2019 - 2020 Football Thread - Page 24

On August 12 2019 02:53 evilfatsh1t wrote:
my net is completely shit atm so i couldnt watch but 4-0 first game against chelsea?
shit transfer window -> EZ GAME

Footballer Mesut Ozil has stepped up his security at home after he and Arsenal teammate Sead Kolasinac were caught up in a vicious gang war.

Moped thugs tried to steal their watches in an attempted carjacking last month in London, prompting a rival Eastern European gang to warn the pair were 'off limits'.

To show they would not be scared off their turf, the local gang responded by upping their threats and vowing to rob the players of 'everything they have'.

Two men were arrested outside Ozil's house in North London last week - and security guards and dogs have now been seen outside the stars' homes in a 24-hour watch.

Ozil and Kolasinac spent yesterday in hiding, as their team beat Newcastle United 1-0 in their Premier League season opener which the duo were forced to miss.

Kolasinac's wife has fled to Germany because of the terrifying threats, the Sun on Sunday reported.

The London gang are said to have considered the Eastern Europeans' warning as an effort to intimidate them, deciding to respond by become even more violent.

'To show they were serious, the thugs issued more threats to the Arsenal players and refused to be cowed,' a source said.

'It was thought that originally the robbers wanted their watches but now they have been told that they want everything the pair have.'

There are also fears that the players may be targeted online. Pictures showed Ozil's gated house under guard over the weekend.

On August 13 2019 04:16 Pandemona wrote:

Missing;
Callum - Lofty - Rudiger - Kante - Willian

That is a lot of players to miss and Rudiger and Kante help that back 4 a lot, so i wouldn't be too quick to pile on the pressure for Frank yet. That 4-0 result last night was not deserved at all, at best it was a 2-1 game in their favour due to our impotency but still, im still trying to understand how we lost that game 4-0!

PSG has already removed Neymar's image from the club's official store, no sign of the Brazilian.

I would like to start my first column for The Athletic with this quote from Confucius, the Chinese philosopher and politician.

People in Newcastle have been talking about my decision to move to China without knowing what happened behind the scenes during my three years at St James’ Park.

I haven’t wanted to say too much about that — I’ve encouraged supporters to get behind Steve Bruce and his new team — but I’ve been made aware of what Lee Charnley, Newcastle’s managing director, claimed in the club’s match programme last weekend and I think it’s important I address that.

Hopefully, it will be the last time I have to do so. In the future I want to write about football and nothing but football.

When I joined Newcastle in 2016, I did it with all my heart. I could feel the history and see the potential of the club and I wanted to be part of a project and to stay close to my family on Merseyside.

I tried to do my best every day, even staying when we went down to the Championship and saying no to other offers — bigger offers than the one I recently accepted with Dalian Yifang, by the way. If I was only interested in moving “for money”, as Charnley stated, I could have done it much earlier.

Over my long career, and especially in my time at Newcastle, I’ve always shown commitment to my club, its city and its community and I’ve done it with professionalism and honesty. I want to remember the good moments I spent in the north-east — and there were many of them — and not have to keep denying things about my time there or about my departure.

Newcastle’s board had a year to sort out my contract but, when we met after the end of last season, they didn’t make me an offer I could accept. They told me they didn’t want to invest in the academy or the training ground — if they like, I can explain the reason why Mike Ashley refused to do that. Their idea of a project was a policy of signing players under 24 and, in my opinion, the budget available was not enough to compete for the top 10.

After that meeting, I knew they would not come back with a serious offer and, when it arrived, 19 days later, it was for the same salary as three years earlier and with less control over signings. Charnley’s comments in the programme about having a deal agreed for Joelinton in February explains a lot that I couldn’t understand at that time.

After three years of unfulfilled promises, I didn’t trust them.

When we finished 10th in the Premier League in our first season back, all players and staff were paid a bonus — aside from my coaching team. That felt like a punishment for me not signing an extension.

So, by the end, I knew there would not be a proper offer and they knew I was not signing.

I couldn’t explain that in public because I was not allowed to talk to the press without their permission, so I was waiting until late June, like every fan, hoping there would be good news about Newcastle’s prospective takeover.

The time was passing and we were losing job opportunities in Europe. I couldn’t wait forever. I’m a family man and I have a responsibility to them, my staff, Paco, Antonio and Mikel, and their families, too. I don’t like to gamble with the future of my people.

In front of us we had three options: nothing serious from Newcastle, the hope of a possible takeover or a different project. Yes, it was a big offer in China — I have never denied that — but it was also another continent and another league, from a club giving us a lot of recognition and respect. That decision wasn’t easy, but it was clear.

So, here we are in the Chinese Super League with an ambitious club that has a big company in Wanda behind it.

At Dalian, we are trying to build something important in this massive, fascinating country. It is another level, another way of doing things, another culture, but they believe in us, they listen to us and their priority is not just to make a profit. They are investing big money in developing a new scouting department, they are building a new training ground for the academy, the under-23s and, obviously, the first team. And, yes, they are using our experience to guide them.

The CSL has 16 clubs so that means 30 league games plus the cup (we are in the semi-finals) and the Asian Champions League, if you qualify.

The Chinese Federation tries to promote young players, which means the top teams like Guangzhou Evergrande, who have had the best young Chinese players for years, can manage better than us. We can’t compete with them at the moment, but our target this year is to finish in the top 10 (we are sixth), and we are improving and growing. They expect us to leave a legacy, the basement on which to build something.

The whole experience is a challenge, none bigger than the language. I have worked in Spain, Italy and England, but this is very different. Here, you need a translator for everything: to transmit your thoughts in training sessions, team talks and to the media, down to working on computers. But there is a rich culture here; the city, the food, the life are all nice. And, as I say, we have been treated with nothing but respect.

Over the coming weeks, I will talk more about that and more about what’s happening in the Premier League but, as I have started with Newcastle, I will finish with them, too.

What can I say about them? Before their first game, I wished the players, fans and Steve Bruce all the best and I meant it sincerely, because they deserve it. Arsenal was their first match of the season and their first with a new manager, so we have to give them time.

The signings we made to take us from the Championship have more experience in the Premier League now. I think the combination of “our” young players, like Jamaal Lascelles, Isaac Hayden, DeAndre Yedlin and Javier Manquillo, the new squad members like Miguel Almiron and Sean Longstaff, together with the experience of Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schar, Florian Lejeune, Federico Fernandez, Jonjo Shelvey, Ki Sung-yeung, Ciaran Clark, Karl Darlow and Christian Atsu will be enough to stay up.

The new players will have to make the difference if they want to finish better than 10th, but they will need — and they will have — support from the fans, even if they are not happy with how things have been done, because they know the club is bigger than anyone. They have to be United; Newcastle United.

On Sunday morning, I switched on my television in Dalian and there was a documentary about Alan Shearer being shown. Can you believe that? It’s true.

I saw joy in the faces of Newcastle fans after every goal. I didn’t need the reminder, because I was there so recently, there with all my heart, but it made me think again about that history and potential. And it made me consider something else: what would an 18-year-old Newcastle supporter think about his club now?

Best wishes from China,

Rafa*

On August 13 2019 18:37 Greg_J wrote:
Lampard said something along the lines of 'I know what the club expects of me'. What are Chelsea's expectations this year?

On August 13 2019 18:37 Greg_J wrote:
Lampard said something along the lines of 'I know what the club expects of me'. What are Chelsea's expectations this year?