MY WORD THAT FEELS GOOD.
Ok, still VERY buzzing, so adrenaline MUCH, I struggled slep, HEART PALPITATIONS, honestly, feelings ARE huuuuge.
… we won.
Wolves are good, I’ve been writing about them all season. They are technically sound, extremely fast on the transition, and they have a lot of good players. Bruno Lage is an excellent coach, no doubt about it, but we were more than a match. We controlled the first half, were more than worthy of a lead, and we matched them for energy and power for the full 96 minutes.
Then things got silly, as they seem to on the regular in 2022.
Gabriel Martinelli fouled a Wolves player, the ref played the advantage, Martinelli was adjudged to have fouled the player again.
Michael Oliver, with a full on face erection, reached into the deepest, darkest depths of the rule book, and threw out the most batshit crazy interpretation of a statute and gave two yellows and a red for two incidents in the same passage of play.
Have you ever seen something so ridiculous in your life?
Michael Oliver was literally creating a new precedent in football. A double booking for a player that hadn’t even been causing problems during the game. It was mental and according to the ref rules sleuths, actually an incorrect take on a pretty clear rule.
Arteta nailed it: “You have to be very very willing to do that”
Oliver was desperate to send off an Arsenal player. So desperate, he did something he had NEVER done in his career. I’ve never seen that. You’ve never seen that. Arteta has never seen that. It should lead to a demotion from the Premier League. Here is the rule
The red card should be rescinded. Michael Oliver should apologise. The referees that have dished out 4 red cards to Arsenal should ask why they treat us so much more different to other teams.
Think about it, how many times have you seen a player foul, then boot the ball away, and get a double yellow? NEVER. It doesn’t happen. So please, less of the ‘naive Martinelli.’ If you were arrested for clapping on an aeroplane tomorrow and you were arrested, sure, it might be deserved, but no one could accuse you of being naive about it because it’s not the law and no one has ever been arrested for it.
BUT BUT BUT…
Who needs to be a victim here when you have a group of fighters like Arsenal has right now?
No one gave up. There were no dropped shoulders. Not one player switched off. We just cracked on with it. Bob Holding came on and performed a masterclass in defence. Everyone knew their role – because presumably, Arsenal now have to expect a red is coming – and we started to play.
We carved Wolves open almost immediately, Gabriel slotting in Laczette for the miss of the evening.
Arsenal players have elite level IP when it comes to going down to 10 men. They buttoned down the hatches, turned their rage into clean sheet superpowers, and left it all out on the pitch.
The game ended with Ramsdale having to deal with 4 shots on target, 3 were pretty tame.
That’s his 11th league clean sheet in 19 games. That’s a 58% clean sheet percentage. The best in the league.
We’re not 5th in the league, look at how sexy that table looks right now.
Spurs next 3 games are Wolves (H), City (A), Burnley (A), then Leeds (A) 3 days later. They have a great manager and a good team… but I’d prefer to play Southampton over all of those teams.
United: Southampton, Brighton, Leeds… then Champions League starts against Atleti.
West Ham: Leicester, Newcastle, Wolves
This is squeaky bum time. There are no easy games now. Top 4 is a roll of the dice, but we have momentum. As Matt from the pod said, Arsenal beating Wolves THAT way was better than a 4-0 win. It said something about our character, it said something about the reality of our form, and it sent a message that we won’t be beaten by narratives like ‘everyone else fucked up, so we’ll fuck up.’
You know what else I love? This from Ruben Neves.
“We saw the way they celebrated the win and that shows the level we are. I didn’t see Arsenal celebrating like this in the past 10 years – it was like they won the league.”
Superb. I will take our players celebrating a MASSIVE win like that with full throated vigor than some of the wet lettuce bullshit we’ve seen over the years. Santos swapping shirts at halftime, David Luiz with big smiles and hugs after getting pummelled by a team, just a general lack of ‘ we don’t really give a fuck’ after results. Give me the fire. I want to see videos of Ramsdale and Gabriel celebrating cleansheets. My players SHOULD care. Ruben Neves saying he hasn’t seen passion like that from Arsenal in 10 years tells you what you already know… the culture at Arsenal is changing.
