Transfer Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread - Summer 2014 - Mod note in OP

Will I Amnt

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm not seeing how it is downplaying? Has he ever received higher billing than Ronaldo? No. Has he ever received higher billing than Bale? No. For much of his time at Madrid he was overshadowed by Ozil, now James has basically taken his place in the squad. You can say "it's unfair to compare him to these players" yet his price puts him directly in the same bracket as those players and the likes of Suarez and Neymar.

He's as close to the price of Torres and David Luiz as Bale and Ronaldo. Why not compare him to them?

KERSPLAT!

Apparently Di Maria is done, £59.7 rising to £63.9. Stepping up the chase for Vidal too according to SSN and BBC. Vidal would help them immensely going forward and defending

Christy Browne

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm not seeing how it is downplaying? Has he ever received higher billing than Ronaldo? No. Has he ever received higher billing than Bale? No. For much of his time at Madrid he was overshadowed by Ozil, now James has basically taken his place in the squad. You can say "it's unfair to compare him to these players" yet his price puts him directly in the same bracket as those players and the likes of Suarez and Neymar.

Di Maria is better than James. James has potential, but at the moment he isn't even on Di Maria's level

Rayne Wooney

Just because a player is "second fiddle" doesn't instantly mean they are not phenomenal players. Exceptions even in the last year Ozil, Kroos, Mata, Sanchez and now Di Maria will all have moved. It's ridiculous

Ancelotti wanted to keep Di Maria, other teams including Barcelona and PSG wanted to buy him, the Madrid hierarchy decided to spend £64 million on a player who had a good World Cup and Ancelotti needs no winky nudge from them to realise that if Perez decides to buy a player for 64 million then he wants to see him playing , now you have a situation where Bale, Ronaldo and James must play regardless, where does Di Maria fit in then? He is undoubtably better than James, he was excellent last season in a midfield 3, James was the flavour of the year, a worthy Galactico

kryogen

Gavlor wrote: »

Samuel Eto'o due to have a medical at everton!

Would be a great signing even if they only get a season out of him

Yeah, cause he was great for Chelsea, a year younger.

Amirani

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I'm not seeing how it is downplaying? Has he ever received higher billing than Ronaldo? No. Has he ever received higher billing than Bale? No. For much of his time at Madrid he was overshadowed by Ozil, now James has basically taken his place in the squad. You can say "it's unfair to compare him to these players" yet his price puts him directly in the same bracket as those players and the likes of Suarez and Neymar.

I don't get your logic here Andersonisgod, you'd be the right at the forefront of the argument if people tried to claim that Iniesta and Busquets would be poor value signings given they're at lower billing than Messi and Xavi (and rightly so).

United are clearly getting squeezed here because of their poor negotiating position, but just because Di Maria was only the third most influential player in a team that won the Champions League, doesn't in itself make him a poor value signing.

Smithwicks Man

kryogen wrote: »

Yeah, cause he was great for Chelsea, a year younger.

9 goals and 4 assists in 1304 Premier League minutes last season = A goal/assist every 100 minutes, which is brilliant for a bit-part player.

He wasn't fantastic but he was far from useless as well.

Gavlor

kryogen wrote: »

Yeah, cause he was great for Chelsea, a year younger.

As far as evertons current options go, he's a good back up to lukaku. Guaranteed to score goals and no transfer fee. Hopefully he won't be on a ridiculous wage and if not then it's a nice bit of business.

Mikeyt086

No United fan with a brain is claiming Di Maria will solve all the problems. That is a fictional opinion I have only seen rival fans bring up and criticize.

Also, I wasn't aware the transfer window closed for United a week before everyone else. There has been nothing to suggest United's business is done, yet signing Di Maria when we need to sign other players is another stick being used to beat the club with.

The entire debate reeks of July: "United can't sign Di Maria, he's class." August: "Di Maria isn't that good..." and the scrambling for reasons why this isn't a serious transfer coup are what some see as cringey.

There really should be a separate transfers thread, and a separate 'transfer discussion/my dad could beat up your dad thread'.

Chancer3001

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

Yeah but they aren't similar players, quite the opposite actually. Vidal and Ramires are similar players. Di Maria is a winger who was f*cked into center mid due to being second fiddle to Bale and Ronaldo on the wings. He's a natural world class winger who can play at center mid, Ramires would be a very average winger.

