Spike

Just cramps? That is concerning for a young player that is still growing. Alexandre Pato had a huge growth spurt in his late teens and early 20s that eventually ruined his career. The 10cm of height growth directly coincides with his knee injuries. Anyone would be better than Morata. Lemar, the supposed set-piece expert for instance.

I would have thought Koke or Saul would have the steele to take penalties.

Like when Maradona threw his hand in the air.

Ciao Joao, it's been nice Maybe we'll see you play more than twice Glad to see you dive in the box Hope you can wear your shooting socks Ciao Joao Ciao Felix Will you ever play again? Feel no sorrow Feel no shame Come tomorrow, we'll forget your name

That is too simplistic. For one it assumes that clubs need or want a player of his style, it assumes that clubs haven’t enquired and been turned off his pricetag, and thirdly assumes he wants to leave Torino (Italians rarely move abroad and he is their captain). How many ‘big clubs’ need a high energy, technically limited striker? Most of them would prefer a player with a little more dynamism, and most other teams in Europe would just be a step sideways. And none of that suggests he is a poor player but rather an unwanted player. Mario Balotelli for instance doesn’t even have a club despite his talent! Being unwanted is not a rating for calibre; yes they do usually go hand 8n hand but not always

Besides, it is weird when say a player scores 30 goals, and people say 'he isn't that good, just on great form', well if he isn't that good, how did he score 30 times? Just because it cannot be replicated in a later or earlier season doesn't mean for that one season they were 'that good'. Michu was that good for a single season, he was amazing, players aren't stuck at a static level of class throughout their careers.

Not that good? He has 70 goals in Serie A. Evolve? He is a centre-forward, what would he have evolved into? Diego Maradona dribbling through defences and splitting passes? He is a talented striker that works hard, people know what he is. I think you just want to be right about scouting him and calling him out on being a one-season wonder, which he clearly hasn't been. He may not have scored that many goals since but there is nothing suggesting that he won't or cannot. It is the same as Jaime Vardy, they are both limited strikers, but people are very keen to call them out when the goals dipp down. You could make the exact same arguement for Vardy as you could for Belotti, but here they are several seasons later and still scoring goals. Dybala is a special player, and that has been obvious since he started and it is disengenous to compare his career trajectory to another's. On the subject of comparison, compare Quagliarella to Belotti, if you like, those two players are far more similar and Quagliarella just finished his best season at 36 years old.

What are you talking about? Belotti is only 25 and came off a 15 goal season. He has many years ahead of him, and given the nature of Italian football, he'll probably hit 30 goals regularly by the time he is 32. He already has 4 goals this year.

The more I think about it, the less I agree with ‘permanent class’. So many players fall, dip, rise, and return that I think class is nearly synonymous with form. Michel Owen’s career faltered, but Jurgen Klopp moved from forward to centre-half, with every players that fades away, another revitalises his career by adapting to change. When Giggs was no longer a pacey winger, he moved to central midfield, and Cristiano Ronaldo moved from a wide forward position to central. Ronaldinho, Alex Pato, Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, Juan-Sebastain Veron, are examples of players that couldn’t dapt t change, whether it be injury or team.

Well it is complicated, I think it depends on the player. Michu had a hot season, so you could say that the form was temporary, but Fernando Torres was never the same after his knee injuries, so his class was temporary as well. Maybe it should be: ‘form comes and goes but class never returns’.

All chances are made by mistakes. If there were no mistakes every defender would be perfect.

Last season Barkley had one more goal than Giroud in the league, and Abraham didn't play. I do not think Barkley is reliable at all but he is more reliable than the starting strikers, especially given he is a midfielder. Relatively, that is. I doubt Giroud will show his Europa League levels of scoring in the league as well, if he did, I'd be awestruck.

I was thinking he scored more (~10), my mistake. Must've been thinking about another player. No, I didn't. I said forward group, which is Giroud and Abraham. The other two I listed under wingers.

Probably felt bad after seeing old man Aduriz style on Barcelona the other day. Ah, Aduriz possibly the Spanishj striker deserving of more love than he receives.

I agree on the first statement, but I don't believe Chelsea were complacent. I believe Chelsea probably aren't as good as people believe and Leicester are maybe a little better than people say. I think it is mainly that Mount, Chelsea's most dangerous player maybe doesn't have the concentration or stamina to be a threat for an entire game yet. Chelsea have a solid team, but lack that lethal goal-scorer many other teams have. Let's face it, Willian, Pedro, and Pulisic are all wonderful wingers but they aren't known for bagging many goals. Giroud is a great target-man but he is streaky and Abraham is unproven. I will feel much more confident when Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi are back, they have that natural goal scoring ability. Even Alonso and Barkley are more reliable for goals than the forward group.