I never once said I associate creativity with “south americans”. I’m not quite sure where you picked that one up from.
The central fulcrum of the side isn’t necessarily the only creative player in the team either - Pirlo has been this at AC Milan in the past but also had Kaka in that team creating. Maybe learn about the game a bit more before you make sweeping generalisations like these.
Couldn’t agree more. The guy treating this like an imaginary writing piece or something lol!
I’m no Liverpool fan but watching that slip from Stevie G was painful.
Gerrard was pretty mediocre. The guy on his left (Henderson?) was quite good.
There are many good coaches available, but LVG is a big name, and a great coach in his own right, so he would be a great pick. Not sure how well that will fly over with the Rooneys of the team, but I think Mata and Kagawa will benefit.
Guus Hiddink is also available, but I’d like to see them also take a look at Cesare Prandellli, I think Unai Emery would excel with ManU, but he’s not “famous enough” for the Glazers.
Fun fact: Loui Van Gaal is a former Madoff client.
As a massive Liverpool fan, I’m too enraged to do any study for a few hours
^
Joe Allen. Henderson got a straight red against city and is banned till the last game.
This is the reason i will never warm to Mourinho. Good manager but with a starting 11 that still cost more than Liverpools they didn’t come to play football. They came for a smash and grab and they got it but they will still finish 3rd behind City and Lpool this season.
Those time wasting tactics by his players at the beginng were so painful to watch and yeah what must be going through Steven Gerrard’s head right now? You wait 13 years and stay in your hometown club to make that mistake? Feel for him.
Spent the last half an hour reading these. They’re lovely and the blog deserves the hits. Trust me and read them.
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2013/afghanistan-united/
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2013/the-long-revolution-of-the-ultras-ahlawy/
Feel for you mate.
But the end was telling. After chelsea scored the second that ended liverpool’s 24 year wait for the title Mourinho ran to the chelsea fans to get them to cheer.
The Liverpool fans must’ve been shocked but 2-0 down and just watching their 2 decade long wait go up in smoke they started singing that anthem ‘You’ll never walk alone’.
Massive respect, You deserved it.
Master class by Chelsea today.
^
Don’t think so, it was an individual mistake that won them the game.
Any other time gerrard wasn’t slipping and Liverpool would still be in pole position.
That being said, I think Liverpool still has a slight advantage over everyone else. Chelsea has to worry about the CL and has lost Cech, and City has a tougher schedule. But their goal difference is a big plus for them.
There wasn’t just one goal…there was more than one mistake. Chelsea went with the “smash and grab” approach and excecuted it perfectly.
Livepool may have had more possesion etc. but lacked the cutting edge in the final third. Chelsea on the other hand took advantage of a weak Liverpool defence (it’s their biggest problem and worse than all other defences in the top 5) while parking the bus to stop them from scoring. Mourinho strikes again!
Suarez has had a dip in form over the past couple of games if you look at the stats. Less shots on goal, less chances created etc. I think this is a major worry for Liverpool if he can’t get his “A game” back with Sturridge being injured at the moment. Sterling won’t play like he did against Norwich for the remaining games.
It’s City’s title to lose now. And if both of those teams drop points because of the pressure then Chelsea still stand an outside chance.
Liverpool didn’t create any clear cut chance but neither did chelsea apart from the gerrard slip. The second goal was in stoppage time when it was all or nothing for lpool.
T’was percentage football, very bad to watch. 3 games for city, doubt they’ll drop the ball now. Bookie’s favorite also- those guys are rarely wrong.
We could be in for a grandstand finish like Aguero’s 93rd min winner but i think it’s all over now.
what kind of bets do you place?
unfortunately for Liverpool, I can’t see City dropping points. They’ve had their lull in form and now with Toure and Aguero back they’ll probably see it through. Tricky game against Everton but they have dropped recently
I genuinely feel for Gerrard, he won’t get another opportunity to get a premier league winners medal.
I’ve never understood this attitude of feeling sorry for Stevie G and saying that he deserves a medal after all this time.
There have been plenty of great players over the years who have never won the premier league and arguably deserved a winners medal. It’s just part of the game.
If he loses out because of that slip up the other night he’ll never forgive himself though which is very sad. He’ll regret it for the rest of his days.
Slippers anyone?
I’m less strict than Palantir on individual names, but Palantir’s definition of creative it’s closer to how we use it in Brazil. I think we can hold a candle to british media and fans since we used to know a thing or two about soccer. I think this thread established that there are different definitions used widely enough, and so be it.
As for Beckham, I don’t think highlights videos tell a lot. Any number of crappy young players have awesome videos that managers use when trying to sell them to the next sucker. But thinking again I do feel that labeling Beckham as uncreative is a little harsh. I’d say he’s far from the most creative players, but certainly did the unexpected enough to be more creative than the average joe. He was an outstanding player anyway.
I think that the definition of creative as someone who creates opportunities is too close to the definition of a good player for any offensive midfielder. The way I see it, Kaka is the antithesis of a creative player. Again, it’s about doing the unexpected. Kaka could run fast and pass quickly and correctly, but even at his top it was unusual for him to do the unexpected. Maybe without the ball, but that’s really far from what Zidane or Ronaldinho could do.
As for Gerrard, he won the most awesome Champion Finals ever. I think he’ll still be pretty satisfied in retirement.
^
The thing with Gerrard is that it was part of a bigger picture. The man stayed at Liverpool when Madrid and Chelsea came calling. Madrid with their galacticos and Chelsea with their new oil money.
He stayed with his hometown club and played with players like Djimi Traore and Salif Diao. He saw Lampard, Giggs, Scholes etc lift trophy after trophy and he stayed. Lesser money included.
This was the one medal missing from his cabinet. To come so close and then to probably loose it like that with the finishing line in sight…damn, football is a cruel game.
As for the rest of the post a line from one of the articles said it best. ‘The game is as Brazilian as it is German as it is Haitian’. I’m with Cap that Palantir’s definition is closer to ‘Flair’ than ‘Creativity’ and Kaka was just lovely to watch in his prime.
Slight digression here but I spent a decent portion of my Sunday watching Tunnel Cam for Man City and some behind the scenes footage for Barcelona and i’ve decided that the best job to have in the world is being a pro football player. The lifestyle, the money, the WAGs. Their lives just look ridiculously amazing. While they prep for games and live it up, i’m studying for L3 and working my job. Smh. That is all.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbF5BTuiIp8]
Another ending like this and we’re set for Brazil i think
yowza!