I'll be perfectly honest I could've used another week or two before the bulldozer that is a futbol club season starts again, but since it's here we may as well enjoy it and really United-Leicester isn't a terrible way to kick things off. Most reports around United have focused on this being Mourinho's third season, aka the one where things fall apart. Not an article or podcast fails to mention it, to the point where it has become a trope, and yet it does seem that these could be dangerous times for the Portuguese manager, from a lack of recruiting while City and Liverpool got stronger, to Pogba's potential departure. Clearly the squad as it is has enough strength to aim for the top 2 or 3, but this opener will give some early insights to a narrative that many outsiders seem to have already accepted.
For Leicester the offseason has been more prosaic, with the odd burst of news around Harry Maguire's newfound status as a very expensive transfer target. Mahrez is finally gone but clearly Claude Puel did not expect otherwise. Reinforcements have not been splashy, but some of them (Rachid Ghezzal from Monaco) could prove astute. After last year's very stable season, mostly spent around the 8th spot, the team will probably aim for something a little higher.

On the tail-end of the gameday Unay Emery takes his new squad out to face a City team that looked season-ready last week, uh assuming Claudio Bravo isn't involved in proceedings again. Emery has let a lot of personnel go while signing mostly unknown entities with high potential. Taking on such a big opponent in week 1 is probably not the easiest way to get a squad to jell together, though adversity has a way of making things happen quicker. And with a visit to Stamford Bridge on the cards for week 2, Emery will be hoping for minimal hiccups for his PL beginnings. He can at least draw optimism from having two top top strikers well rested from a WC-less summer.

EPL
Fri 10 Aug 2018
3:00 Manchester United - Leicester
Sat 11 Aug 2018
07:30 Newcastle - Tottenham
10:00 Bournemouth - Cardiff
10:00 Fulham - Crystal Palace -
10:00 Huddersfield - Chelsea
10:00 Watford - Brighton
12:30 Wolverhampton - Everton
Sun 12 Aug 2018
08:30 Liverpool - West Ham
08:30 Southampton - Burnley
11:00 Arsenal - Manchester City

i hope we win resoundingly tomorrow just to see how the media tries to spin it against us negatively. "it was just leicester. we cant take anything away from this"

because you know they will.

Furiously clicking on links

it permeates the in-game commentary, the halftime shows.
the pre and post match coverage.
if i check twitter, the fan forums or r/reddevils it's everywhere on there.
my friends that follow soccer bombard me w/ all the news.

it difficult for me to unplug on soccer and basketball because i'm just so into it. i feel like even if we were to win the title it still wouldnt change the conversation around us.

>i feel like even if we were to win the
>title it still wouldnt change the conversation around us.

I'd address your other points (some of which are certainly more than valid) but your reluctance to ever criticize Mourinho for anything means I don't care that much about starting another debate. No hard feelings though, like I said I wish United the best (as long as Pogba's there lol) and the quality of the PL season will partly hinge on how serious a run they can make.

i did. because it's true. even under SAF there were years we'd win the title and it was nothing but "the least impressive united side in years" "they only won because no one else was good"

i criticize mourinho plenty (largely on his lineup selections) but only when i think he deserves it. and much of the stick he gets has been undeserved in my estimation.

...I'm calling Spurs for the title. Far from being worn out from the World Cup, the Tottenham core will be hardened by their international experience, and ruthless in their pursuit of the trophy. 30 wins, 7 draws, one loss (at Wolves).

https://media.giphy.com/media/8qD902xaMMs7KBdhkj/giphy.gif

he's always said he's about succeeding at the game, not at barca. So I'm not mad at him in terms of this move--it's smart. Not many top tier clubs have the need for a thiago like real (Modric sub/replacement with Kovacic out on loan)

but fuck this. barca fans have been pissed at how barca treated him since Pep was there. and then to go to madrid and salvage a bad transfer summer for them? fuck.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

There's a reason Kovacic forced the Chelsea loan.

it's like their favorite thing to do.
I think (also hope) this is one of those cases.

was it Alegri who dismissed him as "the banker"?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/sports/maurizio-sarri-chelsea.html

thought he was at least 1-2 weeks from being at full fitness but this is cool

btw Luke fucking Shaw???

When they get back from the first international break, first week of september (I think), it will pick up.

We got forward pretty well but missed some passes, and august Harry gonna August Harry. Defense is still losing too many runs.

Nice finish from Pedro tho

This feels like the WC semi, like HEY MADRID YOU WATCHIN?

If it's the same play as the goal, Hazard wasn't ignoring Morata. He knew he had a 3v2 with both defenders honed in on him and Morata...he kept possession until both defenders committed and then made the pass.

Ligue 1 is having a fantastic first day

26 goals in just 7 games so far
Angers-Nîmes in particular was unbelievable (come from behind 4-3 away win after going down 1 man for the promoted team)

Ligue 1 isn't one of them.

Out eventually is he can get thru a full season injury free

Was watching a multiplex so can’t give you a detailed report...he tried the wild desperation bicycle shot to tie the game in overtime, got blocked. His time on the pitch coincided with the Angers meltdown, but that’s probably just that, a coincidence.

