Village Idiot

Start ahead of who? My three would be Sandro/Huddlestone/Dembele. Haven't seen enough of Holtby in Premier League to make my mind up on him (impressed in this tourney though). Aye, Spurs' regular midfield isn't creative at all. Very dynamic, but not creative.

Only know him from FM, he's decent there. Fucking hard name to cheer to, though.

Probably not the way they've been playing over the last 12 months or so. Agree in general though, a World Cup in SA needs Uruguay there. A WC held in Brazil of all places needs the Uruguay-Argentina-Brazil trifecta, preferably with a rigged draw and bribed referees so we get knockout games between them. There's just so much stuff in play between these lot. The only thing barely entertaining about Venezuela is Chavez and he kicked the bucket already.

Fucking shame if Uruguay missed out, like.

But it's 11 players playing that style. It's different when 10 are playing differently to 1. Like how Cesc isn't a CM in Spanish football anymore. But that's down to a manager putting out a cohesive side with players that complement each other, not that a particular style or player can't compete in the league.

Problem with Cesc is that his best position is - rightfully - owned by Andrés Iniesta, not that his "style" isn't fit to the team/league.

Incidentally I always found the "XXXX or YYYY doesn't work in this league" argument to be bollocks. It's not like English teams don't get beat by European teams that use the exact kind of players and tactics that supposedly "don't work". It's all about how good the players are and how well you execute the plan.

We're talking if central playmakers "work" in the PL. Scholes was a playmaker but at the crisp of his career he played behind the strikers. He's arguably remained a driving force for ManU when he moved to the middle of the park, though.

Modric.

I haven't seen him been enough of a dribbler or pacey enough for that role. To me he's a central playmaker, give him a bodyguard and let him move the ball around.

Fighting for 4th place is something achievable and something one can try to work towards to (in Spain 3rd and 4th places are very open, look at Real Sociedad this season for example), compared to just waiting and hoping a sugar daddy takes a liking to your club. ManU and Chelsea wouldn't have cemented a Top 4 place with a working FFP policy. Not that I'm denying that revenues shouldn't be adjusted, but that will be hard to achieve in the short term at least.

tbh I have issues with FFP, in theory its great if looked at just on the surface but when you take into account just how much extra the champions league cash brings for those in there in reality its just setting the status quo in stone It is, but that's more an issue of EL/CL revenue structure than the FFP itself.

Neil's on fire lately.

The CAS has upheld Málaga's one-year continental ban. Feel sorry for them, but FFP would have died even before it was fully in effect if CAS had overturned it.

Italians, too. Wasn't there a joke about Italian tanks having more gears for running backwards than forwards?

I'd say is something like Tiote-Cabaye-Sissoko?

NUFC's starting midfield three has outscored Barça's starting midfield three. I don't see the complains about "goals from midfield". It's more about the guys upfront and how you set about to create chances, imho.

By the way, has he said something about Anita? I still haven't figured him out myself... kind of player that you watch and see he's obviously a decent football player yet he doesn't seem to fit well anywhere.

That was the puzzler for me, as I said in another thread his numbers are pretty much in line with say, Yaya Touré's, even a bit better. He's not going to be Frank Lampard but his end product is just fine. He isn't really creative is what the scout is getting at. Obviously he makes thinks happen because of his running and presence. Hence why I am drawing the Touré comparison. I think the problem comes when you play, say, Tiote-Cabaye-Sissoko which is a good mix of styles for a 3-man midfield, but don't supplement it with a creative player in one of the wings.

That was the puzzler for me, as I said in another thread his numbers are pretty much in line with say, Yaya Touré's, even a bit better. He's not going to be Frank Lampard but his end product is just fine.

Hello, ex-scout Paul Montgomery, do you think I should have sausage or veggie cream for lunch?

Totally agree, especially considering who it actually went to. Mirrors a little bit when he was frontrunner for the Barça job and the president ended up appointing Guardiola. Always thought that's where a lot of his bitterness towards us came from.

Serious lack of goals in that team. If the new CF is Messi and wide player is Bale it will do Seriously though I do think we have goals in this team, we just don't play a style to give them a chance. I think Cisse, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Marveaux, Gouffran and Sissoko could all chip in with more than they did last season. Far worse players in this league seem to get their fair share. 6 in 26 and 3 in 12 are great returns for two central midfielders, both had a better ratio than Yaya Touré for example...

Well we already have three of them. And two play at once. I get what you mean though, it does seem too good to be true. They probably think Colo isn't staying longterm too, gotta tie down a partnership going into the future if the chance presents itself. I thought teams were barred from having more than two senior natural CBs in the squad anyway? That's how it works over here.