Two days after the invasion of the training center by their supporters, Marseille knew another rocky day on tuesday as André Villas-Boas resigned, invoking disagreements with the direction regarding the sporting decisions. So it's with a total serenity that the team was back on the pitch in Lens, a team they lost against two weeks ago.
Not a lot top matches to follow this matchday but it was interesting to see if Paris managed to make up for the upsetting loss in Lorient last sunday and if Lille and Lyon could capitalize on it.

Appetizers

• Deprived from the confrontation in Marseille last sunday, Rennes had the opportunity to take three points against the fellow Bretons from Lorient. And it started that way when Martin Terrier opened the score early in the game. But as usual lately, Rennes didn't manage to be dangerous enough to get a second goal and were punished by a late equalizer from Quentin Boisgard. Now 8 points behind Monaco (though with a match to play), Rennes' potential CL spot seems far gone. As for Lorient, it's another good result for the Merlus following the upset against PSG four days ago.
  
• After four wins in a row by a one goal difference, Lille finally managed to make the score blow up. The victims were Bordeaux who after a good sequence had the unfortunate luck of playing consecutively Lyon and Lille. One more time, Yusuf Yazıcı scored an important goal early in the second half before his north american partners Timothy Weah and Jonathan David added their contributions.
  
• The fuckup of the day has to be credited to Strasbourg who were on an easy path to getting three points, ahead 2-0 at the 83rd minute against a team, Brest, who had lost their last four matches. Unfortunately for the alsatians, they were not able to hold the result. First it was Gaëtan Charbonnier who reduced the gap, then Jérémy Le Douaron after four minutes of additional time who gave a precious point but more importantly who stopped the dark series of the Bretons.
  
• Much like against Bordeaux last friday, Lyon suffered in Dijon, though more on an attacking point of view this time, but gathered the essential. Rudi Garcia, who coached Dijon for five years, can thank Paquetá who scored the sole goal in the middle of the first half, keeping Lyon two points behind Lille and one ahead of Paris.
  
• Speaking of Paris, the club from the capital had to make everyone forget about the loss in Lorient, "an accident" according to Mauricio Pochettino. Once again facing the last team in the ranking (that still got twice as many balls in the penalty box as PSG), this evening was much easier for the parisians, even though they were still deprived from Marquinhos, Navas and Verratti, on top of Neymar, suspended. Di María finally provided a noteworthy performance with a goal and an assist, before Mbappé, the other struggling parisian, lobbed Reynet beautifully in the second half.
  
• Six wins in a row for Monaco, clearly the most in-form team of the league. But this one has a special taste as it was during the Riviera derby against the ever struggling Nice and their new-look central defense (Todibo-Saliba). Two Ben Yedder goals (including a missile of a free-kick) sandwiched the Lees Melou equalizer. The bad news for Nice, the 10th defeat of the season aside, is the injury of Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, an awful ACL rupture, his second in 14 months and the second of the season for Nice after Dante a few months ago.
  
• Arkadiusz Milik must wonder where he set foot one week ago. At least he would have if he didn't come from Naples. Anyway after 30 minutes against Monaco where he couldn't do much, the Pole was in the starting eleven for the first time and he managed to be on the scoresheet tap-ining the second OM goal of the day right before half-time. The thing is, life isn't supposed to be easy for Marseille at the moment. And the fact that they had two central defenders playing as midfielders shows that on top of everything else, they also were lacking players. And the second half was to the advantage of Lens who took only 20 seconds to get closer before equalizing 15 minutes later. In the end the 2-2 almost looks like a disappointing result for the home team who completely dominated the last 45 minutes and could have scored a lot more.
  
• Records are meant to be broken and Nantes hired the right man to do just that. After becoming the first Nantes coach not to win in his first five matches, Raymond Domenech doesn't want anyone to take his title so another draw made the tally go up to six (and in total 14 consecutive matches without a win for the Canaris). This time, it was Saint-Étienne who had the opportunity to take points. It took a long time for les Verts who were down for 20 minutes after the Kolo Muani goal but Mahdi Camara managed to equalize.
  
• Oddly enough, only the top 4 won their matches yesterday, widening the gap between them and the rest.
  

Main Course

Matches

Home	Score	Away
Stade Rennais	1-1	FC Lorient
Terrier 14'		Boisgard 83'
FC Metz	1-1	Montpellier Hérault SC
Sarr 47'		Laborde 70'
Girondins de Bordeaux	0-3	Lille OSC
		Yazıcı 54', Weah 66', David 89'
RC Strasbourg	2-2	Stade Brestois
Thomasson 8', Aholou 70'		Charbonnier 83', Le Douaron 90'+4
Stade de Reims	0-0	Angers SCO
Dijon FCO	0-1	Olympique Lyonnais
		Paquetá 22'
Paris Saint-Germain	3-0	Nîmes Olympique
Di María 18', Sarabia 36', Mbappé 68'
AS Monaco	2-1	OGC Nice
Ben Yedder (p) 28', Ben Yedder 51'		Lees Melou 47'
RC Lens	2-2	Olympique de Marseille
Sotoca 46', Medina 61'		Thauvin 37', Milik 45'+3
AS Saint-Étienne	1-1	FC Nantes
Camara 57'		Kolo Muani 36'

​

Table

#		Team	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1		Lille OSC	51	23	15	6	2	40	15	+25
2		Olympique Lyonnais	49	23	14	7	2	47	20	+27
3		Paris Saint-Germain	48	23	15	3	5	53	14	+39
4		AS Monaco	45	23	14	3	6	46	32	+14
5		Stade Rennais	37	22	10	7	5	31	24	+7
6		FC Metz	35	23	9	8	6	28	21	+7
7		RC Lens	35	23	10	5	8	34	33	+1
8		Angers SCO	34	23	10	4	9	29	34	-5
9		Olympique de Marseille	33	21	9	6	6	29	24	+5
10		Girondins de Bordeaux	32	23	9	5	9	26	27	-1
11		Montpellier HSC	29	23	8	5	10	35	42	-7
12		Stade de Reims	28	23	7	7	9	30	31	-1
13		Stade Brestois	27	23	8	3	12	35	43	-8
14		OGC Nice	26	22	7	5	10	24	31	-7
15		RC Strasbourg	25	23	7	4	12	32	36	-4
16		AS Saint-Étienne	23	23	5	8	10	22	36	-14
17		FC Nantes	19	23	3	10	10	22	37	-15
18		FC Lorient	19	22	5	4	13	27	43	-16
19		Dijon FCO	15	23	2	9	12	15	32	-17
20		Nîmes Olympique	15	22	4	3	15	17	47	-30

​ 1-2 Champions League group stage
3 Champions League qualifiers round 3
4 Europa League group stage
5 Europa Conference League play-offs
18 Relegation play-offs
19-20 Relegation to Ligue 2
​

Goals

Player	Team	Goals	This week
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	15	(+1)
Boulaye Dia	Stade de Reims	12
Wissam Ben Yedder	AS Monaco	11	(+2)
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Kevin Volland	AS Monaco	.
Ludovic Ajorque	RC Strasbourg	10
Karl Toko Ekambi	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Andy Delort	Montpellier HSC	9
Tino Kadewere	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Gaël Kakuta	RC Lens	.
Moise Kean	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Burak Yılmaz	Lille OSC	.
Habib Diallo	RC Strasbourg	7
Franck Honorat	Stade Brestois	.
Gaëtan Laborde	Montpellier HSC	.	(+1)
Florian Thauvin	Olympique de Marseille	.	(+1)
Yusuf Yazıcı	Lille OSC	.	(+1)

​

Assists

Player	Team	Assists
Jonathan Bamba	Lille OSC	8
Florian Thauvin	Olympique de Marseille	7
Gaëtan Laborde	Montpellier HSC	.
Andy Delort	Montpellier HSC	6
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Ángel Di María	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Kevin Volland	AS Monaco	5
Romain Perraud	Stade Brestois	.
Junior Sambia	Montpellier HSC	.

​

COVID Championship

(May not be 100% accurate)

Team	COVID cases
AS Saint-Étienne	19
OGC Nice	17
RC Lens	14
FC Lorient	13
Paris Saint-Germain	.
Montpellier Hérault SC	11
FC Nantes	10
RC Strasbourg	9
Lille OSC	.
Olympique de Marseille	.
Olympique Lyonnais	6
AS Monaco	.
Dijon FCO	5
Nîmes Olympique	.
Stade Rennais	.
FC Metz	4
Angers SCO	3
Girondins de Bordeaux	1
Stade Brestois	.
Stade de Reims	.

