₦airaland Forum

The hype over Isco is because he plays in RM. Nobody should disrespect Iniesta enough to compare them abeg, Isco cannot lace Iniesta's boot in years to come.

How many times have we watched games and said Ini should have passed here or dribbled here; I wager never. Iniesta is too cerebral a player. There are only 4 or 5 players in world football that can scrape his ability to read games and convey the signal to his feet to do the work. Abeg, make una no dey disrespect Ini like this.

Nowadays, any player that dribbles anyhow is compared to Ini. Reducing Iniesta's game to aimless dribbles. I am not knocking on Isco, but vision and decision-making are not strong suits for him at all. I can't count how many times a player would be open in a better position to score, and Isco will dribble and dribble and then waste the chance.

He is a very good player and he might be capable of more than what he is currently showing, but he won't add much to Barca. In a few years time we would see (especially if he does not change his game).

Spy360:
It's just plain stupid for Mourinho to blame spending on why Pep is bossing him in the PL.

Mou himself is a bleeping spender, that someone else spends with sense is not an excuse.

Pep has just shown he is the better manager- tactically, mentally, spiritually and physically.

Abi nor be so?
Raumdueter, Eruditor

Mou is a hypnotist. A master of diversionary tactics who spell-binds the supporters of his club until he leaves them and the scales fall off.

Everything he said detracts from the truth but see some proselytes defending it till death.

I can never fault the man's will to win, but he is just a cancer that needs to be purged from football.

He is straight up disrespecting a club and some of the true fans are supporting him. Graceless as ever, see him denigrating other clubs while at it.

In Mou's world everybody else is the problem, not him.

No need to say more because he can relegate his present team and still be called a GOAT manager. Other managers just need to finish 3rd to be called frauds.

If the greatest mesmerizer cannot do it, Mou did.

DevdanSanguine:
He has always been number 2, straight from the draft and now in the NBA. I see how that can strain him mentally.


Allstar games are based on popularity, i dont think he should care about fans not voting for him.

As for the last sentence i sincerely doubt barkley would make a comment like that him being an all time great himself without a ring. Thats would be extremely hypocritical and i really doubt he will say something like that.


He DID join a 73 win team. Iguodala was finals mvp in 2015, doesnt mean they couldnt have done it without him.

As to posterity, i guess we will see. He has more to achieve and his ink isnt dry but right now, hes not an all time top 20 player.

"Opinions ain't facts, take em in and let em go" - Chipmunk

DevdanSanguine:
Seems apart from your intellectual dishonesty maths is another problem of yours. First foul occurred on the cavs with a 3 point deficit. And if were taking scores 3 fouls against 2 that leaves the cavs with just a one point deficit. Your calculations couldn't be more wrong.


I'm sorry, unlike you I'm not used to losing so it's even more painful since we we're cheated. I'm trying to move on, but I can't fathom people trying to claim it is anything other than what it is, a robbery!

If you are referring to the first sequence where Lebron lost the ball, you are delusional. There was never any foul there. The 2nd one was more obvious but inconsequential since Lebron is not that great a FT shooter.

And Decale was right, I did not want supporter's bias to get to me so I made sure I watched all the fouls couple of times to arrive here. Your team even had 8/9 more FTs than the home team. LOL

birdman:
you should check it - he did say that. and the way he was clapping yesterday, after fouling LBJ on the way to the rim like he achieved something was annoying. but its durant tho.....what else is new

Brackish. Brackish.

Who does not get excited when it appears you forced a TO off a rival in the final seconds of a close game?

Make una take heart. Ndo. Rockets and Cabs spoilt your day I understand.

DevdanSanguine:
I think based on his comments he's trying to claim he deserves to be in the conversation with the greats because he mentioned Larry Bird, wade and others.

That will never happen and yesterday was another example of it, without a second ball handler the warriors were able to focus their game plan on trapping LeBron and it worked perfectly. The cavs couldn't have used the same tactics on the warriors because their ball movement means they don't rely on one man to create shots. The cavs had 12 assists while the warriors had 28 or so and you can see this disparity.

This is just one of the many advantages being on this warriors team allows you and this is why no one will ever know or accept how good Durant is. The Chicanos in oakland say he's better than lebron and you know what he might be. But here's the thing, we will never know because he joined a 73 win team he blew a 3 1 lead against already touted as one of the greatest of all time. A team that did not need him.

Maybe I'm wrong and more championships will change this perception now or in the future but right now that's just the fact. And what if he can't get more championships?

