OhForAGreavsie

I'm saying that the description of Barcelona which you gave here sounds like you could just as easily be describing Man City. That's probably no coincidence. This plays into an argument I often gave in defence of Jose when his brand of football was being attacked by people expressing opinions which I felt were 'illiterate' in a footballing sense. When people railed at Jose to play full on front-foot football with our squad, I would point out that there was no way our players could win playing like that. I argued that you can only win championships that way if your players are miles better than everyone else's, that otherwise tactics were necessary, and that it was tactics which make football interesting. Antonio has a better squad than Jose did but he's no fool, he uses tactics. Pep is "so so happy" that his players dominated possession against us. Lot's of pleasure for him, not so many points for his team. He won everything playing his way at Barca because he had a great team, some say the greatest team ever. It was an extraordinary collection of players but, now that Barca are slipping back from those superhuman levels, they are going to have to play smarter if they want to continue winning titles. City, of course, have not approached those levels yet. Let's hope they never do, and that their coach never mends his ways. Let's hope that we will be able to trust in Pep for as long as we have been trusting in Arsene. Edit: We may not get our wish because City's owners, unlike their Arsenal counterparts, are determined to collect the very best players. If they manage it, then Pep will deliver trophies by the bucket load. If they don't however Pep will have to learn to give more thought to to the way he sets up his team, and to the qualities he looks for in his players. I'm not sure if Pep has yet suffered from the fact that it's less easy to attract the tip top players to Manchester City, and to England in general, than it is to entice them to Barcelona. If he hasn't yet, he will soon enough. Maybe we can put our hopes in that.

Man City?

I predicted, correctly, that Alexis would not be a success at Barcelona. Then I went and spoilt it all by predicting that he would not succeed at Arsenal either. :-) I based those predictions on games I watched him play for Udinese. My observation was that, when his space was closed, Alexis ran around in circles, going nowhere, and only passed the ball as a last resort. Even then his passes often missed their target. Both Arsenal and Barcelona are built on passing, but passing is the worst part of a Alexis's game. Hence my feeling that he would not be a good fit for those teams. The contribution Alexis has made to Arsenal is undeniable and has appeared to prove me wrong but I'm still suspicious about what he might do for Chelsea. I don't mean that I think he would achieve nothing for us. This isn't a Torres situation where I woke up the next morning, saw that he had been signed, and went into a deep depression. No, this is a belief that, however well Alexis might do, there are others who would do better for us.

Agreed.

What's an OG?

Was just about to post the same thing. Officials do not, in my opinion, deliberately set out to favour Barceloana. It's just that they are in sympathy with the Catalan club and its living legends on the pitch. Officials are subconsciously seduced into seeing things Barca's way. A brilliantly talented Barcelona player, a paragon of the beautiful game, makes contact with a brutish player of that other team. Of course it's a foul. Of course it's a free kick to Barca. Unless it's a penalty of course. This nonsense has been going on for too long. Barcelona must not be allowed to cheat their way through another round of the competition.

More depressing evidence of the urgent need for the club to make good player assessments and act on them quickly. When some of us were recommending Dybala as a transfer target two summers ago, the usual objections were raised here; not proved in the Premier League, not proved full stop, not sure he's good enough. Our club cannot afford to wait until footballers are established superstars. If we do that, clubs higher up the food chain will always take them, and we will always miss out.

Exactly, which is why I wanted Arsenal to win last night. I wanted them to go to White Hart Lane with their top four hopes still alive, and their confidence high. Arsenal's motivation should always be set to maximum for the North London derby, but now it looks like they are going to limp into Tottenham with their tails between their legs, and their heads all over the place. A fixture where we might have hoped Spurs would drop points, could turn into a goal difference boost for them instead. (Not that goal difference is going to matter much. We aren't going to win the league on goal difference. If Spurs close the points gap, they will automatically also improve their goal difference relative to ours.)

Yes, I saw it. Sad. Sadder still is the fact that the way he is now is an improvement. A stroke is a tough thing.

Just seen the score. Ah, those lovely popcorn and Arsenal Fan TV moments. Would have been better for us if Arsenal had won so that was what I wanted. Still can't help smiling though can you. 😊😊

Never forget that, according to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Underwater Life, "There is no such thing as a fish"!

Well we fully agree about Marcos. I'm a big fan of his. I replied as I did because you asked, "I'm sorry b[o]ut how are we not talking more about this skill", so I hope you see why I thought you were talking particularly about the skill.

Because in the scheme of things it's meaningless. An ability to do it doesn't make a player good. An inability to do it doesn't make a player bad. There are an awful lot of footballers who are way short of professional standard but who can do stuff like that. It's an irrelevance.

He being Marcos? If so I don't agree. He was a good player, and a good fit, the day we bought him and he still is. If anything has changed it's not what Marcos can do, it's the appreciation, among fans, for what he offers. Back when he was first linked, those of us supporting his arrival were in the minority so it's pleasing that he is winning people over. Pleasing because it means he's done well for us. I'm a big fan but I remain one of those who sees room for an upgrade at LWB. My ideal scenario would be for an upgrade to arrive, but for Marcos to remain a part of the squad. That would be an immensely positive situation for us.

Keita has been discussed, both here and in his dedicated thread. I think it's a fair summary to say that most like his game, particularly his dribbling, but some are worried that his size, when paired with N'Golo, would leave us too lightweight.

Yep, not withstanding rumoured interest from a number of top clubs, all of this makes a lot of sense. Indeed, it may be because none of his preferred destination clubs are in the market for a striker now, that he says so clearly he'll be staying at Torino. I still say, however, that there will be no pressure for Torino to part with him and that situation will enable them to hold out for the buy out figure. Belotti won't be cheap, and nor should he be; he's a terrific player. I would certainly pay more for him than I'd pay for Lukaku. In fact I wouldn't buy Rom at all.

Agree he's better, but doubt he'll be significantly cheaper, if he's any cheaper at all. First, there is that rumoured buy out clause which Torino will negotiate hard to have met in full. Second, Belotti has been very clear that he's happy to stay in Turin. Torino are not going to come under any pressure to sell and that will help them to hold out for the price they want. Third, there's the law of supply and demand. You and I aren't the only ones on this site who rate Belotti more highly than Lukaku. There are plenty, and there are certain to be plenty more among the decision makers of Europe's top clubs. I'd bet a lot of money that, among the clubs able to afford these two players, there will be a much higher demand for Belotti than there will be for Rom. This will also put upward pressure on Belotti's price.

I don't think it's even a question of not wanting to damage relationships with other clubs, although that should always be an important consideration. It's a simple fact of contract law. If there is a binding contract, then it's binding unless all parties agree to vary its terms. Gladbach did not agree to release Andreas and the lad did not agree to return. Nothing Chelsea could do in those circumstances.

That's what my post was about.

I'm too lazy to check but, over the past dozen years, I wonder how many teams or coaches have beaten Barca or Bayern, in home and away league fixtures during the same season? I'm guessing the answer is pretty close to zero. In other words, is this a Pep stat, or is it really a combined Barcelona & Bayern Munich stat?

No need to worry about the names we're linked with. It's the one, or ones, we sign we need to concentrate on.

Not at all impressed by that line up. It would achieve barely any more in Europe than any line up we've used this year. Since there is virtually no chance of that XI being our regular starters next season, we'll never know for sure so you and I can just enjoy arguing about it.

I hope the trip is blissfully wonderful for both of you, and most especially for your wife of course. There's no avoiding how sad this is but stay strong for her mate.

I think you're right, there may well have been. It'll be interesting to see if any serious intent emerges this summer.

He-he he-he