Dessert

Top 3 Goals of the Week

#	Player	Match
1	Wissam Ben Yedder	AS Monaco vs OGC Nice
2	Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain vs Nîmes Olympique
3	Pape Sarr	FC Metz vs Montpellier Hérault SC

​

The Toulouse Corner

It's been a month and a half since we discussed about Ligue 2 so it's more than time to give you a complete update.
First of all, much like its big sister, the league is very close at the top with seven teams having a decent chance to go up at the end of the season. A group that now contains Valenciennes who have been the most consistent team since the new year with 4 wins and 2 draws, allowing them to gain four places in the ranking.
At the top, the first two teams lost on tuesday : the leader Troyes fell in Clermont, another contender for the promotion, while their local rival Auxerre, who despite two losses in a row previous this match are still in the battle, were beating Toulouse to make up for it.
Troyes is an interesting case. Now coached by the former Toulouse and Marseille player Laurent Batlles, the team, which is now under the City Group banner, has been under the spotlights lately due to their playing style and the tactical system put in place by Batlles, a 3-4-3 diamond that attracted some attention from the spanish press that compared it to the old systems used by Johan Cruyff at FC Barcelona and Louis Van Gaal at Ajax. The coach denied having been inspired by them, saying he's just setting up a system favoring his players' strengths but nevertheless, it's not often that Ligue 2 is looked upon by the foreign land (besides the usual english and german raids during the transfer windows).
If we except the recent loss in Auxerre, Toulouse have been extremely consistent and definitely look like a promotion team. Indeed, they had not lost since early november, an epic accident that I related here. In the meantime, the Violets have aggregated 10 wins and 3 draws with the same good players still leading the team (Spierings, Van den Boomen, Adli).
Paris FC however still suffer from inconsistency perfectly displayed by their last game against Niort. The parisiand lead 2-0, then 3-1 before letting two goals in, conceding another frustrating and preventable draw. The team that looked like a train heading towards Ligue 1 a couple of months ago is unfortunately further and further from the goal.
At the bottom, Châteauroux are now the Lanterne Rouge despite a 4-0 two days ago against Chambly. Ahead of them, Pau which won their last two matches and are maybe on the path of salvation, but more notably and shockingly Guingamp with an appalling 22 points in 23 matches. The Bretons who lost in additional time in Grenoble have won one match in the last 3 months and a half and could be an unexpected candidate for relegation in National 1, a level they have not been at in the last ten years.
The complete Ligue 2 results
Ranking
​

L'Équipe Team of the Week

https://imgur.com/a/FSN0tbk
​

Quotes

Christophe Galtier, Lille coach :

It is the victory of a group, those who start the match, those who finish, and those who are unfortunately in the stands who are also behind the group. It is a great satisfaction to see a state of mind like that. [...] I exchange, I share and I also impose many things on my players, with a lot of humility, demands and ambition, which is not synonymous with pretentiousness. Do you know why it's a winning coaching ? Because I have good players at my disposal.

Franck Haise, Lens coach :

The score was not hyper logical but the players were present until the end. There is a little disappointment not to put the third goal in because the second period is totally in our favour, even if I don't forget that Marseille had a big chance at 2-1. I'm not surprised we're at this level because we've been working on this for months but I'm pretty happy with what the players are producing and have been for a while.

Christophe Pelissier, Lorient coach :

It is often said that you don't change a winning team. Against Paris I had changed seven players, I changed six today, because I've been telling the players from the beginning that it's not a team that's going to be successful, it's a group. On Wednesday at half-time against Dijon (down 2-1) we almost had one foot in Ligue 2. One week later, we can hope. [...] We had a lot of headwinds between the results and Covid. The rain will come back, but for the moment we are taking advantage of the good weather.

Wissam Ben Yedder, Monaco forward :

Since Toulouse, I don't think I've scored a free kick. I was feeling good about this beautiful play combination. I am very proud because it is also the winning goal. I'm used to scoring more in the box and being on the lookout for the second ball. This goal is important. It allows us to win this 100th derby.

ThePr1d3, Rennes supporter :

Rennes is the exact opposite of the beltway. It circulates very well but it's never dangerous.

​

Next matchday

Saturday 06/02, 17:00
FC Lorient - Stade de Reims
Saturday 06/02, 19:00
Olympique Lyonnais - RC Strasbourg
Saturday 06/02, 21:00
RC Lens - Stade Rennais
Sunday 07/02, 13:00
Stade Brestois - Girondins de Bordeaux
Sunday 07/02, 15:00
AS Saint-Étienne - FC Metz
Nîmes Olympique - AS Monaco
Montpellier Hérault SC - Dijon FCO
OGC Nice - Angers SCO
Sunday 07/02, 17:00
FC Nantes - Lille OSC
Sunday 07/02, 21:00
Olympique de Marseille - Paris Saint-Germain
Thanks a lot to Hippemann and NotMeladroit for all the clips and the tables ! For more news about the best league in the world (except for the other four) and to improve your french, come and subscribe to /Ligue1.
All feedbacks are welcome !
Previous matchdays :
Season 2020-2021
M1 - M2 - M3 - M4 - M5 - M6 - M7 - M8 - M9 - M10 - M11 - M12 - M13 - M14 - M15 - M16 - M17 - Mid-Season - M18 - M19 - M20 - M21 - M22
Season 2019-2020
M12 - M13 - M14 - M15 - M16 - M17 - M18 - M19 - M20 - M21 - M22 - M23 - M24 - M25 - M26 - M27 - M28

Match Information:

 
Match: Barcelona vs Juventus
Competition: Champions League
Date: Tuesday, 8th of December 2020
Time: 21:00 CET / 15:00 EST - Convert to local time
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona - 99354 capacity
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)
 

Lineups and Squads:

 
Barcelona - Official squad to be confirmed
GK: Ter Stegen, Neto
DEF: Dest, Piqué, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba, Sergi Roberto, Umtiti, Firpo
MID: Busquets, Aleñá, Pjanić, Riqui Puig, Coutinho, Pedri, Matheus, De Jong
ATT: Griezmann, Braithwaite, Messi, Dembélé, Trincão, Ansu Fati
Unavailable: Piqué, Sergi Roberto, Umtiti, Dembélé, Ansu Fati (injured)
Not called:
 
Juventus - Official squad to be confirmed
GK: Wojciech Szczęsny, Carlo Pinsoglio, Gianluigi Buffon, Stefano Gori
DEF: Giorgio Chiellini, Matthijs De Ligt, Alex Sandro, Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, Merih Demiral, Gianluca Frabotta, Koni De Winter, Alessandro Riccio
MID: Arthur, Aaron Ramsey, Weston McKennie, Juan Cuadrado, Adrien Rabiot, Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski, Sami Khedira, Manolo Portanova, Hamza Rafia, Daouda Peeters
ATT: Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Federico Bernardeschi, Morata, Giacomo Vrioni, Federico Chiesa
Unavailable: Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Merih Demiral (injured)
Not called:
 

Head-to-head:

 

• Last meeting: Juventus 0:2 Barcelona
  
• Date: Wednesday, 28th of October 2020, 21:00 CET
  
• Competition: Champions League
  
• Threads: Pre-match thread | Match thread | Post-match thread
  
• Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhQM1t04lGE
  

 

Form guide:

 
Barcelona

• Form: [L] W W W L
  
• Goals scored: 12
  
• Goals conceded: 3
  
• Last match: Cádiz 2:1 Barcelona - La Liga
  

Juventus

• Form: [W] W D W W
  
• Goals scored: 10
  
• Goals conceded: 3
  
• Last match: Juventus 2:1 Torino - Serie A
  

 

Comments (Post-match thread):

 
Author: cranomort | Score: 522 pts | Source

Koeman needs to gather everyone tomorrow and shout: "fucking shoot the ball"

Author: svefnpurka | Score: 356 pts | Source

We really need to shoot more instead of trying to get another pass and another pass and another pass. Worst offender was Dembele and Fati today who both had clear lines on goal and went for a pass instead.
But overall a good game and a deserved win since Juve had 0 shots on target (besides 3 offside goals).
Great refereeing again too. CL refs do spoil us every time and then we go back to La Liga...

Author: Sekerski | Score: 274 pts | Source

Pjanic is a nailed on starter. He has to be. His passes were so progressive today it was a sight to see.
​
If only we could finish our damn chances.

Author: walterwhiteofbrownie | Score: 207 pts | Source

The people who say that there hasn’t been a positive improvement on this team are either blind or being purposefully negative.
I really like what Koeman has brought to the team.

Author: ScrantonScrangler | Score: 193 pts | Source

Coutinho has been much better individually this season, but I like Griezmann in the middle alongside Messi much more. Unlike Coutinho, he actually knows how to run behind the defense and this unleashes Messi as a CAM. He needs to work on his finishing but he was great today overall. Hope we see this pairing more in the upcoming matches.

Author: Last_Lorien | Score: 92 pts | Source

Pedri hype train confirmed. He’s a monster, wow.
Everyone looked good tonight though.
Funny, I listened to the Italian commentators (a duo I actually like, they’re very knowledgeable and elegant) and they praised Messi left and right all match, on his passing ability, his touches, his game play, his orchertrating our attack, his defending even, not to mention his assist, just noting among all these things that he “ate”, as we say, two goals - missing those easy chances he wouls normally score. I come to the sub and the running theme in the match thread is that he was having an awful game. No, he wasn’t, his shooting was off, and yeah for Messi that’s huge and it’s been the case for a while, but there is more to his games than that, thank god. It was odd to be reminded what it must look like to someone who doesn’t watch every single one of our matches.
Seriously though, when even Fati doesn’t just SHOOT when he’s alone in front of goal I hope it’s a fluke more than a symptom of Messidependencia recrudescence.
Also, poor Morata. Juve was unlucky but they were also poor, the whole second half they were invisible - bar the few close/offside chances that looked more and more desparate. Kudos to our defence, they did so well in what could easily turn in very ugly scenarios, with so many people and so many touches in the box.

Author: kaiko1 | Score: 83 pts | Source

Juve were really dire today. We could’ve scored a lot more. Great performance from Pedri especially in 2nd half, absolutely toyed with Cuadrado. Also props to Frenkie, not an easy job but managed well.

Author: 2_Ashish | Score: 48 pts | Source

Greizmann only needs to work on his finishing now, his pressing was top class today, he and Pedri never let Juve build up from the back. Araujo, Pjanic and Pedri are sure starter. Dembele gaining his form and confidence back. Frenkie now joins Roberto in the SWISS KNIFE CLUB. and JUST SHOOT when in box ffs !!!!!

