While losing shouldn't have an excuse, but have you taken a look at the team that played before placing judgement on the coach. His team choice isn't obviously our starting 11 and I'm pretty sure that was due to the players not been available either resting or taking some vacation from the juat concluded seasons. We didn't have our usual midfielders playing and a key players as Ndidi wasn't present and other vital players.
Now lets look at the formation 4,2,2,2. That isn't our best formation and probably the coach is just using this friendly to test his tactics and others players to identify the best new players to input into the team to strengthen it. The match ended 2:1 and the second Mexico goals was an own goal. Lets give the coach time and not been quick to judge.
Nigerians are naturally impatient. We love instant or immediate result. I don't blame them because our passion for football is boundless. But we must understand that a team takes alot of time, mistakes and sacrifice to build. There is nothing wrong in loosing a friendly match, what matters is what lessons did the players and technical crew learn from the game. It is better we loose all our friendly matches learning lessons that would help us win competitions and trophies. Nigerians must be patient and give the technical crew more time. They are just hungry for wins and there are a lot of people who do not like to lose. To be honest it obviously sucks to lose. But losing is the only way to learn quickly. I think they should stop thinking about what they are going to lose again and again and start thinking about what they have done wrong and work on that. I absolutely agree that they really have to be patient if they want to achieve better things. It is easy to play the blank game but it is hard to think about the mistakes. |
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Real Madrid have a fallible defense, if you check in all the games they played against tough teams in the Champions league. One will notice that they conceded much goals starting from PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City. The Los Blancos side passed through all these challenges but what saved them was a good and sharp Frontlines. They have both brutal midfield and attack, they don't easily Missed chances of goal scoring. For instance in the final were they face Liverpool, who happens to have tough players too, the both teams are very much alike except for the defense that Liverpool beat them a little bit. How could I forget to mention one important in the team that played an essential role, the goal keeper, Thibaut Courtois who saved them from the hands of Liverpool.
Actually, you make a good point because even though Real Madrid does not have a good defense they have a good midfield and a very good attacking lineup. So, often times they are able to make up for the bad defense that they have. They have considered a good amount of goals in the Champions League but they have obviously scored more. It is also true that they don't often miss chances. And they also have a really good goalkeeper who absolutely came in clutch in the Champions League final, he must have been really annoying for Liverpool  . |
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I think right now it will be better for Juventus if they bring in di Maria because that will give them some good attacking stability. A lot of people think that PSG is not keeping Di Maria because he is old and not playing well but that is certainly not the case. He was performing well in PSG but PSG for some reason wanted to make the squad even stronger. And they are doing that by not renewing the contract of di Maria, who has been performing well for PSG at least. And with di Maria, the Juventus team will also have some flexibility to work with.
I saw some news on my social media and indeed in that case it was explained that Di Maria would be moving from there and it is certain that Di Maria will leave at this time. But in this case there is a slight problem if Juventus really wants to attract this player because indirectly they are also now preparing to bring back Pogba and although it would be good to bring these two players at once but not good enough with their current finances Pogba is already getting a very big pay cut. I don't know about di Maria but I think he might also agree to take a pay cut. I think with these types of pay cuts, Juventus might just be able to afford the players. If I am not wrong I think pogba took almost half the pay cut. He will be getting paid half of what he was being paid in Manchester United. So, I want to sleep do have some hope that Juventus might be able to afford them. |
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Di Maria is still in good form, both in the PSG team and in the Argentina national team but it is not worth it for Juventus to replace him with the departure of Dybala who is still at a younger age. maybe if Juve bring in Di Maria then at least he will only be able to contribute 2 or 3 seasons, the rest he has aged and can't contribute much anymore.
I think this season Juventus have not shown their seriousness in bringing in quality players to look forward to a better next season.
