₦airaland Forum

How about Hernanes to replace Frankie? Scolari should make an effort to bring this guy to Chelsea.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sOLEaD4270

Looks like Chelsea are chasing Ivan Rakitic to replace Lampard. Now this is a playmaker I definitely like.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=739659

[center]Chelsea Chasing Croatia Star [/center]
Chelsea are the latest name to be linked with a summer swoop for Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who has already attracted strong interest from some of Europe’s heavyweights…

20-year-old has been one of Croatia’s standouts at EURO 2008 thus far, more than holding his own in a midfield containing the likes of Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar.

The Schalke playmaker has been pushed out to the right side of midfield by Slaven Bilic, where his technique, vision and link play have attracted significant attention.

Juventus have tagged the former FC Basel man as a potential successor to Czech legend Pavel Nedved, while Internazionale have also expressed an interest.

And now The Sun reports that Chelsea have been checking out the Swiss-born Croat, who is expected to cost around ₤12million.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been in Austria to watch his native Russia compete in Group D, and will no doubt have kept a close eye Rakitic’s efforts as Croatia topped Group B.

Incoming Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari may also get the chance to have a good hard look at the exciting youngster, as his Portugal side could well meet the Vatreni in the semi-finals.

Upping this . . . .

Jackal:
All i am trying to say is. . . . . If Quaresma is the next big thing, Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz would have snapped him the way they snapped Tevez and Ruud.

Yeah, maybe Pato is shit because Fergie didn't sign him. Bloody fool! Like I said, faced with signing Nani or Quaresma, even I would sign Nani because he is younger.

The whole point of this debate is that Chelsea need at least two wing-forwards this summer. Who is on the market? Quaresma, Ronaldinho, David Silva, Robinho and Ribery. That is all. I went for Quaresma and one other because Ribery is quite expensive, David Silva prefers to play behind the striker and lacks pace, Robinho I am not sure about his consistency and everyone knows Ronaldinho fitness problems. Any two of these five would be a great improvement on what we have already and Quaresma is the cheapest option and IMO the one with more potential if a little work is done on his teamwork. There you go twisting my argument again.

Same way Razorr is twisting my argument about Mark Hughes. With the Mark Hughes situation, there were seemingly only two contenders at the time. Hughes and Ancelotti. I preferred Hughes for reasons I stated. Everybody on here knows Hiddink was always my first choice, even Scolari or Laudrup but I didn't think they were in the running at the time.

Jackal:
Why is Quaresma NOT on Jose Mourinho's list if he is that brilliant?

He is. As soon as the Euro's are over he will be in negotiations to join Inter. His agent Jorge Mendes is the only agent allowed in the Portuguese training camp and he has been reportedly working on deals for Deco, Scolari, Ronaldo and Quaresma. And I am hoping the rumours of Quaresma also coming to Chelsea are true.

Jackal:
Faced with signing a 19 yr old(who is yet to prove himself anywhere) and Quaresma(if he was golden) . . .
I think Ferguson would bite Porto's hands and sign Ricardo Quaresma if he was a Messi or even Benzema.

Nobody is calling him a Messi but like I said both Quaresma and Nani have the potential to approach that status in the EPL.

Anyway, I'm done arguing with Jackal. Maybe Razorr, but definitely not Jackal.

Jackal:
First all, Razorr is a babe not a dude. You cannot read between the lines to save a life.
You watch Razorr's show and u can't tell she is a babe?

Well, she must be ugly . . .

Seriously, you think I watch Nigerian TV pundits? They all talk crap about what they don't know. I only know she is a TV pundit because she said it. Anyway, she is a babe so that explains why she doesn't know jack about football.

Jackal:
Ferguson raided Portugese league for talents. . . . He bought Nani and Anderson, there was a reason he ignored Quaresma. . . THINK!!!!

So your whole reason for thinking Quaresma is shit is because Fergie didn't sign him. You idiot!

Faced with signing a 19 year old prospect (Nani) and a 23 year old who has already had a crack at the big time (Quaresma), who would you prefer?