Author: mm3n | Score: 34 pts | Source

Such a weird game. We were in control for the large part of it, but there were 3 (!) called off offside goals we were honestly really lucky not to concede. We created plenty of chances, but were so non-clinical and unlucky shooting that it looked like only a ricochet would send the ball in the net. It is amazing we finally create good proper open chances away in the CL, but we really need more shooting practice. Messi also seems to be training penalties these past months, he really needs to remember how to shoot from open play during his chances. Griez almost scored twice, good game from him compared to all his recent ones.
Overall: we won against Juve away! We could have scored many more goals, but could have also conceded a lot. The positives outweigh the negatives though, we just need to be more clinical and things might just work out.

 

Quotes:

 

Koeman: "Messi and Cristiano are different and both are the best of this era, hopefully we can enjoy both tomorrow night." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Cristiano is still among the top in world football. We will have to defend well." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "De Ligt? It's a shame that he's playing for Juventus and not here, but this happened before I arrived." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: “Pjanić's role here cannot be compared to the one he had at Juve, it's very different. He arrived late here, and that has had an influence, but I have no doubts with Pjanić." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Messi is very important in our attack. Many plays come from Leo's foot. Sometimes the easiest culprit is him for being the best player in the world, but he doesn't make mistakes in defense." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Different in the Champions League? The teams in La Liga know us better and lock us up better. Had we scored earlier, the result would have been different. But we have to win those games." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "I don't like to scream throughout the game, as a player I didn't like it if the coach spent the game running and screaming on the wing. Having said that, we must all take more responsibility on the pitch." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Coutinho has total freedom to move on the pitch, you have to find a balance." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "With the injuries and how La Liga is going, we need a strong team tomorrow, but also with freshness." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Tomorrow we will line up a strong team because we want to win the group." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Pedri has participated in all the matches except against Ferencvaros, for a 17-year-old lad it's great, because he's deserved it. He can play in several positions, he's a smart player." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "My communication with Leo is about the games, personal issues I put aside." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "We created a lot of chances but we are not effective and we have made mistakes that aren't allowed. We have to analyse that." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "If I lose I'm pissed off and I've let the players know in training yesterday, we can't concede goals like the ones we have conceded." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Dembélé's injury is a step back because he was fine, physically he has improved a lot and we know that he has a past with the issue of injuries." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Dembélé's injury is one more reason why I complain about the schedule, we will lose more players because of that. I don't know who makes the schedules..." - src @barcacentre
Koeman: "Our goal is to win every game. We want to top our group. We have a three-point advantage and we have a lot of chances to do it." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "In the physical part I started to work in a very different way, and I think it was necessary to play with more strength. I feel also stronger mentally. I learned from my first stage at Barça." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Internally we talk a lot with the coach and with each other to talk about things to improve and solve them, but we do it internally." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I try to do my best in every position I play in. We want to improve." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I see the team doing well mentally, eager to change the dynamic." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Messi and Neymar together? I don't know what will happen, I can only talk about myself. But of course we all like to play with the best." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "We are in a changing process, you have to be patient. And we do everything to make things work as soon as possible." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "Tomorrow we have a big game, we have to win to top the group and show that we are worth it." - src @barcacentre
Coutinho: "I'm the first one to reproach my performance, I know it has not been what was expected. I have worked hard mentally to be well and today I consider myself stronger in this regard." - src @barcacentre

 

Latest News:

 
[Article] - Coutinho eager to 'get back out on the pitch' - fcbarcelona.com
[Article] - Koeman set on topping group - fcbarcelona.com
[Article] - BEAT THE CLOCK | Name the 13 players who have played for Barça and Juventus - fcbarcelona.com
[Training] - Preparations for Juventus - fcbarcelona.com
[Article] - When and where to watch FC Barcelona v Juventus - fcbarcelona.com
 

TV/Online:

 
Livesoccertv | Liveonsat | FCBarcelona.com
 

After a well-deserved two weeks break, Ligue 1 was back with a double 5-matches batch on wednesday night. With the situation as close as ever both at the top and at the bottom of the ranking, there was a lot of things to follow. And two attractions in particular : the first matches of Raymond Domenech for Nantes and Mauricio Pochettino for Paris.

Appetizers

• The first fixture for Nantes' new coach wasn't the easiest, clearly, at home against Rennes. And while they logically suffered (only 28% of possession), they didn't concede too many occasions and it was mostly Rennes that was disappointing. After their great month of december, the red and black had the opportunity to get closer to the top 3. In the end, a rather poor 0-0, one of the three of the night.
  
• At the opposite side of the excitation spectrum was the match between another breton team, Lorient, and Monaco. The sending off of Jonathan Delaplace early in the second half while the score was 1-1 made things easier for Kovac and his players who unleashed their attacking power (the 3rd attack of the league) to score 4 goals in less than 30 minutes, notably a beautiful one by Golovin, 8 seconds after he entered the pitch before being responsible for two other goals, four months after his last match. While the monégasques appear ready to go for a european spot, Lorient falls back in the bottom two in this joyous merry-go-round that is the relegation battle.
  
• Patrick Vieira or not, William Saliba or not, the incremental changes made by OGC Nice don't seem to produce any positive results. Of course the absence of Kasper Dolberg isn't helpful but not losing to Brest should be the bare minimum expected from a team who has invested a lot recently. Anyway, Brest claimed their sixth home win this season with goals from Steve Mounié and former Nice player Franck Honorat (following a now traditional nonsensic defensive mistake).
  
• Last time, we talked about Nîmes' alarming situation and how crucial the match against Strasbourg was going to be before a tough schedule ahead. Well, this is now DEFCON 1 after the thrashing they were the victims yesterday (and kind of perpetrators too when you offer three penalties to your opponents). Strasbourg hasn't looked like a relegation candidate for a good month now. Ajorque and Diallo is too good of an attack to be in trouble.
  
• In a rather similar manner to a previous win this season in Strasbourg, Lyon seemed to be determined to search for unneeded troubles. There's no reason to panic when you are ahead by three goals against a promoted team, albeit a very good one, who oddly enough scored all their 27 goals of the season from the penalty box (stat provided by av1997f aka OptaGone). Yet here we are again with a torturous last 30 minutes full of fear and anguish for the fans. Fortunately, that ended well again (and especially given the other results) but piling on defensive players to protect a result is not necessarily a reassuring way of assuming your title chasing status.
  
• If Lyon can be happy about their win against Lens, it's also because their rivals failed to produce the same result. And the first one did it pretty badly as Lille lost at home to Angers after an early brace from the center-back Romain Thomas. The northerners hadn't lost at home for nearly a year but the defensive quality of Angers prevented them to score more than one goal despite a logical dominance throughout the game.
  
• The second one, of course, is Paris Saint-Germain and their shipment of injuries. Of course when 75% of the defense is composed by Dagba, Bakker and Kehrer, it's difficult to be confident. But it's Idrissa Gueye that offered les Verts and Romain Hamouma the chance to take the lead. The champions reacted quickly with a 100% italian goal (assist from Verratti to Kean) 3 minutes later. After that, a pretty even game with sequences of domination for both sides (for Saint-Étienne in the first part of the second half, for Paris later in the game). Obviously a disappointing result for Pochettino in his first match while Sainté is on a bizarre serie of 6 draws in their last 7 matches (and, more worrying, 1 win in their last 15 matches).
  
• After a tough end of 2020, Marseille got back up against Montpellier in a match where 31 shots took place. The olympians were the most precise which allowed them to score three goals to one for their opponents, a logical victory after dominating rather clearly the match despite Benedetto's best efforts to throw his chances. It was Payet and Germain, recently subbed in, who delivered the win. Montpellier's european ambitions unfortunately seem to be shrinking week after week.
  

Main Course

Matches

Home	Score	Away
FC Nantes	0-0	Stade Rennais
FC Metz	0-0	Girondins de Bordeaux
FC Lorient	2-5	AS Monaco
Moffi 31', Gravillon 67'		Disasi 9', Golovin 64', Volland 68', Diop 78', Maripan 88'
Stade Brestois	2-0	OGC Nice
Mounié 23', Honorat 28'
RC Strasbourg	5-0	Nîmes Olympique
Ajorque 36', Diallo 38', Lala (p) 45'+1, Ajorque 51', Waris (p) 90'
Olympique Lyonnais	3-2	RC Lens
Depay 39', Fortes (og) 46', Depay (p) 52'		Sotoca 56', Doucouré 89'
Olympique de Marseille	3-1	Montpellier Hérault SC
Radonjic 41', Payet 80', Germain 84'		Mollet 52'
AS Saint-Étienne	1-1	Paris Saint-Germain
Hamouma 19'		Kean 22'
Stade de Reims	0-0	Dijon FCO
Lille OSC	1-2	Angers SCO
Yılmaz 42'		Thomas 6', Thomas 11'

​

Table

#		Team	Pts	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1		Olympique Lyonnais	39	18	11	6	1	37	16	+21
2		Paris Saint-Germain	36	18	11	3	4	40	11	+29
3		Lille OSC	36	18	10	6	2	32	14	+18
4		Stade Rennais	32	18	9	5	4	26	19	+7
5		Olympique de Marseille	31	16	9	4	3	25	16	+9
6		AS Monaco	30	18	9	3	6	33	27	+6
7		Angers SCO	30	18	9	3	6	25	27	-2
8		RC Lens	27	17	8	3	6	28	27	+1
9		Montpellier HSC	27	18	8	3	7	30	31	-1
10		Stade Brestois	26	18	8	2	8	30	31	-1
11		FC Metz	24	18	6	6	6	19	17	+2
12		Girondins de Bordeaux	23	18	6	5	7	18	20	-2
13		OGC Nice	22	17	6	4	7	21	24	-3
14		AS Saint-Étienne	19	18	4	7	7	19	26	-7
15		Stade de Reims	18	18	4	6	8	24	28	-4
16		RC Strasbourg	17	18	5	2	11	27	32	-5
17		FC Nantes	16	18	3	7	8	18	30	-12
18		Dijon FCO	13	18	2	7	9	12	26	-14
19		FC Lorient	12	18	3	3	12	19	36	-17
20		Nîmes Olympique	12	18	3	3	12	14	39	-25

​ 1-2 Champions League group stage
3 Champions League qualifiers round 3
4 Europa League group stage
5 Europa Conference League play-offs
18 Relegation play-offs
19-20 Relegation to Ligue 2
​

Goals

Player	Team	Goals	This week
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	12
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	10	(+2)
Boulaye Dia	Stade de Reims	.
Karl Toko Ekambi	Olympique Lyonnais	9
Ludovic Ajorque	RC Strasbourg	8	(+2)
Andy Delort	Montpellier HSC	.
Moise Kean	Paris Saint-Germain	.	(+1)
Kevin Volland	AS Monaco	.	(+1)
Burak Yılmaz	Lille OSC	.	(+1)
Wissam Ben Yedder	AS Monaco	7
Tino Kadewere	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Gaël Kakuta	RC Lens	.
Habib Diallo	RC Strasbourg	6	(+1)
Gaëtan Laborde	Montpellier HSC	.
Ibrahima Niane	FC Metz	.
Florian Thauvin	Olympique de Marseille	.

