₦airaland Forum

Nihilist:
I was only talking in the moment when I said Luiz needed flogging. I thought that his usual madness had finally been cured, I didn't know it is merely being suppressed. Hopefully he keeps the brain farts to a minimum over the next few weeks. Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero are less forgiving than Alvaro Negredo.

True that. Not just Luiz but the entire team.

Citeh and Spuds press heavily and that is something that might just trouble this new setup. I wouldn't want to think we've got a winning formula until we pass the tests of next few weeks.

Meanwhile, aren't you just loving Don Conte's meritocracy? Willian was given a compassionate leave, only to return to find his spot occupied by an effective Pedro. Mikel traveled to Rio for the olympics only to lose his place to Kante and the rejuvenated Matic. JT got injured and lost his spot to God-knows-who. Oscar, Cesc and Ivanovic are the other victims of this approach. The way things are going, one might just lose his place if he steps out to take a pee during a training session.

This is how you build a winning team to be honest.

Nihilist:
You might remember a conversation we had a few months back about why Fabregas wasnt making the team, and I pulled up the pass stats suggesting Luiz was playing almost as a playmaker...so Im very much in agreement with you on that level.

What we musnt do though, is fall into the 'John Stones' trap by continuing to praise a defender for what he does offensively and ignore the fact that defensively he can be a bit gash.

The two mistakes he made yesterday could have very easily led to goals if Gaston Ramires had his wits about him.

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I like my defenders to be able to actually defend...

It is not about being old-fashioned, a defender has to efficiently carry out his primary duty, which is to defend. So we are all in agreement here.

Luiz can be erratic no doubt, but his game seems to have taken a huge lift under Conte's tutelage or perhaps, since we switched to the 3-4-3 formation.

Lately, instead of pulling off an unusual stunt when boxed by an opposition player, he would hit the row Z. His innate propensity to take poor-positionings seems to have been addressed as well. That can be clearly seen in Conte's decision to have him as the 'spare-man' in our back-three.

Against Boro, I would love to think the international break had its toll on the boys. Kante almost gave away a cheap goal. Azpilicueta at some points was out-paced. Cahill wasn't here or there. I don't think Luiz deserve to be murdered.

Take a look at the brighter side, Sponge Bob made more clearances in our box than anyother defender. That is him defending.

Nihilist:
David Luiz needs to be subbed off. WTF?

Azpi should have done better though

Luiz deserve some credits mehn. He made couple of mistakes no doubt, but that doesn't take away the fact that he sonned Boro's target man - Negredo.

On some occassions, his anticipation directly led to the attacks we launched, and such quick transition was quite needed against this Boro side.

Luiz in some ways is this team deep-lying playmaker. If we must attack from the back, he is the one launching that needed up-through pass and he does that with sublime precision.

He deserves some credit.

In as much as we want to avoid saying it like the Harry Potter fans avoid saying the name Voldermort, it is about time to say it - Chelsea is competing for the premiership.

Boro is as difficult as they come and although the game along with the performance, it was a still a PL title worthy performance.

What I love most about this team is the organisation. Every one knows where to be at every given time.

Come next weekend, we would be up against a team that presses heavily, let's see how we survive that and dent their unbeaten run.

bykebyke:
See how AirborneLacer was vehemently disagreeing with you.

Na when this board still be fun. When we deliberately ask for brawls

I phucking hate international breaks. This space now looks like a park.

This Naija team is phucking balanced, from the back to up-field. Golden generation?

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bigkesh:
Forget youth
Can we have Alonso and Rodriguez together??
Can we have Kondo and Matic,then Kante and Witsel??

That's over imbalance..... Rodriguez is just another Alonso
Kondo is just another Matic

Squad should be about varieties, that's why I wanted Matic,Kante,Chalobah,Verratti and Baker

Wingbacks should be Moses,Alonso,Kennedy/Ake,

Now imagine having Costa and Lukaku,Why pls??Has Michy done anything wrong?

The best teams aren't made of the best 11s,I understand the need for stars but After BBC Madrid have Morata and Vasquez,Barca have Whoever they have.....We don't need 22 stars,we only need 15 and 7 other players that fit the style and offer good service and if those 7 can be youth products,all well and good

Ask questions before drawing up conclusions. Go through my post again, this time around, take your time.

A 20-year-old isn't in anyway a small girl abeg.

Ibime:
Serge Gnabry just made his debut for Germany and has been tearing down Bundesliga.

I remember using him as an example to Spy360 of why players out on loan are not prioritised by the loaning club - this after Tony Pulis told us Gnabry is not good enough for West Brom and kept him on the bench all year. The same Serge Gnabry is good enough for Die Mannschaft.

Lad's close control and guile are his biggest assets. When I saw him make his Arsenal debut, I knew that lad was going to go places.

Meanwhile, we are reportedly chasing Leverkusen's right full-back Benjamin Henrichs. I think that is just another kid who deserve a shot at the biggest stage. He could easily dispatch Victor Moses down that right side.

Ugly scenes at Wembley!

Nihilist:
I agree with you to a certain extent.

I think that we are still too heavily reliant on Hazard and Costa. I think that the switch to 343 has strengthened us defensively by committing more men to defensive duties, and exempting our key strikers from any defensive work, and giving them near absolute freedom to do anything they want in the attacking third.

So far, this strategy has worked...but for how long? The system isn't creating that many chances in comparison to other teams, e.g Man Utd, Liverpool, City, Spurs, and even Southampton. Matic is our joint top assist man, but 3 of his assists came from corner flick ons, and the other 2 were simple passes to players who still had it all to do.

