Segun Oluwaniyi

Correct. He was acceptable at Man U, until Risse from Liverpool managed to shatter his leg with a shot. He never recovered and NUFC bought the damaged goods, as per usual in that era of the club.

Lookman ffs I think that surpasses Ibe ("Aiyb") in terms of wildly unnecessary anglicisation of a name. It is. Despite that summary, I still do wonder about the sustainability. Even if everyone's dream come to fruition and the government continues to heavily bankroll the football program while wealthy owners and massive corporations are willing to prop up these new clubs ad infinitum, I just cannot forsee how this can ever become vaguely profitable in the relative short term or even long term in a way that will produce a justifiable return on these levels of spending, even with massively increased revenue streams in the growing Chinese market. If the success of the league and its continued ability to attract stars is primarily based around the willingness of the CPC and wealthy actors to set massive amounts renminbi alight, it just raises questions, imo.

Very much so given Aguero scored a double against the same side about a month ago and Pep did not see fit to start Iheanacho when Ageuro was banned. The quality throughout the festive period has seemed poor.

Boro are the worst team to watch entertainment-wise in the PL. Could do with a Leicester goal to make it a better game There is nothing even vaguely intriguing about this Boro team. I suppose the purpose of this season is just to survive by all means necessary (which they look on the way to achieving), but they add nothing to the division.

He didn't inherit a good situation at all but he also didn't have them showing any kind of improvement. It's a shame because he is a highly-respectable manager and he'll never be given another chance in the country, while complete and utter s*** like Pardew continue getting looks. Media also treated him like absolute s*** when he started and they seemed to be rooting for his failure. American, no PL experience, says the word "soccer", makes fun of his attire. All pretty pathetic tbh. Regarding his performance, he stepped into a terrible situation, surely worked his bollocks off and didn't get it done, so the sacking while harsh, totally get it. I wanted Bradley to succeed, but let us be honest here, there is nothing at all harsh about this sacking. BB has been a disaster of Carverian proportions who has made the team demonstrably worse. In the eleven matches Bradley took charge of, Swansea conceded 3 or more goals in EIGHT of them. There were being embarrassed on a regular basis. Someone who performs this badly has not earned the right to a transfer window for improvement. I wish the man well in his future endeavours.

Ndong :lol:

It is idiotic that there is so much more emphasis placed on nationality/race than every other aspect of a human being, but the actions of Shelvey are much more idiotic, which is not overly surprising given the player. He has played well at a lower standard after his abhorrent performances at the highest level last season, so one would hope this used as an opportunity for Jonjo to finish maturing a bit.

I would say that this boy has wasted his talent and his career, but the fact that he has made it 7 years and to age 25 in his career with a lack of amazing talent, long criminal history, and repeated shows of general disdain for his team and the sport is actually incredible in some ways. Society will dismiss Nile Ranger long before football does.

There is a good chance he is not 19. It is common knowledge that he failed the test and was meant to be a member of the world champion u-17 team led by the likes of Iheanacho, who is twenty. He had passed the one several months earlier, so he is still young, and just a victim of the poor records in Nigeria. Good player, though. I think he will be superior to Amartey or Mendy (who will be bullied in this league, imo) over time.

Leicester are underachieving. No excuses should be made for Raineri on that front. They are a better side than Boro or Sunderland without question and have been easily outperformed by both in the last two weeks. The loss of Kante has only been exacerbated by the bizarre commitment to 4-4-2, when the personnel just no longer fits given injuries. Whenever I have seen them, teams run rampant over the likes of Andy King. They are meant to be bringing over Ndidi in January and maybe he can approximate Kante, at least in terms of energy and athleticism, though obviously not ability. A decline is acceptable, but a relegation is not by any means, imo. Raineri has essentially lost one player from last season and seen serious investment.

The situation is not that dire, imo. The task is simple. qualify above two of Honduras, Panama, and the hopeless Trinidad and play a fairly weak side from Asia for qualification. Qualify above all three and go directly to the World Cup. They've played two of their most difficult matches so far. North America has the most forgiving path to qualification available, so there is plenty of space for a progressive appointment.

I think it was the hardest draw for any English side in terms of having two sides that would actually challenge them for qualification. Obviously, there are no giants for them to contend with.

There is no reason a 21 year old cannot come back from one ACL tear, it is a very common serious injury. Depending on the severity, there is every chance that he is back running full speed and cutting by next pre-season.

I quite enjoyed this break, tbh. Already, a lot of teams are playing for big stakes already, and there were some big matches, especially in the Americas and Africa, with some big names in Europe, too. The friendly breaks drag on forever, though. Substituting competitive football for training matches is terrible.

I'd have a bit of that! Does he play in a midfield 2 or 3 baba? He plays in a three, behind Kubano, with some hey-you local boy holding behind him. Essentially, he plays box to box and carries the ball forward quite a bit. I think it would be interesting to see him next to Shelvey once or twice.