Jackal:
Wayne Rooney is lazy? I have just confirmed your status as an autistic savant!!! Nuff said.

If he is not lazy, he needs to change his way of training because his style of play has not improved one jot since he was 17.


@ Razorr, I am all for Ronaldinho but you have to recognise it is a big gamble. Plus, we need two wing-forwards, not one. Ronaldinho and Quaresma if you wish.

Razorr, I love you oh. Now I realise you are a babe, I promise to be nice to you.

Here comes Razorr Ramon, a leading TV pundit in Nigeria who claims that Mark Hughes is a Man Utd fan. Well, knowing the standard of Nigerian punditry, I am not surprised. And here is Jackal agreeing with him that I am a Arrow for supporting Mark Hughes (who he also supported!)

BTW, I am not a fan of English coaches because i think they are all overrated and rubbish but I supported Mark Hughes. It takes a discerning observer to recognise talent and not bunch all of the English coaches together. But idiots like Razorr Ramon like to generalise . . . . anyway, lets put that issue aside . . . .

If Jose Mourinho and Luis Figo are big fans of Quaresma, I am supposed to change my opinion based on the opinion of idiots like Razorr and Jackal? I am sure these were the same idiots of the opinion that Ronaldo could never replace Beckham because he was too flashy.

Nobody is saying that Quaresma is the finished article. We all know his weaknesses. He is too indulgent, he doesn't pass enough etc etc. But only an idiot like Mr Razorr and Jackal would pull out the trump card usually used by Quaresma critics - when the fact is that Nani does exactly the same things as Quaresma, even worse. Nani also doesn't pass, likes to take shots from impossible distance etc etc. Ronaldo was the same - and still is the same. Not enough assists - only difference is that Ronaldo scores a heck of a lot of goals. He has improved his finishing but his teamwork still needs improvement. Still, he is the best player in the World because you cannot buy the type of skill he has - and only Quaresma has the type of skill he has - FACT!!!

What people don't realise is that these players, although low on teamwork, IMO, have the best teamwork in the world because their dribbling alone creates space for other players on their team. In football these days, the most priceless commodity is the ability to beat a man because that throws tactics out of the window.

Quaresma is not in Portugal team simply because he is too similar to Ronaldo.

It is obvious to me that in EPL, Quaresma would be a star. Anyone that cannot see that needs glasses. Now Razzor Ramon is here trumpeting Ronaldinho - the greatest player this decade - and he still would be if he was fit enough. But the boy has lost all his fitness and cannot even accelerate past opponents. A report even came out stating that Ronaldinho did a fitness test and Doctors warned he may never be able to play top flight football again. I am sure that news did not reach your studio in Naija, Mr Razorr Ramon. A player who cannot be motivated to keep fit for Barcelona can never be motivated to keep fit for Chelsea. AC Milan took one look and said NO WAY! Man City are the only team left in contention for Ronaldinho - and Chelsea, if Scolari deems him fit enough and motivated enough to play at the top level again. Razorr, please take your head out of your ass. Ronaldinho is a gamble which may or may not pay off. We need something more sure.

As for Jackal claiming that Quaresma is lazy, maybe Jackal lives in Portugal or goes to Porto training ground everyday to witness his laziness. Maybe Quaresma dreamed up all his skill and it came to him when he woke up. A player with that much skill CAN NEVER be lazy because all those tricks take hours and hours of practice. The only lazy man I know is Rooney, the only player playing the same way he was playing at 17. Till today, nothing about him has improved.

Watch it here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgvgBpXPMko

^^^I was just bored so I decided to entertain myself by arguing with the cretin.

BTW, even Luis Figo claims that Quaresma is his successor.

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=612026

FYI, Benfica won the league in 2005 yet Quaresma still won the player of the year - since you claim that only Porto players can win it because they are so dominant. Simao didn't win it, no other Porto player did either. Only Quaresma - for the last three years. And next season, you will swallow all the spit you just wasted denigrating him.

European mini-dish ke?

