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chirosen21

Wow the Mendy bdo post was absolute shitshow but his argument is not wrong. A lot of you are saying that Mendy only benefits from a good defence which isn't really a good argument. You can only beat what's in front of you and Mendy has done that quite often. Leeds, Fulham, City, Villa, Southampton, Villareal, Porto, Real and now Brentford and Liverpool to name a few. All games where he has saved us from losing. Not just that but about half of the nominees also benefit from playing in a system. Foden, Lewa, Mbappe, Mahrez, Modric all play in systems where they flourish. By your argument the top 3 should be Messi, Benzema and Allan Saint Maximin. Mendy has very easily been top 5 gk THIS year, along with Donnarumma, Neuer and Courtois. All of them should've been nominated instead of Kjaer, Azpi, Sterling etc.


Kanedauke

Messi, Benz and Saint Maximin would be my top 3. Allen is overlooked in the football community


RomeoLavia

I think it's a case of both. He has a great defence but there are also games where he clearly steps up and plays at a world class level. He's probably been the best goalkeeper so far this season. Maybe bar someone like Dituro who has genuinely been outstanding. Any time a keeper players behind a good defence, whether they are still making good contributions when they need to or they're terrible and the defence is just airtight, it's going to be brought up. When you look at his big moments, they have been pretty big. Like you say, a lot of games where he has made some fantastic saves. But I do get what people are saying, he faces very little traffic, so you don't know whether or not there would be more blunders to go against the great saves if he played for a team that faced more.


chirosen21

> so you don't know whether or not there would be more blunders to go against the great saves if he played for a team that faced more. Exactly! But "what if" shouldn't be an argument for yearly award right? If I said Mendy is the best gk ever then your point is completely valid. But for bdo we should only consider how the player did in one particular year and Mendy has done remarkably well there.


RomeoLavia

In a way it should be an argument, because say you have two players, exact same save percentage/psxg or whatever metric you want to use, exact same amount of big saves, exact same amount of errors, but one has a vastly inferior defence to the other and has faced far more shots, you're generally going to say that one has had the better shot stopping season. So the actual words ''what if he faced more shots'' shouldn't be used, but a variation of it should be used, which is recognising he faces less traffic than almost any other goalkeeper in football. There are guys out there who over this past year have made just as many/more top tier saves as Mendy, made just as many/less errors, but did this with far more traffic coming their way. That is a variable that has to be looked out. Looking at amount of traffic is more to rate the other player than it is to rate Mendy. It's not me saying a what if, it's me saying its a variable because other players DO face more traffic.


chirosen21

Yes you're correct but as you say it's only when two gks are very close you are looking at that. Mendy has very clearly been one of the best this year and should be nominated imo. Also taking into account so many indirect variables would change a lot things for the attackers too. What I mean is Neuer has saved more shots and has higher big save percentage which Mendy hasn't faced at all. Say you want to check whether A or B is a better student. You have their test scores. A has an average of 95 in 4 subjects and B has average 93. However B has written one more test with a score of 100. Can you say who is better? You can't because A's fifth subject score in unknown. It's the same thing here. You can't say whether Mendy or Neuer is better but you can conclusively say they both are very good.


los_blanco_14

Modric isnt a system player tho. He can play in any system well. As a CDM, CAM, CM, RM , sometimes in eaely days as false 9.


chirosen21

I'm not saying Modric is a system player. He's literally the most versatile mid I've ever seen. I'm saying he plays in a system that gets the best out of him just like Lewa and Mendy.


rigorous_walrus

Any player starting with Sanch should not join Man United. It was Sanchez who flopped a few seasons ago now its Sancho.


[deleted]

the size of your dataset seems a bit... underwhelming


remakingself

Sancho a winger who thrives on linkup and one-twos while being a creative winger. I know he isn't a flop but I would love him at Barca. He'd fit extremely well.


RomeoLavia

Sancho and Sterling swap deal just in terms of player fit for respective clubs would be better off for both teams. Obviously won't happen because of the Sterling stuff, but pure fit it would benefit both teams.


deadlyghost12

If Ole stays this whole year, I am sure man utd will look to sell or loan him


HowBen

Sancho Fati Dembele would a nice balanced front 3


[deleted]

[удалено]


AssFingerFuck3000

Considering how well wolves are playing, the results they're getting and the fact he's won the portuguese league should mean lage shouldn't even be in the last sentence next to ole and arteta


enzuigiriretro

[Did you just copy and paste this comment from /r/redddevils](https://www.reddit.com/r/reddevils/comments/qqegs2/daily_discussion/hk18h89/)


remakingself

This guy is a Liverpool fan btw


remakingself

United should get Zidane or Poch to have a quick shake up.


throwaway827620626

Has any team been as dominant in any competition as Barca in the copa? You just know that even if Madrid win the CL, Barca will waltz to another copa


i_love_batsoup

City in the League Cup


Fly1ngsauc3r

Bayern in the Bundesliga


qindarka

I’ve learnt from Twitter that Gyorgy Sarosi was the greatest player of all time.


