DYC.

Martinez and Torres are the out-and-out strikers, the number #9s. They lead the line, keep the CBs busy, act as the target men, hold the ball (as best as they can), make runs to stretch the defence and move into the box to receive passes and crosses. While Griezmann has complete freedom in his movement and roams around, offers a passing option between the lines and out wide, will run in behind at times and make late runs into the box (leaving him unmarked and giving him a head start in terms of moving towards the ball). Griezmann isn't suited to the #9 role. It's the same with Cristiano Ronaldo on the left wing vs him in the middle. He becomes lost in the middle even though he's a pseudo-striker on the left wing (or a pseudo-winger that's actually a striker, you know what I mean). They don't know how to play with restricted movement or how to patiently wait and pick the right positions to receive the ball (and play with back to goal). And they both need their decoy.

The Michu remarks have to stop really. A Rayo and Swansea player isn't on the same level as an Atleti and Chelsea player. He wasn't a case of a world-class player playing for a lesser side either. Michu isn't even a #9. Diego is class when fit. 12/13: 36 starts - 20 goals. 13/14: 50 starts - 36 goals. 14/15: 32 starts - 21 goals. Top quality strike rate. 15/16 is a lost year. He relies on service and he's not getting it. His problem is his fitness. You want your striker to play around 45 games (at least) in a season. And his little niggles here and there hurt his consistency. If it's a real issue or becoming one, selling wouldn't be a bad idea at all. But a quality replacement is very tough to find, let alone actual improvement. But Chelsea's real problem is the lack of reliable goal-scorers outside of Costa. The team is too reliant on Costa. Most top teams have at least two. And I think Hazard and Costa were the only ones in double figures last season (a good thing for the high amount of set-piece goals). Question is whether the rest would score more in a more positive approach and better offensive play. I can't say tbh. It's a shame Pedro joined a mess of a team.

This is the type of stuff that will receive the most attention. Spreading hatred and encouraging seperation. All because of the actions of sick and confused individuals, devoid of any humanity. Most created and controlled by monsters and wolves in sheep's clothing.

One guy says they were shouting in Arabic and mentioned Syria. One guy says they didn't say a thing. Blame game be heated. These reports are scary. Now they say the stadium bombing was suicide attack. Conflicting reports will be piling up like crazy. This is so sad.

Something terrible has happened. A tragedy. Let's hear what the president of the Unites States has to say. How does a statement from a president help anything?

I can't believe this. People are also being held hostage. What is happening? I've always feared something like this happening at a game.

I heard it and thought that can't be fireworks, wouldn't make sense. Never thought it could be gunshots and explosions... Why didn't they stop the game?

His form wasn't as bad as it was made out to be to begin with. But he'll continue to struggle somewhat (mostly off the ball) unless the team drastically improves. Playing for Spain isn't exactly comparable.

Mario Gaspar and Santi Cazorla as the scorers today. La Roja can thank Villarreal productions. Gaspar's goal has to be nominated for the Puskas award. Struck like a true magician. Hazard still in poor form. Now he just takes all the pace out of games. 0 end product in his actions. De Bruyne wasn't even good. Matches like this, when space in behind is denied, are still too tricky for him. But his delivery remains extremely useful and he did get a goal and an assist. Lukaku did nothing. He struggles even more in games like this, he was completely lost. Belgium has a team built for counter-attacking but they're too respected to be given the space they need. Italy didn't have to lose this game but Bonucci's error and a bit of luck helped Belgium win. Italy's dangerous on the break. You can see the hand of the manager in their counter-attacks. But they failed to take their chances. Pogba is so ridiculously overhyped. He still plays like a youngster. How he's seen as one of the best midfielders in the world I'll never understand. Martial wasn't quite average today but his assist was brilliant.