Completely wrong. Di Maria was a centre mid who ended up on the wing, then ended up back in centre mid again last season. He was man of the match in the champions league final, playing centre mid behind the BBC attack

Talib Fiasco

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

Di Maria is an outstanding player and nobody with a brain is denying that but some United fans are in fantasy mode thinking the lad is going to solve their problems alone. He won't have a chance to display his brilliance with the state of the team he has to play in at present. Signing Vidal which is a big pipe dream will help him out but he's in for a rough winter as it stands.

Who exactly has said he is going to solve our problems on his own?

What's going on in this thread is all of a sudden Utd have managed to get the player practically every other rival said we wouldn't get and now that we have the toys are out of the pram.

Di Maria is world class but nobody expects him to sort out the problems on his own. There's another week in the window and I think this is going to kick our transfer business into overdrive.

Players love money, who would have thought :rolleyes:, but regardless it's an impressive feat to get this signing done considering we don't have CL football and the player who won it for Madrid last year is willing to give that up.

glued

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

Yeah but they aren't similar players, quite the opposite actually. Vidal and Ramires are similar players. Di Maria is a winger who was f*cked into center mid due to being second fiddle to Bale and Ronaldo on the wings. He's a natural world class winger who can play at center mid, Ramires would be a very average winger.

That's a complete lie. Di Maria was always a CM. He played there for Benfica. When he started at RM they used him as a winger because of his pace but then he moved back into his natural position.

This is a guy who was MOTM in the UCL last year when both Bale and Ronaldo, as you allude to, went missing. Di Maria is a top class player and a great signing.

Will I Amnt

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Who exactly has said he is going to solve our problems on his own?

Nobody has said that. Some people invent these statements in their own head and then argue against them. Very strange stuff altogether.

Andersonisgod

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Just because a player is "second fiddle" doesn't instantly mean they are not phenomenal players. Exceptions even in the last year Ozil, Kroos, Mata, Sanchez and now Di Maria will all have moved. It's ridiculous

Ancelotti wanted to keep Di Maria, other teams including Barcelona and PSG wanted to buy him, the Madrid hierarchy decided to spend £64 million on a player who had a good World Cup and Ancelotti needs no winky nudge from them to realise that if Perez decides to buy a player for 64 million then he wants to see him playing , now you have a situation where Bale, Ronaldo and James must play regardless, where does Di Maria fit in then? He is undoubtably better than James, he was excellent last season in a midfield 3, James was the flavour of the year, a worthy Galactico

All hugely talented players but for the fee Man Utd are paying I dont think the player should be someone who was third fiddle and has essentially been cast off because of the arrival of another player. For that kind of money you should be getting the best of the best rather than the best of the rest.

Why is he undoubtedly better than James? Real Madrid don't seem to think so.

glued

Andersonisgod wrote: »

All hugely talented players but for the fee Man Utd are paying I dont think the player should be someone who was third fiddle and has essentially been cast off because of the arrival of another player. For that kind of money you should be getting the best of the best rather than the best of the rest.

Why is he undoubtedly better than James? Real Madrid don't seem to think so.

You know an agruement is absolute rubbish when someone resorts to lying to try and prove a point.

Andersonisgod

Diego Simeone wrote: »

I don't get your logic here Andersonisgod, you'd be the right at the forefront of the argument if people tried to claim that Iniesta and Busquets would be poor value signings given they're at lower billing than Messi and Xavi (and rightly so).

United are clearly getting squeezed here because of their poor negotiating position, but just because Di Maria was only the third most influential player in a team that won the Champions League, doesn't in itself make him a poor value signing.

The argument gets complicated if you bring players like Xavi, Busquets and defenders into it because then you are arguing how much is a great defender worth in relation to a great attacker and the answer will inevitably be less.

He's a hugely talented player that should improve their side. However I don't believe it is value for money, value for that kind of money is Ronaldo, value is Bale, value is Suarez, value is Neymar. Value isn't 59.9 million pounds for Angel Di Maria when the likes of Ozil and Sanchez have moved to England for quite a bit less.

Will I Amnt

Andersonisgod wrote: »

The argument gets complicated if you bring players like Xavi, Busquets and defenders into it because then you are arguing how much is a great defender worth in relation to a great attacker and the answer will inevitably be less.

