Post: #251

Scholes - so sad one of the greatest players of all time never got settled in the England team. England is forever shooting themselves in the foot.

Zinedine Zidane once said Scholes was definitely the best midfielder of his generation.

Post: #252

(05-11-2013 05:50 PM)cardguy Wrote:  

(05-11-2013 04:04 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Neymar will be horribly shown up in Europe. That's just my opinion of course. He's not that good a player. The Brazilians hype players up to a crazy level, Robinho for example.

Always knew Robinho would be a flop. Another player I always thought was overrated was Samuel Eto'o.

Eto'o overrated, you must be kidding. He is a marksman to say the least and was wonderful when he played for Inter/Barcelona.

Robinho was a great player but does not give his all, he has a poor attitude.

I hope Mancini does not get the boot after today's lost.

Post: #253

Newcastle is safe, Norwich is safe, Sunderland and Southampton duking it out. Lets see if Wigan pulls one on Arsenal this week, and then we may have a deathmatch between them and Aston Villa.

Post: #254

Ole ole, ole ole, Coutin-oh oh oh

Post: #255

(05-11-2013 04:04 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Neymar will be horribly shown up in Europe. That's just my opinion of course. He's not that good a player. The Brazilians hype players up to a crazy level, Robinho for example.

I think neymar will be similar to Di Maria (Real Madrid) in terms of contribution if he goes to barca. He will be inconsistent when it's time to shine but perform well against weaker teams in la liga.
An entertaining player to watch but not enough to really make a massive impact on the barca squad.

Di maria is amazing though in my opinion.

Post: #256

will Wigan be the new Birmingham?

Post: #257

(05-12-2013 12:50 PM)pirate player Wrote:  will Wigan be the new Birmingham?

I'd love to see the ultimate relegation match between them and the Villans.

Post: #258

Rooney did not feel like playing today and has asked for a transfer this summer.

Sadly, it looks like Mancini has managed his last game for City.

Next season will be wild.

Post: #259

Fergie's closing speech wasn't as epic as it could have been but whatever...a £10 stake has netted me £180 through a combination of a 6 match accumulator, then reinvesting some of the winnings into blackjack.

Post: #260

I can't wait to see what signings we make this summer, hopefully it's no one Rodgers has worked with before.

(05-12-2013 03:05 PM)Teedub Wrote:  Fergie's closing speech wasn't as epic as it could have been but whatever...a £10 stake has netted me £180 through a combination of a 6 match accumulator, then reinvesting some of the winnings into blackjack.

Not bad winnings, that.

Post: #261

Yeah Matt, it was basically a lot of favourites (Napoli, Lazio, United etc), then put 90% of winnings into my account and played blackjack with the rest.

Next years Premiership is gonna be ace. Mancini will be replaced with Pellegrini, and it pains me to say it, but that would be a great appointment by City. Mancini is pretty poor considering what he's had, as you said in a previous post. I never rated him anyway, he was gifted his titles at Inter due to the match fixing thing.

Post: #262

I stopped betting. I never bloody win.

By this point in the year, I normally here a few rumblings about who we're likely to sign but the club have properly locked down on inside info being leaked. I know the club is losing money though, and I really don't want us to get Eriksen which is the only name I've heard. It could be a good chance for us to push on with United, Chelsea, Everton and City all getting new managers, but I expect City will be really good under Pellegrini and Mourinho will head back to Chelsea. Hopefully Tottenham don't finish in the top 4, I'd hate for them to get into the Champions League.

Post: #263

Would love it if Wigan beat Arsenal. Although I don't think it will happen.

Nothing better than a match where the loser goes down.

Pretty rare.

The Wigan - Aston Villa game could be the game of the season.

Post: #264

Now that Rooney has handed in his second transfer request in 3 years. There is no way he wll stay.

Where do you think he will go? My gut tells me Rooney is burned out with the Premier League and wants to go abroad.

But my brain tells me he will go to Chelsea to play under Mourinho.

Post: #265

Is Fergie going to be a Director at Man Yoo?

Will Moyes have total control?

Rooney commands big wages so I can't see where he will go, I think he is past his sell date.

Post: #266

I'm going with my gut on this one. I think he will go abroad.

Post: #267

Wouldnt be funny if Rooney ended up at City next season? Lol
Id love to see Wigan stay up yet again. Theyre fighting spirit is remarkable! And Roberto Martinez needs to mive to a top team! Hes a top coach and has been proving it for a few years now.

Post: #268

International football is my favorite kind of football, and the subject of diasporas and what they could mean in the realm of international football is fascinating me right now. Recently I got to looking at the Dutch national team and noticed something: it is crawling with players of Surinamese descent.

At the moment, the Dutch national team are fielding the following Surinamese:

Michael Vorm
Kenneth Vermeer
Jeremain Lens
Nigel De Jong
Ruben Schaken
Ryan Babel
Urby Emmanuelson

...and I could go on. There are literally dozens more who have received call-ups within the last 5 years, many more if you go back further in time. This blog lists a few more notable names,and a quick wiki search can unearth many more.

