Leif

If the things are 'pointless' why do we care about them? The fact that we care makes it pretty much the opposite of pointless. Why only 'top players'? What makes a top player? Why are you suggesting just top players wouldn't care about these things? Do Cavani and Messi magically not care about the same things as us because they have 'top' status, whereas players who aren't top players yet like Lukaku or Charlie Adam (who'll never be a top player) do care? Lampard is, always has been and probably always will be a 'top player'. But I guess since he's a top player he doesn't care about the things us fans do such as support, loyalty, playing under an incredible manager and being at a club competitive on all levels. :lol2:

They went because City were building an interesting project. So far the project has failed. They should have won far more domestic trophies and continue to collapse in Europe. Now they're trying a brand new project with nothing to suggest it'll succeed, whereas our new project is in full flow and only getting better with the acquisition of arguably the world's greatest manager.

Would you rather play with Silva and half the time injured and rapidly ageing Navas behind/beside you as you're 2nd choice behind Aguero (or possibly competing for the #1 spot of course) with Nasri being an option in the smaller games (all this while being coached by Pellegrini whose trophy cabinet is not too different to Arsenal's in the last 8 years) at Manchester's second biggest club; Or - Would you rather have Mata and Hazard supporting you with Oscar playing behind you at times (a player so close to Hamsik in many ways), be the #1 striker and be coached by Mourinho (who he's admitted to wanting to work with) while playing at London's biggest and best club who've won two back to back European titles in the last 2 seasons? Wow tough choice

To me there's nothing to the rumour of Man City wanting Cavani. He does not fit in their system at all and every system Manuel has implemented at his clubs have involved a poacher or 2. Never a work-horse of a striker or a proper target man. Aguero is born for the style Manuel likes to play. Cavani is a player completely opposite to the system he tries to play and what City have been playing in the past. I understand they have loads of money but they're not going to go spend £30m or whatever on a 28 year old midfielder, overpay for Jesus Navas, give Aguero a pay-rise (I believe) then go splash £50m+ on Cavani when they've still got Tevez, Dzeko etc. on their books. Logic people. Logic doesn't go completely out the window with City. On top of that, why would Cavani want to go to a club where there's already Aguero who'd be playing ahead of him? Unless of course they implement a 4-4-2 sort of system which'd make 0 sense with Silva in the team.

I don't understand how people could not believe at least some of this. Napoli's bloody president has already confirmed we're in talks. What more is needed? Is it not true unless reported on Sky Sports?

Going from Mikel to De Rossi is like going from a handjob from your long lost distant cousin to spending the night in bed with your favourite pornstar.

Why on earth would you post that from someone elses Twitter?

The comparison with Zola that gets made is actually quite accurate now that I think about it. Although taller, much taller, they have uncanny similarities. Zola will always be better at free kicks and magic moments though.

Decent look at him. The fact it was written for Arsenal fans makes this potential deal even sweeter http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/stevan-jovetic-scouting-report-you-1906804

Watch him every season. Best striker in Serie A behind Cavani in my opinion. That's not saying he's the most lethal; but he's like a more lethal and slightly less flashy version of Suarez with none of the cuntish attitude. He can play any attacking position and was usually at his best as a support option, but this season he played much more as the main striker or as a striker-partner to Toni in some games (which worked like magic.) If you see him in your lineup you won't think "Ok we've got at least 1 goal today", but you will know you're going to see something special. Just for enjoyment I think this is the nicest compilation on Youtube for him:

Perhaps we're restarting our squad in the striker position. Cavani + Jovetic for the striker position with both Ba + Torres (somehow) out? No idea about Lukaku. I have to say Jovetic this season has proven he can play as a main striker and not just a support option or in the hole. And the possibility of one day playing, not as a primary starting XI, Cavani and Jovetic together could be lethal. Jovetic is actually not too dissimilar to Suarez. I'd rather just Cavani though of course.

