Re: Rest of the Football World Thread

[Hapless_Hans]

yeah sure, I sure hope so, he's got a 5 year contract and it would be great if he fulfills it, but Wenger too has another 3 years
That's what I mean, the timing might just about work then if Pep has enough after 4 years.

I'd hate it, I hope Pep stays longer, as I can see what Pep leaving has done to you, what a miserable and profoundly unhappy bunch you've become

[neuro11]

Pep or Klop replacing Wenger would be great....May be then i would start following them lot more again...
Bielsa ??? his continuous rage at administration/staffs wont help i guess
I dont see Pep staying in Bayern more than 3-4 seasons. I just dont feel him as a long term coach.He is simply not a Ferguson or Wenger type...

[BarrileteCosmico]

Until Martinez is able to turn around the everton league position he's decidedly back into my "one season wonder" list of managers.

[The Franchise]

Until Martinez is able to turn around the everton league position he's decidedly back into my "one season wonder" list of managers.

Would help if Barkley wasnt injured.

Also the way he took apart Arsenal sure was impressive and I dont see any luck involved, especially as he did it two years in a row.

Also did well at Swansea and Wigan....

[windkick]

Martinez is legit. I don't think he's in the elite tier of managers but deff in the tier right behind imo. He is really solid. I would take him over Arsene at this point.

[windkick]

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/2076976/messicostadi-mariaronaldomuller-all-ballon-dor-favorites

"Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima -- the "original" Ronaldo -- is a Madrid icon and his status is even more impressive given he came from rivals Barcelona via a spell in Italy with Inter Milan. Cristiano surpassed the Brazilian long ago"

"But there is nobody out there who is quite so ruthless as Costa"

I mean maybe I am not following...but is it me or is this article really bias towards Ronaldo? Or do you guys think the award at this point is really his and that's all there is too it? Last year around this time everyone thought it was Messi's or even Ribery's...and then Ronaldo went on a scoring frenzing and helped Portugal qualify for the World Cup and then it seemed like that pretty much sealed it for him. So why does this article suck his balls in the fashion that it does? And it's not a golden boot award btw.

[Bankz]

What still beats me till this day is that people still legitimately compare ronaldo to divine talents like that of lionel messi, not like its bad or anything, but seriously?..so does it mean that these awards have turned to some glorified top scorer awards? I mean, u only have to see cr7 and messi play once to know who the superior player is.. Its that easy, yet i've started hearing some ridiculous statements of recent on how he might go on to become the best ever, like WTF? He even won goal.com's best athlete of all time poll which included pele, muhamed ali, michael phelps, messi, maradona, and usain bolt..smh. Well, i think football media and journalism in general has gone south, hence the loss of some quality journalism of late..yes, cr7 is a great player but he's one who mostly has goals going for him right now, which is good, but c'mon, people shouldn't get ahead of themselves..goals have become everything, sometimes even at the expense of a win..wonder if zidane would have won a single balon d'or in todays stat-dominated era.

[The Franchise]

He surpassed Ronaldo? Thats news to me

Anyway, I cant really get involved in this. I dont follow the award at all, its gone downhill in a hurry the last like decade.

I remember when it used to be about the best player. Now its some strange mix of best stats/best storyline.

[Winter is Coming]

Thiago picked up ANOTHER injury

[futbol]

Meh. Not our problem anymore.

[BarrileteCosmico]

Like Wilshire indeed

[Barca2211]

Best 25M we ever received

[windkick]

Thiago picked up ANOTHER injury

Thiago is Pep's problem now, not ours.

Thiago never cared for our colors.

[neuro11]

its surprising why he gets injured so much after joining Byern...

[messixaviesta]

So many things to talk about. So maybe I'll use my favorite point form style.

1. The four best teams in the world today are Bayern, Chelsea, Madrid and Barca in whatever order. A case could be made for PSG but they need to do more in Europe and beating us was only a good beginning. Sadly teams like Dortmund and Atletico have been weakened due to financial reasons.

2. Will David Silva's immense ability never take him to the top due to ManCity's continued failures in Europe and Spain's dwindling fortunes?

3. Is this Cesc Fabregas at his very best? Is he tailor made for a counter attacking team after all? Do you think he is better in that style as an AM or a CM? Mourinho is often playing him deeper but against the biggest of teams in the biggest of games will he play him as a 10?

4. What has gone wrong with Mesut Ozil? He won the world cup but his contribution to it was arguably as low as it could possibly be. For Arsenal he's often a passenger who it seems as if keeps Santi Cazorla on the bench very unfairly. To be fair to him I think he is no longer being played in his best position and he is often shunted to the wings. However an even bigger problem seems to be that something is wrong with him mentally.

5. Scoring the key goal(s) in a world cup final perhaps does more for a player's morale than anything else. Zinedine Zidane became who he became after the final of WC 1998. Andres Iniesta had an outstanding 2010-11 especially the first half in which he was the best midfielder in Europe. Mario Gotze has understandably started this season brightly. Is he the next big breakthrough star in football?