He's a hugely talented player that should improve their side. However I don't believe it is value for money, value for that kind of money is Ronaldo, value is Bale, value is Suarez, value is Neymar. Value isn't 59.9 million pounds for Angel Di Maria when the likes of Ozil and Sanchez have moved to England for quite a bit less.

Bale hasn't been £85m good for Madrid. Özil hasn't been £40m good for Arsenal, far from it in fact. Value remains to be seen in both cases. Neymar has certainly not been anywhere near value for money yet, whichever fee you believe to be true.

Andersonisgod

Andersonisgod wrote: »

All hugely talented players but for the fee Man Utd are paying I dont think the player should be someone who was third fiddle and has essentially been cast off because of the arrival of another player. For that kind of money you should be getting the best of the best rather than the best of the rest.

Why is he undoubtedly better than James? Real Madrid don't seem to think so.

No what happened there was Perez got a horn when James was highlighted because of his performances in the World Cup and said 'I want' like he was in a sweet shop.

All he cares about is the latest and greatest when in fact there getting rid of the player who practically drives the team and it's is a big mistake my Madrid. New players can sell shirts and that's his angle.

Exactly what has James done to prove that he has outperformed Di Maria in the last four years? The potential for James is there but he is no way on the same level as Di Maria yet. I could nearly guarantee you hardly anybody in here heard of him before the WC.

Andersonisgod

M!Ck^ wrote: »

No what happened there was Perez got a horn when he was highlighted because of his performances in the World Cup and said 'I want' like he was in a sweet shop.

All he cares about is the latest and greatest when in fact there getting rid of the player who practically drives the team and it's is a big mistake my Madrid. New players can sell shirts and that's his angle.

Exactly what has James done to prove that he has outperformed Di Maria in the last four years? The potential for James is there but he is no way on the same level as Di Maria yet. I can guarantee you hardly anybody in here heard of him before the WC.

Why 4 years? Di Maria is a bit older so that obviously favours him. Whatever about Perez but there's no other way of saying it, Di Maria is a Real Madrid cast off. That sounds bad, but Sanchez, Ozil, Higuain, Fabregas are all cast offs from the two biggest clubs in the world, nobody is saying that they aren't terrifically gifted players, I am simply saying that Di Maria belongs in the same category as those players and yet he costs so much more than them (more than twice Fabregas and nobody can tell ne he is twice as good as Fabregas). Thus I don't agree at all that he is, as I've seen Man Utd fans claim, value for money. I also have my doubts about his ability to be the star man at a big club but that's a different argument.

tupac_healy

Imagine the arguments if we were a club that had genuine problems!

How this man is not welcomed to OT with open arms by every single Utd fan is beyond me....

The train of thought on this thread is idiotic at times, people moan about Ed being out of his depth and we need a big name that he 'apparently' can't sign... Put a line through that one... Moan over

I gotta say, any genuine Utd fan out there would be over the moon with the window, Shaw, Herrera, Rojo and Di Maria with no sign of the train stopping...

Guess it's true, can't please everyone!

Liam McPoyle

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Why 4 years? Di Maria is a bit older so that obviously favours him. Whatever about Perez but there's no other way of saying it, Di Maria is a Real Madrid cast off. That sounds bad, but Sanchez, Ozil, Higuain, Fabregas are all cast offs from the two biggest clubs in the world, nobody is saying that they aren't terrifically gifted players, I am simply saying that Di Maria belongs in the same category as those players and yet he costs so much more than them (more than twice Fabregas and nobody can tell ne he is twice as good as Fabregas). Thus I don't agree at all that he is, as I've seen Man Utd fans claim, value for money. I also have my doubts about his ability to be the star man at a big club but that's a different argument.

I've not seen a single United fan claim DiMaria is value for money, in fact all the comments I've seen are that although he is a very talented player, we are paying over the odds for him.

I believe only the most blinkered fans would say we are getting him at a good price.

I'd be interested if you could find even one quote on here that suggested otherwise tbh.

RasTa

Some cast off..

Ancelotti, speaking at a press conference, said on the former Benfica winger: 'Di Maria has said goodbye. We thanked him for everything he has done for the club.
'We tried everything possible to keep Di Maria, but he has decided something else. Good luck to him.'