Mikel is more a game of "told you so" if he does/doesn't start than he is a player to so many fans now. Sad.

He's worth what we paid for Torres. Or he would be, IMO. He's young enough to get in our top 5 all time scorers although that is me being very and perhaps overly optimistic. When you buy Cavani though you're buying much more than just goals like you get with RVP or 'Omg' moments with Suarez or whatever. He does every single thing a striker could possibly do. Most strikers these days, for whatever reason, are simply not as good or are lazy and don't possess half the qualities he does. He could go 5 games without scoring but still be MOTM in all of them.

"LETS SIGN A TOP STRIKER!!!!!!!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Once there's a strong link with a top striker* "HE COSTS TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

Well I couldn't complain about:- Cavani Hazard, Mata, Hulk And I think anyone who would is spoilt He'd instantly bring the physicality we sometimes miss. Although not a great tackler he loves to get stuck in and win the ball back. Sorta like Rooney.

I think he's good and under the correct guidance he can become great. A bit of an odd comparison perhaps, but when you look at his strengths (long shots, pace, strength, power in all aspects of his play, decent dribbling) he draws comparison to C. Ronaldo. They have similar weaknesses too - Selfish, often make bad judgements (more so Hulk), lack a good defensive contribution, often try too much etc. (Oh and they're also hit-and-miss from set pieces the both of them.) I feel though that after coaching Ronaldo, Mourinho could really polish Hulk and he could be for us what he was for Porto. This would hopefully translate to the national team too. I always like to see Brazil do well. He has everything I believe we need for the right hand side and like Ronaldo or Hazard (in time) would be a genuine goal threat when our striker is misfiring.

I disagree. We've had possession completely controlled against us by the likes of Everton, Swansea, Rubin, Shakhtar etc. We can't just magically turn into a ball-dominating team with the turn of a new season. In the Premier League last season, the only games we had more than 50% possession were:- Reading, Newcastle (marginal), Stoke, Norwich, West Brom, Fulham, West Ham, Sunderland, Villa (8-0), Norwich (again), QPR, Stoke (again), Southampton, Wigan, West Brom (again), Sunderland (again), Manchester United (51% to us) & Aston Villa (again). So we only had more possession vs. teams now relegated, were fighting relegation, were newly promoted and then West Brom, West Ham, Manchester United (by 1%) and Stoke City. None of those were 'dominated' either.

I think so. But we have to look at what we're even going in for him for. If we're getting him to be back-up to Hazard, there's a plethora of cheaper options who'd do the job. Aubameyang who can also be a starter on the right hand side if he proves himself good enough and even play as a proper striker. De Bruyne - Who could be a starter or back up. Jese (a personal favourite of mine) who's being misused by Real Madrid. He's like a Spanish Hazard..or Ronaldo. Piazon (people seem to have faith in him and I'd be willing to give him a shot as back up) Payet of Lille whose transfer evaluation is about to sky-rocket. Luis Muriel whose transfer evaluation is also about to shoot up. Amin Affane if the club would bloody use him correctly. So talented but going to waste. If they could also pick up Kakuta again and get the ball rolling he'd be an option (although I prefer him through the centre.) Juan Quintero Jean-Paul Boëtius from Feyenoord. I expect really big things from him.Jeremain Lens (since PSV want Bruma he could be part of the deal)Heung-Min Son - He can cover pretty much anywhere.Griezmann As for keeping Hazard on the left and going for someone to start for us on the right:-SanchezDe Bruyne (perhaps)Di MariaGaitan (although he'd be used as an inside-forward most likely which I believe he really should be converted to)Jese (again)Aubameyang (again) All realistic. Most would be cheaper than Schurrle and the ones who'd be more expensive would more than likely be better especially for a possession-based team.

