Paternity leave outrage shines light on regressive realities of competition

by .

Oh man, it’s so fucking great to support a club that offers its players paternity leave. We’re so modern and trailblazing. I love it.

Yeah people, did you hear? Granit Xhaka has been given a month off to be with his newborn. Isn’t that wonderful?

I am of course joking here… this is one of the weirdest stories in sport.

Footballers are basically like part-time workers. Sure, there are away games, but overall, they have 2-3 hour training sessions, maybe a bit of video analysis. Put it this way, Mesut Ozil has so much spare time on his hands he’s in the top 5% of Fortnite gamers in the world. He’s basically a pro. There are lots of examples of footballers managing to balance the beautiful game AND get their gold handicaps down to basically zero (pro level). I think part of the Gareth Bale/Zidane beef is literally golf.

The news is coming from Switzerland.

“There are more special things in life than football. For example, when you become a father”

I’m probably reaching… my gut reaction is that blowing off your team for a month seems quite, I don’t know, anti-sport… but the other part of me thinks that, damn, maybe that’s a regressive view. He’s a human. He wants to spend the first month with his wife. That’s a good thing.

I work in America. I am already in disagreements with my GF about taking paternity for a child I do NOT have on the way. Why would I think such things? The true nature of business in a competitive environment is that someone is always there, waiting, with a knife, ready to slice your throat. My own adventurous/debilitating paranoia plays a commanding role in this, sure, but there’s a hint of truth there which is probably bad for society as a whole.

This Xhaka situation is the m/paternity nightmare everyone goes through.

Xhaka, 26 (36 in working years), has two talented kids (cheaper) ready to take his place indefinitely if they have a good month. Willock and Matteo have a huge chance to win out long-term here. That means LT will have a chance to reimpose himself onto the first team. For Xhaka, it’s a huge risk for someone who isn’t rocking 65 hr weeks as it is. Also, football is a lot less advanced than most other businesses, empathy not being its strong-suit… what does ducking a month tell the manager?

Still, at least it’ll shine a light on the truth. We’re either going to shine without him, or it’ll look very Gilberto Silva back in the day (bad). For reference, no one had ever seen a midfielder that marked space back in the day. We’d also never seen a Brazilian that wasn’t electric. People wondered about his usefulness, then he picked up an injury and we all missed him.

I would trace a lot of this: ‘Oh, you don’t get football if you don’t get X’ because of Gilberto. No fan wants to be seen as the ingrate that doubted Gilberto, so people do the math.

Terrible player keeps getting played + expensive managers keep playing him / Hedged bet that there’s some underlying reason he’s player = I’ll look like a sage if I too back him with vague assessments of his talents.

Denilson, Senderos, Xhaka, Ozil, Nik B, Randall…

Anyway, back to Xhaka. The notion that we gave a player that makes a horrendous amount of errors the captains’ armband also amazes me. A leader should be absolutely accountable to the team. To hear him basically roll Auba and Laca under bus post Spurs was quite incredible. Keep your thoughts to yourself when you’re an radical error-ist, especially when talking about two players that have gone above and beyond for the team to keep them semi-competitive.

Hopefully, we’re waiting for the return of Hector to make an announcement.

… I’d be suggesting Matteo if it were a year on. We should let him grow before we burden him with any additional responsibility. Didier Deschamps has sent some fingers wagging our way because of that exact last sentence.

“Do not ask too much, he’s a young player, who is still the Espoirs generation, who plays a lot of matches with Arsenal where there is strong competition,”

“He’s the modern midfielder, box to box as they say there, with a lot of power and technical quality too. He’s there. What I expect from young people is that they bring this freshness, this dynamism.”

Love to read the plaudits he’s picking up, but Deschamps is correct. Two parts to this:

  1. Don’t call him a fraud if has a bad run. Kids aren’t consistent, he’s still only 20. There will be a dip.
  2. I hope Arsenal don’t butcher his growing body. Jack Wilshere was overplayed at 18, and we paid heavily for that. I think it’s hard not to argue that red zoning him ruined his career. He lost motivation with all the knocks and struggled to live up to the hype.

