This kind of thing bugs me tbh, I love Ronaldo & Messi but Maradona is better than both, he played at a different time, carried Napoli and Argentina to their trophies. Messi and Ronaldo whilst deserving to be in a greatest of all time list play in a league and a time where it's easier to score goals. Getting the amounts of goals they do is not normal and in some ways shows that defences are not what they once were.

Lastly yes I still do rate Ronaldo over Messi slightly.

 

You're right. He played at a different time and any such poll will obviously be biased towards modern players. I never got to watch Maradona play other than highlights so I stay away from comparing him to modern greats that I've seen. But if you have watched him play and think he's the best, then fair enough.

Hopefully on the foreign export Nigerian Guinness. I had a few bottles of that a couple of weeks back and was sh*tting through the eye of a needle for three days.

As an avid Stout drinker in the UK, I can confirm that that stuff is absolutely vile.

In the African countries I've been to, it seems to be the drink of choice among middle class women. Very Strange.

On the football, I think Avram Grant deserves a lot of credit. Ghana were in meltdown during and after the World Cup and scraped trough qualification. He managed to guide a very unstable team to the final.

We all know he isn't a great tactician, but there must be something he brings which installs calmness into once crisis situations.

This is a poll conducted by Marca, the Madrid based paper asking which footballer is the best of all time. 81,000 participants voted.

Can anyone not vote in a an online poll though, especially one advertised on Twitter.

Look at the number of Premier League related polls that tend to show voting results favourably in Liverpool's favour.

Did you not see Phil Neville highlighting all of Di Maria's hard work against QPR on match of the day? Definitely justifies the fee...

My memory is vague but didn't Neville highlight that due to the role Di Maria was given in the first half he was often receiving the ball with his back to play which made it difficult for him to influence play, in the 2nd half, playing deeper and running at the defence he was able to be more influential.

I'm not saying Di Maria has justified his fee but I think the bigger question being asked is that LVG despite being allowed to spend vast sums of money on the squad is resorting to playing players out of position and it seems to be reflecting on the team performances.

Why Rooney is still being played in midfield when RVP and Falcao look shot of form is lost on me.

Playing a wing back system with no recognised wing backs in the squad.

Playing a three man central defense when they're lacking quality central defenders and players who have never played that system before.

He just doesn't seem to want to play to the strengths of the players at his disposal, almost stubbornly trying to prove a point.

With all the money spent they still seem a long way off of a decent side and given LVGs age you cant see him being there beyond three years and so when the new manager comes in is he going to be lumped with players that are suited to a specific formation and system that LVG geared it toward which might not suit the new manager?

Can anyone not vote in a an online poll though, especially one advertised on Twitter.

Look at the number of Premier League related polls that tend to show voting results favourably in Liverpool's favour.

 

True. It was a poll on Marca.com though, which you would expect to tilt the votes in Ronaldo's favour slightly if anything. 

 

Liverpool fans are a special breed though and I don't thing the rest of the footballing world is as obsessed with rigging online polls.

I really hate Man United and would love them to finish outside the top 4.

Not for me. Of our big rivals they rank miles behind Spurs,Arsenal and Liverpool. but it would be great if they all missed out on CL. Hope the Saints stay in there so that at most one of them gets the place.

I would take any of United, Spurs & especially Southampton over Arsenal or Liverpool for the top 4 any day

My memory is vague but didn't Neville highlight that due to the role Di Maria was given in the first half he was often receiving the ball with his back to play which made it difficult for him to influence play, in the 2nd half, playing deeper and running at the defence he was able to be more influential.

I'm not saying Di Maria has justified his fee but I think the bigger question being asked is that LVG despite being allowed to spend vast sums of money on the squad is resorting to playing players out of position and it seems to be reflecting on the team performances.

Why Rooney is still being played in midfield when RVP and Falcao look shot of form is lost on me.

Playing a wing back system with no recognised wing backs in the squad.

Playing a three man central defense when they're lacking quality central defenders and players who have never played that system before.

He just doesn't seem to want to play to the strengths of the players at his disposal, almost stubbornly trying to prove a point.

With all the money spent they still seem a long way off of a decent side and given LVGs age you cant see him being there beyond three years and so when the new manager comes in is he going to be lumped with players that are suited to a specific formation and system that LVG geared it toward which might not suit the new manager?

 

Great points. I just don't really understand what LVG is doing tactically, nor do I see any cohesive strategy for the development of their squad. He flickers between 3-5-2 and 4-4-2, whilst constantly playing players like Rooney, Di Maria, Mata & Valencia out of position to compensate for the fact that he didn't really address the needs of his squad during the Summer. It was as if LVG just targetted everyone that was available in the hope that they could improve the squad on a general level.

 

I look at United's squad and, to me, they will need another injection of about £250m this Summer. Some think that all they need is a centre-half and they will be challenging for the title. Well, I look at their supposed superstar strikeforce and I see one striker who seems to be aging rapidly (Van Persie) and another who's knee injury has deprived him of the pace he once had (Falcao). And then there's Wayne Rooney who is playing as CM now not even a no.10? They change formations so often that I can't keep up with what role he is supposed to be playing. Finally, they're short out wide, need a proper, box-to-box CM, and many of their centre-halves are simply not good enough; LVG has a hell of a lot of work to do this Summer.

Edited February 9, 201511 yr by Celery1989

Great points. I just don't really understand what LVG is doing tactically, nor do I see any cohesive strategy for the development of their squad. He flickers between 3-5-2 and 4-4-2, whilst constantly playing players like Rooney, Di Maria, Mata & Valencia out of position to compensate for the fact that he didn't really address the needs of his squad during the Summer. It was as if LVG just targetted everyone that was available in the hope that they could improve the squad on a general level.

