^ so how does me saying unfortunately united have seen a shift in that transfer strategy cover it up? I am not coming in here saying united never buy big names. I am simply saying compared to the top 6 united have done a lot better at giving youth a chance and developing these players. How exactly is that bullshit?

5/22/2015 11:27:30 AM

It's what JeffreyBSG said. United are what they are now. Just because they play a few youth players doesn't mean they're going to be what they were with Ferguson and Giggs and whatever but yet you constantly bring that up like it's likely to happen. It's not.

And while I really don't care about which teams play more youth than others like it means something, Liverpool, although not bringing them all through direct in their own academy, has definitely made an effort to target and develop youth players. Sterling, Ibe, Coutinho, Markovic, Can, Origi, Flanagan, Moreno.... not all have worked out yet but they're clearly targeting younger players and giving them a chance.

5/22/2015 11:38:06 AM

^^
okay,you said

Quote :

"One big transfer season and we are all of a sudden a buying club. "

which expressed the idea "Manchester United are not a big buying club."

As Manchester United constantly ARE buying expensive players from all over the place, the statement quoted above was pretty much complete bullshit.

5/22/2015 11:46:43 AM

Jeff can't you tell he wants it both ways? They apparently have the best academy and constantly bring guys through while simultaneously renting high priced hired guns from foreign lands.

5/22/2015 12:44:47 PM

I just don't want to hear anybody claim that United maintains their squad by any other means than buying bad-ass players from other teams. Everyone does this and I suppose there's nothing wrong with it; but United sure as hell do it as much as anybody. Probably the only teams that cleanly eclipse them in this regard are Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

5/22/2015 1:58:18 PM

Lol

5/22/2015 2:33:13 PM

yeah that last sentence was probably going a little far

5/22/2015 3:00:37 PM

Just add Chelsea and Man City and you're good to go.

5/22/2015 3:22:26 PM

Clearly none of you have saved or are saving for a rainy day, yadig?

5/22/2015 3:41:06 PM

aimorris would you be happy with a Sterling for Walcott+£££ swap as a Liverpool fan? Walcott would give you some much desperately needed great finishing but admittedly is sort of a one-trick pony.

I know its a moot point with City rolling out a mac-truck size wheelbarrow for a young homegrown...

5/24/2015 10:16:19 AM

Stevie G going out with a bang.

5/24/2015 11:08:38 AM

Gerrard! What a fairytale!

5/24/2015 11:30:10 AM

Nah. I'd rather spend Sterling money on CM and/or a forward

Please please please please get Klopp

[Edited on May 24, 2015 at 12:49 PM. Reason : .]

5/24/2015 12:49:21 PM

Quote :

"Please please please please get Klopp"

5/24/2015 11:33:15 PM

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11669/9864929/liverpool-to-review-season-but-not-considering-sacking-brendan-rodgers

5/25/2015 12:38:23 PM

Sounds like Klopp may end up in Turkey for a season anyway. He knows there won't be any major openings that he would actually want until at least next summer.

5/25/2015 1:26:16 PM

Next 1-3 years all of City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Real should have openings (and likely Bayern too but I don't know if he has that in him).

5/25/2015 2:10:34 PM

I like Brendan Rogers...he doesn't deserve to be sacked.

but if I could sack him and thereby sign Jurgen Klopp, I would probably do so.

5/26/2015 2:41:47 AM

He got found out a little this year when he didn't have a game-breaking striker to make him look good. Just from a distance, he seems awfully cocky for no apparent reason too. Win a fucking trophy before you get all smug.

By the time Klopp makes it to England, he'll be destined for failure because he'll be put on a such a pedestal that anything less that being the savior of football will be a disappointment. Great players coach, but not a top 5 manager in the world that some believe.

5/26/2015 7:58:16 AM

I agree with all of that about Rodgers. His decisions are baffling because he tinkers and finds something that works consistently and then when it falters once or twice, he goes back to the original shit that never worked in the first place. He's proven he can't handle transfers and "rebuilding" and that's essentially what this summer is going to be again. My biggest reason for wanting Klopp is I just don't think Rodgers can lure in a big time player, even if FSG could pony up cash to bring one in. It'd be nice to not have to gamble on a transfer once in a while.

