Funkyflashman

He won't. This is all conjecture, I'm not suspecting anything

I'd love to see a 352 or variant a la Juventus and Conte, but not many teams in modern European football play with two strikers; the setup a three man defence is set up to counter. Against teams playing with one striker (most, as there is a droolfest with 4231 right now) there is a three on one difference at the back. Good for shutting out the striker, not good because it concedes an extra, unnecessary spare man, giving the opposition a spare man elsewhere. So right there it's a no for me, as very few teams play with two outright strikers. Added to this, is that the width in a system with three defenders normally comes from one wide player on each side, which means they have to be capable defensively. Sure this allows us to play with 2 wingers, a CAM, and 2 strikers, but if you look at the players Juve play in wide spots (Lichsteiner/Asamoah/De Ceglie) then you see that Hazard can't really occupy one of those spots if the system is going to be effective. A four man defence then, and if we have two strikers then realistically that leaves us with a 442 or a 442 diamond. A flat 442 is dead, and a diamond, while better, doesn't make the best use of our wingers, nor does it make sense to select a formation that restricts the number of players we can play in attacking midfield positions, given the talent we have there. I think it's a straight fight between 433 and 4231. Mourinho at Inter persuaded Eto'o and Pandev to play deep and work hard defensively in their 4231/4213 variant, and I think he could ask the same of Mata and Hazard, so flexibility between the two seems likely. At Real, he used a 4231 normally, and a 433 in tougher games. Think of Mata as the Ozil, in the number 10 role in the 4231, and pushed wide in the 433.

You have a hand in the Joker? Weird...

I can't really decide what this thread is, all I know is that I'm crying with laughter. Jolly good, carry on everybody

I think Kroos is the type of player that number 10's are moving towards now. We don't see players like Zidane or Riquelme anymore because of the requirement for players to be more tactically flexible. Michael Cox wrote an excellent article about exactly this http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/26/trequartista-engance-classic-no-10sstruggle/ Kroos is a fantastic player because he can be the second forward or "number 10" as well as being a third central midfielder. When Madrid play Ozil he is very much a forward, rather than a third midfielder. When Mourinho wanted to compete more in the midfield area in his run of El Classico's, he consistently shifted Ozil out to the right in favour of Modric or Pepe, a player that could help Madrid be competitive in the centre of the pitch. Kroos can play both roles for Bayern. He's strong and defensively aware enough to drop deeper to act as a third midfielder and has the technical ability to play in the "10" role for Bayern. Again this explains it well http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/04/17/bayern-munich-2-1-real-madrid-what-type-of-player-to-use-as-the-number-ten/ I think hes better in that role than Muller, and is possibly their key player even over Schweinsteiger/Robben/Ribery, so I don't understand the Gotze move. Seems a lot of money for depth...

Lewa would make more sense than Gotze did. Why they're trying to replace Kroos is beyond me...

Oh my God it's gorgeous. Adidas have outdone themselves

MADNESS, PREPARE EVERYTHING NOW, NOW I TELL YOU!!!!

Zidane Zidane Zidane. This is still, and forever will be, my favourite goal of all time.

PSG kit is awesome

Juan nil, beautiful

Au revoir red nose

Please tell me this is a joke

This was six years ago Still agree though #Josecomehome

4222 looks good for THIS team. Crucially though, this isn't our team. Glad I could clarify

Out Marin – 6.2m Benayoun – 2.2m Torres 24.5 Essien - 14 IN Benat – 8.8 Luke Shaw 4 Mats Hummels – 21 Lars Bender – 17.5 Angel Di Maria – 35 Gonalons – 8.8 Cassano - 8.8 13.8 remains Suffice to say we'd be set in the pivot Bender/Mikel/Ramires/Benat/Gonalons/Romeu/Luiz Unrealistic prices, would be nice though

I would LOVE to see Bayern win this year and have Pep screw everything up next season That would be glorious. Bayern were absolutely phenomenal tonight. When people say that Barcelona play the nicest football I always think thats total rubbish. Bayern were glorious and represented the way I want us to play football more than Barca and their 90mins passing drills ever will.

SIDESHOW BOB FOR CAPTAIN

I still think no I'm afraid. Have much more faith in Tottenham to grind out a tough win than I do with us.

Fuck

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2013/4/18/4236708/jose-mourinho-chelsea-manager-rumours

Love this, enjoy your 5000th rep Mr Spiegel

Adidas have already replied on twitter to someone saying that it is NOT that kit...

Yup me too, never one to overhype young players but I have been really impressed every time I've seen him. Looks very, very cool on the ball

No