robsblubot

Cahill being brilliant ... LololololilololololFeel younger and less wise already... recommend checking the word 'solid' in the dictionary. It describes being firm at most dependable - little to do with technique/quality. Esp going by how the word is overused around here. Now if you think defenders don't need technique then it is indeed possible to think Cahill is a brilliant player. as good as hummels and Kompany. And what does Cahill do with the football After he bosses the 18y box? Row Z or the player closest to him... Btw football isn't only played inside the box...

Can't a defender be solid and still (even very) poor? Because that's how I see him. And yet there are a number of folks here who seem to directly link solidity to quality. Without going into extremes and verging on controversial, I deem Cahill to be more solid than Kompany but the latter is twice the player. Kompany would make the whole team play better. Hazard would make more plays as would all other players - cascading effect from the quality in possession.

It's interesting that the way our defense is setup and the characteristics of the players are not considered when we discuss the style in which we play. It's like around here football is American football where defense and offense are literally different teams.

Having a negative opinion of Oscar, especially if a sane one like, "we can do better" as opposed to an insane one, "he's shit!" Is absolutely fine. The strange part, or perhaps should not be strange any more, is the idea he's getting sold on a fire sale. he just signed a new deal after dropping his performance in the second half of the season - just like now. So what has changed to make the very loud minority think Jose has changed his mind on him? Do they have insider info by chance? Or are they trying to interpret tabloids? Tabloids don't report news - they fabricate them.

This is the happiest you sounded in a long time - didn't think that was even possible after reading the Oscar thread. I'm glad luiz has this effect in you - perhaps he's indeed worth more than 50m after all...At least people here now know what makes you happy and what tabloid you like to read.

Please don't insult the clowns - it's a legit profession.Our members know better than managers, scouts, and the free market, and don't really bother with logic or with the other 10 players on the pitch for the matter. Of course they were all awful quiet after the bridge game. It's not being a clown - it's being arrogant (at least I hope that's the case)

Zouma as a DM only in a most extreme situation/emergency and QPR ain't it! Wish we had proper back up so I'd never seen him play there again - he is awful there. He's an excellent CB (better than Cahill already), esp for his age, but he's not a good passer and being a good passer is one of the most important attributes for the the DM position. I've said that over and over again: our lack or control in games stems from the type of player we have in the defensive positions, not this or that player. It hasn't really changed over the years regardless of who plays middle and front.

I'm not saying trust me, "Oscar is going to turn into a star in a couple of years" because frankly I don't know. Just consider, however, that perhaps you don't have access to all the information they have at the club. Perhaps the fact his performances drop in the second half of the season is well understood at the club. It could be temporary or something they are willing to accept - we just dont know.

Good job! you keep disagreeing with things I did not write. when did I say you are not entitled to your opinion? Thought I did exactly the opposite. I merely wondered about the reiteration of the same points and what you exactly wanted to accomplish with it. I explained why you contradicted yourself by saying he was good enough for serie A but not good enough for the BPL, even though we are winning the BPL. Please don't compare single elimination with a long championship where the best team wins - we were not the best CL team then but single-elimination allows the weaker side to win at times. Yes, Mikel did not improve and we were wrong with him. We were also wrong with Matic who Did improve A LOT after we let him go. The point of the article I linked, that I am sure nobody will bother to read, is exactly that it is hard to predict these things because the development is dynamic with tons of variables, which makes it non-linear. But if you can predict these things with as much certainty as you show in your posts, you are truly wasting your time on these forums. Successful scouts make a lot of money doing exactly what you claim to be able to do. Concerning price tags, there is no debate: any item's valuation, player's rights too, is defined by demand and how how much one is willing to pay for it. Your opinion or mine matter not. Luiz may score a goal a season against us and you still come here and ridicule him for some strange reason. That's just strange to be honest, but whatever makes you happy.

There was no conclusion about Oscar, just called you on your BS. Unlike you I don't pretend to have all the answers and frankly don't care to. Predicting the development of youngsters is one of the most difficult things in football and top scouts and managers get it wrong all the time. You are entitled to your opinions however crazy they may sound to me (and they do as you think 30m+ players are shit), but when you contradict yourself, especially within the same post, that's usually a sign you are going a bit too far. You have already written your opinion about Oscar. Some here agree others don't... If in a few years, at chelsea or elsewhere, Oscar then at 26 is still exactly the same player, then I will say, "darn! I was wrong about him!" And that will take like maybe 5 minutes of my time and won't change a damn thing in my life. I just hope you are not under any illusion that whatever you write here may influence people enough to make a difference - nor that someone at chelsea actually comes here to read all the crap we write... because that would be crazy indeed. This gives an idea of how difficult it is and why there is so much money in it: http://www.academia.edu/667981/Talent_Identificantion_and_Development_Programmes_in_Sport_current_models_and_future_directions

please dont misquote me... where did I write what you said I did? Or are those your "conclusions" again?!I referred to something you actually wrote as opposed to something completely made up like you did:

just an angry dude ranting non-stop against a 23-year-old in a bad patch. His posts make no sense anyway... he says if Oscar goes to a shitty league like Seria A he will score tons of goals, but not good enough for Chelsea. but but we are WINNING the EPL WITH Oscar!!! lol So how is he not good enough if he is factually good enough to win the league with?! Listening to him one would think we improve tremendously whenever Oscar doesn't play, and yet in reality the difference is subtle to non-existent.

