Bailey

Thought he was crap as well, very wasteful and kept running into alleys with and without the ball. If your going to play him in that wider position you might as well play with 10 men.

But there would still be no point playing him from the left because he isn't a creative player either. He isn't a player I would want us to go in for but he could do well enough up front if we did and I don't think he is that bad of a finisher. He needs confidence and to be playing regularly and when he has had that for spells he has done ok. He offers nothing from the left that we need.

"Not that Ronaldo or even Di Maria (bar the run for Bale's goal) were much better!" Surprised to read that from you Bailey - Di Maria was fantastic. I actually think Bale was better than Ronaldo too, because he was at least getting involved in the game. Both were poor though. Ronaldo just wasnt involved in the game at all so I suppose that at least Bale did get into the positions to waste his chances but they were both more or less as poor as eachother. I found Di Maria frustrating too. He was very poor first half I thought with consistently poor deliveries and he played into the hands of Atletico. Second half Di Maria was much better and he was excellent for the winning goal so I was harsh in lumping him with the other two but I still wouldnt go as far as saying he was the best player on the pitch. My MOTM was probably Gabi, I really thought he was excellent especially in the 90mins but like a lot of his team mates, had nothing left in ET. I also think Marcelo did very well too and his introduction along with Isco added dynamism to Real's performance (something that lacked first half).

For me he either has to start up front or not at all (same with Sturridge) and Sturridge is the player in form.

It is because he isnt delivering on the main stage at the moment and whenever I have seem him play on anything other than a flat track he looks devoid of confidence. Other than one of the home tests against Australia (where he was dropped at least a couple fo times), he hasnt scored any meaningful runs for England and when we have needed him to stick in and see it out, he has pretty much always faultered. He isnt the only one mind you and he does have potential but he needs to go back to Yorkshire and get some big runs, work on his game and come back a better player and more like the one who came into the side 18ish months ago.

If your not going to play him centrally then there is no point buying him at all. Dont quote me on it but I think his goal scoring record through the middle isnt actually that bad. He isnt going to be a 20-30 goal a season man but I think it would be a safe bet to say that he would get 10-15.

Yeh its the same with Root too On a related note, I really dont get one day cricket. The game drifts for large periods, suspense rarely builds and with the amount of slower bowler now coming into the game they seem to score at only a slightly faster rate than test matches. Cricket is boring enough at the best of times, but I dont see what these one day games offer as a product.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2638296/Diego-Simeone-EXPLODES-Raphael-Varane-Atletico-lose-Champions-League-final.html I think Neville's commentary was something like "Simeone has lost it, I think he's going to punch someone" lol. Not for me, I know what your saying and I would agree that it helps but if it wasnt for Ramos he would never have got that chance and would have quite rightly taken a lot of stick for such a poor performance. Not that Ronaldo or even Di Maria (bar the run for Bale's goal) were much better!

I wouldnt touch Wilshere yet, had a poor season and he is coming back from an injury. I think I would prefer Ox, although he might have just been coming back from injury as well?

Wood yer believe it, knot another pun thread!

Not for me, a lot of players could have scored that goal he is just lucky enough that Ancellotti hadnt hauled him off before that. Yeh they did, have to say I was a little disappointed by them. They didnt really create a chance all game and they only scored because of Casillas awful decision making. Defensively they were unreal mind you but they ran out of legs and they didnt have an outlet. The decision to start with Costa backfired because when they needed some fresh legs they had ran out of subs. I would be pissed off with him as an Atletico fan, putting his own selfish ambitions ahead of those of the club he plays for. Simeone was a disgrace at the end as well.

I would replace Lampard with Henderson but other than that I would agree.

Yeh good article. Looking at the statistics, you would say that Stones should be starting ahead of Jags this summer for England!

Definitely not intentional from Rosberg IMO, I just think he was pushing his car to the limit and over did it. Isnt that where they have laid a new patch of tarmac too? Think I heard one of the commentators saying that it had caught a few people out.

He may have scored the winner but Bale has been truly awful tonight. His passing, his control and his final ball/shot have been pathetic for the most expensive player in World football.

I'd agree, the only thing I wouldnt be sure on is how he would react to having less space to operate. He usually works well in tight spaces so I dont see it being an issue but you never know. I think he would be better in the long term playing centrally rather than as a left winger for example.

I wouldnt disagree with most of your selections. Group C and Group D are 3 horse races and I would maybe side with Japan and Uruguay over Ivory Coast and England. I also think Portugal are a bit of a bottle job but at the same time Im not sure who will be good enough to beat them into 2nd.

If Luiz actually had anything between his ears he would be a great player but he doesnt and he is a fuck up waiting to happen.

Yep I'm with Derby too!

Well said. Traore is the odd one. We needed another option, especially with Lukaku getting injured, and I can only imagine the medical staff said he would be fit quickly enough (which he was) and they werent expecting him to get injured again.

I bet Chelsea are laughing their arses off!

Or maybe Michu could be available? I dont see Arsenal forking out for Bony, especially given how well the big money move for Ozil has worked out.

There was always the injury risk with Alcaraz but you cant blame Martinez for the injury to Kone and the 2nd injury to Traore. The latter was on loan and given that we did keep him, I would be fairly confident in thinking that his wages either werent high. Robles has been shaky which I am a little surprised about because he was good for Wigan last season. I think he will come good eventually but again your talking about a squad player on the cheap who has done what he has had to when he has come into the team. If we had shelled out a big price for each player or paid high wages for any of them then I would agree, but we arent and given the quality/expense of the players we released in order to bring these guys in I think he has done pretty well overall. Solid without being anything more than that.

Spot on Kant. We have young players who can replace those who werent good enough to get a game if needs be.

Nice touch, will be interesting to see how far he goes.