I believe there is no reason to continue to argue nonsense with you. Nobody is claiming Setanta does not show all these games live. I got Sky+ box too. But only a jobless slowpoke like you would claim to be watching live football from France, Portugal, Spain and Malta whilst still having the time put in 16 hour shifts on Nairaland visiting every thread from Man Utd to Chelsea to Arsenal to Liverpool whilst still claiming to be making a lot of money in some fantasy job of yours. Maybe this dream job of yours is AC's or Plastics or Advanced Fee Fraud. Liars never change. You do not watch any live Portuguese football otherwise you would know that Quaresma's career has far from stalled but infact has taken on a new dimension in the last season. Like I said, just record the highlight shows on Sky+ and cut the crap about watching live games. I love football more than anyone and the only live games I watch outside Premier League are Real Madrid and Barcelona. Everyone else is pre-recorded on highlight shows.

Everybody knows English defenders are crap and it is easy to dribble them. Their positioning and tactics is wrong and they prefer to head balls in the air and hustle but if you isolate them, you can easily finish them off. Hence, the entertainment value of Premier League is higher than every other league because the defenders are rubbish and the games are not cagey. The managers are just as rubbish and don't know how to organise their teams to stop leaking goals. For example, you would see teams playing against Man Utd and holding a high defensive line leaving all sorts of space behing for people like Ronaldo to exploit.

BTW, only in your dreams are Ribery, Nani and Robben worth £20m. Even if Robben is worth £20m, i will never buy because he is always injured. Nani is unavailable (from Man utd to Chelsea? Just shows you are a bigger idiot than I thought). Ribery is £31m as Bayern said last week. Quaresma is the only viable option on the market.

It is impossible that we only lose only N240m or £1m a day to corruption. That means we only lose £365m a year. Absolute rubbish. Why do we have dollar billionaires who have earned all their money from corruption. I wish we only lost £1m a day to corruption. Things would be better.

What have you been doing there? Do you have any pictures? It should be interesting to view them. I was always fascinated by the Amazon.

Nice assessment. I still think it is a powerful anthem, one of the best for poetry and harmony that i have ever heard. Only the German anthem comes close to it.

What we need is judgement, not truth and reconciliation.

Should tithes be on gross profit or net profit?

Should tithes be pre-tax or post-tax?

So NTA is not showing all these matches live? Unbelieveable. I remember the Nigeria-Mexico match at Atlanta 96 where there was a 15-minute time delay between the NTA's coverage and the live game. That is about the worst I remember from NTA when I lived in Naija. So to hear that they are not even showing matches anymore is unbelievable. Lucky for us, we have AIT in the UK.

I swore I would never hold any argument with this fool called Jackal but your ignorance is too much.

Jackal:
I never knew partial-blindness was one of your many ailments. Show me any piece where i said Quaresma has no skills. . . .

Jackal:
What outrageous tricks? In the country of the blind, one eyed man will always feature.

Jackal:
So RQ does tricks in Portugal?
Let him come n do it here in England where quality defenders like Evra, Vidic, Terry and Carvalho would scythe him down.

Jackal:
English defenders are weak and yet Spanish giants(Barcelona) couldn't put a goal past Man Utd for 180 minutes of football. Does that not blow your moronic theory apart?
Ok, Henry was god in England and was pants at Barca.  What about Diego Forlan and Van Nistelrooy who were pants in England before they were flogged off but went to Spain to clinch the pichichi. Pires is a demi-god at Villareal and couldn't even make the bench at Arsenal.
Even the dimunitive Guiseppe Rossi is a cult hero at Villareal so that blows your theory about Spaniards wide open.

Firstly, let us please read Torres statement about English defenders:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/05062008/58/premier-league-torres-pans-prem-defenders.html?page=4&order=date

OK - let us address one issue. Only 5 or 6 teams in England have good defence. The rest are absolutely rubbish. Do you see Ronaldo scoring 42 goals in Spain from the wing? No! Only in England where you have strikers regularly scoring 30-something league goals and midfielders like Lamps and Gerrard regularly hitting 20+ goals. They don't score most of those goals against the top four, rather against weak defences such as Newcastles or the Titus Brambles of this league. English defenders are good in the air, but face them one on one and you can dribble them easily. You can never see this in Spain or Portugal.