​

Assists

Player	Team	Assists
Jonathan Bamba	Lille OSC	7
Florian Thauvin	Olympique de Marseille	.
Andy Delort	Montpellier HSC	6
Gaëtan Laborde	Montpellier HSC	5
Ludovic Ajorque	RC Strasbourg	4
Houssem Aouar	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Hatem Ben Arfa	Girondins de Bordeaux	.
Wissam Ben Yedder	AS Monaco	.
Memphis Depay	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Ángel Di María	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Gaël Kakuta	RC Lens	.
Kylian Mbappé	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Romain Perraud	Stade Brestois	.
Junior Sambia	Montpellier HSC	.
Pablo Sarabia	Paris Saint-Germain	.
Karl Toko Ekambi	Olympique Lyonnais	.
Burak Yılmaz	Lille OSC	.

​

COVID Championship

(May not be 100% accurate)

Team	COVID cases
OGC Nice	17
RC Lens	14
Montpellier Hérault SC	11
FC Nantes	10
RC Strasbourg	9
Paris Saint-Germain	.
Lille OSC	.
Olympique de Marseille	.
AS Saint-Étienne	7
Olympique Lyonnais	6
AS Monaco	.
Dijon FCO	5
Nîmes Olympique	.
Stade Rennais	.
Angers SCO	3
FC Metz	.
Girondins de Bordeaux	1
Stade Brestois	.
FC Lorient	.
Stade de Reims	.

Dessert

Top 3 Goals of the Week

#	Player	Match
1	Cheick Doucouré	Olympique Lyonnais vs RC Lens
2	Florian Sotoca	Olympique Lyonnais vs RC Lens
3	Romain Thomas	Lille OSC vs Angers SCO

​

Upwards

Angers SCO : Ever since they were promoted in Ligue 1 in 2015, Angers has always been a reliable midtable team. Neither pushing for a european spot, nor have they ever been under an immediate relegation threat, as proven by their finishing positions : 9th, 12th, 14th, 13th and 11th last season. Basically a french Burnley. They actually share other similarities with the english team. Both teams base their results primarily on a defensive and collective strength, nicknamed "la dalle angevine" ("angevine hunger") and both teams have their coaches leading the rankings of their respective leagues in terms of longevity (2012 for Sean Dyche, 2011 for Stéphane Moulin, the longest ongoing tenure in the Big 5 leagues). Currently, Angers is comfortably in the first half of the table following two wins against Marseille and Lille, no less. With the 10th attack and the 11th defense of the league, there is little reason to believe they will finish the season at a much higher position than where they are now but their 30 points tally may allow them to be slightly more ambitious in the second half of the season. After all, they've got a very talented player at their disposal. After Nicolas Pepe and Karl Toko-Ekambi recently, this year it's Angelo Fulgini who's the technical leader of the black and white team and by far their best player, as stated by EastOfEden_ here. Keep going Angers, you work very well !
Kevin Volland : After a little hiccup in early december (three losses in a row), Monaco has since bounced back with two wins and one draw (though it was the minimum expected against three teams from the bottom of the league). And there's one man who has been the symbol of Monaco's resurgence under Niko Kovač : Kevin Volland, who scored in each of these last three matches, increasing his tally up to eight goals since the beginning of the season and his arrival in the Principality, including two against Paris Saint-Germain during the 3-2 victory in november. The german striker has brought with him the consistency he had in Bundesliga and it's a good news for Monaco as Wissam Ben Yedder has lost a bit of influence recently following his COVID-19 positive test (he still assisted 3 times since then but scored only once compared to 6 goals previously). Volland has been reliable, clinical and technically vastly superior to the Ligue 1 average. His last goal, very instinctive, is a perfect example of his level of confidence right now. With the coming back of Aleksandr Golovin after four months of injury, the rise in power of Sofiane Diop and if Ben Yedder gets back his goalscoring ability but most importantly if they manage to settle their defensive issues, Monaco will be in the battle for the fourth place.
​

L'Équipe Team of the Week

https://imgur.com/a/z6Kt1mC
​

Quotes

Thierry Laurey, Strasbourg coach :

I had told the players before the match that you rarely win 5-0 on a restart match and that it is often in difficulty. I would have done well to keep my mouth shut.

Jérôme Arpinon, Nîmes coach :

I can't find the values of the club, and that bothers me a lot. If you want to be maintained, you have to show something else. Strasbourg has stepped on us in all the duels. Some have to rediscover values, you can't play with 8 or 9 players on the pitch, some pretend to run. [...] We don't feel that we're fighting to stay up. From now on, we're going to put on guys who may have less technique, but more values, more heart, who have a love of the jersey.

Stéphane Moulin, Angers coach :

Is it the most beautiful victory since the comeback in L1 in 2015? Yes, because we played against the tied leader, who was undefeated at home this season. We have achieved a great feat, it is a very, very big performance, I am very, very proud of the team and the group. If there was a good moment, it was this one: Lille played a lot of matches and there was a break. I had said there would be surprises, because the big teams are not necessarily ready.

Claude Puel, Saint-Étienne coach :

There is satisfaction for our general behaviour and a bit of frustration because we have the feeling that we could get a better result. But we mustn't be too greedy. This feeling was stronger in the previous matches that we deserved to win. But we are on a good phase, even if we are not rewarded. We saw a structure, playing intentions, presence on set-pieces, we took the ball out cleanly. We have to continue like that.

Christophe Galtier, Lille coach :

Angers deserves its victory but we were absent. Absent without the ball, absent in the marking, absent in the duels and with too much technical waste. Maybe this defeat will remind us what we have to put into a match from the first minute to be performant. Losing matches can happen, but by being so absent, there are questions. This defeat doesn't worry me, I don't want to ring the alarm bell. But it does make you think. We have to ask ourselves the right questions. We had to do much better.

av1997f, statistician :

28% of possession for Nantes. Whatever the way we calculate the possession, we can say they don't play like Barcelona.

​

Next matchday

Saturday 09/01, 21:00
Dijon FCO - Olympique de Marseille
Girondins de Bordeaux - FC Lorient
RC Lens - RC Strasbourg
Montpellier Hérault SC - FC Nantes
Stade Rennais - Olympique Lyonnais
Stade de Reims - AS Saint-Étienne
Nîmes Olympique - Lille OSC
FC Metz - OGC Nice
Paris Saint-Germain - Stade Brestois
AS Monaco - Angers SCO
Thanks a lot to Hippemann and NotMeladroit for all the clips and the tables ! For more news about the best league in the world (except for the other four) and to improve your french, come and subscribe to /Ligue1.
All feedbacks are welcome !
Previous matchdays :
Season 2020-2021
M1 - M2 - M3 - M4 - M5 - M6 - M7 - M8 - M9 - M10 - M11 - M12 - M13 - M14 - M15 - M16 - M17 - Mid-Season
Season 2019-2020
M12 - M13 - M14 - M15 - M16 - M17 - M18 - M19 - M20 - M21 - M22 - M23 - M24 - M25 - M26 - M27 - M28

Announcement Video
Have seen multiple requests so I'll be doing twitter reactions on the reaction for the next couple hours.
I just woke up and am updating manually so please try not to go crazy with links to people's twitter comments until the thread has been around for a bit since odds are I've gotten to it already and haven't pressed update yet. (I'd say about an hour) Thank you.
Might organize the "other" tweets into Pros/Analysts/Etc. later
EDIT: Taking a break since tweets have slowed down and I've been at it for an hour. Lots to get done today. Will still be updating the thread on an hourly basis. If there are any big notable tweets that I've missed, please let me know. There hasn't really too much reaction from EU thus far from what I've seen from my timeline for those curious about EU (Nothing from Zven/Mithy/Kobbe,etc. yet)

TSM

TSM Bjergsen

• A new beginning 😊 Thank you for your love and support throughout my time of playing!

TSM Doublelift

• when he told me, I considered retiring alongside him for a week. Soren is one of the best players and people I've ever played with, the shoes will be tough to fill

TSM Smak

• You’ve played a huge part in elevating esports to its current position. Showing the world all the qualities they admire in their heros from traditional sports, all while being an great role model. Congrats on your incredible career and best of luck moving forward!

TSM Leffen

• Good luck in your new path!

TSM Myth

• Growing up watching this Bjerg compete and then seeing this news. Feels like it isn't real. But im confident his big fucking brain is gonna do big things in the coaching role. 😊👍🏾

TSM Andrew

• Link to post

TSM Treatz

• End of an era

TSM Spica

• Honored to have played with Bjerg. Forever my GOAT.

