Leif

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

Good point. For the club to ultimately consider De Bruyne recruitable, multiple people in the club (scouts, board, Roman) must've agreed 'he's good.' To then allow 1 man (it seems) to choose he's not worthy, is not the right way of doing things. Both the coach & everyone above him takes the blame in that scenario for letting him go. Amateurs like us were praising him to high heavens even after his shittest games for us. If we could see it, they could see it (surely). Ultimately they didn't trust their own eyes, which is pretty crazy. I don't believe De Bruyne would've been quite the player he is for City had he stayed here though; no creative player reaches their potential with us. I still would've kept him regardless; I saw him as a great Xabi Alonso-type to play deep, if he could pick up intercepting ability. I said then and i'll say now - his pin-point accuracy that he churns out game after game, is something I only saw in the very best few games of Beckham, who was pretty much championed for his ability to cross the ball and hit wonder-passes. I do think for most of us, we saw he was a once in a generation talent. This is a stupid tangent now, but replace Zidane during his Juventus years with De Bruyne, replace Kaka at Milan with De Bruyne, replace even Xabi Alonso or Gerrard at Liverpool with De Bruyne, and he'd be considered one of the best talents of all time; he would've matched them one way or another. In this modern era, especially at City, I'm not sure he'll ever get that tag. He'd deserve it though.

Milan being decimated 0-3 to Verona, who're 2nd-bottom in Serie A (which is sad, considering their fan base is one of the better ones in Italy in terms of vocality; would love to see them have oil money pumped into them.) Milan will surely only get back to the top when they actually turn back into AC Milan - meaning bringing in players & staff who were there during the glory days. Apparently Kaka could be going back as an assistant soon, and personally I think that's a great start if it happens. It doesn't matter if these ex-players lack staff-like experience: their love for the club will carry it. Next they should target van Basten. If they want to jump back to the top quicker, they'll somehow convince Ancelotti to manage them too.

What i got from that is, he isn't playing well because we're comparing him to Matic, and he had a bad game for France in March in which the following media's headlines shook him. If he can't handle that, he can't handle the tweets he now gets on Twitter either. Said it from the start - he lacks mentality. We must get rid. He isn't strong in the head, and any improvement would be a facade at this point.

Hazard showers us in love, 9/10 performances, character, charm. Courtois has only ever showered us in bitter words. There's a world of difference. Especially when you consider that despite selfishly wanting Hazard at the club for life, some of us genuinely are intrigued to see the type of player he'd become at one of the top 2 in Spain. There's not much to be excited about as a neutral if Courtois leaves. When someone's shown you loads of love, it's somewhat easier to swallow if they leave you for their original love eventually if they get the chance. But when someone has never shown you love, consistently uses your money and status, and then on top of that, decides they just don't want to be around anymore, surely it's understandable to act like a bitter, drunk Russian on the verge of murder. Courtois & us has been like, a young budding actress getting with one of the hottest directors around, & living a Hollywood lifestyle through us by getting far more spotlight than he would have had he not taken advantage of our interest. Now that he's established as a star, because of us, instead of staying with us and performing in our bigger movies to come, he'd rather spread his legs and fly away.Fucking whore.

I just don't like hot-and-cold players. I'd sooner take consistently warm, like another Pedro. Ideally for me though the next winger we add will have a fetish for crossing.

I think Fazio's the best value signing of the past 5 years, for any team currently in the CL or EL. Plays like a 35m player, 5x (I think?) his transfer fee. One of Roma's top 10 ever CB's; top 5 perhaps since the 90's. He's almost like their Azpilicueta in a few ways.