Our January was the correct one. We shipped out players that lack the talent or the passion for the next level. We oxygenated the squad, increased talent density, and only kept players that give a fuck. Granit Xhaka saved a near certain goal in the first half and was excellent all game. Cedric was excellent all game. Ben White and Gabriel returned cross after cross. Everyone managed their space expertly. You can only be that good if you care, these players care, and Arsenal fans love them. Just listen to that noise from the away end fans… that was special.
There are 16 games to go. 16 cup finals. We need to make sure this game is the start of a run, not a happy blip. There are 9 days until the Brentford game at home, that has to be 3 points. Then we have to make sure we do the job against Wolves in the return game at home.
For me, Spurs will be the competition, if Conte can keep his head in the game. The biggest difference between them and us is Kane and Son. But however this season ends, they are coming to the end of a cycle and we are just starting ours. The fact Top 4 is in our hands at this stage of the season is real testament to the new strategy, the coaching staff, and the players.
Long may it continue.
Right, jump into the podcast. It was a cracker. Last night was our biggest ever streaming audience. Thank you for checking in and leaving a comment, it means a lot to us that you want to spend time on our feed after the game. x
Gabriel gets a yellow and a penalty is awarded against Arsenal If he does what Maguire did – a challenge and a stamping on the Soton player.
TR7
Was a terrible take in retrospect have to hold my hands up but he has massively regressed this season, guess father time finally put his hand on his shoulder cause he cannot even finish sitters nowadays.
Up until November even he still had the magic touch in front of goal but he now looks well and truly spent. Kind of sad but I am glad as he plays for the Mancs.
Arteta out
Hassenhautel in
Can I laugh again at “CR7 will make United title contenders” chorus 😛
i was gonna say something similar but really it was supposed to make them shoe in for 3rd- no one thought it’d take them to pool city heights even with the thinking that he’d make their team better…
how long did that last? first 3 months…
Habesha
Southampton are a nightmare to face currently
They got a deserved draw out of city and don’t ever stop playing for one another.
It’s all well and good to enjoy their results against Spuds and United but I’ll hold the gloating until we get.a good result against them at St Mary’s.
Even that Broja kid at Southampton will nail top4 for Arsenal, what a player, absolutely destroyed Maguire
Kid is so electric, makes Laccazette look like 54 year old ffs
Avi
sucks he’s a chelsea player huh
G8 Bookable shirt pulling offence from Luke shaw, ref gave advantage and didn’t come back to show a deserved yellow..dont talk to me about rules Ii missed the incident but and yep it’s a strange one but if the considers the offence to have been an attempt to stop a promising attack and plays advantage he can’t then go back to issue a caution Here’s the law Advantage If the referee plays the advantage for a pin offence for which a caution / sending -off would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution/ sending off must be issued… Read more »
looks like the stars are aligning.
so whats the pick of the games then? im thinking everton leeds will be NBA pace, both teams got a chip on the shoulder right about now should be fun
Messi is close to being a spent force nowadays too. x2 goals in Ligue 1 come mid Feb is shocking, I do not care hie many times he has hit the woodwork or got an assist.
We are well and truly in the post Messi-Ronaldo era if we weren’t already. Back to no clear best olayer in the world and the Ballon D’or actually becoming interesting ince again.
Dissenter,
I was impressed how we made Southampton look so poor at our place. Also, before the sending off we made Wolves look so poor at their place.
That’s a good sign. Our only issue is Laca poor finishing and his super sub championship level clown Eddie. I hope we address this in the summer adding wide player and CM.
It is not gloating Dissenter we literally beat them 3-0.
If we had been either team in the game just finished at OT we I am 100% positive would have had a player sent off…
I think it’s too easy to say the top 4 challengers are shit, as many are saying , personally i would say the competition is fierce this season and teams like Southampton, palace, wolves , west ham, leicester Brighton and Villa as they have shown are more than capable of causing damage to Arsenal, Tottenham, united and chelsea…
These team don’t just sit back and try and sneak a draw like in years gone by, they go for the jugular and come to play their football and it’s great to see, there have been some excellent games this week..