His point is that primarily being a counter-attacking team regardless of the opposition (which plenty of teams do) admits right away that you have a weak midfield and team in general when it comes to retaining possession which exposes a lack of confidence if you will. Obviously you have to be flexible with tactics and adapt to certain games and situations, so how teams played against Barcelona (that seems the only example so far and a stupidly obvious one when you consider there's been no other way to play against them in recent years) is completely irrelevant to the point of being a counter-attacking team. He's discussing being a counter-attacking team in general; not a team who counter-attacks when they need to counter-attack, I believe.

Most Bundesliga followers agree that ever since he switched to Bayer his career has completely stagnated. His progress has stopped. He's regressed as a player since he was at Mainz, but this could be attributed to the fact that he was more like the 'main guy' there and was thus instilled with confidence. He seems like a confidence player a lot of the time. It's often noted, just like Marin, that there was a point he could have been the next big thing in Germany. There was a notion that he could have made that switch to a team like Bayern Munich. It never happened, he settled for a 'big' but not as big team and slowly but surely started to make less noise and headlines. The hype died down. He no longer showed the confidence, killer instinct and brute force that he showed as a youngster. The reason he gets picked for Germany, which has been confirmed by the coach, is simply down to the fact that he cuts in which offers Lahm the chance to get forward where-as players like Podolski or whoever stay wide quite a bit more. They agree mainly that he should have stayed as a striker but now it's too late to go back because whenever he does play as a striker he messes it up. That's exactly what I've been doing. I've been discounting what positions they play (Ramires and Schurrle) and looked directly at their attributes and explained where there similarities start and end. They do possess around the same quality (or lack-of) of crossing and finishing. They also have very similar work-rates and interception stats. There, attributes looked at. I wasn't even aware of this stat until literally right now. I say he's poor at finishing because I've watched him all season. The amount of scuffed shots and shots dragged wide is bewildering. He's even been boo'd plenty by Bayer fans because of it. I remember the Irish commentator at the time I first saw/heard the booing saying he understood the fans frustration (but of course agreed it wasn't nice to boo) because of his either too selfish play at times or stupidly passing to a player when he's right in front of goal and should have taken a shot.

Torres rejected autograph requests from Real Madrid fans at Spain's training session yesterday. Dick. (Although to be fair it may have pissed off a lot of Atletico fans had he complied.)

