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#318636 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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Late start to pre-season is finally paying off as planned.
#316694 Database criteria, has it changed?
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#316691 Database criteria, has it changed?
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#316687 2015/16 Champions League
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It doesn't work like that in the EPL though. The the way sides approach top sides is in a completely different manner to that of what is seen in La Liga. No doubt Barca's forward line at present would be very dangerous and cause a lot of sides trouble, but that doesn't translate to being able to just dominate more competitive sides at a drop of a hat. The EPL has more competitive sides that would, and do at present, cause top sides trouble. It certainly wouldn't be the absolute romp Barca enjoy now. It's easy to get results when you're miles ahead of the pack and only need to really focus for a few weeks of the year knowing your sides individual talent will no doubt do the job alone for the rest of the season. I'd like to see Barca having to play a run of difficult games on the bounce and be put in a far more testing environment.
Naturally they are a good side, and can only beat what's in front of them. But the EPL is a completely different ball game compared to La Liga and they wouldn't get away with a lot of what they do now, that's for sure.
Each to their own though.
#316252 2015/16 Champions League
.verse
Barca wouldn't walk the league either, no club would. The only games Barca need to really show up for during a season currently are games against Real and Atletico and the CL. The rest they can more or less play in 2nd/3rd gear for the most part. Sides cannot do that in the EPL. Even the mid table and lower sides have the ability to cause top sides issues because of the way they play. Besides maybe one or two sides, there aren't really any easy fixtures to the degree seen in a league like La Liga.
#316031 2015/16 Champions League
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#312584 Transfer Rumours 2015/16
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Paper talk, not sure how much truth there was to the situation. I'd rather sell Cahill and keep Terry, if it came down to keeping one though.
Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. As you've touched on though, the lack of experience is worrying. Particularly if you take Ivanovic out at RB. It leaves for a rather underwhelming defensive unit with no leadership.
We'll rue this decision for years to come. Unless the board wake up and realise they're making a daft decision and re-sign him.
#312569 Transfer Rumours 2015/16
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Absolutely an appalling decision. He's still far and away our best defender and first name on the team sheet. Not only do you lose an exceptional defender, but his immense leadership and experience. The development seen in Zouma this season by playing with Terry has really helped him oust Cahill and establish himself in the side.
His importance extends beyond the pitch. Even if he stayed and played less, he'd still be a valuable assets in the side. I loathe to think who will be captain now amongst a side that has absolutely no leaders. As much as I like Ivanovic, I cringe at the thought of him being captain because that will most likely mean he'll remain first choice RB when he also has declined.
The plus side, there's still a few months left for him to continue his good form and show he's still pivotal through our rebuild.
#311338 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
.verse
It's definitely the former, considering he was never that type of midfielder until he was moved into that deeper role and instructed to play in the sort of way he has done. Over time he became a more refined player and this has allowed him to extend his career in the manner he has done.
Gattuso and Ambrosini are also similar cases because the roles they were given helped accommodate Pirlo and balance the side out. The same applied once he moved to Juventus and the change which was had to have the side work around him. Without these sorts of specifics there's no way a side could employ this sort of player and certain systems or styles.
Just because specific instructions are given doesn't mean a player still cannot have their own individual influence. There's still an element of freedom that can be had when assigned certain instructions. The level will differ though depending how structured the overall team is set out. Take a manager like Mourinho who is very rigid with his systems and likes his players to perform their role in a very specific way. Someone like Pep on the other hand works in a more free flowing way. While he still requests certain things from players, there's a greater freedom had in terms of how the job is performed.
Again, to take it back to the NBA for a moment. The perfect example is the point guard position. He's usually the main ball handler, he'll run the offence and organise the side overall. However, not all PG's operate in the same way. There are times when their role is reduced; a good example is when the 76ers had Iverson. Great creative player, scorer and ball handler and he'd often play the PG role from the SG position, Eric Snow (76ers PG) would take a secondary role at times. This wasn't just a natural move, though Iverson did command the rock and was the sides best player by a country mile, it was the way the Sixers were also designed to run and players were given specific instructions and roles to make sure the system ran in a smooth fashion.
Sometimes without roles and certain instructions systems fall apart because the continuity isn't there. While there is no hard and fast rule, there's certainly a valid argument.
