₦airaland Forum

timbros:
@bolded: It depends. Courtois>Areola vs Benzema>Jovic. Judge for yourself which drop is steeper.

Striker position is a confidence and match-rhythm position. There is hardly any club with a starting no9 where people are not frustrated with the substitute no9. This is why I like to have my substitute no9 that can play wings to keep up his rhythm, sharpness and confidence. So that when Drogba is injured for example, Anelka can step in to no9 position and still win golden boot like in 08/09 season.

I can't guarantee that a starting and confident Jovic won't score 21 goals same as Benzema.

Conversely, I can almost guarantee that swapping Ramos for Militao won't keep the same number of clean sheets. Areola would push Courtois close but will also fall slightly behind for goals conceded and clean sheets.

raumdeuter:
We can argue that Benzema basically carried Madrid with historically poor support attack cast to the title An attack That contributes almost nothing in assists and goals

Benzema is leading goals and he is at the same time leading assists. Its usually players like Messi that leads both stats in the same team or how many teams do you see the same player topping goals and at the same time topping assists

The other attackers combined Isco Hazard Vinicius,Asensio, James Bale Vazquez combined have less goals than Benzema

His goals won the most points by any player in the league

8 assists is nothing for a striker and is not extraordinary. Madrid assists are shared around so no one ever posts high assists numbers in that team.

You can't downplay his prominence but you can't rank him no 1.

His goals scored and team goals scored is just another season for Madrid. Benzema goals have improved 0% from last season while total team goals have declined just 7% (the defence clean was good enough to still swallow the 7% decline in output and not only improve position, but win the league outright)

The goals conceded though is an extraordinary improvement from a normal Madrid season - an exactly 100% improvement on last year.

raumdeuter:
His goals won the most points by any player in the league

If defence has kept clean sheet for you, scoring a goal a game will be worth 3 points. If defence is conceding anyhow, your goals start to become worth 1 point or 0 points.

timbros:
This your post goes both ways.

If Courtois doesn't play, will Real Madrid play with 10 men? Another goal keeper will surely take his place and any decent goal keeper that keeps for Madrid will keep at least 3/4 clean sheets, at which point the goals is the real Championship winner since you can replace Courtois with any Madrid-level goalkeeper and still win the League.

This is why I told you in an earlier post that "if" arguments is pointless.

Going with the reality on ground, Benzema played a prominent role in Madrid's title win.

But it could be argued that the drop from Courtois to another keeper is steeper than the drop from Benzema to another striker, and could tip the title away from Madrid.

21 goals is an average season to expect from a starting Madrid striker. He hasn't done anything you wouldn't expect, infact he's got exactly the same goals at last season, however the defence has improved by exactly 100% - going from 46 goals conceded to 23.

The defence and keeper therefore have had a season way above and beyond above the normal Madrid season in terms of goals conceded and clean sheets. Their improvement is what has tipped the league in Madrid favour. Benzema has equalled and bettered this seasons goals twice without winning the league. The difference is that the defence ensured his 21 goals is enough to win the league this time.

So he has played a prominent role, but statistics and antecedents will place the improvements in defence as the no1 ranking catalyst for the title win.

West Ham are now safe

I hope they won't down tools against Manure next game

No doubt Benzema has produced but the argument is not as simple as pointing at his goals.

If Benzema doesn't play, will Real Madrid play with ten men? Another striker will surely take his place and any decent striker that plays no9 for Madrid will score at least 18 league goals, at which point the clean sheets is the real Championship winner since you can replace Benzema with any Madrid-level striker and still win the League.

Bayern Civil war on Chelsea thread over Real Madrid striker.

obainojazz:
Krychowack

What is DeGea doing there?

Chelsea Dry Gin

raumdeuter:
Abeg who is on the floor prostrating for a teenager

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0b2936ea8ca8ebd109be866a0015b3b21d5db29a/0_265_3108_1865/master/3108.jpg?width=1920&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b28df5998f29e3f5652c6e7c5745dfc6

A World Cup winner

popizaino:
For sanity sake moderator should remove this comment asap

I've never seen so much nonsense in one post.

