Ligue 1 2017/18 Chat

[Spike]

9 hours ago, Luis Suarez said:

The news articles do PSG scant justice. I'm not  a PSG fan, quite the opposite, and find the Qatari moneybags stuff disturbing - but I switched round to watch the second half and was transfixed.

PSG played the best 30 minutes of attacking football I've seen for ages, with Neymar both providing individual brilliance and setting up his teammates with chances ( while behaving like a gent, despite some rough challenges).

They were 2-1 ahead when Veratti got sent off, correctly, after a second yellow. Cue to bring on defenders and shut up shop? No, they brought on Pastore, attacked like demons and scored 4 more goals - 3 of which would be on anyone's goal of the month list: Pastore's wonderful curler, Kurzawa's inspired scissors-kick, and, the best of the lot, Neymar tricking his way brilliantly past 4/5 defenders then shooting. Poor defending? No, no defence would have stopped the goals.

As for the old chestnut about the poor standard of the French league: like most others these days, they have a handful of good teams (PSG, Monaco, Lyon, Marseille getting there) who could and do give anyone a game - and who do at least as well in the Champions League as the PL giants.

Any competent defence would have.

[El Profesor]

Diego Costa is being linked with a move to OM. That´d be a brilliant signing for Marseille, he and Germain would complement each other very well in the attack. Plus he´d add a lot of controversy in the matches against PSG. 

[Batard]

51 minutes ago, El_Loco said:

Diego Costa is being linked with a move to OM. That´d be a brilliant signing for Marseille, he and Germain would complement each other very well in the attack. Plus he´d add a lot of controversy in the matches against PSG. 

Not a chance he'll sign for OM. But he'd be a massive game changer against teams like Angers, on the other hand, he'd be a massive liability against PSG and a walking red card.

[RandoEFC+]

If Costa goes anywhere this window it's only for 4 months until Atlético's transfer embargo finishes.

[Smiley Culture]

On 21/08/2017 at 7:48 AM, Batard said:

But that Neymar goal. Something else 

Is it though? It's gone viral and it's gone round the office like some post-Christmas party gossip but I don't rate it that highly and I'm not sure whether I'm being harsh or not. Is the defending actually that good? I'd argue it's woefully inadequate defending and the reason why it looks good. 

[Batard]

17 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

Is it though? It's gone viral and it's gone round the office like some post-Christmas party gossip but I don't rate it that highly and I'm not sure whether I'm being harsh or not. Is the defending actually that good? I'd argue it's woefully inadequate defending and the reason why it looks good. 

It is. In My opinion anyhow. Because despite a couple of players not being able to kick the ball through lack of mindfulness and one fortunate bobble for Neymar, some of the control and the sheer speed of thought was impressive in itself. Toulouse were demoralised at this point, but the standard of defending in Ligue 1 isn't as poor as many would believe. 

[...Dan]

After 3 losses in their first 3 games Amiens go and smash Nice 3-0.

[Batard]

Balotelli has created a right stink in Nice 

[El Profesor]

Monaco-OM playing right now. Mbappé on the bench despite the reports of his transfer to PSG.

[Stan]

Early goal for Monaco. Kamil Glik the unlikely first goalscorer.

[Stan]

3-0 to Monaco. Falcao has a brace.

[Guest]

What is the deal with Monaco? I thought they had rich owners? Why do they keep selling their best players?

[SirBalon]

30 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

What is the deal with Monaco? I thought they had rich owners? Why do they keep selling their best players?

Not only that...  To try and bypass the amount of shit PSG are getting themselves into with FFP (they were verbally warned the other day by UEFA that they're gonna roll over every piece of paper in their offices), the Mbappé deal will probably be a loan deal with a €180m forced buy-out for the new financial year.  The problem PSG have is that the books aren't only checked from year to year, but that there is also a 3 year rule.

PSG are counting on raising their profile with these purchases and raise their income dramatically which is rather far fetched.  You can't spend more than €30m above your takings and PSG aren't one of the biggest money makers in football by a long margin, definitely not on the scale they're spending.

Plus take into account that you can't purchase players by using a sponsor, something they've done in the Neymar deal.

They're desperate!

[Spike]

4 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Not only that...  To try and bypass the amount of shit PSG are getting themselves into with FFP (they were verbally warned the other day by UEFA that they're gonna roll over every piece of paper in their offices), the Mbappé deal will probably be a loan deal with a €180m forced buy-out for the new financial year.  The problem PSG have is that the books aren't only checked from year to year, but that there is also a 3 year rule.

PSG are counting on raising their profile with these purchases and raise their income dramatically which is rather far fetched.  You can't spend more than €30m above your takings and PSG aren't one of the biggest money makers in football by a long margin, definitely not on the scale they're spending.

Plus take into account that you can't purchase players by using a sponsor, something they've done in the Neymar deal.

They're desperate!

