₦airaland Forum

We all know why JM got sacked.


JM was complaining about Boulahrouz and Shevchenko which the club imposed on him, and RA felt he deliberately sabotaged these players from summer till January, then waged a press campaign to force RA's hand to sign players he wanted instead (the "eggs from Waitrose" statement by JM being a funny derivative of the boardroom tussle). RA thought JM was asking for too much money (asked for £25m per piece for Jermaine Defoe and David Villa), and another £18m for Micah Richards. It was like JM was taunting RA in the press, telling him "You see, you should have signed the players I asked for instead of this bloody Boulahrouz and Sheva". This is all linked into his beef with Frank Arnesen and their fight to control the ear of Abramovic which Arnesen was winning.

JM started questioning RA in the press. We remember the infamous december run after Cech got injured where JM would rather play Paulo Ferreira in central defence than field Boulahrouz. That same January, JM refused to take Alex back from PSV and continually insisted on Micah Richards.

Add this to disciplinary issues with UEFA in the Champions League which RA thought was damaging the image of the club - allied with a style of play which wasnt the image RA wanted for the club, and RA thought he was dealing with a loose cannon/ agidi head. Little known fact is that during this boardroom tussle, Mourinho was hospitalised for 3 days with severe migraines at one of our private hospitals in London (st Johns area). Without breaking hospital confidentiality clause, one of my people (unnamed) was one of the ones treating JM, and informed me of it.

In summary, the main issue which got JM sacked was not wholly style of play but mostly due to insubordination and refusal to accept meddling with the team - the same issue for which Ray Wilkins got sacked when Ron Gourlay (on behalf of RA) was questioning Ray about the use of substitutes in a match and Ray told him to mind his bizness.

omega25red: The year after that i went to Bahamas and stayed at an amazing hotel RIU hotel. The water was so pretty you actually could see fish swimming around you and if you had bread, they became your friend we stayed for a week

Sing with me. . .

I want. . . . I want to go to Riu. . .
I really want. . . I want to go Riu. . . . everybody!

I love Riu mehn.

coogar: Ozil completed 9 of 11 passes he attempted in the final third.

kroos could only complete 21 out of the 27 passes he attempted in the final third(wasteful).

Help me with the Mathematics. . .

90/21 = a pass every 4.21 minutes in final third for Kroos.

70/9 = a pass every 7.80 minutes in final third for Ozil.


Lets not talk about the fact that Kroos played deeper, and controlled volume of possession in his own half and in the middle (areas in which Ozil doesnt even venture) and still bested him passing wise in the final third.

Kroos dominated possession completely and protected the ball a lot better than Ozil who lost it very often with his physical weakness, whilst Kroos received the ball in tight spaces and wriggled out of it.

Im sure if you look at the stats, Kroos completed twice as many passes as Ozil. If Im lying, post the stats (since you seem to have access).

dayokanu: I think you have something personal against Gustavo, he was excellent today he mops up behind the midfielders and today delivered 2 brilliant tackles on Ronaldo and Di maria in quick succesion which left them moaning like Britney Spears

the only problem I have with Gustavo is he delays too much on the ball and atimes get caught out

Beastuber bossed everything thrown at him today though

The days of defensive midfielders impressing me by throwing one or two slide tackles are over.

The best defensive midfielders these days anticipate danger and cut out passes not make silly and dangerous slide tackles.

Defensive midfielders have to be technically the best players in the team, able to drop inbetween the centre-backs, receive possession in dangerous areas, spin away and maintain possession.

They should be able to press in short sharp spurts rather than slide tackling recklessly in central midfield like Gustavo. When I was 16, ma coach told me that one should never slide tackle in central midfield. Slide tackle is the last bastion of the full-back to stop a winger getting a cross in, or at worst a desperate centre-back trying to rescue a desperate situation.

Most importantly, a DM must be two-footed allowing him speed in possession, not having to turn slower than a shipping tanker in order to use his left foot to pass ball (like Gustavo). Also why does Gustavo always look like the ball is running away from him. A good footballer keeps the ball within a few inches of his foot which allows him more speed and flexibity to change direction at any time. Gustavo never seems in control of the ball when he is running with it.(which is why he delays too much on the ball and gets caught out)

Finally, Gustavo cannot protect the ball with his body like a good defensive midfielder should. The guy is too scrawny and lacks the ball control to do so. You see the way Makelele, Mikel, Xavi, Leon Britton play with their back to the opponent, feel his touch, and use their body to roll him. This is what allows them to receive the ball from the centre-back with players pressing them; and turn the opponent and distribute the ball. If Gustavo try and do this, its suicide! Thats why Schweinsteiger and Kroos had to do it for him repeatedly.