If City played Aguero as a CAM, De Bruyne as a deep midfielder, Sterling as a striker, G. Jesus on the bench etc, they'd still whoop Southampton by several goals. If Arsenal played Sanchez as a CAM, or striker, or winger, with Ozil as a winger, or CAM, with everyone else chopping position up top, they'd still get by with 2 or so goals. If United played Lukaku on the right wing, Rashford (now used as a winger) as the striker, and dropped Pogba, they'd still be a lot stronger than Southampton. So, I think it's lunacy to condemn Conte for dropping Morata + putting Hazard up top. I think the players are simply not good enough (broken record). If they rely on Hazard, that's a problem. If they're still hitting high crosses into the box despite Morata not being on the field, that's their fault.

http://www.genti.stream/hd/hd1.php

Who knows how he's actually playing, but on the football websites today RLC has pretty impressive stats so far: 90% pass success (by far the most on the pitch) 2 shots (only Zaha's taken more) 3 dribbles (illustrates more confidence than when he was here) 2 tackles (lowest of the midfielders in Palace's side) & 1 aerial duel won (he should really improve here.) If only these sites could highlight clearly how much running the player's done.

Just for fun. Looking back, I think in the past 15 years, these are our only CF's who were worse than Bats (roughly in chronological order): Forssell, Carlton Cole, Kezman, & Pizarro. I think he's level with: Shevchenko I think he's surpassed by: Crespo, Gudjohnsen, Drogba, Kalou, Anelka, Sturridge, Torres, Ba, Eto'o, Remy, Costa, Morata So in theory, in 15 years, only 4 CF's have been poorer than Michy (and all were before we had multiple PL titles + high standards). At least 12 have been superior, and out of those 12, we wouldn't have even wanted 7 of them around full-time going forward. So with that perspective, he's really, really below our standard so far. Really limited.

I know it's just a ScoutNation video (best compilations on Youtube though in my opinion), but Kepa does look damn fine, in fact he hardly seems different than Courtois when he was at Atletico (though no young keeper will pull the likes of double-saves Thibaut did against Real Madrid.) Definitely going to watch some of his games this season. There's a very dodgy penalty save in that video though. Needs to improve handling; but has some of the best reflexes. I wonder how he'd do with a higher defensive line.

I'd agree that Lemar isn't spectacular, but he's not not great IMO. He's all-rounded, consistent, and for sure not the perfect player for our wing, but he's the perfect player for any squad, presuming he doesn't have to start every game. He'd blitz any small teams in the cup games, he'd be a really solid alternative to any XI player injured in a big game (solid meaning, small chance of being a game-winner, but equally small chance of fucking anything up.) He's already Arsenal starter-material; for us he's definitely bench material. Not a player who raises a team's level, but further solidifies it, whatever that level is - presuming again, he isn't relied upon. I want incredible bench players, and an incredible bench option he would be. I imagine that for us, he'd be a 6.5-7/10 player in 90% of his games. Never would he have a bad game. Sometimes he'd be the best forward on the pitch, like Willian can manage even after terrible, terrible runs of form. Sometimes Hazard can't unlock a defence, and what we need is a more traditional winger. I guess for the amount of money he'd cost, it makes more sense to first prioritise upgrading our XI. In that case I'm far more into Sanchez than Mahrez, because while one has a great amount of talent, the other has an extraordinary level of talent. If we do sign him, the most likely scenario is he's going straight into our XI. In that scenario it's simple. Four. Two. Three. (One). Lemar - Hazard - &Whoever - would be strong, presuming the guy on the right is elite (but where are the elite right-wingers?) I'd definitely keep him in the ilk of a player who offers quite a bit defensively, and aims to cross more than he aims to shoot. Somewhat like Giggs just as Namika said. As a starting player this would be underwhelming all in all.

Well he made as many tackles in 10 mins as Azpilicueta+Rudiger did combined in 80. His quality is that at only 17, he commands the players around him & is positionally sound. Those are 2 incredibly rare and hard to refine traits. Technique can always be refined; what if he retains his positional sense, leadership attitude, but adds improved ball distribution to his game? Wouldn't he be the model ball-playing central defender? No matter current technical limitation, it can't be ignored, and he can't be called average, simply due to the fact there's no other 17 year olds we can think of (surely?) who act as confident without errors. He is now where Rabiot at PSG was around roughly the same age. He'd be a dependable squad player, good enough for the XI of his national side. Simply useful & actually worth the space in the squad (eventually); especially considering he'll happily play both defence + midfield. It's like he's the cleanest, highest quality blank canvas. Sure, not a great painting yet - there's even paintings his age floating around - but they're sloppy. Whatever he becomes, even if a small finger painting, he will be consistent.

