OhioVilla

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

I hadn't realised until the final that Balogun was playing for the US, should make a big difference as the lack of a good striker was keenly felt at the World Cup. 

While Canada's best 1-2 players are arguably better than America's, it's clearly the case that the average quality of the American team is much higher than Canada (unsurprisingly) and as a team game, having a better average quality should tell over having one or two superstars more often than not (see Norway v Scotland this weekend for another example of this). The more interesting thing for me is the precipitous decline in the competitiveness of Mexico, who were absolutely shambolic in the semi-final. There seems to be a major dearth of talent in this generation of Mexican players. 

It feels like Mexican development and coach pipeline has all but dried up.

Meanwhile, Klinsmann wasn't the most successful manager, but the ground work they did is starting to blossom, and they are winning more battles on the international recruitment.

Add in the MLS becoming a better league, and it feels like USMNT is ready to take off. These next 3 years are super important, with Copa America and a World Cup on home soil. Feels like a turning point for the game here.

43 minutes ago, Villaphan04 said:

Gio Reyna is reportedly up for transfer. I know he's been mentioned but would be a nice addition

As an American, I'd love it, but I'm not Reyna is worth the gamble to Villa.

I'd love to see what Emery could do with Weah, though.

This is the furthest the US has ever been from any of their CONCACAF rivals. Smoked both Mexico and Canada in games that truly are not close. 

And the pipeline shows this will continue for a whole lot longer. Mexico has some serious problems and Canada, while definitely improved, still doesn't pose much of a threat to the US.

To he fair, Lucas Zelarayan is a truly great footballer when he is on his game.

Also, the US rehiring Berholter is just asking for more disappointment, IMO. We don't have enough ambition.

Quote

Something that adds more flavor to this broth of intrigues is the supposed meeting that Nico Williams would have had with Unai Emery , the experienced Basque coach who currently leads Villarreal CF. 

This sounds delicious

I know you lot are sad.

I'm very excited for what this means, as an MLS supporter and the sport in general in the US.

1 hour ago, duke313 said:

Is this why Phil Neville was sacked? No way was he going to be allowed to manage the greatest player ever 

He also was hyper critical of everything, and the supporters turned on him hard, even booing his son when he put him on in his last game as manager.

13 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

How can an MLS team afford him without cooking the books?

DP spots do not count against the cap.

I have tickets to STL SC vs Inter Miami in July. Those tickets may have become an all time investment.

3 minutes ago, AndyM3000 said:

The French league is now the 6th ranked league in Europe having fallen behind the Dutch league. Anyone going there doesn't have the right mentality or ambition as a footballer IMO.

That may be, but it's also guaranteed champions league football at one of the biggest clubs in the world. It's a small step down from Madrid. And it's in Paris.

That said, not over until it is, indeed, over.

Just now, Tomaszk said:

I think it'd a side effect of dealing in Spain as well.

Especially Madrid/Barca. They are an open book and deal entirely through the press.

1 minute ago, Tomaszk said:

I hate the way this is all out in the press.

We know it's not coming from us, and that worries me.

Why is his agent leaking this? What reason can there be other than to invite other offers?

I'd like it wrapped up quickly if we are going for it. I'm sure the club do as well. He's not a good enough player to be chasing all summer and upping our offer over and over.

Way of the world when your profile begins to rise.

Gone are the days of dealing in silence, methinks. 

Need Cash off for Young ASAP.

Ramsey, McGinn, Kamara have been excellent.

4 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Noticed this yesterday:

Seems kind of bad tbh. 

Par for the course in La Liga these days, it seems

1 hour ago, M_Afro said:

Getting rid of Danny Ings in January was an amazing bit of transfer business for us. He is absolutely done as a player. We’d have been saddled with his wages dragging down our ffp but fortunately he’s just doing it to West Ham instead now. More brilliance from our manager.

Don't we get a bit more from it now because they are staying up?

1 minute ago, IrishVilla10 said:

West Ham have had a terrible league season and will qualify for the Europa league next season if they win the conference. There’s lots of benefits for us being in the conference 

If anything, it might be easier to qualify for Europa through Conference than in the league.

That said, think we are aiming, perhaps, a bit higher than just Europa next season.

Fine with it, if the results don't turn (which looks unlikely). First part of the season was truly awful so it's hard to say we deserve more.

This allows Villa to expand the squad, get some continental experience, and put us in a good position to win a competition.

Bossing the midfield, Salah not seen or heard, gotten magnificent chances.

Need a brace.

Romano and LME now saying the same, seems dead.

Unfortunate. 

Ugarte is a massive, world class, sure thing talent.

Signing him means we would defeat the Sky 6 and the Galacticos to sign him.

57 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

They are literally about to win the **** League!! 

He came in during the biggest crisis in the clubs history and managed to make signings that have helped them nearly walk the League. 

There's a reason Barca fans rate what he's done. They were staring down the abyss and now they're a more competitive side than when he came in

Don't think he's been able to buy any first team players other than players that were on a free at the time. And if he has, certainly it wasn't at the level that his competitors in Europe could spend, because Barca was broke as a joke.

Massive intent signing. Worth it just to the value of name recognition with agents alone.

43 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Pretty sure I was reading Ansu Fati was being touted as for sale...

Buy him in an instant, perfect fit for what we need and a world class player

Useless children, Wolves are

Dan Burn is just an ogre disguised as a footballer

Holy Christ what a goal