#311138 Transfer Rumours 2015/16
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He's a average player that possesses an incredible engine but the technique and execution of someone with two left feet. In a 433 he'd fit nicely as the box-to-box sort of player, but in a two man midfield he isn't solid enough to be a defensive player nor good enough to be reliable going forward. Of course he has his flashes of brilliance (CL goal vs Barca) but you'd have to be daft to turn down £25m for such a player who is also going to be 29 in March.
#311103 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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Players do perform roles though. There is a distinct difference between playing a position and a specific role that's been moulded around some set instructions given. They aren't one and the same. Take someone like Pirlo for example. While he lines up in midfield and is often be the deepest playing one. At face value he'd be considered the "holding player" for the position he takes on the pitch. However, his role and instructions for that position are nothing of the sort. Instead those defensive duties are largely carried out by the other two midfields he plays alongside.
A lot of sports have generic positions but those positions can contain different ways of being played aka roles. As someone that follows the NBA, it's something you'll see regularly there also. Football isn't much different in that sense.
#308865 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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We've drawn the short straw with an array of decisions this season. Only since Mourinho left, ironically, have we actually seen a few more go our way.
When you don't play well having decisions that go against you can have a large impact on results. Not that it excuses overall performances, then again that's not really rocket science either. If you actually bought into what Mourinho said 100% then you're ridiculously gullible.
As for the game, good result given the situation we were in. Hopefully this highlights that Fabregas needs to play need with Mikel and we either drop the #10 altogether and make it a midfield 3 or we bring in RLC. Would also like to see more of Kenedy going forward, exciting player. Oh, and the quicker we drop Ivanovic an use him as nothing more than a rotational piece the better. Time to bring Baba in for a solid run of games and move Azpi back to right back.
#305684 Transfer Rumours 2015/16
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Was excellent last season, underwhelming this one. Has quality when he shows up but as already mentioned he's highly inconsistent. Doesn't work overly hard so when he isn't getting the ball he contributes little else.
#305152 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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We don't have a "senior" striker to play; Costa suspended, Remy injured and Falcao has just returned to training.
No real other options because we loaned out Solanke on top.
That said, we were shite but happy with a point at the same time. Don't think we'd have gotten that under Mourinho and could have even got a win if Matic knew how to kick a ball on target.
Also the sooner we flog Oscar off the better. Absolute trash and has been for years, worse than Kalou.
#304381 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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I was just being general re his time at Utd as a whole and the performances he's managed. Wasn't so much about the press situation. Everyone knows how the media in England works, they get a sniff and they'll ruthlessly take advantage of it irrespective of the credibility attached.
#304159 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#303147 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#302881 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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This entire season had disaster written all over it tbh.
Mourinho took a gamble to start pre-season considerably later than others to allow players extra time off. Our performances were horrendous in the friendlies, carried that into the season with fitness levels below everyone else. We failed to strengthen the squad and went ahead with what we had. Costa came back considerably out of shape, something he admit to himself. Then the Carneiro situation unfolded. Mourinho then did things like hook Terry vs City and left him out of follow up games. Singled out Hazard and Matic, subbing the later off only after 20 minutes of coming on, etc etc. The way Mourinho handled some situation left a lot to be desired. However, the players also must be at fault for being criminally underwhelming in their own right.
While I'm not 100% pleased with Mourinho's sacking, I can completely understand the reasoning behind it. He was given time to turn things around, more than any other manager would have been given. Instead, we continued to regress and slipped further down the table. The one thing that annoys me the most has been Mourinho's unwillingness to move away from the horrible 4231 system that doesn't suit any of the players we have. For someone defined in his career for being tactically astute, he's been incredibly rigid and stubborn to defer to something else in an attempt to salvage the season. For me, that's disappointing. It left the club in a pickle of a situation. Either persist with Mourinho and hope we do enough to avoid relegation, which hasn't looked the case so far. Or twist and move JM on and bring in someone new to help achieve that.
Had Mourinho stayed and the club got relegated under him it would be disastrous on a much larger scale to that of purely sacking him now.
I'm really hoping Conte is given the job. However, I think any manager coming in is going to have a challenge on their hands. We've already got a small squad that is in need of investment as it is. There's also numerous deadwood players that need to go in the summer; such as Oscar. The size of investment and transfer activity needed is one that is going to take multiple seasons to sort out. Unless Roman really opens his cheque book up and make a statement.
#301968 Database criteria, has it changed?
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What has brought this to my attention is that I've hit the January transfer window of my first season in L2 and went scouting for some players. I headed over the the Chelsea squad to maybe pick up a player or two and noticed there were a number of more promising players missing, including Ruben Lotus-Cheek, which seemed incredibly odd given I've got a medium database loaded and the English leagues and being a somewhat renown prospect amongst the first team currently.