Business Cat

Business Cat wrote: »

I've not seen a single United fan claim DiMaria is value for money, in fact all the comments I've seen are that although he is a very talented player, we are paying over the odds for him.

I believe only the most blinkered fans would say we are getting him at a good price.

I'd be interested if you could find even one quote on here that suggested otherwise tbh.

This.

And add the claims he is making about Man Utd fans saying he is going to solve all our problems :rolleyes:

Kirby

M!Ck^ wrote: »

The potential for James is there but he is no way on the same level as Di Maria yet. I could nearly guarantee you hardly anybody in here heard of him before the WC.

That's a ridiculous statement. He went to Monaco for 60 million quid for Christ's sake. This isn't some kid Real Madrid have picked up from obscurity.

Most casual fans on the street would have known who he was, never mind sad saps like us who talk on football forums all day.

Don't project. If you didn't know who he was, that's fine. The rest of us did.

Lucas Hood

Kirby wrote: »

That's a ridiculous statement. He went to Monaco for 60 million quid for Christ's sake. This isn't some kid Real Madrid have picked up from obscurity.

Most casual fans on the street would have known who he was, never mind sad saps like us who talk on football forums all day.

Don't project. If you didn't know who he was, that's fine. The rest of us did.

€45m.

Kirby

Sure whats a few million here or there to moneybags Monaco?

MagicIRL

With Di Maria signed it's imperative that United sign both Vidal and someone like Blind. Without steel in the midfield, Herrera will have to help defend and thus he can't bring the ball forward like he should be. If that's the case than playing a front three of Suarez, Messi and Neymar won't help United score goals and win. The key is in the DM being sorted out and Tom Cleverely being barred from the training ground and first team altogether.

Andersonisgod

Business Cat wrote: »

I've not seen a single United fan claim DiMaria is value for money, in fact all the comments I've seen are that although he is a very talented player, we are paying over the odds for him.

I believe only the most blinkered fans would say we are getting him at a good price.

I'd be interested if you could find even one quote on here that suggested otherwise tbh.

I could search here abd I feel I could find one though the comment comes from hearing it in person and reading it elsewhere.

Pyjamarama

I don't get this "nobody had heard of James before the World Cup" stuff. If you follow European football at all you'd have defo heard of him. It's not like he went to Monaco for peanuts and he had an amazing year there.

Kirby

Kirby wrote: »

That's a ridiculous statement. He went to Monaco for 60 million quid for Christ's sake. This isn't some kid Real Madrid have picked up from obscurity.

Most casual fans on the street would have known who he was, never mind sad saps like us who talk on football forums all day.

Don't project. If you didn't know who he was, that's fine. The rest of us did.

As you see the worlds 'nearly' and 'hardly' were in the statement.
Not sure when I stated that I didn't know who he was.

Don't project. And assume everybody else knows who he was.

Will I Amnt

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I could search here abd I feel I could find one though the comment comes from hearing it in person and reading it elsewhere.

That old chestnut :rolleyes:
Maybe you're talking to too many idiots or reading the YouTube comment section.

Really annoys me when people back up their points with "people I've met"
It gives you cart blanche to say whatever you want.

Andersonisgod

Will I Amnt wrote: »

That old chestnut :rolleyes:
Maybe you're talking to too many idiots or reading the YouTube comment section.

Really annoys me when people back up their points with "people I've met"
It gives you cart blanche to say whatever you want.

Actually Facebook for your information and from Man Utd fans who go to OT at least a couple of times a season but that's neither here nor there and essentially this is just muddying the crystal clear waters of my actual point, that being that this is a dramatic overspend on a player who is not in the Messi/Ronaldo/Neymar/Bale/Suarez bracket of footballers.

MagicIRL

Anderson, are you just sore because Di Maria single handily destroyed Barca in the last classico of the 13/14 season?

Mikeyt086

MagicIRL wrote: »

Anderson, are you just sore because Di Maria single handily destroyed Barca in the last classico of the 13/14 season?

Ah can we not do this?

I remember a time when the transfer thread was used to post transfer updates.

Liam McPoyle

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Actually Facebook for your information and from Man Utd fans who go to OT at least a couple of times a season but that's neither here nor there and essentially this is just muddying the crystal clear waters of my actual point, that being that this is a dramatic overspend on a player who is not in the Messi/Ronaldo/Neymar/Bale/Suarez bracket of footballers.

