Latest posts of: Velvet78

Real Madrid are said to be monitoring Erling Haaland as well in addition to their watching Mbappe. However I don't think they would stand a chance for Haaland for next summer. I mean Haaland has a release clause to get activated after playing one more season for Manchester City. Until then I wouldn't expect Manchester City to let him go.

Real Madrid should just focus on signing Mbappe permanently in January as he is going to have 6 months left on his contract. But maybe Mbappe would like to just wait for the end of the season to make his final decision. Because if he signs a contract with them in the middle of the season this can affect the relationship between PSG and him really badly.

Pochettino is making good progress these days. Who would have thought they would collect 4 points in the Tottenham and Manchester City games recently? I would never expect such thing honestly but it happened. Besides Chelsea scored 4 goals in each one of these games which was even more surprising to see.

Chelsea weren't this much productive at scoring goals before but now they are one of such teams. I hope it isn't a temporary process. I expect some consistency from them to recover from their bad situation in the league. There is another tough away game against Newcastle so they had better prepare well for it.

The odds can always mislead us for the winner of these tournaments. Manchester City have been shown as the biggest favourite for many years but they were barely able to win the title in the previous season for example. Maybe they might not be able to win it twice by the end of this season as well which wouldn't surprise me at all.

Some teams really have a culture of winning these titles on one hand. Real Madrid are just the team for that when it comes to the Champions League while it has been Sevilla in the Europa League for quite a long time. Therefore maybe Liverpool are the biggest favourite here now but if Sevilla come down to the Europa League we never know what happens. Grin

Quote from: Jody.Drummer on November 23, 2023, 03:26:13 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on November 22, 2023, 11:27:29 PM

Bayern Munich are surely expected to do much more than the previous season. Because especially after Harry Kane's arrival there is a big difference in this team. I wouldn't like to overlook Tuchel of course don't get me wrong. He is also able to apply his system successfully after being given some more time.

Now Bayern Munich should technically be able to be competitive in the Champions League as well. But so far I'm not convinced with what I have seen from them. But maybe they are keeping their best performance to later rounds who knows.

I've been waiting for a long time for a club that can break Bayern Munich's dominance in the Bundesliga, and this season there is a club that I hope can make that happen, yes that is Leverkusen. Actually last season also UNion Berlin could appear and be at the top of the standings for some time, but over time, they also declined and in the end they were also successfully shifted by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Leverkusen must learn from the previous club where they could not maintain their consistency, because the same thing they might feel. They must anticipate things like this.

Leverkusen are indeed the only team that can really put an end to Bayern Munich's title streak. Xabi Alonso's system is working smoothly. Dortmund don't look like they will be in this race for much time. Leverkusen are already the leader and they got a draw in Allianz Arena by a really good level of effort as well.

We are watching Tuchel vs Xabi Alonso this season and I hope Xabi Alonso wins for seeing a change at least for once.

When it comes to Union Berlin yeah they were really great last season. But in only one season they have dropped down so deeply that I can't even recognize them.

There is a Girona - Athletic Bilbao game as well in a few days. What do you think? Can Girona maintain their current winning streak which has reached 5 games already?

Honestly I feel like Girona can win this game too. Before anything else I would like to remind of the games in the previous season as well. Because Girona beat them twice. And now Girona are even much better condition in the La Liga. I don't see any reason for not to think this way. But the final score might not be a big one. I expect a win by one goal in short.

We are really close to finish this season in Formula 1. There is still a competition between Mercedes and Ferrari for the second position in the constructor standings. The point gap is only 4 now. This big competition must be the main reason why Toto Wolff complained about Sainz's not getting a grid penalty first in Las Vegas.

Sainz still showed a great performance and finished ahead of both Mercedes drivers. Here Ferrari will need to stay ahead of Mercedes once again if they want to capture the position just at the end of the season. This track isn't like Las Vegas though but let's see.

There might be a good opportunity for Arsenal this week to take advantage of. I mean while Manchester City and Liverpool are facing each other in Etihad a possible advantageous result would be helpful for Arsenal to take the lead directly. But on one hand Arsenal had better stay strong against Brentford in that away game of theirs.

This is technically a game that they should be able to win decently. But when it comes to the Premier League it is really difficult to be sure of even favourite teams. Liverpool ended their winning streak by hitting them hard like 3-0. Maybe Arsenal can take advantage of their weaknesses.

Quote from: Jody.Drummer on November 22, 2023, 03:43:33 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on November 22, 2023, 11:46:37 AM

I have learned about Rudi Garcia's departure from Napoli newly. I got really surprised as well because it seems like everything happened so quickly. Now Walter Mazzarri has taken over and I'm quite curious about how good Napoli will be from now on. He has a history with managing this team many years ago at the same time.

Those times weren't too bad as far as I remember so this is why I'm curious about him now too. If he manages the team at a level between Rudi Garcia and Spalletti then I think the board would be okay with him to move on to another season.