While I don't disagree with most of what you have here, you just need to understand that KD has to some degree always been overlooked. It has nothing to do with coming to GSW.

The very season after KD won the MVP of the reg season, he got injured after half time in a game at Oracle. I'd never forget that game so soon because at half time he had scored 30. When MVP candidates were being discussed then, nobody mentioned him at all. His only undoing? Getting injured.

I remember he did not even make the All-star starters in 15/16 in the west and he was angry. Yet he was having basically the same stats as Bron who was number 1 in all votes in the east. Bron was already crowned before he got into the NBA and luckily for him, he sustained the hype. But KD has been trying to prove himself ever since he stepped in. 4-time scoring champ and all Charles Barkley and co kept saying is "he won't be an all time great without a ring".

Now he has a ring, and the next narrative is that he did it on a 73 win team, even when he was the finals MVP of that team. Which means, without him, they probably don't win that ring.

He does not need another ring to prove anything. Posterity will be very kind to him.

birdman:
u dey laugh Durant? The guy talk sey im and lebron dey d same level. O amadioha...

I saw that caption on Yahoo but can't ascertain if it was just a click bait. Fact is, the post game interview I watched he basically said he wanted to guard Lebron because both are small forwards and he felt the players playing the same positions should guard themselves.

Whether he will achieve more than Bron is debatable. I don't think he will (individually) but as of now, the least he can be is on Bron's level. It might sound quite unfair to Bron considering he is having one of his best regular seasons statistically, but KDs much improved defence cannot be overlooked. Players genuinely fear to go to the rim when they play us.

sebod:
We were probably going through it same time. Immediately I got to that post and remembered how Carloti was fired, I couldn't hold it any longer.

Someone even said Simeone will do better with Bayern.

raumdeuter:
Have you seen my post on the Chelsea thread where someone was trying to prove that city has the best players. A first eleven with no CL winner, no balon dor, no fifpro, no member of the first eleven was a regular on a world cup winning eleven, no pfa winner etc yet how does he have the best players

I saw it and nobody could refute it.

I just saw the pass Pogba gave to Rashford now with his left, and I thought to myself how similar Pogba could have been to KDB under the right manager. Funny enough, Pep courted Pogba and Pog wanted to play under him but the money at the time was too much.

Funny enough, same people who say he is winning because of the best squad, with the same hands type that he does not do much when his squad is not the best. Which means, Pep did not do well last season because he did not have the best players and is doing well now because he does.

Which is really funny when we consider he has basically the same team with only Walker and Ederson being the "new" additions.

Like I said even in May 2016, when Pep wins they will revert to say he bought players or he had the best. And when he does not, they either say he is a fraud who could not use the best players well, or that he does not do much without worldclass players.

sebod:
The weed taker!

LOL.

I read all the exchanges again courtesy popizaino's reminder and I have been laughing hysterically.

The internet never forgets.

LOL.
LOL.
LOL.
LOL.
LOL.
LOL.
LOL.LOL.LOL.LOL.LOL.LOL.LOL

Ernesto Valverde is no fraud. When we started that game, Madrid had us figured out. There was no space for Messi to run. And for every move we started, it was clear Zidane had prepared against it. We lost the midfield and defended for dear life.

2nd half, it was clear the coach told them to slow the game down. We needed to. Because they owned the midfield, we tried to pass the ball quickly out of the box or seek long range passes through the wings or by-passing the midfield directly to Suarez. It did not work. But just changing the pace of the game and forcing Madrid to play to our own pace did the trick.

All of a sudden, we stopped chasing them everywhere to win the ball nor did we pass the ball with celerity. Instead, we would take 40 secs just moving around and making them chase the ball. Before long, passages started opening and Rakitic had the space to make that darting run that freed Sergio who found Suarez.

The rest they say is history, but in the same way, history will be unkind to us if we zero down our classy second half performance against RM to luck. We were not lucky. You don't beat a team that beat you 5-1 over 2 legs just months ago, 3-0, in their own home stadium, by chance.

Neymar1095:
Pep has only himself to blame, he sets these
mental standards and winning streaks and
sensational football and everyone’s expectations
are just abnormal, now anything less than a
consistent record breaking wins people will say
he’s a fraud.

Diego Simeone just crashed out of the UCL group stages after having finished in the semis last season. I am waiting for awon "he inherited a team that played in the UCL semis and crashed them out in the group stages" to turn up.

When Benitez won UCL with the 5th placed team in the EPL in 04/05. Nobody worried that in 05/06 he did not use that team to win the league.

