Kind of pointless concerning ourselves with some player who conte might not even want. At the end of the day sxouts are sent to watch these players on a regular basis; it is their job! If they decide on a player being good enough and conte agrees then we buy him. I am sure they watch tapes as well as going to see them in action. These people do a hell of a lot more research than watching a youtube video, and have more knowledge on players than any of us.

4 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

So according to you, we can only speak about players we've watched hours an hours of match footage on. Correct?

Did I say that? At least watch a few games or just admit that you don't know sh*t. Watching five - ten minutes worth of restricted content is nowhere near enough to form an accurate opinion of a player. If you go by YouTube, Pogba is a better midfielder than Modric and someone like Adama Traore would look a lot more impressive than Kante.

Has it ever crossed your mind as the why the best performed midfielder in the Bundesliga has such underwhelming highlights?

10 hours ago, Paccbet said:

Did I say that? At least watch a few games or just admit that you don't know sh*t. Watching five - ten minutes worth of restricted content is nowhere near enough to form an accurate opinion of a player. If you go by YouTube, Pogba is a better midfielder than Modric and someone like Adama Traore would look a lot more impressive than Kante.

Has it ever crossed your mind as the why the best performed midfielder in the Bundesliga has such underwhelming highlights?

 "So according to you, we can only speak about players we've watched hours an hours of match footage on. Correct?" "Did I say that? At least watch a few games or just admit that you don't know sh*t."

Mate, you deny saying that and then go on to say EXACTLY that in the next line. Are you okay? Give your head a wobble. 1 game = 1h30mins. "A few games" = at the very least, 3 hours (if it's just two games). Do you love to contradict yourself or is English not your first language?

How is singling out the best parts of his game from various matches "restricted content"? You lot even posted one of such videos on the first page in here. Why post it if he was such a world beater and the video was useless? 

Your Pogba-Modric example is just silly. If you're looking for a box to box midfielder, then OF COURSE Pogba is far better than Modric and YouTube will prove that. If you're looking for a deep lying playmaker, however, or a CM who can control the game with distributing passes, then Modric is your man....as YouTube will also prove. If all you're looking for is a speed merchant then Adama Traore is your guy....as YouTube will also prove. It's really not that hard to grasp, unless you're deliberately ignoring context for the sake of your argument.

Maybe your guy Keita really isn't the best performed midfielder in the Bundesliga? Maybe? Crazy thought, I know, but think about it.

Admittedly I've haven't seen enough of him so don't have a conclusive opinion, but Keita may be a viable option if it's assumed Kante may not replicate this year's form next season?

4 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

 "So according to you, we can only speak about players we've watched hours an hours of match footage on. Correct?" "Did I say that? At least watch a few games or just admit that you don't know sh*t."

Mate, you deny saying that and then go on to say EXACTLY that in the next line. Are you okay? Give your head a wobble. 1 game = 1h30mins. "A few games" = at the very least, 3 hours (if it's just two games). Do you love to contradict yourself or is English not your first language?

How is singling out the best parts of his game from various matches "restricted content"? You lot even posted one of such videos on the first page in here. Why post it if he was such a world beater and the video was useless? 

Your Pogba-Modric example is just silly. If you're looking for a box to box midfielder, then OF COURSE Pogba is far better than Modric and YouTube will prove that. If you're looking for a deep lying playmaker, however, or a CM who can control the game with distributing passes, then Modric is your man....as YouTube will also prove. If all you're looking for is a speed merchant then Adama Traore is your guy....as YouTube will also prove. It's really not that hard to grasp, unless you're deliberately ignoring context for the sake of your argument.

Maybe your guy Keita really isn't the best performed midfielder in the Bundesliga? Maybe? Crazy thought, I know, but think about it.

Pulling me up on English when you wrote "hours an hours" is pretty ironic. Firstly, it's "and", not "an". Secondly "hours and hours" is informal and doesn't specify any length of time. However, in the context that you were using it in (emphasising a point that it's unrealistic to expect you to watch "hours and hours"), one could assume you meant 20 - 30 hours (or something that is unrealistic). In my opinion, a few games isn't unrealistic, hence my interpretation of it. But again, you didn't specify a length of time, therefore it's your fault for using colloquial and ambiguous language, not mine for misinterpreting it. Nice try though.