Unlike folks here on tc the perhaps Liverpool, the club, understands that the more the merrier.

No such a thing is being done. Lampard was a top player because of his ability to score goals as a midfielder! Goals change games and win matches so obviously he was a special player. And yes Ronaldo would turn into a quaresma without the goals as skill wise he's nowhere near messi.

I think you've missed the entire point... that's exactly what my point was....

Still take away the goals and lamps is just not that a special player any more.

You take away Lamps goals and he would have nothing left to his game - even mourinho mentioned it not long ago.I am Brazilian and 43 so I think I know a bit more about the Brazilian side history than you do. This team is/was average but at least the players are young. I've seen average and old. If you, like Didier, think Brazil made that fiasco because of the defenders then I have nothing else to discuss with you. It'd would be the same as blaming Terry and Cahill for every goal we concede... now that'd be a ridiculous thing, right?

I've seen way way worse than this and multiple times at that. Brazil has a few problems building a top team right now because they lack top players in certain key positions, like the freaking striker. Although the defenders are good they are both ball playing which is also not good. Cm is the real problem as Fernandinho and Gustavo are average. Back to Oscar though you are wrong and time will prove you wrong. Doesn't matter how many times you and others come here and rant, because he will start and play and then start againg next season. He will become a better #8 as he matures. Right now he's lampard lite but hopefully in future he can become his own player.

David luiz sends his regards.

Just need to be careful shipping players away as soon as they are in a slump or they may hurt us later. Or they will develop elsewhere and people who wanted them gone will say "oops my bad" bc they don't have a stake in the game. Aren't we all complaining about the small squad which prevents Jose from rotating? And yet KDB is gone, so is Andre and Salah with just one Cuadrado in. If Oscar is underperforming, then it's really up to the manager to start someone else - simple really. Oscar does not pick the team. If and when he recovers his form, then he can be rotated in and then start if consistent enough... Jose doesn't seem to work like that though, as he plays the same set of players in both cup and CL. Sometimes I'm confused as to what people here are complaining about... is it Oscar or Jose for starting him? I am sure Oscar wanted to be playing better... at the very least like he was at the start of the season? Oscar is like many young promising players: has very good moments and then a dip in form. Not really different from any young player out there. If Fabregas, a senior, is allowed to play like shit for so long why shouldn't a far younger player?

Fair enough but Cuadrado wasn't born yesterday. Some of us did watch him play before as he's hardly a youngster at 26. I personally think Andre is a lot better than cuadrado. And don't think cuadrado, right now, is any better than 22 salah. Reckon Fiorenting was very happy with the transfer fee. 10mil overpriced for me.

Completely normal end of the season slump... City anyone? I do think our main problem is the small squad and lack of rotation... Playin cups, cl, and pl with the same players is crazy to me. That's the only complaint I have about Jose and very specific one at that: lack of rotation specially in cup games. The squad is tired. First it Oscar (as usual) but now it's all players.

You have just described Fabregas game in the last couple of months... And he's not 23...Did we do any better lately when Oscar did not play? Do we improve when he's taken off? I just don't see anyone else doing much better.

This place depresses me. Same loud minority slating the player when the entire team struggled. How can it be so difficult to understand that the team is struggling... That if players don't get into good positions (for whatever reason) it makes difficult to find them. Same thing that people are saying about hazard applies to all other mids including Oscar. No Oscar is not doing enough to help team at the moment - it happens - and other players are in the same or similar slump atm.

That will always happen in big games. These types of matches are always physical and players are always under pressure. He's under pressure and his teammates are under pressure too. You say they are not available for hazard to pick them up, but when they try to make clever runs they get followed by the opposition. So is hazard when he is the one trying to get open... linking up play is intrinsically more difficult in tough matches. I don't believe, with the current crop of players we've got, that is possible to play in any other way against a tough opponent. We must play with a low defense line, so we cannot apply pressure otherwise we are stretched making linkup play even more difficult in these games. Please around here want the impossible... just look at the teams who actually do that and how they are setup. Even PSG is a team that keeps the football and moves up the pitch far more than we do... but they got the players for that.