Gustavo cannot do any of the things I have listed above and for me, thats what makes him an absolutely rubbish DM.

coogar: where's dayo to come n witness mesut ozil destroy bayern munich's midfield.
what a player ozil is? he knows the exact weight to be exerted on the ball when
making a pass. sadly, his energy levels are too low.


ribery diving like a starfish!

Were you high when you watched the game?

Ozil was completely anonymous.

Toni Kroos made Ozil and Xabi Alonso look like rank amateurs.


The only guy that pissed me off was Luiz Gustavo. I never understood that guys purpose in any team. His touch is poor, the ball is never close to his body when he is in possession and he is so excruciatingly one-footed.

Bayern technical directors (whether Nerlinger, Rumenigge or Hoeness, Im not sure who's responsible) should never be allowed to sign defensive midfielders ever again after their expensive and disastrous purchases of Gustavo and Tymoschuk.

Hey Dayo and TBoogie,

Abeg make una make sure una take care of Lalaboiy and Jet Bombers respectively so I can jejely qualify for H2H. I've taken big risks this week and sacrificed 8 points so na una hand I dey!

How can a ninja win 7 games out of 8 and still not qualify? Infact in the one game I lost I was 2nd top-scorer but had the misforutune to be playing the top-scorer. Better question. . . how come the highest scoring player in the league is still struggling to qualify, yet someone with 100 points less like Cockblockers qualified ages ago. . . . this H2H throws up some funny draws mehn. . . Jet Bombers won his game last weekend with only 33 points. . . disgraceful.

Dayo and TBoogie. . . .no fall my hand!!!

So Jenjecyde, you done use one stone kill two birds!

Congrats bro!!! Its a special thing.

Sagamite: When I tell you people that cretins are a big problem to our society, una go say Sagamite is harsh.

This fool is not a blatant racist, he got into this mess because he is a person that made up assumptions in his arse and got into a situation he should not have got into.

Listening to his 999 calls and the statements he made shows he is more of a person than a racist.

I hate cretins with a passion.

You hit the nail on the head bro.

Stupidity is a big disease. You can tell by looking at the guy that he has nothing going on upstairs, no wonder he is still chasing an associate degree at community college at 29 years old despite the fact his father is a judge.

Too many of these dumb American types get themselves into Neighbourhood watch and border patrol simply because they have nothing upstairs. . . carrying a gun around and pretending to do some civic duty seems to be a self esteem booster for dumb American men.

nateevs: [i][size=8pt]AVB says that at the start of the season Chelsea was able to field a confident midfield with only a 6 and with two 8's. The 8's played in between the oponent's lines (in between the midfield and the defense), a midfield confident in direct, incisive passing to the 8s, but, because of the lack of confidence from the players in their passing (due to some bad results) it now had to revert to a double pivot to ease the transitions to the atack. He stresses that he does not intend to use a typical defensive double pivot with two defensive midfielders ("dogs" that track the oponent, he called them), but of two 6's gifted on the ball that are able to link the play up to the number 10.

In other words, all he is saying is should he play two defensive midfielders or one defensive midfielder?

Football is not Mathematics bro, no amount of talk about "double pivots", "medium blocks" or bla bla bla would make football sound like rocket science to me. Only those with low IQ get impressed by all this jargon talk.

Like Afrodoc said, despite all his jargon talk, he didnt know his own team, and couldnt recognise players with technical quality, instead of promoting the likes of Ramires.

Salomon Kalou may not be the best player in the world, but I thank God for RDM's wisdom to see that Salomon Kalou is the only player that can provide Chelsea with attacking threat on the left-hand-side. We can talk about RDM's wisdom to see that Ramires does not belong in central midfield. This simple injection of width and pace to the wide areas of the team have changed our play remarkably. AVB was busy trying to play Lampard as DM at start of season so he can have Ramires and Alvaro Perreira as quick pressing central midfielders (LCM and RCM). It was this obsession with quick pressing midfielders that blinded him to the fact that he can play Lamps and Mata in the same midfield, cos otherwise, where would he fit Ramires? Ramires does not have the technical skill to play where Obi Mikel is playing now.

nateevs: 3. However, you can see that Ramires has become even shittier since he was moved to the flanks than when he played in the middle. It's clear for all to see. That's not to say AVB made an error, it's just that RDM believes in other things.