Time up.Manure at our gaff might depend on what shit ref Riley will dish up to scupper any chance we might have.
As for Southampton.As stated by others.V.impressed with Broja.Unfortunately he’s on loan for the Chavs & there’s no way they’ll sell him to us at any stage( unless he’s shit,of course)
eagle
we got mbappe v haaland now. future barca v., RM matchup? barcelona would sell theiir soul twice for haaland right now
G8
Just seen the incident and clearly it was a promising position because Broja got a shot off which was saved so it can’t be a caution.
10 wins or (30 point) out of the 16 games and we are top 4. 12 wins or (36 point), and we’ll be pushing for third.
Simple as.
WE
Although I have never rated Ronaldo as a player I am still pleasantly surprised how much off the pace he looks. The thing is his game is overly dependent on pace and physicality and at the age of 37 there is bound to be a massive drop in pace and physicality. He should retire or go play in MLS. The writing is on the wall.
It is PL money, nowadays middle of the road clubs can splash big cash and hold onto their star players for longer.
Look at the money Everton, Leicester, Aston Villa and even Wolves/West Ham have spent in recent years, it is mind-blowing compared to 10+ yeara ago.
So no real surprise to see much more upsets barring City who have constructed a super team with £50m+ bench pieces.
there are only 2 teams in the PL who couldnt make it to the KO rounds of Europa in my opinion
WE
Man Utd are a team of individuals. They don’t press together or have an identity. They just have some outrageous players who look average. Compare them to our young team out of possession. Our players work hard and seem to care. The Man Utd ones don’t,. Chalk and cheese. The one other thing that was apparent was how they are refereed. Against n, chalk and cheese.
Zacharse
Their time will come but Haaland had not yet surpassed Lewandowski/Benzema imo.
And Mbappe is phenomenal but he is no Messi/Ronaldo regen. We may not see that quality again for a very long time.
*again chalk and cheese
i duuno man, those 2 are going places, esp. when they leave hte teams theyre on…
Messi is not finished, mark my words. He is getting back in to his groove again. 10 goal contributions in as many games. He started off slowly but he is getting better. Of course we are not going to see Messi dominate the way ever again but he still is and will be one of the top 5 players for 3 years at least. His passing and vision is still the best in the world and he will thrive in a playmaker role. Messi is extra terrestrial, write him off at your own peril.
Habesha
Yes your right, i have faith in our squad to go there and get a result however.
TR7
I watched him for Juve last season and he could still sprint and clinically finish.
Now he hasn’t the power in his legs anymore and he has lost his edge in front of goal. Curtains for this level, MLS is right but knowing Ronaldo he will never concede this and will just retire at Utd.
TR7 I couldn’t believe that United were about to jump in to Ronaldo’s 500k a week wages when he is 36. I couldn’t even believe Juve spent a 100 mil on him. But that wasn’t catastrophic. But this move is. United had Cavani too. He wasn’t necessary. And he wasn’t a top young player to see it as an opportunity. It just smacked of desperation. City had the squad and he would have given them something more. But for United he has wrecked the plan if they ever had any plans at all. If Lacazette finds any kind of form,… Read more »
Terraloon , is this wrong. “Definition of Advantage Rule What does the term “advantage rule” mean in the world of football? What is meant by the advantage rule? In football, the “advantage rule” states that a team that is fouled shouldn’t lose their current advantage by play being stopped. For instance – let’s say that Manchester United is advancing down the field and is outnumbering their opponent, Manchester City, 4-2. Manchester United has a very good chance of having a dangerous scoring opportunity here. Now, let’s say that one of the Manchester City defenders commits a minor foul on the… Read more »
Positive pet,
Even with 12 players, ManU have no plan. Few players hate working with stinking attitude. Just like Arsenal with Ozil and his mate running the club under Uncle Wenger.
