Football 2015/16

[pink_triangle]

Ah was that the 1-1 game?

 

Yeah, perhaps most was a push. I think Christie, Williams, Tansey, Meekings and Warren could all play at high league one level, Meekings and Christie in a couple of years time could definitely play in the championship. The others you mentioned weren't regulars last season bar Raven and Draper, though with Foran it was purely down to him being injured all season. He'll be a regular this season and he'll be an important player for them. Draper's not any worse than some of the midfield cloggers you get in the Championship. Admittedly I didn't see him play in England but I've got no doubts he's a much better, more all rounded player than he was down there. I think he could get a game at a bottom 6/8 team. I'll give you Tremarco though, he's really not very good at all and I'm not sure how he's still there.

Yes 1-1, it was a great first 5 minutes and then downhill from there! Tremarco wasn't very good in the conference, Im amazed he is playing at that SPL level!

[kingcrawler]

Yes 1-1, it was a great first 5 minutes and then downhill from there! Tremarco wasn't very good in the conference, Im amazed he is playing at that SPL level!

He was backup to Graeme Shinnie last season so I don't think he played much. He had to start the cup final though as Raven injured himself just before it and almost cost them the game by making a really silly mistake late on when it was 1-1 and then getting himself sent off trying to win the ball back. I think he'll be first choice this season though which must be worrying for Inverness fans.

[mjsell]

When Everton played at arsenal this year Stones was the best player on the pitch. Has got bags of ability and will be one of the first names on the England team sheet in a few years time. Would be gutted if he went to Chelsea. Think it's a year too soon but from an England perspective it wouldn't be a bad move once Terry has retired.

[Celery]

I may be biased by that world cup semi but I think Luiz is terrible. Not looking a good summer for Everton though, Mccarthy (rightly) pissed that cleverly has come in on alot more than him.

 

He was shocking that day but the lack of Thiago Silva was massive. If he's paired with the right player he's great. The personality and character he brings to the dressing room is surely worth something too. 

 

As soon as Terry's time's up they've got Zouma to come in. Stones should stay at Everton for a couple of years until he's good enough to replace Cahill.

 

 

He's pretty much there already. Cahill is nothing special. A few games alongside Terry and he will be ready. He should take this chance to learn from JT while he's still playing. 

 

Stones is better than Luis. 

 

 

I think its possible the English centre back well has run dry, I seem to remember the likes of Jagielka and Lescott starting for England in recent tournaments. I personally felt the English centre backs (Rio at their peak excluded were a little overrated) the last gasp tackls/headers look great as tv drama, but the lack of ball playing ability often just resulted in giving the possession straight back to the opposition.

 

 

Agreed. Smalling is the only half decent one at the mo and he's nothing special. It says something that, at 34, Terry is still far and away the best English defender. 

 

Im not sure how good Stones is. To me the top centre backs perform in the really big games and I cant remember Stones playing in many. If he was French or from Belgium Im not sure I would think of him as more than a decent prospect. 20 million is great value for an unproven player.

Ignore Woody, he's only trying to wind me up. 

Edited July 17, 2015 by Celery

[Alan_C]

There is no need for Stones to move just yet. Another year or two starting every match at Everton will only do him good, and he could force his way into an automatic starter for England as well. I just don't see any benefit from his point of view of leaving to play a bit part at Chelsea right now, when he will have every club in the top 4 interested in him anyway whether its this summer or next.

[Celery]

I just don't see any benefit from his point of view of leaving to play a bit part at Chelsea right now, when he will have every club in the top 4 interested in him anyway whether its this summer or next.

How about learning from, arguably, the best central defender the premier league's ever produced?

[Alan_C]

How about learning from, arguably, the best central defender the premier league's ever produced?

 

Well I would say Terry has a year or two left maximum, and he will be the one holding Stones back out of the team if he does sign. Would he learn more from training alongside Terry and starting maybe 1/3 of games alongside him than starting 80+ games for Everton in the next 2 years?

 

Disagree with Terry being the best PL defender ever mind. Made the very best of what he's got definitely. Not the most talented out of them though.

