Barbara

if the subject is last names, my cousin - a lawyer which means she's somewhat a person who studied and who may know some things are ridiculous... her last name is Salgado (Salty) and her husband's Pinto (Dick, Cock, choose your fave) and both have other last names in addition to those. Still my lovely cousin decided to name her sons Matthew Salty Cock and Philippe Salty Cock... What's wrong with people?

so much quality, as always, Peace. I don't like 4-2-3-1 almost as a rule. It works terribly for our kind of players imo for the reasons you so perfectly pointed out. An alternative would be Oscar replacing Kevin, but then there would be two situations: play Mata in LW or play Oscar in LW and I'm not sure Oscar's contribuition with the defending will be as good if he's played in the wing. And to have Oscar in the center with Mata in the right, seems sort of a waste. So I'd rather play a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1 with Mata - Oscar - Hazard in the three. I think unless we have this DLP that will really soothe the transition between our pivot and AM we aren't suited for a 4-2-3-1 because we have players to make a much better 4-3-3.

I really like what Adidas did with those pics. I'm tempted to use one of them as a sig just because they're damn perfect aesthetically!

<---- will write an article on Mata later today while the rest of her family and BF are doing some sort of eco-tourism and I'm left to my pretty, cold self

Ibrahimovic Rooney Any Barça player

Dani Alves got what he deserved scoring an own goal today. That's for being a cunt, a diver, a Barça player and for harassing David to go.

As an Inter fan I politely disagree about Milito has always been good... or been good at all God knows how much us Interistas lose our hair with his misses... there are tons of them every match. But he still scores more than Torres, so yeah, it's a good thing, but he isn't broadly known as someone really good.

PM Steve for the private league codes

btw that was a fangirl response. I missed the after it. I meant to simply take a chance to fangirl on him. I'm a huge fan.

and when he isn't?

I like two formations, and between then I think this 4-3-3 fits our players better. 4-3-3 Cech Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole Ramires - Van Ginkel Oscar Mata - Hazard ??* 4-2-31 Cech Ivan - Luiz - Terry - Cole Ramires - Van Ginkel Kevin - Mata - Hazard ??* *I'm really not convinced Lukaku should start for two reasons: 1) emotionally 2) technically 1) It's a lot of pressure on him to be the answer to our attacking issues. I think he has all the tools to be better for us than Torres, but I think we should be careful in how we make the transition. Watching his pre-season matches (in US), his match today for Belgium I think his age and immaturity are showing right now (and he was also sort of nervous in some of those matches) - and that's understandable because he's only 20. So I'd rather him to gradually become our first option rather than throw him to the lions and I'd be really surprised if Mourinho has a different plan (unless he's showing much more confidence in the training sessions - we never know what happens there and Mourinho has thrown players even younger than him in first squads in the past because of how confident they were in training sessions). The same people that are so vocal about him now will bitch about him in a month if he feels the pressure and starts to perform badly. I've seen players never really recovery emotionally for things like that and others to take literally years. Why risk the boy? Let's not forget he's a boy. If Eto'o comes, Samu is my starter for the rest of the season and it's much better for Lukaku to have Eto'o rather than Rooney. I think Roo could jeopardize this evolution I'm talking about. With Eto'o, Lukaku could start a few matches and it won't become a problem to Samuel whereas Rooney doesn't deal well with the bench. I'm not saying Eto'o >> Rooney, but I'm just looking at it from Lukaku's perspective and having to invest in the future I'd rather invest in Lukaku's rather than Rooney's. I'm not saying Rooney would ruin Lukaku's future either (sometimes people take our posts too extremely), I'm just saying one scenario benefits Romelu better than the other and out of all strikers we have and the ones linked to us now, Lukaku is still the best prospect in let's say two years from now and I favor his future over any of those other future's. 2) Because of his age and inexperience in a big team like Chelsea, he needs to improve a few areas, in addition to a few traits. Right now he's clumsy, raw, and sometimes too sloppy and really, really naïve. He needs experience and more practice imo. So I'd prefer him to have in Chelsea a similar season to what he had in West Brom, starting a few matches and coming as sub in all the rest. He's a must in the second half. Those are the traits and in addition to those there are a few things in his game that he needs to improve. Of course he needs minutes to cement those improvements, which is why I think he should play all matches, but come from the bench the majority.

we disagree then, mate. I think he had a terrible match, but I'll give you that I didn't really pay much attention in the second half (more like the end of it). But I didn't miss the miss I'm not comparing him to any 20yo either. I just reported what I saw and my personal opinion on that. His age, others about the same age was never implicit or relevant to my point. Perception is subjective and so is expectation. It's not me exaggerating, it's me not being accommodating to him. I've just learned for Belgians there's a special level for Kevin performances in the NT and I guess the same can't be true to Lukaku. Which is why at first it would seem crazy to see more Belgians complaining about Kevin than Romelu when Kevin was much better in the match. So I guess we look at the player in a different way, in addition to having different opinions about his performance. My commentators had much worse words about him than I did, so I guess this is subjective. If you want exaggeration search Lukaku on twitter and your countrymen (and French) may have different opinions from what my poor French was able to catch and what my English, Spanish and even Portuguese caught. No Dutch for me though. To be honest I don't care about Benteke (I'm not being rude, just stating how I feel about Benteke, I know sometimes those written sentences sound much harsher than intended). As a Chelsea fan I was paying attention to our players, so that's my assessment of Lukaku's performance. It seems like André had a similar miss for Germany that could have given them the winner, so it seems like Torres isn't influencing only Romelu And don't be so defensive. A friendly's performance 4 days before the season starts is really irrelevant in the big scheme of things (both for Belgium and Chelsea). How good or bad Romelu or whoever was won't really tell much about their season.