As for Broja, I’ve not seen him doing it against good defenders or consistence, and that’s a sing of a mid table strike, just like DCL at Everton or Watkins at Villa. I just hope we don’t go down that road.
Time Up
True. But games against Man Utd and Spuds are 6 pointers.
It’s amazing we’re in this position with such a young team.
x3 more years of being a top 5 player? Come on TR7, I love Messi too but he can barely run nowadays.
He will fall off a cliff once he cannot dribble past his man anymore and that is close to happening. He gets dispossessed an awful lot more nowadays and cannot beat more than x1 defender anymore on a run.
Unlike Ronaldo he has never been as effective off ball.
I don’t know if people remember but United had a good thing going at the end of 19/20 when football restarted after the pandemic with that Martial-Rashford-Greenwood-Fernandes attacking line up.
Were smashing goals in at a silly rate, if it ain’t broke wht fix it but the spaz Woodwood succombed to ego driven recruitment and broke it up.
https://alvin-almazov.com/soccer-eng/advantage-rule/
Team of the week… Southampton beating the scum and drawing away with Manure. Loving how Arteta is assembling a team of leaders and they will have each other’s backs unlike Man U who appear very disjointed and despondent.
WE
Messi will switch to a Xavi like role. He won’t be required to beat players off his dribble. Unlike Ronaldo, Messi has so many tools in repertoire that he can pick and choose which tools he wants to use. We will see, I have little doubt about Messi continuing to be an elite player for 3 more years.
Halland, Mbappe, Benzema, Lewandowski, Messi, Salah, KDB and Neymar are top of the pile for me. I can see Salah and Neymar regressing. So Messi will be up there with the very best.
Terraloon
It is common practice for a ref to play the advantage rule and at the next break of play caution the offender whatever the circumstances, all that bollocks about “it was a promising position because Broja got a shot off which was saved so it can’t be a caution.”…is exactly that ..bollocks.
Shaw pulling the shirt of a Southampton player was a yellow card offence.
AFC,
We’re better than Spud and ManU you in every department striker and maybe LW. I’ll take from ManU Greenwood (before his case) and Bruno. As for the Spud, Kane and Son.
Thats why top 4 is a must this year.
29 year old Salah playing the best football of his career will regress before 34 year old Messi? Now that is a bold statement.
I don’t believe Messi possess’s Xavi’s skillset from deep-lying areas and he is a non-entity off ball defensively which makes him impossible to accommodate in a midfield 3.
19 games
7 goals
7 assists
9 goals denied by bar/goalpost
Not really bad for a player moving in to a new league.
x2 goals in Ligue 1 and are we really adding woodwork into the stats for him? 🤣
Few pens in there for the x7 goals too.
Fernandes didn’t even get booked for his lash out on Prowse earlier. He literally swang at him.
ION, Bruno Penandes once you take away pens is not Frank Lampard II after all, who knew? Lol.
Bruno was always an average player, his goal scoring stats masked his glaring playmaking deficiencies.
Times up,yeah .At this stage you prob can lump in with those.Looks older.But is only 20?
“Shaw pulling the shirt of a Southampton player was a yellow card offence.”
Yeah, but he don’t play for Arsenal!
TR7 You’ve never rated Ronaldo as a player? United were crazy to re-sign him at 37, it was an emotional decision, not a rational one, and it’s unbalanced them. But Ronaldo is still one of the greatest players of a generation, he’s scored 800+ career goals, he’s been a big part of teams that have won 5 European Cups, he’s won multiple domestic titles in 3 different leagues, he’s the all time top scorer in the CL, and at international level….. How can you not have ever rated him?…. I’m generally in favour of avoiding big name players with big… Read more »
Lampard has fired up Everton.
I wouldn’t call Bruno Fernandez average. But he is not as good as the stats made him out to be though. He looked like a player comparable to Debruyne.
I would still have him if he was to play a CM role for us. He only was pushed forward at United. He was a CM at Sporting. He is a good player. Just in an average team and in bad form. Still he is creating a high number of chances. He is not the problem at United.
