KaKa

4 hours ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

Gordon has looked incredible this half. 

4 hours ago, JUICE690 said:

So Gordon’s fucking mint then.

Good thing people weren't writing him off after a few weeks, and being insufferable about it.

18 minutes ago, Menace said:

I don't dispute MLS is huge in America, but personally speaking I can't see myself staying up till midnight to see Yedlin and players of that irk play. Saudi Arabia have really only started taking their league seriously in the last 18 months. MLS has been around for a good 10-15 years - I couldn't tell you 10 people I know that watch it. And that's with Beckham, Zlatan and now even with Messi there.

 

 

 

I was watching highlights of Messi's debut and almost spat all over my screen when I saw Yedlin was playing right back for his team ... and still over hitting every cross.

4 minutes ago, gbandit said:

If SA is in for the long game sure, they have to build all the infrastructure around it, not just bring in huge names. On top of that, you have to rely on footballers accepting SA as a place to live and to buy in to the way of life there. There’s a lot that needs to go together but it’s not out of the question 

Look at the players they are signing this summer. It's not just big names.

As far as living over there goes they will be putting these players up in the most lavish and luxurious accomodations, which they are already known for. The lifestyle will probably be just as big an attraction for some.

Players that go to Saudi aren't just going to come back after a couple of seasons. They are all going to be earning more than any Euro club will be willing to pay them.

When the summer hols come around and all these players are hanging out together and they get to bragging about how much they earn etc, the pull will only get stronger for those that aren't there already.

People are going to watch it too. As more players folks are familiar with move there and the teams get better, they will tune in.

A few viral clips of ASM, Firmino and Mahrez linking up for example and enough people will give it a look in.

17 minutes ago, brummie said:

 

But if they ever get into a position to really directly compete - in terms of play in the same competitions - with European teams, they will have to play along with some measure of FFP, which makes paying Mbappé 300 billion dollars a day look somewhat questionable.

 

This is all a bit Kerry Packer.

Don't think they will ever attempt to join the Euro competitions as it would kill their advantage of spending as much as they want on players and wages.

Think it's more likely they end up becoming the actual super league eventually,  with most of the better players going up against each other while being paid ridiculous sums of money over there.

25 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Makes sense - particularly if genuinely independent businesses start investing in them.  I do think it is better for a sport with the pretentions of being the world's game to not have so many resources concentrated in Europe (and South America to an extent) - it would be the best thing for the sport generally if serious investment in Asian (and African) clubs led to a general growth in attendances, interest, commercials etc.

 

There is though the feeling that we've seen this before, too - the US, China etc have in the past (and present) thrown money at the game and signed big names, yet the sport never grew in the way they hoped.

 

 

 

The US has always had restrictions on the number of high salary players each club can carry, and they have a salary cap setup over there similar to their other sports I believe, and so they were never really going to be a threat.

China looked like they might be a threat but they never really had the kind of money we are talking about with Saudi, or the same level of determination. Saudi have already shown with golf, boxing and UFC that they are looking to make the region a global hub for sport.

7 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Unsustainable in that the revenue of Al Ahly will never match those outgoings.  

Yeah, so apparently the plan is to have various businesses invest in these clubs and fund their signings etc with no restrictions. At the moment it is the PIF fund that is funding the clubs and the moves they are making. It is not ever going to be down to purely the revenue individual clubs make.

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

The problem is that even if the PL lost ALL of its international TV revenues, it would still have a higher income than any other European league.  The domestic TV revenues alone are double that of La Liga or the Bundesliga.

 

And it is unlikely that the PL will go from

£5bn+ for each three year cycle to £0.

 

The PL losing its financial dominance of Europe isn’t likely to occur any time soon.  What makes events in KSA interesting is that it could have the effect of strengthening Asian football.  At the moment, the PL doubles its TV revenues from international broadcasts.  If folks in Asia start paying for domestic leagues instead of PL, that could really help support stronger domestic and Asian competitions.  Though of course the KSA model is unsustainable - KSA clubs would never have the income to support the crazy wages paid.  They would always need propping up - and that can’t be indefinite. 

I don't get the impression what the Saudis are up to is unsustainable, as they are not operating under the same restrictions in Europe, and so are not bound by any rules on spending. 

