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I really don't like three back formations because of it's defensive frailty and I think Rodger's should employ a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation. He could play Suarez in the center and Sturridge on the wing or vice versa. Henderson is good but Lucas is more disciplined.
If we have top four ambitions, Henderson should be nothing more than a squad player. He's a useful player to have in the squad due to his stamina and pressing but that's where it ends. He can play a defence splitting pass like the one in Suarez's first goal against Fulham but I'd rather leave that to an expert like Coutinho.
It also says a lot that we were so close to getting Mkhitarian who is pretty much a superior version of Henderson without the added benefit of being able to cover RB. I like him a lot and he's improved but he shouldn't be starting all of our games. He's very versatile and can cover a big number of positions and we could also use him as a defensive substitute when we are winning and taking off a forward.
Personally, I'd like to give Joe Allen the starting spot. I still have a lot of faith in the guy and I'd want him to play in the middle next to Lucas if Gerrard is injured or something.
i'd expect rodgers to try a 3-4-1-2 again when enrique returns, since he offers a lot going forward and i can see him using it against city's two striker system.
no, but football manager bases player transfer, contract, and wages based on what is actually going on in real life.
so the fact he is leaving on a free on there 9/10 means he is leaving on a free IRL.
I don't think so. I mean, Ibra and Ronaldo are both great champions but imo Portugal is much better than Sweden mainly, so I think they will win quite easily at least one match and drawing the second one.
I don't think so. I mean, Ibra and Ronaldo are both great champions but imo Portugal is much better than Sweden mainly, so I think they will win quite easily at least one match and drawing the second one.
Cant believe both Sweden and Portugal won't be able to make the World Cup. What the fuck is this shit.
"From the press conference: - Journalist: Who will qualify, Portugal or Sweden? - Ibra: Only God knows. - Journalist: It's difficult to get in touch with God. - Ibra: You are talking to him right now.''
Portugal ended up dominating the second half and deserved the win.
Howedes saving Italy from defeat in the last minute of match( Germany hit the post then Howedes got a rush of adrenaline and took the ball from reus who basically had an open goal).
2-0 to Ukraine. Ribery's chance to win ballon d'or hang by a string.
Just cos I'm bored, here are some formations that may or may not work for our favourite/most-hated teams :D
NLI's controversial teamsheets (may be highly controversial):
Man Utd:
De Gea;
Jones, Vidic, Ferdinand;
Valencia, Fellaini, Carrick, Evra;
Kagawa;
Van Persie, Rooney.
Brendan Rogers might not be happy if I stole his formation for Utd but the 3-4-1-2 looks tailor made for Utd's style and personnel. Valencia's skillz as an attacker have been found out over the years so why not shift him to wing-back! He's a better defender than Rafael anyway and this frees up Kagawa to take up his preferred position. Utd's wingers have been abysmal lately so getting as many of them off the teamsheet as possible can only be a good thing.
I've done something really controversial here and dropped Rogers' formation (well he did kinda drop it himself first) but after all the fiddling around with 4-4-2 and Moses in midfield and Henderson as wing-back, I'd like to see Liverpool play 4-3-3. With Allen back, the midfield could be a really strong unit and it unshackles Gerrard as well who's been asked to play really defensively lately. The front three is top class, and I rate them highly enough to not give them any set position and just let the 3 of them roam - we've seen all three of them being happy to chase balls down the line and cross for each other and this will make them even harder for defences to track imo. With the midfield 3 in place, the team is basically set up to be solid and let the front 3 do their thing.
No "left-footed player on the right side" nonsense: Mata plays on the left and puts in a world-class shift, Hazard puts in no defensive work but he's very tricky so he goes in the middle, Bundesliga Best Young Player, De Bruyne, goes on the right. Oscar is developing into a top box-to-box midfielder who can tackle and score wonder goals so play him there, and Luiz shields the back four with silky skillz while Terry and Cahill can mop up his mistakes. Ba is there as a pass magnet much the same way Giroud is for Arsenal. You can pass it to him short or long and he will make it stick, and when you have a big man like that he can be an anchor for the little skilful players around him to bounce balls off. Also he has proved with West Ham and Newcastle he can be a goal-a-game striker so play him and let him get his goal every game!
No real controversy there, I rate Podolski higher than Walcott and I'd like to see Vermaelen play as part of two pacey CBs. I'd love to fit Monreal in but I just couldn't, we have such amazing strength in depth in the LB department yet no strikers lol!