Torres never scored more than 14 league goals in Spain, now he is here banging 27 for fun. Pires scored 16 goals one season for Arsenal. What do you mean Pires was on the bench, you myopic son of a bitch. Till today, Arsenal fans are still claiming they miss Pires. Van Nistelrooy was pants in England. If 44 goals in one season is pants, then you got intellectual myopia. You should be ashamed to be a Man Utd fan. Drogba was scoring 18 goals a season for Marseille and they labelled it fantastic. Come to England, you find he is scoring 30+. What of Adebayor who was scoring 5 goals a season at Monaco? Diego Forlan who was playing 15 minutes at the end of every game for Man Utd is what you are using as excuse. Bloody idiot.

The fact remains that if you get any dribbler who is fast, he will score goals in English leagues as long as you are not playing high balls up to him. English defenders get sonned in one-on-one occasions in a way that you will never see in the Latin Leagues.

Jackal:
Admit it, Ricardo Quaresma will never ever be a Cristiano Ronaldo.
He has lost the will and the hunger to fully develop into a world class player.
Granted, RQ was god at Sporting Lisbon. He was easily the better player then but from then onwards, he lost his way.
The development process stagnated and younger players like Ronaldo have gone well past him. Stop constituting a nuisance here by saying Quaresma will shine when he moves to a big club. Barcelona was a big club and RQ flopped there stupendously. I don't see him scoring 42 goals in any league.

Nobody is quoting Quaresma as the new Ronaldo. Firstly, he is older than Ronaldo. We are looking for a wing-forward at a cost of £20m - £25m and Quaresma is the best one on the market for that price. However, what I am saying is that you can see that he has the skills Ronaldo has. I agree with A-40 that he overskills. But I prefer a player who overskills to one who under-skills because you can't teach skill. I believe that in English league, Quaresma and Nani can approach that Ronaldo level, maybe not in goals but in contribution. 24 is not too old to start a career in the big leagues. Zidane went to Juventus at 24, Figo went to Barca at 23, Sneijder to Madrid at 23. Only in your myopic world is a players development finished at 24.

Jackal:
The number of portugese games i see week in week out on Setanta is more than the premiership games u see.  Quaresma plays for Porto. Any mediocre player will look good at Porto. They keep winning the Portugese league without any sort of challenge. Where else do u expect the Portugese player of the year come from? In Sporting or Benfica? Is it natural that the best player in a league would come from team that won the league? Am i debating with a doofus here? RQ is yet to score 10 goals in any season since he started professional career and he is your idea of a brilliant player?

You bloody liar! You do not watch Portuguese league. Only a jobless idiot like yourself can claim to be watching live Portuguese games on Setanta - the same way you claim to be watching live French league on Setanta. Bloody idiot! Why don't you record programmes like Goalissimo, French Football, Eurogoals etc and watch the highlights. Fool! There are many other good players in Porto team over the last 3 years such as Anderson, Diego, Raul Meirelles, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Lucho Gonzalez, Lisandro Lopes, Bosingwa. All are top, top players. Why did Quaresma outshine all of them and win all the awards? Even your great Anderson who played attacking midfield only scored 2 goals in 18 games for Porto. Nani scored 10 goals in 2 years. Quaresma scored 9 goals in 25 games. When Ronaldo was there, he only scored 3 goals in 25 games. The fact is, not many goals are scored in Portugues league. Only in English league where you score all these crazy goals. Plus, you do not judge a player on his goals. For your info, there are only 30 games in Portuguese liga, not 38 like in Premiership. Bloody ignoramus!

A-40 says that Quaresma has overskill. Jackal says he has no skill. Make your mind up.

Jackal:
So RQ does tricks in Portugal?
Let him come n do it here in England where quality defenders like Evra, Vidic, Terry and Carvalho would scythe him down.