 

I look at United's squad and, to me, they will need another injection of about £250m this Summer. Some think that all they need is a centre-half and they will be challenging for the title. Well, I look at their supposed superstar strikeforce and I see one striker who seems to be aging rapidly (Van Persie) and another who's knee injury has deprived him of the pace he once had (Falcao). And then there's Wayne Rooney who is playing as CM now not even a no.10? They change formations so often that I can't keep up with what role he is supposed to be playing. Finally, they're short out wide, need a proper, box-to-box CM, and many of their centre-halves are simply not good enough; LVG has a hell of a lot of work to do this Summer.

 

Just on the strikers, it seems all the stranger that they sold Wellbeck to Arsenal this summer now. 

 

LVG basically said he wasn't good enough but looking at Falcao's form and fitness it just seems odd they gambled so heavily on that deal working out. 

 

Rooney hits 30 next season and you could honestly see Falcao and RVP leaving in the summer, they're going to probably need to spend £50m or more just to replace those two. 

 

They're a right back/right wing back (depending on the formation he persists with) and centre back short of anything like a half decent defense and seeing how is he playing Rooney out of position in central midfield you wouldn't be surprised if they were back in the market for a central midfielder too. 

 

All of that's going to cost another £120-150m once again and short of selling Di Maria to PSG I can't see where the money is going to be recouped from. 

 

If Liverpool hadn't of so badly invested the Suarez money and then they might well have been looking at another season outside of the top 4 this year. 

I think Wellbeck is another victim of being criminally overrated because of his nationality. Only 4 league goals this season, which is pretty damn Agbonlahor.

 

I agree with the rest of your points though, some awful investment saved by the fact that FFP isn't much worry to a club with so much revenue.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see them go big for Pogba in the summer, he says he doesn't want to go there but everyone has a price.

 

But yeah, there's going to be a lot of money spent by them this year.. Hummels, Strootman, etc etc...

Welbeck is a typical pacey English player, has all the pace in the world but isn't a goal scorer, he doesn have work rate over the other pacey English lads though

can someone explain to me what is going on @ Leicester City? Has Nigel Pearson been sacked or not?

can someone explain to me what is going on @ Leicester City? Has Nigel Pearson been sacked or not?

 

Not officially, but he has to be. He's such a twat... there's no way he stays

LVG is indeed a genius. It takes some genius to spend 150m revamping the squad and then achieve the exact same results.

 

LVG is indeed a genius. It takes some genius to spend 150m revamping the squad and then achieve the exact same results.

Remarkable stats. I don't know what Van Gaal will have to do to get seriously criticised.

How has Nigel Pearson not been charged by the FA yet? If Mourinho had done that he'd have just had the news of his £100k fine and 10 match ban.

Remarkable stats. I don't know what Van Gaal will have to do to get seriously criticised.

 

They are in the top four because of Liverpool's and Arsenal's failures this year, that's the only reason the media have left him alone.

How has Nigel Pearson not been charged by the FA yet? If Mourinho had done that he'd have just had the news of his £100k fine and 10 match ban.

 

did Pardew back Pearson or something? I am surprised by the lack of actions from Pardew. If that was my player, I would have jumped into Pearson's sh*t for his actions. Check it all out again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcvxjlTyf5k

Pardew just watched everything unfold. Maybe he only wanted the 3 points & could couldn't give a damn on what Leicester City was up to. Really peculiar stuff there

My memory is vague but didn't Neville highlight that due to the role Di Maria was given in the first half he was often receiving the ball with his back to play which made it difficult for him to influence play, in the 2nd half, playing deeper and running at the defence he was able to be more influential.

I'm not saying Di Maria has justified his fee but I think the bigger question being asked is that LVG despite being allowed to spend vast sums of money on the squad is resorting to playing players out of position and it seems to be reflecting on the team performances.

Why Rooney is still being played in midfield when RVP and Falcao look shot of form is lost on me.

Playing a wing back system with no recognised wing backs in the squad.

Playing a three man central defense when they're lacking quality central defenders and players who have never played that system before.

He just doesn't seem to want to play to the strengths of the players at his disposal, almost stubbornly trying to prove a point.

With all the money spent they still seem a long way off of a decent side and given LVGs age you cant see him being there beyond three years and so when the new manager comes in is he going to be lumped with players that are suited to a specific formation and system that LVG geared it toward which might not suit the new manager?

 

By the way you do know I was being sarcastic about him justifying the fee right?

Pardew got into sh*t about head butting Myler last season because Match of the day didn't let that one off the hook either.

 

To be fair rightly so, it was terrible behavior.

Best of a bad bunch.

 

I can probably agree but I would never want them to regain there glory.

 

I loved the fall of United last season, loved it. It took too long for Fergie to retire, those twats always rubbed it in, they were absolutely relentless to John Terry and us Chelsea fans after that night on Moscow. Mister penalty... Of course fans are fans, we absolutely lay into Liverpool with Gerrard but rightly so, the scousers have no one to blame but themselves, they picked on us when we were bought with the no history and plastic flags, they tried to make us out as footballs enemy.

 

And they wonder why we hate them so much.

To be fair I don't think Pardew knew there was a problem right away and he probably didn't get too involved after what happened last year. Personally I wish Pardew had nutted him!

To be fair, Mcarthur has a lot more composure than i would have. I probably would have got a 20 match ban, fined about 100k and be charged by police to beating the prick half to death if he did that to me. It is only a sport, but some of these players and managers take it too far and overstep the mark too many times, it verges on assault. Once you lay your finger on another person, all bets are off in my opinion; whether that be on or off the field of play. 

By the way you do know I was being sarcastic about him justifying the fee right?

 

I did yes but through the sarcasm I thought there was a worthy discussion of United's wider failings under LVG this season.