kek van laal yesterday doesn't seem so bad now that chelshit and shitty have been even more shit
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2014/15 Association Football (Soccer) thread
- Thread starter SuperScizor
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destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
Gabriel Paulista for 20 million (euros) to Arsenal. Nice overpay -.-
He was third choice for Villarreal, he was playing just because Musacchio has been injured for months...
He was third choice for Villarreal, he was playing just because Musacchio has been injured for months...
Honestly I wouldn't at all be surprised if West Ham won the FA cup this year. They're an excellent team who've shown they're well capable of beating the couple of top teams that are still around (see: City) and have consistent players who shouldn't struggle moving past big teams.
Having followed Arsenal for so long, I think I can understand Wenger's thinking when it comes to transfers and maybe explain the Paulista move a little bit. Paulista is fast, tall, aggressive and I believe Wenger sees a good reading of the game; while people question his passing, his footwork and his technique and others doubt his ability at the very top level. £13.5m seems a lot to pay for a lot of question marks.
There are characteristics in a player that are inherent, and skills that can be coached. When Wenger moves for a player, he doesn't really care about what skills they have. I think he looks only at the characteristics in a player that are physically inherent and cannot be coached. These include height, speed, aggressiveness and reading of the game. The things that can be taught are strength (using your muscles intelligently), technique and timing. Timing especially is crucial for a defender and requires that they have excellent reading of the game.
Mertesacker for example is tall, and has an excellent reading of the game and near perfect timing. He has never had a red card in his career and very few yellow cards. It's an incredible record for a defender who can't run fast. Koscielny on the other hand is fast and aggressive but also has an excellent reading of the game. Both players are not world beaters, or even rated very highly when they were signed. But Wenger's plan was to put Mertesacker there to win the first ball (being taller than everyone) and Koscielny beside him to contest the second ball with his pace. This means Koscielny is often the deepest defender and has to mop up any mistakes. Koscielny's timing of last ditch tackles has been excellent but when he gets them wrong is the reason why he gets more yellow and red cards. Together they form, on paper, a perfect partnership.
When Koscielny has been struggling with tendonitis this season, Wenger prefers to play Monreal or Debuchy at centre back rather than the taller and slower Chambers (and to outsiders, the better suited defender) for exactly this reason. He doesn't set his defence up with two big lads, or two tough tacklers, or two lumps who scream and shout. It's a carefully constructed partnership. So where does Paulista fit in? Well, Koscielny is still struggling with tendonitis, it's a chronic condition now and he can't play back to back games anymore at least for the short-medium term. So Paulista is a player with the exact same physical qualities as Koscielny. Wenger has gambled on another "sub-standard" player because he has identified the characteristics he needs and he's gonna attempt to coach the skills up to scratch. On paper, Arsenal's defence is actually one of the best, with very few chances conceded and most of the goals coming from catastrophic individual errors. This might be down to Wenger continually buying cheap players but for him, it's all about the team and the system.
And lol:
There are characteristics in a player that are inherent, and skills that can be coached. When Wenger moves for a player, he doesn't really care about what skills they have. I think he looks only at the characteristics in a player that are physically inherent and cannot be coached. These include height, speed, aggressiveness and reading of the game. The things that can be taught are strength (using your muscles intelligently), technique and timing. Timing especially is crucial for a defender and requires that they have excellent reading of the game.
Mertesacker for example is tall, and has an excellent reading of the game and near perfect timing. He has never had a red card in his career and very few yellow cards. It's an incredible record for a defender who can't run fast. Koscielny on the other hand is fast and aggressive but also has an excellent reading of the game. Both players are not world beaters, or even rated very highly when they were signed. But Wenger's plan was to put Mertesacker there to win the first ball (being taller than everyone) and Koscielny beside him to contest the second ball with his pace. This means Koscielny is often the deepest defender and has to mop up any mistakes. Koscielny's timing of last ditch tackles has been excellent but when he gets them wrong is the reason why he gets more yellow and red cards. Together they form, on paper, a perfect partnership.
When Koscielny has been struggling with tendonitis this season, Wenger prefers to play Monreal or Debuchy at centre back rather than the taller and slower Chambers (and to outsiders, the better suited defender) for exactly this reason. He doesn't set his defence up with two big lads, or two tough tacklers, or two lumps who scream and shout. It's a carefully constructed partnership. So where does Paulista fit in? Well, Koscielny is still struggling with tendonitis, it's a chronic condition now and he can't play back to back games anymore at least for the short-medium term. So Paulista is a player with the exact same physical qualities as Koscielny. Wenger has gambled on another "sub-standard" player because he has identified the characteristics he needs and he's gonna attempt to coach the skills up to scratch. On paper, Arsenal's defence is actually one of the best, with very few chances conceded and most of the goals coming from catastrophic individual errors. This might be down to Wenger continually buying cheap players but for him, it's all about the team and the system.
