nadavTKL

This Arsenal fan/journalist Ben Fairthorne from twitter really thinks it would be a battle between us and PSG. He's a bulshiter as far as i noticed though....

Shaktar are as stubborn as Porto. Costa said a few days ago that his realese clause is around 50m euros.

Im pretty sure it wasnt the reason. Everyone who watched Cuadrado in Italy or Colombia 2-3 times can tell you his ball control is far far away from Hazard's and even Willian's. Imo the reason we got him was his explosiveness and pace on the right wing.

My early conclusions on Cuadrado and the whole AMs saga in January.. There is one connection between Cuadrado, Schurlle and Salah that i think no one can ignore - the ball control / technical abilities / close control of all three are... how to say.... not great. Not ideal for a big team who wants to control possession, wants to move the ball quick, wants to keep the ball and link up in tight spaces. Its also something that they cant improve drastically. One of the things im sure of right now after the season we had so far, is that Chelsea cant play with a AM like those 3 in their first line up. A big team who wants to be top 4 in the world today, needs to push to have the maximum players who can play the ball quick, can handle ball pressure and all the other things i wrote which are basically the same thing - great technical abilities. Thats football today, look at Bayern, Barcelona and Real - almost 100% of their first eleven are players who can play the ball, even the defenders. And off course its important mostly in midfield. Thats one of the two reasons to why Mourinho likes Willian more than any other AM (after Hazard, and the other reason is off course the work rate), his contribution in the final third is underwhelming, but his technical abilities are great, and way better than those players i mentioned, and even Oscar's. Some members are angry Salah is gone and doing so well, but like i said he couldnt succeed here. Fiorentina suits his pace and dribble, cause they play on counter attacks with very few players up, so he looks like a little Maradona there trying to do it all and running around. Have him back in Chelsea and it will be the same - he would look like someone who just started playing football. I think Cuadrado is more talented than Salah and Schurrle, so maybe he could at least develop to be a good back up player, unlike Salah and Schurrle (this season). And last... Douglas Costa. The player everyone here didnt want so bad, in a bizzare way i must say, cause none of them watched him more than a few. I'll tell you what, now im completely sure the notorious D.Costa was the first name on Jose's list last January, not Cuadrado. And its for the same old reason again - great technical abilities, which he got. And im also sure Costa would have played if he was the player we got and not Cuadrado, he would have played a lot more than a few bench appearances. He speaks the same 'football language' Cesc, Hazard and Willian speaks, and instead we got another AM who speaks different language. Now while im not saying we should try to sign D.Costa again in the summer, im saying we lack another player who speaks that language. Hopefully we would get him, and hopefully it would be a player who's more decisive and smart on the ball like Cesc/Hazard, rather than another Willian, but the 'great technical abilities' is a MUST and the most important issue. And about Cuadrado again, he should stay and fight for his place, but the maximum imo is that he'll be a good super sub for a year or two until he feels he needs more game time.

Probably my two favourite international squads on show tonight, France-Brazil. FRANCE XI - Mandanda; Sagna, Varane, Sakho, Evra; Schneiderlin, Sissoko, Matuidi; Griezmann, Benzema, Valbuena. BRAZIL XI - Jefferson; Danilo, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Filipe Luís; Luiz Gustavo, Elias; Willian, Oscar; Firmino, Neymar. Wanted to see Fekir and Lacazette in the line up, hope to see them, D.Costa and Coutinho. Its nice not to see Hulk and Moura in Brazil's squad, i think Dunga did very well with the players he picked.

Those "*enter team* transfer news" from Telegraph are kind a confusing, they talk about rumors from all the papers but do very little to let us know its not them who report the news. If you didnt noticed its The London Evening Standard who reports about Anderson.

Im not posting a lot at those players threads (i actually think they are too much, i mean how much can you talk about one player?) but i'll say this thing that probably been said alot- Hazard would probably never be a 30-40 goals a season player. When i see people comparing Alexis Sanchez to him i laugh, because its obvious Alexis is a better goal scorer, but if someone thinks it makes him better than Hazard or even close to his level than they dont get what Hazard is doing. He's more a playmaker, someone who carries the team offensively, he doesnt have to always score to make a point about his level. This season he's always there to carry, not like previous seasons when he was off here and there. I dont think there are many players who "carries their team offensively" right now in the top teams, maybe just Messi and Robben. And i think he can win Ballon d'or even if he wont score 30-40 goals, when Messi and Ronaldo will not be there to compete. People need to understand those two are freaks- football wise and especially mentally wise. Neymar or anyone else we know who plays football right now would never get to their goal-scoring abilities, im 100% sure.