As for the examples I used, my point has gone over your head (to no surprise). All I'm saying is inferior players can have superior highlights because they're flashy in patches. You cannot gauge a reasonable understanding of a player by simply watching a YouTube clip and it's moronic to think otherwise. As someone who watches Keita regularly, I can tell you that footage is restricted and does not do him justice. Half of it isn't even from RB Leipzig where he has been most effective. And again, you need to watch more footage of him for your opinion to hold any weight because right now, it holds none.

And I bet you thought Alonso was awful after watching that "highlights" video of him when we were strongly linked, yet he was one of the most highly regarded LBs in Fiorentina in 15/16 and was crucial to our title winning season. YouTube videos don't tell you sh*t. Any scout would laugh in your face if you were judging a player from their YouTube videos.

So please, just stop. You are embarrassingly deluded and this isn't even funny anymore.

38 minutes ago, Paccbet said:

Pulling me up on English when you wrote "hours an hours" is pretty ironic. Firstly, it's "and", not "an". Secondly "hours and hours" is informal and doesn't specify any length of time. However, in the context that you were using it in (emphasising a point that it's unrealistic to expect you to watch "hours and hours"), one could assume you meant 20 - 30 hours (or something that is unrealistic). In my opinion, a few games isn't unrealistic, hence my interpretation of it. But again, you didn't specify a length of time, therefore it's your fault for using colloquial and ambiguous language, not mine for misinterpreting it. Nice try though.

As for the examples I used, my point has gone over your head (to no surprise). All I'm saying is inferior players can have superior highlights because they're flashy in patches. You cannot gauge a reasonable understanding of a player by simply watching a YouTube clip and it's moronic to think otherwise. As someone who watches Keita regularly, I can tell you that footage is restricted and does not do him justice. Half of it isn't even from RB Leipzig where he has been most effective. And again, you need to watch more footage of him for your opinion to hold any weight because right now, it holds none.

And I bet you thought Alonso was awful after watching that "highlights" video of him when we were strongly linked, yet he was one of the most highly regarded LBs in Fiorentina in 15/16 and was crucial to our title winning season. YouTube videos don't tell you sh*t. Any scout would laugh in your face if you were judging a player from their YouTube videos.

So please, just stop. You are embarrassingly deluded and this isn't even funny anymore.

Anyone with a half working brain would know that "an" instead of "and" in that line was a mere typo. But I guess if you're hell bent on being a w**ker, you'd deliberately ignore the part of your brain that indicates that to you.

So I say "go get me some bags of ice" and you go order 5 trucks full of ice because "I didn't specify, so one could assume" ehy? Do you realize how silly you sound? Listen, it's not that hard to understand, 1 game is already an hour and half. More than one game is already multiple hours of football. "A few games" - say 4 or 5 to gauge your player - is already "hours and hours". There. Pretty easy to understand, isn't it? But I guess if you want to be a w**ker then what I meant was 20-30 hours, so suit yourself on that.

It's not news that inferior players can look good on YouTube. But one thing that's almost certain is that quality players almost always look good on YouTube. It's hard to find a quality player or at least one with a lot of potential who wouldn't look good in a compilation of highlights and I'm sorry to say, Naby Keita looks bang average from the footage that's available online, even the one presented on the Bundesliga's official YouTube page. I'm not going to watch a bunch of boring Bundesliga games just to painstakingly form an opinion about some unknown player. By contrast, I've seen Tielemans play for Anderlecht 3 times this season and he has looked a real talent every time. Even from the very first game I saw of him, he looked quality. Before then, I already thought highly of him based on....get this....YouTube highlights. Same goes for Bakayoko and Tolisso. I can go on and on.

Sorry I'm not a seasoned football scout like you with years of experience working for football clubs mate. I'm sure you know a lot more than me based on your vast experience there. As a football fan, I'll pass on Keita. If I was a West Ham fan with mid table or at best Europa League aspirations, I'd absolutely jump at the chance to sign him. I'm a Chelsea fan and these days, my dreams and that of most Chelsea fans (and I assume yourself included) are of winning the CL and the league title. For those aspirations, this guy falls short. Why? He doesn't bring anything to the table that we don't already have. Oh here's a little homework for you, if you'll indulge: mention the attributes he has that are supposedly unseen on YouTube that he'd add to our team which we don't already have in Matic, Kante, Fabregas or Chalobah. That should be interesting.

