The Skipper

It's so over IMO. We've lost our heart beat in Fabregas. I'm just going to try and enjoy this game as much as possible, just want RLC to be given a bit more freedom. He's been way too safe. He needs to step it up a bit and drive the ball forward.

Hell of a pass from Fabregas, must say. Headshot.

Haha. The irony.

I always thank the stars that MrBlueGuy isn't our manager.

If anything, Isco plays more like a CM at Real than a CAM. Also, David Silva makes many more key passes than Oscar but has less assists so...

How is Oscar more versatile and how does he have a better end product? How in the world is Oscar just as creative as Isco as well? (And don't give me stats, by that reasoning Oscar is more creative than David Silva and we know that just isn't true). The only thing Oscar is is possibly better defensively and even then it isn't by much. He isn't a much better goalscorer either (considering Isco never gets to play in his natural position, he hasn't grabbed that many more goals than him).

You just said Oscar is better than Isco based on those attributes...

So is Oscar also better than David Silva because he's better in the air and defensively better and is better at set pieces?

That's you. Just because he didn't celebrate the goals doesn't mean he is on his way back. It's pretty normal for players to do. Even Sturridge didn't celebrate when he scored against us some time ago.

LAM09's point is that it's different doing it with Vitesse than with an Ajax or PSV. I agree.

Better goalscorer and better defensively perhaps, but versatile? No. Isco is just as versatile as Oscar.Isco is far more naturally talented than Oscar is and sees the game a lot better. He's the better dribbler, better passer, more effective in the final third... And is still very competent defensively. Goal scoring? Not a lot in it at all either. When it comes to pure, natural footballing ability... It's not even close IMO.

In what sense is Oscar better than Isco?

Yaya and Matic in midfield would be incredible. If we can't land our main CM targets Yaya would be an excellent option for like a season or two. Ballack-esque signing.

Would be an interesting bet to take IMO. Could be a Fabregas-esque signing. This guy was meant to be the top talent of his generation alongside Hazard and Neymar...

Why isn't he a Jose-type player?

What's so disrespectful about it? Schurrle especially did contribute quite a bit...

Marseille are my team in France, my family there are big supporters... Would be delighted with this, top top team.

It really isn't about spending big and lavishly. It's about spending smart. Just like what we've been doing over the last 2/3 seasons. I trust the board and Jose to get it right, yet again.

Still cannot believe Jose didn't give the lad a fair chance.

He does remind me a lot of Kaka, whether he has the same level of ability? Doubt it, but we'll see.

You're possibly right, but I honestly wasn't discussing who fits our system better. Simply stating who I thought was the better player. Pogba can be the better player in the long haul but he still has a lot to learn. The raw ability is there, he just needs to learn how to use it to its maximum. Thiago is already along those lines. The only thing that's really stopped Thiago are his injuries. He's also obviously a top talent himself.

So if he has another inconsistent season we can expect a famous Gilvorak rant on Oscar, yes?

You quantify it by watching games and looking at the player who's the most influential in possession and out of possession. He's the heartbeat of his team. Sets the tempo, is the proper playmaker of the team, recognises what spaces to infiltrate at the right time, makes the best decisions at the right time etc... Pogba doesn't do much of that yet. At Juve, Pirlo controls and sets the pace of the game for them. A controller is pretty interchangeable with playmaker. Think Xavi, Pirlo etc. I'm not advocating that we should buy Thiago btw, literally just stating that he's a better player because he sees the game a lot better than Pogba does atm. Pogba is still learning how to do that but it's just natural for Thiago.

Koke and Thiago are both very adaptable players (more so than Pogba IMO) so that is sort of irrelevant.

Well you can compare them because they're both CMs, albeit different types, but essentially apart from his physicality and stature, Pogba is behind Thiago in almost every sense at the moment. He cannot control a game like Thiago does.