Zidane praises Hazard part 376: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cnt/dmf20151112_01967304 (Article's in Dutch)

I don't see why not. He has one huge strength as a player and that's his power and athleticism. His recovery pace is a huge asset to his game. That moment when he slipped, got back up and tackled Walcott was so brilliant. His size doesn't seem to hinder him at all. He just needs to work on his timing. With his height, leap and strength, he could develop into a dominant force in the air. His tackling is pretty good but he should work on trying to keep the ball in possession when sliding. And not going to ground so quickly in general. But he'll always have that weakness when it comes to his ability on the ball. I don't rate him as highly as many others do atm. He's a solid CB but still plenty to learn still. In his positioning, anticipation and general decision-making. But that's completely normal, experience is crucial at CB. That's true.

http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/8mwt90b2yeeyqqws6m41hw/Show/Player-Focus-Old-Fashioned-Otamendi-Approach-Adds-Brawn-to-City-Backline Saw this and it reminded me how absolutely gutted I was Chelsea didn't get him. Campaigned for him all summer long (overrated, one season wonder bla bla bla). He was there for the taking as he was desperate to make a move higher up. Like the article says, old-school CB. Tough, no mercy. He would've been perfect. City buy more impressive individuals in general. I do wonder how good Kompany-Otamendi is as a duo though. They're quite similar. And I wonder what this means for Mangala. £42 mil... crazy

I don't know how you know how highly I rate him but fair enough, you're not a fan. But your statement was wrong. He's been performing for longer than a season. True but I just find him so unrefined. I can see him ending up like Ba.

You really think Aboubakar's good? I find him so unrefined.

Have you seen Lyon in the CL this season? They're poor. Defensively they're still pretty solid but going forward... Slow, congested and a complete lack of creativity. Any forward would suffer. Their form in the league is nothing compared to last season either (not surprising, they overperformed last year). Lacazette is now asked to do it all by himself. As in create space, set up chances for others and himself and score goals. A tough task for any player. Lacazette and Fekir carried them last season. They have a very young team so their form will naturally fluctuate. But they're lacking in true quality so they were never going to keep last season's form up. The Fekir injury hit them hard. He is brilliant. He brings that spark and the ability to turn nothing into something. A decent team at best overall but with good potential. France can afford to drop him because they have plenty of options. Benzema, Griezmann, Giroud, Martial. Deschamps will soon bring him back in the squad and deservedly so He knows he's quality. His form has dropped but that happens to even better players. He'll bounce back. It would be even better if his price dropped because of his dip. I doubt it though. Aulas is smarter than that. @Rapkun Hard to be a one season wonder when you've been one of the better players in the Ligue 1 for two years. To call Lacazette that and then bring up a forward who's never performed for a full season for Marseille, let alone at a high level, is odd. Lacazette's first goal vs Saint-Etienne (big game btw) was a reminder of his class. Turned nothing into something and the finish was class.

Some, yes. 4-6 starters out and having to move players out of their natural position, no. I don't care who the manager is. Chelsea could not even handle 2 or 3 key players out, and I mean 14/15 Chelsea. Their bench is not that good. Even Guardiola's Bayern level dropped quite substantially when they suffered key injuries last season (same goes for his first season). Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Marcelo out. That's your backline. Of course you'll struggle at the back. Ronaldo went through a spell like this last season. He'll bounce back and it won't be because Benitez suddenly found a way to get the best out of him. True, Navas has been excellent. I still say give the man some real time. The performances aren't great but his record is good. Benitez did not come in as a saviour or revolutionary. Judging him after a few months and pointing fingers at him for certain factors already is silly. If Benitez is responsible for Ronaldo's form for example, is he also responsible for Navas', Marcelo's and Casemiro's (excellent) form? I say no. I'd say this is going nowhere. Go be Jason somewhere else. Shoo, shoo.

Bitch, please. Finally found it. Forgot how useful YT can be.

