Futbol '22-'23

[roger.haddad.]

The funny thing is, if they fire him, he proves them right. I love it. I'm biased though cause I'm a Conte fan. Love the intensity. I can only imagine what goes on in that locker room for him to feel like that press conference was the move to make. I realize this is at the expense of your club's stability Surfer, but I have to admit I find it fascinating. Like you I doubt he'll last through the week but I do think the organization needs to think about what they're going to do as far as implementing a long term strategy.

[Wombatz]

i find this situation less than interesting for the simple fact that conte never committed, never accepted any responsibility, never was part of the team. even if there's fire in his eyes you wonder what makes it burn. i bet he celebrates the same after scoring in fifa against his daughter. his time at spurs has not answered any questions or made it clearer which way to go. in fact this press conference has been good because now it's thinkable he will take most of the toxic feeling with him. (mou is more subtle that way (plus he has a sense of humor which is why i have a soft spot for him).) if i very much want tüchel (sorry for always saying the same, just quit reading) it's not only because i like him and think he will do a much better job, but also because i think even if he fails his time will have answered important questions about culture, causes, squad possibilities etc. and one can take it from there. actually, not if they fire him, but if poch comes back then they prove conte right. also i sincerely hope he looked the way he looked during the game out of frustration and not because of continuing health issues, that was quite spooky i thought.

[surfer]

Sorry Lutz, Mr. Romano is reporting Tuchel to Bayern. The dream is dead. I wonder if Nagelsmann is on Levy's short list now? I've been thinking and my preference is shifting towards a young hungry untested coach like Schmidt or the guy from Sporting.

[Wombatz]

just to spite me, reports are tüchel was in close exchange with spurs and really liked the project. we all know they would have talked to 50 others before committing, so it wouldn't have happened anyway, but still ...

i'm not surprised bayern fired nagelsmann, like i've told this thread countless times, he's just an insufferable human being and that's not a personal opinion. but i need them to beat city and frankly changing managers now, much as i'd like the new one if he'd pick a likeable team for a change, will not help them do so. i've also told this thread get tüchel now, don't wait, he won't mind dangerously starting at the tail end of the season. now how come you all let that happen, he's simply not a good fit at bayern! they want harmony, he is tension. they hate "intellectuals" and he's more highbrow than pep. obviously it must be related to the newish bayern bosses wanting to establish their own culture (e.g. that it looks like salihamidzic is doing something without them having to find out what it is that he does), and they might have some success because tüchel is good, but this won't be a love story.

[Wombatz]

urgh and if spurs really go for nagelsmann now we'll have to become brighton fans or whatever

[surfer]

just to spite me, reports are tüchel was in close exchange with spurs and really liked the project.

The narrative makes more sense if Bayern sensed Spurs were circling Tuchel and they needed to preempt Levy, but I've actually heard the opposite:

Nizaar Kinsella
@NizaarKinsella
Thomas Tuchel is expected to return to management at Bayern Munich, replacing Julian Nagelsmann. I'm told he didn't speak to Tottenham in the wake of the Antonio Conte implosion, despite loose contingency interest. More on @standardsport soon.
2:28 PM · Mar 23, 2023

https://twitter.com/NizaarKinsella/stat ... 84129?s=20

Not that it matters I guess

[surfer]

urgh and if spurs really go for nagelsmann now we'll have to become brighton fans or whatever

Dont ask me how I know this but apparently his girlfriend broke up with him on the same day he was sacked.

[Wombatz]

wait what? she just put in her notice as football reporter for the leading german tabloid ... which would have made it easier for players to trust their coach. funniest i thought was that 2 days ago bayern supposedly were after lukaku. so i take it the turn of events was pretty surprising to everybody.

[surfer]

wait what? she just put in her notice as football reporter for the leading german tabloid ... which would have made it easier for players to trust their coach. funniest i thought was that 2 days ago bayern supposedly were after lukaku. so i take it the turn of events was pretty surprising to everybody.

Bayern & Germany
@iMiaSamMia
Lena Wurzenberger and Julian Nagelsmann ended their relationship [@lwurzi
via @BILD]

https://twitter.com/iMiaSamMia/status/1 ... 2549825537

(edit: never mind, that's a parody account, sorry!)

[surfer]

urgh and if spurs really go for nagelsmann now we'll have to become brighton fans or whatever

I think I agree (not that I would abandon Spurs for Brighton), I am coming around to the idea that this is a terrible idea. This article is like a christmas tree of flashing red lights:

https://adamfc5.substack.com/p/the-dark ... nagelsmann

[Wombatz]

yep i largely agree with that. (maybe i have written it, since tüchel is correctly spelled with an umlaut.) except we don't know how good a coach nagelsmann really is. his work at hoffenheim was pretty awesome, but as i don't follow them i don't know how that went. in both leipzig and münchen he took over functioning teams. his time at leipzig was successful but he didn't really manage to take them onto the next level because there was still some internal warring to do (and abandoning the project still railed against the old rangnick structures holding him back instead of saying thanks and good bye). at bayern things went subtly off the rails rather more quickly but they're still very good when they're good. it will be super interesting to see how he fares in the future but please not that closely. get him to the netherlands, that seems to do people good.