TSM BrokenBlade

• Nothing yet but he did like Bjerg's tweet

TSM Parth

• O captain my captain

TSM Dunc

• I’ve had some time to digest the news about Bjerg and I’ve cycled through it all. I defo cried at the end of the video, but he’s had a huge impact on my life. Now I’m just at an excited stage. Pumped to see what we can achieve in 2021.
  
• What hits home for me the most, is how genuinely excited and happy Soren looks in the video. He’s talking about it like he’s really motivated and that makes me happy too, as a fan.
  

TSM (Twitter)

• 8 seasons. 6 times LCS champion. 4 times season MVP. 5 Worlds appearances. IEM World Champion. 4 times All-Star. One king. End of an era. But the start of a new one.

TSM TannerSlays

• I’ll always support you Bjerg! You have been someone I have looked up to since I start my 1v1s back in the day. Even though I mainly play FPS games, you have ignited this fire of attention to detail when it comes to learning from my mistakes and becoming better as a player

TSM Seazer

• Terrible day for rain

TSM Xaryu

• IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE 😭
  
• SO MANY EMOTIONS 😭 <3 Excited to have you as our coach, king
  

Dyrus

• really curious who the next mid for TSM is gonna be
  
• @Bjergsen looking forward to seeing you dominate as a coach as weird as that sounds
  

Lenovo

• Thank you for everything Bjergsen! Looking forward to seeing you doing wonders as a coach, as you did already as a player!

Logitech

• A legend bringing up other legends. Congratulations and we can’t wait to see you in this new role!

TSM Report

• 🥂To new challenges and new heights #TSM

TSM Albralelie

• @Bjergsen Good luck man, hoping for a good future for ya :D

TSM Hazed

• post

OTHERS

GeT_RiGhT

• Congrats on the career buddy, you’ll become even more successful on the next step King!

TL Jensen

• This day came too soon 😥 I'm gonna miss playing against you, good luck with your new career!

C9 Licorice

• You’ve always been a tough opponent and I hope you find as much success coaching as you have as player. Wishing you the best of luck

C9 Nisqy

• Good luck!!

DIG Lourlo

• Amazing person and player wish you all the best with your new role as a coach, an inspiration to so many 🙏🏻

FLY Santorin

• GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW CAREER PATH, I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO SMURF IT

Trick2g

• Legend

TL CoreJJ

• NA lost the shinest star we had, And this star will become new galaxy.

C9 Jack

• Huge respect for an incredible career as a player and an even better person.

Deficio

• It's a long time ago but I still can't believe how much has changed since 2013. Will always be proud of you and your fantastic career. Held og lykke ven!

UOL Sheepy

• Good luck Bjerg! Looking forward to your career as a coach. I heard only good things so I am sure you will do well!

LPL Hysterics

• It will never be the same

Rogue Akinola (Social Media Guy)

• The greatest to ever do it in NA. Happy to have watched you grow and I can't wait to see what you take on next. enjoy the deserved vacay

Azael

• Bjergsen retires & becomes TSM head coach. WOW - absolutely the end of an era. Bjergsen is the NA GOAT & deserving of so much respect for all that he has accomplished through his career, many titles & MVP awards. GL in the next stage of your career Bjergsen!
  
• 10 LCS Finals 6 LCS Championships 4x LCS MVP @Bjergsen has been the face of the #LCS for so many years that it's hard to imagine it without him. Known widely of the hardest working, most respected players & someone who embodied being a true pro. I will miss watching him play.
  
• Imagine being the new mid laner for TSM. You mess up a game & know damn well your coach could sub himself in and play it better. Fionn (Realtime Reaction)
  
• One thing that stuck with me about Bjergsen is how loved he was by staff & crew at the LCS. The most famous player & yet I heard countless stories of him remembering the names of people behind the scenes and going out of his way to say hi at the studio, airports etc. Class act.
  

Fionn

• My real time reaction to learning about Bjergsen
  
• lgd play tsm at worlds 2015 dyrus retires lgd play tsm at worlds 2020 bjergsen retires tsm needs to never play lgd again
  

Dardoch

• what do u mean bjerg retired 🥺
  
• Jokes aside NA LCS has been in desperate need of better coaches for a long time. I’m sure Bjerg will become one of the best
  

Locodoco:

• Bjerg retiring way earlier than I'd ever expected He had so much discipline and dedication as a player and I have 0 doubts those traits will carry over and make him one of the best coaches I always thought his career would end in EU with him playing at World Class level :<

YamatoCannon

• Video
  
• NA GOAT - Exits at a time where he can easily continue as a player shows to me that he really wants this, his passion, work ethic and drive is going to bring him a lot of success in the role. Excited to watch this unfold.
  

Travis Gafford

• Video

Tim Sevenhuysen

• Bjergsen was the most celebrated player in the #LCS for most of his career, standing with Doublelift as the two greatest players in LCS history -- rank them against each other to your preference. His retirement as a player leaves a gaping hole. Best of luck in coaching, Soren!

Pastrytime

• It was all fun and games when Reapered left C9 and Jatt became a Worlds qualifying coach. But losing Bjergsen now was on no one's bingo card, even with all the wildness of 2020. I'll remember randomly chatting to Bjerg en route to All Stars Barcelona as we were on the same....
  
• ...flight. I was a nobody, certainly not an established player or mind for the game and Bjerg talked to me about League like I was his equal when I'm very clearly not. He doesn't know how profound that experience was for me coming up in the LCS.
  
• To never have him play again is a huge blow to a game he leaves a incredibly legacy behind as he exits. Glad he's still around somewhat, but it'll never be the same. Thanks for everything Bjergsen.
  

DoA

• Good luck in the new role!

Akaadian

• Wow :( Felt a bit of a lump in my throat watchin this but I guess that's just how it goes, you had a great career as a player, i'm excited to watch you grow as a coach now @Bjergsen

DIG Invert

• Everything I've heard about Bjerg's character says to me that he will become an incredible coach to the next generation of TSM talent. One hell of an LCS playoff run to end it on too! Congrats @Bjergsen !

Peter Dun

• Spent today travelling and return to G2 vs DWG and Bjergsen retiring. Sad news. Will say fact no EU in World finals is disappointing shows how much G2 (+FNC) pushed envelope in recent years. Bjergsen is 100% first ballot HoF when LoL goes in that direction. Nothing else to add.

GG Damonte

• @Bjergsen legend

GG Closer

• Good luck! You are a legend 🙏🏻

TL Steve (Liquid112)

• Congratulations on what has been an insane career competing. You've captivated an enormous community, best of luck coaching - the next chapter.

CLG Smoothie

• Didn't see that one coming 😥 Best of luck bro I hope you kill it! It was a pleasure playing with you ❤️

Shiphtur

• GL DUDE! you’re going to absolutely kill it
  
• Bjerg retiring makes me so sad... He truly is the NA GOAT Good luck in your new position Soren, you should be proud of everything you achieved as a pro
  

LCS Official

• What do you say when a legend retires? No words can adequately articulate everything @Bjergsen has done for both our region and league over the years. Congratulations on an amazing playing career and thank you for all of the incredible moments and memories! Crown #TSMWIN ESPN Esports
  
• The retirement of @TSM mid laner @Bjergsen marks the end of an era in the #LCS. @JacobWolf has more on today's news
  

C9 Mateus

• hard to imagine who can replace Bjergsen in TSM tbh
  
  • Riv: T1 signed T1 too early

Emily Rand

• I knew it was coming when it came but the saddest retirement for me was KT Score. He was always there from the moment I got into watching LoL esports at all, and had always been there as a constant. I imagine many NA fans will feel similarly about Bjergsen's retirement today.

Yassuo

• 🐐
  
• Im glad Bjerg won NA one last time before retiring. Truly the Goat of NA
  

Hafu (Big Streamer)

• legendary career bjerg :) onto the next

Scarra

• What the duck bjergsen retired??????
  
• @Bjergsen I often used you as a template for what some pro players should aspire to be I remember when you came to na and shit on everyone and forced people to be better Damn.. here's to opening a new chapter best of luck as a coach
  

MSF Robert Yip

• Greatest ever NA LCS player. He not only was a winner but I’ve heard anything bad about him as a teammate or player. Everyone echos the same sentiment; he wants to win. It’s in his DNA. It’s the TSM DNA. Looking forward to seeing him develop and grow into the role.

GoldenGlue

• An absolutely legendary player and an even better friend. I'm a bit shocked but I can't wait to see him flourish in his new role and continue to compete through a different facet

EG Sab

• 1. An end of a legacy, good on him to continue to stay involved and provide for his team
• Roster shuffle of 2020 to 2021 ha and will be even more insane

Raz

• Finding Bjerg to selfishly convince him to keep playing

Malaclypse

• Said it like a month ago and I'll run it back with todays announcement: The first generation of players in LoL and their legacy will not be defined by their playing career but what they do after it. A lot of these guys will fundamentally shape the future of esports.

Sjokz

• omg wow

Ovilee

• I'm dead inside

IWillDominate

• Bjergsen retires as imo the GOAT of NA, won as the stafocal point of so many different rosters and was consistently TSM’s best performer. The fact he only got to worlds quarterfinals one time doesn’t do his skill in seasons 4-7 justice

Rogue Tomislav

• Noo :( the whole point of Rogue vs TSM was @Larssen00 vs @Bjergsen :( Jokes aside, what a legend - this hurts badly for TSM. I think you had a few more years in you brother but I wish you all the best for the future !

Fnatic (Twitter)

• Congratulations on an incredible playing career. It was an honour to compete both regionally and internationally. GL stepping forward.