Ancelotti is irrelevant. I wasn't comparing his work to Ancelotti and Ancelotti was in his second season, not his first few months. Neither did he deal with this many injuries at the same time. Modric and Bale only recently came back. Ramos and Pepe have been taking turns on the sidelines. Right about Ronaldo. But I find it a bit of a non issue for Benitez as a manager. His team is scoring goals (highest scorers in the league). Cristiano will bounce back eventually, especially with his buddies returning. Leadership in the backline, as in the communicator. Pepe is not that player, Varane is 22. So yeah. They really haven't conceded that much though. Before the Sevilla game, they only conceded 4 goals in all competitions. First loss of the season as well. I understand your last point. But again, I want to see if he's still this rigid as you put it with fit squad. Maybe he's just doing it because of the constant shuffling. But If he continues his ways, then criticise away. I just think we fans are too quick with the judgement as we're basically waiting for him to fail.

That goes without saying. But again, Neymar and someone like Messi aren't in the same bracket imo. I don't know how good I claim his touch to be but Hazard is the furthest thing from trigger happy. He's not a goal-scorer. He'll never pass up the opportunity to find someone in a 'better position to score'. We've seen him go to great lengths to achieve that, he's almost as bad as Ozil in this. And his shooting technique is nothing to write home about. That hurts him more. Neymar's first goal against Villarreal was beautiful strike imo but he made it look easy. Fair enough. On that touch in the vid, I agree. I only brought up that moment because it was fresh in my memory. He usually does do better than he did there but he does lack that true genius when making snapshot decisions (in everything he does really) and that's what's holds him back from being a bigger legend besides the goal-scoring. There's a difference in possessing skill and how you use that skill. For me anyway. What a comparison btw. Bringing up Romario. That's like saying a sprinter that came 0.10 sec behind Bolt isn't quite fast, good but not great. Might as well bring Maradona into the mix. I do like what you said about the first touch. You don't hear the importance of it brought up enough. It truly is the key to everything.

It's not bad but not nearly strong enough to properly replace the starters. Isco's not a right winger, Nacho is not a left back, Bale's not a striker. Casilla is no Navas to put it lightly. Benzema is so crucial and James and Marcelo are key as well. Varane is very good but their backline is void of any kind leadership without Ramos. Danilo has been disappointing, Carvajal is comfortably better. The importance of Clasico is always overstated. I love all the hype and drama surrounding the game but that top spot often shuffles quite a bit before the end. It's important but not that important. I agree on the performances but like I said, I'd like to see his work with a fit starting XI first. They've suffered quite the injuries this season and the starting line-up has seen so many changes and shuffles. I'm not a fan of Benitez but even he deserves a real chance to show what he can do.

You mean like this? I've never seen him struggle with those kind of balls or miss a beat like you put it. I disagree with the part on Neymar's first touch. I've seen the ball escape from him quite a few times. I don't think of him when I think of players with an extraordinary touch and ball control. But he is getting better and better. Cristiano's Ronaldo touch is pretty much flawless. This was only recently against Sevilla: See 00:41. He does that all the time really.

Real just love to get rid of managers. Or maybe they truly believe in a need for new ideas on a regular basis? I really don't know. But it works for them. Barca has lengthy list of managers as well. The Italians were the same during their glory days (still are). As long as there's quality in the squad is there I suppose.

Tbf, Real were without Navas, Carvajal, Marcelo, James and Benz, while they lost Ramos after 25 min. Even a fully fit Real can lose away vs Sevilla. It's not a terrible result. And for all the criticism he's received, I want to see how he does with a fit starting XI first. Clasico will be interesting. What Real will show up? If it's the one we saw vs PSG, it's not going to be a spectacle. Benitez should know he won't last long if he goes defensive though. He's already sparking up memories of Mourinho. But then again, I'm sure he realises he won't last long regardless of style.

Pardew looks like a U.S. presidential candidate. He'd probably win.

The club should stop the nonsense. Ask Ruben if he'd like to leave on loan and make it happen if he's up for it. He's not the in plans of the manager. He has four players ahead of him and the team is a mess. I'm even sure Zouma would get the nod in a big game ahead of him if 3 out of the 4 were unavailable.