robsblubot

Was Maxi Lopez at the meeting as well? Please tell me Wanda Nara is not his agent...

KDB had a massive game. Sterling too! how the hell did they manage to lose it... I guess Laporte had a terrible game with kompany slightly behind. Ederson may be great with his feet but as a goalie, not right there at the top for me.

Spurs and Ajax (as well as they may be playing) will be the underdogs in final against either Barca or LIverpool. This is looking really like WC brackets... Either Liverpool or Barca would be heavy favs against either one of the other two. Between Pool and Barca, hard to put money on either one... Barca ultimately is a possession side, so it will all depends on whether Pool will be able to pressure them or not. Unbelievable games... can't wait.

Can't play possession football with that first touch (in second Spurs goal)...

yup it is a crazy goal tally regardless of opposition: it was different times (a lot more goals then) and some were indeed against pub teams in the Sao Paulo regional comp. However, many were against other strong Brazilian sides (like you said brazil league was strong back then), in WCs or against euro champions when Santos traveled abroad, which they did a lot once they become famous worldwide. Like I said, Pele was also a lot more than the goals, at least from all I've heard. I still don't understand how he scored so many headers (even at WC) at 5 ft 8 in though... Recently Mbappe said it best even if being polite, “Even with the goals in playgrounds, goals on the PlayStation, I could never equal 1,250 (sic) goals,” said Mbappe as he met Pele at a sponsors’ event in Paris." France is indeed really talented and Mbappe himself is a top top player. I see a lot of Ronaldo 9 (while still had knees) in him. A bit less short dribbling/skill but same pace and even more power.

It's really not. I'm brazilian. You may have that idea from Rio bias, but for the rest of Brazil, no contest. (And I'm not from Sao Paulo, so definitely don't have a Santos/Pele bias) To elaborate a bit more, even though I obviously never seen either play, Pele or Garrincha, it's a lifetime hearing about their feats. Some of which, from close ones like when my Dad watched Pele play against his/our Gremio FBPA. Which was echoed by pretty much everybody I've met and what I've heard from talk shows and what not. I've heard Garrincha being pitted "just as good" by some, but never better. My personal feeling/take is that Garrincha wasn't that far behind though. but had huge physical (and mental) issues that cut his career short. Also, Pele was a far more complete player than you'd hear these days, and what his goal tally would suggest. He was absolutely dominant in midfield, in attack, defending, and he was even the reserve goalie for santos (played goalie when the GK got red-carded and the fucker did not concede against Gremio) . My dad told me that Pele could be mean too: if hunted during a match, he would sometimes retaliate and injure the players hunting him. He was pretty powerful too, a fantastic athlete, despite his height. The consensus was that Pele was the complete footballer.

True. Both could also be slotted in in the same starting XI without much tweaking, which emphasizes your point: very different players who play in different positions and roles. Difficult to compare anything with Pele as football was basically a different sport back then. Shame Messi hasn't been able to do the same for Argentina though... either hasn't really found himself in a good Argentina side with a good manager, and/or perhaps did not apply himself as much. @MoroccanBlue Nope, not many agree with that. Garrincha was more entertaining, but Pele was the better, and more influential, player.

Blind was actually one of the very few players in United backline who could pass the football. Obviously he did not fit in their philosophy...whatever the fuck that might be.

Sure, but that's a preference of style not of the players in question. Once again, you give Zouma to *any* possession side and he's not even sitting on the bench. Barcelona played years and years with Mascherano as a CB. Same way that Zouma would definitely work in a more direct system, where the CBs need to be aggressive and chase like you pointed out. So, "reliable" is relative. In a possession system, Andreas would be far more "reliable" than Zouma. You don't need to be strong when you keep the football and pass it along quickly. The opposition never gets to enough 50/50s to cause you problems. Zouma is very poor on the ball and a particularly bad passer. Perhaps Everton is his peak... wouldn't surprise me if he's moved there permanently. The trend these days is for ball-playing CBs (I don't make the rules).

yeah I totally meant ball playing as in skill. Good point. Reading the game can and usually is improved on by a huge margin by defenders as they play, which we expect Andreas to do (just like Stones).

true, but bulking up is a hell lot easier than learning how to play footie. been watching the game for a while and am yet to see a player drastically improving technique. I'm sure it must have happened, and it is possible, just the hardest thing and only to a certain limit. And once again, Andreas would've had a much easier time than Zouma if tossed in City's starting XI me thinks. It's all relative.