Veigarv2

• You will do great, you were already a good leader ingame and your passion for the game is next level. TSM!

Ashley Kang

• I am both grateful and emotional for the legacy you have left behind as a player, and excited to see what you'll continue to achieve with your new role I -- I don't know what to say

Empyre

• Bjergsen retiring and stepping into the head coach role at TSM. Wow don't even know what to say.

Amazing

• We all gotta move on from playing at some point, and I suppose it's better to retire at the top than to retire at the bottom. Quite the swan song for Bjerg to reclaim NA just before leaving as a player.

Ablazeolive

• damn

Hai

• You're an insane mid laner and one of the hardest I've had to play vs. Excited to see you coaching!! Best of luck!

Cloud9 (Twitter)

• One last ride: Can't kilean... The Zilean... 🥺

Meteos

• I wasn't expecting to see this for at least a few more years... Best of luck with the next part of your journey!

Kobe

• Who's cutting onions at 9am here?? 😭

Smix

• 😭 been amazing watching your career all this time, will continue rooting for you in this new role! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Laure Valee

• Legend 🔥You inspired so many players over the years, I can't wait for this new chapter as a coach! Best of luck!

ChaseShaco

• goat of western mids ggs brother gl

Letigress

• I'm gonna miss THE HELL out of seeing you play, but I'm super excited to see Coach Bjerg! GL in this chapter 🥳

EDG (Twitter)

• Good luck with your new career path!

WADID

• Best of luck!!

Frodan

• Congrats on such an epic legacy. Looking forward to seeing you coach next season!

T1 Joe Marsh

• Congratulations to one of the games iconic players and best of luck in the coaches chair.

G2 Carlos (Ocelote)

• Bjergsen earned all respect

Pokimane

• 😲🤯

100T John Robinson (COO & President)

• Congratulations on an incredible playing career. So many LCS fans started as Bjergsen fans - huge respect and good luck as a coach.

Snoopeh

• So much respect for you and all that you’ve accomplished in your playing career. Welcome to the next chapter!

Eika

• Good luck, I'm sure you will do well. You were an amazing player, and I loved to play against you. I remember when I heard we were playing you first week I was so happy, always respected you as a player. Wish you the best You are a legend

Linepro (Former TSM)

• You're the player that once inspired me to be who I am right now and overcome every single challenger I have in front of me. All I can do it's wish you good luck and only the best for whatever you plan in the future and Thank you for everything you've done without even noticing.

Jeungmac (OW)

• He's the player who made me love TSM for three years. I'm a professional gamer of another game, but it's sad news to retire.

NYSL Clayster (COD)

• Taking the path that @Bjergsen did is a dream for most pro gamers. Hope I can transition as fluidly as he did

G2 Pengu

• Bjergsen was THE person who really pushed me into my professional career, and to really believe that a random danish person could achieve something meaningful in esports outside of his home turf. I wish him the best of luck in his new position!

DZ HotanCold (Rainbow 6)

• This is extremely bittersweet to see, been a TSM LoL fan since the beginning. Going to miss watching you play but happy for the future mid to learn from your experience.

Kien Lam (Lolesports Writer, Rank 1 TFT NA)

• Incredible career from the NA GOAT. Any controversy around him was always manufactured. When you think about where he came up from, it's been a truly wild ride. New mid laner means TSM can fully reset -- these shoes will be super hard to fill.

Voyboy

• . @Bjergsen is absolutely one of the greatest League players of all time. Competing at the highest level individually while always elevating his team and our entire region to new heights. Søren will surely be a phenomenal coach and raise the bar there too. KING BJERG LEGEND! 👑🐐

IMT Xmithie

• You're one of the people I always look up to for being a great leader to your teammates and for being the hardest worker in the scene. It was always a pleasure playing against you in multiple finals and kinda wished we were in one. You're gonna kill it, Coach!

Xpecial

• Bjergsen the NA goat, grats on an incredible playing career. Best of luck coaching!

T1 eSports (Twitter)

• Has been amazing years with an honor. Wish all the best and hope to see you again.

GG Hauntzer

• One of the best competitors I've ever seen. His drive and work ethic will bring him success no matter what path he takes

Asyc (Challenger player)

• bjerg retired and g2 lost it was not just a bad dream

Movistar Xico

• Can’t believe it... u have always been my idol, it’s so sad to not see u play again... but I’ll always be here supporting you and cheering for u as a coach! I love you and thanks for all the inspiration you gave me!

Carmac

• Congratulations on a wonderful career. You were just a kid when I first met you and I marvel to look at the man I see today. Best of luck!

Forg1ven

• Farewell @Bjergsen , i think u still had a lot to give as a player and as an icon for the league and the game but ultimately u know as every person for himself whats best for yourself. In life and also a lot in league, u acknowledge someone when he leaves than when he is there.

CaptainFlowers

• Good luck, Coach.

CLG Pobelter

• @Bjergsen you were always the player I pushed myself to be able to beat, ever since you came over to NA in 2014 and were just miles ahead of any other player in the league. I hope you can look back and be proud of your career, without any regrets. Nothing but respect for you
  
• 6 years really passes by quickly.. if you never return as a player, I'll one day be competing against you as a coach as well ;)
  
