Football: Jules Rimet Still Gleaming

[Philokles]

Looks like Hazard is on his way out

 

[polishgenius]

Wonder how Chelsea would replace him if it happens. If I was them I'd go for Pulisic, who I think has a chance of being at least as good a player in a very similar vein, and then spend the rest of the windfall on another, more established creator in a central or right-sided position to make sure all the pressure isn't on the kid. Like Luis Alberto or someone.

[Consigliere]

Wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea come in for Martial should Hazard leave. 

[polishgenius]

That'd be interesting. I'm sure the chance to be on the other side of the De Bruyne/Lukaku/Salah PR embarrassments would appeal, but although he'd fit in quite well in that they're already used to getting a dribbler going down that side, they'd need even more urgently than if they got Pulisic, to get another true creative type in too.

Wonder if they'd be tempted by Hakan Calhanoglu. Right position, from what I've seen of him he plays in a similar mould, and they've been linked with him before, before he moved to Milan.

[ljkeane]

Pulisic doesn’t seem overly interested in leaving Dortmund yet, at least according to his Dad.

[Calibandar]

So where does Hazard want to go to? Barca? Madrid?

[l2 0 5 5]

7 hours ago, Calibandar said:

So where does Hazard want to go to? Barca? Madrid?

That's where I think he wants to go. One of the two. Now that Ronaldo is gone Madrid would make the most sense. He's now 27 and wants to be remembered for more than a couple PL titles. Missed CL 2 out of past 3 years, and can't quite get it done on the national level the past 3 tournaments. I think the guy wants to be considered one of the greats and Chelsea, as a team, has been hot and cold the past couple years. He'll get abetter chance for CL glory in Madrid. I love how his statement at the beginning says it might be time to go elsewhere, and then he ends it with 'you know my preferred destination #cfc." Lol c'mon dude. He makes it seem like it's up to Chelsea when he's the one driving the car. 

Hopefully he sticks around. Would like to see what we can do this year with Jorginho in the mix, and Sarri at the helm. I believe we have Giroud for the rest of the season, and I like him, but still want to give Morata another chance. Damn so much hype with him last year and he started off hot, but went cold as shit around November or so. Took a while to make our first move but not a bad one to make. If we can keep Hazard I'll be happy.

[BigFatCoward]

West Ham, fucking West Ham, now have a transfer record almost 3x that of Newcastle.  I fucking give up. 

[Vin]

Touching on the fandom stuff , I'm ultimately and always have been a Real Madrid fan , ever since I was 4 and saw my first game . I remember thinking Raul was the epitome of a classy striker and that the play style was so elegant . I had imprinted .

As for other leagues, in Italy it's always been Roma . Mainly because of totti and their cool uniforms and crest . In Germany it's Dortmund because my mother grandfather are huge fans and took me to some of the games . In France it's a toss up between Marseilles and Bordeaux. In England , I'm a miserable Spurs fan .

 

I really hope Madrid get hazard , his style of play is very suitable and not only are his runs stylish but also purposeful unlike isco who I think is always a couple of seconds too late on the right pass . However I still believe we absolutely need a striker , Kane would've been my ideal choice but he's out of the equation with the new contract and I feel we'll grossly overpay for icardi who I don't think is really all that special. I'd much rather we got someone good but not great ,maybe older , for a reasonable price . Maybe we can get morata back again ? I dunno ,I just don't think icardi is a good solution.

A concern I'm having is that kovacic seems like he wants to leave for more playing time which Madrid should never allow if they've got sense in them .

[baxus]

On 7/13/2018 at 8:00 PM, Iskaral Putsch said:

After reading more about this, it was interpreted not as a nazi salute but as a military salute to Croatian generals (it was Mandzukic who led it) just released from war crimes trials.  The complaints were by Serbians who perceived it as a political gesture against them, as they did again with Xhaka and Shaqiri’s Albanian eagle celebration in the WC. 

(I have very little sympathy for Serbian sensitivities)

That’s very different from someone deliberately performing a nazi salute gesture in Bavaria.  Paolo DiCanio used a fascist salute celebration many times, which was clearly intended as a fascist salute. 

Yeah, it was a military salute with Mandzukic holding his arm stretched out in a very clear manner. And yeah, it was a political gesture, Mandzukic clearly stated he did it to show support for Croatian generals who were first found guilty for war crimes and sentenced to 24 and 18 years in prison only to be fully exhonorated on the appeal.

You clearly need to read up a bit on the events and circumstances in the Balkans before making such uneducated claims.

Your sympathy is irrelevant, but next time you express how little you have it for Serbian sensitivities, check who you are speaking to.

For example, my 73 year old grandmother was one of the Serbian people who fled their homes in order to save their lives from what Hague court deemed were just actions of troops commanded by those two generals.

Let's not forget that my wife's entire family had to flee their homes in Kosovo back in '99 to avoid getting killed (not all of them managed to do that, by the way) by the very same people who are now being celebrated by Shaqiri making that eagle sign.

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, Vin said:

Maybe we can get morata back again ? I dunno ,I just don't think icardi is a good solution.

I dunno, I'd rather have Icardi than Morata if I was you. Morata's been absolutely pony since he went to Chelsea.
Icardi's not a super-brilliant striker, but there really aren't many of them around. He's a good one though.

[Vin]

3 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

I dunno, I'd rather have Icardi than Morata if I was you. Morata's been absolutely pony since he went to Chelsea.
Icardi's not a super-brilliant striker, but there really aren't many of them around. He's a good one though.

