The College Dropout

I thought Alonso was in serious danger of burning out too fwiw. His operation came at a good time.

I do like Perch - especially at CB. But in midfield he's blocking more talented players.

If it means playing Bigi i'm all for it. I do like Perch though.

Liverpool took an £18m hit on Carroll, bet they make massive losses on Downing, Allen & Henderson too. I also bet City lose a ton on the likes of Lescott, Barry and Milner. the deal was 30m plus 5m in incentives right? They got half their money back for a gigantic flop. Downing made a double profit for Villa and L'pool could probably get 10m back for him.

The thing about the English premium - you get most of it back anyway.

When you look at it. His career was good. That's the only thing I agree with him about. 89 caps, 40 goals. Starred in a lot of big games and trophies. And he managed to pick up a few from the bench. He had a good 6/7 year prime where he picked up a lot of trophies and personal accolades.

He beats one or two fairly regularly imo. And that's all you need, do one player then pass it forward. Was it Wigan 3-0, goes past one, waits until the last possible moment to lay the ball off to make sure the second defender commits to a challenge. HBA can beat 3 or 4. But most likely, he'll get tackled by the 3rd man. That's my biggest gripe about his game. Just doesn't know when to release it. He's 26 now. Needs to sign a new long-term contract, eat good and play hard. If his game matures he could be world class.

I agree with all your points. I just haven't seen a side as dominant as this in world football. Also, at the very highest level, Barca haven't thrashed a top team in a good while.

Boring as sin to watch IMO. I'm more bored by them winning tbh and even when somebody matches them all the way they still get through on penalties. I do think they're nowhere near as good to watch as Barca, even without the double-pivot this tournament. Against top opposition, they've been better for the last 2 years.

That's a powder puff midfield. I think its Marveaux or Sissoko.

Fellaini is only great for what Moyes used him for.

This. And Barca showed they can get whooped. Alonso-Busquets Spain never got whooped.

Simply put, Marveaux makes better decisions. HBA doesn't have excellent vision as he's often head down. But when he looks up he can make any pass possible. HBA is more talented but Marveaux is clearly more refined. Unfortunately for Marveaux, his personality isn't as dominant as HBA's and he lacks the blockbuster moments that would make Pardew understand how important he could be. HBA is also more flexible tactically. RW, LW or in the hole he's great. Marv needs to be central or have licence to play centrally to be effective. HBA IMO is a forward where Marveaux is an attacking midfielder.

Agreed. Hatem runs with his head down a lot. Marveaux has his head up. Releases the ball earlier and at better times too. However, Hatem looks for the shot more often and is generally more interested in the final third. Hatem really should score more goals. Marveaux however, wants the ball to pass it and then get it back. When he beats a player or two he'll be looking to pass.

Spain have won shoot-outs in each Euro tournament win right?

Not the last WC though. '06.

Well, he should have seen De Rossi absolutely boss it at CB during the last world cup. Keown's a decent, good knowledge, non-controversial, easy going pundit in general though. Exactly. He's played there a good bit.

I think Martin Keown is very knowledgeable on the game itself. However, I don't think he watches much football in Italy at the very least. De Rossi has played CB a good number of times but he was unsure with the move.

Some great and accurate things posted here. Don't get me wrong, I love Pirlo but I find people that really appreciate what Xavi does and Busquets too - understand the intricacies of the game more. With Pirlo it's often more obvious the great work he does. But Xavi - he's like Floyd Mayweather junior. It's a master class in movement, patience, finding the opportunity to strike etc. With Pirlo - it's probably easier to have him in your side. He just needs two very athletic midfielders beside him and he's ready to go. Xavi - he IS the system. The heartbeat of the Barca way. In another set-up without the cohorts it would be harder for him. Until the manager realises the rest of the players need to take their cue from Xavi.

Went home. Injured.

I said that in January. Then Bale scored twice against and turned into Superman. After Bale it was Mata-Suarez then RVP.

But I don't understand his inclusion here except he's more experienced in the national side and Mata has played a lot of games these last 2 years. In a team reliant on midfielders to score. I'd take Mata over Silva everyday.

He's more tiki-taka than Mata. for better or worse. Mata is English football/Premiership made. All about final product.

Busquets is there. But he's very slow. A quick pass past him and he's done.

There's not loads of world class 9's.