[surfer]

Not that it matters I guess

Georg Holzner
@georg_holzner

Ursprünglich, so erfuhr der @kicker, sollte Thomas #Tuchel am Dienstag noch nach London für Gespräche mit Tottenham fliegen. Weil der #fcbayern aber gleich sehr konkret wurde und ihm ein sofortiges Engagement angeboten hat, hat er die Reise abgesagt und den Münchnern zugesagt.

Who's your first choice now?

[Wombatz]

that kid at reims who doesn't even have a license! more realistically, i don't know. glasner is not really looking good lately, no wins and especially thin-skinned behavior during no wins. also the way he left wolfsburg doesn't bode well. and i know nothing really about the others. thomas frank has the most interesting face of the lot. it's more about avoiding the worst now, innit?

[roger.haddad.]

Trying to decide if Liverpool will beat City and Arsenal and lose to Leeds and Forest or they'll just lose to all of them.

[Wombatz]

watching rats lose to mainz for a stretch, they look pretty deep in crisis. more than two thirds of possession, but everybody keeps glued to their position. dunno how often i have to say this but sticking to a shape like good little boys doing everything right is not going to help. yes, there are other reasons (nkunku injured a lot and soon gone, longtime-injured goalie, others soon gone and lacking an edge), but that's the main problem. with no rangnick to fall back on, who can avoid them becoming a mid-table team? we need a council of the rats.



first tüchel game for bayern didn't really tell a lot since dortmund willingly self-combusted. i still think without a change of managers bayern would have had a better chance of beating city (though indeed also a better chance of losing the league).

[Wombatz]

(what a relief ... nagelsmann to chelsea is the much likelier outcome now)

[surfer]

Did my knee a bit in Sunday League so I've been out of sorts and recovering. Nothing left to say about Spurs, the worst team in the Top 4 this late in the season I can ever remember. Not sure its even worthwhile discussing a squad up a goal and a man in the 80' minute who sit back and let a team in the relegation zone, lacking their key striker and only consistent goal scoring threat, have the ball and come on to them. Its infuriating and highlights how wrong this system is for this league and this set of players. You just cannot dominate possession or control the match with a two man midfield unless one of those players is N'Golo Kante from 5 years ago.

In any case, to answer your question Roger, they will lose to City and Arsenal, draw with Chelsea and Leeds, beat Forest. Liverpool look out of ideas, out of motivation, and stale across the pitch. I think the clock is ticking on Klopp. I think Forest are goin down, their run in is brutal, and today was a must win game for them, they could pick up 0 points over the run in. Cooper is going to be sacked soon anyway.

I agree Potter getting canned is a bullet dodged for Spurs. I'm not convinced Nagelsmann would have taken the job but he was the wrong fit for Spurs anyway. Roger Schmidt just signed an extension to 2026, Amorim doesnt seem interested, Glasner isnt ready. Not sure there are other continental coaches we're linked with (apparently Arne Slot is a thing, dont know a thing about Feyenoord). I'm fairly certain Di Zerbi isnt equipped for what we have going on (he basically said as much in his recent press conference), Brendan Rodgers is a real possibility. Potter needs to go to Leicester or somewhere similar. I havent watched a minute of Burnley since they got relegated and am aware they were eviscerated by City, but I might be willing to hop on the Kompany train, he's the kind of personality that can unify a dressing room and potentially bring a different vibe to the club. Plus anyone who has even shaken hands with Pep seems to have the magic touch.

[surfer]

first tüchel game for bayern didn't really tell a lot since dortmund willingly self-combusted. i still think without a change of managers bayern would have had a better chance of beating city (though indeed also a better chance of losing the league).

We watched that, they really did self-combust. The error by the keeper is one of the worst misfires I've ever seen by a top tier keeper on major club, he completely missed the ball!

[Wombatz]

interesting round of cup games over here. bayern lose against freiburg to prove my theory they shouldn't have changed managers before the city game. they had the same problems against well organized and gritty opposition under nagelsmann, but now everybody additionally has the excuse of being in transition. rats with a focused performance, super wasteful, but with the right amount of chaos i attack, and keeping it up until the end. i wouldn't have expected that. so hopefully they can avoid a spursy finish in the league too.

with everybody waiting for the break to get their new coaches we know how this will go for spurs, right?

[surfer]

with everybody waiting for the break to get their new coaches we know how this will go for spurs, right?

Brendan Rodgers? (he says with a shrug of defeat)

If you are implying Return of the Poch, I'm having my doubts that Levy will swallow enough of his pride. As someone who is divorced, my experience with my ex is that no matter how much therapy or how much you both have changed, you tend to fall back into old communication patterns and ruts. I truly believe nostalgia is poison when in comes to important matters of business or life decisions. Glossing over the negative aspects of Poch's tenure is naive, and a second stint will always, for worse or better be compared, often decision by decision, to what he did his first time around. It will not work other than as a emotional closure or putting to bed of old ghosts for the fanbase.