Just cos I'm bored, here are some formations that may or may not work for our favourite/most-hated teams :D
NLI's controversial teamsheets (may be highly controversial):
Man Utd:
De Gea;
Jones, Vidic, Ferdinand;
Valencia, Fellaini, Carrick, Evra;
Kagawa;
Van Persie, Rooney.
Brendan Rogers might not be happy if I stole his formation for Utd but the 3-4-1-2 looks tailor made for Utd's style and personnel. Valencia's skillz as an attacker have been found out over the years so why not shift him to wing-back! He's a better defender than Rafael anyway and this frees up Kagawa to take up his preferred position. Utd's wingers have been abysmal lately so getting as many of them off the teamsheet as possible can only be a good thing.
I've done something really controversial here and dropped Rogers' formation (well he did kinda drop it himself first) but after all the fiddling around with 4-4-2 and Moses in midfield and Henderson as wing-back, I'd like to see Liverpool play 4-3-3. With Allen back, the midfield could be a really strong unit and it unshackles Gerrard as well who's been asked to play really defensively lately. The front three is top class, and I rate them highly enough to not give them any set position and just let the 3 of them roam - we've seen all three of them being happy to chase balls down the line and cross for each other and this will make them even harder for defences to track imo. With the midfield 3 in place, the team is basically set up to be solid and let the front 3 do their thing.
No "left-footed player on the right side" nonsense: Mata plays on the left and puts in a world-class shift, Hazard puts in no defensive work but he's very tricky so he goes in the middle, Bundesliga Best Young Player, De Bruyne, goes on the right. Oscar is developing into a top box-to-box midfielder who can tackle and score wonder goals so play him there, and Luiz shields the back four with silky skillz while Terry and Cahill can mop up his mistakes. Ba is there as a pass magnet much the same way Giroud is for Arsenal. You can pass it to him short or long and he will make it stick, and when you have a big man like that he can be an anchor for the little skilful players around him to bounce balls off. Also he has proved with West Ham and Newcastle he can be a goal-a-game striker so play him and let him get his goal every game!
No real controversy there, I rate Podolski higher than Walcott and I'd like to see Vermaelen play as part of two pacey CBs. I'd love to fit Monreal in but I just couldn't, we have such amazing strength in depth in the LB department yet no strikers lol!
Can't really speak for the others that much but I'll try; United I think would be destroyed on their left, Evra isn't exactly at his peak anymore. For Chelsea I don't think the Mazacar was working and I think Eto'o is better than Ba as a target man.
For Arsenal I would put Walcott over Podolski for now. Most of the games we have not won have shown our glaring need for width and speed and Walcott provides that more than podolski does imo. Walcott's finishing also seems to have improved (Marseille goal among others). Vermaelen certainly looked good against United but Mert/Kos seems to be the pairing and I personally think if we had Merte we might've won or at least not conceded from there. So having said that I would pick
This I think is our strongest 11. Podolski, Rosicky, Ox would be our subs for attack if we needed them and Monreal and sadly my favorite player, Arteta, if we need more defensive solidarity.
Phillip Lahm or Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Ballon d'Or.
But since Ribéry is the only one of our team who got the chance to win it, I'm rooting for him. But I still highly doubt that Shane Long has more end product lol
If the Ballon d'or is an individual award then Ronaldo should get it. However Ribery has won 4 trophies this year and has standout in that world class team.
Ronaldo is going to get it because goals are used to judge players these days and ronaldo is leading in that category so he will probably win.
Their shortlist is already pretty poor. Neymar getting it over players like Reus and Gotze is ridiculous. Pirlo over Gündogan and Vidal is mind boggling. Mourinho over Diego Simeone is also as ridiculous.
I agree with you mostly except with that Pirlo isnt more deserving than Gundogan. Vidal yeah, hes the best midfielder in the world right now by farrrr and anyone who sees him play every week will agree. But Gundogan over Pirlo? The only thing he has over him is that hes younger lol
Well I am referring to last season where He was playing unbelievable against the likes of Alonso, etc. Pirlo wasn't that good last season and has been inconsistent at the start of this season, but yeah Pirlo> Gundogan overall. Gundogan has been out since the Paraguay match(which happened over the summer) I believe so i guess pirlo getting it over him is understandable.
