BlueLyon

Hard match, I hope we put good performance and win.

Its a tough cookie this one. We would definately need to ship him out like we did De Bruyne. He is not fit anyhow to play for us, last season was alot better. Then who knows, maybe he does it or not. But for that price, its good to consider.

People like to talk about players like James that are much much better than the likes of Pedro. I wouldnt go there personaly. Perhaps on individual level, James is better and has more skill, more fame, more amazing goals etc etc..but fact is a fact that he will NEVER contribute to the team as much as Pedro did to that barca. Say that Pedro had luck to play next to Messi and Iniesta, but what, James doesnt have luck to play next to Ronaldo and Modric? Truth is Pedro was good enough to keep himself in that squad for all those years, while James is not good enough to get in this squad of RM. There are plenty of better players than Pedro, but he is very underrated player. Last season he was very poor and even this season he didnt yet replicate his form from Barca, but back then he was amazing. I remember those games between Real and Barca, Ronaldo scored lot of goals, but was generaly shit every game. Pedro was alot better. However people today look into goals, rabonas and who sells more underwear. Pedro is not world class, but once we replace him, I hope we do it with proper team players and not wannabe stars.

I would definately bring him back here in jan. I still have full faith he can make it as LWB. But he needs to play alot. Now his loan is pointless, even if he wont play much here, he can learn from conte and improve for next season. Alonso cant play every game and I certainly prefer Kenedy over Iva.

IMO the biggest weakness I saw from 3:4:3 is when our defense is not positioned/returning back, we can leave quite some space if opponent makes good pass in free space. Boro did that last week which resulted in player almost alone infront of GK, but they didnt took advantage. As for wingbacks goes, yeah we have yet to face realy quaility opponents, but IMO Moses and Alonso track back brilliantly and if opponent escape we have Azpi and Cahill ready. On top, Pedro does alot of tracking and we have great pressing, which means opponents on wings face little space. But perhaps the left side is weaker, because Hazard goes rarely back to goal, Alonso is not that fast and Cahill aint no Azpi either. That said I can see City exploit our left side by quick passing and runs, which will give them space, much like game vs Boro (they did get one or two such chances from left side; while Moses did much better). What we have to exploit is Pep being Pep. He will go for dominating performance with pressing and lot of possesion, but on counter they will be very fragile like all Pep teams. If we squeze them and press back, we will force them in mistakes and we could score with Eden and Costa both in form. Then we sit back and finish them on counter. Considering we dont need to go all out, perhaps Conte will go for more balanced play, sitting deeper, but the last thing I want is to let City dominate from first minute and let them have ball and dictate attacks. That way we will surely lose like we did vs arsenal, unless we will have luck on our side and we will score one goal from one shot with 30%possesion. I would go with high pressing, not all attack but to break their midfield play. Then hopefuly we score and after Pep will go even further up, then we can do them on counter.

I know. But before that he didnt play single minute. Thats why I hope he played Yaya because of CL match and not because he suddenly thinks he can be a starter again.

Tbh I think its good for us that Yaya dosnt play for Pep (at least I hope he wont). We always had problems with Yaya because he is strong, direct player and if Pep keeps him out of game, it will be good for us

I call that bolded font of forum post, but whatever floats your boat man

U23 are not even talents anymore. Not in right sense anyway. 21 is last "talent" for me. After that AGE, you either start playing for regulars or you are not good enough. Sure there are late bloomers or special cases but they are more exception than rule.

Are we linked with him or? I would love to have him here. He was brilliant before his injury and I hope he returns soon. He is fantastic player who can play on right side or as striker. He can dribble well, he is great finisher and great worker. And to think he would be coached under Conte, I think he could end up as one of best players in pl. His style would fit realy well here on RW. He would add goals, he is direct and efficient dribbler, and he can help track back. Him, Costa and Eden would get along well IMO. BUT Juve apparently has clause and will buy him next summer ...

El Ghazi had that same fame last season (or was it two) like Dolberg now. I heard left and right about next big thing (El Ghazi) from Ajax. Some time before it was Victor Fisher who now plays for Boro. I could say similar to Bazoer, but yeah he is out of form and I still think he could (and probably will if his head is in right place) become top player. I see Dolberg is hitting the hype train, but lets see if he can catch up for next two seasons.

Beast.

Not best performance, but still enough and more than happy with the victory. If Pedro was luckier, we would win 3:0. Now onto Spurs and City, both games we have to give 100percent. Top of the league

People like to forget that Modric or Ribery are not work horses. Just because they are creative midfielder or winger it doesnt mean they are not hardworkers. Thats the difference between Cesc and Modric. You NEED quality players in your squad. Sure. But also you need hardworkers at same time. Thats why Modric or Kante or Koke are regarded as one of best in the world. Quality is always wanted and demanded. But I would avoid players like James,Cesc etc who are quality, but dont have the fight in them. I dont know why people want to replace Azpi, Alonso or Moses either. They are doing great and people look for their replacements already.

The goal was bananas.

Nah he is good, atletico is still good, but they had off night like we had vs Arsenal. After 5 minutes of the game, you could see how wrong Atletico started the game. Could be mental too, since they lost two finals against madrid.

Atletico wasnt so shit against Real in long time. From first whistle, they were way too slow and missed every challenge. With this kind of performances, Atletico has long way to go if they want la liga back. And of all people Ronaldo with hattrick

Hard to argue against that if you have shitload of cash and you are young and naive.

Not necessary to go on top, but take advantage of others and progress the table. It was countless times last season when others blew it and we could change the difference, but we didnt.

I would go with Lamps for all the goals he scored, but Gerrard was great player too. I am happy I had chance to see these great players in my childhood and high school years, these legends are reason I love Premier League. Both were great, and it makes you sad when you see how poor english players are today.

Usualy when we get these opportunities we blow it up. Hopefuly tomorrow will be different and we go on top!

Is that an award or shampoo that Conte is holding in his hand?

That said, they have only one liga title since 2008. Two CLs is remarkable, but they had more luck than skill in both finals. I would go to a point that CL is a type of competition that relies on dayform and whatever you call "luck". We won CL with arguably worst squad, we finished 6th in that season. When we actualy had amazing quality squad in 2008 final or 2009, we didnt win because "luck" wasnt there. Domestic titles are way more balanced because they take whole year and you play each team twice. Its what I call undisputed champion. CL is far cry from that. But sure its prestigious to win it nevertheless. I just wouldnt agree that best team wins the CL. For example when we won it, Bayern was better allround. Same for when Real won it, few others were better. If titles are all that counts, Real doesnt have many liga titles and if you count overall performance, Real is far from dominant as barca was despite all the money spent.

We are officialy doomed. Manager of month curse starts vs Boro

When Conte was managing Juve, he signed Vidal from germany, Pogba, Tevez from england etc.