Rich
I know Cristiano has amazing statistics and he is a great athlete but he is not a gifted footballer for me in the sense everything about his play looks mechanical and contrived. He doesn’t make players around him look better. Except for a brief period of 3 to 4 years, he has been a poacher or pure goalscorer. I don’t like or rate such footballers but that’s just me.
What has happened to Ross Barkley? Is he at Chelsea still
Terraloon,
For Martinelli first foul Oliver gave the advantage, so the first yellow should have been waved and only the 2nd offence should have been carded, especially as it happened in the same course of play and within seconds of each other
It was very unprecedented and farce decision
No matter how you look at it Oliver couldn’t wait to show the red card and that what.the debate is about!
You could say the same for Xhakas red v Liverpool
its one rule for arsenal and one for the rest
Just seen a leeds player fly kicking an Everton player , got him full in the face , didn’t even receive a yellow , i was thinking it looked like a red as he knew the player was there, violent play that will endanger another player without a doubt .
No doubt Terraloon will disagree.
Hitman
Nothing is given,we have to take the opportunity that is presenting itself…..if Manu or sp*rds finishes above us,then Tets would played penalty into throwing.lets start d 16 cup finals and get handsome points on the board…. if we bring our A game,we Chelsea would be playing an arsenal side they have not played b4, and sp*rds too, don’t see us loosing that one
Leeds keeps hitting the wood.
Wenger Eagle
My point is that Southampton in this current form will get a result against us.
We don’t play them at St Mary’s till April so maybe we get the weak sonde of them like we got in December at the Emirates.
Hassenhuttl’ s teams are typically yo-yo; one moment they are grinding out results and another they are being blown away 7-0.
Pierre Terraloon It is common practice for a ref to play the advantage rule and at the next break of play caution the offender whatever the circumstances, all that bollocks about “it was a promising position because Broja got a shot off which was saved so it can’t be a caution.”…is exactly that ..bollocks.Shaw pulling the shirt of a Southampton player was a yellow card offence. I don’t write the rules/ laws or necessarily agree with them but the simple fact is that if advantage is played and it’s a promising position it isn’t a yellow card offence. Rather than… Read more »
It can’t be hard to find a striker like Maupay as one of the incomings in the summer.
Terraloon Have you ever seen an advantage being given for a throwing deflected by a hand like Martinelli did. The play should have been blown dead, players gets booked and the throwing gets retaken. Giving two rapid yellow cards in the same sequence defeats the -purpose of a yellow card; to caution a player, short of sending him off. Had Martinelli gotten the booking, he wouldn’t have gone barging into the next play. It’s like when Wenger got sent off for kicking a bottle; technically it was wishing the rules but it was bone-headed over-officiating. I expect double yellow cards… Read more »
TR7
Love your views on most things sports-related outside of Djokovic and Ronaldo which you have two massive blind-spots/bias on!
Understandable given your love for Messi and Nadal but being objective how can you not rate CR7 as the 2nd greatest of his generation?
Bayern are so soft defensively, given up x4 goals away to Bochum today.
Upamecano is a dreadful CB, think it was Marko that used to have the fetish for him.
Terraloon, the fine line here is Martinelli TRIED to prevent the throw, but he didn’t,/couldn’t and the play didn’t stop
Oliver could and should have acted differently!
But I got what you mean anyway
Dissenter
Terraloon
Have you ever seen an advantage being given for a throwing deflected by a hand like Martinelli did.
The play should have been blown dead, players gets booked and the throwing gets retaken.
Now that is a decent question.
No I haven’t but it’s something that is covered in the guidance issued by IFAB in that if the ref believes the opposing team is able exploit a promising position then they are allowed to allow that quick restart and then come back to award the yellow.
