₦airaland Forum

Am sure Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg etc fall within the age category of 1974 and beyond.

I didn't even see the stats Nateevs put up cos I'm phone browsing.

How can someone try to explain 580 successful passes vs 463 with the flimsy excuse of "we were playing a poor team"?

Nateevs needs to go back to school.

Our passing output increased by over 25% without Torres in the team and this one is here misyarning.

Infact DK was being generous with this guy. How can someone pull up stats to prove his argument then end up proving his opponents argument? DK is trying to give him an escape route by labelling this show of stupidity as a lack of footie knowledge. I would not be so kind. This is an EDUCATIONAL and INTELLECTUAL failing on Nateevs part. Hehehehehe.

No mind Debo. A player doesn't need to make mistakes to have a poor game. Failure to communicate and organise his defence is already a mistake. Failure to organise offside trap is a mistake. Failure to position yourself properly to cover your teammates is a mistake. Did you see how Phil Jones positioned himself when faced in a 2-on-1 situation with Leon Bennett on Saturday. The ninja placed his body between Bennet and his teammate, then as soon as Bennet decided to go on his own, Jones chased him down like a pack of Wolves and closed the shot/pass with a sliding block. Mertesacker can never do something like that. Infact just being Mertesacker is a mistake. When a defender contributes to the general jitteryness in the defence, he is a liability. Mertesack-her's feckless performance even allowed Dr Kit to come out of retirement to taunt us with his yearly eulogy of fat quadragenarian Yakubu.

Watch how Arsenal start keeping clean sheets soon as Vermaelen returns, then tell me whether khakhi and leather na the same thing. Vermaelen would keep clean sheet whether playing with Djorou, Koscielny or Mertesacker - but ask Mertesacker to keep clean sheet with Djorou or Koscielny, na wahala be that.

Is the night still darkest before the dawn? Its been months since the caption of this thread was coined, but the level of darkness seems to be increasing.

That raving lunatic Dr Kit has been ranting against Cesc these last coupla years cos he didn't lead his team to trophies. In light of recent evidence, it seems Fab4 overachieved cos this same team - Fabregas looks like Liberia without George Weah, Finland without Jari Litmanen or Chad without Japhet N'Doram.

The biting angst of trophylessness even led Dr Kit to compare relative lilliputians like Modric to titans like Fab4. Wonders shall never end.

My point is that Torres should maintain such high standards or we will conclude that he is not better for the team.

He's already failed his first test last season so he's on borrowed time.

Why didn't you mention that one when Gayyners were creaming themselves over Samba and Cahill in the summer.

I'm only here to tell you what I know from watching Bundesliga ie that Arsenal signing tower of comedy Mertesacker is the kinda thing that warms ma heart as a Chelsea fan.

Per Merte-sack-her is not top 4 quality, simples.

D'Banj say dress how you wanna be addressed. Likewise I say if you wanna be in the top 4, but top 4 quality defenders.

I have years of history to show we're an 85 point a season team without Torres. Which ones you dey?

How did Torres contrubute to Ramires game?

I would be generous in saying Ramires has played only 4 good games for Chelsea in his career - and that's just cos he scored in them 4 games.

Also how did Torres contribute to Matas game? Mata has played 7/10 in all his Chelsea games so far, with or without Torres.

Finally, I was just being cheeky by flipping the "old and slow" argument on Torres. Although I may be tempted to side with Dayo when he points out the general difference in team play when Torres is on the pitch and when he's not. It has a lot to do with STRENGTH. Torres is not a focal point. Midfielders generally have less work to do when the ball sticks upfront, not bouncing back and forth like a boomerang - everytime a defender muscles Torres off the ball.

The proof is in the pudding. Should Chelsea trounce our next two opponents, there's nothing that aesthetic and cosmetic football lovers could do to convince us that DD's more pragmatic approach isn't better for the team. El Guapo and Nateevs may be weighed and found wanting.

Super Frank has now scored 175 goals in 10 years at Chelsea. That's 17.5 goals per game. Concentrate!

