That's true. By 'pull' I just meant not as attractive to the big names as they (Pep and Bayern) were perhaps a few seasons, but Vidal's a good argument against that.


Nothing wrong with short termism in small doses and judging from that list you made he is trying to strengthen more long-term elsewhere. Maybe the problem with defenders is there aren't that many young ones at the moment who the top managers really think can make the grade. Chelsea face a real challenge in finding a long term replacement for Terry - although Mourinho seems convinced that John Stones might be the one.

Attacking players are fairly easy to quantify. You score or make goals and you're by definition a success. But as we've discussed elsewhere in this thread, defenders now have such an expanded role that it's hard to gauge what makes a good one.

He can fuck off too.

I hope you do keep him but if the papers are right and Chelsea plan to up their bid to as much as 30m, that's a helluva lot of money for a 21 yo still learning his trade. Mourinho obviously wants him to replace Terry but short term I reckon he'd be standing in for Cahill, who I don't think Mourinho's ever been that into.

30mill? Christ, I don't think Kenwright will turn that down. It'll be gutting if he did go as he's growing to be a really good defender.

So it could be James McCarthy, Stones and Mirallas leaving this summer. Now I know how it feels to be a Southampton fan.

Thought Mirallas was staying after Atletico lost interest.

Now if only we can find some idiot to take Carroll off our hands.

Big weekend for Gold Cup.. Dempsey had a hat trick, Panama pulled off an upset against the sleeper Trinidad on kicks after a 1-1 finish and Mexico eliminates Costa Rica on a controversial penalty kick in the 124th minute!

i didnt watch, but saw the usa-cuba 6-0 result. must have been like seeing a grownup beat up a kid.

mex-CR i would have liked to see but was too busy. i've been plenty busy lately.

damn.

fuck-sucker is not showing highlights but only full games, and the prospect of sitting there for 2+ hours...

I knew ticos stagnant offense would bite them in the ass but i was totally rooting for them

just got curious about dortmund and looked up their current transfers

immobile loaned out to sevilla-- good riddance!

langerak sold to stuttgart-- oh no!

jojic sold to köln (he didn't do much)

coming in are:

gonzalo castro from leverkusen. good purchase. solid midifielder

roman bürki a eeper from freiburg? never seen him. a swiss.

moritz leitner returning from loan to stuttgart-- another decent midfielder, and only 22-- he's played for the german u21 team

This may have just usurped George Bush II juking that shoe yo..

Beautiful

Possibly.

My favourite thing about his reaction is that he pretends he's disgusted by the money... or maybe he's not pretending and he's just genuinely disgusted by 1 dollar bills.

ha ha ha

he was probably afraid of anthrax in the mix

which he actually deserves

Im sincerely torn.. blatter getting rained on in the club is so potent yet almost cliche where as the George Bush II shoe incident is so unique and unprecedented while manifesting a deep rooted Arab cultural practice totally modernized by way of a wonderful leather Oxford
Plus Bush II had that corrupt Iraqi warlord err president there so the optics are even more damming

^^ the only disappointment with that bush episode is that the shoe didn't hit him square in the face. that's what we all wanted to see.

YA KALB.

No, but that's my FAVORITE part, that the US President so cleanly juked that shoe like it was being thrown across a 5th grade classroom by the class clown when Georgie was giving his US State report presentations

£32m now, they reckon. It's a lot but is there even an equivalent replacement available for that kind of money who'd actually be willing to make the move? Unless you take the money and invest it in 2 or 3 mid-price hopefuls, which invariably backfires.

Exactamont rodney, exactamont. They'll not got a replacement in time. And the problem is that they already need anpther centre back after getting rid of Alcaraz (Martinez has SOME sense it turns out) and Distin. Dreading this season already.

How about you? Think West Ham can manage the stupidly long season that's started for you already?

holy shit i just reat man u wants thomas muller at the tune of 70 million british pounds. what's that in euros? 100 million?

holy fuck! is that for real?

