Pogba, Matic, Fred and Mctominay were all bought up by Jose. The midfielders who have left us recently like Blind, Herrera and Fellaini have been from LVG and Moyes era.
These are the kind of posts that I come to the caf for.
Yup it's a total mess in midfield. None of the current players we have dovetail in the pivot well, Ole had his go-to pairing in Scott and Fred which was never going to produce trophies but it was solid-ish, until this season where even that pairing has fallen to bits.
It doesn't matter how physical the opposition is when you can't touch him. That never applied to Alonso, he always needed a bit more time and space on the ball, and if he got that he could play passes that de Jong couldn't. They both would be caught out on counter attacks when exposed one on one, that's where the protection helps, but that doesn't have anything to do with the physical nature of the league, and I'm not sure it's any more common in this league than others. Just a nostalgic view of English football.
As good as Frenkie De Jong? That’s a madness bro
I'm not sure it is. Ronaldo even mentioned in his recent Sky interview that the referees here don't give the fouls he would get on the continent.
He said a couple of things about fouls: English referees give less, and Italian defenders foul more (intelligently). This is coming from a guy who's built like a brick shithouse but appears to fall over more easily than when he was a wafer thin teenager, so there's always that pinch of salt too. It's fair to say those claims have held steady for decades - in both directions. English fans tend to ignore the latter comments in an attempt to glorify their own football. In any case, what he didn't say is the English game is more physical. It might've been when he joined, who knows.
That has to be a pisstake. No one could be that deluded. I’m not convinced either are good enough fir United, we could just as easily see them playing for hearts in 5 yearsAs good as Frenkie De Jong? That’s a madness bro
Yeah must be a windup but you never know.
As a Barcelona supporter... I hope he stays. It's the main job of Xavi to turn him around together with Ter Stegen. When he came he was the best player but got totally frustrated from being the only one playing with intensity and running non-stop. Now that he's got other motivated players around like Pedri, Gavi, Nico and Ansu, I hope he can recover the confidence because the team will totally turn around if he adds up to the new generation. If he doesn't do it soon I will understand if he asks to leave or just go free though.
What are you betting? Because I'm calling!
I don't think Thiago's failed. I just think he's playing in a different type of football, with a different role. I don't see him putting in bad performances. I think, however, there is a degree of evidence to suit the idea that English football can be a bit of a shock to the system if you're not accustomed to it. Saul is a very good player but is clearly not taking to it well at Chelsea.
Bellingham is going to be a top top player but I really think he'd be better served staying in Germany for another couple of seasons and playing week in week out and also playing CL football, I'm not sure he's ready for the step up just yet.
Here is something I wrote yesterday as well...
Hmm, doesn't sound great. I know Busquets is/was a very good player, but at 33 years old you would expect a 24 year old De Jong to be putting pressure on him for that position if he was that good there.
So what you're saying is.. VdB should have gone to Barca and Frenkie to United.
You would say, but I think its not as easy. The problem is that Busquets is a great player, but not versatile at all.. He plays at 6 on 100m2 the whole game or nowhere at all. De Jong can be more versatile - even if it means playing him outside of his strenghts which can potentially make him a world class player.
100%
Isnt he on a contract till 2026... with a 400 million euro buy out clause
Sure I'm not saying its guaranteed or even close to happening but if we move in the right direction with managers then I wouldn't exactly say its the most impossible either.
Also Van de Beek is not even close to good enough to play for Barça.
Barcelona could maybe be convinced by a deal that is above 100m, they could do with an injection of cash, they have lots of young very talented players and selling Griezmann and De Jong could see them inject 200m between transfer fees and wages for 22/23. From that point Barcelona would be in pretty good shape and since they generate lots of money, in 18 months they could easily become on of the top dogs again.
Nothing against Zidane but I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if haaland moves to us regardless of the manager
These are the kind of posts that I come to the caf for.
He's on a huge wages and Barca are still not out of the woods in terms of their financial situation. They have a lot of young talent in midfield (Pedri, Gavi, Puig, Nico as well as more experienced Roberto) and while from a footballing perspective selling De Jong doesn't make any sense, it may be one of the easiest ways to quickly generate some money (they'd free about 300-400k per week as well as an additional +- 100 mil as a transfer fee).
Good post! although I also agree on a poster after you saying that it is a bit dissapointing that Frenkie can't make his claim on the #6 at Barca with a 33 year old Busquets as his main competitor.
