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Chelsea took Atletico to their home and mande them their wife, so I doubt this will happen.

I don't entirely disagree with your point, but Sturridge has had more than one season in the first team. He had a half season with Bolton when he was the main striker, was an important part of Chelsea's squad the year they won the CL, and walked into Liverpool's first team after being injured for most of the early season (at Chelsea).

Atleast 2 years too late. As much as 4 years imo. I never understand such comments about international retirement. He is a once great and still very good player that made himself available for selection. There was no contractual obligation to pick and start him continuously. I'm interested to see what sort of player Barkley will be molded into, someone more attacking, or one dictating from further back. He's a rough, uncut diamond and an extraordinary talent.

Mourinho doing favours for his mate. From what I've heard he was great there last season and I thought he was decent during the WC. It is annoying and he is better than the Championship. He's shown his class and ability for his country while also excelling at every level at which he's played. Should be testing himself in France or at a lower PL side, if Chelsea don't want to give him matches. Boro should be strong defensively. I think Ben Gibson is also a player who will be above that level quite soon.

Lukaku has started one competitive match for Chelsea in his career there, and this was when Mourinho managed Real Madrid.

I predict he knocks less Premiership goals next season than last season.

It makes no sense whatsoever, imo, given that they have Lukaku who is significantly better at this point and fifteen years younger. Jose seems determined to sell him for reasons I will never understand.

I think they'll finish fourth. Remy did well here, but as a signing for a side trying to win a title/CL he's very underwhelming, imo. He won't do anything special at Anfield.

It's madness, that. I'm not sure. Sunderland are in a pretty desperate position, and Borini was their best player for the majority of last season, imo. There isn't likely to be an adjustment period, he has proven he can be a success there, and they are not likely to get anyone better. It would be the equivalent of NUFC overspending for Remy or Everton for Lukaku.

You would have to ask Keshi in his infinite wisdom on both counts. He was a starter in the Cups of Nations and CC, had a few bad games for the SE and was completely discarded. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish, he's shown himself to be an all-round contributor and hard worker for the national team and has a decent record in two slid leagues. The Premiership is always different, though.

I think Manu will be just alright in this league, tbh, nothing special, which is unfortunate because we've struggled under Pardew whenever there hasn't been one striker in incredible form.

Gouffran should be playing upfront or as a genuine wide-forward, not imitating the role that Kuyt played in the World Cup. You'll see a marked improvement.

Perfect club for Ba, tbh. Turkey and Russia are definitely the spot for talented African strikers who would star in midtable sides, are motivated by money, would fail at top clubs, and still want a competitive league/environment. See: Sow, Emenike, N'Doye, Doumbia, Musa, etc. Add Ba now.

Hmm, from what I remember I enjoyed Germany v Ghana second half The second half of that match was easily the best of the tournament, imo, anyway. Two strong teams that just continually exploited each others weaknesses ruthlessly and gave everything. Was typified by Ayew yelling for a maniac for about five minutes after his goal, Kroos looking completely exhausted over the free-kick at the end, and Muller sprawled out the pitch covered in bllod after the whistle. This was my favourite day of the tournament (second Saturday) in general, tbf. Argentina-Iran nearly being the biggest upset in the history of the WC, probably (and terrifying me in terms of the group), aforementioned German-Ghana match, and Nigeria-Bosnia an open, exciting match between two strong, talented, but ultimately flawed sides decided by thinnest of margins. I also thoroughly enjoyed the first Saturday with four matches. Dominant Colombia, stunning Costa Rica, two European powers battling with traditional English fall/hysteria, and CIV coming back.

Based on what? Have you seen a lot of Riviere? Yes. Very good athlete and a hard worker, but not a great amount of quality, imo. The word "average" is just about fitting for him in terms of a Premiership striker. In fairness to him, he did seem to improve from his form at Toulose and St. Ettiene and was impressive in the first half of last season with some big goals, tapered off a bit towards the end. He'd be fine as an option, just not too exciting.

That's something I've noticed about Messi before, and cannot remember another player that was similar. He often looks like he can barely walk, then gets the ball and beats three defenders with ridiculous ease. It makes it difficult to tell if he really is fatigued or just resting during the match.

Riviere is inferior to Gouffran. Not particularly interested, but depth is something the side lacks up front.

I agree but clustered together? I'm looking forward to it, especially as Brazilians don't need a visa (at least for now). I just mean that all the cities and host sites are in Europe, with none in Asia/Siberia (not logistical genius or anything, just the way of things tbf), so the travel will be relatively comparable to Brazil despite Russia being probably more than twice as large.

I really do not understand the problem people have with Russia in 2018. Great football history. Host cities clustered together to make travel less difficult. Fantastic match times for Europe/Africa. Culturally, it is very different to Brazil, but this is the same with every tournament. Like South Africa and Brazil before it, Russia has many blemishes it will need to cover up, but there is no reason to think it won't be successful in this cause. Qatar logistically makes no sense whatsoever, but an incredible sum of money will be thrown towards making it palatable if we ever even get to that stage.

Messi looked tired throughout the entire of the season, imo, and is back playing high pressure football at the highest level in little more than a month. He has carried so much on him the last 6+ years. Fatigue is very natural. Their attacking players outside of Messi generally just did not perform well in this tournament at all, given the standard they set at the club level.

The guy tried, tbh. In the end, he looked tired and didn't have a great final, but some of his teammates who are generally highly regarded and coveted club players let him down. There was plenty of space to exploit today with Germany pushing up the field and everyone's eyes on Messi. Man carried them on his back to beat competitive sides in Bosnia, Belgium, Nigeria, and Switzerland and a bus in Iran. They came against better sides in the semi and final and it just didn't work anymore. Messi's game is not really about explosive athleticism. He may have lost some pace by 2018, but he'll still have the best feet in the world, great passing ability, and be a great finisher. This is but a chapter in his great World Cup work. Maybe the climax before the triumphant end. We will see.

Why take risks on potential gems from smaller leagues when proven quality like McCormack is readily available for the same price? Poor decision.

Gouffran should be played as a striker at this point.

Every major confederation have their championship between now and EURO 2016 in less than two years time. Fantastic for people like me who prefer it to the club game. Fair. Cease fire. FIRST PLACE!!

Germany allow 3 meaningful goals, all to African sides. Argentina allow 4 goals in total, 2 scored by Nigeria. I am genuinely a pathetic person at the heart of things, so of course the is some sad solace in this. Congratulations to the Germans. I was strongly supporting Argentina and they really wasted a chance to win here. The two opportunities gifted to Higuain and Palacio respectively need to be goals at this level of football. Messi's chance was a difficult angle, but I really expected the net to bulge. Argentina's Achille's heel in this tourney was surprisingly a lack of attacking quality to surround Messi. Higuan and Aguero genuinely had terrible tournaments, Lavezzi was useful only in spurts, and Palacio didn't look like he belonged, frankly. The auxiliary attackers had so much room to exploit today and just couldn't do anything with it. They haven't all tournament. In the end, Argentina had the better chances, but Germany were the better side overall, and Die Mannschaft are probably the correct victors of the tournament.