  • Bjergsen: <3

Manchester United and a Positional Mess

Edit* I will edit the formatting to make it more readable soon
United’s transfer window has shown that the club is a mess from the recruitment standpoint for years but if you look at the team positional it’s been years of management and ineptitude since Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill left the club in 2013.
*The transfer figures aren't correct because I listed estimates in $USD, will update later
*apologies for any spelling errors
Goalkeeper
When Ferguson left in 2013 United were in a good position in the goalkeeper department. David De Gea was 23 and the hype around was finally starting to show. In 2014, under Louis Van Gaal De Gea’s consistent performances put him in the upper echelon of goalkeepers in the world, he was United’s player of the season and nominated for the PFA Player’s Player of the Season that year. Unfortunately his contract was quietly winding down and the Spaniard made no effort in his hope to return to his native in Spain and join Real Madrid.
That January United had signed Victor Valdes on a free transfer and to many United fans Valdes was seen as an adequate short term replacement if and when De Gea were to leave for Madrid. Unfortunately Louis Van Gaal quickly fell out with Victor Valdes over a personal dispute over playing in a reserve game. Van Gaal vanished Valdes from the squad and quickly placed him on the transfer list. As it came increasingly likely that De Gea would leave for Madrid, United bought Sergio Romero on a free transfer more as backup. As 2015 loomed, Van Gaal made the decision to drop De Gea until the transfer window ended, going with Romero instead. At the end of the month Madrid finally ponied up the $35 million for De Gea and United agreed to sign Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas as a replacement. Hours later the deal ultimately fell through and De Gea decided to sign a four-year long contract extension at United.
For the next four years United’s goalkeeper situation was set, De Gea was arguably United’s most consistent performer over the next few seasons, even Sergio Romero was an adequate backup helping United win two trophies in 2017 with the Europa League and Carabao Cup. After the 2018 World Cup, De Gea suffered a poor run of form starting with Spain in Russia and ultimately continuing with United over the 2018-2019 season having his worst season at United. At the same time, De Gea was in another contract dispute, this time the goalkeeper was asking for a new contract which would make him the highest paid player at the club.United’s wage structure was disrupted with the Alexis Sanchez signing but in September 2019 De Gea signed another contract renewal though his poor formed continued for much of the 2019-2020.
United were dealt some luck with academy product Dean Henderson progressing on loan at Sheffield United and United ultimately signed Henderson to a new contract to push De Gea. Unfortunately this left Sergio Romero out in the cold. The Argentine was not made aware of United’s plans for him until late in the transfer window. United ultimately turned down a $2 million loan offer from Everton as they hoped to get close to an $8 million transfer for him. This led to Romero’s wife angrily calling the club out on social media and now United have four goalkeepers at the club totaling to nearly $500 k a week.
Centerbacks
In 2013 United’s Center Backs were Rio Ferdinand (34) and Nemanja Vidic (31), Jonny Evans (25), Phil Jones (21) and Chris Smalling (23). A year later Nemanja Vidic fell out with David Moyes and agreed to join Inter Milan on a free transfer, Rio Ferdinand was told before the last game of the season by Ed Woodward that he had no future at the club. New manager Louis Van Gaal decided that he needed to bring in a left sided defender Thomas Vermalen being his first choice, the deal ultimately fell through and United looked at Marcos Rojo after he impressed at the 2014 World Cup with Argentina.
The 2014-2015 season defensively was a mixture of consistent injuries and Van Gaal’s consistent formation tinkering. United used Rojo, Smalling, Jones, Evans, youngster Paddy McNair, and even Michael Carrick at center back that season. At their best Jones and Smalling formed a decent partnership but it was quite evident that enforcements were needed. The following season United did look at Mats Hummels and Sergio Ramos but did not pursue any deals instead , Jonny Evans joined West Brom and Van Gaal decided to play Daley Blind at center back and alter his defensive tactical approach. A year later new manager Jose Mourinho decided to purchase 22 year-old Eric Bailly for about 30 million from Villarreal. The following season Jose continued to revamp United’s center back position by purchasing another young center back 23 year-old Victor Lindelof from Benfica. Because of injuries and poor form United never truly established centerback partnership during these two seasons.
In 2018 Jose wished to purchase a third center back, this time going for an established center back like Toby Alderweirweld. Unfortunately the United hierarchy decided to go against Jose’s wish which led to massive frustrations between the manager and namely Ed Woodward. A year later and new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prioritized a center back a year later and paid a record 80 million for center back Harry Maguire. Chris Smalling joined Roma on loan and United finally looked to have a consistent center back partnership of Lindelof and Maguire. Maguire and Lindelof didn’t always compliment each other but United did have a defensively solid season.
Between 2017-2019 Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo were all given new contracts. You could argue that the players were given contracts less because of their performances on the pitch (Smalling may be exempt from this argument) and more to protect their transfer value. Now in 2020, Chris Smalling was sold to Roma for $15 million after months of negtoation with Roma for the paltry fee, Marcos Rojo was offered to Everton in 2019 but the club, allegedly Joel Glazer himself turned the deal down, Rojo was then loaned to his boyhood club Estudiantes in January basically for him to play and put himself in the transfer market. Unfortunately due to his high wages United have failed sell the Argentine for two years now as he has been left out of the squads Champions League Squad along with Phil Jones, who most bafflingly was offered a five-year contract in 2018. The injury prone defender is still on the medical table and couldn’t be shifted this summer as well. Instead of buying a new centerback, United will hope Eric Bailly can continue to stay fit and move on from last week’s awful performance, Axel Tuanzebe has been highly rated for the past few years, an unfortunate hip injury last October kept him out of the United squad for nearly a full calendar year but he is finally back fit, and lastly Tenden Mengi is a highly rated 18 year old from the academy.
Current Centerbacks:
Harry Maguire
Victor Lindelof
Eric Bailly
Axel Tuanzebe
Tenden Mengi
Marcos Rojo*
Phil Jones*
Left Back
Patrice Evra made a hilarious yet sad point during his appearance on Sky Sports last weekend. United haven’t had a good left back since he was at the club. In Moyes’ first season he tried to acquire Leighton Baines from Everton with an odd joint bid of him and Fellaini for $30 million which was swiftly rejected, United then agreed a loan deal for Fabio Coentrao for the deal to fall through at the last minute. A year later United spent big money on 18 year-old Luke Shaw, Louis Van Gaal told the former captain his services were no longer needed and he was sold to Juventus for $1.8m. Luke Shaw was touted to be the next big thing in England and United were hoping they had just locked down the left back position for the next decade.
Shaw was scouted by David Moyes but Louis Van Gaal was the manager at the time who approved of the deal. Van Gaal often played with wing backs which required Shaw to transition his game positionally. Van Gaal also purchased Marcos Rojo as a left sided centerback who could also play in the left back position and Daley Blind who was bought as a Defensive Midfielder but everyone saw he was equally comparable at the left wing back position for Van Gaal Dutch World Cup 2014 squad. A year on Daley Blind seemed to be United’s best left back. The following season Luke Shaw came into his own after struggling with fitness issues, Van Gaal reportedly built his entire attack around Shaw and also decided against purchasing another left back because he had so much confidence in Shaw. For a month we fans saw the potential spoke about with Luke Shaw, unfortunately a terrible leg break against PSV in September ended all that and put United’s leftback position in disarray. Blind was playing well at centerback, and Rojo was injured so Van Gaal often had to call play Matteo Darmian or Ashley out of position and he later called on academy Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. As Shaw recovered from his injury Jose Mourinho was now the new manager and never saw eye to eye with the young left back.
For the next two seasons Blind, Rojo, Young, Darmian, all featured at left back usually ahead of Shaw. The Portuguese manager wanted to sell the leftback but Woodward and the club refused. Shaw eventually won the leftback position back in 2018 and after a few good performances United rewarded him with a new contract. The following season under Solskjaer United’s leftback position finally seemed to at least be stable. Luke Shaw was first choice, and youngster Brandon Williams emerged after Shaw’s injuries and poor form in 2019. The club has finally decided to buy their first outright left back since purchasing Luke Shaw in 2014. Alex Telles joined the club on transfer deadline day for 15 million euros. At 27 United are hoping they are purchasing a player in their prime years to finally offer some consistency.
Current Leftbacks:
Alex Telles
Luke Shaw
Brandon WIlliams
​
Right Back
Like left back, right back has had one of the most important positional transformations in years and United were left far behind in this position as well. In 2014, Antonio Valencia transitioned from winger to right back and emerged as United’s first choice ahead of Rafael. The following season Van Gaal decided to move on from Rafael and sold the Brazilian to Lyon, United purchased Italian Matteo Darmian from Torino in what seemed like a shrewd piece of business. Darmian initially looked like a quality old school defense first fullback, but his clear weakness against the pacey winger in Premier League was quickly exploited and he never fully recovered.
2016 came when new manager Jose Mourinho got the best out of Antonio Valencia and he turned him into arguably a world class right back for that season. The following season his injuries and age lead to his regression and in 2018 the club decided to look at a new right back. There were rumors of Thomas Meunier from PSG, his contract was running down and was a self proclaimed childhood United fan. United went in a different direction purchasing 19 year old Diogo Dalot from FC Porto, a player United had mostly scouted at the U-19 level. United’s shambolic 2018/2019 was not the greatest environment for the young Portuguese right back to develop and he also dealt with injuries.
A year later Valencia left on free, Darmian was sold to Parma, and United decided to identify a new right back. United boasted about their superior scouting department by stating that they looked at nearly 400 right backs before settling on Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace. United spent $50 million on the young right back but he has nailed down the position and is hands down the best 1v1 defender in the league, though he is still developing in other areas. Dalot has been loaned out to AC Milan and United will play Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Brandon Williams as back up.
Current Right Backs:
Aaron Wan Bissaka
Brandon Williams
Timothy Fosu Mensah
Ethan Larid
Central Midfield
Central Midfield has been a shitshow since about 2010. Darren Fletcher unfortunately had to leave the game for nearly two seasons as he battled colitis. Anderson and Tom Cleverley were both injury prone and in 2012 United lost young academy product Paul Pogba on a free transfer to Juventus. A decision some would argue as Ferguson’s biggest mistake. Somehow though Fergie managed to win two league titles and challenge for a third with 39 year old Ryan Giggs, and 37 year old Paul Scholes who came out of retirement in 2011.
When Ferguson retired in 2013 Scholes quietly retired for a second time, Giggs became a rare player-manager and United’s priority was to reinforce the center mid. Fergie and his scouting departments had reportedly scouted Kevin Strootman, Ander Herrera, and most heavily Thiago Alcantara. United seemed ready to do a deal for Thiago who had a $20 million release clause in his contract from Barcelona. As Fergie retired he left the new manager with this same short list of players his department had scouted and done the necessary due diligence on. Instead Moyes had never seen the young Barcelona player play in person so he wasn’t sure about his abilities, he asked newly appointed assistant manager Ryan Giggs about his opinion and he famously said “he didn’t look a United player” whatever that really means.
Moyes moved on and instead was interested in another Barcelona player Cesc Fabregas. Fans and journalists questioned this move, Fabregas was an amazing player but he only just moved to Barcelona after pushing for his dream move for the last two years. Fabregas’ agent alerted Ed Woodward that the player would be interested in a move if United were to pay the $40million asking price Barcelona quoted. United spent the next few weeks lowballing Barcelona and Fabregas ultimately signed a new contract with Barcelona. United then spent the rest of the transfer window feeble attempting to enquire about players like Daniele De Rossi and Luka Modric to ultimately be rejected. United then decided to sign the Fergie scouted player Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao, in one of the most bizarre transfer stores in years United ultimately tried to negotiate a lower fee for the Spaniard’s buyout clause didn’t work to say the least. At the very last hour of the transfer window United offered Everton $30 million for Marouane Fellaini, oddly enough United couldn’t signed the Belgian for a discounted rate of $23 million if they acted earlier in the window. The recruitment of Fellaini and failed negotiations saw Woodward turn United into a laughing stock amongst agents and directors. A year later new manager Louis Van Gaal quickly approved the signing of Herrera this time paying his full buyout clause. Anderson, Cleverly and Fletcher moved on in 2014-2015.
