SirBalon
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Everything posted by SirBalon
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True Blue inviting me to play Dots & Co with him on Fabook! What has our relationship come to...
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What is that game @True Blue mate? Haaha
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True. But there have been many great coaches that haven’t set a revolutionising philosophy in football terms or created something where others had to create something in return to defeat it. Helenio Herrera who was a football innovator both as a player and as a coach doesn’t get the recognition coaches get these days and that’s just because football wasn’t the media run business it isn’t today and the global football community didn’t exist. Yes it’s true he invented catenaccio, that abhorrent mindset to defend (many idiots give Sacchi the credit for that way of playing) a match and plan to hit a team’s weaknesses due to wanting to attack and score goals. But it was revolutionising and it was successful, it was something never seen before, yet nobody talks about him except for those that really know their football history.
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If he can get back to the form he’s capable of and screw his head on right, he adds depth to the squad and also gives Conte different resources for different games in my view.
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But without going into all that mate. having won what he’s won already should be having him in all the football journals as one of the great managers but for some reason he’s not giving off this aura and this exact thing has actually been debated in Spain for example. Why is he not giving off that sensation!
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It’s strange but hardly anyone gets the feeling that Zidane is a great coach and look at the honours he’s taken Real Madrid to.
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Not for me... In my view he's simply being played in a system that gets the most out of what he's good at. Liverpool are a very direct side with players running at their rival while driving the ball forward. Conte's approach as was Mourinho's (although with different emphasis) is a more tempered football of calculating the moments and the way in which an attack should commit more men going forward to accompany. Liverpool's football is frenetic and for all of Salah's good goal scoring stats, the downside to that type of play is leaving yourself open to countering a weakened midfield and defence due to the commitment they've made. Salah was never going to be the type of player Chelsea needed... He was signed on a reasoning based on what he was doing elsewhere and not what the team needed. The same with Cuadrado.
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Even though they play similar roles, both Salah and Willian are totally different players in the way they naturally interpret the game. Willian is a more involved player with the build up of the game. He wants to feel a part of the mechanics of the build up and if he gets a chance of a shot on goal then obviously he's gonna take it. Salah on the other hand is a more direct approach player. He gets the ball and his objective is to individually cause havoc and always with the intention of getting a shot on goal. Hence his better goal statistics...
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Agree with this 100% in every detail you've just said. The money won't serve you at all and you've just had to spend £70m on VVD which shows how difficult it is to grab a hold of the transfer market when you're a Premier League club, more so a club like Liverpool with the prestige they have. It doesn't benefit Liverpool in the slightest to let Coutinho go and once he's gotten over his strop he'll give performances like the ones she's been giving. Liverpool own his contract and he signed it! Unless you get £200m and above (this is what Liverpool should be asking for because Nike have gotten involved in all of it) then it's a shot in the foot for the rest of the season and the fact Europe will know a lot more about your bank account. There is nothing you can buy to replace Coutinho in this January market with.
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You couldn't have a better or more recent example of all of this perception given as to a player's worth than Paulinho in recent months. He was signed by Spurs because he was a promising prospect and failed there which hurt his status as a player that can make it in the most difficult football circuit of all which is Europe. He went to China and was labelled a failure even though for his country (Brazil) he was still doing the business and being selected while in the Chinese Super League. Barcelona took a bet on him and there were many raised eyebrows at this decision but he's been more than just decent and gone onto repair some of the damage done by his failure in the Premier League... Even with all of this there are still some doubters as to if hell totally repair that damage which shows how important and how tough playing in Europe's top football is.
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Congratulations Eco! Always good to push one's way forward and take the bull by the horns.
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Ter Stegen has had some issues in his growth as a keeper. Things like keeping his concentration and one element that was curiously unique to him as a top level goalkeeper in terms of he would at times strangely not bother to make an effort if he thought a shot was too good. That was frustrating but he’s definitely fixed that! The other issue with him has been his confidence with the ball at his feet... He’s brilliant at that and his mid to long range pass accuracy is impressive even for a full blown midfielder. Even that he seems to have fixed a lot these days and lets not forget that Víctor Valdés also had those problems as a young keeper breaking into the side. In that video La Liga (LFP) have issued in their Twitter account we can see some incredible saves, saves against some of the best attackers in the game.
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It definitely gives rival defences more to think about because he’s not an idiot with his feet to say the least. Barcelona offer enough in attack to rival any team in Europe and Piqué loves to get involved. Another thing I love about Gerard Piqué is the fact he’s a controversial character as much as Ramos to ise as an example... But the difference on the pitch is that Piqué doesn’t tend to lose the plot and get himsel sent-off. But back to the debate in question... Ter Stegen as you’ve rightly said has saved many positive results this season with some miraculous saves. Stuff that De Gea is known for. For me the top three keepers in the world right now are De Gea, Ter Stegen and Oblak. It’s upto each individual to select their preferences in my opinion.
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Barcelona’s defence has been astounding this season without a doubt and I get where Cicero is going with his comment. Pique has been majestic for two years now especially this season and Umtiti is simply the best foreign signing Barça have made in donkeys years, even better than Suárez because Barça’s defence was always in question.
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10 players sitting back at Utd isn’t enough of a defence?
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I miss Santi Cazorla... I don’t think us Arsenal fans appreciated him enough before this terrible situation that seems to have ended his footballing career. Boy could we do with him now!
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He’s been the best player of the year. He didn’t just show up for four or five games... He was THE MAN when his team was in turmoil and this season which has had four of the 12 months of the year inserted into it all, he’s been a million light years ahead of anything playing the sport.
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Oh he’s definitely in the top 5. The question is of he’s better than De Gea.
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With all due respects to the Bundesliga, and I genuinely mean that. Neuer doesn’t come up against the same competition in the domestic league he plays in that Ter Stegen does... The only parallel analysis we can disect both of them on is the Champions League. I rate Neuer highly, but without including international experience due to the fact Neuer has more than Ter Stegen, I would say the Barça man is superior. Simply due to the fact he’s tested and has been this season (for example) than his compatriot.
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MARC-ANDRÉ TER STEGEN How far off being the best keeper in the world?
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General La Liga Discussion
SirBalon replied to Carnivore Chris's topic in Spanish Football Forum - La Liga
Jorge Mendes is much more famous in Spain than in England mate, which tells you something. What I mean is all that is already known and used to be a constant subject of debate on late night football radio shows in Spain. He set ill makes the headless of course because he is powerful, but not as much as he used to... Take for example the 'Globe Soccer Awards' the other day... They're controlled and run by Jorge Mendes. how can anyone quote or mention things like this in a serious football debate on any medium? You have to be thick! The question is... What's real in football though these days? I'd just about say that the only thing that differentiates football in this era from WWE is the fact that results in football are still genuinely down to two collectives playing the game with the all the rules in play. After that... Very little else and the next thing on their minds will be the previous sentence. He'd definitely have been a habitual international at most national teams anywhere. Very underrated player due to the amount of excellence that exists amongst Spanish players in midfield in my opinion. It's a position that Spanish football doesn't suffer from.