Rudy Garcia is already predicted not to last long at Napoli, it has happened even the first time he was appointed to replace Spalletti. Yes at that time there was a lot of speculation that if Garcia did not play well like Napoli did with coach Spalletti then he would be fired immediately, and that is really happening now.
Napoli's expectations are even greater after they won the Scudetto and it will be a pressure for the coach when they are faced with high expectations and even parameters from the previous coach.

Yeah maybe Rudi Garcia wasn't able to do as good as Spalletti. But I don't think he has been doing too bad either. I mean they are about to reach last 16 round in the Champions League. When it comes to the Serie A I can't say that they are terrible either. If they were like in the middle of the standings then it would be a failure of course.

The previous season performance of Napoli with Spalletti was a special one which is difficult to be seen very often for any other team left in the league. Maybe even Spalletti wasn't going to be able to maintain the same level if he stayed.

There is less than one week left for next games to be played. Currently the most complicated groups are Group E and Group F. Actually Celtic are done with not only the Champions League but also the Europa League chance. I mean there is a mathematical chance for the Europa League but it isn't much realistic. When it comes to teams to qualify for next round even Atletico Madrid can find themselves out of top 2.

When it comes to Group F it is much more complicated. Because even the last positioned team can finish the group as the leader. I especially wonder what PSG will do as they can be really unpredictable especially in away games.

Real Betis are through last 16 round once again indeed. It has become pretty much a habit for them in the recent years as well. Because they were able to achieve the same success in the previous two seasons too. However in none of them they were able to make it to upper rounds. We will see whether they can do it this time.

But they were really unlucky with draws in both of those seasons at the same time. In the previous season they faced Manchester United in their good times and the Red Devils destroyed them. Before that season they faced Frankfurt which ended up being the champions too. Grin

Quote from: Oluwa-btc on November 20, 2023, 01:34:15 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on November 20, 2023, 12:03:00 PM

Manchester United are said to have plans to sign Antoine Griezmann in January by offering a really profitable deal for him. They are said to be planning to offer 435k euros per week which would be nearly double his weekly salary now. Marca says like it is triple the amount he earns now but as far as I can see he earns 240k euros per week.

Anyway even if this attracts Griezmann's attention I don't feel like Atletico Madrid would let him go in the first place. Because he is at home now and showing a really valuable performance to the team. I don't even expect Griezmann to leave in January while Atletico Madrid are in a much better condition than the Red Devils.

Antonio Griezmann has been Atletico Madrid best player this season amongst Alvaro Morata who have both seen themselves scoring a joint Fifteen good goals in the Spanish League.
Diego Simeone already expressed how much of a core player he has been to the club this season nad how he was meant to play for Atletico Madrid. He should have their DNA intact!

Why not offer same contract to a much younger, talented and skillful Kylian Mbappe? Kylian Mbappe would be a better player for Manchester United to consider than Antonio Griezmann who has aged and doesn't have that energy for Manchester United. Manchester needs to also build around the youngest and best players around the world.

Manchester United can of course make the best offer they can for Mbappe. However I don't know what the board are planning exactly. Besides even if they meet Mbappe's demands about money I don't know whether he would still like to prefer the Red Devils to for example Real Madrid these days. Because there is a huge difference now.

Mbappe would like to be playing for a winner team from now on if he leaves PSG. I mean they are winning the Ligue 1 title regularly of course. But it isn't the same as winning the Champions League title. Grin

Quote from: Oluwa-btc on November 22, 2023, 12:51:29 PM

The first game lost to Borrussia Dortmund wasn't expected, they was at home and gave out three points, they be making claims of injuries but they didn't talk about it when they won against Arsenal ( With a goal that wasn't worth it )
The second game they was shit, Borrussia Dortmund bossed them down in midfied, they tried to go through the wings and was outplayed. Injuries might be part of the issues though, a lot of pressure comes with the Champions League and European Competitions.
Last season, they was the best defending club in the Premier League.

They'll be hosting the blues who had a disastrous season which affected every single players mentality in that club. Chelsea have found themselves to an extent under Pochetino, even if we do feel like, he's not the right man for the job.
The blues have done quite well against Clubs we felt they shouldn't have. Good game for them there.
This is another game I see the blues winning. Newcastle has always be toxic at home when facing Chelsea, but I'm tryna be positive over a win here for the blues.

Seeing news of Luke Shaw returning to training and Lisandro Martinez got me hard ASF! These are the defenders alongside Rapheal Varane that brought a huge boost to Manchester United defense. Aaron Wan Bisakka included, with Harry Maguire in a good mental state now, I think Manchester United can comfortably attack from the defense.

The first game against Dortmund was really unfortunate indeed. They wasted important goal opportunities. There were shots hitting the post. But in the second game they were just inadequate. They tried to do something in the second half of the game but it was in vain once again. At least I want to see a fighter in them during the season.

Every team can have poorer time periods but the key thing is to put an end to it as soon as possible. Newcastle have been doing a really good job with the current squad for two seasons. I hope they can maintain that level with Eddie Howe. They are actually very rich but for now they can't just turn into a team like Manchester City in a short time.