But when it comes to Pep, a UCL semi-finalist City team is the best team in the land. He spent £430M. Bla bla. One other team in the same City has spent £600M since their hall of fame manager left - nothing.

But...but...he spent money. But...he doesn't do well as an underdog. Okay. Last season when he did not "do well" was he an over-dog? Did he not spend then?

The players that are playing well now were they not there last season? So what does money have to do with it?

AlderFadington:
So? The only thing harden has on LeBron is points. In the end it's only going to come down to which team has the better record.

Lol! Curry, Cinnamon, Cardamom idgaf. You bums are about to get swallowed! We're going to beat you so bad KD will try to join us next summer.

King MVP GOAT James + Minnesota Kevin Love + Flash Mob.

You'll be lucky to be in it by the fourth. Mark me!

Contortionist. Always contorting excuses. Oh, now it is about better record? No longer about better story? You try.

Just imagine if Harden's Rockets had the better record over Brodie's OKC. I guess Harden would have been the MVP.

I am surprised nobody is talking about who actually has the better and deeper team. But then again, nobody needs to ask it; the other guy is only in the MVP conversation so that the fully bearded guy won't be unanimous.

As per your Cabs. LOL. Ok. Good luck with conceding 110+ points per game against a team that is barely letting 90+ get by them. The only reason this might be a game is because we are missing 2/3 starters.

I may not even have time to laugh at you on Monday but just incase I don't, I trust you to do it for me.

SmooshCHN:
Nah!! Most of the 3s were even open. Guys weren't just hitting them. Bad night on the offensive end. Nuggets were held down to 90 something. We just couldn't find it going. They also played great defense. For a weird reason, we always find it tough playing Denver.

We already beat them at their home this season. The loss was a mental check-out; players did not care and it reflected in the glaring poor shooting even when it was close.

KD should have been more aggressive going to the rim (only 17 shots attempted), but like I said, mentally, the players could not motivate themselves to go for it. They would probably use this as a lodestar to play the cabs on Monday. Not like that game even has much significance, but getting one over your rivals especially after such a poor offensive showing ahome always seems like a good trade off.

AlderFadington:
Until Monday that is.

But overall I want you to get that one seed. That will increase LBJs MVP chances. I also want you to win 75 games this year, that will make it all the more impressive when he sweeps you in the finals.

You wish.

MVP when Harden is dropping back to back 50s.

Just pray Curry does not play. He plays Issa blowout.

He does not pray our stifling defence will do the business.

Puta Madrid!!

Baba God.

E sweet your son.

E sweet me d...


But I don't die.

Hala Barca and nothing else.

Top of the pile.

Feels good to be home.

Can't wait for "they are hurting parity in the league" chants.

Ugly win.

Couple bad calls for both teams here and there.

Really gritty.

I'd take the W anytime, any day.

Decale:
Abeg, abeg, we need a new matchup that's different from Warriors/Cavs

What you don't know here is that most non-Warriors fans are hoping Rockets win this chip (barr any regular playoff CP3 injury as we know); even better if they play the Celtics in the finals.

You people and Cavs should break up. That relationship ain't healthy...

Tell the east to produce another team.

The west is set.

Let them play from now till tomorrow. We know how to mark the 3pt line and take away free 45points from them.

Because a king was sleeping on his bed does not mean he has left the throne.

I need Mike D'Antoni to be using the same rotations in his quest to get first seed. His team is playing bunkers but the playoffs will be a different kettle of fish.

Warriors for Top Seeds though. Even if na by 0.5 game differential. We can whoop them in the WCFs.


Amen.

Ibime:
STFU nigga

MENSA Ibime?
Ibime of War Craft?
CFA smashing Ibime?
Mathematician Ibime?

Does not know sarcasm.

Jeeezus!

Ibime:
So because Rijkaard mismanaged those players from 2006 to 2008, they were no longer the World Class players that they were in 2004-2006 and were on decline?

You compare this group of World beaters to the bunch of crap at Real that used to get knocked out of UCL every 2nd round by Lyon?

While Rijkaard was mismanaging this bunch, Aragones was using them as the central core of his Euro 2008 winning team.

Let's cut the crap, because I don't have time to go back and forth with a talkative nigga. Even your moniker lets me know you are a diarrhea- mouth nigga who likes the sound of his own voice.

Name your Barca 11 and Madrid 11 as at 2008, lets compare player for player and cut through your erudite nonsense.

By your argument, Schuster was also mismanaging RM seeing that he was getting dumped by Lyon. Ironically, same Schuster was doing better than proven Barca - beating them 4-1 and 18 points ahead.

