James and Enzo don’t get into PSG’s team. Not how influential both Hakimi and Ruiz are for them.

25 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

James and Enzo don’t get into PSG’s team. Not how influential both Hakimi and Ruiz are for them.

Behave.

6 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Behave.

It's true.

Hakimi runs up and down the pitch and is vital to how PSG attack. Until I see James move anywhere close to like that again I won't make any suggestion he starts over Hakimi. Ruiz is a complete midfielder and provides the perfect balance for how PSG operate with and without the ball.

PSG have arguably the best midfield in the competition since the knockouts began. I doubt even PSG fans would want Caicedo starting over any of their midfield 3 despite us thinking he could start for them.

Just now, Sconnie Blue said:

It's true.

Hakimi runs up and down the pitch and is vital to how PSG attack. Until I see James move anywhere close to like that again I won't make any suggestion he starts over Hakimi. Ruiz is a complete midfielder and provides the perfect balance for how PSG operate with and without the ball.

PSG have arguably the best midfield in the competition since the knockouts began. I doubt even PSG fans would want Caicedo starting over any of their midfield 3 despite us thinking he could start for them.

Reece James is the best RB on the planet. Demeble was missing 20+ games a season at Barca and moved to the more stagnant Ligue 1 and has missed 5 games in 2 seasons mainly from illness. Reece would only have to play at full place for latter stages of the CL and when comparing them both as footballers Hakimi isn't in the same league as Reece.

Fabian Ruiz is a product of the system, i don't even rate Enzo that highly but give Enrique the chance and he's swap them in a heartbeat.

Caicedo replaces every midfielder except Neves.

3 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Reece James is the best RB on the planet. Demeble was missing 20+ games a season at Barca and moved to the more stagnant Ligue 1 and has missed 5 games in 2 seasons mainly from illness. Reece would only have to play at full place for latter stages of the CL and when comparing them both as footballers Hakimi isn't in the same league as Reece.

Fabian Ruiz is a product of the system, i don't even rate Enzo that highly but give Enrique the chance and he's swap them in a heartbeat.

Caicedo replaces every midfielder except Neves.

Reece James being the best RB on the planet hasn't been true for over 2 years. We don't even know if he can ever run like that again.

Dembele and Barca themselves have been on record stating he had poor training ethic at the club, which led to the countless number of injuries he's suffered.

Caicedo and Enzo have been ineffective and outbattled every time against Liverpool and Arsenal, so to make a claim they are better than players in a midfield that literally ran circles around Liverpool and Arsenal in a European tie, is a stretch. Our players couldn't be arsed to show up against Liverpool's kids a year ago.

Hakimi will likely be in the UEFA team of the season and I sincerly doubt Enrique will choose Enzo over Ruiz when the latter is has been vital for him as well as for Spain's Euro win last summer.

4 hours ago, RMH said:

I don't think it is only down to the coach, to be honest. Compare their front three of Kvaratskthelia, Dembele, Doue, with our Sancho/Madueke, Palmer, Neto and Jackson. They are day and night in quality and only Palmer would be able to get in the PSG attacking line. And that goes for all other positions. Being honest, only Caicedo and Palmer would get a shout into the PSG first eleven.

and yet most on here didn't want Dembele....

53 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Reece James being the best RB on the planet hasn't been true for over 2 years. We don't even know if he can ever run like that again.

Dembele and Barca themselves have been on record stating he had poor training ethic at the club, which led to the countless number of injuries he's suffered.

Caicedo and Enzo have been ineffective and outbattled every time against Liverpool and Arsenal, so to make a claim they are better than players in a midfield that literally ran circles around Liverpool and Arsenal in a European tie, is a stretch. Our players couldn't be arsed to show up against Liverpool's kids a year ago.

Hakimi will likely be in the UEFA team of the season and I sincerly doubt Enrique will choose Enzo over Ruiz when the latter is has been vital for him as well as for Spain's Euro win last summer.

Reece James never relied on pace so its a bit of a nothing point. When fit, he's the best RB on the planet. There's more to football than just running fast.