Even the guy himself says so here:

Hazard and Costa not only take the highest amount of shots in the team, but they are also the top dribblers. What this means is that these guys are more or less having to create openings for themselves to shoot at goal.

So I definitely agree that we need another top quality attacker to share the load. Pedro is averaging exactly one shot per game (very very poor) in the league and he's our joint third highest goal scorer in the league after Hazard and Costa with a miserly 2 goals. If anything happens to Costa and/or Hazard, we lose our goal threat, which is exactly what I believe happened to us last season.

Griezmann is unlikely to sign in January at least, but I heard Payet might be available.

Those stats are eye openers, thanks from bringing them in. If Griezmann can dream of making a switch to Old Trafford, then I think we stand a chance of luring him to the Bridge.

Courtois

Azpilicueta/Zouma Christensen/? David Luiz


Moses/? Matic/Witsel/Kondogbia Kante R.Rodriguez/Alonso/Kenedy

Griezmann Costa/Lukaku Hazard

Good for Europe?

Rumor has it that we would be splashing out during the winter transfer window. I don't know how true this is but I want to believe it is true.

Our current squad in all sincerity isn't tailor-made for Conte's 3-4-3, how the Italian is getting the best out of these boys in that setup remains a mystery.

Naturally, the RWB position Moses is manning should be occupied by a natural RWB, this is not to say Victor isn't doing a great job in his new given role but he's no RWB. The experience the likes of Candreva, Liechenstner etc would bring to the fore would always look different (this is not to say I want Liechenstner either).

Cahill hasn't been genuinely tested at that left side of our back-line. He pretty much looks to me the same player he was couple of months ago. Marcos Alonso might be doing okay at the moment but let's not overlook his defensive frailties. I like the lad for his link-up plays, deliveries and movements but the job of a wing-back doesn't end there.

A close look at our bench explains that we don't even have the needed depth. An injury to Hazard, Costa, Azpilicueta or even Kante would spell doom for us. In the absence of Moses, can we trust Ola Aina to do a yeoman job at that RWB? Can Chalobah fill in for either Matic or Kante against a top side? Can we trust Willian to do better than Pedro in that front three?

In all, what I am trying to point out is the need for reinforcement come next year. By the time this season would be over, we'd be talking European football, failing to prepare, would be preparing to fail.

So roll out the bank cheque next year I say. Place Mikel, Fabregas, Oscar and Ivanovic on the transfer list, hopefully, the quartet would rake in around £100m for us.

Bring in one solid ball playing centre-back (Christensen), One left-wingback (Ricardo Rodriguez) or better still (Kenedy or Ake), one CM (Witsel or any good chap) and one forward (Griezmann).

Yes, Griezmann! As we prepare for Europe, our attack should be as fiery as the MSN or even the BBC. No amount quoted for Antoine should discourage us from making that dream a reality. A lethal attack has its own advantage and we must enjoy that next season. Years ago when we had Robben, Duff, Gudjohnsen, Drogba, Joe Cole et al, we would send fear down the spines of opponents even before kick-off, that is reigning supreme. Break the world transfer record for that French man and get him a home in West London I say.

I'd love to read your thoughts on this.

It is common to see an olosho troll a fellow olosho. Nothing new.

It wasn't about the Siena, their aim was to kidnap the owner, Aaron, who happens to be one of the governor's special advicers.

If I hear that long-awaited trumpet right now I wouldn't be surprised one bit.

raumdeuter:
Lukaku is better than any striker Brazil have currently.

Naingollan and Dembele shield any back 4 WHo was shielding the back 4 for Belgium at Euro 2016

Carrsco is a better winger than anyone. Coutinho plays 10 and thats KdB best role so he sits for him

Funny to see that your mashup doesn't have Hazard in it but somehow accomodates a certain Carrasco, do you hate that much that it excuses you from the use of logic?

It is only but a mash-up, so you can easily push KDB to the right where we've seen him play severally, then you bring in Coutinho. It is criminal to rate Carrasco ahead of Coutinho.

Dembele was chopping the bench for Witsel at the Euros, so I don't know where you are getting this your claim from. Pochettino going all out to get Wanyama last summer despite having Dembele around, should tell you something. He is no natural DM neither is Naingollan, having both in a pivot system is asking for trouble. Witsel is even far more better than the duo in that area.

That said, I believe Casemiro is better than anything both countries has got to offer in that position. This is one dude that can efficiently screen his back-line and you don't get the chance to stir for Real if you are crap.

raumdeuter:
Compare the quality of Belgian players currently to Brazil and lets know who has better player

Check this out and tell us how much you disagree.

patrickmuf:
In the GK position, Courtois is better than Caesar but other than that, Brazil have a better Bench...If Diego Alves is picked as first choice I'd say it's a close call...
LB: Marcelo/Fabinho/Sandro/Filipe is better than anything Belgium brings to the fore...
CBs: I'd pick Toby Alderweireld and any of Silva/Luiz/Marquinhos
RB: Alves despite is age is better than anything Belgium brings forth
DM: Luiz Gustavo is better than Naingolan, Fernandinho is better than Witsel, Casemiro is also better than the both Belgians when it comes to protecting the back four.
LCF: Neymar over Hazard
AM: Coutinho over De Bruyne
LCF: De Bruyne
CF: Lukaku for the time being, in no distant time, we'd be talking Gabriel Jesus.

Others might play Neymar as the CF to accommodate Hazard and drop Lukaku and interchange the positions of Coutinho and De Bruyne...
It's not too difficult to see that Brazil easily has the better players and better team than Belgium...

Cc: Griffon, raumdeuter, airmark, Adisaowala

That said, I think you should know that the difference between an average/good player and a great player is a gulf.

Apples and oranges!