This match went by the saying "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king".
It's shocking that the next team to have scored fewer goals than Atleti is Valladolid... Who are 15th!!!!
This match went by the saying "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king".
the saudis are probably the best owners you could get. yeah, the politics connected to the country aren't pretty, but on the other hand there isn't a billionaire on earth who doesn't have blood on their hands. wealth is accumulated and gained off of the backs and lives of people period. and that's just the way capitalism works.
John Henry might be an ass but you can't deny he's been proactive in trying to get Liverpool back to the top, he's like the complete opposite of Kroenke as far American owners go
Are they even in the EL?You wanna get rid of Ole, you gotta make sure you play Frankfurt.
I mean............. was anyone really not expecting him to land top 3? If the CL is the argument then VVD should have won, and we know that didn't happen either...
Clearly it should go to the guy who scored the most goals in Serie A, Quagliarella.I for one am glad it doesn't just automatically go to a CL winner.
Mané has been better than Ronaldo in every single way in 2019. More goals, more assists, wayyyy more matches, better goals/game ratio. On top of being a CL winner and a serious contender for the most competitive league in Europe for both 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Also went to the Afcon's final with Sénégal.I mean............. was anyone really not expecting him to land top 3? If the CL is the argument then VVD should have won, and we know that didn't happen either...
who gives a shit. only the winner and to an extent the 2nd place matters.
Mané has been better than Ronaldo in every single way in 2019. More goals, more assists, wayyyy more matches, better goals/game ratio. On top of being a CL winner and a serious contender for the most competitive league in Europe for both 2018/2019 and 2019/2020. Also went to the Afcon's final with Sénégal.
Mané should absolutely be ahead of him.
this had been the case since 2010. footballers not named Messi (even Ronaldo) always have to win or do something extra to have a chance. Messi is by default positioned as the winner every year.Apparently Virgil needs to win a WC/EC to have a chance to win it.
I don't know if I was expecting it but I was hoping at least. Thought he deserved it and despite people saying only the 1st matters I think it would have been nice for him to be recognized on the podium. I think that ranking shows how much of a popularity contest it really is, much more than Messi coming 1st.We're all aware that these trophies are rarely ever about stats or even the trophies won. It's become a popularity contest. Messi and Ronaldo could break both their legs, be away from a pitch for 11 months in a year, return to play a few minutes in the matches leading up to the award ceremony and they'd be considered contenders anyway.
Hence, my question: Was anyone really not expecting him to make it top 3? Seems unlikely anyone else will get any fair shot while these two are active.
Personally, I'd have given it to VVD, but it's been hard to argue against Messi for most years since he's been around.
Anyway, who gives a shit about small-tier guff like that when there's awards like this about
Look at Klopp at Liverpool. Poch at Spurs. The right manager with the right backing can absolutely make United a title contender again. It's not like saying Newcastle or Watford suddenly coming up top, it's a top 7 team that is a couple of players short and has a few underperforming. United are miles behind Liverpool and City but not within impossible distance over the next 3 seasons.
Okay indulge me, who do you think are the only managers we could attract? Flores, Silva, Pulis? Not a chance in hell. Even recently we're still linked with Allegri and Poch. United is still a massive job, and it was Mourinho's dream job - arguably the most successful manager of recent times along with Pep.
To think United can only attract a mid-table manager is beyond ludicrous. Ole is there, rightly or wrongly, by the board's own volition - it wasn't the only option.
For me personally yes Ole is a top 50 United player for a variety of reasons. And he will be to the vast majority of the fanbase. And yes Ole was absolutely appointed because he was a breath of fresh air compared to Mourinho and changed the toxic atmosphere that permeated at the time.
Glazer's have invested in the club, but our purchasing team has also made poor decisions with that money. The fanbase's current issues are more with Woodward's management than the Glazer's.
Our net spend in the last five years is only behind City. Just short of £400m, averaging £75m a year. Tottenham's net spend over the last five years is £94m, £18m a year making them 17th in the table. He would do well at Leicester but again looking at the size of the clubs and potential he and any other manager would chose United all day long.
I have my own issues with Saudi ownership but again, Glazers have improved since their initial stint here and I still believe that having a footballing structure in place detached from Woodward would make the world of difference. I want Woodward out, but I wouldn't be opposed to him staying there as long as there was a DoF and what not handling the footballing decisions and Woodward kept himself to business and boardroom activities. He's undeniably amazing at the business side of the club.
I mean, Messi is just a much better player than van Dijk given the rules of football. Because of how the game is played, it's easier for attackers to have an outlier impact than defenders: the difference between Messi and a league-average Spanish striker might well be .75 goals a game, whereas no CB can project to have that level of impact. (Yes, I know Liverpool's record before/after van Dijk, but, as excellent as van Dijk was, a ton of that was xG variance.)
Think Ronaldo was genuinely mediocre for large chunks of this year, and I agree that Mane would've been a more deserving #3.
Like, I get that it's more fun to reward team success and mix it up, but I like treating the award as a record of who the actual best player in 2019 was for historical purposes. If it's Messi every year, he should win the award.