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  1. Birdy

    Premier League 25/26

    Top top coach. Have commented on him when he was already at Frankfurt and the usual (illiterate about football) suspects laughed... Can see him getting the jot at UTD if Amorim is fired
  2. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Valverde is a box to box like you said. IMO the closest player to him is Henderson: great energy, amazing defending, great shot from distance (Valverde even better there), great cross from the right BUT also: poor in tight spaces, unable to pass the ball through and short with the precision...
  3. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Well, that's wrong parsing of periods. from 1990-99 it was all Barca and Madrid, with the exception of Atletic in 1996 (once every 10 or 20 years Atleti wins) But from 1999 up until 2004, it was a strange 5-yr period (that is the correct period) where Barca was in steep decline, and only...
  4. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    No, it's not. Torres is (now) fine for sub. But the money spent, the importance of that transfer midseason 21-22 when he had all kinds of restrictions, and the eventual development of Alvarez speak to the fact that it was a brainless decision by someone incompetent to take decisions for a club...
  5. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Usual reminder after this display by Julian Alvarez: In the winter of 2021-22 Barcelona had the chance to sign Alvarez from River Plate for 20m or so, but Xavi, the de facto SD of the club in the dark years 2021-2024, thought Ferran Torres for 50+10m was much better option Txiki snatched him...
  6. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    of course we can. Question is if we will. Last season we dropped too many points until January, and got saved by Madrid dropping themselves and being unable to sustain their lead in the table. Can't see the same under Alonso. We have to be ruthless vs lesser teams
  7. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    It doesn't work like that in a league unfortunately.. Top attackers can cook Madrid's defense maybe, but that will not happen in 95% of LL games, plus whatever slipups occur can be mitigated by MAdrid's attack cooking absolutely fodder LL defences
  8. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Hujsen is great on the ball, but suspect in defending. Has been recorded during his EPL stint
  9. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Some laughable defending by the Pathetico CBs in both goals
  10. Birdy

    Evolution of Football

    It's not a bad idea to have a thread discussing the changes in the sport the last 15+ years. I came across this great vid by the astute analyst Football Meta, explaining how a single tactical tweak by Mourinho back in 2004 changed football in England forever: Many here are frequently...
  11. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Never a pen
  12. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    They look like 1 million times more organized on the ball compared to all years under Ancelotti If they also beat Pathetico on the weekend (who are a team that can break) it will be a statement...
  13. Birdy

    La Liga 25/26

    Yup Alonso already fixed a good part of the mess they were. Ancelotti is one of the biggest frauds and this is another proof It's not gonna be like last season unfortunately...
  14. Birdy

    Premier League 25/26

    Yup, not exactly evolution though. More catch-up game...
  15. Birdy

    Pep Guardiola

    One wonderful vid by the Purist on Pep's change and a confirmation in last weekend's derby Unfortunately, Pep is not the tactical innovator anymore. He has become more direct, even being forced to park the bus, as he is struggling to catch up with the rest. It is what it is...
  16. Birdy

    Ousmane Dembélé

    Of course the '1 trophy' Dembele had over Lamine was the most decisive for these awards. Have not people learnt yet? Let alone that it's ridiculous to try to discredit Dembele's importance for PSG's CL run. He was the main cog upfront as a free roaming false 9. Created all the spaces for the...
  17. Birdy

    Ousmane Dembélé

    Thanks Tempt There are those who know ball, and those who don't. It was clear since day 1 at Barca that Ousmane had the potential to become WC, but the injuries were stopping him. When he fixed that (already since Koeman and Xavi that was largely fixed, but at PSG he fixed it even more), there...
  18. Birdy

    Ballon d'Or 2025

    Yes, that is the new rule already in place since 2018 when Modric robbed Salah But in 2019 they suddenly forgot about it to give it to Messi instead of VVD who was the most key player in the best team
  19. Birdy

    Ballon d'Or 2025

    Gyokeres won Muller Award ahead of Mbape. Love to see it...
  20. Birdy

    Ballon d'Or 2025

    Pedri 11th is a hybris FFS

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