manpe

Spain will score. If Spain lose, they're out? What if they draw?

I think he should be deeper when facing a packed midfield and defence so he could get the ball more. But if we are in an open game with lots of space, then he will hurt you bad in those advanced positions.

That's really scary. And we have him till he's at least 25. Imagine what he'll be like by then

Lmao that's a bad picture. The line is drawn horribly wrong, the 3 defenders are just about on the same level, while the red line suggests that the right back is much further up than the left back, and the gap between the centre line and red line increases the wrong way. Anyway, it does look like offside, but it doesn't matter.

Hmm, he's been playing winger. Usually Damiao is the striker afaik, today it was Pato. He's been doing well, but has been overshadowed by Neymar and Oscar.

Great goal. We should get the whole Brazil team.

Yeah, he's a bit isolated there. But whenever he gets the ball, he does well with it. He's gone deeper right again it seems. Guess he's just roaming around. And it's annoying that the commentators still say that he cost 25 million pounds.

Playing very high up and central this time

Hard month to pick from, considering I was fairly inactive at the beginning. Still find myself agreeing with @The Skipper the most, so I'll vote for him again. Was also considering @Strike, @Sheva. and @ for it. Shout outs to the hilarious pub spammers known as @capriccioso, @, @, @We Hate Scouse and @KonohasOrangeFlash Yeah you better, slave

But the pre-season isn't over yet? I believe we're still playing Brighton

We should change formations according to the nature of the game and the opposition. I don't want there to be any predictability. When AVB was here, he played mostly 4-3-3 and it looked bollocks more often than not, everytime he put Mata in the middle and shifted to 4-2-3-1 we looked better, but I think one key element to that was that the other teams were set up against a 4-3-3... and of course that our only sparkly player could touch the ball more often. Since we now have more of those players, I think 4-3-3 could work out pretty well and rotating between those two formations would confuse the opponent. I actually do want to see it used more often now, with Oscar occupying the 'Lampard position' and Ramires playing where he belongs, with Mikel shielding their backs. Hazard and Mata will have to play on wings at some point so they might as well get used to it and cash in their "I'll play where the boss tells me to play" statements. Formations aside, it's ultimately the personnel that matter the most. Tactics + skills > formation. But I definitely want to see 4-3-3 tested out more with the new players.

With those guys it would be a crime to give them strict positions. On paper one or the other will play a certain position, but realistically they will be everywhere. And once they gain total understanding between each other, it will be monstrous. There is also a trend going on where you put two wingers on one side, like Brazil did and like we did with Marin and Malouda. Imagine Mata, Cole, Hazard and/or Oscar combining on one flank with full understanding, instead of staying miles apart from each other in their strict positions. It could prove really effective. I can already imagine Hazard and Mata both making runs on the left with Oscar feeding them a bit deeper from the middle. And then Hazard and Oscar making runs on the right with Mata feeding them. Defenders would know shit what to do. So it doesn't really matter where you place those 3 on paper, the real question is will Oscar play in the attacking 3 or double pivot, the latter of which is more restricted.

Neymar? We've been signing some great personalities, no need to ruin it with that arrogant face and pompous hair. Fuck Neymar, he has Madrid written all over his face.

Andre really isn't who I thought he was. I guess I had blind faith in him and welcomed his media handling at first, until it all went tits up. His tactics were shit, his subs were puzzling and he talks shit, can't keep his mouth shut. The fact that Lampard called him "the other bloke" and AVB called us "the other team" shows what kind of relationship they had. If it had been up to me, I would have kept him, so thankfully I'm not Roman.

Ligue 2? Really? That means we've been playing with a Ligue 2 material all these years?

Why oh why does he insist on putting more pressure on himself? With his goal scoring record he should stay quiet and do the talking on the pitch, then he can go to the media with all those bold statements once he has a bit higher reputation than being a flop. Tbh he said he will "hopefully be remembered" like Drogba, not exactly proclaiming that he will "fill his boots", but he should just shush for the time being.

After getting the sack from Totts, Livershit up next? Seems fitting..

@, okay

@Sh0n3x, but of course

Wow, it suddenly started working here Thanks @Jim (I assume it was your deed)

whatever, as long as it's a link to the whole article

source source source! http://www.goal.com/...o-amid-interest

Hopefully Torres gets some time with Hazard and Marin behind him, would be interesting to see how it works out with a more mobile striker.

People, don't you know that Sloth is an eternal pessimist? You should by now, he can't help it, don't be mad with him.. He has his worries, so what? It's better than being indifferent.

For all we know Hazard could have been reluctant to take it so soon after Drogba's departure. I can understand him, he was introduced in England as an egomaniac. Not taking a vacant legend's number was a possible demonstration that he's not as arrogant as people think he is. Well, could be? If he indeed was offered number 11, the more I commend him for not taking it, opting instead for the tormented number 17, trying to revive its shattered reputation from scratch. Challenge accepted indeed