On that note, I shall hand the comments over to you! x

 

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Pierre

Time to leave the obsessives with their Ozil obsession , one day its Wenger, the next it’s Ozil…..boring…

China1

Spurs was the ultimate example of emery trying to put think an opponent rather than out play them

Leftsidesanch

Its amazing how many good posters on here let Pierre wind them up. He has said a few occasions that he enjoys doing so.

A guy that only posts about Ozil, Wenger or his disdain for Emery calling anyone obsessive should show you guys this.

Receding Hairline

“Spurs was the ultimate example of emery trying to put think an opponent rather than out play them”

China i don’t know what game you were watching

Spurs were on the back foot from kick off, they remained there until a hopeful ball up field took out Xhaka and Sokratis and Leno palmed a soft touch onto Eriksen’s part, of course we were bound to wobble after such a setback and Xhaka then compounded it with the penalty.

I keep reading we did not take the game to Spurs from the off but the reality does not support that

Pierre

China
“By all accounts emery had a tactical mare against spurs and corrected that later by bringing him on”

And what about his tactics v liverpool , playing a diamond , giving the liverpool full backs the freedom of the pitch….a tactical masterclass or not…

Pierre

Leftie
Read back through the comments and you will see that they are winding themselves up …have a look back .

Marko

If you add the 2 HOME defeats to United and Tottenham without Ozil then actually our record against top 6 sides was actually better with ozil in the side .

We beat United and Spurs at home. You’re talking about the cup games one of which he played in but still had no influence. I didn’t factor in them because of a lack of importance. It’s also worth noting and something you fail to acknowledge in that 5 of those games that he missed were due to his illnesses or lack of desire to actually play.

Marko

Left he’s not winding me up at all and I should know better your right it’s my fault for trying to engage with him but recently TR7 was talking about him making good points and I thought maybe he turned a corner but alas he has not.

Marko

So basically a point a game with him in the side and a point a game without him in the side ….was it worth making that point Marko.

We accumulated more points without him so yes.

Marko

Actually why are we talking about Ozil? Such a nonentity these days. Let’s keep it to players who contribute to the cause. Ceballos no preseason and three games into the season with two assists already and a decent showing for Spain looks like he’s going to be a fantastic pick up for the season. Hopefully Zidane gets his wish with Pogba and Erikson so we can keep him next summer.

China1

Pierre why would you pick an argument with me over whether emery makes tactical mistakes?

I called for emery to be fired at the end of the season after the league and EL capitulation

As for the Liverpool game I couldn’t watch it because it was a good friends birthday night out

So no need for the sarcasm.

HighburyLegend

“Actually why are we talking about Ozil?”

Hum… maybe because his biggest fan is around ?

Freddie Ljungberg

Marko

It was Pedro saying Pierre makes “good points”
and “great analysis”

Don’t know where he has been reading that because it’s not here.

I’m blaming the oatmilk.

#bringbackperonipedro

WengerEagle

As bad as Xhaka is, can you imagine being the Chavs paying 35m for Danny Drinkwater and sticking him on a €110k a week contract?

Guy only makes headlines for off the field incidents nowadays, got a 22 month driving ban for ramming his car into a wall pissed and now is out for 6 weeks after having his ankles stamped on getting seven shades beaten out of him for pestering some Scunthorpe player’s bird in a nightclub.

HighburyLegend

Drinkwater, the man who is always sober.
(joke friday already ??)

Leftsidesanch

Peds, I’m not one of them but its not hard to see why posters are perplexed by the Ozil fixation.

Leftsidesanch

“Maybe I was not fitting so well in English football, so I think a change was good.” – Mikki

Spoken by a man who probably has no intention to come back to England. Think it’s best for him and us that he plys his trade elsewhere.

