robsblubot

entire tournament? You can't possibly be referring to games against Panama and Tunisia, right? For Belgium, a contender, WC started against Japan (single elimination phase), specially in Belgium/England group which was as easy as it gets. But it was really Brazil, the first big challenge. KDB, the MotM against Brazil, creates and scores goals. He directly influences the scoreline by doing that. Eden's contribution, with dribbling and movement is far more subtle. KDB was contained against France, so he could not set up or score (although he did produce quite a few good passes but lukaku was a bit off). Eden did have a very good game, but his contribution did not turn into goals, so Belgium lost the game. That is, of course, my opinion and I'm sure Eden fans will disagree.

That’s why France won: you need to stop KDB to get anything out of a game against Belgium. hazard is a fantastic player a dribbling machine, but below KDB in how much he can directly influence a game. Lukaku would be further below as a counter attacking especialist and little else to his game. mbappe seems to be jumping ahead of all the contenders for best player in my view.

Fernandinho? Best DM is Kante by far IMO, but Fernandinho was indeed good in a long championship and in a system in which he does not have to defend that much. In CL his performances are subpar. He was one of the worst performers against Germany in the 7x1 ('14). He was a liability then, and once again a liability against Belgium. Some people think it's just a bad game, but I don't see it that way. I see a player who does not do well in big games, which is all that matters in a WC, if you want to be a contender that is. In Brazil folks question his mentality, but I'd go a bit further and question his technique too... he does well in City system and plays lots of easy passes. Once the game is tighter and the opposition gets in his face, his passing goes down the hill. Reminds me of Mikel. Is he better than Bakayoko? Sure, who isn't. BUt I would NOT like Fernandinho at CHelsea. It's the same as with WIllian, good/decent player but we need more that what he has been giving us to improve the team.

No Brazil did not play very well and Belgium was the first good team they faced and lost. Despite the hype, this Brazil team was never really good enough to be consider the favorites to win it. Did they take some stopping? Sure, but big teams usually do. Willian is just yet another cog that makes this Brazil team a bit more average... lightweight and short esp up front. His performance against Belgium was embarrassing: heavy touches, bad passing, and nothing produced in attack. Only Fernandinho managed to be worse, but that’s not he first time for Fernandinho (poor player). the only thing I still liked about Willian was that he was a big game player, and now I have to question it.

Heh Not sure what people were complaining about esp after winning the league, but that’s me I guess. had we had then, and the big ‘if’, but we did not and we may still not. After a bakayoko was signed, I believe the club is simply looking for the wrong things. for me is the other way around. I won’t mind Willian there as much, but would def prefer elsewhere.

I think we missed matic more than united benefited from his presence. I was under no illusion that he was irreplaceable, but we obviously did not get a proper cm to partner kante, which did hurt us. no player is irreplaceable, not even Eden. It just takes money and talent to do it, both of which we seem to be lacking lately. Willian returned to his regular self against Belgium. Not really surprising that the team looked a lot better once Douglas costa was brought in. Whoever buys him must be only looking for his tactical contribution.

Either way, this was a great game by William (against Mexico). Only below Neymar and completely filled the void left by Coutinho, who vanished. Coutinho is lightweight and often struggles in these types of games.

For me, Willian is already a "winger version of Bakayoko" His contribution in attack is nowhere near acceptable in the vast majority of games he plays. I want Martial as a potential top striker in the future, nothing less nothing more. Once he fulfills his potential, if he does that, he will immediately become unsellable. You have to make bets like that, which is the only way for us to ever acquire top quality. We did that before and had both! Salah and KDB, but the club was unable to hold on to them. So, while I also don't trust the club to properly replace Wllian (with a quality winger), I don't think we have much of choice here. He's losing pace too, so we need to be thinking about replacement anyway.

well now we have to wait until after the world cup anyway. It's a terrible way to scout players - so many WC wonders vanished afterwards - but clubs do that all the same.

Is Real Madrid actually trying to sign him? All I hear is Eden hinting at his desire to join them, but no bid, inquiry, or rumor from Madrid afaict

While I agree he’s too erratic as a defender he’s also too much of a big game player (physique and technique) to let him go to a rival. Remember his performances against us for psg? He even scored the winner. Let him go to Italy where he will thrive but not hurt us. Our future is with andreas.

Signing a sure starter would make any idea of Thibo seeing his contract out unappealing. Acquiring Allison is needed to force Thibo out, since he's unwilling to sign a new deal. Club clearly wants to move on. Hope the same pressure is put on Eden - club must move on if he won't sign a new deal. Just too much money involved to let it run out.

Yeah thought the same (wrote so), and agree that in all likelihood they would have lost anyway: they needed Salah on the pitch at his normal and their GK at his best. Pretty much the opposite happened.

salah was playing really well and smart with one touches always finding a teammate. That’s how you play these games with so little time on the ball. RM also had a couple of players watching salah who are now free to roam and play. Very difficult for Liverpool now.