As for Alonso, it's funny that you say he was one of the most highly regarded LBs when Fiorentina fans were happy to get rid of him. But apparently, you're a seasoned football scout so maybe you know better than them as well. Alonso is a serviceable LB/LWB. Nothing more. Nothing spectacular. There's a reason you'll find most Chelsea fans thinking we need a better option starting there for the CL next season. He performed better than what I expected but he's still nothing spectacular. He just happens to be our best (maybe even only) option there. Remember how we had to recall Ake because we had zero cover at LWB? 

Ah well, what do I know? Just a wee little clueless YouTube football fan.

Edited May 17, 20179 yr by Barrettinator

2 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

Anyone with a half working brain would know that "an" instead of "and" in that line was a mere typo. But I guess if you're hell bent on being a w**ker, you'd deliberately ignore the part of your brain that indicates that to you.

So I say "go get me some bags of ice" and you go order 5 trucks full of ice because "I didn't specify, so one could assume" ehy? Do you realize how silly you sound? Listen, it's not that hard to understand, 1 game is already an hour and half. More than one game is already multiple hours of football. "A few games" - say 4 or 5 to gauge your player - is already "hours and hours". There. Pretty easy to understand, isn't it? But I guess if you want to be a w**ker then what I meant was 20-30 hours, so suit yourself on that.

It's not news that inferior players can look good on YouTube. But one thing that's almost certain is that quality players almost always look good on YouTube. It's hard to find a quality player or at least one with a lot of potential who wouldn't look good in a compilation of highlights and I'm sorry to say, Naby Keita looks bang average from the footage that's available online, even the one presented on the Bundesliga's official YouTube page. I'm not going to watch a bunch of boring Bundesliga games just to painstakingly form an opinion about some unknown player. By contrast, I've seen Tielemans play for Anderlecht 3 times this season and he has looked a real talent every time. Even from the very first game I saw of him, he looked quality. Before then, I already thought highly of him based on....get this....YouTube highlights. Same goes for Bakayoko and Tolisso. I can go on and on.

Sorry I'm not a seasoned football scout like you with years of experience working for football clubs mate. I'm sure you know a lot more than me based on your vast experience there. As a football fan, I'll pass on Keita. If I was a West Ham fan with mid table or at best Europa League aspirations, I'd absolutely jump at the chance to sign him. I'm a Chelsea fan and these days, my dreams and that of most Chelsea fans (and I assume yourself included) are of winning the CL and the league title. For those aspirations, this guy falls short. Why? He doesn't bring anything to the table that we don't already have. Oh here's a little homework for you, if you'll indulge: mention the attributes he has that are supposedly unseen on YouTube that he'd add to our team which we don't already have in Matic, Kante, Fabregas or Chalobah. That should be interesting.

As for Alonso, it's funny that you say he was one of the most highly regarded LBs when Fiorentina fans were happy to get rid of him. But apparently, you're a seasoned football scout so maybe you know better than them as well. Alonso is a serviceable LB/LWB. Nothing more. Nothing spectacular. There's a reason you'll find most Chelsea fans thinking we need a better option starting there for the CL next season. He performed better than what I expected but he's still nothing spectacular. He just happens to be our best (maybe even only) option there. Remember how we had to recall Ake because we had zero cover at LWB? 

Ah well, what do I know? Just a wee little clueless YouTube football fan.

Lol FFS. You said "hours and hours" and you placed emphasis on hours by repeating it so you were clearly implying a lot. The ice example is not comparable. If you asked me to buy "bags and bags" of ice then yes, I would assume you mean a substantial quantity, but you've completely changed the wording to "some bags" and therefore the interpretation changes. For someone who is calling me out for having poor English, you sure as hell don't have a very good grasp on it yourself.

And yeah, Fiorentina must've been desperate to get rid of him, which why they charged us £24 million - one of the most expensive left backs in history. And if you're treating hearsay as gospel, why don't you look around on other forums and read up about what other clubs think of Naby Keita, instead of just becoming an armchair expert based on limited footage.

