Mole_Toonfan

Aye nowt to do with the other 10 players on the team like. Did i say that? anyway we cant use that excuse for Zidane he was usually playing for the best team in the world pretty much his whole career..... He was poor in the majority of semi's and final's ( CL ) by his own high standards but it all gets forgotten because of his France exploits. Another example of World Cup overstating what players actually where.... Cannavaro is another one he was a great player but he was'nt even Nesta's league but history will tell you otherwise.

Bayern would'nt sign a player to put a young player that came through their system on the bench..... it's just not the Bayern way, if Bayern signed Debuchy then he would most likely be behind Alaba in the pecking order.

No. there's a reason he only won 1 CL despite being surrounded by WC players his whole career.... usually when CL semi's and final's came around for both Juventus and Madrid he didnt produce anywhere near his best. Of course he saved his CV by scoring that goal against Leverkusen.... but he did'nt accomplish anywhere near as much as Messi has or perform consistently as he has at club level. Zidane was exactly like Laudrup in that way..... both wonderfully gifted players but nowhere near as consistent as people claim and remembered for what they could do rather than what they didnt do.... both their club career's are like highlight reels. Platini was head and shoulders above both of them. Does'nt make Zidane a bad player, he's one of the most talented i have ever seen but he was nowhere near as consistent as people claim. Personally when i look at Greatest players i like to see how consistent they were and Zidane while more talented than Messi IMO was nowhere near as consistent.

if he chose to join us ahead of any of those three i'd f***ing get a tattoo of the lad on my face and try to marry him tbh Inter are going nowhere and they are not even in the CL and at Bayern he would sit on the bench..... although there's no reason other than what Cabaye has said to turn down Chelsea for us. He also seems to want play in England, so that seems to cancel out the likes of Bayern and Inter straight away.

Zidane was no way near as good at club level as he was for France..... his career is like a highlight reel.... everyone will remember him for the amazing things he was able to do with the ball but he was nowhere near consistent enough and often failed to produce when it mattered at club level. Of course all that doesnt matter because he drove France to success, but i think its something that needs to be noted in this discussion. His style is the main reason he's praised as highly as he is, but he was a highly inconsistent player at club level.

I'd love it if we signed him but i cant see it unfortunatly..... think we are more focused on CF, CM, RB and CB atm and i think if we signed those 4 players that will do us unless some players leave out of the blue. Schalke are getting a very good player for nothing if true.

It is the Daily star but still.....

Tbh i'm not even certain they will play 4-3-1-2 as theres been rumours going around they will play 4-3-3 with Giovinco and Cassano either side of Balotelli. There's quite a few different systems they could with, so all this talk from me about them lacking width could actually be null and void come kick off. Excited anyway.

I would'nt worry about Johnson being exposed due to how narrow Italy are, they are playing like Milan in that aspect all the attacks tend to come through the middle. Although bringing Milner inside would make the system a bit lop-sided which i doubt Roy would do it would also mean Johnson would have to have the whole wing by himself which i dont see happening either. Sort of a catch-22 here.... either leave Milner out there and try and exploit the lack of width Italy have or bring Milner inside and try and combat what is Italy's strength. I know what Roy will do.... 4-4-f*ckin2 but i do understand arguments for both ways.

Perch played RB a fair bit towards the end of the season too, i'm not worried about lacking numbers once Simpson leaves in that position at least.

Italy will go with a midfield narrow diamond 4 with Pirlo at top of the diamond and Motta at the tip of it and Marchisio and DDR in the middle they will definitely outnumber us in there no matter how much Rooney drops deep. The best thing for us to combat this is try to get wide as much as possible and bring our fullbacks forward and try and get in 2 v 1 situations outwide and bring the likes of Marchsio and De Rossi outwide.... then we will have a numbers advantage in the middle and Gerrard and Rooney can stamp thier authority in the middle. In any case the key for us will be to exploit the lack of width Italy have.

Agreed defensively the only issue i have with Simpson is how consistenly just backs off and lets people run at him..... its in possession and offering f*ck all going forward that annoys me more than anything. Said before i'd like to see him stay, but only as a squad player but he obviously thinks differently.

Yeah he did make the mistake against Croatia but that aside he was fantastic in both games before his injury.... easily thier best defender. Although Barzagli has had a fantastic season and him and Bonucci obviously know each other from club level and Abate and Balzaretti are good defensively but dont offer much going forward. Will be a tough game IMO and i still think this game is 50/50 it could easily go either way..... Italy will have the advantage in midfield so we should try and use the width of the pitch as much as possible as they will play very narrow. We could possibly gets some joy outwide. As for Welbeck or Carroll.... theres fair arguments for either one but i do think Roy will go with Welbeck keep the continuity going and all that.

I know, i just came across it and felt like posting us..... I'm aware stats are not be used as fact and we already know how much of an upgrade Debuchy would be and yes i'm also grateful for Simpson's service to the club and helping us get back to this level.

Stat's dont tell the whole story but it shows in someways how much of an upgrade we would be getting if we got him Simpson v Debuchy:Apps 35 |Tackles pg 1.9-2.8|Aerials won pg 0.7-2.1|Interceptions pg 0.7-2.1|Clearances pg 3.6-4.3|Blocked shots pg 0.5-0.3

Aye forgot about Cavani.... did'nt say Llorente although he's been great i dont think he's been top 5 great.... in any case how Del Bosque dont pick him is beyond me.

Falcao too..... Benzema was brilliant this season though if we are not going to include Messi and Ronaldo then he's definitely top 3 for this season for me along with Zlatan and RVP. Rooney was great in front of goal and when Man U needed him to score he usually came up with the goods but he sacrificed his overall play for goals a lot like whole he did a few years ago when he obtained a similar goal haul... where as Zlatan and Benzema scored goals by the bucketload and create shit loads too. Benzema has been poor in this tournament though, which has about as much to do with adapting than anything else.... he was told to play like he does in Madrid but unfortunatly France dont have players like Ronaldo, Higuian and even Di Maria making runs beyond Benzema when he drops deep. Quality player though, theres no doubt about that.....

Oh well he's back to where he's loved now.

He was..... thier midfield is lost without him and defensively they were poor and going forward none of the attackers turned up.... Easily the best player.

Hardly expected him to perform that well on the right wing in anycase.... this should put an end to the saga pretty one way or another. Hopefully we get him.

Koscielny is'nt slow at all, if anything he's fast lol......

Seeing that system again i think i know what Blanc's doing ( its annoying defensive but i see it) the idea of Ribery off Benzema and Debuchy and Malouda on the wings smacks of basically copying what Bilic did against Spain... i.e. double up in wide areas, place Ribery on Busquets, get M'vila and Cabaye to deal with Alonso and Xavi and quite frankly we all saw how well that worked for Croatia. Benzema will need to understand he's not a freaking midfielder though.

Ah this is a proper park job, with the hope that Debuchy and Revelliere will take advantage of what 2 v 1's they get as will Ribery and Clichy on the other side and as pointed out relying heavily on Ribery and Benzema to carry the attack.

Oh so that's why Revelliere is coming in then... interesting choice from Blanc if so i wonder who will else will form this midfield 4 and how the rest of the team lines up.