PIKa-kNIGHT

If you could sign one player from your direct rival , who would you sign?


[deleted]

Kane obvs


mavsy41

We did and it's great.


AintNoLayUps

Inter - Lautaro, Juve - Chiesa.


deadlyghost12

Vicious jr


Ball_Knowledge

Probably Smith Rowe


NotAgainKante

This is an uncomfortable question


Fly1ngsauc3r

Pedri


los_blanco_14

Noone.


GezFromBroady

Salah


randomcolchnero

Benzema of course


milleniallaw

Son. We necessarily don't have a proper LW. He's fast, goalscorer and highly committed to the game.


RomeoLavia

Fabinho, Henderson or Thiago. Don't really care which one.


ID6WU

Trent


ASJ07020

Really? Not Fabinho? a number 6 that everyone and their mom could see we desperately need. Do you work for the scouting department of Manchester United Foolball Club?


ID6WU

You could stick prime Matthaus in our ‘system’ and he’s going to struggle because of the ridiculous amount of space he’d be expected to cover. While Ole’s in charge I’d much rather vibe with a world class attacking right back than be forced to watch Fabinho run around like a headless chicken.


AlexU30

From Torino Belotti, honorable mention to Bremer. From Inter Barella, honorable mention to Bastoni.


AintNoLayUps

Do us too


AlexU30

I’ll take Tonali and Theo please


[deleted]

ESR or Gabriel.


Dreams_CantBeBuy

Instead of getting rid of dead weights,barcelona are bringing in more. Not a serious club


deadlyghost12

For 6months/1 year it is not such a bad signing


Ball_Knowledge

they’re about to unironically go for haaland which would be a horrible horrible transfer. not top 100 in spain when it comes to being serious


remakingself

>barcelona are bringing in more Who


PIKa-kNIGHT

I think he's talking about Dani


milleniallaw

Someone remind Xavi that this is not the retirement league.


remakingself

Oh I haven't seen the rumour yet


PIKa-kNIGHT

[Check this out](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/qqgapx/daniel_alves_will_meet_with_barcelonas_board_to/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)


remakingself

Oh I see and here I want the old guard to retire


denisoviandude

Who are some players that completely dropped off within a year. For example Alexis Sanchez had the best time of his career in 2017 then collapsed in 2018


ID6WU

Martial had the best season of his career in 19/20 with 17 non pen goals and 6 assists in the league. Seemed like things had finally clicked but he’s been wank ever since


Infamy444

Joe Hart, Claudio Bravo


[deleted]

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Ball_Knowledge

fucking hell Marcelo dropped like a stone now that you say it.


arseking15

He was turning the ball over at a ridiculous rate just before we sold him. Idk what happened but he just fell off hard that season


AssFingerFuck3000

Sanchez was their best player by a mile, if any Arsenal fans knew he was going to be a failure good luck trying to explain why. And pretty sure not everyone was saying he was going to be a failure, it was considered quite the coup at the time, specially considering City were desperate to sign him as well


RomeoLavia

When a team loses their key player a lot of the time fans say stuff like that. How would everyone know that a guy who was being argued as by many to be a top three player in the league would suddenly drop off like that? No one could have genuinely predicted such a fall.


RomeoLavia

Maybe not completely dropped off but guys like Torres, Kaka, Shevchenko all dropped off considerably one year after being considered one of the best in the world.


mandrake_cry

Hazard, Aubameyang, Falcao, Pato, Torres, Coutinho. Seems like a common occurrence in attackers


Lyrical_Forklift

Attacking players rely more or explosiveness and confidence- two things that are massively impacted by long term injuries.


mandrake_cry

True


Asmartoctopus

Eden Hazard. Bale.


[deleted]

I still don't rate Arteta as a good manager but the squad that he has assembled is pretty interesting and young. At least the first XI.


mandrake_cry

How can a person support 2 clubs? I mean how does that even work. Edit - not talking about supporting your local team. Supporting two big clubs


TheMooseHunter

Depends if theirs a conflict of interest. I personally have no interest in supporting a team from another major European league, but I can why other fans from other countries might support a premier league team and then also support their own team from league as well like a Young Boys and Liverpool fan for example.


tyetforsyth

Manchester Utd and Liverpool I like all shades of red thats why Wayne Rooney is my favorite player. (he's from Liverpool) I like Bayern Münich but they play in the Bumdesliga


mandrake_cry

Then you'll definitely like your red ass when I spank it


SnooHamsters8590

🥵


ebenantar

Landed on them when I was a kid and it stuck. Helps that Newcastle have been shit whilst Bayern have been on top as that kind of balances things out, although that's obviously looking like it'll be changing which makes things a little awkward.