If you don't know, English defenders are some of the worst. They don't know how to face a player with skill. Look at Henry. In England he was God. He was using the English defenders. When he went to Spain (where even defenders know how to dribble), he couldn't do jack. Torres recently said that all English defenders are shit except Carvalho, Vidic and Ferdinand and that it is too easy to dribble them. Quaresma would absolutely kill these English defenders.

Quaresma didn't fulfill his potential? Hold on - he has done the maximum he can do in Portugal. Until a big club comes in for him, he cannot do any more than he has done. We said the same about Wesley Sneijder when he was in Holland. Sneijder had been ready to leave Ajax for the last 3 years and had gone stale there. No club was willing to take a gamble - until Madrid came in for him. And he proved himself. So save your uninformed barbs for when Quaresma moves to a big club. Mourinho wants him so I guess you should direct your complaints to Mourinho. We may even see him at Chelsea next season. It is obvious that none of you watch Portuguese football.

Meanwhile I am still waiting for Jackals lying ass to produce his evidence of having gone to Champions League Final. Bloody Liar! Calling Utaka and Sinama-Pongolle's name where Quaresma is concerned is completely inflammatory and just shows up your ignorance.

In the last three years, Quaresma is Portuguese player of the year. That means he was better than everyone who has played in Portugal over that period. Name them. Diego, Anderson, Pepe, Bosingwa, Moutinho, Veloso, Nani, Lucho Gonzalez, Simao, Bruno Alves, Manuel Fernandes, Lisandro Lopes, Raul Meirelles. And you are here calling Utaka's name. Bloody idiot!

Don't worry, by next summer all the doubters will be quietened. I am extremely sure of it.

Quaresma is 24.

What kind of parent go call their pikin Primate?

Jackal:
Ricardo Quaresma has lost his mojo. He can never be a Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi.
As at 2000 till 2003, he was the real deal. Many pundits tipped him to be the next Figo but his spell at Barcelona kind of dented his confidence.
He can never replicate the same form he had between 2000-2003. In the next few years, Nani will catch up with him and leave him where he is.

Ricardo Quaresma is anutha Sinima Pongolle or Javier Saviola who all had brilliant potentials but failed to fully utilise their talents.
Jeez. . . . .Quaresma winning the Portugese footballer of the year is because Portugal(since 2001) only recognise footie players plying their trade inside Portugal.  It has nuthing to do with his ability. 
He could have been anything he wanted to be. . . . bad man-management finished him.
I would rather have Nani @ OT than Quaresma.

What nonsense! How can he lose his confidence when he still does the most outrageous tricks? Every year, he wins the award for trick of the season in Portuguese league. I agree Nani is a top player and future star as well but Nani and Simao were in Portuguese League with him and could not wrestle the title of 'player of the year' from him. Sinama-Pongolle, you are having a laugh. In fact, I will never debate anything with you again because those are the most outrageous statements I have ever heard.

For your info, I watched him at Barca and NO WAY WAS HE EVER A FLOP there. He impressed me no end. But as you know, he fell out out with Rijkaard and they used him as a makeweight in the Deco deal. Sinama-Pongolle? O-boy no make me vex o!

@ Nateevs, others:

Quaresma is inconsistent? Compared to who? Only Cristiano Ronaldo! Why? People label him inconsistent because they know he has the same skills as Ronaldo. He is ten times more consistent than Robinho. If Portuguese player of the year for three years in a row is inconsistent then I wish all Chelsea players to be inconsistent. He had most assists in 05/06. Totally obliterated Simao and Nani in the runnings for Portuguese player of the year every year, yet some call him inconsistent. Rubbish!

They only say he's inconsistent because they know he has the ability to be the best player in the World. Robinho does not possess a tenth of his skill. Neither does Ribery. He is indulgent, defensively absent - but not inconsistent.

He just had the most amazing season in Portugal. He is the last untapped gem left. He is the only one left that can join Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi at the top of the tree. Maybe Nani as well. I watched Portuguese league well well last season and he always scored or made assists in the big games for Porto. He has more end product to his game and will have even more next season.

