capriccioso

How many teams line up with 2 sitting midfielders? It robs you a lot of penetration, unless you get a pivot going like so: ----DM-DM---- ----- CM----- RW---------LW And it would be incredibly stupid for a team to line up with wide defensive midfielders, you'll leave a massive hole in the middle, thus, I declare the idea of a 'CDM' redundant as DM's never move from there anyway. And the same goes for LAM/RAM, call them LW/RW.

No way are they faster or better in the air than him, and their resilience is unproven, unlike Kalou who came through a shitstorm with AVB to play better than he has for a while. And for balance, they dive so that must mean they have worse balance

I am going to go on a rant now: Why, why, WHY do you people insist on using CDM, CAM as acronyms? Have you ever heard of a right defensive midfielder or left attacking midfielder? Just call them AM and DM FFS! /rant.

A cockroach, as in a New South Welshman?

You can't lay a claim to this throne if you'll be dispatched by half an hour of Kalou at right back...

Scotty

Cockeys? I am disappoint

At least you can scream as loud as you like if we win!

As this is the off-topic thread, what is life like for them? Is it as bad as we're told it is in the city? How are their general health levels, etc?

I think this may be a sign that he's staying; according to the Mail he was at the Megastore signing new shirts with Drogba on the back. It would be rather stupid if the club sold Drogba shirts knowing full well he'll be off.

FIFA is in general a bit rubbish these days. I haven't been able to get into since FIFA 10. FM is where it's at. Anyway, on the topic of ratings, they're all subjective. Players with a good reputation that play for a big club will get vastly overrated, I'm pretty sure Ronaldinho was above 90 as recently as FIFA 09.

Well done to all the winners

I would host, but I'm too nervous to do so. That and my recorded voice makes me sound like a pre-pubescent 15 year old. Which is strange as I have a fairly deep voice off-tape.

Why, Spike? I always had Mikel down for an immobile DM while Tiote is a ball of energy more like Ramires.

We're done if it goes to penalties. We only have 3 reliable PK takers in our squad, Lampard, Drogba and Kalou. The rest of them are hit and miss or haven't taken enough penalties to prove themselves yet. Not to mention they're German and we've been horrible at shootouts as far as I can remember.

You sly dog

That is an eyesore.

I thought you didn't like the girls around your town?

Also, courtesy of a massive night yesterday, I'm on the verge of overtaking your post count. You made a good fight of it in recent weeks, keeping that gap around the 100 mark, but I am unstoppable. Watch out BlueLion

You may be right. I've never been anywhere, not even Cairns, where there's a majority of Aboriginal people. Redfern in Sydney is about as close as it gets, but that place has been gentrified and I'd estimate that its a 90%/10% split on non-Aboriginal vs Aboriginal.

Really? Is that a new rule? Good, that will have teams scrambling to win it. You won't see debacles anymore like Aston Villa Reserves throwing a game to concentrate on 4th spot.

What Art said.

I'll give you technique, but physically, Kalou is far ahead of them. And penalties. Don't forget penalties. Something like this: Technique Shooting: Barcelona's two Dribbling: Ditto Passing: Close. Kalou seems to have lifted his passing game immensely in the last couple of months, but they're Barcelona players so they're probably better. I'll go with them. Crossing: Barcelona's two Penalties: Kalou Set pieces: I've never seen any of the three take a corner or a free kick Ball control: Barcelona's two Defending: Kalou Physical Pace: Kalou Strength: Kalou Stamina: Kalou Aerial ability: Kalou Work rate: Kalou Balance: Don't know Mental Intelligence: Barcelona's two Resilience: Barcelona haven't often been in a position where they have their morale shattered and/or coming off successive poor performances; so it would be unfair for me to side with Kalou here as they haven't been able to demonstrate their ability to bounce back from having their confidence shattered. In the end, it depends on what type of players you prefer. I prefer solid, industrious types as opposed to flashy dribblers. I would go as far as saying Sanchez and Pedro are flat track bullies, great to have on your team when you're favourites, but if you're going into the game as an underdog I would take Kalou.