When other managers replaced Schuster why did they not win sextuples?

Pep sold Etoo, Dinho, Henry, Toure and still won 5 trophies with that team. What other errant nonsensical questions will I answer?

Luis Aragones, played Xavi in CM true, but Ini was played on the right side of midfield. Luis played a 4-4-2 or 4-1-3-2. Compared to what Pep played and where he played Ini and Xavi.

Funny enough, in 2010, Del Bosque deployed Ini in the exact way Pep used him from 2008-to that world cup and we saw how Ini played.

I'm not Aaliyah & RKelly so I am done going back and forth with you. If you truly wanted to cut the crap, you would stop posting about Pep or his teams as virtually every thing you have posted has been...crap.

raumdeuter:
I dont know. The point is, Carling is so useless that most clubs dont play their first team but that is the trophy people are celebrating as a major trophy Mourinho won

Same thing with Yorupa Arsenal doesnt even play their first team and this is also one of the trophies Mourinho won that we are supposed to celebrate

Meanwhile, Mou rubbished Yorupa cup when it was won for Chelsea by Benitez.

Today, na major trophy.

PietroRico:
Non major trophy, no serious club cares about

No team celebrates winning on penalties. They simply frown, remain emotionless even and walk off like Lukaku.

Ibime:
Your stewpid arguments can give someone migraine.

We are telling you those Barca players were PROVEN better players than the Real players, you are busy telling us how they underperformed under Rijkaard.

Is that not the central tenet of our argument? - ie that Barca players were better than Real players, but Rijkaard totally mismanaged them.

Of what use is telling us that RVN outscored Eto that season - will that change the fact that Eto was a better player, or would we say Diarra was a better player than Iniesta because he started the season and Iniesta did not?

By your stewpid logic, Leicester players were better than Chelsea players in July 2016 because they each outperformed their Chelsea counterpart that season just gone. Will that make Wes Morgan a better defender than John Terry or make Albrighton better than Hazard?

We are saying that Barca players were much better than Madrid players as of 2008, however Barca players were being mismanaged by Rijkaard.

Barca had WPOTY candidates and Balon D'or podium finishers throughout their team. Real Madrid did not have a single one. Pep did not come in and do anything fantastic, he just took over from a joke of a manager.

Each time I expose a lie, you develop a migraine - that is what is transpiring here.

Proven players that were in decline (more like even atrophy) coupled with bad attitude is what you are trying to put aside like it is some negligible part of Rijkaard's failure.

When Pep sent all those proven players away to other clubs what did they achieve under other managers?

"Barca players were better than Real players" and the question I would ask you is when? If you are referring to 2004-2006 I would agree but your warped implementation of time is what I am disproving. After all, Is John Terry better than Vigil Van Dirk today?

The need to tell you about Etoo and RVNs outputs is to show that apart from superior tactical management, there were other things Pep brought to the table to make Barca the numinous team they would go on to be. One of such things is, camaraderie which he instilled in the team by chasing out the bad eggs. To say that was not fantastic is actually all shades of stoopid.

And I hate to do this again but you have told another lie. Raul was a podium finisher. Cannavaro was too. RVN was no slouch himself, having finished in a couple of UEFA teams of the year as well as being the UEFA forward of the year.

And just incase you want to downplay that award, let me name a few of the past winners; Raul, El Fenomeno, Kaka, Sheva, Messi, CR7, Dinho and Etoo.

Forget the carnards, tall tales and lies. Pep did a fantastic job with that Barca team - a feat no other manager has equalled world over even with other supposedly great teams.

Ibime:
You talk too much negro.

Lets compare:

Striker - Eto vs RVN - clear win for Barca

Wingers - Messi and Henry vs Robben and Robinho - clear win for Barca

Central midfield - Xavi, Iniesta and Toure vs Emerson, Diarra and Guti - Unanimous win for Barca

And you used your lying fingers to type Sneijders name when Sneijder was going through depression and was overweight at Madrid, and not even in first team. Stop it.

Central defence - Puyol and Abidal vs Pepe and Cannavaro - marginal

Fullbacks - Marcelo and Ramos vs Beletti and Sylvinho - This is the only win for Madrid.

You think you can come here and lie. Only thunder will fire Rijkaard for losing to Madrid with this Barca team. They were not even close.

Baba, is everything okay?

Etoo scored a total number of 18 goals that season to RVNs 20 (yet Ruud started only 2 more games than Etoo).

Only Messi and Henry together? Why didn't you add Ronaldinho too to prove your point? Is Messi at his best on the wings?