All of those are in the £70,000,000 + bracket, £75,000,000 depending on what you read.

The most common report is that we are paying just shy of £60,000,000 for DiMaria.

This is in a world that a headless chicken like Luiz and a waning star like Torres go for £50,000,000 and an Andy Carroll goes for £35,000,000.

It is my opinion that we are over paying for DiMaria, probably £5,000,000 to £10,000,000 over his actual worth but the fact remains we are getting a genuine world class player, at the peak of his powers, so paying that lil bit of United tax is fine by me.

Andersonisgod

MagicIRL wrote: »

Anderson, are you just sore because Di Maria single handily destroyed Barca in the last classico of the 13/14 season?

Not at all, in fact I've always spoken highly of him as a player (ironically some of those who weren't so generous with their praise towards him are now joyously tooting his horn) my two qualms are simple and entirely reasonable. Value, in particular in relation to similar deals, and my doubts about his ability to be the star player for a big club.

sky88

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Actually Facebook for your information and from Man Utd fans who go to OT at least a couple of times a season but that's neither here nor there and essentially this is just muddying the crystal clear waters of my actual point, that being that this is a dramatic overspend on a player who is not in the Messi/Ronaldo/Neymar/Bale/Suarez bracket of footballers.

Well Neymar is not in the same bracket as messi, ronaldo,bale and suarez and has not justified his huge transfer price.

I actually think that very few players justify there price tag and every team is overspending on players as it seems to be footballs nature now

Corholio

tupac_healy wrote: »

Imagine the arguments if we were a club that had genuine problems!

How this man is not welcomed to OT with open arms by every single Utd fan is beyond me....

The train of thought on this thread is idiotic at times, people moan about Ed being out of his depth and we need a big name that he 'apparently' can't sign... Put a line through that one... Moan over

I gotta say, any genuine Utd fan out there would be over the moon with the window, Shaw, Herrera, Rojo and Di Maria with no sign of the train stopping...

Guess it's true, can't please everyone!

Why use the word 'genuine' there? If they didnt agree with you, they weren't genuine. I dont know whats incredibly exciting about Shaw, Herrera and Rojo to be honest, Di Maria is the only one worthy of getting excited about. Paid way over the odds for Herrera and Shaw, and Rojo isnt the top quality United need IMO.

CSF

Quazzie wrote: »

'lacks balance' seems to be the go to buzzword of the week for people who want to contradict someone but don't know enough to explain why.

This is one of the stupidest posts I've seen on this forum and shows a serious lack of understanding of how football works and why good teams are good.

tupac_healy

Corholio wrote: »

Why use the word 'genuine' there? If they didnt agree with you, they weren't genuine. I dont know whats incredibly exciting about Shaw, Herrera and Rojo to be honest, Di Maria is the only one worthy of getting excited about. Paid way over the odds for Herrera and Shaw, and Rojo isnt the top quality United need IMO.

I used that term because its the genuine fans that will appreciate the groundwork that has been laid this summer... Yes we have issues but we've brought in very promising young talent to the club, it's a project under LVG and its because your not excited about this is the reason I chose that word.....

Now obviously you don't have to share that opinion, or even like it but that's how I feel....

Been following Utd a long long time now and these sort of players are the kind we need to push the club forward

CSF

tupac_healy wrote: »

I used that term because its the genuine fans that will appreciate the groundwork that has been laid this summer... Yes we have issues but we've brought in very promising young talent to the club, it's a project under LVG and its because your not excited about this is the reason I chose that word.....

Now obviously you don't have to share that opinion, or even like it but that's how I feel....

Been following Utd a long long time now and these sort of players are the kind we need to push the club forward

Really don't think having one opinion as opposed to the other side of the opinion has any bearing on how genuine a fan is.

keane2097

Andersonisgod wrote: »

The argument gets complicated if you bring players like Xavi, Busquets and defenders into it because then you are arguing how much is a great defender worth in relation to a great attacker and the answer will inevitably be less.

He's a hugely talented player that should improve their side. However I don't believe it is value for money, value for that kind of money is Ronaldo, value is Bale, value is Suarez, value is Neymar. Value isn't 59.9 million pounds for Angel Di Maria when the likes of Ozil and Sanchez have moved to England for quite a bit less.

Are you a serious person?