Its his decision if someone pays his 44m buy-out.

Is it? I mean we got to win a few games to win the title officially but it's hardly a question of if or not we'll make it. Maybe for the super pessimistic of this forum but that's it.

Wouldnt have changed a lot if we didnt have Cesc. We need both. We need another Cesc/Hazard. It could be Koke or an healty Thiago. Although Modric is really wonderfull i agree.

Real could regret this. So much better. Football is about one thing more than anything else - Midfield. Off course the team with the better midfield not always win, the tactical aspects and the manager set up are also huge part, but to have the better midfield gets you to 50% of your goal. In terms of pure quality, Real Madrid's trio Modric-Kroos-Isco is head and shoulders above Barca's Iniesta-Mascherano-Rakitic.

Off couse non of them is a world class player. Mata was a very good AM for us, personally i (and i think most people) forgot about him last season already thanks to Hazard who stepped up. And Cesc came this season and imo made our attacking game more flowing than it ever been with Mata. Mata's techniques are alot better than Oscar so if he stayed and played in the 10 role im pretty sure our attacking game would have been better, but tactically he just cant play in Jose's team, especially not in the 10 role. And imo he doesnt fit to any team who wants to be top 4 in Europe because he cant be "a soldier" on the pitch, and he's not consistent enough so it could be forgiven.

The team kills me, literally.

Ivanovic-Cahill-Terry... I don't want any in our regular line up next season. Our offside trap is pathetic, all 3 are slow and Terry is the only one with a brain.

Still here? when you're world class you play well for a long time, and actually play, not sit on the bence or in the stands. Till now Mata failed to do it in Man U.

Gerrard Crimes

Ok but why? Bayern know he's one of the very best, he's pretty young, and Pep likes him. Only a really amazing offer will maybe get him out of there, I'm talking 50m pounds but even that isn't sure, Bayern are filthy rich.I don't think it's smart to pay this kind of money on a CB, when you see what Roma did in the last few seasons. They got three great CBs for little money season after season. Great CBs can be found almost everywhere. Mainly because the standart is quiet poor this days.

Jerome Boateng? thats equal to say lets get Neymar, Veratti, D.Silva or Kroos. That means A, one of the best players in his position and B, plays for one of the best-richest clubs. We do need to find a CB, somewhere else. Not Varane too, Real arent that suckers.

The quastion is always if we can control the game and keep the ball good enough, when Jose feels he can trust the team to do it good enough, he'll stop changing our line up and approach dramatically in the big games. With Koke instead of Oscar i think it could be the final change we need to be that proactive team we all want to see.

According to reports he has a 60m euros release clause (44m in pounds today).

If im thinking about this option seriously, i feel he could be a huge signing. Koke is something like Oscar in his functioning on the pitch, but a lot more polished, and just better. Koke-Matic-Cesc could on paper dominate almost every game, this could also end the use of Ramires in the big games. Koke is as smart on the ball as Cesc and Hazard, and he would allow Cesc to push to the 10 role more often, becuase unlike Oscar he has the size to be a CM. Like i said in the "Summer Window" thread, I would have liked to see another explosive and smart winger like Hazard in the team, but Koke, who isnt an explosive attaking player, could might add more than any other kind of player.

He misses tons of 100% chances, especially in the big important games. Giroud is a player that when i see him gets to a great chance against Chelsea, i never worried too much he'll also finish it. I think he's good, he really got one of the best linkup skills in Europe, but not good enough to be their 1st if they want to win big things. They lack a real killer.

How do i block members? i mean not seeing someone posts. I saw people talk about this option a lot but never knew how to do it.

When you post those kind of things, what are you trying to do? make us all anxious like you?

I like him, but i always think i dont notice him too much in Atletico, maybe its just me, or its Atletico's playing style.