In this case it is arguably not quite commensurate but I still feel that Di Maria is not meant to replace Dybala's role there considering in this case I still believe that Di Maria's role will be kept to manage the midfield temporarily even if Dybala is now gone but in terms of their striker Dusan was still there even though it wasn't good enough to focus on just one player but they still wouldn't be okay with this either. other than that I still feel that the role of Zakaria and Bernardeschi will also be better if there is someone who manages the midfield well I think right now it will be better for Juventus if they bring in di Maria because that will give them some good attacking stability. A lot of people think that PSG is not keeping Di Maria because he is old and not playing well but that is certainly not the case. He was performing well in PSG but PSG for some reason wanted to make the squad even stronger. And they are doing that by not renewing the contract of di Maria, who has been performing well for PSG at least. And with di Maria, the Juventus team will also have some flexibility to work with. |
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Liverpool were seriously favoured for winning the title and most people were confident about seeing them as the champions of this season too. In the end, Liverpool had an incomplete job to do against Real Madrid considering their previous finale against each other a few years ago. Salah burst into tears in the previous finale and he was aiming to have a revenge here. Liverpool played very decently and I was doubting Real Madrid to win the title too. Liverpool were just unlucky about finishing up even one of their goal chances.
Actually, I also thought that Liverpool was going to win this match because they looked to be a better team going into the finals. But the teams that Real Madrid beat on the way to the finals were just unbelievable. Liverpool expected it a lot more compared to Real Madrid. I think if Real Madrid lost the match they wouldn't have taken it so badly because their reaching the finals was a great thing. And because the Liverpool team is stronger compared to Real Madrid everyone expected Liverpool to win and probably that expectation added a little more pressure. |
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The Dutch got a good start, but their middle order wasted that advantage. That said, their bowlers are fighting back as of now. After Logan van Beek got the wicket of Shamarh Brooks, Bas de Leede got two very important wickets. And then Nicholas Pooran got castled by Aryan Dutt. A couple of wickets more in the next few overs, and it is going to be very tight for the West Indies. And let's don't forget the fact that West Indies is not in a very comfortable position in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League. Right now, they are at the 10th position in points table.
In the first match, we saw the Dutch batsmen batting brilliantly, but they were defeated due to poor bowling. But despite their batsmen performing poorly in today's match, the bowlers are bowling well enough. West Indies lost their fifth wicket for just 99 runs. They scored 113 runs in 29 overs. Brandon King is still at the crease. If he can't extend his innings today, I think West Indies could lose today's match. I am enjoying the match now. Let's see if the Netherlands can pick up the first win of the series. Yes, they have done really well on the batting side but they are bowling left them vulnerable. The bowling side was just not venomous enough. And with this bowling lineup, I don't think they will be able to do very well against a team like West Indies, Many good players are missing now. Right now West Indies need 8 runs from 33 balls which is a piece of cake for them. |
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2nd ODI between Netherlands and West Indies is scheduled for today. During the first match, Netherlands gave a good fight with the bat, but they could not keep up in the bowling department. Kingma and Klein were no match for experienced batsmen from West Indies, and only van Beek looked threatening. In the spin department also, Pieter Seelaar and Aryan Dutt failed to trouble the batsmen. They may go for Philippe Boissevain today. Fred Klaassen, if included in the playing XI has the ability to trouble the opposite batsmen. I am not sure why he wasn't included for the first match.
The problem is Netherlands are missing the service of some important players. Even though the batting performance that they have shown is good I believe the bowling was the weakest link. And only one bowler will never be able to fill up the gaps left by the others. West Indies is already a strong team compared to the Netherlands. Then Netherlands missing players is not helping them at all. I also believe that Fred Klaassen will add some stability to the team but I am not sure even that is going to be enough. |
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I am happy that Haaland is gone, all the talking about switching teams brings distraction, and to be honest he missed so many games due to being injured all the time, no wonder they have been inconsistent.
Dortmund now is a healthy club moneywise and of course they can't pay what all those clubs owned by rich Arabs or Russians can pay. All those wannabe stars like Haaland and co just see the money and want to go to a big team asap. Also Dortmund doesnt have a billion in debt like some teams from Spain. If uefa would actually enforce financial fairplay the champions league would probably see Dortmund and Bayern in the semis quite often.
