Leif

I'd sooner swap Willian + Bakayoko for Aaron Lennon than have Barkley start games for us, even on a free.

Without Eden we're Arsenal's level. We have their defence x4. We have Kante + Hazard. But they have wingers, attacking midfielders, strikers, defensive midfielders x2. &, of course, that's without Cazorla. I think we're in the midst of our next collapse. Fortunately we've had around 4 of those in 10 years so we know how the cycle goes.

Just realised how amusing it must sound to say 'Up the Arse!' after games.

ballin on my haters like i'm Jordan

It's clear he's great when his team is great. I want to know how he is when losing 2-0 vs. a great side.

Amazing yet expected that Juventus are just about top again considering they were far behind, and probably have to cope with their worst form in around 8+ years. Inter were on fire, Lazio too, Roma, Napoli - but all have too thin squads, too little quality rotation, too few new ideas going into games. Juventus have the squad, the rotation, the mentality/experience, the cohesion. It was always a case of when they'd catch up and not if.

It sure gives incentive to watch every second of every game for the rest of this season despite being out of the Premier League race, if you think there's a chance he'll leave.

'but Hazard to Madrid is a fabrication, it's never been said, there's never been any signs, i don't know why idiots still talk about it' I had faith in you guys...

Players from history who played a similar position/role for their teams, to the same consistently high standard, with the same 1 goal every 3 games output: Ribery, Ronaldinho Include players who tick those boxes, but have scored more than 1 goal every 3 games: Messi So using this layman logic he's somewhere around or between those 3.

This thread stays kind of dead so we can let this gem fly - watch Gintama's episode 151 arc, which lasts a couple episodes. It will generally transfer (now we're on topic) laughs into your stomach.

when i look in his eyes, i dont see a warrior.. i see a skittish deer, which has had some brutish performances, but perhaps due to being caught in headlights, evoking adrenaline. in consistent day to day combat, he lacks the deadly focus of the river salmon.

I definitely picture Arsenal approaching Jose once Wenger's gone, but Jose rejecting. Once Inter are re-established (could happen during a potential Jose PSG stint), he could swoop back in there. Coming up to 10 years or so later now, we re-sign him since there's not many great managers available, and he's considered a proven veteran. He achieves moderate success, maybe 1 league title and 1-2 cups; he retires from club football, and begins managing a gay bar.

If we don't get our motherfucking shit together and re-sign Cole

let's fucking go

Skipper, stop digging yourself a hole. I've put no words in your mouth. I said, quoting myself, that you'd 'called Chelsea fans racist'; - also, highlighting another thing I thought you'd said - that fans disliked him 'because he's African.', which you're agreeing tonight was part of your reasoning. Did you not stake the claim of racist Chelsea fans re: Emenalo? Are you really saying now, after your quote's pulled up that you didn't? Have i somehow twisted it tonight? Sometimes you just need to be quiet. Or try and create some sort of technicality* to get yourself off (in 2 ways). To finish. And I mean finish; stop mentioning me. I didn't say you called every Chelsea fan racist,* fucking fool.You said that those who disliked Emenalo had racism in them. That's what I brought up tonight, and that's what you said then.

To suggest we were in the wrong to sell Salah would be similar to saying 'I can't believe Barcelona sold Ibrahimovic!', or 'Barcelona were mad to sell Maxwell!', since he became PSG's leader and pivotal player. At the time, they would've held the clubs back from consistent dominance. We'd never see Bayern/Madrid/Barcelona go in for Salah even now at his very best, anyway. For a reason.

No way, I can't search forums for the life of me, but other members should confirm. I can't remember if the word 'racist' was said, I'm pretty sure it was; at the very least, it was stated that we clearly wanted him out because he's African.