MEIN GOTT.

i'd be happy for him-- he's being wasted with pep, i swear.

We'll struggle, but hopefully just avoid a relegation battle. The squad looks better than last season but, as you say, The Europa cup is gonna kill us. And no one knows yet how Bilic will handle Prem management.


It's apparently true. I pooh-poohed the idea a few weeks back but it seems LVG is determined to get him. And it does seem as though his relationship with Pep isn't the best. I think he'd be great at MU, feeding off Rooney, Mata and (if he stays) Di Maria. But yet again, they're strengthening up front without addressing their weaknesses in defence. And they're still not even sure if DeGea's staying.

i don't blame him for his bad relationship with pep

guy used to be a star, was top goalscorer in the world cup, now he's lost in the muddle, warms benches, and scores little.

similar thing with gotze by the way.

maybe pep hates star german players.

*fixed*

The spending in this window by the big teams has been ridiculous so far and it's not even closed yet. Then again have Arsenal bought anybody yet?

The only thing I'm bothered about is Liverpool spending bazillions again and it doing nothing. *fingers crossed*

Ugg.. congrats to Jamaica

So after this Gold Cup exit, snubbing Landon Donovan, and a meh WC i think its officially time for the Jurgen Experiment to end. The defense just hasn't been the same since 2010 and the offense has been to inconsistent. At least under Boring Bradley USA had an identity. A defense first team that could get enough stops and second chance opportunities off corner kicks to stay competitive. USA Fifa rankings have dropped every year that Klinsmann has been coach..

what the fuck does that even mean? really?

you either win games or you don't

what the fuck is "identity"

'merica doesn't have enough futbol to have a "school"

i'll have to watch that game (haven't) but please stopy bandying about meaningless concepts you read about in a blog (yeah, i found that "identity" singsong on espn or somewhere... so i know it's not your original idea).

seriously. identity. what the fuck. get your photo on a cardboard.

don't know why jamaica won. one good hypothesis would be: BECAUSE THEY TESTED THEMSELVES AT THE COPA AMERICA. a real tournament with real opponents. they resisted argentina! selfies with messi. glory.

merge the americas into one federation and end this fucking nonsense.

now pardon me, i must leave here before you answer. ha ha ha ha!

sorry, another day--

You smug fucker i didn't read any article that mentioned identity so how bout you come down from your condescending nonsense and have a discussion that isn't just a matter of snarky insults and ad hominem insinuations?

Identity = style of play, set of characteristics

Was it a "school"? Not necessarily but it was more consistent than anything Jurgen has been doing

You're free to your opinions about CONCACAF but your suggestion does little to explain the tactical issues of the US team over past 2 years

Jurgen may share a similar problem with Pep in that both seem to forget that the best tactic is always the one most suited to the players you have, rather than those you wish you had.

yeah, jurgen may wish his team could play with style and flair but at the end of the day he just doesn't have the players

pep on the other hand can hire touched-by-bielsa vidal and get rid of schweinsteiger

both, though, like to keep fucking with their lineups until their teams break

speaking of jurgens, i wonder what klopp is doing right now...

lol suchfriends gave me a red rep. soooo butthurt!

identity

That is exactly how i feel about it. He keeps forcing players to play out of position and is pushing schemes that just aren't suited to his roster.

see, that makes more sense than identity!. he did that w/ bradley in the wc.

here's that bollocky notion as reparroted in march

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usm...ck-of-identity

it kept getting refried in the media where you probably picked it up

btw, did you watch jamaica/argentina?

jamaica has 1/2 players in england 1/2 playing in the mls. it's not the old jamaica.

argentina 1 jamaica 0

uruguay 1 jamaica 0

paraguay 1 jamaica 0

and proof they can defend

*not bad results at all*

next person who says "reggae boyz" gets shot in the face

--

eta looks like the jamaicans themselves call them that ha ha ha ha

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Boyz-look-ahead

I disagree, forcing players out of position fucks up chemistry. Do shit like that with an u-17 or u-21 team, not with the fucking National team?!

