Cuadrado completes permanent move to Juventus

[Batard]

No surprises here

https://www.espnfc.com/story/3131867/juan-cuadrado-completes-permanent-move-to-juventus-from-chelsea

Only real surprise is how flaky he was at Chelsea

[Cure]

Never given a chance at Chelsea. Knew this was coming.

Just about sums up how awful Chelsea are at signing players and leaving them out to dry. Not like another English team are culprits for it but Happy Blue won't mention that.

[Inverted]

The quality of club management in the PL: a player deemed unnescessary for a mid-table side last season is about to play a CL final. 

[Cicero]

36 minutes ago, Cure said:

Never given a chance at Chelsea. Knew this was coming.

Just about sums up how awful Chelsea are at signing players and leaving them out to dry. Not like another English team are culprits for it but Happy Blue won't mention that.

Couldn't hack it in a physical league where you are not given time on the ball. Is it no surprise that Salah and Pogba too looked quality in Italy but bang average here? 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

Couldn't hack it in a physical league where you are not given time on the ball. Is it no surprise that Salah and Pogba too looked quality in Italy but bang average here? 

So its not physical in Italy?

Has to do more with the piss poor recruiting in the PL. I think Serie A is proving that it's of a higher standard than the PL.

[Cicero]

1 minute ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

So its not physical in Italy?

Has to do more with the piss poor recruiting in the PL. I think Serie A is proving that it's of a higher standard than the PL.

Not nearly in the same regard as in the premier league. And you failed to mention the part where you are given hardly any time on the ball here in England as opposed to in Italy. 

[Guest]

Just now, Cicero said:

Not nearly in the same regard as in the premier league. And you failed to mention the part where you are given hardly any time on the ball here in England as opposed to in Italy. 

I've heard that excuse before, what about the Champions League? Are they not given time on the ball there?

In terms of standard I'd take Serie A any day over the PL. Its become popular to knock Serie A because of lack of names, poor marketing and below average attendances compared to other European leagues and while the standard isn't quite what it once was, its still one of the top 3 leagues in the world. Napoli, Roma and Juventus can all win the Premier League if they were in. Italy may not have the names that the PL has but I put that down to poor marketing. Tactically though, it pisses over the English leagues. Its not even a debate.

Put it this way, and this is in no way a pop at Leicester fans as they were the best team the year they won it. They won the Premier League because of the other teams incompetence. Put a Bayern, Juventus, Real Madrid or Barcelona in the league and the story would have been different. I always say as a Napoli fan, we have a far higher chance to win the PL than Serie A. The recruiting in the league is abysmal as they never fit in what a manager wants tactically. Cuadrado was never going to work with Mourinho, nor Salah. Pogba as Batard once said, is tactically naive. Put him in an Italian system like Conte's which he has excelled in and he won't look like the bang average player he is at United. Its all become a business in England. 

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every good player that has failed in the premier league, I'd be rich. 

[The Liquidator]

Cuadrado time at Chelsea was tough to watch. He came and spoke very well, but his time on the pitch you could see him visibly shrink as a player. 

He came with the reputation of a hard working player with an eye for a spectacular goal & a stand out World Cup under his belt. Alas his first touch did not afford him the time he needs to perform to his level in our league. The amount of times Chelsea possession ended once the ball reached him soon had us fans questioning his ability. It was no surprise he was moved out on loan so quickly and while we can be accused of "piss poor recruiting", its good we made our mind up on him quickly and like Salah before him, another who stood out in the Italian league, he jumped to get back to the where he felt more comfortable and they are both enjoying feeling wanted at their current clubs.

Victor Moses has proved to be everything Cuadrado failed to show while in England.

Just a point or 6 on "piss poor recruiting"

Alonso Hazard Courtois Matic Fabregas Luiz Pedro and some bloke called Kante who cost less than Manchester United paid Pogba's agent!

I hope all agree, Chelsea football club have had far more "HITS" in the transfer market in the past 5 seasons than misses and " piss poor recruiting in the PL" is aimed at our league rivals than ourselves.

 

 

[Cicero]

32 minutes ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

I've heard that excuse before, what about the Champions League? Are they not given time on the ball there?

In terms of standard I'd take Serie A any day over the PL. Its become popular to knock Serie A because of lack of names, poor marketing and below average attendances compared to other European leagues and while the standard isn't quite what it once was, its still one of the top 3 leagues in the world. Napoli, Roma and Juventus can all win the Premier League if they were in. Italy may not have the names that the PL has but I put that down to poor marketing. Tactically though, it pisses over the English leagues. It's not even a debate.