Why be happy that he is gone? He adds quality to the league no matter how long he is injured for. Now we won't have as many goals in the league because we have lost one of the greatest scorers in the league history. Anyone that says they won't miss him or glad they are gone must be a rival fan Haaland was great to watch and I will miss him and I am sure the Bundesliga will miss him. The problem with Haaland is does get injured but that might be a temporary thing with better medical care or better rotation he might be fit more often. I think Haaland is the type of player that you need to manage closely. He is like Gotze or Hazard both great players but they are injury prone. Gotze was managed well at Bayern Munich and started to get a good sequence of games together that proves that it can be done even if the player is injury prone. He was a big part of Dortmund, he also had a good contribution to the success of Dortmund. And there is no reason why any Dortmund fan should be happy because of his departure. The problem is with Dortmund, not him. I agree that he was injured for a long time but this is not the only case for Dortmund when they had to sell their best player. But I have to say one thing which is Haaland being injury prone and moving to English Premier League is probably not the best decision in my opinion. |
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Thinking the same because Bayern Munich is not a bad club, so Sadio Mane can still do his best in the Bundesliga if that happens, with rumors like this then of course Sadio Mane wants to go and find a new atmosphere, but I see Liverpool fans are a bit disappointed If Mane had to be sold, according to Liverpool fans, he would still be a player who fits and Salah because that is the best strength for them.
There must be negotiations, the transfer window is still long, Bayern and Liverpool still have time for the deal. Fans don't want Mane to be sold because they know Mane has made a big contribution to Liverpool. His form this season is fairly good where he managed to score 16 goals and 2 assists in 34 match in the Premier League and 5 goals in the Champions League in 13 matches. Obviously the fans still want him to be kept for the next few seasons especially because Mane is still able to maintain his good form every season. However, there is always the possibility that Mane will change jersey next season if Bayern Munchen are really serious about getting his services next season. Of course Liverpool want a higher price than the first offer as reported, maybe in the range of 40 million more. Only 40 million? I believe that is not enough for a player of the caliber of Mane. I don't think even Liverpool will want him to leave because he has been a great and very important player for Liverpool. He has a great contribution to Liverpool's success, fans will also not want him to go. I think he is still good for Premier League competition and if he does go to Bayern Munich he will have a lot less competition. Don't get me wrong he will still perform really well with Bayern Munich but I would rather see him play in the English Premier League compared to Germany. |
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There is some news like Inter are getting prepared to make an offer for Romelu Lukaku. They seem to be serious about having him back in the lineup soon but we don't know what Chelsea are going to think about this yet. Romelu Lukaku has been having tough days at Chelsea in the recent times. He lost his place in the starting eleven to Kai Havertz and this was like a bad signal for him to be sent from the team. I remember his statement related to Inter which created some problems between him and the team for a short time. In my opinion, it'd be better for him to return to Inter now.
His season in the Chelsea squad has been really rough. I think it is in the best interest of both the player and the club that he leaves. He came to the club with really big expectations but he failed miserably. I think him being really expensive was a big reason why he felt a lot of pressure. It is very obvious that he is not feeling at home in this club at all. I believe he should move to Inter because he had a lot of success with that team previously and I believe that League is also going to be favorable for him compared to the English Premier League. |
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as transfermarkt.co.uk just announced, the transfer of Ivan Perisic from inter milan to tottenham hotspur in the english premier league is now complete. he signs a 2-year contract with the english cl-participant.  Ivan Perisic became the first player to be recruited by Tottenham in this summer transfer market, Tottenham qualification to the Champions League next season is an attraction for players to join Tottenham, besides Conte, of course, doesn't want his team to just be underdog in champions league next season and that's why now conte is starting to target new players needed by the team, Perisic arrival to tottenham will certainly make tottenham game better because in the last two seasons after returning from loan at Bayern Munich, perisic played quite well with Inter and he often becomes a right-wing terror for the opponent's defense. Tottenham is going to play in the Champions League and they are really trying to make their squad strong but they will have to make some more changes because you know, this is not going to be enough for them. I believe they will have to make some more changes to have a strong squad and also be more competitive in the Champions League. There will be a lot of stronger teams compared to them. The teams in the English Premier League will be stronger than them, let alone the teams from other League. |
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Ukraine has got a lot of players from their national league in the national team - and these players haven't played football in a while. Nobody knows in what condition will they be - it is expected that they will not be fully ready in physical aspect.
However - they have an extra motivation to win and if they manage to score early while they still have the strength - maybe they will be able to defend throughout the rest of the game.
I do feel that Scotland is a big favorite here - but since I don't know in what condition the Ukrainians are it is really tough to call. I thought I'd bet on Scotland but I'll simply skip the game.
