SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2022/23

Haha, not quite that bad as i doubt anybody who actually saw him play wouldn't rank him highly. If nobody had heard of him but City paid an 80 million dollar transfer fee for him you'd still see him these "best" lists even before he started banging them in.

 

I know I was just fucking around. Poking fun because there are memes out there that say stuff like that.

 

As Gretzky was know as the "Great One" the media dubbed Lindros "The Next One". He was a great player and deserving of the hype actually. Was he on that level? Not quite, but he was a great talent. He suffered so many concussions some NFL players would think it was messed up. If he had stayed healthy his career would have been looked at more fondly. Even as is he still made the hockey hall of fame. (although not first ballot)

I don't think i've ever seen Adu play. Clearly labelling somebody so young as "the next Pele" is ridiculous but i honestly don't know if it was 100% hype or he actually showed such amazing potential people honestly thought he would be the next big thing.

 

Oh i don't doubt it. Yes, the EPL is extremely strong and arguably the best, today but to listen to some of these morons you'd believe it was like the NBA compared to a bunch of regional rec. leagues.

 

I never saw him play either, but I have a hunch that even at max potential he probably wasn't good enough for a top 5 league.

The American media saw a Black kid with above average skill who was living over here and said, "Ohhhhhh Pele!!" because that's the only talented Black player in history they can name.

 

It might have even been that bad, i honestly have no idea how good he was or could have been. Guess i'll look it up and see what i can find.

 

After a cursory search on Adu it seems like he was simply ones of those kids who developed very early and was far beyond his peers at a young age. I guess the thinking was so if he's this far ahead now, imagine how great he will be in the future. Then Nike and the MLS became involved and he became the youngest player to sign a pro contract at 14.

From one article i read: "there's a difference between being able to play with the 15-year-olds at 12 and playing against guys who have built up their strength into their 20s at 14."

Exactly right. So in other words it sounds like he was simply a talented kid who matured very early but his athleticism plateaued and his footballing skill couldn't make up for it.

 

Soooooooooo, you can neither confirm nor deny that he could have been as good as Pele? Got it!

 

I'm rewatching USA vs Netherlands.

My two takeaways:

1. Pulisic will never live down the sitter he missed early on. A top player absolutely should have put that shit away. You don't even have to be Mbappe or Salah. I mean Jota on Celtic would have put that opportunity away.

2. Jesus Ferrerira was absolutely fucking worthless as our starting 9. Like I said, he had a really good year in MLS, but he looked like a fish outta water on the world stage.

 

I cannot.

 

I think a lot of the hype which gets attached to teen players is attributable to early puberty. At 14-15 you can get biological 19 year olds playing biological 12 year olds. Id look like Pele against a 12 year old!

 

In fact that's pure online braggadocio...12 year olds would run rings round me at this stage.

 

As long as you play with Zimmerman / Ream as your central defenders, you are rooting for a lost cause. They have absolutely no idea what to do with the ball. Van Gaal gave clear instructions to leave those 2 unguarded during the match. This automatically means they will come into ball possession, and they didn’t have a fuckin clue what to do with it. Forcing them to play it long, wich meant 99% of those long balls ended up with Van Dijk. Van Gaal knew this.

 

Even more, USA started with only 4 defenders instead of 5. This gave room for our wingbacks (Blind/Dumfries) to use all that free space in front of them. Resulting in all 3 goals.

Senegal, Quatar and Ecuador played 5 defenders against us, giving no room for our wingbacks. Rendering them ineffective. I expect Argentine to play 5 defenders against us, neutralizing Blind/Dumfries.

 

It seems like a lot players aren't trained how to dribble or run with the ball. Almost like the thinking is if you're a defender it's not an important skillset which is wrong. Of course you don't try to make them into vintage Brazilians with fancy footwork but if they're at least adequate at handling the ball they will feel also comfortable with it. Many of the players first instinct is to just get rid of it as fast as possible. Of course in some scenarios it's the best course of action but not every time there is any form of attack going on. If you just hammer the ball away you've eliminated any chance at possible counter-play and just given possession back to your opponent.

 

Freddy Adu??? More Like Freddy A-Don’t!!!



REED

 

France is allowing Poland to hang in there. That's never safe.

 

Ugh so close

 

Giroud scores for France. All time French leading goal scorer. Not bad for a lamp post like Arsenal fans said.

 

Watching Fox, they wanna spend halftime "analyzing" the USA's loss. Fucks sake!

We got whipped by a far superior team. Analysis over. Focus on the teams who actually advanced.

 

Poland playing very well. Shame about giving up the goal right before the half.

 

Goodbye, Poland.

 

Game, set and match.

M’Bappe doing his thing.

 

Oh well they tried

 

Poland = shit

A waste of a spot at every major tournament. Pointless.

MTF

 

That Giroud touch. That Mbappe finish. That was pure class from France.

 

Mexico probably would have been just as hopeless.

 

The fuck you on about they played well. France is the fucking reigning champ. This ain't south korea buddy

 

'Played well' my hole. They've had one good chance and have been timid as fuck throughout. The same as against Argentina - just laid down and waited to be beaten.

Shite.

MTF

 

Lewandowski is pretty worthless at the WC.