A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I would relax for the moment. The playing and training conditions are atm a big unknown. On top of that, the best players are that good not solely on the merit of mere talent, but also because they are quite competitive beasts. So the only factor going for China atm is the big cash. And I don't think that will be enough to draw away that many top shelf players. I mean who went there thus far. Tevez? He is in his thirties, so that is probably his last big payday (and it's huge). The only better player in his prime that went there thus far is Oscar. Let's see how long he stays there. The Chinese League looks like a bigger version of the Russian League tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 6 minutes ago, polishgenius said: Spurs are absolutely savaging West Brom here. Even the linesman looked disappointed that he had to flag that Alli goal offside. They look so strong lately. Alli and Eriksen both have been so damn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Friendzone Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Tottenham is the most complete team in the Premier League, strong in every department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 WBA are just making up the numbers. They can't get near Spurs and are lucky to only be 2-0 down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BlackBear Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 What is the national Chinese sport? What is football looking to dethrone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Not sure if Football needs to dethrone any other sport, or is already sitting on there. But I would guess Ping Pong and Badminton is pretty popular in China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Ping pong is the one most strongly associated with China, I guess, but a quick google tells me that football is already the most popular spectator sport there. Basketball also being really popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 16 hours ago, Mark Antony said: Reading a handful of tweets/articles saying Costa didn't travel with Chelsea to Leicester and is considering an offer from China to become the worlds highest paid player. As much as it would please me to see Chelsea lose their player of the season so far and see their title hopes take a massive hit I have enjoyed watching Costa immensely this season so it would be a bit of a shame for him to be hidden off in China. But I'm sure it will all blow over and if he does leave it won't be till summer. For my taste there are already too many big names that have left for China, guys I like to see at work. Oscar most notably. If they're coming at a point where they are able to lure away someone like Diego Costa, topscorer in the EPL, starting striker for Chelsea and thus about to win a title this year, I'd become worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Notone said: I would relax for the moment. The playing and training conditions are atm a big unknown. On top of that, the best players are that good not solely on the merit of mere talent, but also because they are quite competitive beasts. So the only factor going for China atm is the big cash. And I don't think that will be enough to draw away that many top shelf players. I mean who went there thus far. Tevez? He is in his thirties, so that is probably his last big payday (and it's huge). The only better player in his prime that went there thus far is Oscar. Let's see how long he stays there. The Chinese League looks like a bigger version of the Russian League tbh. This is one view. The other is that if you'd said a year ago that Tevez, Hulk, Ramires, Alex Texeira, Axel Witsel, Oscar and Jon Mikel Obi would all be playing in China, few would have believed you, but it's happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Obi Mikel has imo never really lived up to the expectations. Don't get me wrong, he is a good player, but he has not turned out to be that dominant midfielder he was supposed to turn into. I mentioned Tevez. He is 30+ so for him it's probably his last huge payday. Hulk is also 30 now and has spent the last couple of years in Russia, which pays good, but is not the strongest league by a longshot. So he is a bit in the same boat as Tevez in my book. Though Tevez was an absolute top shelf player once, Hulk never made it to that World Class category imo. I never digged Alex Texeira that much. Genuinely good player, but he is far away from a World Class Player. He moved to China from Donetsk (Ukraine). And Witsel like many others switched from Russia to China. Russia is not the strongest league by a longshot, so I can see how an even bigger payday in China sounds interesting. Though with Witsel I would be a bit worried about my future at the Belgian National Team. You can make a case for Ramires and especially for Oscar. I have no idea why they moved there at this stage of their career. As I don't really see it as them making a case playing for the selecao at the World Cup next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 West Ham were much better in the 2nd half. Carroll with a stunner (contender for goal of the season) and Lanzini with a quality finish too. Nice to see the team pull together and put in performance like that especially after the Payet business and what has been a troubled season in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 i apologize for not being more vocal in the footy thread lately. i know you all really want the views and opinions that i have to offer. fear not, here they are! payet and west ham. sure, he has been great most of the time for the hammers but he is hardly the icon that their fans are making him out as. and furthermore i think west ham fans need to really get into tune of who they really are. your club is well supported, a strong history and has big aspirations, but in reality are just a newcastle that has only been relegated once. don't worry. this year will not be your second. there is too much shit on the bottom to hold you aloft. costa and china. wow. if this in fact happens chelsea has to win the league. if they fail to win it than this transfer will be seen as one of the most damaging move of recent memory. china is interesting to me. they have 1.3 billion citizens. it only takes 11 to field a team. if they are able through their frenetic buying of world stars and building of soccer infrastructure to get their country truly behind this game they should be able to create something that will in fact compete globally. world cup. 48 team is stupid frankly. it will water down the competition. the only pro i can see is that maybe canada can make a world cup now and my canadian wife can stop pulling for the usmnt. first let's give it to qatar. now let's up it to 48 teams. the most watched sporting event in the world continues to get shit on by the greedy criminals who run it. newcastle. yeah, they are totally coming back. but, it hasn't been easy in the championship. this same side as a premiership would be totally fucked. dwight gayle is scoring goals almost at will but was almost nobody at crystal palace. rafa will need to make some strong signings when they appear back in the premiership. there you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Consigliere said: West Ham were much better in the 2nd half. Carroll with a stunner (contender for goal of the season) and Lanzini with a quality finish too. Nice to see the team pull together and put in performance like that especially after the Payet business and what has been a troubled season in general. Decent second half for West Ham and obviously a couple of really nice goals. Still it's good that they were playing Palace and not a better team, because it wasn't terribly convincing. I thought Antonio would suffer the most from the loss of Payet, but instead he gets 3 assists today! He's been so outstanding over the last calendar year. Really one of the best players in the league in that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I'm kinda cross coz I left Antonio on my fantasy football bench coz he was listed as being potentially ill and in any case I too thought the Payet thing might affect him and West Ham. Boo. Still had quite a good week so far, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philokles Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Carroll will get a lot of attention for scoring that bicycle kick, but Lanzini, Antonio and Feghouli were excellent. Probably the best game the latter has had in a West Ham shirt. A much more positive atmosphere in the stadium than I have seen before too. It could easily have gone the other way, but the Payet situation seems to have united the fanbase behind those who are on the pitch and especially Bilic. That is not just due to the result as they were pretty supportive prior to the opener, when in previous matches they have got on the back of players if they were having a slow start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 20 hours ago, Notone said: You can make a case for Ramires and especially for Oscar. I have no idea why they moved there at this stage of their career. As I don't really see it as them making a case playing for the selecao at the World Cup next year. Surely the reason is obviously obscene wealth? In the case of Oscar, he's raking in over 300,000 a week I believe. Even for millionaire footballers who never have to work a day in their lives anymore and don't need it, it's still such a amount that is too much to pass up. Apparently. Play 1 year in that league and then come back. It's true his Selecao selection would come into question but he may have enough clout based on past performances that he is still selected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Mirallas seems to be really on it this season. At least, more than in recent times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Otamendi is having a terrible game. Weird how Zabalete has been getting so far forward. Everton has so much space on the counter not even sure what City's midfield is supposed to look like. Just Yaya jogging around basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Apparently there is some uncertainty over Matip's international clearance and he's been left out of the squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 'Pep out' chants cant be too far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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