Segun Oluwaniyi

Rubbish. He's shown his ability since the age of 18, and he walked onto the pitch against one of the top 10 teams in Europe and was immediately the best player on the pitch.The boy is a workhorse. Pardew tried to turn him into artist because we lack creativity. Look at the man, the sheer pace and power, the will, the rage. Do you look at someone like that and tell them to play a position where they need to be patient and precise? Sissoko has the talent for it and posses those attributes, but it's limiting for him. He played too far up the pitch in a team that was broken, and I thought he still was an important player for the team and one of our better performers. People have been on a crusade to denigrate our players lately, I don't understand some of it. There are differences between playing below the standard you've set over 5+ years and simply being inadequate.

You'd think it'd have to be an Adebayor type deal where Chelsea are paying significant amounts of his wages, especially if he is looking to return to Spain. He did look better last season, imo, but not enough for most of those teams to pay a competitive wage for him I'd imagine there'd be interested from the rich in Eastern Europe and the new boys in France, simply on name, if he'd like to go.

He also is a 71 year old man who has managed football clubs through the course of five decades and won everything possible several times over. The guy was probably tired. If he made life decisions based on the actions of other football clubs, he would have retired in 2004 or 2008, and he would have been a weak man.

Who? People say these sorts of things, but I'd really like to know who they are referencing when they make these statements. Englishmen? The truth of the matter is that the club is a job for all its employees (more enjoyable for some than others of course)and that most players above a certain age will leave for a team in a higher division. I'd agree we lacked leadership, especially as our manager lost confidence and went into a strange self-preservation mode as soon as things got difficult.

I'm glad someone else sees common sense regarding David Luiz in midfield. He's terrible. Defensively, he's never where he's supposed to be, he carries the ball too much, makes foolish attempts to win possession, and constantly attempts 40 yard Hollywood passes. He's the sort of player you find a place for on the pitch because he has fantastic athleticism and ball skill, but he's still lacking in a few areas. Even as a defender, I'm not convinced by him. He isn't that young, either. Twenty-six is not a child in football terms. There are enough s*** teams in Spain to make him look good. I think Neymar will be fine. Getting out of Brazil is the best thing he could have done. It will have been hard for him to grow as a player and a person in that environment. When I watch him, the main issues seem to be that he lacks a bit of maturity in terms of his game and his personality and is too weak physically to consistently assert himself against grown men. He'll learn many things this season.

I honestly hear that about anyone with a bad reputation "Oh, I know he acts like a dickhead when everyone is looking but in real life he's a great bloke" You hear it, but it isn't really true, is it? It's just apologists making excuses. Most of the leagues known arseholes have at least as many scrapes off the pitch as on it. Whether it's fighting in nightclubs, f***ing around or just being a dick to people. Given how bad Suarez behaves on the field, you'd expect there to be at least a couple of off-field stories but there aren't any (at least that I'm aware of). Maybe he is just a coward? I doubt he would have the balls to go up to someone like Ivanovic when there isn't the ref, other players, tv etc.. and bite him. No idea why that's the case, nor am I trying to defend him. It just strikes me as something that sets him apart from the run-of-the-mill c*** footballer. The guy has always struck me as one of those type people with severe impulse problem or inner demons, rather than just an evil person. He's clearly extremely competitive to the point of being a dirty player, and most of his offences have been been "rush of blood" type moments. I seriously doubt he spent time making the decision to bite either Ivanovic or Bakkal. The guy got a bit annoyed, had a rush of adrenaline and lost his head. I seriously doubt he can control himself.