Neither myself or anybody has said or even insinuated that Ampadu should be starting for Chelsea. Nobody's said he's good enough to play. All I've said, is he stands out head-and-shoulders above the rest of his age group when it comes to leadership qualities, and those qualities will ensure that he's always a capable, consistent player no matter where he ends up. Why are there so many posts on the contrary

Shut up Skipper. Both Ghanians & Nigerians are the epitome of African, and as such, it's important to highlight that they themselves are showing more maturity than most of the African-Americans in this Griezmann scenario. Both sides have suffered oppression, both sides are a lot poorer than they should be because of white men of the past, but only 1 side consistently throws gasoline on small flickers like this, wailing 'disrespect! blasphemy! racism!'. It's a valid comparison. My post regards how people in 2 different places (America & the few African countries with a sizeable social media presence) deal with race relations in scenarios like this (1 side creating fire, the other side pacifist). Your posts are about blackface. I'm not saying anything more to someone who called us Chelsea fans racist for wanting Emenalo out.

There's simply no other player we could buy who'd be equal to Luiz's level for the transfer fee he'd probably go for. We can only get in a worse player, with less love for the club, & less personality. It is totally childish if he's actually being phased out. There's plenty of space for him when you reconsider his ability in midfield. He improved as a defender during his time with PSG; surely his all-round game then has improved, and he'd be a more consistent force in the middle? He's no worse than Bakayoko, and offers somewhat ambitious passing which goes missing when Fabregas is benched. He's an absolutely useful player, lovely person, and that's that. So sad if he goes.

Yes, I completed divided and conquered Ghana, Nigeria, the USA & Britain with my comments.

We need a thread for plain old rants.

People really are pathetically sensitive, with little going on in their lives if they get outraged by shit like this. Some people just want an excuse to be mad. And I think it's so short-sighted and small-minded to throw around the word 'racist' when someone is indeed best friends and close friends with more black people than white (which seems the case with Griezmann). (& It's utterly stupid to react like 'lolololololol i bet he'll say he has black friends!!!!! still racist!!!!', which the majority do in this type of situation.) Racism is a display of your own race being superior to another right? Well literally dressing up as someone of another race is especially in this scenario, communicating: 'They are superior', more than it communicates the opposite - (I mean he's picked what he's picked because he has admiration for a particular, or in general, black basketball players.) Do we really want to continue being off-limits with eachother, sharing none of our cultures with eachother, and doing everything we can to tip-toe on egg shells? God damn, I wish more people than not were amateur philosophers in their spare time so we could actually move forward with new perspectives. We need to become eachother, in an ideal world where that's possible. If i go running once in my life, am i a runner? If i wear a woman's dress once in my life, am i someone who dresses like a woman? If i paint my face black once in my life, am i walking around for the rest of my days communicating 'I'm racist!'? Even calling someone 'Nigger' doesn't automatically make someone racist (which should go without saying). Sure, they may've just did/said something which pretty much everyone considers to be a racist act; but taking into account that person's black friends, their taste for black music, their support for black actors, and love for black footballers, and their lack of any actual malice, are they a damn racist? No. They're usually being a damn troll just using a buzzword to annoy people or tease a best friend (some people really have weird humour); and in that latter case, sometimes even trying to strip away the power that the word use to have, by normalising it (I'm not saying we should normalise it.) Racism is real, and racism is dangerous. Griezmann is not nor has he just been dangerous. Idiots, who offer 0 constructive dialogue on actually improving race relations, and instead throw gasoline on a fire the moment they see a flame. Victim mentalities are a comfy place to reside. But that's another rant. The reactions to this make me admire again how far countries like Nigeria, Ghana are coming. Every. Single. Person from those countries who I've seen react, have been telling African-Americans '...You can't be serious? You think that's racist?...He's paying tribute...' etc. They don't yap on about other people creating their problems, or about people offending them. It's always the Americans who've oh-so-suffered and must be oh-so-such-heroes. I'm not saying Nigeria/Ghana are perfect, but they've taken damn strides when it comes to social media, and on another coin, general education & thinking. It's beautiful. I'm so glad they're connected to our game. They come up with the funniest football pictures too; 'RT if you'd rather Plantain as your midfielder or Like for Bakayoko'etc