robsblubot

Without info on whether the matches are really comparable, it's not really that useful comparison IMO. The issue is mostly about pace: Disasi is very slow and pretty average on the ball; while Trev has much more pace, even if he's just as average on the ball. Disasi is the worst by far because he forces a low block and he only did well when Poch lowered the lines towards the end of the season. Reckon Maresca won't be doing that tho.

Couldn't agree more -- the mere fact he is running after that Jan 6th shitshow he pulled is mind boggling to say the least. on the "The Sensible Pundit Meets Godzilla" It's going to be a white guy... for balance 🙄 I know... but just imagine what a curveball it would be if Kamala picked Liz Cheney for VP! Could almost see Trump waving goodbye to AZ and possibly MI votes? 🙂

Trump won’t shut up — does not mean people pay attention to the shit coming out of his mouth. Aside from the complete lack of evidence, the main problem with Trump “claims” esp regarding fraud, is that he was the president at the time; that made him the individual best positioned to interfere in the electoral process, which he ended up doing anyway. now the people who believe all that crap are already voting for him, so again, it simply does not matter. US elections are about the turnout. Biden guaranteed a low turnout, which was good for Trump. It’s a different ballgame now.

If Biden was senile for the last 4 years, does that mean Trump lost debates and an election to a senile man? what does it say about Trump himself? Honestly, aside from the fringe right, nobody gives a shit. It's akin to Hunter Biden, who was never in government. It's now between Trump and Kamala and that's about.

Trump is a fat 78yo who ate shit food all his life ... He may not have the same level of senility as Biden, but he's likely not far. "Trump’s frequent phonemic paraphasia ‘are signs of early dementia’ - I'd definitely remove the *early* bit from the quote tho. 3 months is a long time and anything can happen until then. So much so, that I haven't seen a single ad showing trump's role in the Jan 6th attack, which I presume will be playing pretty much non-stop closer to the election.

Goalie is the hardest position to scout: for professionals and even worse for fans. I'd trust any goalkeeping coach's opinion vs any stats on a web site; there are so many variables, like the quality of the D as mentioned earlier. BTW, even my "quality of the D" is a simplification.

likely yeah I feel that W. Fofana needs his own category though -- what a strange buy. I suspect a favor for his agent to facilitate other deals? no proof of any of that, but I really can't imagine any other reason.

The irony here is that who's the senile old (and fat) guy running for office now? 😆

Well that's the visibility part that I referred to above; the new accounts thing is indeed weird to say the least. Regarding his opinion on the game, I'll stand by what I said. I absolutely don't have to agree with someone's point to take something from it, which was often the case with him.

Same here. I don't have visibility into everything he did, but I thought he was a good poster too. "Every donkey was young once." was a good one 😆 and very pertinent for the times we are living in.

Hmm then maybe he's been offered wages way beyond of what we can offer.

That's an interesting idea; would he leave tho? He's only 30, so I'm not sure why City would let him go.

He's standing and not on crutches -- context enough for you now? 😃 Seriously though, only one dumb ass was not thinking about his teammates and his club, and that was Enzo. I'd also give a shout-out to Argentina to not have anyone around to prevent that kinda of stupid behavior.

That's perhaps the difference between you and me: you may think that Haaland is not that unique, while I think Haaland is a freak of nature; and that expecting u18 players to be another haaland (or Rooney or Ronaldo 9) is unrealistic. That was literally the point I was making all along. 🤷‍♂️ Here's one in case you missed:

That's my point exactly. It's how *rare* it is to find elite players who delivered at such young age U20, in the case of our specific player, 18 years old. I wrote the folks have unrealistic expectations with very young players, which is the post you replied to. Haaland was 21 when he joined City, and is 23yo now. It's pointless to discuss theories when we disagree on facts: what a U20 player is, for example.

Also reported in Brazil -- perhaps from the same source, the agent Kia Joorabchian. Thought Carney was more of a left winger, or at least that's where I liked him the most in the couple of games he played.

One of the worst CMs I've ever seen in Brazil midfield. The other one was (United) Fred.

Duh Alexandre Pato was 18 too when he joined Milan. Anyway, suppose Maresca and other coaches took one look at Marc in training and thought he needs more time. 🤷‍♂️

Are you serious here? You think a CB, a goalie, a striker, wingers require the same experience level? Physicality? really?! Any 18yo successful goalies you remember? Any 18yo CB for that matter? Now wingers are a bit more common to see u20 aren't they? because they are not in the "contact zone" are not the "backbone" of a team. I specifically listed only 2 strikers that I can remember who had success at the highest level u20... now if you are not interested in this discussion, I honestly don't know you replied. 🤷‍♂️

Again, I'm talking about the Striker position (referring to expectations around Marc Guiu), which is the player who plays centralized and has to beat the opposition CBs. He has to be comfortable playing with his back to the opposition goal, which is a very specific skillset to be learned. Estevao is not a striker either and his build suggests he may be better used elsewhere.

I specifically mentioned striker, and you were very specific about what you want from strikers in a post earlier, but my point exactly: only the truly exceptional have delivered so young. Strikers have a harder time avoiding contact than wingers for obvious reasons. I'm not talking about 22yo young here. I'm referring to Marc Guiu (18yo) and u20 strikers.

Some people have extremely unrealistic expectations regarding (very) young players. I mean, for the striker position, I can think of Rooney and Ronaldo #9 (in Italy) and that's about it for u20 strikers delivering from the get-go.

I honestly don't understand this point esp when you consider he plays, like I mentioned in multiple positions in attack, and their main striker is Haaland. He even played many of these games behind Haaland. I also don't understand when people simply project number of goals from other leagues into the PL when we sign strikers from other leagues. Similarly you can't project what Alvarez would do in a completely different system, with teammates with different characteristics, and playing in a different role. I'd always trust a player who is an excellent footballer like him, with great skill on the ball, versus limited strikers like Lukaku. I would love to see Alvarez linking up with Cole for ex, but that's me I guess.

Agreed on that all signings are a gamble to some degree. Compared to a limited player like Lukaku, Alvarez is as sure as it gets. Alvarez can play in all 3 attacking positions, or even behind the striker. He's just an excellent round footballer; no, he's not a pure striker, which is a good thing in my book.

Newcastle did not exist, footballing wise, a few years ago and have not really done anything worthwhile since getting the oil money. It was a second tier team then and remains so. It will likely change at some point, but so far … crickets. liverpool has a very good staring xi with quality subs esp in attack. They may lack depth when they play CL but it’s still a strong and experienced group of players with one of the best wingers in the world.