SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2021/22

Still have to watch the highlights, only saw the scoreline. Would have been sweeter if it was a league game being BvB is only a point off the top and Haaland is injured.

 

A shame that Liverpool's title chase will likely be scuppered by the African Cup of Nations - ridiculous that this competition runs every two years

 

And FIFA is trying to push the WC of all things to every two years.

 

I can't see how some ppl call this guy overrated. He was out of this fucking world:

 

It's why i hate the terms "underrated/overrated". Context is everything. To some people (mainly Brazilians) it's hero worship with a helping of nostalgia bias. Think of the guys who say if Wilt Chamberlain was around today he'd average 100 per night blindfolded playing with one arm kind of thing. Then you have the detractors. Many of which of course are Argentinian. To them Maradona is not just a footballing great but a god. To suggest somebody was greater is sacrilegious. Overrated would almost be a compliment.

Remove the emotionally attached, the trolls/haters and you get a more realistic assessment. He's widely considered the GOAT by many. Once you have that title attached to you it's inevitable the overrated term will be heard.

 

How woukd yall rate Michael Owen?

 

Great goalscorer but I don't know if I'd call him a great player. He had the potential to be one but serious injuries cost him his pace and confidence (which he admitted to recently). He was still good enough to adapt his game and become the kind of striker who knew where to be at the right time without doing a whole lot of running, which allowed him to keep the goal tally ticking over, but he wasn't the player he could have been. Hut also made a good point that despite playing alongside many great forwards over the years, he never really formed a great strike partnership with anyone, which I think has to count against him.

 

I've been watching clips on Di Stefano - this guy has gotta be in the GOAT conversation. He basically played every damn position, then would be on the sidelines smoking cigarettes. What a badass!

I think Di Stefano was Maradona's idol.

 

I haven't seen a whole lot of Di Stefano but from what I have seen I agree, he was brilliant and had a smooth and creative style. Puskas is another guy I'd recommend checking out from that era if you haven't already.

 

Saw Puskas. I think he played with Di Stefano, if I'm not mistaken.

 

Yep that's right, they were part of the all-comquering Real Madrid side of the 50's.

 

Stoichkov was quite a devastating striker, it appears:

 

All things point to Xavi being Koeman’s replacement . Announcement is expected any day now.

 

Seems like another 'appointment by association' rather than credentials.

 

I guess they're doing it because Rijkaard and Pep had a lot of success, the difference was Barcelona had great players when they took over, this current lot are rubbish.

 

Dembele who they bought for a 100 million has contributed very little is now asking for a raise.

 

Watched highlights of Mbappé last night. Damn, highly impressive, and he's only 22??

Seems that barring a career-altering injury, or loss of focus, that he'll be scary good by time he hits his mid-20s.

 

Damn, as a football novice i really asked two days ago if MLS had any top 10 players. Come to find out they're like the 14-15th ranked league in the world lmaooooooo!

No wonder Slice said no MLS player is a top 1000 player.

Speaking of lower leagues, does anyone here watch the K-league? I might check out a few games from the Asians, especially considering that K-league games are free to watch online.

 

Mbappe is class and I'm a big fan but he's been in really poor form for the past year. Not sure what's going on as physically he seems fine but he's missing chances that a player of his calibre was putting away for fun before. A lot of people are blaming the arrival of Messi at PSG as unsettling him but he was shit for France at international level during the Euro's too. Form is temporary, class is permanent as they say so I'm sure he'll sort it out soon, I hope so because as you say his potential is crazy high.

 

I don't know much about the K-League I'm afraid, I did use to watch the J-League back in the late 90s/early 2000s as they used to show it on Sky Sports. The standard then was actually pretty decent and I can imagine it can only have improved as more European stars have gone there. Plus I remember one of the teams (Kashima Antlers I think) giving Real Madrid a really good game in the Club World Cup a few years ago. So if the J-League standard is decent I imagine the K-League wouldn't be too far off.

 

Damn. That sucks to hear. Perhaps its just a prolonged slump, but yeah, as an A-level talent perhaps he needs to his own club to really shine. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

We'll see. He's far more than an "afleet" and a terrific player but his speed is clearly his best asset. For now it's more than enough but as injuries inevitably mount up the pace will decline. He also seems to have a bit of a diva attitude being one of the highest payed players in the world for being only 22.

 

Not surprising. His whole generation is a bunch of divas.

 

And Giresse, aka Le Carre Magique, the Magic Square.

 

Yeah sometimes it's vomit inducing. Years ago there was a player from Man City (one of the richest and highest paying clubs the world) publicly complaining that the club didn't do enough to celebrate his birthday. Are you fucking serious!?

Not only there a pile of divas, there are these so called super agents who are more than happy to enable their egos. I'm confident they often push it and do it in the name of "doing what's best for their client".

It's complete coincidence it's what's best financially for the agent as well but nobody talks about that. The big money is arranging all these transfers they get huge commissions from. If a player is content with their current team and contract there's no more money for them. Hence it would be best for them to move on to "better things."

 

Those super-agents are an absolute disease on the sport, no doubt. The guy who is/was Raheem Sterling's agent is a real piece of work.

 

Mino Raiola is one of the worst that i know of. Google his client list. It's an example of the common denominator. Talented, but rich and entitled.

If i was the director of a club i'd have a list of agents to simply not work with.

 

Watching La Liga this morning.

Vini Jr. on RMA looks class.

 

Sevilla looking solid so far against Osasuna. Better than I’ve seen them in a long time.

La Liga is definitely wide open this season.

 

What happened today at Anfield costs the Bookies a lot of money and costs Liverpool the title.