Lest we forget, Ramires was AVB's signature player. . . a player he promoted above all else. . . a player who made 30 passes per game (only when no one was near him) yet guaranteed starting shirt as long as he was fit. . . the only player in the Prem where I can confidently say that if I had his physical abilities, I would be better than him!!!

Now Ramires is on the wing, he cannot hide in matches anymore. When he was playing CM, he used to hide and let Lampard and Romeu do all the passing. Thats easy to do when there are two other players showing for the ball in midfield and all you do is start running aimlessly away from the ball when your team has possession.

When you are on the wing, you have no option to run away. When the midfield is congested, they will switch the ball to the wing, and you cannot run away from it. So what we see now is the glaring technical deficiency in Ramires game which I've been preaching all along. Regardless of this, he is still better served on the wing where his runs serve a purpose of engaging full backs.

AVB told us that this same Ramires is his most important player becase he is the only one who knows how to press in AVB style. I dont hear all that nonsense talk anymore.

nateevs: That said, Lampard was really really poor against Lison (home) Fulham (away) and Wigan.
Also, I do not think anyone believes Modric is a £40m players. . . just as Torres isn't a £50m player.

I was in a country where they show every single match when these games were played and I watched all of em even the 3 0 clock kick offs.

Lamps was very good in those matches.

What made you claim he was really really poor against these teams?

Do you know what central midfield play involves?

Lamps workrate was fantastic, he kept possession well, he tackled, and he set players free more than anyone else.

Lamps was good in these games regardless of what you say.

Your problem with him remains the same since the last 4 years i.e he cant dribble. . .

Who kept releasing Bertrand in Fulham match? Lamps was the only one that switched play quickly and played players into space.

If Chelsea failed to create much in those games, you should know that the onus is on the wingers and the no 10, not the guys whose job it is to transition between defence and attack. Lamps and Mikel job was to give the ball to the attacking players frequently (which they did) and it is their job to take it from there. After Fulham game, I believe I wrote that shape was good, give-me-I-give-you passing was good, but we were let down by three of the attacking quartet (Meireles, Ramires, Torres) whose job it was to turn possession into chances

nateevs: Because someone needs to put you out of your misery.

You are saying sh1t you cannot back up.

Overall performance counts for naught.
Number of balls received, passes completed, tackles made, movement on and off the ball.
Total influence on games, number of key passes all mean zilch.

Phucking highlight fans come on here and scream above their lungs once a player scores a goal.
And this is their defense?

You know better than to type this.

Im sure some of you guys said Lamps is too old, he cant play in midfield two etc.

Goals aside, Lamps has been absolutely fantastic playing in a midfield two since RDM took over, showing energy of someone ten years younger, delivering neat passes, pressing and tackling etc.

Lamps and Mikel have forged a great partnership there.

I was expecting Modric to be like Messi since £40m should mean you are head and shoulders above everyone else, but for the umpteenth time this season, he cannot lift his team like a £40m player should. . . . you would have thought that with the fantastic supporting cast of Bale, Lennon, Walker, VDV etc, Spuds should be challenging to the wire. . . .but like I've said all along, Modric is good, but not great.

Am faced with dilenma. . . . sacrifice last H2H game to ensure I win main league?

H2H or league?

Is this a joke?

Chelsea to sign £10m Ideye Brown to replace Drogba

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2012/04/14/3035253/the-sweeper-chelsea-tracking-dinamo-kievs-ideye-brown-as

One seems to recall our paths crossing in GW36 last season. . . Im sure that didnt end well for Prolific. . .

Anyway, I dont think we would be meeting in 36, more like 37. . . . after you have overcommitted yourself in GW36!

agabaI23: You have done really well for yourself. It takes one bad game week to crash!

I sympathise with your predicament good friend but such is a fate I am unwilling to partake in with you, for my will is moulded from Valerian steel.