Kießling typically ends the season, as a centre forward, with more goals and assists than Schurrle. Kadlec and Carvajal (not anymore as he's re-signed with Real Madrid) have on average created more chances for teammates per game than Schurrle has. They're full-backs. Schurrle is a winger with pace who is like a counter-attacking machine. In 2005 this would be the best signing possible. But for a team now looking to control and dominate possession with 'attractive' football (although it remains to be seen whether Mourinho will try and change this before it's even fully implemented), signing such a hit-and-miss player who often finds himself wandering into the striker position despite having woeful finishing is just baffling. Despite being deployed on the left, his stat percentages work out at spending around 60% of his time on the field throughout a season right behind the striker, not being this 'work horse on the wing' which seems to be the main justification behind 'he offers depth' as to why we should sign him. People say that Hulk shouldn't be signed as he shoots when he should pass - but this is also the case with Schurrle. He took the most shots in the entire Bundesliga this season and got 11 goals. Most of these goals (I've checked) were in big scoreline games vs. mid-table to relegation-level teams and were more often than not 'icing on the cake' goals after the game had already been won. The real hard worker of Bayer's team is Castro but there's little point discussing him right now. Then there's the whole headache of "Where would he play?" If you've ever actually caught a rare glimpse of him playing on the right wing or central striker (where he's decent as his hold-up play can go under-appreciated) you'll see he goes missing more than he contributes to the team. From bad touches to plenty of fouls against, he loses his confidence on the right. Hazard is at his best currently on the left. If you'd rather 'balance' and less explosiveness and magic from Hazard, then sure, shove Hazard on the right and put Schurrle on the left. Problem solved. Is that really what we want to do though? He's credited as being a 'long shot' specialist but this couldn't be farther from the truth. When you take the most shots in the Bundesliga, most from outside of the box, of course one or two have to go in and make a Youtube highlight reel! Similar to Meireles in that regard. The same people who loved Sturridge and would defend every move of his seem to be the people most behind this move - and they're really similar players when you look at their strengths and weaknesses. Those of us who tore our hair out when Sturridge would shoot instead of pass and take long-shots that went far into the crowd when he should have picked another option will be getting the same clumps of hair being torn out again next season. He raises more questions than he does answers. Edit: Just so it doesn't seem like I want to shit on him completely, the positives I see in him are rather decent interceptions and nice soft hair which reminds me of a lamb. Edit #2: Just some fun stats because everyone loves (or hates) those. This is only league stats. He averages less than 80% completed passes per game (depending where you look and who you trust it's between 76-78%) & averages 0.5 won aerial duels per game. He scored 1 winning goal this season. He completed 37 tackles this season compared to Oscar's 86. He made 46 interceptions this season which is far and beyond anything our attack players have managed this season. He committed 30 fouls this season compared to Hazard's 25, Mata's 15 and Moses's 13. He was dribbled past 39 times this season, compared to Mata's 29 and Hazard's 25. (I thought he was amazing with his defending?) He took 122 shots and scored 11 goals. Hazard took 63 and got 9 goals. Mata took 70 and got 12. He made 40 key passes this season. Hazard made 65. Teammate Carvajal made 47 while Castro made 80. He was caught offside 29 times compared to Hazard's 5 and Moses's 6. Castro was caught offside 4 times. He was dispossessed 71 times. This is compared to Castro's 43 and Hazard's 62. 16 out of his 58 crosses were successful. I don't see much there suggesting he's a good defensive or attacking option aside from his interception count. Just an all-rounded average player. Now don't say I don't back up my opinions. Third and final edit: If you even give a shit, you may be thinking - "Oh ok Mr. Know-it-all (Admit it, some of you have stabbed me and shat on me in your minds multiple times), who should we sign then?" If you really want to know, PM me and I'll be happy to explain in detail.

It is if you follow the Bundesliga avidly. Or the German national team avidly. Ask around. I compare him to Ramires because he's played on the right before not to great success while putting in 'lots of effort' which is exactly what I'd see from Schurrle playing there. It doesn't matter if they're different types of players. If you try Hazard as a false-9 vs. a team like Juventus you have the right to compare him to Torres after the match and see where they have strengths/weaknesses in that position compared to eachother even if they're originally different players, no? Everything people say Schurrle is good at - Work rate, getting the ball back, 'trying hard' - is everything which can be applied to Ramires. Everything people say Schurrle is weak at - Finishing, crossing - is what can also be applied to Ramires. They have very similar qualities and weaknesses and thus it shouldn't be out of the question to compare them. So that's why I compare him to Ramires. We've seen plenty of Ramires on the wing so it's a comparison which can be made.

He's an upgrade on Moses definitely but I'm going to be pulling my hair out if he's slotted into the XI and pushes Hazard onto the right in the process. Under Di Matteo I felt Hazard was actually better on the right as he went through the centre more and showed off his tricks more, but he's definitely becoming more of a threat on the left now, playing the role Ronaldo, Jese, Bale (sort of) etc. play. That 'i'm going to play like a striker but be on the wing' sort of role. It's common knowledge that putting Schurrle on the right isn't much better than putting Ramires on the right, so I've no idea how this will work unless he genuinely is just a bench option. Regardless; Hopefully he's more consistent for us than Podolski is for Arsenal. I see them as similar players.

It doesn't matter if there are/aren't real quotes from Mourinho saying he's the 3rd best player in the world or are/aren't quotes from Hazard saying he can be a 50-60 goal a season player this time. It doesn't matter because it will be the case regardless of what anyone says as long as he puts the work in. We don't need 'confirmation' from anyone to know this.