Stop it.

Just a hunch.

But this kid will be a stud (Serge gnabry level irrationality alert)

I just can't see this back 4 getting out with less than two goals, my hope is we can score and walk away with a 2-2

welbeck at left back is interesante to say the least

Have been really bad. Surprised Ramsey was who was taken out, thought he was decent

I liked a lot of what I saw - a tactical strategy to press higher and be organized defensively and trying to break quickly on the counter while also building out of the back.

The problem is we have players who make a lot of individual mistakes (Mustafi and Xhaka in particular) which leads to a huge domino effect in a system that relies on discipline. Add in Guendouzi's learning curve (that Sterling goal was on him, zero need to step in - all you have to do is block the shot off his right foot; misjudging the ball which should have been a goal) to a team trying to find an identity. The other major issue is that this team isn't used to building out of the back and numerous players clearly weren't comfortable making those passes in the defensive 1/3.

He had a really rough 1st half but seemed to grow into the game as time went on (though that debacle of a ball in front of Aguero could’ve been costly).

Chelsea looked good yesterday, it’s gonna be an interesting game next week. The Blues look well organized while Arsenal still have a lot of kinks to work out

He definitely grew into the game and it was a really tough ask of a 19 year old with limiting playing time. He's still learning to read the game of course but the key for him is going to be composure and risk/reward calculation in key moments (the challenge on Sterling, the ball in the air dropping to Aguero).

The question that imo often decides whether a young player meets their potential or not is - how quick of a study and learner are they? There's a reason Calum Chambers still hasn't broken into the 1st team after this long and why Emery has basically said he'll be a holding mid if/when he comes back from Fulham...he still doesn't pick up on indicators that well and tilts way too much towards risk.

The reality is Emery probably needs 3-4 transfer windows to really shape this team to suit the playing style. The lack of investment and dearth of talent in the backline combined with the injuries does us no favors and many of them aren't comfortable with the ball at their feet...you can't be effective in trying to build out of the back and have a dude like Xhaka who can't make more than 2 accurate passes in a row.

but i thought he looked really good

he made such an incredibly smooth dispossession and turn at one point that i actually said "whoa" out loud to no one

im interested to watch him over the year. this is gonna be my first ever club season watching at least 1 game every week. if i could get EPL + eredivisie games in english somehow id be in business 🤔

Lacazette made an instant impact as well but that's probably more because he got Ramsey's bum ass out of there.

I've been extremely critical of Ramsey because dude still doesn't understand risk/reward but he was extremely active during the game with his press, which is the key to our current team.

Wish we would have have gotten a W. And I wish I coulda watched the match.

most posters in here probably didn't see it, but it's worth seeing.

https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1297617987997

This was incredible. I love how the announcers laugh at the result.

https://youtu.be/pWDwYSkQj5g

that play was un-fucking-believable though. holy shit.

I only know because i've asked the same question before. Lots of players wear them -- they monitor their vitals, how much they've run, etc. etc.

like a regular under armor type jawn? haha

and i did see the little pack thing in the back, so i thought it may be something like that.

this afternoon.

wowowowow
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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8KwPuzz4ms

also, greatest reaction from MAtS after saving a penalty he gave up (bs call, but whatever). LOL he was mad it was so easy to save

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZF4QwCXg1s
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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

He cost 2.7 million pounds for shit like that. Bargain of the fucking window.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiTstgguj8A

McGinn/Grealish/Hourihane is going to tear up the Championship.

Alisson had to do nearly nothing.

Gonna take Hammers a little while to gel I think.

before he started oozing confidence. keita's layoffs to robertson's overlaps were perfectly timed and he was beating multiple defenders consistently.

alisson, that pinpoint pass he made to salah at midfield when west ham was marking everyone short; plus he's always confident with the ball at his feet. karius and migs always seemed a little jumpy. alisson just strolling the box, cool as ice.

salah and mane picking up where they left off.

breeze through to 4-0 with shaqiri, sturridge, hendo, fabinho, lallana, on the bench? gonna be an entertaining season.

with the Serie A that's decent value for $5/month, if you don't want to fiddle with pirate streams

He came over to the States like its the gatdamn Revolutionary war. He is not leaving any survivors. He looked like Messi against Portland. His old ass look like the fittest, fastest, smartest dude on the pitch.

I saw Man United v. Barcelona at FedEx Field back in 2011. Basically the height of Pep's powers, and before the big decline for Wazza. Messi was withheld, so too Xavi. But Iniesta still played, so did David Villa. And the most impressive player in terms of technique was Rooney.

When he signed with DC, I was like 'meh'...I certainly wasn't expecting him to show up like Zlatan did in L.A. He is not treating this like a retirement tour, he is going all out.

especially knowing what kind of shape and form rooney would come into preseason (and about 2 months into the regular season) with.

but yeah he looks like he's really into this MLS thing. and if he can hack it physically then he's definitely still leagues better than the rest of the league. this might turn out great for him.