acaeus

Please don't come in here with the simplest possible explanation for something in football. 😅 We much prefer elaborate conspiracy theories.

Agreed. They both seem to have attitude issues, albeit of different kinds: Garnacho comes across as irreverent (hubris?), while Felix has long been criticized for his work rate and intensity. They're also very different players. Garnacho is much quicker and covers far more ground, whereas Felix is the more technically gifted player and can operate centrally as a CAM or left-sided AM. The problem with both is that neither has shown enough to be a starter for a top club, yet their wages, expectations, and entourage seem to reflect that status. I honestly thought Garnacho could develop into a much better player given his age, but not with that attitude.

Agreed. To be clear, I don't think he's good enough in those advanced positions either. IMO, he's neither creative nor decisive enough around the box for that role... at least not at this level. In fact, one of the concerns you hear from Argentina is that the national team misses the earlier version of Enzo—the one who controlled games from deeper areas—rather than the more advanced, semi-CAM role he’s often played recently.

Wait! are you saying we actually win?! 😅🏆 At this point I just want this club to sign someone who'd be able to order a beer in the US. 😄

Nobody said Enzo "can't play" in any team he's been in. That's a pretty big exaggeration of what I actually wrote. There's a middle ground between "worth every penny of £107m" and "basically KDH with a bigger reputation." I've never argued Enzo was worth exactly £107m. I've argued that the way the game values him is clearly much closer to the first category than the second. Whether we overpaid is a different discussion entirely. I think we overpaid for Caicedo too, by the way.

That's a strange argument. If Chelsea value Enzo at around €140m, how many clubs do you think are realistically in that market? If you think Enzo is really a £25m player like KDH, then fine—slap a £25m price tag on him and watch how many clubs suddenly become interested. What I find odd is that some of the same people arguing Enzo isn't very good are also expecting Chelsea to get £100m+ for him. So which is it? Is he a £100m player who simply won't fit every club or system, or is he a £25m player that the rest of football has somehow massively overvalued? For the record, I'm firmly in the first camp. I can absolutely see Enzo being a difficult player to fit into certain systems, and I actually think that's the case with Argentina as well.

This. Quality and numbers are need. I don't rate Sancho at all and we missed him last season; I don't rate Joao Felix and we also missed him. We gotta separate having the optimal player, in our minds, as the starter from having a balanced roster which does not run players to the ground.

Enzo does not have fanboys on here—only haters.

Imagine watching that game and this being your takeaway... 🤣

I remember Xhaka's time at Arsenal and the complaints were very much the same I hear for Enzo: "too slow for the PL."

It was a soft call indeed, and I generally don't like VAR intervening here esp after so much play has taken place after the supposed foul. It was still a single call though. Game was still 1x0 and they still managed to score the second later. They might have scored the third or not—goals change games. Fact is that they were unable to hold to the lead and conceded from a cheap counter in the end. So, I wouldn't simply point to the officials here tbh. For me this is a very common tale in WC: smaller teams like Egypt, who have 2-3 excellent players typically suffer from squad depth, which typically becomes a problem past the 70th minute.

Nah, just ask Everton what they want for KDH and slap the same price tag on Enzo. I'm sure Madrid and another dozen clubs will be lining up with their £25m in cash. 😁

there was contact for sure. One can call it a soft foul, but it's a 50/50 call either way you look at it. The only strange game for me, as in very homey, was Mexico x England where all 50/50s went Mexico's way.

True, and yet that does leave them short. Uruguay can be impressive at times given their size too. The attack. Narcissist and very old now Ronaldo shouldn’t be playing at all and they lack a skillful attacking option. I like Neto for what he is, but he’s not the creative player they would need to unlock defenses. Leao is a very poor player IMO—not a fan at all.

BTW, watching Gordon play against Mexico, I totally see the Mount type there. Not the most naturally gifted or skillful player, but the kind of profile that managers seem to value highly. When coaches with different styles in the PL — and now at Barça — keep finding a role for players like that, there is probably something there beyond the obvious.