And lol:
HT of Chelsea vs Liverpool: 0-0
Chelsea should have gotten two penalties, one for the Lucas handball and the other for the Skrtel foul on Costa.
Costa was lucky to be on the pitch though after that stamp on Emre Can.
In short, Michael Oliver is afraid of making big decisions.
Chelsea should have gotten two penalties, one for the Lucas handball and the other for the Skrtel foul on Costa.
Costa was lucky to be on the pitch though after that stamp on Emre Can.
In short, Michael Oliver is afraid of making big decisions.
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
Indeed. Courtois was the MOTM for me; he wa impenetrable tonight. And Mignolet turned into Neuer tonight. We created lots of hances but our final ball was poor and, thankfully, so was Liverpool's.
Mignolet is always World Class shot stopping, everything else was still dreadful. Hard to be excited as a Liverpool fan these days, we never ever ever look like scoring. Ridiculous that people paid to play Football cannot score, Coutinho and Henderson have some of the worst shooting ability I've seen in my time as a Liverpool fan.
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
went to watch Atletico-Barcelona live today, great first half with an amazing atmosphere
...but at halftime the referee somehow decided that 45 minutes were enough and sent off Gabi for no reason. Second half didn't exist, fuck off -.-''
...but at halftime the referee somehow decided that 45 minutes were enough and sent off Gabi for no reason. Second half didn't exist, fuck off -.-''
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
Seems like we're really close to signing Cuadrado and Schürrle will be the one who'll be sold to fund his transfer. Willian's a hard worker but he's not much of a threat to opposing teams and Cuadrado should give us another goal threat to complement Hazard and Oscar while not being lazy, defensively. Honestly, I'd have preferred if Willian was the one to leave because Schürrle's a way better finisher and you can't coach that. Willian doesn't seem to have any suitors though, unlike Schürrle.
As much as I dislike Chelsea and think that 80% of their fans are absolute scum along with a few of their players and coaches (defending Costa's clear stamp on Can) I have to admit I am jealous of how impeccably well run they are. They work so well in the transfer market in recent years only signing players for a purpose and always taking the opportunities to improve their squad and first XI. In my opinion Cuadrado for instance is one of the only players in the world right now who is available to buy that would be a worthwhile improvement to them and so they are getting him. Also one of my favourite players so I am devastated that I have to see him pull on that rag. But how I pray that one day Liverpool can crack this code of how to work effectively and efficiently in the transfer window and general running of the club. This is the main factor in our lack of development in the premier leauge era in my opinion and we will never progress significantly until we are run properly.
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
80%? I think you've got us confused with the United/Arsenal fans. And I don't think that buying Willian classified as "working well in the transfer market". We should've let Spurs have him. He never justified his transfer fee and has been incredibly frustrating to watch. He's the kind of player that you'd play if you're aiming for a draw; not the kind of player you'd want to play every week. Rémy was a good buy, a steal, value for money but all that means nothing because Mourinho's made him third choice, hope he proves me wrong by starting him tomorrow. And Salah hasn't performed either, he couldn't even keep Willian out of the team and that guy was doing jack shit. We really hit the jack pot with Matic, Fabregas and Costa though.
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de bruyne is insanely good
I have no idea why mouyes never played him
I have no idea why mouyes never played him
yeah much as i generally agree with chelsea being well run (although i actually disagree on cuadrado, keep in mind he's never played in a league that gervinho doesn't slaughter), I'm not sure a day in which de bruyne demolished bayern cementing his argument for one of the best players in the bundesliga is actually the correct day to bring that up. To me letting de bruyne go for as cheap as they did is pretty easily chelsea's worst transfer move of the past couple years. No one thought he was quite as good as he's been for wolfsburg, but it was pretty well acknowledged that he was very, very good. Think about what chelsea could have gotten if this was a loan deal at wolfsburg. His value now surely has to be at least double what wolfsburg paid, if not more.
Overall though yeah chelsea right now is the best run team in the league outside of maybe southampton, and those two just work under such fundamentally different conditions and challenges its hard to compare.
Overall though yeah chelsea right now is the best run team in the league outside of maybe southampton, and those two just work under such fundamentally different conditions and challenges its hard to compare.
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
Letting Sturridge go was, imo, our worst transfer move. Selling De Bruyne's a close second though.
HBK
Subtlety is my middle name
A draw isn't exactly a terrible result, we're still five points clear at the top. We were completely outclassed by them in the second half though and they might've won if it wasn't for Zouma's solid performance at the back. With Costa and Fabregas unavailable for selection, we just lacked the creativity and sharpness required to break them down; without them, we're pretty much the same misfiring side that we were last season.
But the best striker in the league was already on the City team.
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