Barbara

When I said they excel in defending I may have not used the best word as I only meant is what they do better - even if not that well anymore although I don't think Juve and Napoli are the only ones in Serie A to have good defenses. But the thing is, Italian see the game the opposite way Brazilian do. Brazil enter the game to win, Italian enter the game not to lose or concede. It's more about style than quality. But I admit my post was ambiguous to say the least.

According to my picture and the gender in the birth certificate, I guess I am otherwise my ex-husband has been awfully deceived by appearances See? I just proved I'm a girl given the terrible sense of humor and the completely inept ability to make a joke. I'll take that as a compliment though

scoring in Serie A is almost as difficult as scoring against Italy NT They excel in defense.

Let me explain better - although it's only my opinion about what fits better. also Cavani is infinitely better than what we have today. Italian League is a lot heavier, slower, and more counter-attacked based than dynamic, fast-paced, played-in-smaller-spaces English League. So in a league where defending is really strong, player are tougher - and also slower - and the game is more physical, a guy like Cavani excels because he's a perfect fit for counter-attack plays. He can receive the ball, make the play and score. I'm not saying this kind of player doesn't fit EPL - this kind of player fits basically all styles and formations, but in England football is more fast paced. Things happen too fast and it's less dependable on counter-attacking than Italian because 1) players pass the ball quickly 2) the spaces are reduced, so 2-1 plays are more common and favored 3) more passes are produced than in Italy. When you go to heavier conditions like Italy where defending is huge and so are the guys (who was the last guy that was small - compared to Italian default - that really exploded in Italy? How many stronger guys excelled at the same time?) counter-attacking happens more often because teams are waiting for the other to attack, they invite them to attack and then they tackle them as if there was no tomorrow. A player keeps the ball longer and they keep passing it horizontally trying to find the space to break into the well fixed defense. A guy like Cavani is a must in a league like that. Lewa is more about I'm here in the box, pass me the ball and I'll solve it. He positions himself to receive the ball and finish while Cavani is normally there to build the whole play and finish. That's a situation I think it's less common in EPL than in Calcio... but maybe that's just me. I think Lewa would fit better English's style and have less problems adapting. That said I think Cavani would be amazing as well.

Well, I think Cavani is better technically, but I don't value a technical FW over a lethal one and I think Lewa is very lethal... he does what he has to do and scores it. I think we need this 'matador' more than a player like Cavani, but I like Cavani a lot as well.

I still don't like Arbeloa as a player, but it's so nice and refreshing to hear a player being so outspoken about such a messed up situation like the one Mourinho had in Madrid's locker room. He's a nice guy, he just isn't good playing football. I think at the end of the day it was RM's loss and I don't know which kind of manager could work for them. They have a great team with huge egos for different reasons and while I think at times Mourinho didn't deal well with it, that's how he deals with things and a few players are responsible for what happened. I'm a Madridista and it hurts me to see the club in a position where some of the bloody players think they're bigger than the club and own it, while others think they know everything that is to know. This galactic thing only makes it worse and I wonder what's going to happen there. They forget where they were in UCL before Mourinho went there and I feel like that's they're fated to go again. It breaks my heart, but at the same time I'm tired of this shit.

you guys have such an amazing team! I can't wait to see Eden in action again. As profile says, he's my fave

I'm looking forward to the Super Cup match. although it's so early in the season that maybe we won't show our best yet. I'm not expecting an EPL title yet. those long competitions are better settled for teams that are already ready and ours isn't yet. So I think we have better chances to go deeper in UCL - depending on the teams we end up drawing - than in EPL

my own kind? and here I thought I wasn't transparent about not being into boys... busted.

Well, I could help too if you want, but I don't swear, so maybe you'll have to stick with him to learn those And yes, Raphael doesn't waste any time, too bad he didn't know I only came here for Artinho yeah, I didn't try to keep people guessing. I'm very outspoken... to a fault even. Now what would I have to do? Discuss Dostoevski or just post bikini pics? Or maybe show my cooking abilities or my passion for Chelsea. You keep me guessing, Artinho And the hot de Rossi avatar and all doesn't help my cause

those are nice, Rob I like it. oh yeah, love, that's why I came here, I'm really transparent, am I not? Am I succeeding? Or do I need to up my game?

who is the clueless lad?

