Flip

I really liked him as a player. You could see he had real quality, a great touch and vision to go along with it. Just a shame he was tectonically slow otherwise I think he would have been excellent for us. As things were he just couldn't keep up with the pace of the game here. I watched that tournament... Viana was decent but you could tell the rest of the team were doing his running for him... He was never at any stage looked like a world beater... Nice left foot but couldn't see how he would fit into our team at the time or our league... And so it proved... It's one of footballs myths that he was exceptional in that tournament... Yeah?...How did that feel?...I mean...Didn't he as the guy above said win the European young player of the year or something?...Viana could've definitely been a class player... He did... But not all awards are deserved... Could've... Should've... Would've... Didn't... Hasn't... Won't... He's never scaled the heights... You'll struggle to google the history of EYP award winners... It's no great guideline for sure if Viana is anything to go by... I don't even know what I posted, I just thought in trying to copy you. Never seen so many dots in my life.

I really liked him as a player. You could see he had real quality, a great touch and vision to go along with it. Just a shame he was tectonically slow otherwise I think he would have been excellent for us. As things were he just couldn't keep up with the pace of the game here. I watched that tournament... Viana was decent but you could tell the rest of the team were doing his running for him... He was never at any stage looked like a world beater... Nice left foot but couldn't see how he would fit into our team at the time or our league... And so it proved... It's one of footballs myths that he was exceptional in that tournament... Yeah?...How did that feel?...I mean...Didn't he as the guy above said win the European young player of the year or something?...Viana could've definitely been a class player...

Paraguay seems like they're definitely missing the World Cup, that's a big surprise since they're usually always near the top of the World Cup qualifiers.

I think the ref might have gotten that right because of the sheer stupidity from both. Also Mole, Montillo is an extremely good player, wasted in this side right now, play him behind a striker and he can create magic, one of the best players in South America last year if not the best attacking midfielder.

Right Sweden drew 0-0 to Ireland and Austria previously, those halfs were equally as bad.

Sweden down 2-0 to Austria after 30 mins

We do, but if we get Spain in the semis I don't see us going to the final.

Expect development, I expect us to play more like a team, don't know where that will lead us but we have had 45minutes against both Italy and England under Scolari where the opposition have been outplayed in terms of ball possession and chances created. Unfortunately we drop our heads as soon as we concede, it's a psychological thing I believe. I don't think the loss of Damiao will play a big role unless Fred injures himself badly (playing with a fractured rib). Realistically we could win, but Spain I think is just a couple of levels ahead us unfortunately, I'll be extremely happy with anything going past the group stages for this lot.

Damiao injured and will miss the Confederations Cup, Jo (ex-everton) gets called up to replace him

Mole, I think that maybe Arteta - Wilshere Walcott Fellaini Cazorla Giroud Would possibly work, what you think? I'm not saying it would work, but if you made Walcott a more direct winger it would possibly work. Also completely agree with you that he has to play as SS. Not the £20m player otherwise.

Possibly. The best part about his second spell here was seeing Given in his second (?!?!) game under Keegan against Arsenal. We lost 1-0 I think but every time Given played it short to one of the defenders. Keegan didn't want to see it hoofed, unlike our manager right now Mr.P...

Back to transfers, Hulk in his press conference said that if he said there is 100% nothing true about the Chelsea rumours then he'd be lying.

:thup:

So on point. If anyone disagrees 100% with my posts they know nothing about football. HTT rarely watches anything other than Newcastle so you shouldn't take his opinion especially. Also what you seem incapable of grasping is that players don't decide whether a team is playing an attacking football. I know Ancelotti is a huge fan of calling himself an attacking manager and he did succeed on many points at Chelsea doing that. But during most of his career, his team have never been known for an attractive football, it's more an efficient style of football in many ways. You look at what he did with Juventus and then at Milan, his team scored very few goals for being a title contender. I remember his Milan side much better than I remember his Chelsea side as I didn't catch much Chelsea on the TV when he managed them. I do catch his PSG side and for being such a superior side in their league their brand of football is terribly boring. He liked to put offensive players on the pitch at PSG too, but as I stated above, it doesn't prove anything. Finally, I'm not much for statistics as I don't watch the sport like that, but for being a very attacking minded and very entertaining side as you and HTT seem to like to call his team, why did his Milan side, which had ''four #10'' and two of the best goalscorers of the past decade only score an average of 1,6goals per game. Just to give you something to compare with, Mourinhos Inter scored more, Allegris unspectacular Milan sides have scored more per game, and worst of all his Milan team only once in 8 years was the top scoring team in the Serie A. In the end I think we might have different views on attacking and entertaining managers. I prefer the style implementet by Tele Santana, Zeman and Bielsa or effective attack minded football teams like Guardiola and Vilanovas Barcelona, Scolaris national side in 2002, Löws Germany in WC 2010, Wengers Arsenal, Keegans teams, Del Bosque among others. Managers like Ancelotti, Mourinho, Deschamps, Parreira, Mancini don't fall into the category of attacking and entertaining footballing managers in my opinion. Although I do find Mourinho extremely entertaining off it.

If I had three I wouldn't be on here disagreeing 100% of the time Dropout posts, 75% HTT posts, 50% Ronaldo posts, 25% Mike posts, I would be bathing in my millions as it's a known fact: 1 cap for the national team means you'll command an enormous fee. £30m for a guy who is 28 is ridiculous, no matter how Brazilian he is.