Quote from: shogun47 on November 18, 2023, 11:35:02 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on November 18, 2023, 10:35:34 PM

You misunderstood me. Of course I don't mean that they did it intentionally. I mean they lost some points in the La Liga matches while they were doing amazing things in the Champions League. Why would they do this intentionally? Why would I mean such thing man? Cheesy

Anyway I don't know how much longer they can go on in the Champions League. But remembering what Villarreal did a couple of seasons ago here I wonder whether we would see a similar success by Real Sociedad as well. Grin

Because those were the words you used Wink

But it's ok if you clarify afterwards, thanks for doing it.

But believe me I am sometimes shaking my head when I read the comments here about how some teams "intentionally" lose games in one competition in order to be ready to focus on another competition and I am repeatedly saying that this is bullshit.

No team would do that and no coach would give the order to the players to play with less intensity unless they can afford it because they lead the table by many points. But otherwise every player will take the league seriously. Some here said that players would neglect the Champions League to play better in the league... Grin

Of course, a player is living the dream playing in the Champions League but plays bad to have more energy for the domestic league. I don't know how people can come up with that.

As "sacrifice" has two meanings which are intentional and unintentional I hoped that I would be clear about my words. But I should have chosen a better word for that, apologies. Grin

When it comes to the fact that you mentioned I really agree with that. Sometimes people indicate it like teams are just overlooking a tournament while focusing on another. I mean there is no way they would do that. Because while you have a chance to have a better achievement why would you turn down one of them?

Quote from: Luzin on November 20, 2023, 12:45:36 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on November 20, 2023, 12:17:33 PM

Vallecano are holding a psychological advantage in hand because of that. In addition to that Real Madrid couldn't do better than drawing with Vallecano not long ago as well. Combining all of this it seems a little risky to bet on Barcelona here. Sad

Yes, maybe Gavi's injury will have a big effect on Barcelona. They rely on Gavi in the middle and he always featured in the first 11 players (starting eleven). Maybe Xavi should think about starting to look for new players because I got the news that Gavi will take a long time to heal. Historically, Barca have always struggled against Rayo, but that's just a statistic. There is always a miracle before the game is over. Barcelona might be able to bring home 1 point.

Gavi was showing a decent performance before getting injured. So his absence would be felt of course. By the way I have read interesting news about him recently. It was saying that FIFA were going to pay Barcelona 20k euros per day during Gavi's injury. Is this really true? If it is then I must admit that I'm hearing about such thing for the first time in my life. Cheesy

Gavi and Pedri both are very valuable players for Barcelona now. They are Barcelona's future so Barcelona are also doing their best to have a long and strong bond with them.

Newcastle are really inconsistent these days. It started to reflect on their Champions League games as well recently. Because they lost to Dortmund two times in a row which pushed them down to the fourth position. But I still want to believe that they will recover from this situation as well. Newcastle were pretty impressive last season you know.

This carried them even to the Champions League despite challenging hard against the other top teams in the Premier League. Actually they weren't doing bad until a point this season too. But hopefully they will get better. They have got some bad news additionally like Tonali's suspension but I will expect them to get better in time.

Charles Leclerc had a wonderful race despite not having anything he could do against Verstappen at a point. He did his best but lost to him due to car difference in the first place. When it comes to driver skills I can say Verstappen is the best on the grid now as well. I wouldn't like to disrespect other very skilled and experienced drivers as well of course.

Anyway coming back to the race Leclerc's great attack against Perez there really deserved applauding. He must have given his 100% in this race to have the best result he could. Perez seemed really thoughtful right after the race.

Quote from: bering on November 20, 2023, 04:12:03 PM

Union Berlin this weekend will fight against Augsburg and as a host probably Union Berlin will being an the favourite but Union Berlin performance was completely messed up in Bundesliga because their last winning was happened on August and since that month Union Berlin always be gets dissapoint results and almost be lose for each matches so these results makes Union Berlin have to sacked their manager Urs Fischer

This is really unfavourable situation for Union Berlin because they should be look for new manager immediately although Marco Grote currently will handle this team but he has no experience to train Bundesliga team and next match will be so hard for Union Berlin because they have to fight against Augsburg without experience manager and beating Augsburg is not easy task because this team currently has been showing impressive progress and in the last 5 matches Augsburg was unbeatable

Urs Fischer has finally got sacked after a long losing streak like for 9 games. Marco Grote is caretaker manager of the team for now. I'm curious about how the players will react to this change from now on. Maybe they were very unpleased about Fischer's management before and now they would find more motivation to play better in a different way.

Therefore this game is a very risky one to bet on honestly. Augsburg might seem to be going on better than them but they aren't normally as qualified team as them. If Union Berlin start using a better strategy then I would expect them to win this game finally.

There is an Everton - Manchester United game as well this Sunday. Everton have got a really big punishment recently you know. This could demoralize the team for a while maybe which we will find out against Manchester United. If that really happens then this means there is a good opportunity for the Red Devils to maintain the winning streak.

They are having a quite hard time beating their opponents these days by the way. The recent wins have all been like 1-0 or 2-1 for Manchester United. Of course the most important thing is to get three points. But still they had better improve their scoring productivity more. I don't know whether they can do it in this game.