Robben, Robinho were lethal this season especially the latter who had a far far better season than Dinho. So what are you saying?

What Central Midfield had Xavi and Ini? LOL. Nice try.

The midfield had Deco (LM) Toure (DM) Xavi (RM) initially. Deco's head was touching so Rijkaard replaced him with Iniesta.

RMs midfield had Sneijder, Guti, Diarra and Gago (Balboa and Drenthe mostly came off the bench). RMs midfielders scored and assisted more goals than Barcas - so how is it unanimous?

BTW Emerson was not in that Madrid team.

Sneijder that was signed that very season was depressed? Sneijder that scored 9 goals in 30-some appearances (more than Xavi or any other Barca midfielder) was depressed?

I ask again; Is everything okay?

Central defence Puyol and Abidal? Central defence was Puyol and Milito. Marquez featured here and there. Abidal was signed that season and played LB. LOL

Why would Lightening (Thunder is the sound) fire Rijkaard now when it did not fire him when Capello peeped him to the title one year earlier?

Oga, you would not rewrite history here o. I am positioned to decimate any myths you or any Pep-hater want to spread.

EvilMetahuman:
well, mourinho is not man united.

the report didnt say mourinho joins the race to sign hazard.

He is United's manager and will be for the next season as well.

eph12:
That's not the point. The point is that every top team in the league have good players, with similar quality. If there is any difference, it's very marginal and inconsequential

Don't get swayed my specious arguments.

You want to compare RM team of 06/07 to Barca team of 07/08. Who does that?

RM team of 07/08 had Higuain, RVNistelrooy, Raul, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Sneijder, Robben, Cannavaro, Guti, Marcelo etc and they played like a united front.

You hear "Euro winning midfield" for Ini and Xavi but don't realize they had finished 3rd 10 points behind 2nd place Villareal.

Nobody mentions that Ini was barely getting starts initially till Yaya got injured and Rijkaard changed formation.

Nobody mentions that Xavi played RM not CM as he became renowned for.

Nobody mentions that that team had Dinho and Deco who were starters. They have conveniently left them out to push their false narrative.

What about Leo? Might shock you to know, he barely outperformed...wait for it...Bojan Krkic that season (scoring only 4 more than him).

The team was in total disarray; lacked identity, could not run, with egos scattered all over the place.

Pep was announced May 2008 as Barca's next manager. He announced that Deco, Ronnie and Etoo won't feature in his plans. That Xavi and Ini (who were barely ever used together in midfield) will form the heart of his. That Sergio "Unknown" Busquets will play DM over Yaya or Edmilson (whom he showed the door to).

He brought Piqué back from United (a Piqué SAF preferred Jonny Evans over). Bought Dani to play RB/RWB.

Then, did the unthinkable: built his team around (16 goals the previous season in 40-some games) Messi.

Even if anyone wants to claim, they are Nostradamus and saw the star power in this ensemble, no fvcking person can tell me they saw a sextuple in this team.

Well, no other person but...Josep "Pepe dem" Guardiola.

#YouWillNotRewriteHistory
#ThoseWhoKnowKnow

EvilMetahuman:
i heard the same story when we sold mata and matic.

by the way, "Reports claim Manchester United have joined the race to sign Eden Hazard!"

NOT

Reports claim Chelsea planned to sell hazard to man u.



plus you should know by now that for the right amount, anybody can buy any player from chelsea or any club at all.
if manyoo bid 300million for hazard, you think chelsea wont sell?

Hazard will not play under Mou.

He did not even look at him nor shake his hands when Chelsea played United 1-0 this season.

Ibime:
Someone wants us to believe Pep inherited rubbish squad from Rijkaard with Spain's Euro-winning midfield of Xavi, Iniesta with Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto, Yaya Toure, Thierry Henry, Puyol, Abidal on deck. I just named 8 players that could arguably walk into a World 11.

Only thunder will fire Rijkaard for using this team to concede title to Capello with Guti, Jose Antonio Reyes, Julio Baptista, Emerson, Robinho and co.

Same with Man City, Pellegrini has always been a soft-spoken underachiever, a coach who grossly underachieved, and was actually a 3 year placeholder for Pep and had no power. Pellegrini severely underachieved just like Rijkaard. I am not saying this now, I have been saying it for years.

Pep has never inherited an underdog team. Anytime he is underdog, they whip him 5-0.

Pellegrini is a great manager. See what he did with Villarreal that had no money. Give him a team like Real Madrid with money he would...oops.

Pep has truly not inherited underdogs. See how every club he leaves does better than they did with him. Pep Issa fraud.