Put it this way, and this is in no way a pop at Leicester fans as they were the best team the year they won it. They won the Premier League because of the other teams incompetence. Put a Bayern, Juventus, Real Madrid or Barcelona in the league and the story would have been different. I always say as a Napoli fan, we have a far higher chance to win the PL than Serie A. The recruiting in the league is abysmal as they never fit in what a manager wants tactically. Cuadrado was never going to work with Mourinho, nor Salah. Pogba as Batard once said, is tactically naive. Put him in an Italian system like Conte's which he has excelled in and he won't look like the bang average player he is at United. Its all become a business in England. 

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every good player that has failed in the premier league, I'd be rich. 

Champions League football is on a whole different pedestal and there are multiple variables why certain players and teams perform to the standard that they do. And last time I checked Cuadrado, Pogba, and Salah didn't exactly set the world alight in the Champions League the way they do in Italy. 

That's your opinion. I follow my family's team Sampdoria whenever I can, and I've been watching Italian football quite frequently and aside Napoli, Roma and Juve it is an absolute bore fest consistenting of 17 teams that are far too concerned how to approach each game tactically rather than actually getting the ball in the back of the net. That is why it has gotten so much stick these past few years.  Nothing to do with marketing as it is still one of the highest watched leagues in the world. It is down to the sheer lack of competition and poor management of clubs. I've fallen asleep from so many games I've lost count. 

Juve would be the only team with a real shout in winning the Premier League. Roma couldn't even get past the playoff round in the Chamoions League against Porto, a side where Leicester beat comfortably, and you think they would win the Premier League? Napoli would be on par with Liverpool as they have no quality in depth. It is so evident that Juve are in a league of their own which has continued to down grade the level of Serie A Clubs as well as the league itself. 

The part in bold, how can you possible predict that? What about Bayern in the Champions League this season? Or Barca and Atletico in the league this season? Both were incompetent before going into it and if you put another top team that was actually in form would Real have won the league and/or have gotten past Bayern/Atletico in Europe? It's football. Unexpected things happen. Just like when we won the CL in 2012 and Leicester winning the league. There are variables that go into it and is impossible to predict certain hypotheticals given those variables. 

And by the way, misplaced passes, atrocious finishing, terrible awareness and poor judgement isn't down to the manager's 'system'. 

I'm basing my judgement on what I've seen. And What I HAVE seen, is both Cuadrado and Salah excel having the ball not under pressure as well as not being in a physical demanding environment. 

[Guest]

@Cicero

I'm going to tag you as I don't want to quote a post that long. I can definitely respect your opinion but I can't say I agree with the post. 

Italian football can be boring sometimes, but that doesn't make it bad. Boring and of low standard are completely different. You can be boring and still be better, which for me it is. Its not exactly "poorly marketed" but it is when you compare it to the Bundesliga and Premier League. Even La Liga does better than Serie A and they aren't the masters of it. 

As for teams winning the premier league, Juventus would piss the Premier League. Napoli and Roma CAN win it, I'm not saying they are guaranteed to if they were in it. I'd give them more of a chance in England than Italy. Again, Leicester did it because the top teams are consistenly incompetent with recruitment and at times, tactical ineptness. Tactically, its much better in Italy than it is in England. Napoli has incredible depth in the midfield so while its not quite what some of the top teams have, its still something. As for Roma, they had mentality issues for the longest time. They were corrected after that loss to Porto and that's why they are going to finish second after constant partenopei pressure.

You're right that I can't predict that Leicester wouldn't win it if they were in the league. I personally think they wouldn't after seeing that Leipzig fell apart after they went away at Bayern. Leicester could win at City when they needed too. They took advantage of the incompetence of the other teams and that's credit due to them. However, as you said I can't successfully predict it as its a situation we're never going to see. Its something I always say myself.

I'd say Cuadrado and Pogba have both looked good when they played in the Champions League for Juve. Even Salah at Basel looked good.

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Inverted said:

The quality of club management in the PL: a player deemed unnescessary for a mid-table side last season is about to play a CL final. 

He was so bad for Chelsea it was almost upsetting. I'd never seen a player so lost or confused before. However, just because X works for Y doesn't mean it will work for Z. Poor timing, a new culture and language, a new style and tactics to adapt to, all contribute; not just talent level.  For instance Claudio Pizarro is one of the best strikers of the last twenty years but he also failed in England, and Angel di Maria went from CL hero to EPL loser. 

[Guest]

Falcao too. Some blame the injury but it shouldn't have affected him for 2 years.

[Spike]

1 minute ago, LaSambadeStGermain said:

Falcao too. Some blame the injury but it shouldn't have affected him for 2 years.

One of Falcao's main strengths was his heading ability. Not something he could really use in England given that everyone is 212cm tall and jumps three-metres in the air.

[True Blue]

Old news but a terrible move by Chelsea.