I know... his form dipped towards the end of the season. Just disagree with the overuse of better, worse, and "solid." Stones was also NOT solid, until he was... and because he's technically gifted, he's an excellent player.

That's fine as preferences go, but players aren't simply better or worse, and the word "solid" means very little to me. Plenty of mediocre "solid" defenders in the PL. Gary Cahill was a solid PL defender who could never play in any sort of possession system. Both are good young defenders with completely different characteristics. Andreas is really good on the ball for a defender. Zouma is also playing week in and week out, even when things were not going great. Andreas has hardly played this season. Match fitness makes a huge difference esp around physicality and reading of the game.

While I agree with that, we have no other choice. Go there with an immobile striker and we play with 10 men from the get-go. Had we done that, I'd be concerned with another city fiasco. The only choice he had was to drop Cho, and that would make it worse because Cho is obviously more dynamic than either one of the strikers. He does run a lot and can cover the flanks. He also wanted to have Willian doing the hard work on the left, like Superblue wrote above, another sensible tweak likely agreed among the coaches. Emerson, who shall not be criticized , even had the protection of Willian, a hard worker, in front of him to try to contain their right side. I know it's difficult because Salah is a great player and IMO edges over Eden in that final pass, touch, finish. Still that's where they won the game. However, Emerson getting outmuscled out of plays happens way too often for me. Honestly, I think folks are barking at the wrong tree today. Our team is simply not good enough to play toe-to-toe against Liverpool over there. It is the manager's responsibility to attempt to give us a chance, and that has to be speculative with counter attacking. The feeling I have around here is that some are fans of certain players, not the team. I don't care if Hazard looks good or bad, if Cho can do his step overs. Ultimately this is about winning games and silverware, and IMO the manager did his job today.

Are you suggesting we all should give up on football and start watching golf instead? come on if arsenal fans could do it, we can too! Embrace and cherish mediocrity! True fans support mediocre squads.

Agree regarding cho, but disagree on RLC, well while he had legs. Thought he protected the football really well, won 50/50s and made decent runs, but prob too much ground for a player of his size. Fitness a concern for him tho. The circumstances helped higuain, and he did help initially esp moving hazard back to his position... also attracting defenders, but it fizzled out very quickly. Both higuain (was never a fan tbh) and giroud are insufficient and way too immobile at this level. eould honestly even play Alonso instead of either. Probably wouldn’t work either though.

You are probably right esp with Zola in the mix. Still likely not the same when he needs to address a player directly, other than Jorginho and higuain. my personal take is that he’s definitely not a quack. Not a fan of his tactics, but that’s his prerogative. The squad is not good enough to play in this style, which prob makes him the wrong choice as manager - hardly his fault.

You mistake me for a sarri fan. On the other hand he gets criticized regardless of what he does. Lacking the footballers lingo in English must affect his ability to connect with players me thinks. not surprising since hazard moved to his best position, snd higuain attracted defenders.

Or doesn’t say. Always wondered how much a barrier language can be for him. we contained them in the first half with a very defensive approach. Imo it was prob the right one. I don’t like hazard as false 9 bc finishing isn’t his best attribute, so we diminish him. He still hit the post, unlucky. The second one was poor finishing tho. what to do? Start higuain or giroud in tough away matches? They won’t get a touch. Not mobile enough.

Yup. Do we really want to play CL with this squad anyway?

T When you say x would have been better or worse than y, that’s just guesswork, not understanding. There is also no way to prove or disprove the claim. Basically total BS. Between the 2 insufficient LBs, only one is capable of contributing in attack or even score. regarding gk height, it is a personal preference that has little to do with kepa in particular. Height improves reach and helps dominate the area.

RLC looks tired and needs a sub. Fuck I hate higuain...

Well unlike you I don’t have a crystal ball on hand, so all I know is what I see. There are many gk taller than kepa.

We can’t play them as equals esp there. They are the far better side... poor defending by Emerson, he looks a bit lightweight. not kepas fault bc it was a great strike, but a taller goalie would be more likely to reach that.

Good defensive game so far. Big fan of RLC and he’s delivering a very good performance. reckon sarri won’t add a striker bc we wouldn’t have enough players defending as we do now, unless we are chasing a goal. Willian is good defensively... too bad his finishing is gone - for good apparently.