We played our best football under Pardew with a 442 and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Things worked well with 433 in an attacking sense but this was eventually found out defensively. That does still work well in some games though. 4231 and 451 have never worked well at this club and never will unless we have the right personnel, which we don't. Playing such systems just indicates us as a bottom half club. I'd say our best football last season came in March to April, when we won six consecutive matches while conceding one goal. We played a formation with one player upfront during this time. You say we were found out defensively, by which you mean we were soundly beaten by Wigan, but the next match was a brilliant victory against Chelsea. We have the personnel to make a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 make right now, much more so than a 4-4-2, anyway. With Carroll/Best sold and Gutierrez turned to rubbish, I think it's quite limiting because we don't have the strikers for it, nor the wide players. 4-3-3 suits our current wide players and midfielders much more.

Finished 2-2. Credit again to Mexico. They take these friendlies extremely seriously Easily the most competitive friendly we've played since the ones against Ghana. If Naija had gone down to 10 in a friendly it would have become an exercise in time wasting, but they were running like it was the World Cup final. Not impressed with SE tonight, there was little defensive organisation and some of these players Keshi is peddling simply aren't good enough. Still, that's what's friendlies are for, and there were quite a few individually impressive players. It's funny you had it on mute. I had the ESPN stream and these commentators are useless Mexican cheerleaders. Every single Nigerian name was said incorrectly. Every one. I muted in disgust when they compared the African champions to Jamaica.

Watching Nigeria vs. Mexico friendly in Houston. They were ripping through us in the first 20 minutes. Our midfield was nowhere to be seen, and luckily chicarito only converted one of his three or four chances. Then we got a penalty and a red card. It's 1-1 and Naija's on top now. Quite eventful for a friendly. Credit to the Mexicans as well. The games not even in their country and they've filled an 80,000 seat stadium with 90 percent Mexicans.

Yeah, pathetic man for wanting more money while also being part of an interesting project. I bet you wouldn't leave your job for a better paid one if you got the chance would you? It's a bit different when leaving a £40k a year job for a £50k a week one. Falcao could no doubt get an offer where he earns as much a week that most 'normal' people will get in a couple of years working. This argument never works for me. I really think that people don't appreciate the short length of sporting careers and the high level of expenses that top level athletes incur. Most of these footballers are only earning top wages from ages (18-21) to (32-36). This money has to last them the entirety of their lives, which is 40-50 years if they are fortunate. Footballers as a whole also have very little sense of financial management (uneducated people in their 20's) and often have to rely on others, who end up taking from them. Many of them also are expected to support entire groups of family and friends because they are "millionaires" (95 percent probably aren't). They should grab as much money as they should. Sorry I still don't buy this. As one of the best strikers in the world Falcao would likely get what £100,000 per week at this next club (minimum). So he is going to earn around £3.2m after tax per year. The average yearly wage after tax in the UK works out around £21,000 a year. So in ONE year he would earn enough to live 152 years by himself, 76 years as a couple or 38 years if he was completely supporting 2 kids. Yeah, I'm pretty confident top footballers earn enough money not to just go with who is offering the most More money is always more comfort. The average UK citizen does not have the expenses of Falcao. The average UK citizen has 30-40 more years of increasing earning potential, while the football well runs dry in the mid 30s. I always judge people's true wealth by how liquid they are, how much money and equity they actually have available to them that isn't tied in debt or expense. Like my family had much more money than most people in my country, but with bills to afford housing, schooling, and things of that nature, we never had much money for frivolities such as clothes, vehicles, and expensive food. Many footballers are the same as there expenses mean any sort of financial shock, such as the abrupt end of a career could see the in trouble. It's why so many end up penniless. There are obviously diminishing returns to increased wages at the upper echelon of wealth, as you've stated earlier, but this is less relevant when the time to earn is so short. I advise all footballers to be greedy.

Yeah, pathetic man for wanting more money while also being part of an interesting project. I bet you wouldn't leave your job for a better paid one if you got the chance would you? It's a bit different when leaving a £40k a year job for a £50k a week one. Falcao could no doubt get an offer where he earns as much a week that most 'normal' people will get in a couple of years working. This argument never works for me. I really think that people don't appreciate the short length of sporting careers and the high level of expenses that top level athletes incur. Most of these footballers are only earning top wages from ages (18-21) to (32-36). This money has to last them the entirety of their lives, which is 40-50 years if they are fortunate. Footballers as a whole also have very little sense of financial management (uneducated people in their 20's) and often have to rely on others, who end up taking from them. Many of them also are expected to support entire groups of family and friends because they are "millionaires" (95 percent probably aren't). They should grab as much money as they should.