Gentlebris

The ‘boss’ is on £6m a year, Ozil is on £18m a year. The boss indeed.

terraloon

WE

Drinkwater is a calamity no doubt. When you look at this info you will realise that there are some horrendous issues Arsenal need to address.

https://www.spotrac.com/epl/arsenal-f.c/payroll/

China1

I disagree receding

They had a host of dangerous breaks outside of their two goals during the first half and always looked like they could score any minute from one after the first 15 mins or so

We dominated them in the second half, not the first imo

China1

Wilshere was a different class prospect in his teens

That Barca game was his level in those first couple of seasons. A player who looked set to take over from cesc comfortably which were ridiculous boots to fill

But by the time he was about 20 it stopped and he began a relatively quick transition into a very underwhelming and horribly injury prone player with an irritating personality to boot

But make no mistake, his first couple of years he was all that and a bag of chips

Wengaball

Pedro – regarding your insect problem, if it’s still not been sorted.

What you have are fungus gnats that feed on the organic matter in the soil of your orange tree.

The easiest solution is to discard the plant.

For other methods, read this:

https://dengarden.com/gardening/Fungus-Gnats-All-you-need-to-know

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

China

Flashing lights… cars loads in the bank …

Distracted him ,

Lost his drive early on problem when you over pay kids

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Leno
Bel hold luiz tiernay
Torr
Callebos Wilcox

Ozil
Laca pea

This is a formation I think we need to have against bogey team Watford..

Is deemed fit to play .?

Sid

“But make no mistake, his first couple of years he was all that and a bag of chips”
Wilshere was always average, made to look great because of cesc just like hleb, flamini, victor moses, marcos. The same way Pogba looked great with pirlo in the team.

Batistuta

What is this Spanish kid Olmo doing playing for Dinamo Zagreb? Dude looks good, a little lightweight but looks technically good

PhD2020

WengerEagleSeptember 10, 2019 11:19:49
The day we finally get shot of Ozil as well will be a sweet one although we’ll have to wait until June 2021 for that one.A close 2nd to cutting the cord on AW.
——–

Nah,I disagree.A close 2nd to cutting the cord on AW,was seeing Ivan Lazidis jump ship and then before/after seeing Dick Law hot tail it to the US.

Good times!!!

Marko

To be fair to Mhiki he could have easily stayed sat on his arse and taken the money but instead he actually wanted to play football and I commend him for that. Mustafi and Ozil he is not.

Nelson

Guen is not starting for France.

Elmo

How Xhaka must be celebrating that goal!

HillWood

Very sloppy second half from England
They were 5-1 up
They have got to learn how to play a game out

MidwestGun

Who is this Ozil you speak of and what does he do? Is this the coffee shop owner dude?

Paul Mc Daid

Paternity Leave, WTF, Can Ozil not just keep an EYE on the kid because he is doing fuck all else this season so far.

Gooner Sam

Maternity leave and placing the responsibility on the player is what it’s all about. In any job you take the time you need and you are more productive if you have the right ability / mentality. Either the time off makes him more focused, motivated and improved or not and he confirms what we all think. Either way it’s the future, everyone is responsible for their output, that’s the future. Our model has to be elite, if you make it great but if not you are equally if not more responsible.

Nelson

Arsenal will be playing away at Frankfurt on Sep. 19. It would be interesting to see how Ozil would be received by the German public.

China1

It would be interesting to see if ozil is even picked haha

Mysticleaves

I really want to see how Ozil does in this new set-up. Can’t help but ask for it. Last season, if you watch back our highlights, he was involved in all our better plays.