Ask Proflic Cockblockers who I shared equal placement with just 7 weeks ago, and who now finds himself trailing by 85 points.

Just three weeks ago, you and I were equally placed but a vast chasm of 50 points now seperate us.

5 weeks ago, Miguel Munoz was flaunting his 51 point lead in my face but now he finds himself 17 points adrift.

Speak to Lalaboiy, Chamokazzy, TBoogie who I shared equal placing with just few moons ago.

Or go further back and speak to the likes of Wolfgang Kaiser, Avantgarde or Librans FC, all managers who I have shared fleeting moments of companionship with on the league table.

The ladder I have climbed to current position is littered with a trail of corpses who have sought to joust with me but found that the moment was simply an ephemeral pitstop on my journey to the trophy.

The only ninjas climbing with me are Rapid Viagra and Kokomaster and I prefer to turn thought toward them.

coogar: back to position on gameweek 36 and coast to 38!
ibime, hold firm cos this is a footie tsunami.

So the die is cast!

One must risk all over the next 3 gameweeks or scupper oneself in pursuit of glory.

The difference is that Ipukulu Marines are in position of strength and need only manage risk whilst Chigurh FC must take wild risk to have any hope.

coogar: i pity your life. . . .when the storm comes, you would be swayed so badly your heart would end up on the right side of your chest.



talk is cheap. you are going down in the next couple of weeks.
you lack the managerial nous to compete in this habitat. you are like alan pardew!



back to position on gameweek 36 and coast to 38!
ibime, hold firm cos this is a footie tsunami.

Strong words from cuckolded eunoch. We shall see mettle tested over the next 14 moons. I shall piss on the ruins of the House of Munoz and hang quote from great philosopher Canibus on the walls of my ludus.

VitiMini: @Ibime - Finishing in the Top 5 for me is my target (There are some exceptional Managers in this league) anything more is a bonus. . .

I'm flattered, but yours truly is also the only manager in the top 6 who failed to score up to 50 points (without bonuses) this gameweek. . .

You appear as honourable man yet plot behind scene to usurp the league leadership.

Your players on pitch plus money in the bank marks you out as a serious contender intent on slipping c0ck in arse. You cannot fool me.

coogar: he takes risks - i'll give him that but he won't last the distance.
week 34 to week 36 is a bit tricky.
it would be a test of his managerial nous. i am confident he would be found
wanting then.

on the other hand, the chasing packs must stay as close as possible to the top
to take advantage of ibime's slip.
my bet is on him to finish 3rd/4th.

Having already sacrificed 4 points just to get 10 players on pitch (which I already have) for next gameweek, you are in no position to talk. Meanwhile Ipukulu Marines is storing up free transfers to deliver fatal blow in week 36 when I intend to split arse with c0ck for the final time.

You neither have players on the pitch nor money in the bank to be taken seriously. I would rather turn thought toward Rapid Viagra and Kokomaster who present more formidable challenge due to the fact that they have players on the pitch, transfers to play with; and money to spend.

Mark my words, Chigurh FC cannot finish in the top 2.



Meanwhile. . . .


The race for H2H qualification is brutal. Niggas just refuse to lose. Ipukulu Marines have won 6 games in the last 7, but are yet to secure qualification. One of Ipukulu Marines, Lalaboiy or Jet Bombers is gonna be left crying in two weeks!

VitiMini: The next gameweek has the promise of being interesting... Rapid Viagra is still on course for a top 5 finish (fingers crossed).

I consider Rapid Viagra stronger challenge for title than Chigurh FC.

Top 5 finish is a lowly ambition.

At the start of December, Ipukulu Marines were 30th in league, 120 points behind Eziga United. Now Ipukulu Marines are top of the league with Eziga United 50 points behind. . . . a 170 point swing!

You have 5 gameweeks to make up a 30 point difference, a quite achievable prospect. Lets dance hermano!

I have been to more countries than I care to count. Favourite place is Cuba just for the friendliness of the people and the cheapness of the tobacco. Least favourite is Dominican Republic cos of the fact that everyone tries to rip you off. Cape Verde is also a very nice destination if you can stand a place that is dry, hot and salty. . . . theres no water or any trees there.

Sao Tome is the place I'd most love to visit in the future.

Hey, the boys tried except for Ramires, Meireles and Torres. Especially loved Ryan Bertrand's play.

