Footy: Yaya Ascendant

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And Draxler to PSG pretty much confirmed.

40 M. € + additional fees, if he performs.

[Mme Erzulie]

23 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

The chances he is creating have fallen, his number of assists have dropped and he has only scored one non-penalty goal in the last season and a half. His defensive numbers have held up better, but whilst he is a solid defender, his greatest strength has always been his attacking contribution.

However, it is quite hard to tell how much of that change is due to Rodriguez himself and how much is due to Wolfsburg’s team declining as a whole. Over that period the side has gone from Bayern’s biggest challengers to a relegation battle. But as Wolfsburg is owned and funded by VW, and pretty much only supported by their employees, the atmosphere is completely different to other German clubs — the pressure to improve is much lower and most players just use it as a stepping stone. That is compounded by VW slashing the club’s budget, as they need the money for the emissions scandal. Whilst much of the de Bruyne money was reinvested in Draxler, only £11m of Draxler’s fee will be spent on Bazoer.

So Rodriguez’ performances have dropped since 14/15 — but there is a very real chance that most of the regression can be explained by Wolfburg’s decline, especially given the lack of passionate support and change in direction from VW. He certainly needs a fresh start, but is uncertain how easy it will be to get him playing at the level he showed a few years back.

Thanks for this.

Maybe he could have a Lallana-like evolution or rediscovery of form under Klopp? It's hard to believe he's gotten worse at playing football. Get him at a cut-price now and get him back to his best. 

Wolfsburg sounds like a weird club.

Also, going twice - anyone got any ideas as to why Mertens is not generating more interest/rumours?

[polishgenius]

50 minutes ago, Mmerek Hamšzulíe said:

Also, going twice - anyone got any ideas as to why Mertens is not generating more interest/rumours?

I haven't really seen him play this season, but I'd suggest it's because the price you tend to need to prise a player from Napoli is far in excess of what you'd actually want to pay for Dries Mertens, who, while he looks spectacular and does have his moments, is essentially a more effective Andros Townsend. Especially since he's 29.

I mean, Hamsik's never left and I'd say he's a considerably better player than Mertens.

[Mme Erzulie]

I just realised he's 29. That's probably a big reason.

Still, 11 goals in 16 games from the wing. He's on very good form. 

Merry Christmas, footy fans!

[Mark Antony]

Happy Boxing Day  shame Liverpool doesn't play. Firmino got charged with Drunk driving and has court same day as the Chelsea game next month, what an idiot.

[polishgenius]

After three months stuck on 99 goals, Troy Deeney has finally made it 100 for Watford today.

[polishgenius]

He was offside, but that was a proper finish by Mkhitaryan for our third. Nice consolation by Borini too.

Pogba and Valencia both had very good games, but you could see when Mikhi came on that he does make a difference, especially in this kind of game. As tidy as Lingard and Mata are, they just don't have that ability to squeeze through tight spaces that can open up a team like this.

[Rorshach]

Back again, after family visit. Good day to be back, too, as we look relatively solid with a back three. In addition to that, we actually manage to score a couple of goals - notably on balls in behind the Leicester defence. Not a lot happening in open play.

[Consigliere]

We bossed that game from start to finish. Mkhitaryan showed his quality once again. While both Lingard and Mata had good games, they just don't have that 'x-factor'. When Mkhitaryan came on our attack just looked so much sharper and he scored a great goal, albeit from an offside position. His vision and decision making in the attacking third is very good and he has the quality to execute.

[Davrum]

8 hours ago, Consigliere said:

We bossed that game from start to finish. Mkhitaryan showed his quality once again. While both Lingard and Mata had good games, they just don't have that 'x-factor'. When Mkhitaryan came on our attack just looked so much sharper and he scored a great goal, albeit from an offside position. His vision and decision making in the attacking third is very good and he has the quality to execute.

Funny thing was him advancing to an offside position actually made his job of dealing with that cross more difficult.

Surely nobody can be mad at that one. Not even Moyes.

[Mark Antony]

Lovren is such a liability. His positioning is consistently poor. Wouldn't mind Klavan starting over him whenever Matip is fit.. 

Bout fucking time Bobby got a goal. Could have had 2 or 3. Wijnaldum was pretty poor as well. Hopefully Klopp puts Emre and Sturridge on a little sooner than he did last week. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Good recovery by Liverpool after spotting Stoke an easy start.  Still very disjointed up front but they've score four already and missed a few other chances.  I guess I can't keep complaining while we're creating but turnovers will be dangerous against better counterattacking teams. 

I hope Matip recovers soon.  We've done better in his absence with Klavan than Lucas but he's still a big miss. 

After last year's rash of hamstring injuries, this year it's joint injuries for Coutinho, Matip and Ings.  Only Sturridge is getting muscle strains. 

[MercenaryChef]

bob Bradley sacked after only 11 games in charge netting the team 8 points. 

the team was fucked since go. the american ownership were already feeling the heat from the beginning of the season. they then appoint another yankee to manager. that could not have thrilled the fans. he did pretty shit with a shit club.

call Alan Pardew. he needs some work.

[Rorshach]

Can't see Swans going with Pardew. But who else is there now? Not too many known options, I think, But they do need a steady hand - someone who can shore up their defense.

Any managers out there who can do that?

As for Bradley ... not a good situation to be put into, not really a great team he took over, and altogether too little time given. He may or may not be good enough for the PL - early signs weren't good - but he hasn't really gotten a fair chance.

[Calibandar]

Great game from United.

More excellent work from Zlatan ( who is in fact 3rd on the EPL topscorers list) and Mkhitarayan just looks excellent.

Glad to see that minor injury didn't disrupt his return to form.

[MercenaryChef]

40 minutes ago, Rorshach said:

Can't see Swans going with Pardew. But who else is there now? Not too many known options, I think, But they do need a steady hand - someone who can shore up their defense.

Any managers out there who can do that?

As for Bradley ... not a good situation to be put into, not really a great team he took over, and altogether too little time given. He may or may not be good enough for the PL - early signs weren't good - but he hasn't really gotten a fair chance.

never even given a chance to sign a player is utter horseshit. he didn't succeed with a depleted bunch of players not even one of his own picking. crazy.

 

 

zlatan! have him for golden boot!