I don't think Moyes "deserved' to be sacked anymore than Rodgers does right now but big clubs are ruthless and hire a better manager when it isn't working out. If FSG is really sticking by Rodgers like the rumors say, it tells me they aren't confident they can go out and get a better manager, which is probably true and also pretty sad for Liverpool FC.

5/26/2015 8:23:43 AM

^ pretty sad, because Carlo & Carol were looking to open an Enchilada franchise on Merseyside

5/26/2015 8:42:44 AM

enjoy Rafa

5/26/2015 9:13:30 AM

Kolo getting dat contract extension

5/26/2015 1:30:22 PM

No Sepp unfortunately, but good on the US for stepping up and doing something besides whining about the corruption. I doubt Blatter would ever have the balls to step on our shores again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html

5/27/2015 6:45:20 AM

On the Brendan Rodgers discussion, this is pretty funny.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/brendan-rodgers-quotes-be-quiet-5763659

5/27/2015 6:56:17 AM

Quote :

"I don't think Moyes "deserved' to be sacked"

Are you having a laugh? Moyes definitely deserved to be sacked and the club is in a much better place because of it. Moyes may have been the ultimate fall guy but it was his lack of big club experience and incompetence that led to a 7th place finish. This team finished 1st or 2nd for the 6 or 7 seasons before Moyes. I was expecting to finish in the top 4 under Moyes and no trophies. He couldn't even achieve the minimum, in fact he was way off the mark. Even if much of it was down to Ferguson you can't honestly believe Ferguson single handedly willed a 7th place team to 1st or 2nd.


Anyway what a great day for average football fans! Something is finally being done to Blatter and his cronies. I really hope the DOJ just opened up a massive can of worms for FIFA. I never honestly thought this would happen. I just hope this is used as a catalyst for positive change in an organization that is oh so corrupt. I would be happy even if FIFA reformed as much as the IOC did at the turn of the century.

5/27/2015 7:48:40 PM

Swear I'm not trolling. I'm not saying they shouldn't have fired him, I'm saying he wasn't as awful as people are making him out to be. And with a summer of more big money transfers, he very easily could have done what LVG did. He is the one that signed Fellaini after all.

My point was that big time clubs can't afford to gamble on coaches proving themselves over a few seasons anymore so you absolutely have to upgrade if you can.

5/27/2015 8:05:11 PM

Should be interesting to see what happens with Ings. I'm not sold on him, but somebody at Spurs is, and we've already had a bid accepted by the club. He'd be a solid back-up striker for Europa/Cups.

We and Liverpool basically have the same amount of playing time to give as our striking situation mirrors one another.

English star striker:

Kane - Sturridge

Euro flop:

Soldado - Balotelli

Aging squad player:

Adebayor - Lambert

I guess maybe Sturridge gets injured pretty often so maybe he has a slightly better chance at more playing time there? It's pretty much a deadlock though.

5/28/2015 7:00:32 AM

I feel bad for Balotelli. He kept his head down all year, even though he probably would've been justified in acting out at how little he played and when he actually did, it was in a position he was never suited for.

Anyway, I'm not convinced by Ings and I hope he signs for Spurs. Save this for next year when he scores a hat trick against Liverpool.

5/28/2015 9:53:56 AM

Quote :

"And with a summer of more big money transfers, he very easily could have done what LVG did."

See this is where I disagree. You could argue that without Di Maria & Falcao United still finishes 4th. Van Gaal basically finished 4th with the additions of Herrera, Blind, and Rojo. The key players were Fellaini, Smalling, Rooney, Young, and Valencia. These players were available under Moyes and the only player Moyes could get the best out of that lot is Rooney.

The fact that Moyes did not know how to utilize Fellaini is damning in and of itself. If United keep Moyes on I think we do not make the top 4. Simply because we probably wouldn't have won the matches against the top 8 that we did.