What Meireles was doing in the hole, I will never know.

Torres needs to go to the gym. The dude is just weak on the ball and careless in possession. Even Francis Jeffers protects the ball better than Torres.

Ramires? I will say this again. . . . . I have better touch and football sense than Ramires.

Considering that these 3 constituted 3 quarter of the attacking foursome, it is no surprise that not much was created especially when Ramires gives the ball away at every opportunity and play breaks down everytime someone touches Torres and he falls over like a waif.

The only occassions we created any overlaps was when Lamps released Bertrand down the left.

As for those screaming ref bias, first of all, Murphy obstructed play with his hand, 2nd of all Lamps had a blatant penalty denied by a push from Hangeland.

All in all, a draw at Fulham is a normal result. Get Ramires and Meireles out the team and we coulda done better. Theres no point comparing RDM's win record of 75% against Villas Boas 48%. Had RDM been in charge all season, qualification woulda been wrapped up by now. Looking at our fixtures, it is almost impossible to make it thanks to AVB.


I will say this for the last time in bold letters:


[size=20pt]RAMIRES IS THE WORST PLAYER I HAVE EVER SEEN PLAY FOR CHELSEA!!![/size]

VitiMini: Dempsey finds back of net twice with purpose. . . gathers points like coin.

Wager hard won coin against Ipukulu Marines and see burden lifted from purse.

ritchboy: Coogar and Ibime should hold fuc[color=#000000]k[/color]ing tongue, their words are absent common sense.

Turn thought toward higher purpose and focus on improving the fortunes of the House of Prolificcockblockers instead of worrying about Ibime and Coogar who top table

ritchboy: Words fall from your mouth like sh[color=#000000]i[/color]t from arse.

See Demba Cisse put to forking purpose or bend over and split a[i]r[/i]se with cork!

coogar: ninjas back up when i swing my base-ball bat up
swinging faster than raf nadal at the grandslam. . .

ibime demoted back to where he belongs.

A temporary reprieve as you can see.

Speaking in Spartacus voice: Find yourself in front of Ipukulu Marines by gameweek end or see title hopes extinguished permanently

I can see you copying my transfers but you are one-step behind!

So BlueDiva has seen the light?

I always stick to my guns cos I know what a player is supposed to look like.

Even when Ramires was the toast of the town, I was one of the very few analysing his game indepth on here, and only Nateevs and FBS would back me up.

Ramires looked alright because our play was staid and he's the only one that could burst forward and offer a change of pace.

Now that RDM is insisting on 2 central midfielders, those guys have to be precise in what they're doing, not like Ramires who run and give ball away every 5 minutes.

Anyway, no hope for Barca game. Make we just leave am there. We've tried. However I would recommend this line-up:

Cech
Iva Cahill Terry Cole
Luiz Essien
Lampard
Ramires Mata
DD

I would not even put Mata on the LHS if Kalou or Studge could defend properly. This is not a game for skillers, its a game for ninjas that will finish the first leg 0-0!

Some ninjas started panicking when they saw Ipukulu Marines top of the league. . . . dont worry, we've just started our final assault. . .

I thunk the boys did well yesterday.

Fast counterattacking stuff from RDM. More grease to his elbow. Torres looked fantastic. . . and back to his physical peak.

Bacary Sagna was there as well. . . . cant find his pics ATM but Im sure one of ma guys got it. . .

mukina2: Congrats to you and madam o. assuming its her

You sef know. . . .

Your worst enemy showed up to ma wedding as well as some of ma other guys

I hope Rinus Michels is quaking in his boots at the sight of Ipukulu Marines standing shoulder to shoulder at the top of the league.

I dont know why guys are overreacting.

What did they expect against City?

Result expected. At least them no slap us 3-0 for first half like AVB template.

The boys tried. It was a team set up for solidity, not flair.

4 wins, 1 loss, we roll on, job done.

Meanwhile congratulations are in order. Ya boy dey marry this weekend.

Mcleo007: I think its wrong. The 'all' presupposes that the equipment mentioned is more than one. Hence, the use of 'equipments' seem appropriate. But then, is there a plural for the word equipment ending with a 's'? Let me consult my dictionary.

There is no such word as equipments.


@ OP,

The sentence is perfect. . .