make up for it. I expect them to pay some Kepa-style inflated fees ... but at the same time they are so good at selling players that I wouldn't be shocked if they got ridiculous money for deadwood like Drinkwater, Bakayoko and so on.

and then there's Sarri. Will be an interesting few months for them.

EDIT: of course, they could just turn to their gazillions of youth players instead of loaning them for a change.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1098906112433287168

Senator Clay Davis · 02-22-2019, 06:56 AM

Lol Zouma is probably better than anyone in their current defense. Also, there's another Hazard?

d_phaneuf · 02-22-2019, 07:16 AM

Realistically with hazard and odoi leaving and the age of their players, they basically need to buy a striker, at least 1 wide player, 2 central midfielders, 2 centerbacks, and both fullbacks this summer when they appeal to compete the next 2 years for top 4

They have an old team, and the young players they have arent great, even pulisic yet wouldnt start for the other top 6 clubs yet imo

d_phaneuf · 02-22-2019, 07:18 AM

When it happened to barca I believe they signed suarez, rakitic, and ter stegen the window they appealed during

Senator Clay Davis · 02-22-2019, 08:58 AM

Wonder if Roman considers pressing eject and selling. Saudis want United, but I'm sure they'd settle for Chelsea.

devo22 · 02-22-2019, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Also, there's another Hazard?

yup, clearly the worst of the bunch though. Thorgan used to be at Chelsea too, but flourished at Gladbach and will probably end up at Dortmund in the summer to, ironically, replace Chelsea-bound Pulisic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

even pulisic yet wouldnt start for the other top 6 clubs yet imo

yup, he surely wouldn't. That deal is still mind-boggling to me - splashing such a lot of money on Pulisic when you could just trust Hudson-Odoi who's already at the club just doesn't make a lot of sense. Sure, there's marketing opportunities that come with a good young American player, but come on. He'll probably never live up to that fee, he's really not that good.

another interesting tidbit btw -

https://twitter.com/user/status/1098880926585708545

https://twitter.com/user/status/1098883002866810880

Bagor · 02-24-2019, 06:44 AM

No Martial, No Lingard(bench), and now no Matic.

This is McTominay's make or break and/or chance game imo. Time to step up and prove his worth. Curious to see who plan B is if he doesn't cut it between Periera after his Burnley disaster or Fred who no one seems to trust.

I'm also worried that Smalling is on the radar and finally going to get called on that excessive grappling he does in the box.