Football (Soccer) Thread

[Sheilbh]

And again - I get no one in football cares about the welfare of millionaires - but there's a World Cup in six months

[The Larch]

And again - I get no one in football cares about the welfare of millionaires - but there's a World Cup in six months

Yeah, moving the Euros and Olympics to 2021 because of Covid and Qatar's WC to winter because of the heat has created quite the glut of top international football competitions. Some of those players are going to end up ragged.

I wouldn't be surprised it right after the Euros Pedri and others have "injuries" and have to withdraw from the Olympic squad. 

[clandestino]

The wiki mentions 21 november and 18 december 2022 as the opening and final game dates. Is it outdated?

Neverthless a hectic schedule given the reduced time used to play previous (and next?) season.

[Grey Fox]

FIFA's official website says the Tournament is in 509 days.

[Sheilbh]

The wiki mentions 21 november and 18 december 2022 as the opening and final game dates. Is it outdated?

Neverthless a hectic schedule given the reduced time used to play previous (and next?) season.

Sorry you're quite right - but yeah I'm thinking there are extra games for Champions League next season. It won't be as concertina-ed as the last season. But I just worry that there's going to be a huge amount of games for players - especially peak players - over the course of 4-5 years without anywhere near the amount of recovery that they probably need.

[Duque de Bragança]

Spain has just released their call-up for the Olympics, and 6 players repeat from the Euros (Unai Simón, Pau Torres, Eric García, Pedri, Dani Olmo & Oyarzábal). Don't know if that's very wise, those players are going to start the league all knackered.

One of the Portuguese U21 players, who reached the U21 Euro final just before the Euro 2020/21, played in this Euro as well.

[celedhring]

Messi's contract expires today and he hasn't resigned yet 

Both parts have been locked in talks for weeks now.

[Duque de Bragança]

Time for Barça to save on player wages. 

[clandestino]

And on Rafa - I just can't see a scenario where it goes well. There are already more banners at Goodison over this and the fans will have zero patience with him so I think unless we win every game for the first couple of months people won't get behind him and the atmosphere will be toxic: Allardyce and late-era Martinez toxic. It'll take a loss of form in one (1) game before I think there'll be chants against him and protests. But I think even if he does well it's likely that lots of fans will credit the players and give him nothing.

It seems it's a done deal.

So what do you feel is the plan now? Try to best Ancelloti with the current squad plus some minor tweaks or a complete overhaul of the squad?

I'm not a huge Benitez fan but kind of warmed up to his work in his Newcastle stint (such a though job).

[celedhring]

I think Benitez will lead Everton to its manifest destiny of a glorious upper midtable finish.

[Sheilbh]

It seems it's a done deal.

So what do you feel is the plan now? Try to best Ancelloti with the current squad plus some minor tweaks or a complete overhaul of the squad?

Something between the two I think. He seems a lot like Ancelotti but instead of being universally liked by Everton fans....

I imagine James Rodriguez is phoning his agent even more regularly now And there is nothing more Everton than getting a superbly gifted player, who did well for us and literally no fans ever seeing him play.

One of the big disconnects between fans and owners I think is that I think a lot of fans feel disconnected from the team and want a sense of identity again. I think they want some sense of who we are and how we play and try to build on that - which has been missing since Martinez. I think the owner wants instant success and so will keep chopping and changing his managers. He likes to make the decision on hiring managers and he will back them in the transfer market. But there is no consistency in what he wants when you look at Koeman, Silva, Allardyce, Ancelotti and Benitez. He'll players that Benitez wants - I don't know what that'll be, hopefully some pace on the wings and we've been linked to Dumfries but I don't know if that'll happen because he had a good Euros ().

We don't necessarily need an overhaul, I don't think. But we need a few seasons of stability and consistency in the players that we bring in.

There's been a lot of talk this time about what manager we want. The general view, I think, was we basically want the sort of manager we got in Moyes in 2002 - someone who's up and coming and a bit of a risk, he was in the Championship. I think that's also the type of player we want. I think fans generally want people to come here with something to prove. But the owner likes "Hollywood names" and he likes chatting to agents and I worry we'll end up with more people perhaps on their way down instead

Although I am listening to a podcast with Jamie Carragher (who was an Everton and knows Everton very well) and it is calming me down a bit.

I'm not a huge Benitez fan but kind of warmed up to his work in his Newcastle stint (such a though job).

I'm not anti-Benitez and before Ancelotti became available I wanted him in 2019 (and I think fans would have accepted him then). He's very well-liked as a man in Liverpool by all sides because he does a lot of charity work, is very involved with the Hillsborough families etc which everyone in Liverpool supports.

But his past means he'll have very little space and I think Goodison will turn very quickly. And I think I'm not disappointed by Benitez (I'm not convinced he's still a great manager - I'm not sure he's done enough in the last decade to indicate that) as much as already resigned/feeling like I know how this will end: a run of bad form, increasingly hostile and restive Goodison (plus Liverpool fans winding up Everton fans at home), players downing tools and then we're back into the same nonsense as the last month.

If it wasn't for the Liverpool past - if this was a blind CV it would make a lot of sense. But it's not and that means he's got very little space for anything but winning.

[Sheilbh]

I think Benitez will lead Everton to its manifest destiny of a glorious upper midtable finish.

We will return to 7th place!

Edit: Oh and thoughts and prayers to the people managing the club's social media accounts right now

[celedhring]

I think he did really well at Newcastle, to be frank. He's not spectacular but his teams always seems to deliver. But it's true that he needs time (which he might not get) because he's very tactically demanding.

[Sheilbh]

The counter is that his record at Newcastle is basically the same as two seasons of Steve Bruce which isn't a wild success. And particularly in the last season that's an achievement because Newcastle were particularly badly hit by covid.

I think the other side of that is that Ashley spent more money in the last couple of seasons, but I'm not sure.

The derby is going to be very important. If Liverpool go up and there's Liverpool fans chanting his name - things will get moody quickly

Edit: And I think - as Carragher pointed out - a lot of this is particular to Benitez. He wasn't just Liverpool manager, but successful there and really loved by the fans - there is (was?) a very close bond between him and Liverpool fans. I think if we were hiring, say, Brendan Rodgers, I don't think the Liverpool connection would matter because he's not loved by Liverpool fans and wasn't that succesful.

[celedhring]

Yeah, Ashley gave Bruce much more money. It was a bit ridiculous after he was so stingy with Benítez.

But I watched a lot of NUFC under Benítez, they were a solid team. He also got himself involved a lot with the city.