Dembele admitted to taking training and diet more seriously in 2021 after his marriage and the birth of his child and it still didn't stop him missing 3 months with a hamstring injury in 22/23. So yeah, the less physical league will help injury prone players.

Caicedo and Enzo outbattled against Liverpool and Arsenal? both games first half of the season we dominated, Arne Slot said so himself. We're talking about individuals, not team tactics.

OMG not UEFA team of the season!!! Ian Maatsen was in it last year, sorry if i don't pay much attention to that lol.

4 hours ago, RMH said:

I don't think it is only down to the coach, to be honest. Compare their front three of Kvaratskthelia, Dembele, Doue, with our Sancho/Madueke, Palmer, Neto and Jackson. They are day and night in quality and only Palmer would be able to get in the PSG attacking line. And that goes for all other positions. Being honest, only Caicedo and Palmer would get a shout into the PSG first eleven.

I would disagree here. Good managers make a difference and in this instance Luis would make a massive difference to our players. You would see a mark improvement.

PSG before this season wasn’t no where near this good on and off the ball that’s the manager making the difference.

13 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Reece James never relied on pace so its a bit of a nothing point. When fit, he's the best RB on the planet. There's more to football than just running fast.

Dembele admitted to taking training and diet more seriously in 2021 after his marriage and the birth of his child and it still didn't stop him missing 3 months with a hamstring injury in 22/23. So yeah, the less physical league will help injury prone players.

Caicedo and Enzo outbattled against Liverpool and Arsenal? both games first half of the season we dominated, Arne Slot said so himself. We're talking about individuals, not team tactics.

OMG not UEFA team of the season!!! Ian Maatsen was in it last year, sorry if i don't pay much attention to that lol.

It's more about being a durable runner vs running fast.

James was effortlessly running up and down the flank when he was at wingback. He'd pocket an attacker at one end and then in the next 10 seconds he's creating a chance on the other end. He relied on his physical durability to be effective at that, and too much of it was the very reason why his hamstrings kept exploding. The sheer thought of James being tasked to run like that again makes our arses clench given his hamstrings could fall off the bone like slow cooked brisket.

That injury Dembele suffered after he turned his life around was his first injury in a little under 2 years. Sounds like he was already starting to turn a corner anyway. Before that, he was getting injured every other month due to his poor training ethic as he was essentially copying Messi's laxed approach when it worked against his development.

Lavia was the biggest reason why we combated Liverpool + Arsenal earlier this season but to suggest we dominated is so wide off the mark again. We got 1 point from both fixtures and you're saying we dominated.

I thought you rated Maatsen. You were screaming bloody murder for Poch not playing him?

10 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I thought you rated Maatsen. You were screaming bloody murder for Poch not playing him?

🤣🤣

He's finally come round to the correct line of thinking !

Felix next ? LOL

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

and yet most on here didn't want Dembele....

Most players riddled with injuries generally don't go on to become world class to be fair, Dembele is a rare exception

I do remember Tuchel saying in an interview that Dembele was the most talented player he'd ever coached, so the potential was always there

2 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Reece James is the best RB on the planet.

4 years ago. He is nowhere near these days.

1 hour ago, El regreso said:

I would disagree here. Good managers make a difference and in this instance Luis would make a massive difference to our players. You would see a mark improvement.

PSG before this season wasn’t no where near this good on and off the ball that’s the manager making the difference.

Unfortunately coaches like Luis Enrique and Hansi Flick are pretty rare, multiple top managers failed with PSG for example

And yet somehow we managed to reject them both 👍

Just now, Zeta said:

4 years ago. He is nowhere near these days.

A good run of games and I still think he'd be a top class RB again tbf

Though right now only Caicedo and Palmer (before his slump at least) would get into PSG's team

40 minutes ago, Drogba1 said:

A good run of games and I still think he'd be a top class RB again tbf

Most of our squad would benefit from a run of games in their natural positions...

I fear Reece best days are behind him because of his injuries. He was at a point the best RB in the world now he’s a shadow of himself.