[sdvruxk]

How about learning from, arguably, the best central defender the premier league's ever produced?

You do love exaggerating your own players ability don't you?

[eFestivals]

Chris Smalling is th best defender in this country, no question about that. Smalling will be United and England Captain after rooney. The guy is a total beast since LVG went there, dont be surprised him getting player of the year this year.

 

Hopefully the beer has not blurred my judgement..

 

I should keep your posts for when you're sober.

 

FFS. :lol:

 

[Celery]

Well I would say Terry has a year or two left maximum, and he will be the one holding Stones back out of the team if he does sign. Would he learn more from training alongside Terry and starting maybe 1/3 of games alongside him than starting 80+ games for Everton in the next 2 years?

 

Disagree with Terry being the best PL defender ever mind. Made the very best of what he's got definitely. Not the most talented out of them though.

 

Who's better? I honestly can't think of anyone who has such a good all round game. Only thing he lacks is pace. His distribution and positioning is second to none, he's the top scoring PL defender of all time and he's an incredible leader. 

I think you're all underrating the ability of Stones. If we bought him for £25m no way would he only play a handful of games. I reckon he'd be first choice by the end of the season. Zouma developed massively last year and has overtaken Mangala in the French team. He was a total liability in preseason and improved from training with JT. 

 

You do love exaggerating your own players ability don't you?

No. If you've read my recent posts you'll notice I've said Cahill is massively overrated. I just call it as I see it. Watching every game we play and going to all the home ones, I think I have a better idea than most people. Last season I said Fabregas was stinking the place out about a month before the media and fans started spouting it. Most people seem to form their opinions on football based on what they've read, rather than what they've actually seen of players. 

[thetime]

Are you suggesting that Terry is the best defender in the premier league era? Or just the best a English club has produced?

[Celery]

I don't think there's been a better defender in the PL. 

[thetime]

I don't think there's been a better defender in the PL.

Adams? Stam? Vidic? Desailly?

[Celery]

Adams? Stam? Vidic? Desailly?

Stam didn't even make it to 100 games so i'd automatically exclude him from any premiership's greatest list though he was great; he also went out on a low. Terry has a much better scoring record than Adams and is a better passer of the ball. JT in his prime was significantly better than the end-of-career Desailly we saw in the Prem. Vidic is a good shout, though Terry's been doing it for a lot longer. 

 

[pink_triangle]

. Vidic is a good shout, though Terry's been doing it for a lot longer.

Of course he has, John Terry was born in England and Vidic wasn't. If you are talking about the premiership era you would be crazy to use only playing 200 games against someone. Vidic was certainly a better centre back. Rio also could do everything defensively that JT could, but also had additional skill and more confortable on the ball. I know a lot of people rated Ledley King, but to me he wasn't tested enough at the top level.

I don't like the whole "premiership era" range. In my time as a football fan (post 98) there has been many very good centre backs, but Im struggling to think of any great ones in the English league. The likes of Desailly, Blanc, Baresi, Nesta, Canavarro at their peak were at a different level from anyone I have seen in division 1/premiership. Looking at recent years Puyol and Pique often got overshadowed by teammates, but were both so reliable in the big games.

[Celery]

Of course he has, John Terry was born in England and Vidic wasn't. If you are talking about the premiership era you would be crazy to use only playing 200 games against someone. Vidic was certainly a better centre back. Rio also could do everything defensively that JT could, but also had additional skill and more confortable on the ball. I know a lot of people rated Ledley King, but to me he wasn't tested enough at the top level.

I don't like the whole "premiership era" range. In my time as a football fan (post 98) there has been many very good centre backs, but Im struggling to think of any great ones in the English league. The likes of Desailly, Blanc, Baresi, Nesta, Canavarro at their peak were at a different level from anyone I have seen in division 1/premiership. Looking at recent years Puyol and Pique often got overshadowed by teammates, but were both so reliable in the big games.