Over recent years I've always gone with the medium database with FM Classic mode because it has usually loaded enough of the main players and prospects, including players like RLC, Solanke, Boga, Charly Musonda, Nathan, etc to still have a solid career game. There seems to be a vast change in this with FM16. Now all these younger players are missing. They are missing even when loading FMT with a large database. In fact, the large database doesn't even appear to alter the number of players loaded at the club at all.
Has there been a change in what sort of players are now loaded between FMT and full mode? Full mode loads these players with a medium database. This has never been an issue in prior versions of the game I've played and somewhat disappointing to find out. Naturally, I expect full mode to offer more. But FMT seems to have been heavily pruned back in this department for FM16.
#301928 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#301927 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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So, it's an okay ruler to use towards other managers. But, when it's aimed at LVG or Man Utd, it's unfair? Glad we've got that cleared up.
Maybe we'll just focus on his inept management instead and how the only movement the club has made is lateral, heavy investment aside. His only saving grace is that they're still somehow 4th in the league because no one's been able to break away and avoid dropping points themselves. That somewhat spares his blushes and probably keeps him in a job, for now.
#301924 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#299269 Purchasing FM 2016.
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I've found this place here (clicky) but am unsure just how reliable it is. Anyone utilised this place/method before?
I've never really dabbled in buying a "CD Key" and then using that to activate the release in Steam to download. So am still a little weary before laying down some coin. When it's nearly $20 cheaper than retail price though, it's enticing. I presume that it doesn't matter where something like this would be purchased from it should still work in any country?
#296464 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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Edit: Nvm.
Having been amongst these traps for a considerable time I'm also aware of the level of discussion suited and not suited to these surroundings. Normally I'd have said nothing, but when something like this is constantly in ones face it becomes a little hard to ignore eventually. And thus, I'll leave it at that before it drags on into a more personally aimed level.
#296460 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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You cannot really call current events and deaths of innocent people as "old news", that's quite insensitive tbh. You personally might not relate to it in the same way, but that doesn't mean there are others around the globe who are equally as impacted as those who've been affected by Paris. This isn't a one side is better than the other argument, it's about equality for all people, of all backgrounds and walks of life.
The point I was mainly trying to project has been summed up by Hamza Ali Abbasi's post on Facebook- quoted below.
And here we go, French flag being projected all over the world and facebook makes a French flag DP filter. I wonder why FB never created a Palestinian flag filter where hundreds die each month? Or maybe a Syrian, Iraqi or Afghan flag? A Pakistani flag after 16th Dec APS attack? Its exactly this "Selective" Humanity and Imperialistic mindset which leads to hatred towards the west. I condemn Paris attack but i also condemn the hypocrisy of western imperial mindset.
#296403 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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Shouldn't matter how frequent it is, a life is a life. That's the sort of mentality that downplays the worth of a certain ethnical group over another.
You flick through any social media or new outlet and it's Paris, Paris, Paris. Completely ignoring the other equally as devastating events taking place which are also impacting many families around the world too.
#296402 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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You've missed the entire point. It isn't something merely isolated to these particular issues, it's a constant trend that happens. There's a choice to prioritise Western world events over that of Middle Eastern and other PoC matters. The lack of media coverage has nothing to do with a lack of media in these countries to report, it's a white privilege issue. I'm sure there are Muslims and such who have been equally affected with the events taking place in their home countries, even though they may live in Western countries now. Even the way particular events are reported. You only have to delve into the white police issues with PoC within the United States to see just how fucked up things really are. White kid shoots up a school, is portrayed as a "shy quite kid", "mentally unstable" etc. When it comes to a PoC it's completely twisted to paint a thuggish portrait and it was bound to happen. It's just a rampant and vile way the world works these days.
#296381 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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Why? Because it's something tragic that's happened in Europe?
As awful as it is, it's the perfect example of how PoC are constantly ignored when it comes to their own tragic events and how white privilege reigns supreme. All the media coverage, attention and talk is about Paris. What about the events between Israel and Palestine? How about Lebanon? And everything else going on in the Middle East? There's no media outrage or an international day of mourning. There's no social media apps creating filters etc to show support. There's nothing.
No life is more important than another, regardless of race or religion.
#294937 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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A couple of factors.
#288842 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
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Should have been POTM to be honest.