Barbara

Atletico de Madrid's president said they have NEVER made a bid for Torres. Inter clarified the same... I don't believe for ONE SECOND that Wolfsburg even thought about it. It's all speculation. Who in their right frame of mind would want him? Sometimes even teams start those rumors because if a player is rumored to be wanted by a few, it may lead some others to really think about him.

yeah, but when has it been reported we EVER rejected an offer for Torres? If nobody makes an offer is hard to sell him...

but in all honesty, it's not even time for that yet. Not only we don't have some of our key players back yet (or just back), but the sessions should be intense about players getting back in shape, I'm not bothered about the lack of those drills, if we're not training them that is. I'm not too concerned about those things now and while this match has been underwhelming, it's still pre-season. Yeah, we're 2 weeks away from the start of the season, but we didn't have Hazard, Oscar and we played with a dummy in the left wing. I swear I'm a second away of losing it. I just read we shouldn't have signed Cesc. fuck my damn life. This forum can be toxic sometimes....

it still isn't worse than the sitters Torres keep missing. It could be 1x1 now if it was even my mother in that rebound instead of Torres. No excuse to our defense, but our main problem continues to be having Torres in the team. Zouma is 19yo that is here to learn and grow.

but that's not our pivot today, so I honestly don't get your point? Our best half this pre-season had been exactly with them in the pivot...

did the referee just finish the match at 44:16? I mean I know this is a friendly, but he stops one of our attacks without even reaching full time? JOKE

yep, his problem is definitely lack of service FUCK MY LIFE TORRES

I'm not sure if he's the #5. It seems like van Ginkel is... Matic seems to be playing higher than Marco so far.

The team isn't playing well at all. Cesc isn't having a good match at all. No comments on Torres. The pivot isn't working that well defensively, there's a hole between the back four and the pivot. It's still early, pre-season matches are for those tests, but it looks scarily bad so far.

Torres inability already destroyed three of our good attacks and yeah, I've been counting...

Welcome to the Twilight Zone.

Now that your opinion is finally in the open, do you feel better? Is it like a weight has been dropped from your shoulders? Has this confession changed your life already?

He hasn't gotten even one RC while there and if anything I believe the referees are way softer in La Liga than EPL - soft in the meaning that they give fouls and cards more easily. The slightest contact is called a foul and therefore what here wouldn't even be labeled as a foul, there could even get a player booked.

Was checking his stats now, and it's funny that half of his shots were on goal and half not, and half of the shots on goal ended up in goals (in La Liga). So he's shot accuracy % is 50% and his goal accuracy is 50% of shots on goal and 25% of shots in general. All those in 34 matches + 1 as a sub. 108 shots, 54 on goal, 27 goals in La Liga.

he gets booked a lot, especially for a striker 7 yellow cards in 34 (+1 as sub) league matches, 2 in 9 UCL, 3 in 5(+1) Copa del Rey. But the fact he played in 35 league games and 9 UCL matches from 38 and 10 possible, means he doesn't miss too many matches a season.

with Cesc feeding their runs @Ainsley Harriott, the Emma gif is especially for you

reading the Telegraph article someone posted in Cesc's thread, I saw this in the promoted posts at the end of it. I'm posting it on Oscar's thread, as we were just talking about him and he's brazilian. I'm not going to be arsed to open a new thread http://www.babbel.com/magazine/brazilian-football-video?slc=engmag-a9-vid-in2-braziliansoccer-ob OMG, this is priceless (there's a vid in the link illustrating the plays). I don't often realize how funny those expressions actually are. I've never head of 'levar um ovinho' (nutmegged). Normally we say 'deu uma caneta' (gave a pen) for when you puts a ball through the middle of someone else's legs. Translating better some expression (levar um frango or levar um peru) is to get a chicken or a rooster. The goalie isn't the chicken or the rooster, he just got one (the goal he accepted is the chicken or the rooster) There are so many other funny things you'll hear a commentator say during a football match. I had a laugh with this article. From a fan perspective, my fave is 'pede para cagar e sai' (ask to go dump a shit and get off), we use that when a player is having a terrible match.Commentators won't say that on TV, ofc, but fans will say it often.

I think Mourinho has been sending a lot of hints he prefers Cesc as a #8. I really hope that's the case. Nobody can offer us what he does there - offensively speaking. It's like having a #10 playing as #8, with a tank behind him (Matic) and a workrate horse by his side or a bit ahead of him (Oscar) to compensate his not so wonderful (but not so bad either) defensive abilities. when we have the ball, if he occupies the space Lamps normally did (even when playing with Matic this year), he'll in a position as good as a #10. So we actually have two #10's playing against teams going overly defensive. That if we don't have two strikers as well, if Mourinho decides to move to a 4-3-3 with two strikers.

don't crush my dreams!!!!

Absolutely agree, if Cesc doesn't work there or if we want him at #10, move Oscar to the bench and replace Cesc in the pivot for MvG.

as I said I haven't been here for 24h (and I'm aborting the thread now), so I haven't read all your posts on the matter. You're definitely more calm or levelheaded about the whole thing than others... I still believe playing for QPR would be one of the worst things ever, but I still wouldn't respect him any less if he went there. I'm out of here, I understand and respect people's hurt feelings, even if some of the things stated here say more about Chelsea fans loyalty towards one of the club's legends than it says about Frank's loyalty to Chelsea and fans.

OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!! I want to like that pic a thousand times. Thanks so much, Daniel, you made my day #fangirl #girlish

as I said, he can handle some bulked guys quite well for someone as light. But that's when he has the ball and the other is harassing him. When roles are reversed, and he has to take the ball away from the bulked guy protecting it, he isn't as effective. The thing is people don't always take into account that the players Oscar tackle as an AM aren't the same players he'll tackle as a pivot player nor in the same situations. So opposition just recovered the ball and they're trying the break, normally running or at least not exactly still, then Oscar runs behind them, tackles and boom, possession recovered. Now imagine players in their final third, exchanging quick passes or holding possession, protecting the ball and little Oscar trying to intercept it or tackle them. It's a more challenging position imo, especially when you do that 100% of the time you're in the pitch. And also as others said, the main reason we have Cesc in the pivot isn't even because of his defensive skills, Oscar himself and Matic will offer coverage for that. Cesc is there to be the guy that thinks quickly and who has an incredible accurate pass that will provide us amazing through balls and to break in the counter with much more quality. Oscar doesn't have enough quality (yet) to do that as a CAM, let alone as a DLP. If we move Oscar to the pivot we'll extenuate him physically quickly and we'll be even further burned out because the position is more demanding physically and we'll be very limited in the quick, smart transition as he doesn't play with his head high (one of his biggest problems and detractors imo).

that's the main point!!!!!! He didn't sign a contract with City, he signed with NYCFC and he won't play for them for another six months! So instead of being shipped to Australia to stay fit and compete some in the meanwhile, he chose England - his own country - and a club where he can train with some real good professionals (staff and players). It's one thing to stay a few months keeping your form and then playing a championship and fighting for the title and another completely different to spend a whole year being a glorified cheerleader.

but still a significant different imo. You don't need the exact weight to say Cesc is stronger than Oscar. And he's more pestering too, more annoying, he has the physical and personality aspects to work well in the pivot. Oscar is almost a lady when it comes to pestering. He's so polite and well behaved, lol. He won't pester like Cesc will. I'm not even embarrassed of saying I appreciate Cesc's cuntish behavior now he plays for us but thanks for correcting me, and yeah, the official site is moronic, lol.