I agree with your last point and if Klopp is available and willing to coming to Liverpool I think it would be stupid for Liverpool to not fire Rodgers. Does Rodgers deserve another year? Based on his 2nd year I believe he probably does but if an established candidate is available you have to take it. Rodgers found it difficult to attract big names even with CL football. A bigger hindrance to pool isn't the manager, it is that asinine transfer committee.

5/28/2015 11:00:19 AM

Quote :

"The fact that Moyes did not know how to utilize Fellaini is damning in and of itself."

Wut?

We talking about the same guy that coached him for 5 years as a star player at Everton and then bought him immediately upon his arrival at RBUFC?

That you think RBUFC made the right decision about Moyes is shocking. SHOCKING. You never agree with anything that club does.

[Edited on May 28, 2015 at 12:41 PM. Reason : .]

5/28/2015 12:39:37 PM

RBUFC? Lol, so cute

5/28/2015 1:35:59 PM

calling a spade, a spade

which overpaid foreign stars will you be bringing through your academy this window?

5/29/2015 9:25:05 AM

As unlikely as it is god would I love to see Blatter not get reelected. The vote is coming up right now I believe if anyone wants to watch.

5/29/2015 10:23:30 AM

Quote :

"calling a spade, a spade which overpaid foreign stars will you be bringing through your academy this window?"

5/30/2015 1:14:41 AM

Quote :

"@Garethbale11: Good luck for today lads in the #FACupFinal ! @theowalcott @aaronramsey"

I'm sure this was met with rational and thoughtful replies.

[Edited on May 30, 2015 at 8:54 AM. Reason : -e]

5/30/2015 8:54:15 AM

Happy birthday Stevie G

5/30/2015 1:52:50 PM

Squad is in place to push on. Need a top level CB and a DM to help Coq. Schneiderlin is probably Europa League level so not sold on him but need someone...

And Cech.

Ozil has been so class since coming back this season...

5/30/2015 4:13:47 PM

Oops, looks like Jack got drunk again and started anti-Spurs songs.

[Edited on May 31, 2015 at 3:27 PM. Reason : And before wazza rolls up in here with I said that about Schneiderlin before they were linked ]

5/31/2015 3:26:44 PM

Schniderlin would be interesting. Looked good at Southampton and is still relatively young. Would love him at United and see if he can raise his level. Matic turned out to be a brilliant transfer for Chelsea and United can gamble taking a chance on Schniderlin and hope he raises his game with a better team and players around him.

Would be a great replacement for Carrick if he pans out and exactly what United are missing at the moment when Carrick isn't fit.

6/1/2015 10:01:19 AM

David Gill for FIFA president

6/2/2015 6:02:02 PM

ESPN.com posted a rumor mill article about Sterling for Walcott and Gibbs. Thoughts?

6/2/2015 11:24:14 PM

Player trades almost never happen so I doubt there's anything to this.

I don't rate Gibbs that highly and Walcott is hurt more than Sturridge so I'd pass.

6/3/2015 8:46:28 AM

lol Gibbs and Walcott for Sterling. What are they smoking at Anfield?

[Edited on June 3, 2015 at 11:24 AM. Reason : .]

6/3/2015 11:24:05 AM

An instance where I agree with wazza

6/3/2015 11:39:08 AM

You two think that's way too much for Sterling or the other way around?

6/3/2015 11:40:29 AM

Way too much.

6/3/2015 12:21:55 PM

interesting

6/3/2015 12:51:58 PM

Sterling is all potential. I dont care about Gibbs but Theo is a bonafide finisher who will score tons in a team that will get him chances. Not sure it makes sense for a team ready to compete to replace proven scoring with future potential.

And I love Sterling fwiw...

[Edited on June 3, 2015 at 2:16 PM. Reason : Reality is he is off to City for £35-40m anyway ]

6/3/2015 2:15:04 PM

Feels like Walcott's been injured 50% of the time he's been an Arsenal regular though. That matters in my valuation big time, after dealing with Sturridge.

6/3/2015 2:21:10 PM