Typical Balon response. Someone asks a question about Monaco and he answers with an essay on PSG 

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

Typical Balon response. Someone asks a question about Monaco and he answers with an essay on PSG 

Because he was asking about Monaco selling their top players.  Their top player is Mbappé and I'm not only attacking PSG with my statement, but also attacking the shit state of Ligue1 with it.  The ONLY club that can sort of compete with PSG is selling their top players and if people take the piss out of Bayern in the Bundesliga buying up everyone, at least German football has a more dynamic structure in their football so as to cope and conceivably being able to rise above it.  But in Ligue1 we're talking about one mega super power (actually a club that pretends to be this due to the fact there are rules), a big financial hitter in Monaco and then there's everyone else.

[Stan]

Monaco haven't sold Mbappe to them yet though but have sold 2 other top players to Man City and Chelsea. 

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

Monaco haven't sold Mbappe to them yet though but have sold 2 other top players to Man City and Chelsea. 

They're saying the loan deal should be announced very soon on L'Équipe.

[Batard]

3 hours ago, Gunnersauraus said:

What is the deal with Monaco? I thought they had rich owners? Why do they keep selling their best players?

The answer is ... divorce. The president, Rybolovlev got royally fucked to the tune of circa 3 BILLION Euros. This is why the Monaco project was altered a year after the colossal spending spree. It has nothing to do with anything else other than that. It's very much like the situation at Anzhi, external causes dramatically affected the monetary direction of the bank rolling owner.

P.S Monaco vs Marseille ... embarrassing and Garcia can fuck off after that pathetic display of management. Absolute toss.

[Batard]

Additionally to clarify. FFP doesn't take affect until 3 seasons AFTER the events. So this seasons spending will roundly rape PSG unless before the 2021 season they've balanced the books.

[Spike]

2 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Because he was asking about Monaco selling their top players.  Their top player is Mbappé and I'm not only attacking PSG with my statement, but also attacking the shit state of Ligue1 with it.  The ONLY club that can sort of compete with PSG is selling their top players and if people take the piss out of Bayern in the Bundesliga buying up everyone, at least German football has a more dynamic structure in their football so as to cope and conceivably being able to rise above it.  But in Ligue1 we're talking about one mega super power (actually a club that pretends to be this due to the fact there are rules), a big financial hitter in Monaco and then there's everyone else.

But he asked what happened to Monaco's money! 

[El Profesor]

2 hours ago, Batard said:

The answer is ... divorce. The president, Rybolovlev got royally fucked to the tune of circa 3 BILLION Euros. This is why the Monaco project was altered a year after the colossal spending spree. It has nothing to do with anything else other than that. It's very much like the situation at Anzhi, external causes dramatically affected the monetary direction of the bank rolling owner.

P.S Monaco vs Marseille ... embarrassing and Garcia can fuck off after that pathetic display of management. Absolute toss.

Bielsa was right about Doria. He is simply not good enough. 

This club simply doesn´t have a direction. The Dreyfus era was a disaster and the McCourt era doesn´t look much better, even though it´s only at the beginning.

 

[El Profesor]

6 hours ago, Gunnersauraus said:

What is the deal with Monaco? I thought they had rich owners? Why do they keep selling their best players?

Yes, Rybolovlev is very rich, but as @Batard mentioned, Monaco drastically altered their way of operating, after their owner´s divorce. In a smaller scale, they operated like PSG in the beginning, buying James, Moutinho and Falcao to build a super squad but since 2014, Monaco has become a selling club. Perhaps it was not only the divorce that led them to alter their way of operating, but also the fact Monaco has a small fanbase and their commercial opportunities are very limited, even when compared to other Ligue 1 clubs.

Anyway Monaco has found a model that suits them. They are very well run, their scouting is superb, Vadim Vasilyev is very smart and Leonardo Jardim is a great coach who knows how to develop talent.  Monaco will find and develop the best talent in France but despite being a selling club, they make clear to other clubs they only accept offers that please them, they´re not crash strapped, and that creates even better leverage and more profit. Rybolovlev and co realized that there is money to be made with his football club, but not in the Chelsea way of expending the fanbase and building a global powerhouse.

I really admire how Monaco´s run and their success. Brazilian clubs should take note.

[Batard]

27 minutes ago, El_Loco said:

Bielsa was right about Doria. He is simply not good enough. 

This club simply doesn´t have a direction. The Dreyfus era was a disaster and the McCourt era doesn´t look much better, even though it´s only at the beginning.

 

Rami isn't much better either. Defence was fucking awful. Midfield was as limp as damp paper. There's no excuse for the lack of motivation and why in Gods name did he setup the team like that? Was it supposed to be a back three? Where the fuck was Amavi positioning himself on the left, Lopes rinsed that flank. Garcia can't escape blame after that shambles 

[6666]

Monaco still looking extremely good despite selling big players. Question is, when will big clubs make a move for Jardim?

[El Profesor]

In one of the best deals of this summer window, Monaco´s just confirmed the signing of Keita Balde for 30 million euros. They know how to develop young talent like him and it wouldn´t suprise me if they end up selling him for at least twice they paid him now.