Association Football 2023/2024 Discussion Thread

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€50m net annual salary for Mbappe, plus €100m sign on bonus. This makes Messi's old Barcelona contract and Ronaldo's old Juventus contract look quaint.

How is PSG not committing Financial Fair play violations with that deal?

Because they are a marketing machine that is owned by the richest country in the world, has 3 out of the 4 biggest names in the sport, and has a monopoly on the world's most prestigious city name, at least from a branding perspective.

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Carlo is the GOAT. This run has shades of Chelsea 2012 - on the back foot for most of the knockout rounds, but wins on mental strength alone.

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So annoyed by people claiming Real Madrid were "lucky". You don't eliminate PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City (probably the most difficult path to the final imaginable, and often with amazing comebacks) - and then win the CL vs. Liverpool with sheer luck. That's actually world class quality.

You could more credibly claim Liverpool are the lucky team, winning 2 trophies despite not scoring in 3 finals and not having to play Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

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The Netherlands upset Belgium 4-1 behind two goals from Memphis Depay

What have we come to?... I'm sorry, but it is never possible for the Netherlands, arguably one of the top 5 countries in football, to be underdogs to Belgium.

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England lose! 🤡

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Juventus sign Pogba for compensation, sell him back to Man Utd for a record fee. Then they sign him back again for free. 😂

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Liverpool to sign Benefica forward Darwin Nunez for 100 million Euros.

This is a fantastic signing for Liverpool, especially with both Sadio Mane and Mohamad Salah's future at Liverpool in doubt, signing a forward like Nunez is a great move. He'll pair well with Roberto Firmino too.

Benfica just lost its main player. The team is already on the ropes because of scandals and internal infighting, and next year doesn't sound promissing at all.

If there is one sure thing in football, it's that Benfica and Porto will continue to attract some of the best South American talent. It'd be kinda fun for Braga or someone else to get in the Champions League for a year, but bad for the league coefficient. As for Liverpool, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota... who even needs Mane or Salah?

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England lose! 🤡

Somehow I feel empty-quoting this is a bit inadequate today.

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The Host Cities and Stadiums for the 2026 World Cup have been chosen.

In Canada: BMO Field in Toronto and BC Place in Vancouver.

In Mexico: Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Estadio BBVA Bancomer in Monterrey and Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.

In the United States: MetLife Stadium (New York Metro Area), SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Metro), A&T&T Stadium (Dallas Metro), Levi's Stadium (San Francisco Metro), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Lumen Field (Seattle), NRG Stadium (Houston), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City) and Gillette Stadium (Boston Metro)

So no real soccer stadiums in the US and no Rose Bowl. The final should be held at the Azteca, not these NFL stadiums.

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https://twitter.com/GarethBale11/status/1540813308974043136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%...
Most interesting MLS signing since Ibrahimovic went to the LA Galaxy (though Lorenzo Isnigne's deal with Toronto FC, which also starts this summer might compete with it in terms of interest).

It's actually quite a good move for Bale. He gets to play in a summer season league to train for the World Cup, play golf, hang out with the stars in LA, and boost his commercial profile in the US.

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Richarlison heading from Everton to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth about 60 million pounds.

;( Bye Richy. Such a good player, deserves to get Champions League football and play under a top coach.

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Manchester United still has too much individual talent to actually be relegated, but if they keep playing like they have been the past two weeks, it's a real possibility.

Remember when you said Arsenal would get relegated last season?

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The new look Bayern Munich looks amazing as they crush VfL Bochum 7-0, with five different players scoring.

It's not really a "new look" Bayern Munich. They swapped out Lewandowski for Liverpool's best player and played him in an already great team.

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Apparently signing one player really can make all of the difference. Just days after officially signing Casemiro from Real Madrid, Manchester United is steamrolling through Liverpool 2-0 at Old Trafford, despite Liverpool having possessed the ball for almost double the amount of time of Man U.

Casemiro was literally watching from an executive box.

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Man, imagine away days in Pilsen.

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Man United just bought Ajax winger Antony for € 100 million.

Money which Ajax will use to develop at least 5 top players, while Man Utd limp into a Europa League position again.

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I think we've found this season's UEFA Champions League Cinderella story, as Dinamo Zagreb has defeated Chelsea 1-0 in Group E action.

Winning one match in the group stage isn't a "Cinderella story", which would be more like APOEL making the quarter final a while back. Dinamo Zagreb have great European pedigree, and at least Orsic, Petkovic and Livakovic could easily play in the top 4 leagues. Embarrassing for Chelsea, but not nearly as embarrassing as Madrid losing at home to Sheriff last year. (after which, of course, they ended up winning the tournament)

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Is RB Leipzig that unlikeable, though? Yes, they are a bit plastic, but they develop young players and being owned by a tacky energy drink company is surely not worse than being owned by an oil emirate or a shady billionaire?

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I mean, as easy as it is to romanticize Shakhtar's (continued) success on the European stage, they are another example of a club that were taken over by a corrupt oligarch to achieve success far beyond anything they had achieved in the past.

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Could a third spell for Mourinho be in the cards? He's a club legend and is the box office personality American owners love... and I'm sure he'd walk back to London if he were offered the job.

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If I were Todd Boehly, and I were prioritizing the American market (which is what it looks like with the decision to keep Christian Pulisic), I'd be on the phone with Jurgen Klinsmann about the head coaching vacancy.

lol. Hiring a German coach with no managerial achievements to "prioritize the American market"? Might as well just hire Jesse Marsch.

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Spurs and Barcelona lose! Liverpool sadly win...

Go Shakhtar and Benfica!

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Messi, Neymar, Mbappe all score. Disgusting.

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The Lampard Everton project makes sense now. I never rated him as a manager, but he's managed to get great performances out of Alex Iwobi, which multiple managers with much more impressive CVs were unable to do at Arsenal or Everton. Coady, Gana, Tarkowski and McNeil were great additions, and then Onana as the wonderkid signing - it's more like Football Manager than real life.

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England 🤡