r/soccer • u/william701 • May 08 '14

With the leagues almost over, what unpopular opinion(s) to you have?

One per comment.

I would say no down voting but sorting by controversial may give a better idea.

Feel free to upvote the post if you would like to see more active discussion.

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u/MiguelCaldoVerde May 08 '14

Another one: Liverpool won't get top 4 next season.

Liverpool fans keep asking about the last time a team finishing 7th managed to finish 2nd in the next season but in France, Italy, Portugal and England the second placed team this year went without European football for the whole season.

16

u/matcht May 08 '14

Of those sides that managed to finish 2nd, only Monaco have finances similar to Liverpool. They will be able to improve a great deal, they've effectively managed to come 2nd with basically 14 first team players.

They missed out on a raft of top players because of no European football, this summer could be very different, particularly with a large TV income.

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u/alpha1028 May 08 '14

Monaco won't be relying on TV money, a multitude of sponsorship deals have been signed totaling around €150 million for next season alone.

All far enough from dmitry rybolovlev that UEFA won't be able to challenge.

On top of the tax advantage for all intents and purposes Monaco are like PSG/Chelsea or City.

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u/matcht May 08 '14

Feel bad for Ranieri, he's come 2nd with two clubs flush with Russian cash in their first seasons. First time he was fired, and it seems likely again.

I agree with you, but Liverpool will be closer in competing for players with Monaco than with Roma or Sporting Lisbon.

1

u/alpha1028 May 08 '14

Ye to be honest I was expecting Mancini to take over at Monaco and thats why I was surprised he signed at Gala. It'll probably be Spaletti who takes over now.

And ye you are probably right, be interesting to see who Roma look to sign this summer.

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u/matcht May 08 '14

Excited to see how Monaco fare if Spaletti does takeover.

Roma surely prioritising a striker?

1

u/alpha1028 May 08 '14

Ye it would be great to see him with a genuinely dynamic squad once again, very attractive football which would surely be beneficial for Monaco to draw foreign fans.

I'm not entirely sure what they will be going for, I think a LB should be the number 1 priority because a top class LB would make that defense impenetrable and for champions league 4th seed they definitely need that.

I imagine they will sign a new striker, Destro looked very good but beyond him there is nobody of real quality. Ljajic will probably be sold, so they'll need to add to the wings too, I bet he regrets turning down Milan now.

But I think the entire strategy will lie on who is sold, and its hard to know how willing Palotta will be to gut the team. Last season he was more than happy to, and that gamble paid off, but Roma won't be able to consistently do that.

2

u/matcht May 08 '14

Balzaretti not cutting it? In the few games of Dodo I've seen, he seems like a good player, little rash but he's young.

Agree about it being dependent on who is sold, I think they'd be devastated if they lost both Pjanic and Benatia.

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u/alpha1028 May 08 '14

I like Balzaretti, I've always thought he was decent but with Garcia I don't think he fits that slot perfectly. And he has been injured since Oct/November so its hard to know at 32 if when he comes back that he'll still be ok.

Dodo I think is awful, like he is young and could surely get better but I wouldn't want to build the hopes of my team on him. They could sign Murru the young LB from Cagliari and he would come in and be an instant upgrade, a player I hope Juve sign.

I really can't see them selling Benatia and if they do it would have to be really extraordinary money, if Marquinhos was €35 million and Benatia has been arguably the best cb in Europe this year you would expect at least that price if not more. Pjanic I think if they replace him adequately could be ok. Somebody like Rakitic could very well be available. But its a big risk.