Andersonisgod

keane2097 wrote: »

Are you a serious person?

I am literally the most serious person you will ever come into contact with.

tupac_healy

CSF wrote: »

Really don't think having one opinion as opposed to the other side of the opinion has any bearing on how genuine a fan is.

A person's opinion of the football club they support has no bearing on how genuine a fan they are???

Really?

Anyhow getting off topic a bit, I stand by what I said, the genuine Man U fan, the ones that can see the direction we are heading will be more than happy with the summers business

LuckyLloyd

tupac_healy wrote: »

A person's opinion of the football club they support has no bearing on how genuine a fan they are???


Really?

Anyhow getting off topic a bit, I stand by what I said, the genuine Man U fan, the ones that can see the direction we are heading will be more than happy with the summers business

That's what he said, and he's right.

The idea that 'real' fans are obliged to see the positive side of every topic pertaining to their club is nonsense.

keane2097

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I am literally the most serious person you will ever come into contact with.

Maybe I'm just becoming overly suspicious in my old age, but I'd be tempted to get out fry.gif again.

Aenaes

CSF wrote: »

This is one of the stupidest posts I've seen on this forum and shows a serious lack of understanding of how football works and why good teams are good.

A good team like Real Madrid?
They won the Champions League with a goalkeeper who didn't play in any league matches, two full-backs who are more proficient at attacking than defending, two central defenders not known for their reliability or calmness.

A midfield trio of Modric, Alonso and Di Maria with only Alonso considered a defensive midfielder. Even then he's more of a distributor than warrior which is one of the reasons why Spain play Busquets alongside him. Modric did alot of hard work in midfield last season but he's still a creative player foremost.

Which leaves their obviously impressive attacking trio but with Ronaldo instructed/choosing not to track back it seemingly leaves a very unbalanced side with caution to the wind, emphasis on attack and defence left to fend for itself.

You've stated how Manchester United can't play only one defensive midfielder, they can't play Di Maria in central midfield but Real Madrid did.

You can argue how the English and Spanish leagues are different but Real Madrid still beat Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the Champions League and neither of those have particularly weak midfields.

tupac_healy

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

That's what he said, and he's right.

The idea that 'real' fans are obliged to see the positive side of every topic pertaining to their club is nonsense.

If your seeing the positives only of your club without acknowledging the negatives how could one even claim to be a true fan? That's the exact opposite of what I'm taking about...

That's what I said too am by definition I'm right

CSF

Aenaes wrote: »

A good team like Real Madrid?
They won the Champions League with a goalkeeper who didn't play in any league matches, two full-backs who are more proficient at attacking than defending, two central defenders not known for their reliability or calmness.

A midfield trio of Modric, Alonso and Di Maria with only Alonso considered a defensive midfielder. Even then he's more of a distributor than warrior which is one of the reasons why Spain play Busquets alongside him. Modric did alot of hard work in midfield last season but he's still a creative player foremost.

Which leaves their obviously impressive attacking trio but with Ronaldo instructed/choosing not to track back it seemingly leaves a very unbalanced side with caution to the wind, emphasis on attack and defence left to fend for itself.

You've stated how Manchester United can't play only one defensive midfielder, they can't play Di Maria in central midfield but Real Madrid did.

You can argue how the English and Spanish leagues are different but Real Madrid still beat Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the Champions League and neither of those have particularly weak midfields.

Real Madrid have a ridiculously balanced squad, that's such a mad example to use. Alonso and Modric did the work in that midfield so that Di Maria didn't have to, allowing him focus on what he is good at. Coentrao and Carvajal are both strong defensively. So is Pepe even if he is an absolute nutjob. Varane is the best young centre back in the world at the moment. Bale being a former fullback is obviously about as good a wide player for workrate as you can come across.

Where is this lack of balance you can speak of? It's absolutely no surprise they won the Champions League last year, I think Guardiola is the only manager right now who mightn't swap his squad of players for the one Ancelotti has.

There is no comparison to be made between Real's ability to accommodate a luxury player and United's. Real are functional throughout the pitch. No obvious weak areas in the team.

Andersonisgod

keane2097 wrote: »

Maybe I'm just becoming overly suspicious in my old age, but I'd be tempted to get out fry.gif again.

I don't know what that is but someone who posts gifs as responses is someone who I can't take seriously.