6. It does feel strange that one of the most in form players in the world Angel Di Maria is not playing in the UCL. It's too bad that he became injured at the wrong time in the world cup. He could have done much more for Argentina and who is to say that in a very close final he couldn't have swung the trophy in the reverse direction. Considering how brilliant his 2013-14 was only that injury has probably prevented him from taking a place on the Ballon D'or podium.

7. What does the future hold for Juan Mata? After his incredible season for Chelsea under Rafa Benitez and then being shunted out by Jose Mourinho he has just not been the same again.

8. Who in the world saw the turn around of Arjen Robben coming? Missing penalties in the 2011-12 season which cost Bayern Munich both the UCL and the league. Super flop in Euro 2012. Benched in 2012-13 and playing so poorly at times that even his greatest fans including yours truly thought he was done for. Embarrassedly I recall I even asked him to retire. If that wasn't enough 2012-13 saw him benched for the very first time in his career. Then in 2013 Toni Kroos got injured and Robben came back into the starting XI. What happened after that has written football history. The game against Juventus was on a very even keel until Robben's introduction left Juve with no chance. Then came another dominant performance against Barca followed by a man of the match display in the UCL 2012-13 final. Even then some said he would be the first player that Pep Guardiola would throw out. Well not only did Pep not throw him out but Robben had an even better 2013-14 on an individual level and then went on to be Holland's only hope in WC 2014 taking them all the way to the semi final. After his incredible performance against Roma in which he was unplayable all night it wouldn't be wrong to say that he's been the star player of Guardiola's Bayern tenure. From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs that illustrate once again that fact can sometimes be stranger than fiction, just who on earth could have seen all this coming?

9. Just how high do you all rate Eden Hazard? Very talented no doubt but perhaps without the consistency to match. Some incredible moments for Chelsea but a flop show for Belgium at WC 2014. How great do you think he will eventually become?

10. For whatever it is worth who will be the top three in this year's Fifa Ballon D'or? Messi and Cristiano of course but whose will be the third name? History would say the world champions must get one representative at least which I suppose should be Neuer or Muller. I would go for Manuel Neuer because he was a one man show without whom I don't think Germany would have won the world cup. Or is it possible that the world cup winners will be completely snubbed and it is Robben who will instead make the podium?

[messixaviesta]

its surprising why he gets injured so much after joining Byern...

The only reason I at times think us selling Thiago was a good idea is how injury prone he is. If he gets injured so often at such a young age I am sorry to say I don't see much of a future for him. Then again Arjen Robben used to be 'Glass Man' and look at him now. So let's wait and watch.

[CBarca]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

[messixaviesta]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

I don't see much benefit in that. He's quite injury prone and would he really add that much more to our game. If Gundogan is the same post injury which is unlikely then I would take him since he has all of composure, solidity and creativity. Else I would look at someone like Verratti for his creativity and passing ability.

[The Franchise]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

Nah, no point now. By the time we even could, Samper would have surpassed him lol

But no, seriously, by the time we could sign him Samper would be ready...he is already ready really. If you mean hypothetically and not taking into account the players we have..still probably not, because Wenger has ruined him positionally. I dont know what role he is supposed to play nowadays.

[Donuts]

---rakitic-----samper
--------buscuit

both buscuit and rakitic will be 28 by the time the transfer ban is over so our midfield would be solid for the next 4 seasons
the depth should be iniesta/la masia products not wilshere

[The Franchise]

Alot of points to take in JD, so ill just cover a couple. I dont agree with adding Chelsea in that bracket, what exactly have they done? Its been what, 10 games and they already have some super status.

If they played Atletico today, I dont know they would win..and the same if Madrid or us played Atletico. Hell, I dont even know Bayern would beat them.

I would also hold off on Cesc. He done this many times before, started the season well and turned into crap after the month of Jan. Maybe if it happened just a couple of times we could give him the benefit of some doubt...but every year for almost a decade?

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

Have you seen him for last 2 years? Quite frankly he's not good enough for Arsenal matter about a perennial CL contender like yourselves.

[farfan]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

Have you seen him for last 2 years? Quite frankly he's not good enough for Arsenal matter about a perennial CL contender like ourselves.

fixed

[CBarca]

Wilshere is one of those players I really want to do well but...injuries have really hampered him and I agree with Wenger really ruining him positionally. Still think the boy has a lot of talent, but he's not the same player he could be, and I'm not sure he'll ever reach that status- at least, not under Wenger.

Anyway, was just curious.

[Winter is Coming]

Never been a fan of Wilsheres tbh.

[The Franchise]

Would you guys take Wilshere at Barcelona?

Have you seen him for last 2 years? Quite frankly he's not good enough for Arsenal matter about a perennial CL contender like ourselves.

fixed

Mole is as much a Barca fan as you are a Madrid fan tbf.

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