I of course don't know whether BILD's info was right, but it reminds me of the times CyberX, Codman etc know inside info but the deals then end up imploding because of the fluid business. Köln openly wanted to hire Heldt but were shot down by Kind, so they had to completely switch things up and contact Veh. Seeing how Bosz wasn't even fired yet, he'd of course take an influential role for Köln instead. I also had reliable insider info (private, trustable contact) years ago that said Thiago's brother and Felipe Anderson were 99% signing with us, but the deals fell through last-minute. Not trying to defend BILD in any way and it's possible that they made this up, but people too often say that insider info was completely made-up when a deal doesn't happen.
At least now we know Köln's downfall was not on Stöger. Up 3-0 against Freiburg, losing 3-4 due to commiting two idiotic penalties in the final minutes. Gotta love them.
The business is brutal. Four extremely successful years and now sacked although basically every good player was injured. Always pathetic how management blames coaching instead of admitting the real issues, just to save their asses.
Will be interesting to see how they do in the CL knockout stages, we also celebrated Pep during the first 3/4 of each season and then had a rude awakening. Surely looking good right now, though.
I think Pep has a certain autonomy over the players and development right now and he is impressive as a talent recognizer even if he is stubborn tactically at times. The last few years they were feasting on bad teams and rolling over for the top 4. So far this season they have shown the grit to poach wins when needed. Pep has been wise to play Sane and Sterling on the wings with KDB and Silva creating behind IMO. Maybe it is better than playing Aguero and Gabriel Jesus together up front. Upgrading aging Zabaleta with Kyle Walker helps a lot too. He's been pretty effective. Ederson made 2 great saves to deny Man U their 2nd. That is the kind of December result in Old Trafford that can put a death grip on the title. Still need a 2nd center to play nearly as well as Otamendi.
Manchester City is Agreed City need another CB and probably another LB/RB, BUT I think you forgetting how well John Stones was playing prior to his injury. I thought his progression is a integral part of the reason for their success. I might be in the minority to say this, but City hasn't quite been the same since he went down, kids got great composure on the ball and tends to make clean crisp passes from the back, big reason for the midfielders doing even better. He still makes some poor decisions but he's stepped his game in the right direction. Just has minor things to work on before he could be considered one of the best in the EPL. Also, got to say that Mendy is also someone who makes this team so dangerous. Loved how they looked with the guy, too bad he went down, would be world beaters if he had remained healthy. Delph and Danilo just don't belong in that position, the ManU game just confirmed that. I think with Mendy and another world class CB this team does not get beat by anyone, don't care about real Madrid or Barcelona.
BTW wingers seem to rule this world today..... almost over are the days of just one striker in the middle.
Defenses got a lot more sophisticated over the years, so I think you can't do the old kick&rush or crosses into the penalty area anymore. Wingers will always provide this element of surprise with 1on1 play and also open up the defense a lot more by stretching the defensive line out to the entire width of the pitch. Football is in constant development though, so it wouldn't surprise me if crafty coaches can come up with a strategy to neutralize wingers (see it a bit when teams double/triple wingers rigorously) that leads to the old 4-4-2 being more popular again in the future.
Tottenham-Juventus Manchester City-Basel Liverpool-Porto Manchester United-Sevilla PSG-Real Madrid Roma-Shakhtar Donetsk Barcelona-Chelsea Beşiktaş-Bayern
Woah, we dodged a bullet here. It was 50/50 Barca or Besiktas. Love the outcome, of course. Thx, Xabi! Great draw. Three interesting matchups with Tottenham-Juventus, PSG-Real and Barca-Chelsea. Hope the schedule allows to watch all three.
Great draw for Bayern, easy win. PSG-Real and Barca-Chelsea will be hot contests, but think both Spanish teams will prevail. Predicted winners: Tottenham-Juventus Manchester City-Basel Liverpool-Porto Manchester United-Sevilla PSG-Real Madrid Roma-Shakhtar Donetsk Barcelona-Chelsea Beşiktaş-Bayern Overall really close matches except for City-Basel and Bayern-Besiktas, every other team can win.
BVB with luck of the draw, going up vs Bergamo. RB has to face Napoli though, will be extremely difficult.
They might as well have just waved City and Bayern straight through lol. Agree with all your choices but I'll go out there and say I'll pick PSG over Madrid. Come at meeeeee brehhhhhh!
Great points. With Mendy and Walker at full back they are even more dangerous on both flanks. I will say that they don't need another world class CB. They just need Stones back and a healthy Kompany in the mix with Otamendi. Then give the kid Adarabioyo some more opportunities. Either way , the (football) world is theirs this season.