I was wondering why Benteke was benched to be honest - and that was before the match started.

but France isn't close to the shadow of what they were... seriously they've been sucking a lot for a few years now... their match against Brazil just before CC was one of the worst matches I've seen a French side bringing... they really aren't the standard...sadly

the Belgians seem to think Kevin was bad, I think he did some nice plays in the first half. I suppose their bar is too high He had a few bad moments, but still not shitty. Lukaku has showed one of the worst displays I've seen by him. Awful through and through and the sitter he missed... terrible. Hazard was okay - this is a friendly, chances are he won't show his best here especially when there's an official match for him in 4 days.

you better not know...

He had an awful match... that I hope Mourinho didn't watch. The miss and the offsides aren't it all. Some of the plays he did during first half had me face palmimg. There was this one that really made me think if he can be that naïve... France was attacking, someone else tackled the ball and it was strayed in front of him, instead of moving forward to take the ball, no, he sort of turned, waiting for the ball to continue to move and then for him to run with it. Of course the French player just by his side went to the ball and left with it. The miss was yet another chance he Torres'ed. I think we should get rid of Torres ASAP because it's clear he's been influencing Lukaku

but I mean stupid while playing. Instead of doing X he does Y and he looks completely stupid for doing that. That's what I mean, not stupidity off the pitch, but while playing. It's like that stupid guy at work that does the most idiotic things when requires thinking, but does a mechanical job better than no one.

am I the only one to think Kevin was decent? He had a few good plays in a match that France had the slight edge. The French aren't even the shadow of they used to be...

as I watch Belgium x France (on computer, on TV it's England x Scotland) I can't help myself and ask if players can overcome stupidity. I'm for real. I'm not being sarcastic or joking. If a player is as stupid as a door, how promising can be his future if he's good, okay or even great in doing whatever else in the pitch (for example defending or scoring)?

interesting quote by Mourinho... see what happens is new. He normally confirms or deny rumors... but he does say it is fantastic for us... so I guess the only thing he's waiting to see what happens is if Rooney comes or not

The thing is Dani Alves (and who knows maybe Neymar too) may be painting Barça as the best place to be in the world. I just read some quotes to El Mundo Deportivo where Alves say about the same lines, adding that it doesn't matter if Luiz wants to go or not, as he's sure Mourinho won't release him to go. He makes it look like he convinced Luiz to join, but that Mourinho is stopping it from happening. Keep in mind nearly all Brazilian (and guess the same is applicable to most countries in the world) want to play for Barça, it's their dream or whatever. So I guess maybe Luiz wanted this even before he went to Chelsea and now there's this guy talking to him all the time about why he should go and how amazing Barça is, I don't blame him if he goes... but I refuse to support any Barça player - by principle - so I won't be supporting him, but I think he has the right to go if that's what he wants. And we can't afford his departure imo. That's the main thing. If they wanted Oscar for example, I'd hate it, but it'd be okay because we can afford losing Oscar as we have plenty of options, but we don't have another David Luiz in the team...

back for the day. I'm rendered useless and exhausted. We did the 'romantic tour' and honestly I didn't expect it to drain me completely like that. It's just so many places to visit, too much chocolate and fondue to consume and I'm too lazy to keep walking. I begged Diego to come back so I could rest and have my feet up. Now he says it's because I wanted to watch football. Which is untrue, but now that I'm here, England x Scotland is calling my name. Cuddling under the comforter, with Italian hot chocolate, watching footie! How can't he understand that's what I needed instead of going through so many places? The places were cute, the lunch was super romantic and it seems like the dinner will be even more so, but it's so cold today and the bed is so good and it's 4pm on a Wednesday and there's football on TV. God bless the cold! And the Queen, I guess. I'm not thinking properly, but at least my mouth is functioning 100% again. I guess that might have something to do with me being left with no energy. I don't care about International footie, so go Chelsea boys - wherever you are. edit: Scots are some funny lads

The question is, will Lewa want to go now that Pep is the manager? I'm willing to bet money that Pep will end the season with Mandzukic in the bench because he doesn't like to play with FW and prefers a false 9 and he already stated so. The problem is - and the German members could help me - the German press is a bit on his back now because he wanted to make too many changes in the team at once. The players didn't like it, he dared bench Schweinsteiger (though when the competition started he was 'obliged' to change his mind). So if he doesn't have plans to have a FW, why would the team want a second one? Pep going to Bayern was the best thing ever. The quickest way to weaken a team that would have been invincible otherwise. I'm not implying though that they won't continue to be strong, they will (no manager can destroy a team like that completely), but they will also be miles away from what they could have been if the manager was someone else. Pep doesn't believe in continuing a successful style. He only believes in his style and the only reason why he isn't doing all the changes he wants now is because he's been pressured by media, Bayern people and the players weren't exactly happy. I'm not saying Pep style isn't good - it'd be stupid to say so after what he won in Barça - but that it's utterly stupid to change the best team in the world by far because of his personal beliefs. Change a thing or two with time and then maybe give himself a chance to learn how to work differently... to make his range of tactics bigger. But he's too arrogant for that. His teams have to work with his style, regardless if what they have going on is the best football in the world or not. So I think it'll take a couple of years until he Barcelonize Bayern. Or Guardiolize it. Until then it's wasting part of team's potential operating with 70% of what it could be.