Not Ampadu ? No point watching the rest of this when there's a David Attenborough DVD beside me.

The only team to be beating complete fodder 3-0 and still have barely any hope of introducing a youngster Most teams near enough our level (Arsenal, Dortmund, Atletico) (lol at our new level) would've started with 1, then brought the other on around 55mins in. Give us something to look forward to this season. Like the foundation for a better future.

Personally shocked this is being called a good performance. Scored, yes, clean sheet so far, yes - but we've allowed a team 5 points from relegation play some football, make a player or 2 of ours slip on their arses, and at least made our defence run. Take any other top team (City, Barcelona, Juve) and the possession would be 95%-5%, which should be the case with us regardless of formation or tactics. We should always dominate teams like this and we are not dominating. We're doing just what's expected of us currently - getting through a nobody team with quite some effort.

When you're wrong, you're wrong. I was wrong. I've been fed my just deserts.

wITh0uT fAbReGAs baKA wIll THriVE

Conte never would've brought the likes of Rudiger, Baka, Drinkwater to Juventus. I hope that much is clear. CFC wanted Rudiger from 2013/2014. CFC wanted another English player. Baka move was the Baka move. Personally, i don't at all consider any of these to be the manager's signings. I only consider Zappa to be one. and Morara when eventually we had no other options.

A club with less to lose (CL spot) would start giving game-time to Ampadu/Musonda for the rest of the season considering the title's lost, and the following year or 2 have some of the best two youngsters in the league.

Taking into account how bad we are this season (IMO), it's worth having the perspective that Barcelona have been pretty much neck-and-neck with Valencia this season, while playing with a less consistent quality for the most part, getting ahead through individual quality more often than not. I know we can beat Valencia. Then again, Barcelona's defence is doing better than it's ever done really, and they're not nearly as inexperienced as Valencia. We're obviously, clearly, so damn clear to see 2-3 levels below current Barcelona, but we were 2 levels below Bayern. Though then again we had more magical players. Too many perspectives! I regret this post. But i'd regret the wasted time even more if i didn't now post it. I need to jazz it up. Easy..

Well his Nen type is definitely not Specialist.

To even call this a bad Hazard performance is to completely miss all the obvious flaws in the line up from before kick off even happened. 5-3-2 against a team who plays with as many defensive players as West Ham do? Same players week in, week out, no chance for rest? 1 attacking player to support Hazard? (against something like 9 defensive players) Playing Hazard centrally (where i usually want him) when West Ham stack the centre, and are weakest on the sides? The game was at least a draw before the whistle blew.

Consistently stalled on contract renewals due to angling for higher pay Demanded to be #1 while Cech was still here, despite proving nothing with us Hardly giving his all, which is undebatable having seen a lot of his Atletico games; he was a monster for them, which was nothing to do with their defence, but the willingness to put his body on the line Said 3 yrs ago that due to being on loan so much, he doesn't have a strong connection to the club; which you'd think could change in that time, but when has he ever complimented our club or said he's glad to be here since, with sincerity? Finally, he's clearly stopped pushing himself in training considering his ability has regressed. He lazily kicks the ball upfield instead of learning to distribute to an available midfielder for example. A truly committed goalkeeper recognises and eliminates bad habits - like his pushing the ball straight towards an opposing player, instead of employing an easy 'smother the ball' technique. If you want the best for your team, you become the best you can be. He shows no desire for that. He shows signs of taking his position for granted. Some of us want players who show pashunnn to be the best even if they're undisputed number 1. The most passion he's shown is going 'come on!' *hits hands together* when we've scored in an important match. But so did Eto'o who didn't give a shit about us. It's clear as day when a player really cares about and enjoys being at your club. Does Courtois tick those boxes? Is it irrelevant whether or not players enjoy being here? - are they just our paid slaves? (I think in the first 30 seconds of this video he shows more grit than he has with us in total. For me he was the best goalkeeper in the world while there. Were it not for those 'smash the ball straight to the opposing player in front of me!' moments, I'd say his stint at Atletico was the best form any goalkeeper has ever shown. Alas, I give that honour to plain ol' Cech) -