Football Soccer Football Soccer Football Soccer

[F l i c k e r]

Back to being a cup team.

[Zaroku]

Confederations cup opens up in about 13 hours. Are the brits interested? How about everyone else

I like NFL teams

Texan football is awesome!!

I do like some Aussies/new Zealand game where guys just kick the chit outta each other

[ShoulderRoll]

RIP Franz Beckenbauer.

[BodiesInFlight]

RIP Franz Beckenbauer.

Mario Zagallo passed a few days ago too. Two absolute giants of the game.

Only three men have won the World Cup as player and manager, they were two of them. Legends.

[The Defecator]

RIP Franz Beckenbauer.

Der Kaiser.....Maybe the GOAT defender.

[Sparked_26]

Beckenbauer is a player who defined a role. He was a sweeper a dead position now but essentially a ball-playing centre half in new money. Amazing to think that back then your centre half could just be a lump who was tough and scary.

Maybe Bobby Moore was another 'clean shirt' defender before the Italian masters made being a centre half a cool position. You didn't even have to big anymore!

I remember watching early match of the day reruns when the pass back rule came in. People genuinely thought keepers wouldn't be able to trap a football and pass it. Now you have them playing triangles on their own 6 yard box.

Funny how the latest evolvement of football at the top top level has almost wiped out the most coveted role of all really - the no9.

That's why I think everyone loves Haaland really. Even when he scores against Chelsea which admittedly isn't one of his harder feats I still feel pleased for him.

[F l i c k e r]

Jamie Cumming going on loan to Oxford United.

His Life will be something of a movie script if he turns out to become Chelsea's first team GK. I will make it my mission to make a movie about him if no one else will. LOL

[Sparked_26]

Two takeaways from Chelsea/Fulham.

I haven't felt more confident in a keeper since Big Nose. Petrovic has a great calmness about him and plays in a position where with games you can only improve. He has a bad defence in front of him too.

Also is there a more Crystal Palace player than Noni Madueke?

He's pretty good. He's just not that good and will never be that good. If Crystal Palace replaced the Eagle on their badge to just an image of Noni Madueke putting in a cross that was easily cut out nobody would question it.

Madueke is Crystal Palace's spirit animal not that Eagle.

Give us Olise, Palace - and you can Madueke. Let's get this over with. We all know it feels wrong.

We could use a prodigiously talented player who will no doubt be injured all the time and you could use a 4 goal a season winger who whilst has talent has no end product really and will get pocketed by any good Premier League standard left back.

[F l i c k e r]

Chelsea may as well do it.

Eze and Olise for Mudryk and Noni.

I like Noni though. If Palmer wasn't signed, Noni would be the signing of the season for us. That's how good he is within the confines of this squad. He's the next best/ talented kid after Palmer.

I could get behind an attacking 3 of Palmer - Eze - Olise.

Absolute Europa level team that but it would be the nicest combo since Hazard - Mata - Oscar.

[Sparked_26]

Chelsea may as well do it.

Eze and Olise for Mudryk and Noni.

I like Noni though. If Palmer wasn't signed, Noni would be the signing of the season for us. That's how good he is within the confines of this squad. He's the next best/ talented kid after Palmer.

I could get behind an attacking 3 of Palmer - Eze - Olise.

Absolute Europa level team that but it would be the nicest combo since Hazard - Mata - Oscar.

The player I have high hopes for is Chucky if he can stay fit.

Mudryk and Madueke are similar. Both dont have a good first touch. You never just get one if you havent by their ages. Fat Trev who is 20 stone could trap a ball pinged at him. It is talent really. What is a first touch but timing, calmness and a good eye?

Those guys are too frenetic and instinctive and not really thoughtful footballers.

Cole Palmer has it. I think Chucky might have it.

Mudryk occasionally has flashes of real genius and will do an outrageous turn and Madueke is good when running at a defender. But I can't see how they get much better.

The only player who I ever saw exponentially improve to the point he was fundamentally better at football at the elite level as an adult was Mo Salah.

Top players improve like Ronaldo and Lampard but Salah seemed to have a talent transplant in Italy.

Not that you always need loads and loads of talent to be an important player even at the top level - intangibles are still as important - these are all good players. I don't think Gallagher is a great player. But I can understand that he could become an important player over time. But what bugs me is Gallagher can't get on the half turn and he can't seem to fix that. It's a massive technical flaw.

Chelsea have loads of players with a fatal flaw in their game which is why they are a stone cold midtable side.

Fair enough they are young but you could be an alien and identify Olise as a better footballer than Madueke and Mudryk.