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I thought he was a serious prospect the season he assaulted Haidara and Wigan won the FA Cup. He has done nothing since this time.

Atsu has far, far too much talent to be in this division, but as others have mentioned his career has truly stalled over the last few seasons and he spent last year warming Bournemouth's bench. I think a loan to buy option would be prudent as the prospect of leaving the endless Chelsea loan wheel of death will be a real incentive. This is a good opportunity for him to relaunch his career, and he provides something truly lacking with Ayoze upfront and Townsend being Pardewed.

3-1, and Ben Arfa is finally called upon. OG is unfortunate for Aurier, but there was a 0% chance of Sidibe converting with him there. Guy was falling down and exhausted.

He is, they've just decided to bring on Matuidi instead.

Definite penalty. Very silly from Rakitic.

Maybe they will now win the league by 20 points rather than 30. Great match, Athletic has been very competitive. I am mostly enjoying the sheer arrogance of ter Stegen, though.

The feeling is appreciated and reciprocated. Does he generally start at right back for the US or is it Cameron?

I've not seen enough of Sels, but Elliot and Darlow? Come on, man. He's in another league to both. The Krul of a few years ago was, yeah, without question. He's gone backwards massively since though imo and I can't see that much of a difference tbh. Not quite sure which Tim Krul people are harking back to sometimes. The one who's get serious deficiencies but is still easily a PL goalkeeper. Elliot isn't and Darlow isn't yet. He's still the best keeper we have but I'll not lose any sleep about losing a keeper with serious deficiencies if it also gives the likes of Darlow experience to become better. Darlow is only 2.5 years younger than Krul and the same age as me. He is no child learning the game. He is a fully developed adult who been around a fair bit and experienced the English game for many years now without ever standing out in the way Krul had done by the same age. There is just no evidence he has anywhere near the same talent. Rob Elliot showed significantly more than him last season. I will essentially be shut out from watching matches until we (lord-willing) procure promotion once more, so I have no idea of Sels' ability.

Outside of Sissoko, NUFC have been one of he slowest and least athletic sides, at least at Premier League level for quite a while. I welcome the injection of pace. Yedlin can hide his technical and mental deficiencies quite well at this level, imo, and should be extremely useful this season.

The biggest problem is that the success of last season was largely based on the fantastic performances of Ighalo and Deeney, and I don't think either player is as good as they showed in the previous campaign. Ighalo especially seems to have continued his decline in form, badly missing good chances in the first two matches. It could be a good spot for Janmaat, however. I think he will benefit from playing with forwards who actually attack the ball and occupy centrebacks.

What a load of s****. If Ronaldo has Higuain on his side instead of Eder, he would right now be wasting away shirtless in a puddle of his own tears and woe. Fwiw, Messi has been brilliant in WC 2010 and 2014 and Copa 2016, just without the final medal. As today showed, a team winning is not simply a matter of how well the star plays.

This is the best description of it. The anticipation before every match and the media hyping was a pretty girl, but every time she turned around to show herself, there was nothing but disappointment. It was long and it was boring. I have no animosity towards them, but Portugal are a terrible tournament winner. Iceland and Hungary both finished ahead of them in the group and it took heroics to sneak through in third place. Today was the first time they impressed, simply for their resilience. France didn't really struggle for goals, but with all the talent they left at home, it is senseless that Gignac managed to appear five times. I like the player, but he is not the one to change things and is too similar to Giroud in any case.

This game is not even particularly defensive. It is just extremely poor. Ridiculously tedious, but I have already wasted 100 minutes watching, so it makes sense to follow until the end.

Benteke is definitely a better option ,imo but I have a very low opinion of Bony currently. Last season it seemed as though he had no interest and may have seen his physical gifts diminish. I don't know why Pellegrini continued playing him at all, tbh. I can see him being a massively expensive flop for some mid-table team.

Germany, Spain, and France are a cut above everyone else in terms of winning the competition, imo. I would also caution against conclusions after two matches, especially with a format such as this that gives incentive for conservative play. edit: I do rate this England farily highly, though.

While i understand where you are coming from, are you going to say this every time they buy a player? Probably Man City are just so annoying. Can see a lot of players there getting screwed. Bony and Sterling for starters. Wish we were still in the prem and could go for Bony. Bony has been given every chance and been complete rubbish. I am more concerned for Kelechi. He showed himself a top talent last season and will now be playing in the reserves after Man City sign Aubameyang, Lewandowski, Nolito, and every other top forward. Maybe NUFC can loan him in January after his one league cup appearance.

Russia have been horrible. Their attacking play is amateur.

For me, marriage has always been related to financial stability. In my case, the birth of a child has accelerated things ever so slightly, but like most younger people, I wanted to have progressed in career and life goals before permanently attaching myself to a woman. For footballers, the most financially stable period of life is their mid twenties to early thirites (maybe 24-31), after they have come through the trials and tribulations of stepping up to professional level and before age prejudice limits clubs' interest in signing them and available opportunities. Why wait? As for cheating, it is rampant everywhere. Look at the best couple you know, it is likely one of them has cheated or come close. For some reason, I've always thought Kante would struggle to make his mark at the biggest clubs. Can easily see him reduced to a specialist. Don't doubt his talent, but think he may actually be far better suited to a team like Leicester.

Leicester have been heavily linked to Musa all through January and now in the summer. I wonder if they see him as Vardy's replacement. He is even faster than Vardy and really thrives on team that counter-attack, but has some real shortcomings and hasn't anywhere near the presence, intelligence, or composure. Maybe Raineri will work magic on him too. The fact they were linked to Musa in January leads me to believe Vardy/Vardy's agents may have been making noises about leaving for some time. It seems very odd to me that he would sign a new contract in February (when it was clear Leicester were very serious) with such an easily attainable clause. It is more like "first big contract" for a player of his caliber. He (Eric Bailly) has all the physical tools, but nothing of the few games I've seen from him in Spain or for Elephants would make you think he is one of the best in the world, as the price indicates. It is difficult to see him displacing Smalling or Jones as well. Mourinho must think he can transform him. Umtiti seems off to Barcelona.

If Sturridge is fit, he should play every second for England, imo. I honestly believe he is your best player. The defense is a weakness, tbh. Cahill can be a liability at times.

I refuse to believe Akinfenwa is only 16 stone. You've misunderstood the point. I'm clear on the fact that according to the rules it's only a yellow card. But in the spirit of the game - those should be reds imo and the rules should be updated for it. Btw if red was the punishment or he was already on a yellow, I'm certain Ramos commits the foul anyway. Partly because he's Ramos but it's STILL a worthwhile red to take. Last minute of extra time. The fact he stays on the pitch is simply a double win. I didn't misunderstand you. I just disagree with every single aspect of the point you are trying to make.

The same. He was a great player for NUFC for a good period of time. The decline and general lack of interest have been evident for a while, though. It is flagrant that he was theoretically still an important part of the team.

That is just intelligent defending and a good understanding of the rules. You are only allowed to perform the act once, anyway, so if referees apply the rules properly, it really should not be an issue.

Oblak was rubbish in the shootouts against PSV and Madrid. He has faced probably fifteen penalties in these two matches and not come remotely close to saving any of them. I wonder how many times Pardew performed that dance in his mirror before deciding to do it in front of 100,000 people and looking right toward a camera so the entire world could see.

He looked offside on the replay.