lionsden

Before I jump the gun can you clarify this statement. top 10 in what?

And this is why I struggle to accept lampard as our greatest player ever. efficiency and productivity is not enough for me, you have to have that grace, style, magic and it factor that special players (regardless of position) like Zidane, Zola,Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Iniesta et al have.

I have been saying it since forever that he's overrated and his clean sheet record in spain is highly misleading. Now that he has less protection and being put in unfamiliar terittory where he has to make multiple saves per game, he's being found out. The amount of protection he got at Atleti was beyond ridiculous. in most games, he rarely has to make a single difficult saves as their opponents are usually reduced to just speculative efforts, long range shooting and no chance at all majority of the time. Haven't said that, I like his command of the penalty area and the way he imposes himself physically. On a side note, People won't appreciate just how good and important Cech is until he's gone.

He's a very good/top class and massively underrated defender who like virtually every defender has weaknesses and had a very poor game against Schalke. That's the bottomline. people who call him average are just very silly. He's been excellent for the past 14 months atleast.

I worry greatly about the Matic fabregas midfield combo in this game. we have been far too open with this midfield and man city will make us pay darely for it if we attempt it at the etihad. Ramires should come back in with Fabregas moved higher up and flanked by Hazard and Willian/schurrle.

And RLC could have come in for Ramires and Mikel who were also not available for the same reasons. truth is, at this point in time, Izzy is seen by the club hierarchy as a better prospect than RLC which is totally wrong.

It's usually a strong indication of youth players standing and reputation at the club especially considering izzy is actually a year younger, less physically imposing/ready. If RLC was Musonda's size then I might agree with your statement. Further clue can be taken from Mourinho name dropping Izzy as one of the brightest English prospect in the academy waiting in line even going further to claim he would have failed in his objectives if he didn't make it here.

The positions they play has absolutely nothing to do with it. The point is, we should be giving the limited opportunities to the best players in our academy to make it here. And when people say you can't compare players who play different positions well yes you can compare players based on talent levels, how well they excel at their respective positions, for example, Zlatan is better as a striker than Ramires is as a midfielder i.e Zlatan is the superior player, productivity etc. By the same token RLC plays the central midfield position better than Izzy plays the attacking midfield position. It shouldn't be based on position (unless there's a bigger need for bodies in the position player A plays in more than player B, which isn't the case here) but rather who is the most talented and has the highest ceiling and scope for development.

What's harsh about stating that RLC is more talented and more deserving of a place in the first team in the future? I would question the football knowledge of anyone who would take Izzy over RLC. There's a very limited opportunity for any of the youngsters to make it as it is and those limited opportunities should be going to the most talented and creme of the crop of the academy. Enlighten me please. perhaps I must have been watching a different Izzy brown for the past 2 seasons or you just overrate him massively. The truth is he's not amongst the brightest prospect in the academy/reserves. he's not on the same level as the likes Boga,Baker,RLC,Musonda,Christensen,Ola Aina (very underrated) Solanke and Colkett.

One thing is for sure, if he's to reach the level he always aspires to in his interviews, his finishing must improve dramatically. Kudos to him for improving his aggressiveness and desire to take on player though. just needs to work on his finishing.

It was a bad decision to bring him back right from the start. Football decisions at the highest level where so much is at stake should never be based on sentiments. It was a no brainer to start Remy instead of drogba in this game. in fact Drogba shouldn't be starting any games at all and his apps should only be limited to coming off the bench. furthermore he shouldn't have waited on till the 74th minute to remove him

I don't know if it's a controversial opinion on here or not (even though it shouldn't be at all as it's a no brainer) but he should be comfortably ahead of izzy brown (who I don't rate at all btw) in the pecking order instead it's the other way round, he should be the one making our pre season tour and getting mentioned as one of the brightest English talent from the academy. I will be livid if he's not atleast givien the opportunity to make it here

This is what happens when you make decisions based on sentiments rather than . . . . Why is drogba still on the pitch?

Zlatan is heads and shoulders above his peers in the striker category as outrageous as that might sound considering suarez and aguero. . . He has the technical ability of a world class attacking midfielder in a centre forwards body, doesn't get more complete than that plus guarantees league titles wherever he goes. modern day Marco Van basten.

That was my reaction when I checked into Matic's thread only to find discussions about our little precious one of a kind talent . No watch this turn into another oscar thread

I don't know. You tell me since you already have a predetermined opinion that English talent are inferior to their foreign counterpart. one thing I do know for sure is Sterling is the best teenager in world football currently and most non biased neutrals share that pov. a pov thats based on merit rather than hype nontheless. Sturridge and walcott are amongst the most productive attackers in Europe (Nos don't lie) and an injury free and in form Wilshire is one of the finest midfielders in this league.

There hasn't been an English talent worth buying for first team purposes they say. The amount of bullshit that get spewed on here is ridiculous sometimes. Sterling and Barkley are attacking mid I had take over oscar every day of the week, Sturridge is clearly better than our striker options bar Costa, If you gave me Walcott, I had personally drive Willian to the airport myself, Wilshere obviously over Ramires and mikel, Stones and Calum chambers I had takle over Zouma and Shaw would more than hold his own against any left back. But carry on with the old and tired "Englsih talents are overrated" narrative

To think they could have had Vidal and benatia for less than the amount Di maria,Falcao,hererra and rojo cost them. Those two alone would have strengthened them far better.

Ramires, willian, Van ginkel (who we have loaned out unfortunately) and Schurrle do that as well. Oscar offers absolutely nothing unique, i have tried to limit the "bashing" but when people try to overestimate his impact and importance to the team, then I have to say something

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24zpc4_analyse-that-pat-nevin-everton-hd_sport This video coupled with his average and often overrated stamina highlights why he wouldn't have made any meaningful difference in that everton game as we would still have been thoroughly outplayed if not even more. watch from 2.33-2.48 how easily he loses possession or gets dispossessed under any slight pressure (typical Oscar) and given how intense the everton pressing was, the result/performance would have been the same if not much worse in fact. We couldn't control the game because Everton pressed us very well and retained possession and not because of Oscar's absence

And Oscar is well known for his ability to dictate and control the tempo? LMAO. How come he couldn't influence majority of the matches we were either thoroughly outplayed or played poorly in since he joined like against Shaktar (H &A) ,Juventus (away),Liverpool 12/13, Man city 12/13 and 13/14 (H), Basel, Swansea 12/13,QPR 12/13,Newcastle away 13/14 and many many more if he's such a big impact?. Your claim/argument is not only daft but also baseless.

We would have won that game 10 nil had oscar played. Let's just get on our knees and pray his injury isn't serious otherwise our season will be derailed. we are not worthy

For a striker that short and lacking football iq to make it at the top level would undoubtedly require aguero level talent. I'm not fussed one bit about him tbh. I have never seen him as one of our outstanding you prospect and I will be shocked If he makes it here.

I'm an advocate of youth but not a lunatic. My stance has always been to use the brightest prospects as squad players and I emphasise the word squad. The only time I ever deem it acceptable to make a youngster a regular starter at a top cub is if said youngster is that good. . . . . see fabregas,Rooney,messi,Ronaldo lima, Hazard, neymar et al, they were extraordinary talents that proved to be good enough even at such a young age. Oscar clearly doesn't belong in the same stratosphere as those talent, i,e it's ridiculously stupid to make a rather average and extremely inconsistent youngster a first team starter. When I advocate integrating youth I do so with common sense and reasoning. For example,I would never champion the idea of playing Bamford ahead of costa but if he were to be as good as a young Brazilian Ronaldo or young Rooney playing with maturity above his years then that changes everything and I would be more open to such idea.