What is so fucking ironic is Jurgen has fucked up team chemistry year after year by snubbing vets and giving young guys more chances claiming "no one should feel entitled to a roster slot" YET JURGEN IS GETTING TOO MANY PASSES WITHOUT THE RESULTS.

Also, you can keep snarking about my identity comment but it remains true. Before Jurgen USA was a defense first team that could score well off set pieces. Corners used to be FUN, but in past years the number of goals scored off corner is down, shit even the number of corners and set pieces in general are all down! Set pieces used to be USMNT primary scoring method!!

The defense has been continually shaky and the offense just hasn't developed. Whether you like it or not !@#$! CONCACAF is a defense oriented confederation, and US plays most of its games there.

Dude. STOP SAYING I PICKED UP THE IDENTITY CONCEPT FROM MEDIA.

if you recall, i mentioned the same idea LAST SUMMER AFTER WORLD CUP.
Believe it or not i can create my own ideas about sports.

Perhaps you could BE LESS A FUCKING DICK and say, "such friends did you read about identity?" Rather than accusing me of parroting media nonsense.
I haven't read a single article or heard any analysis mentioning a lack of identity and yes, if i did, i would completely agree.

And you didn't know Jamaica are the Reggae Boyz? Oh my God, maybe the media is wrong instead of !@#$!, maybr nobody ever called them that before because obviously they must not have because !@#$! didn't know about it..

allez the reggae boys

no, fool, we all agree on that.

will read the rest of rant later.

alright, so, "identity"



a shitty concept for an underdeveloped football team.

if you're barcelona, 100 years of tradition, setting standards, a long history and tradition, okay, you have "identity".

'merican football, pieced together from here & there with spit and chewing gum and duct tape: no way it's ready to shape into an institution yet

i have no problem with klinsmann dispatching vets if the next world cup is the goal and they won't be playing

but if winning this cup was a real objective, then i don't care if young or old, but the team needed more consistency.

i have no problem with the shuffling and reshuffling during an experimental phase. but i thought that phase was over & time to consolidate a core team. so that constant thing is worrying if it's going to be the way.

the problem is i think as with pep, like demonyo said-- he doesn't have the team he wants so there's that shuffle and reshuffle and reshuffle. pep has been doing it at bayern and sometimes it's magic and other times pure shit.

but in spite of the multiple injuries pep has a much richer roster at hand, so he can pull it off and beat roma 7-0. klinsmann has no star players, only mediocre ones. okay, dempsey, fine, he's the best seatle sounder. and howard giving guzan teh chance to shit the bed. shuffling will not show you any magic formulas at this point.

i think the concern at this stage shouldn't be nebulous metaphysical concepts like "identity," but rather the consolidation of a core team that plays together enough, with subs who also know their role.

friendlies are no real measure because nothing is at stake and you can make infinite substitutions. friendlies are a joke.

like it or not, jamaica got fire-tested a month ago-- and so did mexico, the other finalist.

usa needs better opponents in real situations. otherwise it's like the martial arts dude who practices in his basement but can't take a punch.

I know !@£$%$£@! disagrees with me about this but I strongly believe that coaching (ie work done on the training ground) isn't nearly as important in national tournaments as some managers (like Klinsmann) seem to claim. National teams need managing far more than they need coaching, and IMO Klinsmann is a coach not a manager. And as a coach he'll never have enough time with his squad to do much with them at a tactical level. What national teams need more than great tacticians is great man managers. People who can select the right players for the unique demands of tournament football, play everyone where they work best, build and maintain a great team spirit and keep things simple, so everyone knows exactly what they have to do. Klinsmann fails in those areas because he's a coach in a role that really requires a manager.