Van Gaal also wanted to recruit a more defensive midfielder and United were heavily linked with Arturo Vidal, the club decided to move on after concerns about his knee (Vidal has consistently go on to play for Bayern Munich, Barcelona and now Inter). United instead looked a Van Gaal’s fellow Dutchman Daley Blind for Ajax who the fan base saw play at leftback for Van Gaal during the World Cup. While Herrera impressed it took only a few games to realize Blind did not have the pace to play as a single pivot d-mid in the premier league. At their best United’s midfield consisted of Carrick in a holding role, Herrera playing as a #8 an Fellaini in an advanced role using his running and physical presence to break up plays.
The following season Van Gaal wanted to further reinforce his midfield, Morgan Schneiderlin was purchased from Southampton and German legend Bastian Schweinsteiger joined at 31 from Bayern Munich, a move Ed Woodward said “would put shivers down the spines of opponents”. In hindsight Schweinsteiger had been injured for the past three seasons and Bayern were willing to get rid of their captain. United’s midfield was turgid and lethargic in Van Gaal’s second season and the following year United and Ed Woodward made their biggest purchase yet. For years the club had been marred by Paul Pogba’s success in Italy and allowing the young French midfielder to leave for free as he began to reach the heights of a world class generational talent. Woodward made it his priority to bring the midfielder back to United, he convinced him obviously with a massive contract and a world record transfer fee to Juventus, but also the promise of building a new quality midfield around Pogba. Manager Jose Mourinho got rid of Schenderlein in January selling him to Everton, and Schweinsteiger joined the Chicago Fire in MLS shortly after.
United began to build a midfield of Pogba, Herrera, and Fellaini in a defensive role. The following year Mourinho wanted a defensive midfielder to replace the retiring Carrick. Fabinho from Monaco was a target but Monaco did not want to sell after Mbappe, Mendy, Silva, and Bakayoko all left the club. Eric Dier was another choice which Spurs declined. United purchased Nemanja Matic from rivals Chelsea as they finished 2nd. The following season Fred was purchased for $50 million. Andreas Pereria who spent the last two seasons on loan in Spain was now back in the squad and academy product Scott Mctominay had a breakthrough season. Jose public fallout with star Pogba which started early in 2017 had fully exasperated and by December Jose was gone.
Fellaini was quickly moved on with a move to China in January, but the club failed to make a decision regarding Ander Herrera’s contract, though Solkjaer wanted to keep the Spaniard, he signed a free contract with PSG. The quality in United’s midfield was questionable, Matic was coming off a very poor season, Fred was labeled a flop in his first season by many, the debate on Pogba will go on forever and Mctominay and Pereria weren’t league challenging midfielders. United decided to not reinforce in midfield though the team was clearly lacking some creativity. During the Summer of 2019, Bruno Fernandes was heavily linked to the club though the club briefed journalists that United scouts were concerned with the amount the player lost the ball in Portugal. Six months later, United forked up the $60 million for Fernandes, the move occurred after an injury setback to Paul Pogba and a long term injury to Scott Mctominay. Fernandes was the first signing since Van Persie to truly enhance the squad and United went on their best run of form in the last season.
Andreas Pereria was loaned to Lazio and United purchased Donny Van De Beek from Ajax. This is a very exciting signing, an all around midfielder who can grow in this squad. Some have questioned the priority of the signing as the 23 year old currently isn’t in United’s strongest 11.
Current Midfield:
Bruno Fernandes
Paul Pogba
Nemanja Matic
Fred
Donny Van de Beek
Scott Mctominay
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
Wilfried Zaha was the last player Ferguson had signed for United. The young winger electrified the Championship with Crystal Palace and looked one for the future. Unfortunately Moyes for various reasons to say the least gave up on the young player and loaned him to Cardiff City in January. Than Van Gall gave Zaha a pre season playing in LVG’s 3-5-2 system as a forward to impress, he was then loaned to former club Crystal Palace and ultimately sold on. Juan Mata was purchased in January for $40 million after he came available from Chelsea, though David Moyes played the #10 as a right midfielder for six months, but younger Adnan Januzaj was the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal season. Louis Van Gaal chopped and changed United’s attackers and wingers the following year. Nani was moved on and loaned back to his former club Sporting Lisbon. Shinji Kagawa was another player tasked to operate in an unfamiliar role as a #8 in preseason before Van Gaal discarded the Japanese player back to Borussia Dortmund.
Angel Di Maria became a target after a failed move to PSG, United spent a record $68 million for the Argentine and United fans were excited to get such a world class talent in their squad. Unfortunately Van Gaal’s formational tinkering and changing hindered Di Maria who LVG tried to continually play in different roles such as winger, attacking midfielder, wingback, and even as a forward. The player and Van Gaal fell and was gone after one season. Adnan Januzaj suffered in Van Gaal’s system and was loaned out to Borussia Dortmund and United's strongest Ashley Young played on the left and Juan Mata started on the right. United quickly reinforced the winger position with young talent Memphis Depay. United were convinced they were getting their own Eden Hazard but the Dutch player ultimately struggled. United seriously struggled for creating chances under Van Galls tactical approach the following season, but youngsters Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford flourished on the left wing and Jesse Lingard emerged as a new option on the right.
The next year under Jose, Rashford and Martial basically rotated on the left, and United purchased Bundesliga Player of the Season Henrikh Mkhitaryan to add some creativity through the middle and on the right. Memphis was moved on in January to Lyon, but United saw success with Martial, Rashford, Mata, Lingard, and Mkhitaryan. The following year Jose believed United needed another winger, an out and out winger who called cross the ball, he identified Ivan Perisic but an agreement could not be found with Inter after Woodward’s failed negotiating tactics. It became clear that United were lacking a pace and creativity on the right. Mhkitaryan failed to impress, and United were initially linked with Lucas Moura from PSG. United’s attention was quickly turned to Alexis Sanchez who United offered a massive contract and Mhkitaryan to Arsenal.
Sanchez was signed in January as marquee signing that could help narrow the gap between City and help United challenge in Europe. Sanchez from a tactical point was a questionable decision. The Chilean started his career as a right winger but has ultimately shifted to playing on the left and as a central forward at Arsenal. To fit in tactically United would either have to ask Sanchez to play in a position he hasn’t played in years, shift Rashford/Martial out of position to the right, or completely change United’s formation and use Sanchez centrally. On top of that, Sanchez’s massive wages disrupted the wage structure of United and had a lasting financial impact. Sanchez failed to deliver but United saw Martial and Rashford develop into quality players, though United’s right wing was now occupied by Lingard and Mata. In 2019, United purchased Daniel James from Swansea City. The signing was a peculiar one as the young 21 winger had only played one season as a professional but United signed him off of the recommendation of Wales manager Ryan Giggs. Sanchez was loaned to Inter Milan and United went with Rashford, James, Mata, and Lingard. James initially impressed but simply has shown that he is still developing and may not be at the level United seek. Mason Greenwood emerged playing on the right and having one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a young player since Wayne Rooney scoring 18 goals in all competitions.
Everyone could see that United could use an attacking player who could play on the right. Jose Mourinho tried to sign Gareth Bale and Willian with both moves going nowhere but in 2019 Jadon Sancho emerged at Borussia Dortmund as a generational talent. With Covid-19 impacting the financial strength of money teams United had a clear chance to sign Jadon Sancho this summer. In one of the most embarrassing and frustrating recruitments of a player by Woodward, United failed to pay the $120 million asking price by Dortmund. United ultimately missed their chance to sign Sancho and may be at the back of the line after clubs recover from Covid. United missed out on a generational talent and may rue this decision for years. Instead United recruited two young talents on deadline day deals. Facundo Pellistri was signed from Penarol in Uruguay and Amad Diallo was signed from Atalanta (joining in January 2021). Pellistri is a far cry from Sancho and United’s fast tracking of the young Uruguayan into the first team may backfire.
Wingers/Attacking Midfielders
Marcus Rashford
Juan Mata
Daniel James
Mason Greenwood
Facundo Pellistri
Forward
Fergie went out of his way to convince Robin Van Persie to join him at United and the Dutch forward delivered United’s last title in 2013. Wayne Rooney saw himself moved out of position and there were strong suggestions that Rooney would’ve left the club if Ferguson had not retired in 2013. Instead David Moyes convinced his former player that he would once again be United’s main man, frustrating Van Persie from a tactics point of view. Rooney also signed a huge five year contract making him one of the highest paid players in the premier league.
After Moyes was fired new manager Louis Van Gaal wanted to revamp United’s forward area. Javier Hernandez was loaned to Real Madrid and Danny Welbeck was sold to Arsenal. Van Gaal liked youngster James Wilson from the academy but United pulled out a major deadline day deal to sign Radamel Falcao on loan from Monaco. Falcao was one of the best number 9’s in Europe and this was seen as a massive signing. In hindsight, Falcao was coming off of his 2nd ACL injury, and the Colombian rushed himself back into fitness to be ready for the World Cup and ultimately not making it. The likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, and Manchester City turned down the chance to sign Falcao because of concern over his fitness and the massive wages he asked for, though United and Woodward were convinced to make the deal. Instead United struggled for goals, Falcao was a player returning from a bad injury and only scored 4 goals. Van Persie’s age started to show and he produced his least amount of goals as well.
The club decided against signing Falcao, and Van Gaal decided to move on from Van Persie. This left United with just Wayne Rooney who no longer could really play as a striker for a full season and youngster James Wilson who was eventually loaned out. On transfer deadline day in 2015, United paid $36 million in a deal with add-ons that could reach $50 million, the most expensive transfer fee for a teenager for the French 19 year old Anthony Martial. The signing was questioned by many at United as the forward was relatively unknown outside of France and had only played one full season of professional football. Though Martial was signed as one for the future he ended up scoring 17 goals in all competitions. United were also lucky to have seen the rise of Marcus Rashford who had a meteoric rise during the second half of the season. New manager Jose Mourinho wanted some experience with United’s attack and Zlatan Ibrahimovic came in on a free transfer at 35. Rashford and Martial were shifted out to the left but Ibrahimovic delivered at United until an untimely knee injury in April occured. With Zlatan out long term, and Jose not ready to trust Martial or Rashford, United spent $75 million on Romelu Lukaku with Wayne Rooney returning to his boyhood Everton.
Lukaku initially impressed and had an above average goal record at United with 42 goals in 96 appearances but his goal scoring droughts and style were not for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and in 2019 United sold Lukaku to Inter for $70 million. Solskjaer was ready to trust Martial and Rashford as the two young forwards had impressed enough to out and out starters. United decided to not pursue a Lukaku replacement and instead bring 17 year old talent Mason Greenwood into the squad. Injuries hindered the 2019-2020 season and with Marcus Rashford getting a long term back injury the club decided on a Janury transfer day deadline move for Odion Igahlo playing his trade in China on a short term loan deal. The deal was questioned by many, United had been linked with acquiring another forward initially over the summer the likes of Dybala and Mandzuicic were linked but never moved. During the fall, Norweigan striker Errling Braut Halland announced himself to Europe at Salzburg and Solkjsaer was adamant on bringing his former player at Molde to United. The deal eventually fell through after United failed to negotiate due to agent fees and a buyout clause and Halland (rightly) joined Borussia Dortmund.
For the next few months Martial and Greenwood truly started to emerge especially after the signing of Bruno Fernandes. Igahlo looked good in a few cup games but clearly hasn’t shown enough to be a key contributor off the bench. United then decided to pull a transfer deadline move for 33 year old Edison Cavani. A move baffling to many people as it seems like another short sighted expensive signing.
Forwards:
Anthony Martial
Edison Cavani
Odion Igahlo
Mason Greenwood
Marcus Rashford