DYC.

Did I imagine Chelsea winning the league and league cup last season? Would Leon Osman consider a move to Chelsea? He could do a job in midfield. HG as well!

Torres 'leading' his side to glory during EURO 2008 is such a myth. He scored in the final, but that's it. I guess Gotze led Germany to World Cup glory. Spain's superb midfield won them that tournament, in combination with some brilliant defending. Xavi was incredible. Senna was absolutely excellent as well. And I remember Casillas enjoying quite the tournament. He was truly in his prime back then. Eto'o was Barcelona's star striker, scoring goals left and right. Important goals, goals in big games. Scored in two seperate CL finals. A serial winner, a key player in winning those trophies. How do you compare him with the striker of Atletico and Liverpool, who won nothing? Despite what some might think, you don't play for a top team because of luck. There's a reason Eto'o played for winning teams and Torres for non-winning teams. It's a difference in quality. And I'm talking about key players here, not types like Wes Brown and John O'Shea with their impressive CVs as squad players. It's not like Torres turned down the likes of Barca, Milan, Man Utd etc. in favour of Atletico and Liverpool. Torres played in support of Villa for Spain. He was the one making dummy runs, creating space for his team mates, scoring fairly regularly. Torres made a name for himself sooner than Villa in the national team, but Villa went hard as soon as he became a regular. Villa was Spain's star striker. Winning Golden Boots, their highest all-time goal-scorer. How was Torres better? In fact, not being able to replace Villa has really hurt Spain. Scoring goals comes a lot harder for them nowadays. Villa scored goals for fun at Valencia, a team under the elite. Torres scored goals for fun at Liverpool, a team under the elite. Villa joined a top team when he went to Barca. His added presence helped Barca win the league + CL double, until his unfortunate major injury ruined the rest of his time at Barca. Torres joined the elite and failed spectacularly, lucky enough to win some trophies in the process. Villa even went on to join Atletico, playing a big role in winning the league and reaching the CL final (!), even though he was past his prime. Not to mention Villa's and Eto'o's superior technique and overall game, which only made them more valuable to their sides. Torres was one of the best strikers in the world in his prime, but he never stood out. And people need to stop the 'it's easier to score in La Liga than the PL' argument. Before the freaks of nature named Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo came along, Ronaldo's total of 34, a record set in the 90s, almost seemed impossible to beat. So many great players have played in Spain, no one managed to score 30+ for fun. Managing 25+ goals in La Liga is no easy feat. Players like Suarez, Van Persie, Drogba, Ronaldo have proven it's very possible to score a high amount of goals in the PL, not to mention past greats like Henry and others. If you have some time, check Aguero's goal-scoring record in England. Despite dealing with niggling injuries in his time at City, he's close to averaging a goal per game.

Brazil's away shirt is ridiculously sexy.

Oscar love? On this forum? Where?

His description was that of the perfect CM, doing the job of two men. I know Vidal but he can't do all of that in a single match. No one can. You name me any top midfielder and I'll point out flaws.

Haha, what the heck? Who is this almighty player?

You're Mexican. You know damn well where they got the money from.

He's a loaner so it's alright. Of course, his wages are ridiculous and his loan fee is kind of steep, but the people in charge are willing to pay so whatever. But this deal has everything to do with Mendes. I just hope he does Mou (and so us) a favour in the future with one of his top players. I don't really care how he does tbh. Diego is my #1 man. If he proves to be a great squad player, I'm happy. If he does a decent/poor/terrible job, he goes back to Monaco. But I don't believe in the 'back to his previous best' talk. Even then, I prefer Costa. So, as long as Mourinho doesn't experiment by playing him instead of Diego (or to play him out wide with Falcao up top, what a terrible idea), and I highly doubt that will happen, then everything is fine with me. Oh, and also as long as Remy isn't leaving.

That's true, but I think he should have started anyway. He was fit to play against Colombia, but I guess Dunga still believed in his original midfield set-up. He made a comment about Fred possibly starting before the tournament, so I'm not so sure Coutinho would've been a starter if not for his injury. I'd always play Coutinho because he's the only creative player they have besides Neymar. I'd really like to see Willian in midfield, even at Chelsea. I've always wondered why he's never been tried there. With his ability to retain the ball under pressure, his ability to cary the ball, solid passing (at times he's displayed fantastic range in passing) and his ability to switch play, you'd think he'd be well suited to play in midfield. Not to mention his fantastic ball control. He does not take many risks, so that's no problem in midfield, in terms of losing the ball. He might even grow as a player there, with that extra bit of time and space on the ball in deeper positions. Defensively, he has the required energy and work rate, and good upper body strength for physical tussles, with his pace an added bonus. Not the tallest player but the likes of Fabregas and Ramires aren't that much bigger than him, and I'd say he beats both of them strength wise. The only question would be whether he has the vision, but more importantly, the required tactical awareness to play there, but I have a feeling he does. Or better said, he has the potential and willingness to learn in order to master the role. And it's not like you can say his ability to score or set up goals would be wasted in midfield.

What did anyone expect, really? When the team is not playing well or struggling, you don't look at the likes of Willian to turn up and (try to) win you the game. He does not possess that ability, he's supporting cast. Chelsea have Cesc, Eden and Diego as star men, players that make the difference. Neymar is the only top attacking player Brazil have, but he won't be able to perform every single time. That's impossible. At least play Coutinho, a player capable of producing high quality play (at times).