I much respect AVB for being his own man and having the balls to go against the "untouchable" culture at Chelsea. That tells me AVB is his own man. . .but whilst stubborness is a virtue in management, his eyes should be open to the fact that you can't keep a good player down. The pass by Lamps to DD for which DD set-up Lamps is the kind of thing I've been telling Nateevs for years now. You need to pay attention to players who do the hard things very simply. If Lamps had taken DD's knockdown, shimmied and demo before playing the pass to DD, Nateevs woulda been raving for days. The fact is that pass is of a level that most players cannot match. No time to control, no time to demo, the technique used to deliver without pausing is an attribute of Frankies that not many can match.

Secondly, if you look at the control of the balls in the box before finishing his 1st and third goals, and the composure to pick his spot, you would appreciate such a player. Make no mistake about it, Ramires received similar service, but before he miscontrolled and took wild slashes at the ball, the ball went flying over. Power without control is nothing.

In addition, Lamps in the last 2 games has already outscored Torres whole Chelsea career. If there's beef between the two players, AVB should shine his eyes well and stop backing the wrong horse. Infact I make bold to say that Torres is the one affecting Lamps (and the whole team structure) not vice-versa.

Finally, like I posted on here, Lamps (in the middle of his worst run) has created the most chances for teammates in the EPL this season. The records show. I have not seen anything different in his game even through his bad spell except the absence of goals. He is still the consumate hard-worker from box-to-box, still has bags of stamina, still has a high percentage of successful (& first-time passes) and still influences the game by virtue of the fact he receives the ball more than anyone in the attacking third due to his high level of stamina.

I know some ninjas have been waiting for Fat Frank to fail since 2008, but from what I know about footie, a ninja of Lamps fitness levels will play at this level till 35. Infact, I'm backing him to score 200 goals for Chelsea before the end of his career.

DK, I know say you dey play concert for this side tonight.

Can a drummer get some?

Its not a case of arguing interest.

If someone is "finished", it means he can't run for 90 mins anymore or he lacks sharpness.

Never has Lampard lacked any of those things. He simply went through a lean period for reasons I pointed out before ie when he came back from his long lay-off, the team was completely destabilised by the signing of Torres with Ancelotti not knowing what formation to play, playing with no wingers, DD and Torres upfront (a very unfluid combination that helps no-one). 4-4-2 today, Anelka behind DD and Torres tomorrow and all sorts of crazy formations just to accomodate Torres. The team was in transition and nothing clicked. Lamps never lost his fitness, neither did his basic game change at any time.

Lampard is finished!

Long live Ramires!

If we play like this for the next two games, Torres better just stay on the bench. He might just be too "old and slow" to contribute to the team.

59 points before bonus points are added. We recession-proof over here.

Kiwi 992 is an old school guy who left Nigeria after the civil war. Some Kalabari peeps used to claim they are not Ijaw, but that view is dead and gone. Put it this way, Asari Dokubo, is a Kalabari man.

Secondly, Okrika and Ibani language is the same, but there are slight variances with Kalabari language.

For example, Killayut said FEH means buy in Kalabari, but in Okrika and Ibani, it means eat.

In other words, Modric's effectiveness is a fallacy, and we can deduce with a degree of certainty that Modric would not make more key passes than Essien if we filter out the noise of corner kicks.

So you've admitted that a corner kick which is headed by an off-balance teammate over the bar is a key-pass?

Am sure Modric gets 40 of those per season. Every match at least two corner kicks are headed over the bar directly from a corner kick. The defending team doesn't have to contest the ball, they just make sure the attacking player is too off-balance to get the header on target. James Collins and Richard Dunne do that about 3 times per match.

No wonder Stewart Downing made 80 key passes last season and Jordan Henderson made 78.

No wonder Modric made 64 key passes. If VDV let him take corners from the right-wing, maybe he would have made 85 key passes.

QED.

@ Coogar,

There must be a glowing splinter in your sphincter. Hehehehe.

Is a corner kick onto a teammates head not an intentional pass?

Regarding Lamps, Cesc, Nasri, stop daydreaming. Chelsea, Manure etc may score 10 goals max from corners per season, 50% of which won't be scored directly, but rather from flick-ons and scrambles. Maximum 3-5 assists per season will be made from Lamps, Cesc and Nani from corner kicks.