True but I don't see inter letting icardi go for less than 100+ m and that's just too much for the player that he is .

Morata has been inconsistent and shit lately but I think we can get him relatively cheap because of that and I can't help but remember the good flashes he showed . 

I'd actually consider going after cavani . He's lethal , somewhat old so not gonna be overly expensive and unappreciated at psg. I've always liked his style and work output , thought Madrid should've gotten him straight from Naples . 

[Consigliere]

Real Madrid could always try for Lewandowski. He'd cost around 100 million as well but is better than Icardi and a bit younger than Cavani. Real do need to sign a goal scorer though as Benzema's output has really fallen off - he's only managed 16 league goals (and 31 in all competitions) over the past 2 seasons. 

[Vin]

Lewandowski hasn't been up to scratch lately imo . I know he's good but I just don't like him .

 

There's talk of Madrid signing cortouis for 35 m .

[Consigliere]

There's a shortage of truly top class #9s and Lewandowski is right up there with the best of them. People seem to have very short memories or just only remember the bad games - he had a poor WC and against Real in the CL but he has scored over 40 goals in all competitions in each of his last three seasons. Real need a goal scorer more than they need Hazard.

[Vin]

4 hours ago, Consigliere said:

There's a shortage of truly top class #9s and Lewandowski is right up there with the best of them. People seem to have very short memories or just only remember the bad games - he had a poor WC and against Real in the CL but he has scored over 40 goals in all competitions in each of his last three seasons. Real need a goal scorer more than they need Hazard.

I agree that the pickings are slim but I just don't like him . I'd much rather have cavani .

The Hazard signing,if it happens, is simply the Ronaldo replacement . They have to sign someone big . A legitimate striker signing has been a dire need since 3 years . I always thought that selling Gonzalo higuain and keeping benzema was a dumb move .

[Consigliere]

2 minutes ago, Vin said:

I agree that the pickings are slim but I just don't like him . I'd much rather have cavani .

The Hazard signing,if it happens, is simply the Ronaldo replacement . They have to sign someone big . A legitimate striker signing has been a dire need since 3 years . I always thought that selling Gonzalo higuain and keeping benzema was a dumb move .

I'm fairly sure that Real will make Hazard the priority. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Hazard is not really a Ronaldo replacement in that he will not give you 30 or 40 plus goals a season. With Benzema struggling so much in front of goal, a proven goal scorer is a must. A front 3 of Hazard-Lewandowski-Bale should have enough goals in them to replace what you've lost with Ronaldo gone. Perez might favour Lewandowski over Cavani as he is the younger player (there's not much between them in terms of goal scoring numbers) and there were rumblings about him wanting to leave Bayern.

[Iskaral Pust]

It’s nice that Luis Alberto and Suso have grown into such capable play-makers and making a big impact in Serie A.  But it’s a pity there wasn’t room or patience for it to happen at Liverpool.  At least part of that is the frenetic pace of PL football wasn’t easy for their style of play, but it’s also the lack of patience for big clubs to carry players in the starting XI while they’re not yet at a top level.  Similarly Conor Coady is returning to the PL now with Wolves after an excellent season as a ball-playing CB.  None of those are like DeBruyne, Lukaku, Salah, Pogba, Pique but it still points to the problem of requiring young players to make the step up very quickly from U23 or lower division loans or else the club will miss their eventual peak.  That’s a lot to ask.  Plenty of very good players could have made the transition over a longer period of it was available. 

[Vin]

10 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

I'm fairly sure that Real will make Hazard the priority. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Hazard is not really a Ronaldo replacement in that he will not give you 30 or 40 plus goals a season. With Benzema struggling so much in front of goal, a proven goal scorer is a must. A front 3 of Hazard-Lewandowski-Bale should have enough goals in them to replace what you've lost with Ronaldo gone. Perez might favour Lewandowski over Cavani as he is the younger player (there's not much between them in terms of goal scoring numbers) and there were rumblings about him wanting to leave Bayern.

Yeah , I get your point and I agree ,Hazard signing will take priority for branding reasons (Madrid need to to maintain the image of a star magnet ) rather than strictly football reasons . However I disagree in the idea that whoever you bring in will have to be 1 to 1 goal scoring replacement for Ronaldo , I think the tally will even out with the other players scoring more overall now that they won't be pressured to feed Ronaldo the ball . 

I think either lewandowski or cavani would do well in Madrid but I prefer cavani but I agree with your assessment that Perez would prefer lewandowski , he's younger , more traditionally handsome which makes him more marketable for Madrid not to mention that the James loan deal is still a thing and Perez might try to work that in to lower the price tag for lewandowski .

[Iskaral Pust]

If Sarri’s style is derived from Sacchi*, like Guardiola or Klopp, do Chelsea have the players for that?  Willian, Kante and possibly Pedro would fit, and probably the attacking WBs, but Morata, Fabregas, Drinkwater, Giroud, Cahill seem like a step too slow, and Courtois’ distribution might not be up to it either.  Obviously Jorginho helps import some familiarity but the attack may need some changes or else a compromise on Sarri’s preferred style.  Most of Chelsea’s success from Mourinho through Conte came from solid defense and counter-attacks: Drogba, Terry, Makelele, Robben, Lampard, Hazard and Costa were the defining players of their style over a decade or more.  Perhaps Hazard’s departure will finance a further raid on Lazio.

*Purists would point to Hungary in the 1950s as the origin of Sacchi’s style, but his name became popular shorthand for the style of high pressing, rapid attack, high line, territorial dominance, overloading key/vulnerable areas, etc.