Look at what Bale is doing at Madrid also. Integrated back and is already tearing it up. if he manages to stay fit he could win them the la liga

Mysticleaves

This is not me saying Ozil can have that impact for us though but I just want to see how he does. He looked very sharp in pre season

PhD2020

We all have our soft spots for players that are or have been an integral(focal ) point of the Arsenal team over recent years(post-2013). It’s been well acknowledged or documented that I’ve been an Ozil fan since his Werder Bremen days. Followed him in the 2010 WC and during his time at RM. Had conflicting emotions when we signed him. Was ecstatic upon us signing him(Ozil),but simultaneously was done with Arsene(as far back as 2008) and watching his shenanigans pull the team exponentially backwards, in terms of effectively not competing for major honours, and the other attendant b/s that ensued.… Read more »

China1

I love the idea of a resurgent ozil blowing everyone away, I’m just far beyond having my hopes up for it Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… you know how this story goes But hey if emery does the unthinkable and brings him back and he for some reason decides he gives a damn about football for the rest of the season he will work miracles for us. Frankly speaking the chance of emery wanting to depend on him *and* ozil suddenly giving a damn about football again are clearly very unlikely It’s a great shame as… Read more »

China1

Imagine this lineup ——————-Leno Bellerin-Holding-Luiz-Tierney ——————torreira ————Ceballos ———————-ozil Pepe———————————auba ——————-laca If we play that setup and ozil decides to care we will be scoring 5 goals a game because that is absolutely stacked offensively. One of the strongest offensive setups in the world We’d concede 2 goals a game but if you score 5 who cares? That’s what buying a world class DM and CBs is for in the summer! When emery joined he talked of being willing to outscore opponents but in reality his priority is to concede less. If I was manager I’d go balls in on attack… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Yesterday’s game between England v Kosovo highlights the growing trend in
football where the art of good defending in the game is in serious decline.

It is not just with Arsenal there is a problem.

Chris

More teams playing out from the back in this era invites more potential errors if they don’t have the technical quality, as seen with the first Kosovo goal.

Un na naai

Stroller

And yet the likes of John stones and Mustafi are ridiculously priced.

There is also a dearth of great midfielder and strikers in the world.
Football has turned to full backs and wide forwards. They’ve also bred the contact out of the sport and it’s les of a spectacle because of it. You’ll never see a Keane vs vieira again. A wright vs schmeichel again. A keown vs RvN

Pierre

I thought I had clicked on to the wrong football blog for a moment.

Bojangles

Was trolling a couple of Spuds blogs and there is talk that should Pochettino leave next year that Southgate could be in the frame to take over. Not looking to replace sauce with sauce it seems.

PhD2020

China1September 11, 2019 05:29:36 But again, why make so much effort when we can just put a superior player in Ceballos in the same role? —— I’m pretty sure Ceballos, will not be staying. Can pretty much stake my house on it. Unless Pep Guardiola or someone of his ilk, rocks up to the Emirates, then he might have a rethink about making his stay at Arsenal a permanent/ long term feature. Let’s be honest, on current form and as a talent, he’s too good for this current Arsenal team. So, in short-he’s, a short term solution. We are effectively… Read more »

PhD2020

At the end of the day,just put everyone out of their heaven forsaken misery.
The fans, the player himself(Ozil)the club, the team.

Make a clinical cut, if you can’t find a way to fit Ozil into your system of play.

PS
Mind you,if I were him..Why would I leave?
So, where does the buck stop in this scenario?Who’s to blame for sanctioning such a contract?

Bojangles

I think there an effort to offload him in the summer but it seems no one came in for him.

Bojangles

Don’t know if anything can be taken from the lack of any mention of Xhaka among the players he wants us to be excited about. Talking about the players available to him at the Emirates Stadium, he said: “Really we can be very excited about some players, but I want to have the same level of excitement for (Nicolas) Pepe, for example, or (Dani) Ceballos, David Luiz or (Gabriel) Martinelli as I am with Reiss Nelson, with (Joe) Willock, with Emile Smith Rowe, “Also with the players who were working with us last year like Mesut Ozil, (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang, (Alexandre)… Read more »

James wood

Talking about contracts
Would you say the Auba contract
was a good deal for Arsenal.?
4 years ties him in till he is aged 33/34.?

