robsblubot

#2 the issue with nagging injuries is that although they don't necessarily make you miss matches, they may hinder your performance. Which explains the difference in pace, aggressiveness, tackling, from first to second half of the season. I think CBF was a factor, but not the only one. #4 nobody is saying we should wait on Oscar. Chelsea cannot wait on any player, but that's why we've got Willian, Andre, Salah, etc. That's why City wins the EPL, because when Aguero is injured, or in bad shape, they've got Dzeko/Negredo. Or Nasri for Silva, etc.

There are 3 aspects to take into consideration: 1) He was burned out because of lack of any vacation in a while which may have led to; 2) nagging injuries which clearly prevented him from doing the things he did before 3) CBF The first two are self-explanatory, but the 3rd one is controversial; some will diss him for that (lack of commitment to Chelsea), but CBF plays hard ball normally, and I reckon they might have gone overboard considering the home soil and Brazil social situation: "give the people its circus." A minor slight from Ramires kept him away from the team for months and almost cost him his WC spot. I just noticed that it happen to most if not all Brazil players. 4) he's 22... Jose words: only "ready players" don't need to improve; the 29-year-old who get in the starting XI and play as if they've been there forever. Both Oscar and Hazard need to improve, in different ways, but they both do. We either show some patience with our own wonderkids, or we are never going to have truly great players on the squad. Good luck buying Messi...

The sad thing for me is that even if they had banned Suarez for most of the season, in which case he ends up only playing a handful of game, he would still outscore both our strikers (combined).

Jose values the defensive play of his attacking mids like no other head coach. After all he was the one who chose to sell his most creative CAM, Mata, to keep his hard working CAM, Oscar. Oscar is going nowhere as long as he is committed to what Jose wants.

Well it's really relative... David Luiz is surely overrated (yes I've said it!) if you take the 50m into account. Same with Bale, but that's hardly their fault. They didn't set their price, just played well enough to make buyers put cash on the table. A player certainly NOT overrated IMO: Matthaus... what a fantastic midfielder!

Balotelli a pundit now? Might as well be b/c he has such a hard time scoring goals.

oh come on! he made a fantastic run beating a player to connect to a pretty heavy cross. What did Ronaldo do then? Bale is the 24 who just joined the team.

Goals never dry up for the truly special players. Of course assists count too. However, if the the attacking player isn't assisting nor scoring consistently, then he's just not at that level. Right... point is that the goal was decisive by avoiding the pks. Goals change games.

He was (Di Maria), but without Bale, RM loses all the same. Scoring the goal is something "special." Nothing else counts in football.

This goes back to personal preferences and all... But you can't say he only scored the goal... without that goal, which was hardly a tap in, they lose. In a low scoring game like football, scoring a goal, especially a difficult one, is huge! Which makes the players who can do that on their own, like Messi, invaluable.

true. Robben is 30 and at the top of his game, whereas Bale is 24 and hardly there.

That's exactly how I used to think of him, until I watched last CL final. Unsurprisingly enough Ronaldo vanished and Bale was the player who made a difference. Yes, he missed an opportunity before equalizing, but kudos to him that he kept on trying. Bale is younger too and it was his first season in Spain. I don't think this is the best we are going to see from him..

He does that indeed. Back to my point: Colombia has been playing against nobody really; perhaps C is the worst group. Mexico and Croatia are better than any team in group C, aside from Colombia. That's why I think it's premature to judge James with so many different variables in play. What if he vanishes in the KO stages?

I won't discuss what I did not write/say. Now if you think Brazil and Neymar have the same freedom as James and Colombia, then I guess we just have to agree to disagree. Not to mention, like I said before, the opposition. Either Mexico is as good as you say, in which case Brazil has faced tougher opponents than Colombia has, or Mexico is at the same level of the other teams in group C. When you criticize Brazil, you criticize Mexico too.

Completely agree, but then again while a player of his quality can create something out of nothing, he can't make the rest of the team work. If other players can't follow his movement and help him the way he's helped at Barca, he just can't perform at the same level. Even at Barca his performances dropped when the team struggled. That's natural as it's a team sport.

Yeah because all teams go all out against Brazil. Same against Chelsea.

this is all relative. To me the best performer has been Lionel Messi because of how poor Argentina has been, and how decisive Messi has been for them. This goes back to Maradona vs Pele, and how we Brazilians always value the goal scorer vs the playmaker; it has worked quite well for us, but it is certainly debatable. Maradona was a genius, but as a Brazilian, Messi is not that far esp considering how often he scores.

It's Colombia. I know it's confusing though. It's really silly to compare players when the teams are facing completely different opponents. Neymar and Oscar also have far less freedom on the pitch than other players. Timing is also a factor: how would you rate Oscar in November 2013? Or Neymar, aside from his Brazil appearances? It's all so very relative. James Roadriguez may yet join a top EPL side and then flop like many good players have. I'm not saying it will happen, but that we just don't yet know. The grass is always greener...

He certainly deserves yet another ban. However then they might as well bring Italy back, because this Uruguayan side doesn't deserve to play in the KO stage without him. I would rather watch Italy play than Uruguay without Suarez.

Not even the best English player I've seen. That would have to be Paul Gascoigne and by a very wide margin. Beckham was an excellent player, but never top 10 for me.

The most overrated player of all time for me is Ronaldinho. With David Beckham as a close second.

Many players underperformed at the critical moment: in defense, middle, and of course, attack. So many points lost at home against shitty teams for example. Next season will be a key for many players. Not that will be labeled bad or anything like that, but reckon Jose may want to improve on them to grab some silverware... if he's still the manager at the end of the season.

Let's try it again, even with the matching numbers so the chronology is perfect! DO you see the problem with #2 ?! We don't have David Luiz #4 and #5 just yet, but your #2's cannot be right! Torres: 1. Liverpool signs Torres for 20m 2. Torres was great for Liverpool for many seasons 3. We buy Torres for 50m 4. He's been awful for us (according to many) 5. We cannot sell Torres for 10m unless we pay his wages Torres LOST (a lot of) value at Chelsea! 1. We buy David Luiz for 21m + Matic (say 25m) 2. According to you he was awful 3. We sell David Luiz for 50m making him the most expensive defender ever. David Luiz INCREASED (really doubled!) his value at Chelsea!

Chronologically your post makes no sense whatsoever. Because of your claim that he's been a flop for us.

that was not the point though, but rather that his value increased. Fans are not paid to do proper research, crunch numbers... we only do the fun part of the "job." Besides Jose himself priced DL at 35M - hardly a fire sale. I was responding to the comparison with Torres situation - couldn't be any more distinct. --- http://america.aljazeera.com/blogs/worldcup/2014/6/21/more-defenders-havemeantmoregoalsandotherworldcupconundrums.html Good read even if you don't agree with most if not all of it. It really goes into Total Football, even if unintentionally. Again, I don't believe that there is only one way of wining in football - I've actually seen completely different styles do it. And once again, I'm going to recomment the book soccernomics (Simon Kuper et al.), which is must read for fans of the game.