Not even going to address the rest of your irrelevant drivel.

I think its unfair to judge any player through YouTube Videos. It simply does not give you any context, whatsoever.

I have never seen him play, so I simply cant/wont comment. But judging anyone by a video seems OTT

This video makes Mikel look Messi-ish. 

2 hours ago, Paccbet said:

Lol FFS. You said "hours and hours" and you placed emphasis on hours by repeating it so you were clearly implying a lot. The ice example is not comparable. If you asked me to buy "bags and bags" of ice then yes, I would assume you mean a substantial quantity, but you've completely changed the wording to "some bags" and therefore the interpretation changes. For someone who is calling me out for having poor English, you sure as hell don't have a very good grasp on it yourself.

And yeah, Fiorentina must've been desperate to get rid of him, which why they charged us £24 million - one of the most expensive left backs in history. And if you're treating hearsay as gospel, why don't you look around on other forums and read up about what other clubs think of Naby Keita, instead of just becoming an armchair expert based on limited footage.

Not even going to address the rest of your irrelevant drivel.

6 matches for example, is 8 hours and 45 mins. That's hours and hours of match footage. It's not quite the same as 20-30 hours of footage - 26 hours of footage is about 20 matches which is pretty much a third or a quarter of an entire season's games depending on how many matches that particular club plays. You didn't really put much thought into that, did you?

As for Fiorentina, pretty much every half decent defender goes for above £20m these days so I'm not sure why you think this is unique. And you keep going on about this "limited footage" shtick. Please provide footage of the matches you'd like me to watch. The "few matches". I'd be happy to watch in my spare time. I'm that interested.

16 minutes ago, didierforever said:

I think its unfair to judge any player through YouTube Videos. It simply does not give you any context, whatsoever.

I have never seen him play, so I simply cant/wont comment. But judging anyone by a video seems OTT

This video makes Mikel look Messi-ish. 

As I've pointed out already, YouTube can make an average or even a sh*t player look like a world beater. But it almost always makes a good/great player look great. Think of any great player and watch highlights/compilations of that player on YouTube. Almost no chance they come out looking average.

35 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

As I've pointed out already, YouTube can make an average or even a sh*t player look like a world beater. But it almost always makes a good/great player look great. Think of any great player and watch highlights/compilations of that player on YouTube. Almost no chance they come out looking average.

You just defeated your own side of the argument.

Good to know that when thoroughly impressed by a players' youtube video we can safely narrow it down that he's either average, sh*t, good or great 

And yes, you (and every other expert) should refrain from commenting categorically on any players ability unless you've personally watched him play at least a handful of games.

You wouldn't garner much respect as a movie critic if you wrote your reviews having only watched the trailer. People would soon realise you are full of it.

1 hour ago, Barrettinator said:

As I've pointed out already, YouTube can make an average or even a sh*t player look like a world beater. But it almost always makes a good/great player look great. Think of any great player and watch highlights/compilations of that player on YouTube. Almost no chance they come out looking average.

Would we have had a good YouTube compilation of Kante, 2 years ago?

 

6 hours ago, didierforever said:

 

This video shows that Mikel IS as good as Messi.

Fixed it for you, pal

@RIP Mourinho Yea I don't know what he was getting at suggesting Mikel isn't on Messi's level. 

5 hours ago, didierforever said:

Would we have had a good YouTube compilation of Kante, 2 years ago?

 

 

This Mikel guy who's he play for, get him for next season, we are made.

4 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Fixed it for you, pal

Fair enough. 

10 hours ago, startedwithglenn said:

You just defeated your own side of the argument.

Good to know that when thoroughly impressed by a players' youtube video we can safely narrow it down that he's either average, sh*t, good or great 

And yes, you (and every other expert) should refrain from commenting categorically on any players ability unless you've personally watched him play at least a handful of games.

You wouldn't garner much respect as a movie critic if you wrote your reviews having only watched the trailer. People would soon realise you are full of it.

It's not quite the same with watching a movie now, is it? And even as far fetched as that example is, if I watch a movie trailer and I'm unimpressed by the trailer, I'm almost definitely not going to waste my time watching the movie.