She even said Pirlo didn't last long after Conte. Is he supposed to play till 40?

She said lack of good defenders exposed Pirlo at Milan and "Thiago Silva must have left by then". I couldn't laugh when I read that.

donstan18:
1. Busquet height is very useless in Barcelona. He'll hardly score with it, defend with it or win aerial ball with it. He's useless during set pieces.

I'm not a Busquets fan . . . but his height is not useless defensively. He cannot score with his head does not mean he does not defend high balls.

Most times when opponents want to bypass the midfield with aerial balls from goalkick, Mascherano will move out the way and let Busquets drop back to deal with it. I saw it happen repeatedly at Etihad sef. You could see City had given their players instructions to bypass the midfield and Busquets was winning aerial balls all day while Mascherano moves out his position to let Busquets handle it.

missjo:
She never truly loved him, and this is a major problem with our generation - people are ultimately looking out for what they'll gain from their partners but masking all that selfish desire with claims of being in love.

Gosh so many of us would fail this test if we were to find ourselves in the same situation, so while I'm critical of her, I'm also critical of myself because I don't know if I'll be any better.

Post of the day. Refreshing honesty.

EarlRagnar2:
Lol , is it only me but hensben reply to egbon dayo is funny
Oga just dey say the same thing like robot

He's giving Dayo a dose of his own medicine

Mscheeeew. James McCarthy was sleeping there

It's like Zaha and Ayew want to be unfortunate today

Greatihex:
I am not arguing the bold. But, Fabregas paid his dues at Chelsea and he deserves some respect. You disrespect our players a lot if they don't suit your preference of players even if they did well for us.

Gareth Bale also paid his dues at Madrid winning UCLs. So Madrid fans should not disrespect him for sitting on a contract and being useless for 3 years? Fabregas gave me one good year in 4 years. That does not warrant any deference to him. Negative emotions outweigh positive in football and one good year can never wipe out 3 bad years. We pay the guy to produce, not to be catching praises indefinitely for doing his job once. He is an Arsenal boy, I owe him nothing.

timbros:
Fair enough.

But I know many people, like me, will understand that statement as more of comparison than expectation.

Nah it's just hailing a player after a good game. Just like calling Mount Mountpard after a good game or calling Pulisic the new Hazard after a game does not mean you are comparing both players.

Greatihex:
Point of correction, sir. Fabregas never played DM at Chelsea. He played as CM and AM.

In a 4-2-3-1, both are expected to defend. All na semantics whether you call it DM or CM, if players are running past you, you are failing in your defensive duties

timbros:
Ibime's view is understandable. Overtime the game changes and your view of players change or they never lived up to expectations.

The only area I need clarification is why he will tag Jorg "our own Xavi" when, according to him, he don't watch Napoli often.

Ibime is it through YouTube highlights you arrived at the "our own Xavi" conclusion earlier?

It was not a comparison, it was a hope for him after he made 180 passes against Newcastle in one of his first games.

raumdeuter:
A player like Fabregas I believe you and most followers of the game watched him week in week out when he was at Arsenal

You probably watched more Fabregas games than you watched Xavi due to the fact that Fabregas played in epl for Arsenal and Xavi in Spain before you made your initial judgment on Fabregas

You probably watched Xavi who you claimed is your best player of all time the same number of times with when you watched Iniesta and deemed Iniesta qualitatively better than Lampard

You can be excused if you claimed you barely watched Jorginho in Napoli but not for Fabregas Iniesta and Guardiola since you were very familiar with their game before you made your initial assessment


A striker needs to score, Belotti is like how Benteke used to be rated highly compared to what he is doing now.

Right now Belotti has 15 goals, half of them are penalties

Nothing in Peps Fabregas Iniesta Jorginhos game changed from the time you used to rate them


The problem with jumping from one side and making a 180 turn is we never know what to expect next from you,
In some cases you don't even need new facts to change your former opinions .