Pele's "FIFA 100" list of Greatest Living Players includes the following men of Surinamese birth or heritage:

Clarence Seedorf
Ruud Gullit
Edgar Davids
Patrick Kluivert
Frank Rijkaard

Not mentioned is Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, another all-time Dutch great. Michael Reiziger is yet another standout not quite good enough to make that list. Think about this for a second: 6 or 7 all-time Dutch Greats (making up the bulk of the greats the Netherlands has produced over the last 30-40 years) all trace their lineage back to one small South American (culturally considered Caribbean) nation of less than 500,000 people. This is absurd.

And there are countless more individuals of Surinamese heritage plying their trades competently in the Dutch Eredevisie and in the Dutch second tier who aren't quite on the radar for the national team.

The amount of talent coming out of this place is staggering, and yet Suriname can't use it. They have a weird passport law that prohibits players with dual citizenship from ever playing for the Surinamese National squad (you cannot obtain a foreign passport without giving up Surinamese citzenship).

This is unfortunate for Surinamese football, but great for CONCACAF (including my beloved Reggae Boyz), who would have a lot to fear from a Surinamese side that could truly utilize all of this talent. A Surinamese side today fielding even a quarter of the Surinamese diasporans currently playing for the Dutch plus a few competent Eredevisie players not quite good enough to break into the Dutch national squad could do serious damage.

From a footballing standpoint, the Surinamese must truly be one of the most impressive peoples on the planet.

Post: #269

Great post Athlone and great point about the Surinamese players representing the Netherlands over the years. Such a pity that they could not play for Suriame! In a somewhat similar topic, I would have LOVED to see a unified Yougoslavia team fielding a team in an either Euro or World Cup. Given the small size of the country, is there any country in the world who can match the sheer amount of massive and world class talent that has come from this part of the world over the years and decades? specially since the last 20 years or so. Had they been able to play as a unified country, my money would have been on them winning at least 1 if not 2 World Cups and a couple of European Championships...They've always produced some stunningly skilled players, specially offensive midfielders and forwards. Who can forget the likes of Safet Susic, Dragan Stoickovic, Asamovic, and as a Milanista, I would always have a very fond memories of Dejan Savicevic aka Il Genio and Zvone Boban.

Despite its small size, Yougoslavia has always been producing world class athletes in a variety of sports: football, tennis, handball, volleyball, gymnastics, basketball etc...if you really take the time to think about it, it's simply mind blowing!

And on a similar example of a tiny country producing an obscene amount of world class footballers, how about Catalunya? With la Masia foming and feeding FC Barcelona with young blood every year, where no less than 80% of the team are Catalans, absolutely mind blowing!

Take a look at some players who could have been playing for Catalunya's starting 11:
Valdes, Puyol, Piqué, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Fabregas, Arteta, Xavi, Iniesta, Bojan, Tello, Pedro etc...
Wow! A Catalunya team would easily be among the top 5 if not top 3 in the world! Add 3-4 players (Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xavi Alonso and Villa) and it's the all mighty Spanish team which has been reigning as world dictators in football since 2008....Add Messi and 1 or 2 utility players to that team and it's the all mighty Barça which has dominated club football for the past few years! Absolutely absurd amount of talent!

To a lesser degree, the same can be said about Basque players, both from the Spanish and French side...when you dig deeper into these aspects of football, it becomes highly interesting to say the least as to how things could have easily been shaped differently, had it not been for geopolitics...fascinating to the least!

Post: #270

(05-13-2013 02:03 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  To a lesser degree, the same can be said about Basque players, both from the Spanish and French side...when you dig deeper into these aspects of football, it becomes highly interesting to say the least as to how things could have easily been shaped differently, had it not been for geopolitics...fascinating to the least!

This is why the international game is my favorite aspect of football in general, and actually one of my favorite topics in sports period. Because football is such a global game, you can see it interact with global cultural and geo-political trends in a way that no other sport really can. Even going beyond international football, just watching the way the player market works and how clubs work to find talent across the globe is fascinating.

It is just fascinating to me to watch different leagues and/or clubs create new pipelines in different parts of the world and to see players become stars in lands halfway across the planet from where they're from. You can find a star almost anywhere, and that star can touch lives (fans, clubs, etc) almost anywhere. Its amazing to watch.

I might do a few more posts like that above and profile some of the other would-be "giants" in world football. That's probably my favorite topic of all. It can get the patriot in me riled up, though> Jamaica is another team sort of like Suriname in that it could be much better than it is if some of its best diasporans (ex: Ashley Young, Darren Bent, Chris Smalling, etc) came home.

Post: #271

^ England is their home. Half genetically, fully in terms of nationality!

Post: #272

Sorry, yeah Darren Bent isn't mixed race. However, he will probably identify much, much more with England than Jamaica I'm afraid!

Post: #273

Neymar will succeed in Europe, he's totally different to Robinho and the Brazilian league is stronger in Neymar's time than it was in Robinho's time.


Moyes will have to be wary of Fergie as a director. It reminds me of the Bill Shankly being barred from Anfield as he was always showing up to training when he retired and it was affecting Bob Paisley's management.

Post: #274

I think international football should be restricted to where you are born. It seems silly that you can go to any country - live there a few years - and then claim citizenship. There should be a simple rule which applies to everyone.

And - you shouldn't be allowed to have a foreign manager either.

International football is in danger of sliding into club football - where instead of transfers. You have lawyers picking over the young players and figuring out loopholes to get them to play for a different country.

Post: #275

Mancini fired!

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/144672...ni?cc=5901