Sven played 3 CM's at Euro06. Because Scholes played in a LM position doesn't change that fact. My point was simply, Ancelotti played 4 players who just want to pass, create and score. And a striker to boot. You can't tell me that's a boring manager. Carlos Alberto Parreira played Ronaldo, Adriano, Ronaldinho, Kaka + Cafu and Roberto Carlos and still managed to play a boring brand of football. So obviously I can tell you that I believe him to be a boring manager. / discussion

His teams are exactly like you say, counter-attacking teams. Score the first goal and they'll sit back and wait to kill the game by counter-attacking. Good manager, but horrible philosophy (does get him the results though) in my opinion. Funny how his aging Chelsea side broke the PL goals record on the way to winning the double. Now SAF's retired Carlo's the very best manager on the planet. Total class act as a person, too. He's talking guff Ronaldo. Difference between me and you is that you're point comes from watching a Chelsea side playing one season, while my opinion comes from watching Milan throughout the last decade because my brothers are big Milan fans as well as watching Ibra and PSG on tv every week because that's all that goes on Swedish tv nowadays. I said the same about Mancini and got a lot of s***. Not necessarily comparing their style of play, but none of them have their team playing any attacking creative football. You're talking guff. I know you're talking guff because your time periods are all wrong. If you don't remember Kaka playing alongside Rui Costa when Inzaghi got crocked then you don't know your Serie A. I definitely remember them playing alongside each other, but I'm talking over a period of time while you are talking about a season only. In the season they reached the finals and lost to Liverpool I'm pretty sure Rui Costa wasn't a first choice midfielder in that squad If I'm wrong here, I apologize, but I'm pretty sure he was playing due to injuries to other players. I'm almost 100% he didn't play the final against Liverpool.

Nobody cares about your relevant posts, mate. Take the L and move on. You need to take the L for that needless shoehorning of the taking the L phrase. L. Wormy and Neil have to take the L big time because of the ruining peoples betting accounts.

I'm not painting anyone to be anything, you are. You just completely changed your original point. In that image I only see one number 10 in the Milan side. In any case, it's still a transfers thread so. I hope he doesn't succeed (Barcelona is a far more likeable club), but I'll sure be watching them a lot next season now that he has turned his teams into amazing attacking sides.

His teams are exactly like you say, counter-attacking teams. Score the first goal and they'll sit back and wait to kill the game by counter-attacking. Good manager, but horrible philosophy (does get him the results though) in my opinion. Funny how his aging Chelsea side broke the PL goals record on the way to winning the double. Now SAF's retired Carlo's the very best manager on the planet. Total class act as a person, too. He's talking guff Ronaldo. Difference between me and you is that you're point comes from watching a Chelsea side playing one season, while my opinion comes from watching Milan throughout the last decade because my brothers are big Milan fans as well as watching Ibra and PSG on tv every week because that's all that goes on Swedish tv nowadays. I said the same about Mancini and got a lot of s***. Not necessarily comparing their style of play, but none of them have their team playing any attacking creative football.

His teams are exactly like you say, counter-attacking teams. Score the first goal and they'll sit back and wait to kill the game by counter-attacking. Good manager, but horrible philosophy (does get him the results though) in my opinion. Funny how his aging Chelsea side broke the PL goals record on the way to winning the double. Now SAF's retired Carlo's the very best manager on the planet. Total class act as a person, too. Don't agree with him being the best manager on the planet, but I do agree that as a person he has always been an example. Also breaking the PL goals record was a great achievement but I wasn't specifically talking about one season in the PL as well as they didn't score a bundle of goals against the better sides. This season he won 9 games 1-0 and drew 0-0 three times. His team was a far superior team to his counter part individually. Also I'm not criticizing Ancelotti, I just don't like the brand of football his sides play. His Chelsea side scored loads of goals against lesser sides and there's a reason they didn't go far in the CL.

Exactly my point. They played a 4-3-1-2 which didn't have only a striker or 4 #10s. They only had one. Their 4-3-1-2 depended a lot on the playmaking ability of Pirlo to start counter-attacks and Kaka's speed as well as the effectiveness of Sheva and Inzaghi. To tell me that they played a brilliant creative football is very far from the truth.

Wow, what a point, you could field 10 offensive players and still not play an offensive creative football. Look at Mourinho and Real. CRonaldo, Benzema, Di Maria, Marcelo, Özil all played there and absolutely battered teams, still, it wasn't a offensive and creative team in that sense they were just individually more superior than most of their opposition. Mardid are a far harder working team than that Milan. That Milan played one way and it's pretty attacking. Very bad at having to grind out results or defend leads. Hence, Istanbul and Depor overturning a 4-1 deficit. Much like Chelsea, when they beat teams - they bloody beat em 3 or 4. No team with 1 #9 and 4 natural #10's in the same side is going to lack creativity like you have claimed mate. So just shut up and take this L. 4 #10 in the same side. Ambrossini, Gattuso and Pirlo (which one of them are the #10 you are talking about?). Rui Costa was a bench player when Kaka arrived, and Seedorf became more and more a midfielder than an attacking. He gave support to Kaka and Sheva up top. You don't have any idea what you are talking about. I also haven't said they lacked creativity individually, but as a team they were more of a counter-attacking team which were deadly in front of goal. To suggest they played a creative style of football not only shows complete ignorance but also a lack of knowledge.

Wow, what a point, you could field 10 offensive players and still not play an offensive creative football. Look at Mourinho and Real. CRonaldo, Benzema, Di Maria, Marcelo, Özil all played there and absolutely battered teams, still, it wasn't a offensive and creative team in that sense they were just individually more superior than most of their opposition.