CHOULO19

He played LB for us sometime last season IIRC.

So full of himself. "I would have done this" "I would have scored that"...we get it, you're the top PL scorer; the show is NOT about you, though!

Full match highlights if anyone wants to see them. Looked a great match, tbh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h55QjJAatU

According to "Fichajes"? Sounds legit..

A different board: http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/233412-Match-thread-Watford-vs-Derby-County And another one: http://www.gloryhorns.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=56943&start=25

Looking at the stats, it was interesting to see how much he was involved in the game. He was in 3 of the top 5 passing combinations. Until he came off, he was our second best passer with 57 of 59 passes (JT had 58 of 59 till then).

I tried to as a couple of them on twitter but neither answered...c*nts.

I read he linked up very well with McGugan and controlled the tempo very well when he moved to the holding role after Iriney went off. Hopefully, that's enough for him to retain his starting place.

MK Dons manager talking about him after the game yesterday: Provides some insight of how well he's been playing and how important he has been for them when the manager says "I'm looking for someone else to chip in the goals along side Patrick". Also a hint in there that his finishing still needs some work which was his biggest issue with the U21s.

Hmm, I think you're actually right. Check page 23 here: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/refereeing/law_12_fouls_misconduct_en_47379.pdf The keeper is considered in possession of the ball while bouncing it, so no opponent is allowed to challenge him. But looking at the same page, we should have had about a dozen indirect free kicks inside the area yesterday because according to the rules, the keeper is not allowed to keep hold of the ball for more than 6 seconds.

Huh?

Given that we'll beat Steaua at home, we'll then need to only match Schalke's result vs Basel to qualify. Not the best situation, I know, but certainly miles better than losing on Tuseday because we'd basically be back on Thursday night if we do. I don't think anyone has ever said that about Ryan before! Bertrand offers nothing special, but he is as reliable as they get. If there is one player I don't mind getting injured it would be Ash because Ryan is just so solid.

Quaresma. Michael Ball. Casper Schmeichel. Borini. Krasic. Ben Haim (although this one is best left forgotten, tbh).

89th minute as well. That's his 14th goal for MKD already this season!!! I know it's only League 1, but that's just insane!

How is it a foul? He got the ball.

Wise was on Al Jazeera today....just :banghead: Doesn't have a clue what he's talking about! Also, I don't think you guys have seen him, but I was surprised that Mido is actually a pretty decent pundit. By far the best regular pundit on Al Jazeera, atm.

Depends on what the ref writes in his match report. If they charge him, he'll most likely miss City, unless we appeal then it might be postponed to later matches.

I just wonder if Jose will set up to not lose this match first and foremost instead of going all out to win it. I mean we all want to see Chelsea win, but while a draw would probably be disappointing, a loss would be absolutely disastrous. An away draw to Schalke is not that bad, tbh, because beat them at the bridge and we're basically through to the round of 16.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x166bva_espanyol-1-0-atletico-madrid-o-g-courtois_sport#from=embediframe That looks very bad, but it's a very tough ball to deal with because you can't know whether or not the player will get a touch. Very unlucky for Thibaut, but it happens to the best keepers, I'm sure he'll dust himself up and get a CS next match.

Have you seen Hummels play?!

That's all very well, mate, but this isn't baseball; stats can't tell the whole story. The reason why his numbers look bad compared to JT and Cahill is that whenever he's played, David has been given a different role than them. He's been given the freedom to leave the back four and pressure the opponents higher and attempt to intercept the ball. The last line of defense will always have the best tackle% because the opposition player will have much less space in and around the box than 20-30 meters away from goal where Luiz is doing most of his defending. They'll also of course have much more clearances. But can you tell me how many interceptions does Luiz have as compared to the other two? I agree about the aerial duels, though. I think he's been bad in that aspect which has always been his weak point. Which is why JT is always the one that steps-up to head long balls when Luiz is next to him. Those squawka and whoscored rating mean absolutely nothing because they are based on dry statistics. I've watched Luiz against Everton, Norwich, Tottenham..etc and saw that he had some great performances. He did incredible well in reading the game and anticipating plays and snuffing out the danger before it happens. But in Squawka, a missed pass from the opposition that finds it's way to your feet is the same as anticipating a crucial pass on a counter and making a 20 feet sprint to cut it out before it reaches it's target.

I'm sorry, but you just can't criticize Luiz for making mistakes and then go and praise Hummels! Hummels is basically a David Luiz with less natural ability on the ball and more defensive mistakes.

Over the past year, David Luiz has been our best and most consistent defender. That's not even debatable, it's not an opinion, it's fact. It was one bad game, people!