Good bit of business by Chelsea on the Mata deal.

(just a note, its not just Eurotrash futbol, I hate on all the fan favorites, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and I'd probably hate on Lebron too if most people liked him but since they hate him I'm a big fan ;) fuck all that dickriding shit yo)

It's a masterstroke by Mourinho. By selling Mata to Man U, he's now almost guaranteed to get the player he wants most.

Hmm. I don't think so.

BTW, Willian now Salah... having a laugh at the bridge.

I'll be amazed if Rooney's not at Stamford Bridge next season.

I've been following Mourinho for awhile and I don't really believe in the Rooney love affair.

How come?

Rooney is a player that Mourinho wouldn't dislike but was perfectly aware that United wouldn't let go.

Win-win. He's done this sort of hounding before.

And come on, what's the likelihood he'll be back to form? Rooney is so much more useful as a destabilising element. He'll be benched next season and you'll be hearing about this love affair. "Mind games" really.

Assuming you're right, the masterstroke is selling Mata, knowing the amount MU have paid for him will force Moyes to play him in the position Rooney's currently in, and seems to really like. It's probably the one area that doesn't need strengthening. So yeah, if it is just a destabilising tactic, it's a bloody clever one.

They got Mata from Valencia for a substantially lower fee so the deal gives them a good headroom to move in market under the Financial Fair Play rules.

I'm not sure Man Utd are going to change their system mid-season, but Juan can play further back to left or to the right. At this point he should just be happy to play.

He seems like a marquee signing, more about proving a point than filling an immediate need. Similar in a way to Arsenal getting Ozil. If Moyes is ultimately about restructuring the midfield around Mata then it makes sense but if that is the case it doesn't leave room for Rooney.

Rooney could go back up front with VP as part of a 4-4-2 but that doesn't seem like a formation ideal for Mata or Rooney.


Then you really should love Ronaldo. He's probably the most disliked player out there. Most of even those who acknowledge how good he is have trouble liking him. But then if you're drawn to unpopular players, you should love Suarez, too.

i'm still tv-handicapped, but was mata kept on the bench at chelsea? why??

Yeah, Mourinho hardly plays him. He says he doesn't fit his system and hints that he's a bit lazy, even though he was Chelsea's player of the year two seasons running.

wait wait-- wait wait wait… ARSENAL IS #1 ON THE TABLE????

oh man i'm missing out

eta: and liverpool #4???

owwwww

haha, its been exciting year! I hope Liverpool and/or Everton can fnish in the top 4 this year. although that might be a big ask.

It has been a great season so far for the neutral. As a West Ham fan though I'm hating it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbfy05y5Ukw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGgPBiyxZi8

With me, sports beef and rivalries are complicated. I like to root for underdogs (who have talent or potential not just any underdog) when the favored or favorite teams/players are competing, because its fun for me to shit on other peoples' expectations. I grew up on 1990s Raiders and Lakers, so we were always being hated on by the Michael Jordans and the Dallas Cowboys of the world. What we had was grit, balls, and raw talent. What happened? Lakers went on to dominate basketball and win three championships, Raiders made the Superbowl and would have done it twice if not for some bullshit Tom Brady favoritism by the refs in the now infamous "Tuck Game" of 2001. So it happens that I become a contradiction, because while I'm an unabashed hater against the favorites, I ALSO HAVE A SCOUT'S EYE FOR TALENT AND POTENTIAL, so it seems every time I start to take notice of a nobody team, within a short time they win it all or at least get big fast. I ditched the Raiders and became a Baltimore Ravens fan ten years ago when I finally accepted the reality that Raiders ditched out on LA so why still root for them, and because Ravens were and are the PENULTIMATE "Fuck your team" team, nobody EVER believes we can win against the "better or favorite teams" and yet, nobody generally ever underestimates us. Year after year, we catch dick-rider teams slipping with a surprise punch to the mouth. NOTHING IS MORE FUN TO ME IN SPORTS THAN TO TAKE TH WIND OUT OF THE SAILS OF BANDWAGON, FANBOY, DICK-RIDING FAVORED/FAVORITE TEAMS WITH A SURPRISE GUT CHECK GAME.

Its why I became so damned in love with the Lebron era Heat. I started a bromance ten years ago with Miami Heat when Shaq left LA and swore he'd win a ring elsewhere, and I grew up LOVING Shaq, and LOVING Shaq in LA, and was very very bitter when he was chased out by everybody in LA loving Kobe more. I was like, "What the fuck yo?" So I followed Shaq to Miami and loved his revenge ring. I started rooting for Lebron in Cleveland in the same way, when he was the "Anti-Kobe" in the mid-2000s, and to top it off, Shaq even went to Cleveland. I was in heaven! So I followed Lebron to the Heat in Miami because its combined both of my revenge teams into one, Lebron AND the Heat? Fuck yeah.

Essentially with sports I'm a contrarian yet I still keep it based on stats.

Maybe you're an exception amongst US sports fans but fandom in the UK is much more defined by where you're from - in football, anyway. Even if you move from the area you grew up, most people keep supporting the same team for life. As embarrassing as West Ham are right now or as rich and successful as they might end up becoming, I'll support them either way. I just couldn't conceive of doing anything else.

There's other teams I like, either because of the way they play or something about their history or just some 'vibe' about them but they'll never be 'my team' in the way West Ham are.

The closest I've come was when they first appointed their current manager. I really questioned if I could support them under him. I still managed though, and certainly the idea of supporting another team instead was out of the question.

Basically a panic buy, is what you're saying.


The Bundesliga is still a one-team league.

Definitely. Not saying Mata's a bad signing but why disrupt one of the few areas in MU that seems vaguely functional? Moyes is under pressure to bring some stars in and that's obviously harder to do if you're trying to build a workable defence - which maybe should've been his real priority.