It seems to me more profitable to bet on Ukraine. Firstly, it is an underdog and the coefficient compensates for the risk. Secondly, fans in general expect a weaker performance of Ukraine than usual due to the ongoing war, but in my opinion, on average, athletes should not play much worse or better because of this (someone, on the contrary, will receive additional motivation to perform well for the national command). If we talk about the purely sporting strength of the teams, then I would never say that Ukraine is weaker than Scotland. If they are able to score early in the match Ukraine will still lose the match because first of all I think Scotland is better compared to them and obviously the Ukrainian defense is not strong enough to just sit back and defend a lead of one goal. Actually, I think it might be a good strategy for Ukraine to get aggressive and catch Scotland off guard because I think the last thing Scotland is going to expect from Ukraine is aggressive football. |
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-snip
As far as I can see, the midfield is Juventus' biggest weakness now. I'm really curious about the reason why they haven't still signed some solid midfielders. They must already be aware of this problem which is getting bigger for them. I wonder if it was money related and they didn't sign any big player as a result. They signed Vlahovic and spent a lot of money for him too. However I still expect to see them going for decent midfielders to strengthen the position. This can be very helpful for them next season. I am hearing some rumors about Pogba returning to Juventus and I believe if that happens the midfield will be a lot stronger. I think that is a reason why they are not spending money right now. They are waiting to see what happens, I think and obviously, they are a little bit restricted in terms of money and I think that's why they are waiting things out for now. The problem is that Juventus is not handling their players well. They have made some good transfers but they have turned out to be a little questionable over time. Recently the decision of letting Dybala go is also not a popular one.
Do you mean they sometimes decide carelessly regarding player transfers? In Dybala's case, he is no longer interested to play in Juventus, why does Juventus need to keep a player with no motivation to play? I think letting Dybala leave is the right way, but Juventus should find a new player that can fill his position properly. There is still a lot of time before the next season begins, I am sure Juventus will find out a new player that has a similar capability to Dybala. I believe that they're good to have asked Dybala to stay if they really wanted to but they did not even make any attempt to make him stay. He was a very important player for Juventus in my opinion. His staying in the club would have really helped but the club obviously thought otherwise. Juventus is trying to make the midfield really strong right now but I hope they don't weaken the defense trying to do that.
It is true that Juventus need quality midfielders, because one of Juventus weak points is in the midfield. Therefore, Juventus is currently trying
to bring back Paul Pogba, because Pogba proved to have played well with Juventus before deciding to move to Man United. According to rumors
Pogba is getting closer to rejoining Juventus. Moreover, there is news that Pogba is willing to take a big enough salary cut in order to rejoin Juventus.
Apart from Pogba, Juventus are also trying to bring in Angel Di Maria and Jorginho. If it is true that Juventus can get these three players,
next season the Juventus midfield is getting more solid and Juventus should be able to win the Serie A trophy.
Juventus also knows that their midfield is not the strongest and they are obviously trying to fix that by bringing in some good players in form of Pogba, and di Maria. I believe if they can bring these players successfully it will be really great for the midfield position of Juventus. And I also believe that these players are not going to cost too much. As Pogba has agreed to take pay cuts to play for Juventus. These guys might be old but I'm sure that they are not obsolete. |
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I believe Juventus will be able to improve their performance much more by the coming season. They started to perform better especially after they signed Vlahovic. He made their attacking line stronger than before.