Bossa Nova is great. It's such a shame we don't produce that quality music anymore. I'm not a fan of most current ~MPB singers currently.

I will underestimate City until they prove they aren't a club to be underestimated. They're far from proving it though, so despite the great midfield they still have to announce a manager and I don't see great names available around. If anything we're a testament of how a promising team or zone of team can be promising and end up not living up the expectation. We had the best attacking midfielders in EPL imo and look what that made us? Third on table and losing to Swansea on FA Cup. that said, I'm still looking forward to having Daniele.

Unfortunately, no, I live in Campinas. 100km outside São Paulo. Have you ever been in Bzl?

yeah, Carioca MPB has a hint of samba that I love, but the samba I meant here is Paulista samba. I love Carioca MPB. It's amazing. I miss it as now the only music Rio de Janeiro produces is frigging funk.

oh I expected Torres to be bad - maybe not this bad, but definitely bad - because he has always been overrated imo. Very overrated not only by Liverpool fans, but especially by Spanish media and fans. He was never world class and years only made it more clear, and as he's no Benjamin Button it was sort of expected that he would get even worse here... I remember as if it was yesterday my rant on twitter when I heard he had been signed. And what a rant that was, not only about the outrageous amount of money, but mainly because it was Torres of all people. But yeah, I guess he's been even worse than I expected, despite having expected him to suck

none... the only Brazilian style I really like is MPB - old school samba fits in the description of brazilian popular music (MPB), but it's not something I'll hear. I like some bands like Paralamas do Sucesso and I can't stand sertanejo. Now how come you know all this? Have been here? Or just like out culture?

I do hope Mou sticks with the plan of signing less and working more with the guys we already have, especially the youngsters. We don't need much imo and we only have a terrible problem in the attack. While I think we need a world class CB and another DM it's not like our defense is terrible. The main problem was in the coaching - or lack of it - last season. We had the same guys that made this defense the best in the world (imo) by the end of 11/12 season. But then you have no pattern, no tactics well defined, no one actually working to improve the team and Terry being injured that happened and we were shaky to say the least. But we seriously need some quality in the attack. Desperately. What's the point of having Mazacar if the guys they're passing the ball to don't know what to do with it? Ba seems to have felt the weight of our shirt, Torres should have never come - much less for 50M - and didn't do any less than I expected him to do. If he had been good I would have been surprised. So while I wanted Lewawdowski, someone like de Rossi and someone like Varane, that's about it. I think we have chances of getting de Rossi, and hopefully a very good striker and preferably a rising star in the position as well, so Mourinho can develop him. But what we need almost as desperately as a good striker is good coaching and that's assured when Mourinho is in the command. We suffered from bad striker as much as we suffered from bad coaching last season. And I mean coaching, not managing. I love Roberto, but he was still limited tactically and I refuse to talk about the spanish waiter.

I'm not sure. I don't watch news for about 8 years now... I just read a few things about it because among other things I was disgusted by it

Lewandowski would be a much better fit and choice, but I guess it doesn't depend on us. Everyone and their mothers want to play on Bayern next season.

Actually I think it was for paying someone to rip her... and then doing something about the parts. I'm not sure. what can I say? Psychopaths seem to be all around these days. But yeah... pretty crazy stuff. Still prouder of my team more than anything and I guess individual actions like that don't reflect what the club is - in this case thankfully.

Flamengo. Thanks for welcoming Well, so far you guys were amazing to me and I feel completely welcomed As for the position... then I must improve my hands' abilities. Consider it done It's great to know girls are welcomed here. It's a good change

I have a communications major, can I get paid to write rubbish too? I do want to move to England, so maybe that's the ticket?

those have to be interns