Association Football 2023/2024 Discussion Thread

[Santander]

Man City's first XI is still not as good as PSG's with their summer additions, especially if they can bag Theo Hernandez. And is Man City even better than Chelsea? I don't think so, except perhaps in depth.

If you want to see a super team, look at Ancelotti's Milan sides. I mean, just look at how disgustingly good this team was:


Of course, they lost to to that Liverpool team of Stevie G and 10 farmers... (okay, Xabi Alonso was good too) Doesn't make Man City or PSG's failures in the Champions League look so bad by comparison.

[Santander]

If Chelsea buy back Lukaku, they can both humiliate Man Utd for letting him go and strengthen their challenge for the title. They just need like, one really solid defender to pair with Thiago Silva. Rudiger, Zouma, Azpilicueta (as CB), Christensen, are all very good depth options, but I think those are the 3rd or 4th-best central defenders in a title-winning team. I rate Tomori very highly and think they let yet another loan army player go without giving him a fair chance. Lenglet is available at a cut price but is not really an upgrade over their existing options. Koulibaly, perhaps?

In any case, even with money to spend, they weren't as stupid as Arsenal who paid £50m for Ben White (Brighton's second-best English defender), which is almost as stupid as paying £80m for Harry Maguire. Godfrey and Tomori both sold for half that price, and are better. Upamecano sold for a lot less and is a lot better.

[Santander]

Man City attempting to buy a world class starting 11, not too long ago they were the local underdog club. How money and power corrupt.

They succeeded at buying a world-class first XI 10 years ago, lol. Their second XI would have a shot at qualifying for the Champions League if they were a separate team.

[Santander]

Messi reported to be leaving Barcelona. (confirmed by club) Good for Barcelona - now they don't have to do a fire sale to get rid of their prize assets. Now offload Griezmann and their wage bill almost looks like a normal rich club's.

[Santander]

If he goes to Manchester City to join Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne, it could be the greatest soccer team in HISTORY and one of the greatest sporting teams of all time.....same thing if he goes to Manchester United, the mighty Utd. to join Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, again one of the GREATEST squads.....

Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford? lol.

[Santander]

PSG is the only club that really fits from a transfer policy perspective. It's quite telling that PSG, Barcelona, and Real Madrid dominate the transfer record table. Man City and Chelsea have money, but signing an aging superstar and paying him €500k+ a week wages does not fit the way they do business. I don't think any player at either club earned the kind of obscene wages players like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, and Griezmann are on. They splash the cash on young players and occasionally stars in their peak. Of course, English taxes are a bit lower than Spain's (not that Messi pays taxes, but Man City doesn't want to upset De Bruyne and others), and Messi was on the brink of actually moving to Man City last year, so maybe it could happen.

China isn't handing out megacontracts anymore, and neither is Russia. Maybe Al-Sadd to reunite with Xavi, but I don't see him doing that for at least another couple of years. At that point, MLS, Japan, or a return to Argentina are definitely on the table.

[Santander]

If Espirito Santo plays one center back, I'm not 100% certain he can beat out Davinson Sanchez, but he'd have a decent shot at doing so.

What kind of formation has 1 CB?

[Santander]

Why doesn't Harry Kane come to play in the US, he should play for the LA Galaxy, it would give American soccer a boost.

Unfortunately for the MLS and the Galaxy, his poor English ability limits his marketability.

[Santander]

As I predicted, only one possible destination:

https://twitter.com/khm_althani/status/1423716154917408771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7...
I mean good God, a front line of Messi, Neymar, Mbappe... Good thing Lille got their championship while they could. Anyone still think PSG isn't the best team in the world?

[Santander]

Well, if Manchester City and PSG play each other in the Champions League, that should be a very close matchup, but other than that, I don't see any other contenders.

Left-back is literally the only position where Man City is better than PSG. (Man City beat a depleted PSG last year) Man City don't even have a striker, lol.

Real Madrid or a very well-coached team like Chelsea (especially with Lukaku) or Atleti could maybe beat PSG over two legs without getting lucky. I don't think even Bayern Munich can do it anymore, even with the additions of Upamecano and Nagelsmann coaching. The additions of Messi, Donnarumma, Hakimi, and Ramos are just too overpowered. These are players who would walk into any team in the world.

