Football 100million: #6seasonsAndaRelegation

[polishgenius]

Lol. I'd forgotten about Januzaj. He's done fuck all for ages now. World class indeed.

Maybe he should go play in the SPL for a bit.

[Nas!]

I'm not sure 'solid' is quite the word I'd use, after his perfomance at the weekend. :lol:

Yeah, that's fair. But in his defense, our back three was an experiment that Reid and Collins also looked confused by, and shoving him into the midfield in the second half (where he stunk, admittedly) was a bit cruel, as it is a position that he's only played a few times (and that was in the Championship).

[Alex.]

Maybe he should go play in the SPL for a bit.

Probably about his level based on what he's offered so far

Eta: Slick Mongoose is exactly right imo. Good post.

[Nas!]

I was actually referring to

I didn't manage to watch the game, so I couldn't speak of how he did overall. :)

Oh, I forgot about that little embarrassment.

[Raja]

True, I know very little of them.

Still, if they were that talented and had a realistic shot at playing an important role, I assume we would've heard of them.

After all, we have heard of Fabregas, Walcott, Sterling, Willshere, Ox etc. at the age of 18.

Well, that's just not true though, is it? Those players, especially Fabregas are rare, and I would argue that not many have come close to how good he was at 17/18 Except for Maybe Sterling, I wouldn't put any of them in the same stratosphere as Fabregas.

Take Giroud for example, and even Kos, the latter was picked from relative obscurity and has become an excellent Centre-back.

On the Arsenal side, I've got really high hopes for Jack Crawley, as does Mexal, if I'm not wrong, but we will see what ends up happening there.

[polishgenius]

Well, that's just not true though, is it? Those players, especially Fabregas are rare, and I would argue that not many have come close to how good he was at 17/18 Except for Maybe Sterling, I wouldn't put any of them in the same stratosphere as Fabregas.

Wilshere at 18 was well better than Fabregas at 18.

Wilshere at 18 was also well better than Wilshere now, mind you.

[Raja]

You think so?

I've heard that from other fans too but I don't remember it like that. He had a lesser role back then, where he basically got the ball and passed it off to Cesc whilst also helping Song out defensively. I think he had a simpler role back then, which might have made him seem better than he actually was.

[Slick Mongoose]

Wilshere at 18 was well better than Fabregas at 18.

Nowhere near.

[Alex.]

Fabregas was, is and always will be the far superior footballer.

But it doesn't matter. Football is dead. The dream is over.

https://twitter.com/Rickyplows/status/536941567274385409

One of the shittest things I've ever seen

[polishgenius]

Nah. He played different but I don't think it was necessarily simpler. In those days he was playing the Xavi role, now he's trying more to be Iniesta.

The thing is that basically the two things that frustrate most about him now - the erratic passes and the tendency to run into trouble- were exactly what he did best then. He was an extremely reliable passer, and his ability to turn entire defensive lines around by receiving the ball and immediately taking it ten yards forward into exactly the right place was incredible. And then he'd release at just the right time.

The game that most obviously bears this out is the much-hyped Barca performance. Song and Fabregas were shit in that game, whereas he was the best player on the park, beating Barcelona's entire midfield at their own game on his own. I know highlights don't tell the whole story, but look at how many times one run or pass led to their entire team sprinting backwards. But he was always doing that, even a lot more recently.

There's been a lot of talk in recent days that he should be playing deeper for Arsenal, and while a holding role would be taking it far too far, I think there's no question he should be the engine of the midfield and not in a number 10 or attacking-mid role.

[polishgenius]

Fabregas was, is and always will be the far superior footballer.

But it doesn't matter. Football is dead. The dream is over.

https://twitter.com/Rickyplows/status/536941567274385409

One of the shittest things I've ever seen

That's appalling. And I like Ronaldo.

I think my favourite bit might be how he has Tevez down as a player with pace.

[Alex.]

It makes me want to stop watching football. It's so bad.

[Mexal]

Nah. He played different but I don't think it was necessarily simpler. In those days he was playing the Xavi role, now he's trying more to be Iniesta.

The thing is that basically the two things that frustrate most about him now - the erratic passes and the tendency to run into trouble- were exactly what he did best then. He was an extremely reliable passer, and his ability to turn entire defensive lines around by receiving the ball and immediately taking it ten yards forward into exactly the right place was incredible. And then he'd release at just the right time.

The game that most obviously bears this out is the much-hyped Barca performance. Song and Fabregas were shit in that game, whereas he was the best player on the park, beating Barcelona's entire midfield at their own game on his own. I know highlights don't tell the whole story, but look at how many times one run or pass led to their entire team sprinting backwards. But he was always doing that, even a lot more recently.

There's been a lot of talk in recent days that he should be playing deeper for Arsenal, and while a holding role would be taking it far too far, I think there's no question he should be the engine of the midfield and not in a number 10 or attacking-mid role.

