Dion

Can you play in the pivot?

From my understanding on my problem, if my muscles were supporting my knee better before, I wouldn't have developed those knee problems or it would have taken longer to. I could be wrong though as I'm no doctor.

That's true. I did a MRI of my knee a couple months ago because I was feeling some pain after running for extended periods and it revealed I had mild patellar chondropathy and tendinopathy. My doctor prescribed as treatment the strengthening of the muscles around the knee. So far, so good - I haven't felt pain anymore since I've began targeting those muscles, but neither have I been trying to push my limits as of lately, of course. Anyways, everything is related, the answer for my cartilage problems were my muscles. If one part falters the others are affected.

TOPTB was an interesting member, it's a pity he got banned.

Come on, Alex. Your move.

What happened to the philosophical thread, dear staff?

They're both very good and amongst the best strikers of recent, however many would argue Ronaldo was the best striker of all time. There's a significant gap between them and Ronaldo imo. Ronaldo was Ibrahimovic's idol ffs I have to say Ibrahimovic has a talent to score amazing and special goals though. He has scored in every way possible. But in the art of pure goal scoring efficiency I don't think he matches R9. I think what always amazed me most about Ronaldo was his 1v1 against GKs, it was almost as guaranteed a goal as a penalty, I don't know how he did it but it was like he always scored. But enough derailment already. Costa is no Ronaldo but still a much better striker than I used to believe. He's not very adept at aerial play but he's very clinical on the ground, very composed - his second goal against Everton is a testament to that - and can link up surprisingly well. I'd say he's one of the finest strikers in the world right now.

No. I'd say Ronaldo was even below average in the air. And he acknowledges this weakness himself. But besides that he had it all at the highest level. Dribbling, strength, power, speed, pace, finishing, superb with both feet. Even his passing and creativity were very good for a CF. I haven't seen any CF better than him. I can't even imagine how beastly he would have been if he was a monster in the air on top of everything. He was so good that even when he fucked up his knees several times and lost a lot of pace (akin to what happened to Torres) he still managed to remain as one of the finest strikers in the world. Before his injuries his numbers were better than Messi's at the same age. He led Brazil to a World Cup final at the age of 22. He was one of a kind type of player. Him and Zidane were the best players of that generation. Youtube videos are misleading, but take a look at these to give you an idea of how good he was:

Fucking disgraceful. But not like the first time EA has fucked up ratings.

There must be some kind of exaggeration in that statement. It would be too irresponsible from the club and from Hazard himself to be playing full matches with some kind of major injury. It's probably something akin to Fabregas' situation, who was playing despite some pain from his pubalgia. It's probably not very serious but better let him have time to rest and heal it properly if we can.

@Barbara, let's go! Have you found a good link? Skyyyype!

I think Buffon still got it to be there. That being said, GK lists are a bit weird, aside from like... the three best goalkeepers at the time, most of the other names seem to come down to personal preference since most are close in skill but they all have slightly different styles, strengthness and weakness.

That was very Stingray-ish. HAHAHAHA.

All right then. I'll call you when I'm done. ps: Find us a good recording!

@Barbara, are we watching the match against Everton today? I'm leaving in a few minutes to deal with stuff from my graduation but as soon as I'm back we can watch it anytime you want.

And Costa didn't even manage to play the final match against Real because of injuries. Not saying Atletico would definitely have pulled a win if he had played... but who knows? A single goal in the right timing can completely swing morale.

Sad for Mata. But happy that an expensive signing for United has not panned out so far. Hoping he can move to a team better suited to his assets and not loaded with cunts soon enough.

Yep. He said in the last 8 months the match on saturday was the first one he played with no pain from his pubalgia

Fair enough. I still think Cech deserves better than serving as a propeller to Thibaut. I'd still feel better giving him the chance to compete for silverware in top leagues as one of the main characters, I think we owe him at least that much. Perhaps he could give the belgian that little edge to improve but I still think the latter would do more than fine without Petr breathing on his neck. If we can't find a good side for Cech I'd prefer if he stayed, yes. If we could manage to afford that little piece of shit playing as our #9 for this many years and being a complete deadweight, we can certainly pay Cech's wages, especially considering he could actually prove to be useful if anything were to happen to Courtois and he has always served this club well.

I think there's no way he's out of top 8. Personally I think he's top 5.

The only problem I have with that is goalkeepers are sort of a different species from outfield players. Competition isn't always a good thing in this case and it is usually a waste of a sub to change GKs in ongoing matches. What this mean is that they'll play alternated matches if they rotate, but that isn't good for building understanding with the back four or for building confidence, which is important for the job. Of course it has its pros, having Cech will safeguard us with an world class backup in case Courtois gets injured and/or if he doesn't renew his contract. But I still think the best case scenario would be finding a top team where Cech could challenge for titles and be motivated to give his best whilst also lessening our wage burden so we can improve other areas. Having two world class goalkeepers isn't as beneficial as having two world class players for the same outfield positions. I just can't help but feel rotating isn't the best choice and having Cech on the bench is not only demeaning to him but also a waste of his talents.

No offense but Cech deserves better than QPR. Unfortunately timing is not on his side, Courtois got too good too fast and I can't remember a major european team in need of a top goalkeeper from the top of my head. If this was some months ago, maybe Barcelona. And, of course, we're certainly not reinforcing one of our domestic league rivals with one of the best goalkeepers in the world who happens to be a club legend too. If he's going to play for a minor side I think I'd rather have him here playing cup matches and on hold in case Courtois gets injured or something odd occurs.

I don't like this. I think Cech isn't going to see a lot of game time. A player of his caliber should be playing regularly. Cech staying isn't good for us financially and sitting on the bench isn't good for him, he could easily get into other top teams and keep showcasing his class and ability. Rotating goalkeepers is kinda meh. If he gets relevant play time it's probably going to be on pointless matches. I don't see how this is profitable for him or for us, not the ideal situation.

I believe he said "es un poco palomo...". My spanish dictionary says palomo may mean a dove or in informal speech a person who is amiable, good, harmless, soft, naive. But he says he's a great goalkeeper anyways. And Courtois as Costa's translator is just

Yay! My internet is back!