If he can stay fit for a few seasons I believe he can get back to that level but he I don’t see him going 6 months without an injury.

4 hours ago, El regreso said:

I would disagree here. Good managers make a difference and in this instance Luis would make a massive difference to our players. You would see a mark improvement.

PSG before this season wasn’t no where near this good on and off the ball that’s the manager making the difference.

I’m not disagreeing with that a good manager could do better with these players. But, I’m just saying that to be able to challenge or be compared to PSG or Barsa we massively need upgrades all over, from the coaching staff to the players. There’s so much you can do with Jackson up front, for example.

5 hours ago, El regreso said:

I would disagree here. Good managers make a difference and in this instance Luis would make a massive difference to our players. You would see a mark improvement.

PSG before this season wasn’t no where near this good on and off the ball that’s the manager making the difference.

Look at what Flick is doing to this Barcelona team compared to Xavi.

4 hours ago, Drogba1 said:

A good run of games and I still think he'd be a top class RB again tbf

Though right now only Caicedo and Palmer (before his slump at least) would get into PSG's team

His own manager seems to disagree with you.....mind you he is a f*ckwit

Edited April 30, 20251 yr by WhiteWall

Watching Yamal play reminds me of how Palmer was playing last season. This coach has taken that spark away from his game. Only for that, he’s got to go.

3 minutes ago, RMH said:

Watching Yamal play reminds me of how Palmer was playing last season. This coach has taken that spark away from his game. Only for that, he’s got to go.

It takes a special kind of "genius" to hobble your best player with your "system"

The sort of genius that gets a merit badge at school for his IQ test score of 10.

You just have to laugh at this point.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass didn’t think either Flick or Enrique were good enough, yet both have their teams playing some of the most eye catching football and are on the verge of meeting in the Champions League final.

All for the sake of hiring a championship manager. Their failures as sporting directors couldn’t be be more evident.

15 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

You just have to laugh at this point.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass didn’t think either Flick or Enrique were good enough, yet both have their teams playing some of the most eye catching football and are on the verge of meeting in the Champions League final.

All for the sake of hiring a championship manager. Their failures as sporting directors couldn’t be be more evident.

Which is exactly why we are stuck with a championship manager because if they sack him it will take something special for Beavis and Butthead to not get hounded by the media. So they will keep him in charge for as long as possible to save their asses.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

You just have to laugh at this point.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass didn’t think either Flick or Enrique were good enough, yet both have their teams playing some of the most eye catching football and are on the verge of meeting in the Champions League final.

All for the sake of hiring a championship manager. Their failures as sporting directors couldn’t be be more evident.

Didn't Enrique turn us down around the time Nagelsmann did?

16 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

It's more about being a durable runner vs running fast.

James was effortlessly running up and down the flank when he was at wingback. He'd pocket an attacker at one end and then in the next 10 seconds he's creating a chance on the other end. He relied on his physical durability to be effective at that, and too much of it was the very reason why his hamstrings kept exploding. The sheer thought of James being tasked to run like that again makes our arses clench given his hamstrings could fall off the bone like slow cooked brisket.

That injury Dembele suffered after he turned his life around was his first injury in a little under 2 years. Sounds like he was already starting to turn a corner anyway. Before that, he was getting injured every other month due to his poor training ethic as he was essentially copying Messi's laxed approach when it worked against his development.

Lavia was the biggest reason why we combated Liverpool + Arsenal earlier this season but to suggest we dominated is so wide off the mark again. We got 1 point from both fixtures and you're saying we dominated.

I thought you rated Maatsen. You were screaming bloody murder for Poch not playing him?

what does durable runner even mean? If Reece was only having to play at maximum for a handful of CL games he'd be durable. He's had surgery and he's be in a weaker league.

So he still missed three months and hasn't been injured once at PSG because its a weaker league, thanks for confirming.

Yes we dominated, you're welcome to go watch those matches.

Rating a player and thinking they're the best in the world in that position are two separate things, don't be obtuse.