tonkaroost

That blows my mind. It was obvious that Argentina relies on Messi. They passed it to him every chance they could, as always. His missed penalty knocks him down, but I'd give him a 7.5 out of 10. There's just too much pressure/expectation on him. It's sick.

You're absolutely right, Bailey. It doesn't make it any easier that the Argentinian press puts so much pressure on Messi whereas Ronaldo is viewed as Portugal's saviour. If the USA had a player like Messi he would be revered to no extent. They really don't know what they have.

Not arguing about Argentina's talent but more of those talents don't show up for the big games. Messi pretty much pushed Argentina through the qualifiers by himself.

That said, that penalty was awful.

Still think Messi is better than Ronaldo. No one steps up for Argentina but Messi. That was Aguero's first goal in a World Cup, and he didn't score in any of the qualifiers. Portugal can win without Ronaldo, as proven by the last Euro. Argentina would lose without Messi. I always feel bad for him, because his own country barely supports him because of that low-life Maradona. No one has more pressure in a national team setup than Messi.

I would love him here. He's an excellent player. That said, I'd be shocked if he came here. I would expect a CL-caliber team to take a chance on him first.

Best of luck in DC. Good move by Everton.

I definitely agree with you for most of that, but Dowell isn'tt the physical presence that Barkley is. That's huge advantage in the PL. But you're spot on everything else though.

I still can't believe that we had that fathead as manager. I'm writing the last 6 months off.

Dowell isn'tt ready yet. He needs to go on loan to a CHMP team fighting for promotion or a PL team fighting relegation.

I agree. USA's weakness has always been a proper LB, but he looks the real deal. Really excited about him.

Sorry for his injury... But honestly we need a better option at LB. After watching Robinson I think he could be a decent backup to Baines. He's suspect at defending but is good at attacking.

There's no way we're paying more for him than ManU did. If we do, then we're a truly fucked club.

I would be very disappointed to only get 12M for Ghana -- he's worth at least double that, if not more.

Interesting bit about Koeman there. Seamus is just an all around good guy.