Too early to judge they will improve their performance. The problem in Juventus isn't only about the attacking line, but they also have problems in both midfield and defend lines. So, the problem is quite complicated. Another problem, the players have no good mentality as the winning team anymore. The coach must fix this if Juventus wants to improve their performance in the next season. Juventus has certainly lost their dominance in the Italian league. Now they are not the best team but they still are one of the better without any doubt. The problem is that Juventus is not handling their players well. They have made some good transfers but they have turned out to be a little questionable over time. Recently the decision of letting Dybala go is also not a popular one. And obviously, I agree that the defense and midfield are also not one of the best. They need to make changes in the squad. At least at a level so that they will be able to compete with the current better teams in the league like Inter and Milan. |
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snip
Yes his ability to read his opponents so well and even try to confuse them with his mind games keeps him at the top..he has the history of playing with opposition managers psychologically..and put them under some kind of pressure, he tries to absorb the opposition attacking pressure and hit them on a counter..he is also known for coaching one of the fastest counter attacking team in history which is the Real Madrid side of 2012 season with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo,Karim BENZEMA, Higuin, Di'Maria, Mesuit Ozil their transition from defense to attack was something special..strong physically and fast and the turned defense into attacks and scored goals too..his defensive approach started from his Chelsea days because he had the likes or Arsenal and Manchester United to deal with ..his playing style in his Porto days was not defending until he got to the round of 16 in the champions League against Manchester United and other great team which his Porto side wouldn't have won had it not been his defensive approach to the game Yes, I actually remember a match against Real Madrid. I think it was in 2013. Real Madrid was winning the match 3-0. And they had only 37% of possession of the ball. All they did was counter-attacking and convert small chances into goals. But the problem is in this era of football, you have to be the aggressor because if you sit behind and try to defend everything you will eventually leave gaps in your defense. The type of pace current footballers have is really hard to defend. To me, it seems like his style is a little outdated. |
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Real Madrid seem to be in search of a strong player for their attacking line. It could be a centre-forward too even if they have Benzema now. Benzema is doing amazing this season but he wouldn't perform like this every season from now on. He would play decently for two more season or something and then he might retire. And a team like Real Madrid should be investing in the future for certain. Mbappe was their main target but they couldn't bring him for now. After he extended his contract, it seems like they are thinking of Milan striker Rafael Leao. The 22-year-old striker is a promising one indeed but I wonder if he would adapt to the league quickly.
I really don't understand why the priority of Real Madrid is currently attacking players because the weakest point of Real Madrid is their defense right now and I believe they should look for defenders instead of attackers first. I believe they have a good attacking lineup. I think Benzema is going to give his service for at least two more years. Leao is obviously a very talented player and can be a good fit for Real Madrid in my opinion but I really think the first priority of Real Madrid should be getting better defenders right now. |
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Jose Mourinho is truly a great coach, despite his controversial predicate. Mourinho has proven his magic at several clubs he has handled. In Italy, The Special One is also very special, he has successfully carved gold ink in the history of AS Roma after winning the Conference League and 12 years ago this Portuguese man also made history for Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri were successfully orbited by Mourinho into a treble-winning club, the Serie A champions, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League.
He has made his name over the Europe from Portugal to England, Italy and Spain. Now he is back to Italy and has his best time in last few years. The only big league Mourinho has yet had any experience is Bundesliga, next is Ligue 1. The lazt one is managing a national team. So far Mourinho wins many titles from clubs with limited financial resources like Porto and Roma to rich clubs like Chelsea and Real Madrid. He is a very successful coach. I believe he is a coach with great game sense. I have seen some clips of him telling his team what to do and what might happen on the field and in the match, exactly that thing happened what he said would happen. so, I believe he is someone who has a very good understanding of this game and he is very good at predicting his opponents. so far he has been very successful even though a lot of his methods are not very popular. |
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Mohamed Salah will see this as an revenge mission after missing out the last time around they meet each other due to injury he had in the first few minutes of the game after a professional foul from Sergio Ramos, he did well to come back from injury and played the last game of the season against wolves,but this time around they have equipped there selves more better by adding more attacking players than before,they have Luis Diaz and jota in their rank now.
I remember that time too, after few minutes to the begining of the match, Mohamed Salah was injured, he still wanted to play but the injury make him unable to play and left the field and was substituted. Immediately he left the match, the match changed and Real Madrid later got upper hand. Even if Salah played full match as at that time, very possible Liverpool could have won, but that is just a guess, anything can still happen and it can still be the same way around as it happened. Let us see what is going to happen, Real Madrid are very strong, they have that Champions League experience and can also emerge as the winner. I understand that Liverpool are very strong than before, but they are hyped than what they are. Man City won the EPL league already, Liverpool won FA Cup but they went extra time with Chelsea and finally played penalty. I would not hype this again this time around like they are better than what they are, it is possible that Liverpool can win but also possible that Real Madrid can win because Real Madrid has been very better in this season Champions League too and had more obstacles than Liverpool. This match is obviously going to be a 50 - 50 chance for both teams to win unless something like an injury happens to any important players during the match. I obviously hope that nothing like it happens. I honestly want to believe that Liverpool is going to win this Champions League final but when I look at the Real Madrid squad and when I think about the teams that they had to beat to get here I wanna sleep and start thinking that this has to be a Real Madrid win. |
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