Clark's brilliant. I don't mean to insult Clark, btw, I understand he has played well and is probably underrated given how poor the environment was at Villa, I am speaking solely of the best way to utitlise Mbemba, especially as CM is the weakest area of the side.

I think Rafa should try him in midfield. I've mentioned before that I watch many of his games for RDC who deploy him as a central midfielder and when I see him there, it is hard to believe someone of his talent cannot help this side. In the last match against Guinea, he was crucial in both goals, making Yaya-esque, powerful runs from deep midfield to the top of the opposition box and spreading to the wide players in good positions. His general play and ability to cause havoc is very impressive. Against Libya (who are poor since the civil war, tbf) he was also dominant in that position. It says something that their manager values his midfield play to the point, he prefers to play League 1 players and local boys at the back. Generally, the club has invested a good sum of money for Chancel, and if the conclusion is that he cannot make a better defender than Ciaran Clark, his signing was a massive error. There is obvious talent there, and it would be good if the club found a way to exploit it.

If only we could reach the heights of losing to Iceland we might get some respect More than ten years now since England has won any knockout match of a senior tournament. All three of those have very tough roads ahead anyway. I would enjoy it if Ecuador collapsed though, so all of the talented and entertaining sides could qualify from that region. Their presence at tournaments (along with Honduras) is a scourge upon the eyes of the world.

As mentioned before, Wilfried Ndidi is probably not 19 He is older than Iheanacho and Success, so likely 21 dependinig on what time of year he was born. Regardless, I think he is a potential star. He is a strong, quick, and versatile athlete who started in central defence but was too skilled to continue there. He is in midfield for Genk and has filled in at right back for Nigeria when needed. Bringing him over in January would be smart, adjusting to the Premiership from Belgium would not be easy. Gerrard struggles in MLS. He'll be starring in celebrity challenges and mumbling incoherently on Match of the Day in two years.

Active day for NUFC in Africa: Atsu started for Ghana, who suffered a very damaging 2-0 defeat today in Cairo against Egypt. Combined with a lacklustre draw in Accra against Uganda in the first match, the Black Stars are in a precarious position for the World Cup with 2 of the 6 groups matches played. Mbemba started for DR Congo and as usual played in defensive midfield, rather than defense. Northampton's Zakuani plays as central defender and also captains the side. They played pretty poorly (Mbemba included) , imo, but scored two goals in three minutes in the second half (one of which was thunder bolt by Bolasie) to steal a 2-1 win against Guinea in Conakry, which is a tough place to play. RDC are now my second team and I think we are in a good position to qualify for the World Cup, but it will really come down to the home and home with Tunisia. For my personal enjoyment, we got a big win yesterday. Many consider Algeria the best team in Africa and yesterday they had Slimani, Mahrez, Brahimi, Bentaleb, and Feghouli in their ranks, but they left Nigeria with a fairly comprehensive 3-1 defeat. The defence still is questionable under the new manager, but the team we had yesterday with Moses, Iheanacho, and Iwobi (with players like Musa, Ighalo, and Success in reserve) attacking and Mikel dominating the middle, is very exciting and absolutely loaded with fire power. Even 4 points clear after 2 matches, qualifying above Algeria and Cameroon in the "group of broken dreams" won't be easy, but this team could be special in 2018 without the usual self-destruction. Fwiw, Abeid came on for the final 20 minutes. I didn't notice much from him.

The current England side is very talented, imo. Probably a top ten side in the world. The obvious weaknesses are the centre of defense and the Rooney quandary (eliminate him). Otherwise, these are quality, youthful players that perform consistently and admirably for their club sides. The inability to compete with the very best sides is as much a mentality issue as anything, imo.

After two minutes.

I have never understood where he was meant to fit into Tottenham's starting XI stylistically (and I genuinely think he would be more suited as an option in the centre for most of their matches, though they are well stocked there). They seem to target him aerially without Kane in the side, but more often than not in general attacking play, he seems to be standing isolated on the right in another of Tottenham's slow, ponderous buildups. I also find it bizarre that Pochettino is continually starting him when he is clearly struggling for form a bit at this time and the new boy in the team. Fwiw, it has been 2 months and less than ten matches. I still think he will come good (or at least "come useful"), but the transfer still seems like spending for the sake of it.

Does Guardiola plan to go on the longest winless run of his managerial career again? If results are poor, you will be questioned. There is no reason for Guardiola (or Mourinho or Klopp or anyone else) to be impervious to this. I only saw the match from the 50th minute on, but Barcelona were astoundingly poor. It is not so uncommon to see them outplayed or outwitted, but they were not in the match at all. Preseason intensity against a hungry and extremely talented side.

Now that I am unable to watch matches, the cognitive dissonance and constant bickering surrounding certain players is even more confounding. I cannot imagine taking my time to go on about which defensive midfielder should be starting in the midst of a five match winning streak, and four matches during which the club has allowed one goal.