Check the video of the things he did last season.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQI4kc61feU

Please leave Quaresma for me. He is only 'off' when he is indulging himself. He would not do that at Chelsea.



Please give Carvalho new contract so he can shut up:

[center]Carvalho Launches Attack On Chelsea[/center]

Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho has criticised his club Chelsea over its treatment of ex-manager Avram Grant.

Grant was given his marching orders after leading the club to the Carling Cup Final, the Champions League Final and second place in the Premier League.

Chairman Roman Abramovich and Director Peter Kenyon wielded the axe, and decided to replace the Israeli with the lavishly paid Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Carvalho has been mooted as a transfer target for his former manager at Porto and Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, at his new club Internazionale.

The 30-year-old spoke out about Chelsea’s ‘cruel’ handling of the Grant affair, and may have cast his own future into doubt.

He told the Sunday Times: "Avram did a great job, but they still decided to sack him. Yet after Jose Mourinho left, he picked up the team and got good results.

"It was very cruel. He did a great job and he could have carried on, but they decided to let him go. It was very ruthless.

Carvalho went on to criticise the lack of stability at the club: "The new manager will be my third in a year, and in football you need stability if you want to be successful."

The Champions League winner will be working under national team boss Scolari should he remain at Stamford Bridge, and although seemingly open to a move, the defender insists that no strides have been made with regard to a transfer.

He continued: "There has been a lot of talk about the new manager and players coming and going. I know there are stories about me, too, and in football you never know what can happen.

"But I have a contract at Chelsea and I have not spoken to Jose Mourinho about Inter Milan, or to my agent (Jorge Mendes) about a move."

Peter Staunton

The guy really had a passion for the truth and got many people interested in politics. R.I.P.

BBC Gossip:

Scolari will shake-up Chelsea's midfield and attack with moves for Deco, Ricardo Quaresma, Ronaldinho and David Villa, with Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka among those likely to leave. (Sunday Times)

Hmmm . . . . . . these British journalists have a vivid imagination. I just hope the Quaresma story is correct.

Deco is joining Chelsea . . . . . .apparently.

I guess this means Lamps is moving.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7453834.stm

I don't know why Govou and Malouda still put on France shirt. I am starting a campaign to make these guys retire, not just from France but from professional football. They are Kpai-Kpai guys.

Domenech should have played this team:

Coupet

Clerc Mexes Gallas Evra

Makalele

Toulalan
Nasri

Ribery Henry
Benzema


All those other guys are washed up.


Well done Holland. Good attacking football and a breath of fresh air.

Leila, you cannot cook Naija food from recipe until you have an understanding of Naija taste. First learn to cook rice and stew properly then Jollof rice. After you have perfected these, you will get an underlying sense of what Naija food is about. After that, you then have to learn the crayfish based foods such as soup, peppersoup, beans etc. I taught myself to cook Naija food from recipes my sister gave me but it took me almost two years to get an understanding or a flavour of what the food is about. After you get this understanding, you can easily make any food to perfection even if it is your first time making it.

nateevs:
Ibime I referred to the tactics he employed yesterday against the Czechs . . . did you catch it?

Na - I only saw the highlights when I got home. I thought he brought Quaresma on for Simao Sabrosa.

Scolari has one the Copa-Libertadores (South American Champions League) twice.

He has also won the Brazilian Serie A with three different clubs.

@ Nateevs,

Yeah I was wondering if Quaresma would come to Chelsea seeing how Big Phil benched him for the first game and only brought him on as substitute in todays game . . . .plus he didn't even take him to World Cup in 2006. . . .  anyway, I'm not crossing my fingers, but I'm still hoping sha.

Anyway, let me say that I am happy with the appointment. My main reservation is his lack of English.

Hopefully this will keep us in the Portuguese market and also open up the Brazilian market to us. Maybe we will see guys like Renato Augusto and Lulinha at Chelsea in the future.