Willian was already playing with a lot of swagger in the final months of the season. Anyone claiming he performed better than Neymar, in any capacity, can not be taken seriously. Willian was solid in his distribution and he was involved throughout the match, but he failed to threaten goal yet again as one of the attackers, and was lacking in imagination. Neymar was the one creating space and causing havoc with his dribbling and trickery. Neymar was the one setting up opportunities for his team mates. He was the one making intelligent runs, threatening goal (unlucky not to add a goal to his total) on quite a few occasions. He scored the equaliser and provided the game-winning assist, displaying amazing vision with a wonderful pass that took out the entire defence, zipping through the tightest of spaces. His performance was the best individual performance of the tournament by far, carrying a very average Brazil side. Maybe Willian is the one who should play in midfield, alongside a holding midfielder. The Fernandinho and Elias pairing is painfully poor for a side like Brazil.

Well, it's just an option. Anyway, looks like it's a done deal. Hope he can contribute. I'm counting on Costa though. And I hope this doesn't mean Remy's leaving. Wonder who's next.

Arse fans must be loving this part.

Damnit, was hoping for an actual link. Missed the wishlist part. I would love Xhaka here.

€70 mil is crazy money though. Juve are very lucky to be in the position to ask that much money, possibly more. They're always the winners in this deal as they'll survive without him.

Return of the legend?

Mikel leaving? Need official confirmation before I believe that. How he managed 9 years at Chelsea, with so many players coming and going... Good luck to him if it happens. Must be joining Al-Ain for the wonderful project.

The two can not be compared, and Falcao never came close to him. Ronaldo is one of the most talented players in the history of football. Even when he was old and overweight, you could still see his class and unique talent. Falcao is a finisher. There have been many players like him before his time, and there will be many players like him after he's done. The level of his physical condition has a far greater effect on his game than a natural like Ronaldo, who had so many assets to fall back on and could therefore adjust his game. This whole Copa America judgement is a joke. If he does well, the same people saying this means nothing now, will be praising him. Regardless of his exploits this tournament, I'm convinced we'll never see that old Falcao again. He's not the same. I prefer Costa anyway, looking at both players in their prime. Could care less if he's not as big a name. Question is whether Falcao can still be of some value if he joins. The echoes of lack of service at Utd and now for Colombia arrouse feelings of deja vu.

Exactly. Big names. But those big names have never performed for Argentina. It's always the same story. Yet Messi, their best performer by far for four years now, always receives all the attention/criticism and is supposed to make his team mates perform and put the ball in the net. An impossible task. I don't know what Martino was thinking with that midfield though. Terrible substitutions as well. But they had a 2-0 lead, with plenty of chances to score more. That's on the players. It's not over though. But they need to step up and remain focus.

Already had a bad feeling when I saw the line-up. Still expected a win though, this Paraguay side is not impressive. Losing a 2-0 lead is unacceptable. Poor finishing btw.

I literally said that wasn't the case vs Wales and that he did not receive the ball enough. More importantly, not quickly enough.

Don't like the Argentina line-up. Hope the coach turns out to be right. Would be nice if Aguero finally performed for Argentina. Can't believe Romero's the best option in goal...

They did miss him, but crossing your opponents to death is not a recipe for succes. Results are bound to fluctuate with that kind of approach.

Agree. When I hear people say Hazard should score more, I always think that you can't force yourself to be a goal-scorer. People just need to accept the fact that Hazard is not that type of player. But you can kill your opponent in other ways, and that's where Hazard will have to make strides, because it's his goal to become the best player in the world. But like you said, this passiveness can not be excused. Can't help but feel he takes it easy for Belgium for some reason, most of the time anyway. I don't know what it is. But I will say that yesterday wasn't all on him. Bar the first 15, 20 min, the ball circulation was far too low and Hazard did not receive the ball in the areas he should have. His off the ball movement was good but they either ignored him or lacked vision to read his movement and reach him. This is where Belgium's lack of a good passer/playmaker in the midfield hurts them. Belgium have this weird thing of not being able to perform well consistently. Some kind of psychological issue they have. But they should also realise that they do have to work really, really hard to achieve succes, harder than previous succes teams. They're good players but they're not world-class players. Think the golden generation talk has gone to their head. Teams like France, Brazil, Italy, Spain possessed genuine world-class players when they won World and European cups.

He's big and black so he's obviously comparable to Drogba. Such lazy comparisons. Benteke plays nothing like him. He's quite static. He resembles a player like Llorente a lot more than Drogba. And I keep hearing about his technique, but I've never been able to see it. He's a good striker when you feed him with crosses, but you have to really look for him. Hazard (and De Bruyne) doesn't receive the ball nearly enough, and definitely not quick enough. And who in his right mind would play Kevin wide right, far away from Hazard, limited to delivering crosses. You'd think the first thing a manager would do, would be to get his two creative men to link up and cause havoc. Kevin should be playing in the middle, especially with his shooting (with both feet). De Bruyne's supposed lack of work rate is a complete myth btw. The guy has a fantastic engine.