Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:22 am  

Goodbye Tevez, you'll be sorely missed. One less munich related song for City to sing.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:39 am  

Mark wrote:

Goodbye Tevez, you'll be sorely missed..

A nice sentiment.

It’s a shame he is going but I am glad in a way as the whole ‘soap opera’ was becoming tiresome. I doubt he will say anything positive about Mancini but IMO he has helped to make Tevez the player he is. Tevez is a better player now than when he was at United.

TBH I have thought for a while now that his desire to move was related to the fact that he wanted to be closer to his family. Those who have children will be able to understand why. Some Blues appear to be bitter about it. My opinion is that if a player wants to leave, they should not have to justify it. Although requesting a transfer just before the January transfer was not ideal.

I expect his economic rights to be purchased by Kia J just before a final big move to Europe in a couple of years. Kia J has found gambling to be a particularly expensive hobby.


Maybe the signing of Aguero and Sneidjer (or Nasri - who is my preferred option) will help to ease the pain.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:21 am  

I think losing one of the leagues best players is a bit of a shame. It's funny cause it's City, but the past few years we've seen players like Ronaldo, Alonso, Mascherano and Albert Riera leave and I think the premier league needs more world stars.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:06 pm  

Enfield Exile wrote:

A nice sentiment.

It’s a shame he is going but I am glad in a way as the whole ‘soap opera’ was becoming tiresome. I doubt he will say anything positive about Mancini but IMO he has helped to make Tevez the player he is. Tevez is a better player now than when he was at United.

TBH I have thought for a while now that his desire to move was related to the fact that he wanted to be closer to his family. Those who have children will be able to understand why. Some Blues appear to be bitter about it. My opinion is that if a player wants to leave, they should not have to justify it. Although requesting a transfer just before the January transfer was not ideal.

I expect his economic rights to be purchased by Kia J just before a final big move to Europe in a couple of years. Kia J has found gambling to be a particularly expensive hobby.


Maybe the signing of Aguero and Sneidjer (or Nasri - who is my preferred option) will help to ease the pain.

Are City trying to rival Spurs for the largest number of midfielders in a squad?

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:26 pm  

Mark wrote:

I think losing one of the leagues best players is a bit of a shame. It's funny cause it's City, but the past few years we've seen players like Ronaldo, Alonso, Mascherano and Albert Riera leave and I think the premier league needs more world stars.

Nice sarcasm at the end there...

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:27 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

Nice sarcasm at the end there...

Judging by the reception he received on arrival in Turkey, you'd think he was a world star.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:34 pm  

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

Are City trying to rival Spurs for the largest number of midfielders in a squad?

I think Liverpool have that title sorted. Bus tour booked for Tuesday apparently.

I'll always have a soft spot for Tevez, regardless of what the fact he left United for city. His autobiography will be interesting, may explain Gary Neville's reaction when Tevez got stick on his return to OT with his new team...

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:41 pm  

I think it would be weird to see Tevez go, and, oddly, I don't think we ever seen the best of him. I was reading a quote a few weeks back (I can't remember who by) which was basically saying England has ruined Tevez, which I sort of agreed with. He works harder than he really should, he probably doesn't show as much ability as he has and I think the emphasis on work rate over here can have a negative effect on players. I remember Tevez at United where it seemed he was played mostly for his work rate, although he had a successful season there, he probably never shown them what he was truly capable of. Similarly at City, he's worked his nuts off when playing, but the player that left South America has changed massively, and I'm not too sure if I really like it.

Another player that you could say this about is Torres. When he came to England, he worked hard, but he was a massive threat with the ball at his feet for such a powerful player. Since then, it felt more like Torres was running after the ball instead of with it, which I feel has changed his game negatively. If you look at Torres in the national side, he looks out of place because he isn't as comfortable on the ball as the others, but he wasn't always like that, not IMO anyway, it was never 'his game', but at the same time, I feel he became more limited in his time here, and relied more on chasing down defenders instead of beating them.

I dunno, it's an interesting way to look at things, but I even think Rooney changed for worse during the years before last. The emphasis was always on his work rate, but he had a lot more than that. He still does, no doubt, but I think some of his 'natural game' has been taken away/sacrificed to emphasise on his work rate. Less so since he was played behind Hernandez, where it seemed he was able to play a more natural game, but for long spells areas of his game weren't utilised. The opposite of this example could probably be Dimitar Berbatov who, if he worked harder/shown a bit more aggression, would probably be amongst the top 5 forwards in the world.

I'm intrigued to see how a player like Luis Suarez develops in his time here. There's no doubting he works hard, but will this side of his game continually be pushed at the sacrifice of his ability? I hope not.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:49 pm  

It's the English way, a good pair of lungs over a good pair of feet any day of the week.

If a player isn't capable of putting his foot in and grafting to get the ball back for the team he doesn't get picked - hence Phil Neville having more England caps than Glenn Hoddle.

If you want another example from closer to home, take a look at some of the performances by a young Joe Cole in his West Ham days. Given a free role and just allowed to drift around influencing the game with the ball at his feet, he had all the ability to be a truly world class player.

Re: Football Chat Thread : Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:06 pm  

Andy Gilder wrote:

It's the English way, a good pair of lungs over a good pair of feet any day of the week.

If a player isn't capable of putting his foot in and grafting to get the ball back for the team he doesn't get picked - hence Phil Neville having more England caps than Glenn Hoddle.

If you want another example from closer to home, take a look at some of the performances by a young Joe Cole in his West Ham days. Given a free role and just allowed to drift around influencing the game with the ball at his feet, he had all the ability to be a truly world class player.

There doesn't seem to be a balance between the two, though. The Spanish seem to have it mastered of late. Immensely gifted players with the engines and desire to run all game. OK, so they don't tackle hard and they don't rough you up, but they are majorly effective at getting the ball back.

As I said, Tevez has always worked hard, but it seems in England it's been 'preferred' that he'd run after it rather than with it. Players like Torres and Tevez arrived here with perfect attitudes, they worked hard and they had ability. Since then, they seem to have been pushed to work harder, but probably aren't as good.