Is it that Fabregas with Costa won the league for Chelsea or he was a passenger and carry along?

The Fabregas I rated best AM in 2007 season was an AM.

The Fabregas I wanted back at Chelsea was to chase Oscar away from the AM position.

All of a sudden, you are presented with a Fabregas playing DM and putting defence in danger.

OK, at some point they said go and play AM but he was too slow to keep up with the attacks.

This is football. Tactics change and the qualities that make one relevant in one era could become redundant as the game progresses. Then football was slower and Fabregas a bit quicker, he could be an effective AM. Now he is slower and defenders are faster, he cannot arrive in the box effectively and still get back to midfield in time.

Now to play AM, you must be physically adept. It's just like you would rate Ozil in 2010 but not in 2020 when 4-2-3-1 became redundant. Now if you play as the advanced midfielder, you must be robust enough to form a midfield 3 or fast enough to act as a second striker. You don't just leave players in the hole like a decade ago, and that is where the likes of Ozil, Mata and Fabregas to some extent got left behind.

raumdeuter:
Are you saying you did not see Fabregas, Jorginho, Guardiola Iniesta etc before making your initial judgment. Maybe in some years you will switch over and be telling us how KDB is a carry along

You have been watching football for about 3 decades and you know what to look for in a footballer, You claim to also play in a semi pro league so there are certain things you saw that made you proclaim them as excellent players/managers at some point

I know myself, I can never like some things I can never like shakushaku attackers, I can never like players who disappear in big occasions

This is a fallacy. You can never be so dogmatic. Only a stubborn or arrogant person would stick to an opinion of a player just because they consider themselves infallible. Just like Pep rated Alexander Hleb, Chygrinsky and Benjamin Mendy then changed his mind. Just like you rated Bellotti in your top 10 strikers that year and now hate him.

There is a reason why scouts spend hundreds of hours watching targets which is to flush out weaknesses. These players you mention (Fabregas, Jorginho etc) are technical players, I make no apologies for having hope in them. Watching them for 90 mins weekly over an extended period is what makes one an expert on their game, and allows one to flush out their weaknesses thoroughly. Midfield play is a multi-variable part of the team and there is no such thing as "I know what I like" when it comes to central midfield. You may prefer robust midfielders but you may be willing accommodate a specialist like Pirlo or Xavi or Jorginho for what they can bring. And then you judge and weigh those players over time and can decide if the negatives outweigh the positives and vice-versa. Sometimes their positives may work in another club, but just not in your club as the sacrifice you have to make in other areas of the team may be too great and too expensive and at odds with the qualities of other players in your team who bring more to the table.

The only midfielders I write off immediately are midfielders with dangerous technique that put teams in trouble like Bakayoko and Ramires. Nothing will make me write off a Fabregas or Jorginho immediately until several efforts have been made to accommodate their talents and we decide the bad outweighs the good.

biomustry:
Guardiola issa bald bastard
Half my players played, still no reach 15 points

I'm still regretting not bench boosting in the first game back from lockdown. I went for triple captain instead. Anyway sha, I still have like 6 players to play including my captain so let's see.

donjazet:
I have long since erased that post. I wrote this because of your reply to Raumdeuteur and saw your indirect insult to me.

I don't know how we became enemies here. You are an individual i had a mutual respect for. You are the one who started insulting me here.

Anyways, I apologize for my misdeeds and accept your truce. You na my main G here.

It was not a direct insult to you. I would be a fool if I hold onto hope in Jorginho after examining his weaknesses over 2 years and deciding it cannot be redeemed. Even up till December 2019, I was still holding hope in him working at Chelsea but the December to February run was just the last straw to make up my mind that he will always pose a structural weakness to Chelsea. I had hoped the weakness he showed under Sarri from Dec18 to Feb19 could be mitigated, but the same weakness keep repeating itself.

Lastly, I never compared him to Xavi. Xavi is my favourite midfielder of all time and if you know how I rate Xavi, I would not take comparison with Xavi lightly. Me saying "our very own Xavi" when he was new to Chelsea is just expressing hope that we could have a complete possession controller in Chelsea in the mould of Xavi, not a comparison.