WE I rate Djoker very highly. He is up there with Rafa and Fed. Not the outright GOAT even though broad data points suggest so. I will try to put forward my case with specific data some day but I rate Djoker very highly. No negative bias against him. As for CR7, purely from statistical perspective he is the second best behind Messi but I don’t feel his greatness when I watch him. I can’t quite describe why though. Whenever I watched Messi, Zidane, Iniesta, Brazilian Ronaldo, Ronaldinho I always got the feeling I was watching someone special. Never got… Read more »
‘ Understandable given your love for Messi and Nadal but being objective how can you not rate CR7 as the 2nd greatest of his generation’ I tried it to reply TR7’s 1000th post dissing Ronaldo How can a player who’s done so much and pushed Messi all the way not be a ‘gifted footballer ? Ronaldo is the quintessential total footballer. The man can dribble, was super fast[until age caught up] shoot from distance, is a dead ball specialist, and is a strong header of the ball. He’s mechanical because he slavishly worked his skills to perfection. It’s like sting… Read more »
Terraloon
Referees are always right the way the lead of the game is written.
They have broad discretion so I’m sure you can find something in the rule book to make sense of whatever they choose to do.
He’s more than up there TR7, even the way you phrase it is funny. He is still on his resume likely the all-time GOAT if we are honest, neck and neck with Rafa but once he passes him in Slams it will be hard to argue in Rafa’s favour. Depends what you define by greatness, to me his 2016/`17 CL knockout run was the greatest I have seen of any player outside of Messi in 14/15. He scored like x10 goals in 5 knockout matches including decisive goals against Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Juventus. Guy was a monster for… Read more »
The best players make difficult things look mechanically easy because they’ve perfected it in training.
That’s not to be confused with lacking talent.
Messi’s wonder goals are also mostly derived from repetitious training too.
Ronaldo at the end of the day is the all-time top CL goalscorer, in assists, has by FAR the most knockout stage goals and latter stage ones at that too (QF onwards).
He has also won x5 CL titles which is ridiculous in the modern era. Messi on paper has won x4 but he wasn’t a part of their 2006 win when he was injured in the 1st leg of the last 16.
WE/Dissenter I already said you can pick up any stat of CR7 and make a case for him being an all time great which I guess most of the people anyway acknowledge. But for me it’s about the look and vibe that you get from watching a player and CR7 never really stood out for me. But anyway I am sure CR7 doesn’t give a damn about it 🙂 By the way this whole notion that CR7 is a more complete footballer is the biggest myth in football. Just because Messi can’t score from headers doesn’t mean he is any… Read more »
Wenger Eagle
Ronaldo also bossed the premier league before his move to Spain
I understand why many select Messi over him but one has to start the convo on the basis that the two [Messi and Ronaldo] are on a different planet from everyone else.
TR7 these are not tailored stats, the man has won x5 CL titles as the best player/top scorer.
How many other players can say that in all time history?
Zlatan is an all-time great and has never even made it to a CL Final, let alone won one. And he is 40 and has played for Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Man United.
Terraloon
“I don’t write the rules/ laws ”
Nonyou dont , but as we known, the rules are open to interpretation as we see every week .
It just a bit strange that your interpretation of the rules rarely ,if ever go in Arsenal’s favour …..
TR7
What can Messi do that Ronaldo doesn’t do in a stratospheric excellent level, perhaps second TO Messi?
-Free kicks?
-Dribbles? Do you know how much punishment Ronaldo go in the premier league. He was the most fouled players for three consecutive season
Assists?
-shooting from outside the box.
We are dealing with two GOATS here, you tend to dismiss one of them.
I’ve never been a fan of individual awards in football Football is a team game, and should be all about the collective, the currency in football is team trophies. Ronaldo’s CV speaks for itself in that regard, he was electric between 2006-09 for United, one of the greatest players of the PL era, that was the last team to win 3 successive PL titles in the PL era, also winning the CL, and losing another final. Ronaldo’s CV speaks for itself. Can’t say I’m not enjoying his demise though, watching United at the moment, is most enjoyable, long may it… Read more »
Why do we talk about no of CL titles and WC wins while comparing individual players WE ? It shouldn’t really matter. Evra doesn’t become a better footballer than Gerrard because he won more EPL titles.
Balogun starting today, played 92 minutes, Middlesbrough 4-1 up
Bagged himself his second assist.