 

Ok, I should have phrased it better. Terry has been doing it for longer and more consistently than Vidic, mainly due to injuries and suspensions. I would say he was of a similar defensive ability to JT, but with less passing ability and fewer goals. Rio wasn't the greatest defender but was incredible at bringing the ball of out defence to build an attack. King was as good as anyone at his peak but unfortunately his dodgy knee prevented him from fulfilling his potential. 

I think you're being a bit hash on PL defenders. Vidic, Sol, Stam & JT are up there with the best of recent history for me. I never saw Baresi but JT is similar to the others you mentioned and he's rated highly on the continent whereas over here we are always reminded of his 'darker moments'. One look at the UEFA team of the year lists shows only Puyol & Lahm making more appearances in defence, and they played for more successful teams. 

 

Player Appearances  

9 Cristiano Ronaldo 

6 Lionel Messi   Iker Casillas  Carles Puyol

5 Thierry Henry  Xavi  Philipp Lahm  Andrés Iniesta

4  Alessandro Nesta  John Terry  Sergio Ramos  Zlatan Ibrahimović 

3  Daniel Alves  Gianluigi Buffon  Steven Gerrard  Kaká  Pavel Nedvěd  Ronaldinho  Thiago Silva  Zinedine Zidane 

2 David Alaba  Gareth Bale  David Beckham  Cafu  Ashley Cole  Samuel Eto'o  Cesc Fàbregas  Paolo Maldini  Manuel Neuer  Mesut Özil  Franck Ribéry  Arjen Robben  Roberto Carlos  Clarence Seedorf  Andriy Shevchenko

Edited July 18, 2015 by Celery

[pink_triangle]

Ok, I should have phrased it better. Terry has been doing it for longer and more consistently than Vidic, mainly due to injuries and suspensions. I would say he was of a similar defensive ability to JT, but with less passing ability and fewer goals. Rio wasn't the greatest defender but was incredible at bringing the ball of out defence to build an attack. King was as good as anyone at his peak but unfortunately his dodgy knee prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

I think you're being a bit hash on PL defenders. Vidic, Sol, Stam & JT are up there with the best of recent history for me. I never saw Baresi but JT is similar to the others you mentioned and he's rated highly on the continent whereas over here we are always reminded of his 'darker moments'. One look at the UEFA team of the year lists shows only Puyol & Lahm making more appearances in defence, and they played for more successful teams.

How does anyone know how good king was, he hardly played any big games. You can't assess talent at the top level mainly from games against average premiership teams.

Also I'm not having UEFA team of the year as a mark of a players quality. These awards always recognize fame as much as talent and I ignore them. With the aware running 2001 to present it is bound to favour footballers currently in their mid/ late 30s. Most of the names I mentioned played significantly before that era

[Wooderson]

The Premiership Era. Shite.

[Celery]

The Premiership Era. Shite. For Liverpool. 

Sorted for ya!

[pink_triangle]

Looks like Di Maria is off to PSG. With him, Falcao and RVP gone thats a huge saving to the wage bill. I assuime that their business is not complete yet.

[ThomThomDrum]

Sorted for ya!

 

I think you mean "falling for a marketing and rebranding campaign, mainly driven by Rupert Murdoch and his ilk and mistakenly referring to it as an era" era................

[ThomThomDrum]

Looks like Di Maria is off to PSG. With him, Falcao and RVP gone thats a huge saving to the wage bill. I assuime that their business is not complete yet.

 

Rumour about that Bale may be considered in a "surprise move" to assist the de Gea move in what is reported to be a potential world record transfer....................

 

Believe it when I see it of course

[pink_triangle]

 

Rumour about that Bale may be considered in a "surprise move" to assist the de Gea move in what is reported to be a potential world record transfer....................

 

Believe it when I see it of course

I see Bale moving in 12 months when Madrid target the flavour of the month following Euro 2016.

[thetime]

Hopefully they will stop away from Madrid players, so they get to keep de gea for one more year.

[The Nal]

Looks like Di Maria is off to PSG. With him, Falcao and RVP gone thats a huge saving to the wage bill. I assuime that their business is not complete yet.

 

Defo not done yet but I hope we keep Di Maria.