Now for the last time, please tell us why all the top key passes makers are corner takers.

Abi do they hit corner kicks "unintentionally"? Hehehehehe

Let's rephrase then.

Modric takes a corner in the general direction of the box. The ball is not whipped with any pace or purpose. An off-balance Michael Dawson manages to get his head on the ball. The ball has no chance of going in the net due to the fact that Dawson is being pressured by opposing defenders. Modric has made a key pass.

Coogar, simply tell us why everyone at the top of the "key passes" chart are corner-takers. There lies your answer.

30th to 18th in one day. The cream has started rising to the top!

Ma fone is running slow.

Modric - 64 key passes

Henderson - 78 key passes.

Malouda top key pass maker.

Downing, that Scottish guy at Liverpool all made more key passes than Modric.

Modric was 10th for key passes.

What do you notice about all the guys in the list for key passes?

They're all corner kick takers.

Modric takes a corner, Pavyluchenko flicks on, ball is deflected off opposing defender and falls to Gareth Bale, Gareth Bale blazes over the bar. Modric has made a key pass (ie one of his passes led indirectly to a chance for a team mate)

Essien does not corner kicks.

Gbenga has been harping on about key passes being a key indicator without seeing the obvious flaws.

In the words of P.Diddy, Dipo+ tell it how it is and Coogar tell it how it might be.

Some people were shocked when I pulled up stats that showed that last season, Essien made far more passes and had much better passing accuracy than "pass master" Modric. Just because Essien does not do fancy feints before releasing the pass does not mean he won't dominate possession against Modric anyday of the week.

Mehn, see Joel Obi balling for Inter.

In any one-to-one match, Spurs can go toe to toe with any single team in the league just like Napoli can go toe-to-toe with any team in Serie A. Its only lack of proper squad depth that means they can't do it consistently over 38 games.

There is no single reason why Modric cannot go toe-to+toe with any of his Manure, Chelsea or Arsenal compadres in any one-off game. Like I've said, until I see Modric dominating against the top teams consistently, I will not ascribe World Class status to him. Till then he's just another Rui Costa @ Fiorentina - Good player but not World Class.

Now its a tragedy to compare that kain guy to Fab4. As I've postulated numerous times, Fab4 has been my favourite player in the Prem since CR7 left Utd. The difference between Fab4s 19 goal and 19 assists standard over the last couple years and what Modric produces is light years away.

Chelsea never fail to cop 60% possession against Spurs. Against Fab4, Chelsea midfield would be content to cop 40% possession. Khakhi no be leather.

If Modric going up to a bigger team will increase his productivity, then consider Fab4's blistering goal-a-game start to his career at Barca. In other words, anything you "think" Modric can "potentially" do, Fab4 has already done double.

Taxi for Superballers please!

Wetin dis mad man Chyz dey yarn?

^^^Only a blind Barthemeus would compare Modric to Fabregas.

If not for hapless Liverpool midfield wey Modric dey shyte on every season, Modric would not maintain his reputation. Everytime I've seen him against Chelsea, Manure or any other top team, he is always outpossessed, outfought and outthought. For me to put Modric in the "World class" bracket, he needs to show more in the big games (not twice a season spanking of Lucas). If Harry Rednapp had not dropped Modric for Jermaine Jenas, Spurs would not have made it through against AC Milan in UCL last season.

47 points with 3 players left. . .even with my captain Aguero proving bad market, omo still hammer!

Am not doing bad so far as Rooney, Nani and Silva don't display in the second half. My lower value players dey hammer small small.

If you get am Aguero por captain, market don spoil. He's off with a groin injury.

When did Wenger sign Eduardo? No be 2007?

Everybody in Europe knew Modric in 2006. Modric was no big secret at all. Modric used to cop double figures in goals at Zagreb. Back then the debate was who would be bigger between Modric and Krancjar. In other words, why are uninformed Gaynners surprised that Wenger knew about Modric back then? Every manager worth his salt knew about Modric.

SMH. Young not in 18, Nasri on bench. Should have gone for Silva and Nani instead. #Fail

Ma 9 points from Enrique is sitting pretty on ma balance sheet though.