China1

I wouldn’t be so sure about Ceballos For example zidane wants pogba and erikson. If he gets those I really doubt they would want Ceballos back or that he would want to go I also don’t think he’s miles better than anyone in the team. We have an elite front line, and some very decent players in other positions. This is a different and much better looking squad than last year and should be even stronger by next season. As well he might really enjoy himself here. He is well equipped for the PL and arsenal fans will probably continue… Read more »

China1

Anyone who has ever had a job they don’t care about will relate to ozil right now In my previous role I saw no future. No great prospects. Nothing exciting and the pay was decent for limited effort. How was my manager supposed to make me excited about coming to work? I did it. I went through the motions. Then I left because of the previously mentioned reasons. If I was paid ozils salary I would’ve stayed forever but I still wouldn’t find the job exciting or enjoy it that much. That’s life Your manager can’t work magic if you’re… Read more »

James wood

Yes China 1
Ozils love for the game has gone
He as you say is in an enviable
Position money wise.
Ozils decline started after he’s
problems with the National side
stating racism and disrespect.
Disrespect being the optimal word
considering he’s attitude at Arsenal.?

Nelson

A manager can make a player looking good or shit. Take Ceballos for example. Against Burnley, he looked good but against Pool he looked like the worst player on the pitch. Also take Micki for example. we have seen how bad he played as a LW. But Emery still sent him out there as a LW vs the SPUDS. When he played as a #10 for his country, he looked world class.

Pierre

China
“Secondly ozil only has 2 years left on his deal I think? The manager thinks he doesn’t fit”

Really , what makes you think that..I never noticed.

Pierre

Nelson
“A manager can make a player looking good or shit”

Are you implying that our manager has a way of making very talented players look shit?

Ishola70

Really going on about players such as Ozil, Mhiki and Xhaka is a waste of time. It’s a waste of time if the ultimate goal is to make Arsenal one of the best teams in England and Europe. The two top teams in England don’t have passengers in their side. They all contribute off the ball as well as on it. Ozil, Mhiki and Xhaka are all sub-standard off the ball. Of course if you want to live in a past time warp where such players were lauded even though they only offered on the ball and still pine for… Read more »

Ishola70

At least the page has been turned in relation to Mhiki.

One down. Two to go.

Pierre

China “Your manager can’t work magic if you’re fundamentally not interested” You have talked about your working environment earlier. Imagine if you were the top dog at your place of work , respected around the world for your work . A new owner comes in and takes all responsibility away from you and demotes you say to the shop floor How would you feel. Disrespected, worthless, unwanted springs to mind. Could this treatment have something to do with this perceived lack of interest , though I am 100% certain that all he wants to do is play football for Arsenal… Read more »

HighburyLegend

Joke Wednesday :

Mustafi is playing with the reserve’s players, and he have the opportunity to give them some priceless advices – after all, he’s a World Champion.

“Ok boys, when a ball is coming right at you, you have to be aware that it is dangerous, it might hurt you badly, so there’s only one thing to do : avoid the ball at all cost!! Even if that leads to a goal for the opponent, it’s no big deal, you always have the possibility to blame your partners. Because let’s face it, it’s their fault too!!”

Ishola70

This even applies to a player such as Cazorla who has been championed on here to high heaven. Of course he was very good on the ball. But let’s not pretend that he was some sort of all round midfielder. He was a converted midfielder from further up in attack. He was slow off the ball and not particularly good in that respect. The dirty off the ball work was left to Coquelin. And Coquelin got dogs abuse while Cazorla is talked about like a king. Yet Coquelin was contributing something that was missing from Cazorla’s play to make him… Read more »

Leftsidesanch

“A new owner comes in and takes all responsibility away from you and demotes you say to the shop floor”

I know your trying to strengthen your point Pierre but this is not entirely true is it now? Ozil was named as one of the Captains of Arsenal upon Emery’s rival. That is responsibility is it not?