[Santander]

Lukaku to Chelsea official. Chelsea were silly to let such a good player go in the first place, but at least they didn't pull a Man Utd and break a transfer record to buy back a player they let go for free. What a team they have now.

[Santander]

Lukaku to Chelsea official. Chelsea were silly to let such a good player go in the first place, but at least they didn't pull a Man Utd and break a transfer record to buy back a player they let go for free. What a team they have now.

How do you think Inter fare next year without Lukaku and Eriksen? Who do you think wins Serie A this year?

I'd also be interested in hearing your opinion on La Liga, given both Real and Barça seem to be in disarray. Does Atletico defend their title next year (a feat they have not accomplished since 1951)?

Eriksen will eventually return for Inter, but Hakimi and Lukaku are players that basically cannot be replaced. Lautaro Martinez is linked with Arsenal right now too, which shows the financial fires Inter are trying to put out right now. Calhanoglu is a good like-for-like replacement for Eriksen, so I don't see that as a big loss. Dzeko or Giroud could be decent short-term replacements for Lukaku, and paired with Lautaro I think they'll still be in the mix for the Scudetto. Longer-term, I'd love to see them go for Alexander Isak (much better than Duvan Zapata, which would be the lazy choice), but I think the Euros made him too expensive for Inter right now.


For me, Real Madrid is pretty clearly the team to beat in Spain right now. Barcelona still have some decent players, and did well with free transfers, but their wage structure is cactus and they still have a lot of vastly overpaid, aging players who all basically do the same thing.

[Santander]

Super cups obviously don't matter that much, but Villareal did a really good job to come back into the game against Chelsea. Granted, not a full-strength Chelsea team, but still a strong team on paper.

[Santander]

lol, Arsenal. Tierney is good, and so is Leno I guess, but the rest of the starting XI do not belong in a top-half team. I don't know how some pundits have them finishing in the European places - they are miles off that.

[Santander]

lol, Arsenal. Tierney is good, and so is Leno I guess, but the rest of the starting XI do not belong in a top-half team. I don't know how some pundits have them finishing in the European places - they are miles off that.

I do like Tierney, but he’s a little overrated. Arsenal fans and pundits have a tend to massively big up our best players and make huge scapegoats of our worse ones. After watching that performance, though, I have no idea why we, to borrow a turn of phrase from the Prime Minister, spaffed £50 million up the wall for Ben White.

Arsenal are now basically where Spurs have historically been, or worse, West Ham a few years ago. Enough money to pay decent wages, but no chance to win anything, so they end up overpaying for questionable talent and be a semi-retirement club for older players looking for a pay day and/or London lifestyle. They don't have the pulling power to get players like Varane or Upamecano, so they make desperation buys like Ben White for £50m.

Although Barcelona were shopping Lenglet around, who would've been cheaper from a transfer fee perspective, and probably not that much more expensive on wages.

[Santander]

Sheriff showing the former Yugoslav giants Red Star and Dinamo who's... well, Sheriff. Even better, they have a literal knockoff Adama Traore.

[Santander]

Sheriff showing the former Yugoslav giants Red Star and Dinamo who's... well, Sheriff. Even better, they have a literal knockoff Adama Traore.

I admit to being slightly more impressed by Shakhtar Donestk's win over Monaco, in Monaco.

How is that impressive? Shakhtar are always a very strong team who regularly beat much stronger teams than Monaco and are a mainstay of the Champions League group stages. Sheriff are the champions of the 41st-ranked league in Europe and have never reached a Champions League group stage.

[Santander]

Sheriff showing the former Yugoslav giants Red Star and Dinamo who's... well, Sheriff. Even better, they have a literal knockoff Adama Traore.

I admit to being slightly more impressed by Shakhtar Donestk's win over Monaco, in Monaco.

How is that impressive? Shakhtar are always a very strong team who regularly beat much stronger teams than Monaco and are a mainstay of the Champions League group stages. Sheriff are the champions of the 41st-ranked league in Europe and have never reached a Champions League group stage.

