robsblubot

Ramires has always struggled against Yaya. Luiz was the one who matched him physically - even before Matic arrived.

Chelsea, and talkchelsea, are the only ones who care about FFP rules. Yes Jose is making noise about it, but the fact is until penalties become meaningful, abiding by the FFP rules can become a disadvantage.

From the manager's perspective (starting) 3 players who can't defend in a tough away match seems excessive. Too much of an attacking stance.We have to see how they are positioned and how hard they work, but such players will need 100% concentration as defending for them isn't as natural.

3 players who can't defend seems a bit excessive for an away game against strong opposition - nervous about this one.

There is 100% chance that both Oscar and Ramires will start against City. Their defensive work is needed from the get go. Willian is the player who can come on and bring something different, like a long shot, quick dribble and flick. We will return to a deep defense line for this game, which will help our CBs - still a tough match for sure.

Andre worries me as he has this absolutely awful spells. Need to find some consistency where he still does the bare minimum even when not his day. Oscar has already found that.Oscar was decent in the first half and very good in second. I'd not blame Matic because our mid was overrun and he was constantly under pressure. Ramires fixed that in the second.

Been saying for a while- good player and still 22! Good technique and aggression. Needs to improve on decisions and positioning, but those are the typical areas young players need to work on anyway. A more meaningful deficiency in his game is his lack of concentration. Keep and eye on him.

Our defense line can't play high up - what a fucking surprise

Can't believe pool let shelvey go - good player and still young

Keep Hazard and let them have their Ronaldo. Ronaldo sells more shirts though.

I reckon you are incorring into the (mostly) English mistake of assuming all defenders are alike in terms of characteristics. That, what they call "solid" is all that matters, even though evidence may tell you otherwise. Ignoring the overvaluation - (PSG) just assume DL was sold for the same amount we paid for him - the market is still giving us information about valuations as well as characteristics of the players who are sought after. That's what the article (I linked before) talks about... PSG again is a bad exemple as they have to overpay for every player they acquire for a number of reasons - I'd assume their wages are just as inflated.

I don't find Suarez that unpredictable. It's all due to animal-like aggression, not malice. Haven't seen a fantastic game by Ronaldo in a tough match just yet... perhaps against Sweden, but Sweden is hardly a tough opponent. Agree about Drogba and RVN, but no Raul was just a good player in my book. Henry botched in a CL final for Arsenal, but did well for France. Interesting... there is a article out on why defenders have become so expensive: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11076666/David-Luiz-Luke-Shaw-Eliaquim-Mangala-Dejan-Lovren-why-are-defenders-becoming-more-expensive.html

He's also sure to vanish in tough games, while Surez thrives in those.

And in this particular case, her sig is right: Oscar's pass completion is skewed because he has beed dropping deep often. Nothing wrong with that though, just pointing out that such stats are indeed misleading. He does need to improve his pass completion in the final third for both Chelsea and Brazil. On the other hand, when and if he does complete those passes, he will be the best AM in the world.

I really don't think whether coutinho wants to track back really matters... He has no physical presence.I will be honest here: coutinho is absolutely 100% shit! The shittiest cam I've seen in a while. Yes he is young and that's really the only thing going for him - he needs to improve big time. I'm so glad he plays for that shitty club as they deserve each other.

Agree with the blacklisted names, with the question mark of hulk - if he improves as he's still fairly young. that's too weak defensively to face the likes of germany, holland, and argentina. Brazil has no rounded players for the midfield: Oscar is the only one really. Neymar is the only player who doesn't have to track back. Pato/Firmino and Ganso can't track back, same with Coutinho, who is a midget (also not good enough tbh). I also have my doubts about Gustavo who I think is way too DM for today's dynamic game. Regardless of names, it's still not a good team... at least not good enough. Agree with ^^ youngsters may have the answer unless Pato has a magic comeback.

Plus there was "the other Luis," whose name shall not be spoken, who had an outstanding performance, similar to what he's been doing at his club. Almost scored again from a free kick far far away. Our Luis helped the other Luis with his defensive solidity btw.

Oscar and Pogba are completely different players....

we've watched the very same game apparently. Still cannot believe Scolari did not take Luis and started him as a LB which would allow him to use Marcelo in the middle/wing too. Brazil defense was really good as Colombia were only able to threaten with long shots. Tardeli is just another Jo... local boy who has no business playing for Brazil.... Jefferson looked very solid, but only tested by those long shots. If Oscar scored the goal, he'd be MoTM, but he did not so he was subpar - sounds harsh but that's football. He had creative moments like you said, but his pass completion in the final third was not good enough. Has to work on that. IMO Brazil were not good enough simply because Colombia is an OK side - like I had said during the world cup. Chile for example are superior side and there are a handful who are way above this standard (of Brazil and Chile). You remove Neymar from the Brazil and there is little up front.

Please don't make it about the 50m paid by PSG-that's a technicality-but merely the options and interest that other players simply don't entice. The message is obvious, he has value. I personally don't ignore this information ymmv. I wasn't referring to kicking the pk or not - really couldn't care less about that.

No I hear but it gets complicated... It's all linked... muscles have to work harder or at least differently as joints lose flexibility. Way out of my niche though...

Kinda ironic we have threads of members praising the board for not overpaying for players and then a thread like this suggesting we lack English players…. The ideas are mutually exclusive. English talent is by definition overpriced – supply and demand. BTW, I agree with this not the other thread(s), but then again, it's not my money.

Suspect it was down to money... It's tricky to lower wages of players or at elast that's my understanding. Often times, it's easier for the employee to leave the company and then rejoin shortly after.

In principle I agree that knee problems are usually much more difficult to deal with. However, certain players have had numerous muscle problems and these niggling injuries do take a toll. Alexandre Pato for example used to (hopefully) suffer a lot from muscle issues exclusively. He hasn't had many injuries lately and is impeoving his game - hope he resumes his development. Also hope Remy was as good a bargain as people here seem to believe.

what a fucked up match! as much as a like the final score/goals scored, let's just not do that again?! I've learned not to take too much from these crazy games, the exceptions; hopefully that is what it was, and exception.