People should calm down. It's not as though the man has gone to MLS or UAE. He's playing for one of the most historically successful clubs in one of the game's most prestigious nations. He's already won the Europa League twice, the Copa Del Rey, the Portuguese league once and is on course to lead his nation to the World Cup. In fact, I'd say he's already achieved more than Alan Shearer. I need someone to remind me again why all the best players should go to the same clubs. Five people made the same point, while I was typing this.

That's probably closer to 45 million as you can assume Chelsea will be paying almost all of Torres's wages.

Melo. When did he go back to Baltimore? I'd be excited and pleased with getting Carroll back at a cut price, but fifteen million is a ridiculous amount of money for a player that has been just average for two seasons. At the moment, it just doesn't represent value for money. I mean if you just compare him to someone like Aubameyang, who has been in the form of his life over the last two seasons, he'll cost more despite seeming to be a more risky investment. I wouldn't mind NUFC bringing in some good talent with experience in this league, but that shouldn't mean paying exorbitant fees and wages for uncertain and somehwat injury-prone prospects. Everton and West Brom have managed to bring in good British talent on a budget.

They did about as well as Chelsea did last year The champions league winning year, or the Uefa cup winning year? I'm massively confused about your comment tbh, although maybe I'm missing something? They did as well as Chelsea did in 2011-2012 when they finished below us. Their point totals are almost identical. They bought in a few good players and improved massively. I know people like to talk about the sheer amount of money Chelsea spent, but if you look at their first choice team only 2-3 players were different from the year before. Liverpool are in a transitional time and have a good base of talent. A few good purchases (they have the money) and they could easily challenge fourth.

ASEC have developed many world class players, tbf. Like who? Well maybe not World Class, but a near majority of the recent Cote D'Ivoire stars have come from that club. The Kalous, the Toures, Gervinho, Boka, Tiene, Eboue etc. Not Brazil '70, but if you look at the clubs these players are at and what they've accomplished it is very impressive for one generation.

Nigeria and Cameroon as well. I think Ghana had a reserve keeper, but that was all.

ASEC have developed many world class players, tbf.

Several nations in Africa have better international records than Ireland (probably at least 15 of them) and inferior leagues.

They did about as well as Chelsea did last year, and similar to them, they will spend money and bring in quality players. They also will have consistency in terms of management and have a lot of younger players who will improve. I think they have a great chance to finish above Spurs and challenge the top four. This is assuming they keep Suarez, obviously, but the talent is there.

I rate Bojan as a player, even though things have never really worked out for him at any of his clubs. He's a skillful, talented player. The problem is that he's a midget and incredibly lightweight. I'm not sure Stevie smacking long ball towards him would be productive for us or his career.

None of that rubbish works in real matches against real defenders. If it did Kerlon would be starring for Barcelona and Denilson would have won the golden ball. I have friends who can do crazy, skillful things with a football and bamboozle almost anyone, but it doesn't work on a big pitch with other athletes.

OM will finish above Monaco next season. The club in the principality will fail.

f*** you! Who are Barcelona? Some tin pot club that has only just recently been able to get someone to sponsor your shirt, and your best forward is a midget. Mickey mouse team. http://discussions.ghanaweb.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13567&p=20114 Do you often find yourself browsing Ghanaweb, VI?

Are you talking of Ancelotti? What did he achieve that was different from Mourinho? Their records are quite similar, in my opinion. I'm still waiting for the Premiership to have a 3-5 team title race. With all the money and talent at the top, there's been a potential for a really great one for some time now, but it always seems confined to two teams by January.