Sha, after all these insults thrown about here, Lampard will still chase him out this summer. When that time reach, I go ask you wetin you gain.

donjazet:
Oh, shut the fuck_up already Oga.
My problem with you is your constant condescension of people who disagree with you even though you constantly change your opinions the way a snake changes its skin.


My point is you should drop your arrogance when arguing with people and stop acting like you know it all.

You see yourself? I was responding to Raumdeuter and nothing to do with you, yet you jumped in to tell me to "shüt the fück up".

I ignored your post because you are the one who jumped on my mentions on Jorginho matter. I even told you to free me and focus on others saying the same thing, yet the last few days you just keep mentioning me unsolicited, dragging me into your matter.

That's how the other day you jumped on my mentions to label me a racist killer supporter because "that's how I feed my family". You crossed the line in that post, so I had to give you a piece of my mind.

Same way you were attacking Raumdeuter unsolicited upandan for days on end until he took you to task.

Sorry DonJ, any problem you have with Ibime is in your own mind. You don't have to incessantly mention me 6 or 7 times a day. I will say what I feel about weaknesses in Chelsea team and did not mention you while doing so, yet you continue to stalk my posts itching for a fight. If and when I feel like it, I will enter the gutter with you, but that is entirely not your decision no matter how much you try to provoke.

donjazet:
Good!! I certainly pray you learn to be more humble and completely drop your supercilious attitude.

OK. . . . I will certainly take your advice on board. Your advice has really changed my perspective on life once again . . .

raumdeuter:
Ibime

On how many issues have you changed your mind on sef? I am losing count

Iniesta Jorginho Fabregas Guardiola who else?

That is football. Only a fool or an arrogant person does not change his mind after months of evidence. I was in support of Fabregas signing to chase Oscar away and in support of Jorginho signing to chase Bakayoko away. I'm not the only one and not the only one who got fed up with their escorting. We are infact in the majority. Come and beat me.

donjazet:
My friend go and sit down and stop to dey shalaye.
When we bought jorginho, you were comparing him to xavi, worse so you were shutting down those who opposed this view as per your usual arrogance.

Now you come forward and you say you only knew him through highlights, but the same you will be insulting people here who assess players via highlights.

You are to arrogant for your own good and you can't even see it.

I recall you constantly abusing Drogba and rubbishing his style of play on this thread for a very long time before you eventually liked him after he cleared all reasonable doubt.

You are now doing the same thing with jorginho. You are simply an arrogant rabble rouser. One who has shown constant double standards and will always claim right.

My argument is simple. I still see jorginho as a good player who will perform in the best system, especially noting that our manager is still learning and eventually may get the pairing right.
I think it is too early to start calling for his head. It took you years to see the good side of Drogba. I say we give jorginho more time. Some players are not explosive immediately after signing, look at courtois at Madrid, or pogba at man-u, or Henderson at Liverpool or sterling at mancity. Some players take time to blow.

You need to learn humility.

OK

BikeMan:
Arrrrh! Ibime

If Donjazet like, he can quote whatever he wants.

Stüpidity is retaining the same hope 2 years later having reviewed mountain of evidence from seeing him 90mins per week for 2 years.

Hardly any of us here watch Serie A live except for highlights so of course we would be excited by a possession merchant. Highlights don't show escorting. Escorting is something you notice from watching 90 minutes regularly.

Everybody he quoted as praising Jorginho then has turned fully against him now. The only folly lies in someone who still believes in Jorginho after 99% of reasonable people have reviewed his game and changed their mind.

Raumdeuter will not let Airmark rest today

OtemAtum:
And another homo is disturbing my mention with unreasonable post.

So God sef dey call pesin homo? No be una create the homo?

What a complete waste of my bench boost. Refocussing on simply finishing in the top 10

ovoP:
They need to win their next match first

It was home against Palace who are already on the beach