Shelvey's temperament definitely plays a part into his non-selection as well as club level. Reminder that the WC consists of very few games - even fewer if you don't go far. Group stage is really the only place where mistakes are allowed and does not last long (and frankly does not matter much unless you are in a tough group). Temperamental players in single-elimination games is a risk some managers are not willing to take. Shelvey is def a good player though. Technique wise leagues ahead of Bakayoko. RLC seems to be a player of few important moments, which might be just what the manager is looking for from him.

Asensio would be a great immediate replacement for Eden if he wishes to leave. Eden's latest comments might also make things a bit difficult in the locker room (making those comments is yet another indication he does want to leave IMO). No he's not at Eden's level yet, but is not that far off and has the potential to get there (with a bit more finishing on top). From Asensio's POV, it might only make sense if he's indeed given the key-player role Eden now enjoys (similar wages). That might just make it appealing enough to him, since it is questionable he'd be able to get there anytime soon at Real. So, career wise it might make sense for him. Swap deals are notoriously difficult to pull off.

If he wants to win the CL before he retires, fair game to him and he should def move, but reckon he should've started off by playing better in CL. Right now prospect buyers might be looking back at his contribution in CL and thinking that there might be more suitable players and targets for that particular competition. BTW, his interview sounds pretty bad to me. It's OK for him to think that and demand it from the club internally, but never OK to say it to the press. He's basically saying his current teammates aren't good enough to play with him, or some might hear that.

Very common for young promising players to be selected to gain experience at this level, esp if the manager believes they can provide some contribution. Reckon, from watching him this season, that he's not ready to start many games, but would be an interesting option coming off the bench if you need a goal or simply break through a tight defense line. He looked pretty inventive and mobile when I saw him. Very interesting player to keep and actually use next season.

Sure, I'm not disagreeing with the point that we could have a better striker or that Morata should be doing better. Lukaku would've been scoring more goals - I have no doubt about that. He's also not good enough for different reasons... So for me, we wait until next season and then if Morata cannot find his game then we find a different player, either option would still be better than having Luakaku for the next 6 years... assuming we want to take game to the next level. But being a great finisher is literally a state of mind: very few players keep a high scoring ratio throughout their entire careers. Most go through patches of form and end up hitting their stride late in their 20s and for a short period of time (until they start losing pace). It's also difficult to start delivering immediately after joining a team because of the aforementioned dependency: gotta learn the timing of the runs, where the passes go, the team's tempo may be different, and whether the defenders will follow you or a diff player (say Eden). Our movement was a lot better last season, which made it far more difficult for defenders to focus on single attacking player (that helped Eden too). Matic let us keep the ball longer, which gave us time to open up spaces and find the better pass... it's all connected. It actually makes sense that Giroud is having an easier time atm, since he's also more familiar with the Premiere League and the tempo in which most teams play.

couldn't disagree more. Striker is the most dependent position in the squad. Volume of play affects him directly with movement and opening up the opposition. (BTW, I'm not disagreeing with the point that we could have a better striker or that Morata should be doing better)

many differences (aside from diego, which was an obvious loss): 1. Matic a good (starter) CM left and nobody came (good/great however you rate him - doesn't matter) 2. The surprise mechanics with the 3 in the back are no longer a surprise (Conte had a hand in our win) 3. Most players are not as rested and fit, which is due to the push to win last season and, 4. a lot more games this season (CL) with still a very small squad 5. Fabregas is older and looks more unfit (our only capable CM to play alongside Kante see #1) 6. the opposition is a hell lot better?! City would've won last season... easily Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree. I look at our play and we play like crap most of the time. No striker in the world can fix that.

We are indeed overthinking, but IMO we are overvaluing the striker position when the team just isn't good enough regardless who plays up front. I see nothing special about our team... we play laborious football. Besides, finding that player is very difficult, not to mention expensive. Either you go for the proven solution, in which case you are competing with others, or you make bets and these bets will also be expensive. We had a good striker, with high work rate and decent technique. Too bad he was also a nutcase.

Don't think there can be any doubt that Rudiger is twice the player Zouma is. Don't think it's just level of development, but rather technique: while Rudiger is not a Luiz with the ball at his feet, he's still comfortable enough to play the ball. While Zouma obviously shouldn't take the blame for Stoke's defensive frailty, he did not cover himself in glory either. He's got power and energy, which at this level is just not enough.

I hear you, but this is how you do it. This is how you get the top players: before they become one. It's always going to be a risk though. That's why judging potential is so important, and folks in soccer who are good at that make tons of money.

It was a good game with good individual performances - except bakayoko who's being praised for a long ball. Never seen Mikel do that though... Kante, Hazard, Moses, and Rudiger had great games. Toss up between hazard and kante for motm imo. Looks like we improved a bit (last games), but I'm cautiously optimistic. This was always going to be tricky one for pool: they were tired but could not rest too many players - just can't toss youngsters/fringe at a game like this. Their focus is now entirely elsewhere, which means that they may be, even if unconsciously, holding back a bit and not overextending themselves.