Sheriff also had a much easier opponent than Shakhtar did, even if they were underdogs, France's Ligue 1 a significantly stronger league than the Ukrainian Premier League, and the game was being played in Monaco.

Transfermarkt values Monaco's current squad at $424m. Shakhtar's squad is $196m while Zagreb's is $145m. Sheriff's squad value is $13m. Anyone who knows anything about football would've immediately known which was the bigger upset, and it's not even close.

Shakhtar beating Monaco is like a bottom club beating a mid-table club in the same division. Sheriff beating Zagreb is like a 3rd division club beating a top-flight team. 3-0, even.

[Santander]

Looks like Martin Odegaard is returning to Arsenal on a permanent contract. Great business imo, and he has everything good associated with Arsenal players (technical, intelligent), with things Arsenal often sorely lack (work rate, quality pressing). He did well on loan, imo.

[Santander]

Yusuf Demir's Barcelona debut shows that no matter what troubles they're going through right now, they are still one of the most attractive brands in the world. They literally have 4 out of the 5 most highly-rated teenagers in the world now, the other of course being Camavinga. Pedri, Ansu Fati, Ilaix Moriba and Yusuf Demir all coming of age at the same time is a slightly sickening thought but also a recipe for another dominant era in 5-6 years. Eric Garcia even came back from a Manchester adventure like Pique...

For the time being though, obviously they aren't winning anything other than maybe a Copa del Rey, which neither Barcelona nor Madrid give a damn about unless they're playing each other in the final.

[Santander]

Utter carnage in Nice-Marseille. The worst fan violence I’ve seen in a while, not to mention some of the players going at it and Jorge Sampaoli going totally berserk. There have surely got to be hefty sanctions for both teams, but Nice in particular.

Given this appears to be Nice fans, forced relegation for Nice has to be the minimum here. Forced relegation multiple divisions should be considered.

No one on the planet will ever embrace the draconian punishments you have suggested for all variety of sporting misbehavior.

Tom Brady should have been imprisoned for 10-25 years and Bill Belichick executed for secretly filming Eagles' practices in 2005.

UNC basketball should've been given the death penalty.

[Santander]

Utter carnage in Nice-Marseille. The worst fan violence I’ve seen in a while, not to mention some of the players going at it and Jorge Sampaoli going totally berserk. There have surely got to be hefty sanctions for both teams, but Nice in particular.

Given this appears to be Nice fans, forced relegation for Nice has to be the minimum here. Forced relegation multiple divisions should be considered.

No one on the planet will ever embrace the draconian punishments you have suggested for all variety of sporting misbehavior.

Tom Brady should have been imprisoned for 10-25 years and Bill Belichick executed for secretly filming Eagles' practices in 2005.

UNC basketball should've been given the death penalty.

The school itself should have been disaccredited and the buildings auctioned off to more reputable institutions like the University of Phoenix and Everest Institute.

That's overkill, given the problems with UNC athletics don't seem to have anything to do with UNC as an institution, unlike say...SMU Football in the 1980's.

What are you even talking about?... You literally know nothing about anything.

[Santander]

That would top 1998-99 Manchester United and 2003-04 Arsenal as the top superteams of all time!!!

These were not superteams by any stretch of the imagination. Late 80s-to-early 90s Milan, early-to-mid 2000s Milan, both Galacticos teams, PSG right now, Barcelona of the late 00s... those are superteams.

Man City is just a very good team. Their current transfer policy does not involve buying Galactico-type players, and neither did the other teams you mentioned. Of all the English clubs, it's probably Manchester United that come closest to adopting a superteam strategy, and look where that's taken them.

[Santander]

Spare a thought for Moise Kean, who's been the top prospect at Juventus and the #2 goalscorer at PSG at his young age and is stuck playing for Everton's reserves.

[Santander]

PSV-Benfica is way too glamorous to be a Champions League qualifier. Heroic performance by Benfica, in any case. PSV still has a good team despite losing Donyell Malen and Denzel Dumfries.