Un na naai

Also we need to improve in our way. For example, I think we can continue being very offensive with a lot of important offensive players. “We also want to take the balance defensively to be strong and I think the first four matches allowed us to show our first characteristic – to be be offensive. “Maybe we need to continue working to create a balance defensively in some moments and also tactically when making some decisions. Emery on his side thus far This is his idea of arsenal as an attacking force or “offensive”? I think he’d better find a… Read more »

Un na naai

Ishola

That’s because cazorla performed and coq did not

Nelson

I read that Emery wanted Steven N’Zonzi but the board preferred Torr. It appears to me that Emery likes certain player type as DM. He prefers Xhaka over Torr as DM. He wants a big player as DM instead of a small but energetic player like Torr.

China1

As was pointed out Pierre, emery made him a captain but he didn’t play that well or work that hard relative to some of his peers Ozil looking disinterested isn’t an emery specific quirk. He was accused of disappearing for a third of a season in each of his seasons under wenger as well, the main difference was that he was considered undroppable under wenger whereas emery hasn’t accepted it I’d hazard a guess that if you offered ozil the exact same financial package as he’s on right now to retire from football and become a full time fortnight player… Read more »

Chitom

“Very true , and yet he wasnt deemed good enough to start v Tottenham. I would say 95% of Arsenal fans would have loved to have seen Ceballos start v Tottenham and do all the excellent things that you rightly point out…“ —————— One of the dumbest arguments anyone can ever make is to assert that a manager doesn’t rate a player because he didn’t start him against some club. It could’ve been any number of issues ranging from tactical to health related. Why didn’t Emery start Laca against Liverpool and why play Mkhi when he was off to Roma… Read more »

Marko

Another day another Arsene quote about trying to sign up a great player and missing out. Today it’s Jadon Sancho who went for less than 10 million is from London and whose best mate plays for Arsenal. No excuses as to wait Arsene missed out. Seeing as though Gnabry left around that time due to lack of game time perhaps it’s pretty obvious. That or Arsene’s talking out his backside again

Marko

*why

Dissenter

I just wish Wenger will just move on.
I’m tired of reading people reacting to his constant provocative reminiscing of his Arsenal record.
History will judge him as the brilliant innovator who won lots of stuff, arrogated power to himself and later became the stifler of change.
Arsenal needs to move on. We thanked him already, he needs to move unto the next chapters of his life.

Cesc Appeal

Dissenter

Couldn’t agree more.

Sick of seeing his quotes as headlines on Arsenal pages. Thankfully he’s nothing to do with us anymore, just bugger off. It’s like everyone said all along, he has no life outside of Arsenal.

Marko

He’ll probably stop talking about us once he finds a club willing to give him a job but until then it’s incessant and frankly annoying. He probably thinks it looks good for him to talk about that time he missed out on a great player like he was ahead of everyone else and came this close but it doesn’t at all it makes his transfer policy over the years look pathetic and dickless. Like we needed another example of that. Shame though cause had he signed up Sancho he might still be in a job. Had he signed Kante he… Read more »

Bojangles

Wenger seems to be going out if his way to keep his name in the headlines at the moment.

Are reporters calling him to ask if he ever tried to hire these guys or is he calling reporters to let them know.

Marko

Bojangles I’d imagine that it’s a case of Jadon Sancho starting off the season brilliantly (2 goals 3 assists) and then scoring for England and then Arsene talking about that time he nearly signed him for Arsenal. What I’d like to know is why he didn’t? An honest answer to that would be far better than another sound bite. Cause like I said earlier went for under 10 million from London and his best mate is at Arsenal it really does look like it was a fairly straightforward pick up in all honesty.

Bojangles

Perhaps with all the talent he claims he had an opportunity to buy but missed out on, his sauce wasn’t as strong as some suggest.

Chris

With Sancho it may be that City didn’t want to sell him to another Premier League side.

Surprised if they didn’t attempt to insert a buy back clause with Dortmund.