Problem with Wilshere is he never had a game like Barcelona again though he was solid for that season. Arsenal fans always point to that game about what he could become but we haven't really seen it much from him though he has improved his play significantly this year with a regular run of games in the middle. I do agree he needs to be deeper than they currently play him but Wenger doesn't believe that's what he should do (the 2014 opinion vs the 2013 opinion where he thought he was best deeper).

Well, that's just not true though, is it? Those players, especially Fabregas are rare, and I would argue that not many have come close to how good he was at 17/18 Except for Maybe Sterling, I wouldn't put any of them in the same stratosphere as Fabregas.

Take Giroud for example, and even Kos, the latter was picked from relative obscurity and has become an excellent Centre-back.

On the Arsenal side, I've got really high hopes for Jack Crawley, as does Mexal, if I'm not wrong, but we will see what ends up happening there.

Dan Crowley. Kid looks really really good. Probably our best academy talent right now.

[MercenaryChef]

http://m.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/11/24/new-york-city-fc-reveal-away-jersey-2015-expansion-season?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid

At least this shirt is different from alex's beloved away.

[Rorshach]

Everton academy atm.. probably Ryan Ledson. Has been on the bench a couple of times this season, and he's 17. Tyias Browning and Luke Garbutt also looking to break through (though Garbutt is a Leeds product, going by Slick's defintion, which I share).

In our first team, Barkley. Hands down. Osman and Hibbert aren't really great players, just good ones. John Stones we can't claim - that's Barnsley.

[Raja]

Dan Crowley. Kid looks really really good. Probably our best academy talent right now.

Hah, I can't believe I called him Jack Crawley. It's surprising that he's not been called up to train with the first team squad yet, though I suppose it's only a matter of time.

Polish, you and I remember him very differently then. He does try and do more with the ball at the moment, but he would run into trouble as often as he does now, if not more. To be frank, I think he does less of that now and releases the ball earlier. He probably was more disciplined back then than he is now. Edit: I still think Fabregas was better, but honestly, it's been so long that I could easily be wrong too.

No matter what role he plays though, I'm positive that he will hit that next level with us sooner rather than later.

[Alex.]

http://m.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/11/24/new-york-city-fc-reveal-away-jersey-2015-expansion-season?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid

At least this shirt is different from alex's beloved away.

That is far better than the City away kit. I like it.

Everton academy atm.. probably Ryan Ledson. Has been on the bench a couple of times this season, and he's 17. Tyias Browning and Luke Garbutt also looking to break through (though Garbutt is a Leeds product, going by Slick's defintion, which I share).

In our first team, Barkley. Hands down. Osman and Hibbert aren't really great players, just good ones. John Stones we can't claim - that's Barnsley.

Ledson is a quality player. Expecting big thins from him. (In real life and in FIFA 15)

[baxus]

This is what I was talking about earlier. The strange propensity of people on here to assume that if someone isn't a first team regular before the age of 20 they're shit and doomed to failure. It's nonsense.

No player is shit and doomed to failure at the age of 20.

Still, really great players ARE first team regulars before the age of 20.

Gerrard was, as were Fabregas, Agüero, Rooney, Lampard etc.

Lol. I'd forgotten about Januzaj. He's done fuck all for ages now. World class indeed.

Do you remember the whole drama about which national team he'd choose?

It seems ridiculous now, but there were about 10 national teams hoping (some against all odds) to get him.

Belgium (he was born there and lived there), all 4 British teams (based on him living in Britain for a certain period), Albania and Kosovo (his father being Albanian from Kosovo), even Serbia (operating under delusion Kosovo is still a part of Serbia - this was what American football fans refer to as "Hail Mary" pass).

[mormont]

I'm not aware of any British team other than England ever indicating that they hoped to get Januzaj. It might have been argued in some articles that he would technically be eligible for any British team, but that's not the same at all.

[Alex.]

No player is shit and doomed to failure at the age of 20.

Still, really great players ARE first team regulars before the age of 20.

Gerrard was, as were Fabregas, Agüero, Rooney, Lampard etc.

Do you remember the whole drama about which national team he'd choose?

It seems ridiculous now, but there were about 10 national teams hoping (some against all odds) to get him.

Belgium (he was born there and lived there), all 4 British teams (based on him living in Britain for a certain period), Albania and Kosovo (his father being Albanian from Kosovo), even Serbia (operating under delusion Kosovo is still a part of Serbia - this was what American football fans refer to as "Hail Mary" pass).

To the first one - You can't just pick 5 of the most successful players of the past two decades (out of thousands upon thousands of academy players) and think that makes your point. And it's also nonsense to try and assert that all "really great" players are first team regulars before the age of twenty. That's a laughably untrue statement.

On Januzaj, it does indeed seem ridiculous looking back. A couple of good performances (the best of which was against Sunderland) and people were proclaiming him the latest messiah. On the other hand, he's only young, not yet even 20, so to write him off completely seems silly. He's got a long career ahead of him and plenty of time to learn and improve.