43 minutes ago, Deuce said:

I’m not convinced that the Saudi league paying well above market value for a bunch of players past their prime is indicative of a major shift in the global football power structure. Your midtable PL club can still blow most European clubs out of the water when it comes to transfer fees and wages on offer.

Eventually more and more of the better players are going to question why they should settle for earning less than said washed up players.

Also, the likes of Neves, Mitrovic and Milinkovic-Savic aren't washed up and they have all opted for Saudi. It is just going to escalate.

Giannis man 

28 minutes ago, CFlan said:

I couldn’t give a fuck about the Premier League tbh. I just struggle to connect or care with any of football more. Money always drove the game I know but the whole thing just feels rotten now. We’re going to start to win trophies in the near future and I’ll still be ambivalent towards it all. 

I remember Wenger talking about introducing some sort of salary cap setup back in the day, and no one was really trying to hear that. That's the only thing that could have prevented all this nonsense escalating. Way too late now.

21 minutes ago, toon25 said:

 

I would say that the one (possible) caveat here is that at the very least there's a notion of heritage behind the football league in England. 

Yes, I think for English players certainly, but a lot of foreign players will take the money being offered as the amounts in question are so absurd.

The Mitrovic situation was very telling. Just came off a great season with Fulham on the cusp of a European place, and he wants out to go to Saudi.

Any quality player that isn't at a club that is one of the top ones that is competitive and that can pay high wages is likely going to take an opportunity to go there.

8 minutes ago, CFlan said:

It’s pure depressing watching football nosediving towards this shite, even more so with our great leaders being behind it all.  

The other European leagues have been levelling these same complaints against the Premier league for a while now.

Premier league has had a good run. Had to end sometime though and this summer is the beginning of it.

I'll never for the life of me understand why people take transfer rumours so personally. Very very strange.

11 minutes ago, RodneyCisse said:

Honestly just watched the highlights and dubs for a goalkeeper of his experience still hasn’t got a clue where his near post is. Shocking.

I don't trust Dubravka at all anymore. 

Pope coming in completely rattled him and I really think we should be getting rid.

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

Beundia bouncing off Schar and Tonali in the buildup too 

 

The defending for all the goals (Villa and ours) was really bad like.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, our defending in the build up wasn't great, but by the time Buendia gets to the edge of the box we are still in pretty good shape.

The way Trippier then just drifts inwards ball watching and completely leaves Watkins free is so incredibly bad man.

Trippier's defending on that first goal man ... so so bad. 

3 hours ago, jack j said:

Pope

Trippier

Lascelles

Burn

Targett

Livramento

Longstaff

Willock

Gordon

Barnes

Wilson

 

Eddie's dream English 11

Howe would have mostly worked with English players coming up through the lower leagues.

He seems to appreciate them and knows how to get the best of them. They also seem to be well suited to his high intensity and hard running style.

Said it before, Howe is going to be a heck of an England manager at some point.

This guy looked terrifyingly good when he first went to Southampton as a teen.

Such a sneaky good signing. Think a lot of people have forgotten and are going to be shocked when they see him out on the pitch.

33 minutes ago, brummie said:

What do people see in Connor Gallagher?

Probably the goals and assists he had during his Palace loan.

With scouting also being increasingly data based, he shows up really well on those models too.

2 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Tobido is the one.

You got the b and d wrong way around.

12 hours ago, Thumbheed said:

How many out and out right wingers have we been linked with? 

 

Seems we've been almost exclusively linked to left wingers since the takeover.

I think we may have someone in mind that we can possibly get at better value or on loan initially, as we get closer to the end of the window.

At a guess I'd say Chiesa or Raphinha, hopefully!

Really like how up for the move he seems to be. Really think this is going to be a great fit.

2 hours ago, gdm said:

It’s not even that I don’t rate him so u clearly haven’t been paying attention  I do rate him he’s decent. Just not as good as people are trying to convince themselves he is.
I just don’t think he’s next level. We’ve got a defence that’s getting there, one of the best midfields in the league and we are spending £80m on to wingers that may or may not come good. 

Well he plays more games and gets more goals and assists in the premier League so it's definitely a step up a level. No need to try and convince oneself of anything really.

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

£80m on English wingers that don’t make the England squad. 

Those cost £100 million each.