He should be a starter for England now btw, I would have him ahead of Rashford.

Marko

With Sancho it may be that City didn’t want to sell him to another Premier League side. I doubt it. He had never made a senior appearence for City and they were well and truly stacked up in those areas and let’s be honest they wouldn’t have been worried about us in the slightest. He spoke before about Dortmund giving young players a chance so it’s clear to see why he was thinking of them. Again my question is if we tried to sign him how come we weren’t able to convince him to join or is it just bullshit.… Read more »

Carts

When Wenger opens his mouth, I refuse to dignify him.

Wenger reduced Arsenal to a club that almost didn’t didn’t bring mentioked alongside other team purely cos his own arrogance

HighburyLegend

“I just wish Wenger will just move on.”

Ozil, for me.

Gentlebris

‘Paternity Leave, WTF, Can Ozil not just keep an EYE on the kid because he is doing fuck all else this season so far.’

You expect Xhaka to trust Ozil with his Mrs?

One con man trusting another?

HighburyLegend

Ozil need to keep his 2 strange’s eyes on the screen when he play to fortnite.

HighburyLegend

New post!!

James wood

Yes Wenger has Tony Blair syndrome.?

raptora

fu hl

Freddie Ljungberg

Holding declared fit to play for the first team now so would expect to see him against Frankfurt to ease him in.

Bellerin and Tierney both expected back in full training this month.

Can’t wait to have our first choice back 4 available, will change our calamity defense big time imo. We’re probably not going to see a fully developed, well drilled unit for a while but it has to start somewhere.

China1

I’m fairly certain ozil can keep one eye on the kid and another on fortnight cmon man you’ve seen him haha

China1

Yeah Freddie that’s cool

I’d say they deserve patience until around the first or second week of October to find their legs but yeah. 3 first choice defenders back into the fold will be extremely welcome

HighburyLegend

Just joking, I was totally alone, was bored…

Receding Hairline

“Can’t wait to have our first choice back 4 available, will change our calamity defense big time imo. ”

Who makes up our first choice back four centrally?

Gentlebris

But then…..can’t help feeling sorry for Chelsea being scammed by Leicester so brutally like that. I mean a player who goes around getting beat by thugs for nauseating reasons.

FOR £35m?

That’s an operation far above Mustafi’s.

China1

Receding I’d play Luiz and holding

salpardisenyc

Marcelino shit canned from Valencia 3 games in after qualifying for Champions league last year. WTF is going on with that?

salpardisenyc

AND won the Copa del Rey.

Baffling decision that, sounds like he told the owners to get fucked after trying to dictate play. Their next two matches are Barca then Chelsea in group stages.

Bizzarre.

Receding Hairline

“Receding I’d play Luiz and holding”

China i would too

Or Luiz and Chambers

I don’t see any benefit in Sokratis, he is not a good defender in my eyes.

Receding Hairline

That dude Vedat Muriqi playing for Kosovo last night is quite the silky player, two very good assists last night, i can forgiven him the horrible penalty the dwarf Pickford palmed into his own net

Sid

Luiz and papasauce is not a good combination, it should be Luiz and chamber/holding or papasauce and holding. Papasauce and chambers is also not a good combination.

Valentin

Ishola,

Cazorla would not get in the Liverpool midfield of today. Not good enough off the ball.And very unlikely he would survive Guardiola’s demands of high press of the opposition. Would fall by the wayside.

David Silva is with KdB the first name of ManCity teamsheet. So I would venture a guess that Guardiola would find a place for a fit peak Cazorla.

Receding Hairline

“David Silva is with KdB the first name of ManCity teamsheet. So I would venture a guess that Guardiola would find a place for a fit peak Cazorla.”

Ever stopped to notice the work KDB and Silva put in off the ball? That was the crux of the matter what happens when a skilled player is not in possession of the ball, not that Cazorla has the output of Silva and KDB on the ball either but that is by the way.