Honestly I don’t understand the clamor for Dominic Calvert Lewin
The man plays like a £15-20 million striker, no better than Ivan Toney and certain,y worse than Giroud [when he played for us 😀
I’ll rather get a shortie like Maupay than get DCL.
Evra was a LB and Gerrard was the main man in CM for Liverpool TR7, that is a very disingenuous comparison.
CL titles matter because it is the highest level of football and it is annual. World Cup is a 4 week tourney once every x4 years and you are a prisoner to your NT selection pool of talent.
Also Evra and Gerrard both won x1 CL title! 🙂
People close to the club rate Balogun very highly, apparently the young player closest to a potential breakthrough. Middlesbrough up to 6th, they’ve got 17 games remaining, and the potential for reaching the play offs, Hopefully we see a similar rise with Balogun, like we seen when Smith Rowe used Huddersfield as a finishing school, rescuing them from relegation. Patino expected to be promoted to the first team squad next season, but he’s still only 18, so there’s no rush getting him regular minutes. With Lacazette + Nketiah departing after Aubameyang, there’s definitely a place opening up. Pulling another top… Read more »
My last post today on Messi vs Ronaldo
Well 15-20 years down the line when people will see that there are still a few great goalscorers in football but no player even half as good as Messi in creating magic on the pitch then may be they will realise the huge gap in the level of Messi and CR7.
Sometimes we don’t realise how great a player is when he is playing. Messi’s legend will grow even more with time when we will see the footballing world inundated with robotic players say 10 years down the line.
Dissenter “Messi’s wonder goals are also mostly derived from repetitious training too.” I doubt it, unless you call learning your skills on the cobbled streets or beach in Argentina as repetitious training. . Messi’s skill is god given, you could practice 24 hours a day for 10 years and wouldn’t have 1% of Messi’s ability on the ball ….mind you , he’s rubbish at tracking back , which so many of you on le grove find more important than natural skills and ability.. Smith rowe is our most natural instinctive footballer at present and he can’t make the starting line… Read more »
”Sometimes we don’t realise how great a player is when he is playing. Messi’s legend will grow even more with time when we will see the footballing world inundated with robotic players say 10 years down the line.”
I agree with this. We have definitely taken him for granted and he has normalised the near impossible. He is the greatest gift to the game I have ever seen hands down.
“Messi’s wonder goals are also mostly derived from repetitious training too.”
Ok one more post 😛
Watch Messi’s goals when he was 11-12 years of age. He was beating 7-8 players even then. His talent is natural, God-given.
Messi is a once in a lifetime natural talent, you definitely cannot get to his levels through hard work no matter how much graft you put it.
That’s why I have so much respect for Ronaldo because in terms of gifted ability he is not on the same planet as Messi and yet through absolute dogged determination and graft he has managed to carve out a career as great as Messi’s or at least very close to be considered a great rival.
Sporting scouts rated Quaresma as a far more gifted player than CR7, think about that.
Rich
“Balogun starting today, played 92 minutes, Middlesbrough 4-1 upBagged himself his second assist.”
4 goals and he didn’t even make it on the scoresheet against a championship side , he’s not even championship level..
Oops sorry, I thought it was Eddie you were talking about…
TR7
Yea, you don’t believe players perfect their art in training?
The typical Messi block buster move that’s left you dumb striken has been done dozens of times in training.
That’s how it always works.
That’s how every sporting GOAT like the tennis players you adore and Michael Jordan would describe it
Pierre
‘ I doubt it, unless you call learning your skills on the cobbled streets or beach in Argentina as repetitious training’
Sorry but that stereotypical BS derived from a long gone ere
They have standard pitches, football< boots, regulation football and academies in other parts of the word too.
Pierre I like Eddie, his career has been mishandled by either the club, his agent, or a combination of both. He should have gone straight back out on loan after Leeds, and for the entirety of last season Picking up 40 games in the Championship would have been hugely beneficial to his development this season as well, it would have been better if the club and his agent agreed to a 12 month extension, in exchange for a season on loan. He’s wasted the last 2 years rotting on our bench, and in the stands. His career trajectory has been… Read more »
New post guys