9 hours ago, didierforever said:

Would we have had a good YouTube compilation of Kante, 2 years ago?

 

Think that has been answered for you. 

25 minutes ago, Barrettinator said:

Think that has been answered for you. 

YA.

So after watching that video, which part made you say: "you know what, he is going to be the PFA player of the year, french player of the yearand the most important player of 2 PL winning teams back to back". 

Heard some pretty good things about keita, not seen him play personally though. 

It's a tricky one in centre midfield, we have only really had strong links to bakayoko, so you have to assume if said links are founded, that we are after a physical more defensive midfielder.

Keita doesn't really fit that profile. 

I've heard a few posters mention tolisso who looks like he could be a good signing, although from what I've heard he'd more he is more of a playmaker, so I'm not sure if he is what the club are looking for, and it looks likely lacazette will move, so the chances of tolisso moving in the same window are slim. 

I like the look of danilo from porto, who has a buy out clause aswell. 

1 hour ago, didierforever said:

YA.

So after watching that video, which part made you say: "you know what, he is going to be the PFA player of the year, french player of the yearand the most important player of 2 PL winning teams back to back". 

I wasn't watching at the time so it's irrelevant now, isn't it? Not even sure why we're having all this debate about f**king Keita. He doesn't improve us. It's that simple. No chance he becomes a Chelsea player over the summer. I'll bite my tongue and swallow it if he does.

46 minutes ago, big blue said:

Heard some pretty good things about keita, not seen him play personally though. 

It's a tricky one in centre midfield, we have only really had strong links to bakayoko, so you have to assume if said links are founded, that we are after a physical more defensive midfielder.

Keita doesn't really fit that profile. 

I've heard a few posters mention tolisso who looks like he could be a good signing, although from what I've heard he'd more he is more of a playmaker, so I'm not sure if he is what the club are looking for, and it looks likely lacazette will move, so the chances of tolisso moving in the same window are slim. 

I like the look of danilo from porto, who has a buy out clause aswell. 

I think Tolisso is Juventus bound actually. They're about to have another really good window. They're also after Douglas Costa who I think would fit well at Juventus.

10 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

I wasn't watching at the time so it's irrelevant now, isn't it? Not even sure why we're having all this debate about f**king Keita. He doesn't improve us. It's that simple. No chance he becomes a Chelsea player over the summer. I'll bite my tongue and swallow it if he does.

 

For sure, it is not. 

You have an opinion on him based on a 3/4 minute video, I could make the same opinion from the Kante video and I would be hopelessly wrong. 

Again, I dont know Keita, and I have never seen him play. So I would rather listen to the few who have seen him play as well as the judgement of Conte/Board rather than a YouTube vid.

 

 

Keita ranked 3rd "best" CDM this season according to CIES Football Observatory

http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2016/188/en/

Edited May 18, 20179 yr by the special one

1 hour ago, the special one said:

Keita ranked 3rd "best" CDM this season according to CIES Football Observatory

http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2016/188/en/

I'm in the pro Keita party but those rankings are sh*te haha

10 hours ago, didierforever said:

 

For sure, it is not. 

You have an opinion on him based on a 3/4 minute video, I could make the same opinion from the Kante video and I would be hopelessly wrong. 

Again, I dont know Keita, and I have never seen him play. So I would rather listen to the few who have seen him play as well as the judgement of Conte/Board rather than a YouTube vid.

 

 

I have an opinion on him based on a 5 minute video, a 9 minute video and an official 3:44 min video from the Bundesliga YouTube account actually. Not quite the same as a random 3/4 minute video mate. 

I get the point you're trying to make but there are much better CMs out there on the market. 

On 5/17/2017 at 23:27, didierforever said:

 

For sure, it is not. 

You have an opinion on him based on a 3/4 minute video, I could make the same opinion from the Kante video and I would be hopelessly wrong. 

Again, I dont know Keita, and I have never seen him play. So I would rather listen to the few who have seen him play as well as the judgement of Conte/Board rather than a YouTube vid.

 

 

...and we're at the heart of the issue. Nobody else could possibly be a better judge than you. Just because you would be wrong doesn't make everyone else wrong