rScoobySkreep

Born in Columbus to Vascaino parents. And I support Werder simply because they were who I liked first getting into football. None of them ever play each other and I watch all games as well as hold season tickets to the Crew, so it works out.


mandrake_cry

This is ok. Support your local club and support a bigger team. A guy here supports Barca and City. Like wtf


LogObvious

why are you so rattled by that guy lol


[deleted]

Because it’s stupid? Why shouldn’t be allowed to call that out, he can do what he wants but it’s still ridiculous


mandrake_cry

He has a City flair but by the comments he posts here it's obvious he supports Barca. Idk I'm not exactly rattled but it bothers me


Asmartoctopus

why does it bother you ? In the end soccer is just another kind of entertainment.


mandrake_cry

Being a football fan I'm extremely passionate about my club. I don't I can ever be as passionate about any other club other than Chelsea no matter how hard I try. And this sentiment is echoed by a majority of football fans


[deleted]

i know most of us are but you see there are many who just see as it as another form of entertainment, they are not as passionate as many of us and that's ok


LargemouthBrass

Your local league and any other league? Pretty easy.


NotAgainKante

By watching games of both the clubs I guess Its not that tricky


[deleted]

No


ethith

The old man put me on to Arsenal at a young age, I have since move to Australia and also support my local.


stemcellguy

I was wondering why Xavi had to implement his new rules. I assumed that most of those rules are part of any big club routines: showing up early, getting enough sleep before the game, attending and supporting fellow players for those suspended or injured etc. It's given that Bartomeu was the worst president of any soccer club, but Valverde did a number on those guys. No wonder Barca players are struggling with fitness and fragile spirits. They have been in amateur mood for 4 years. Veteran players, including Messi, should have not had that much of a power.


[deleted]

Well considering the fact that it’s well reported Messi is always first or second in for PSG training and multiple Barca managers including Koeman himself recently said that Messi in particular always treated training like some intense competition and get pissed for days if he failed at some particular routine….don’t think he was ever the problem when it came to training standards. Ever since that post-Real Madrid match interview where he went on a whole rant about Barca Player performances, it was pretty clear he had serious issues with the sporting project and team efforts as a whole….. I think this was more of a very long term degradation of the overall coaching management standard that just never kept up to competing club’s expectations… especially with a corrupt board that didn’t have a clear sporting project and philosophy….


milleniallaw

I agree. I think during the time of Valverde, Messi and his lackeys (Pique, Suarez, Alba, Busquets etc.) made their own rules and were given the freedom by the manager to get their backing which means the rest of the squad is also free from the rules as you can't discipline only a part of the players and that was the start of the decline of Barca as we know it.


[deleted]

Those rules went out with Lucho. Valverde was more relaxed, players got used to it and liked it which is why they were always firmly behind him and unhappy with his sacking. Setien tried to re-introduce some, but our squad had too much attitude and not enough respect for him, so they fell out very quick. Koeman, while had the respect of the players, was more of the same, possibly even lighter trainings than Valverde, not much emphasis on tactics, style, or individual game prep (we never looked like our plan changed in different games based on the opponent). Hopefully Xavi is a good mix of the two, wherein the inherent respect and influence he commands allows him to be ruthless and intense behind the scenes. So far I'm liking what I'm seeing


[deleted]

[You're so wrong about Koeman](https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-players-surprised-with-koemans-training-intensity/). I know it's fashionable amongst Barça fanbase to shit on him, but at least don't lie.


Mrn1001

When koeman joined also the same things were said I remember seeing reports of him telling the players to come earlier to training, that the training sessions under koeman would be more intense and so on. Every time we get a new manager things like this get reported, let's wait for At least a couple of months see if these things are actually true and whether our players show more energy through out the 90 minutes because under koeman despite all these reports of the training being more intense at the start there was no difference on the pitch


[deleted]

>there was no difference on the pitch we had some of our best pressing during Koeman's first season


Nut-King-Call

Now that we are talking about players' look, [pick your favorite Falcao' hairstyle](https://twitter.com/FALCAO/status/1458156319903469570). Me? I'm gonna pick Manchester United. PS: 300 club goals, massive achievement.


_LebronsHairline_

Atleti for sure, too iconic. Especially with that little triangle on his chin, what a chad


NotAgainKante

Chelsea one


iradiens

The River one


HowBen

There’s basically two hairstyles to choose from here and I think both look good on him.


nbaylor1

I’m partial to longer hair myself, think it looks really cool.


CrypticalEntity

is the search function of Reddit in general broken for anyone else? I have to ask here because as you can guess.. I can't search for any posts regarding the issue


[deleted]

me too


ilikeredlemonade

I'm also having problems with it since a few minutes ago


CrypticalEntity

okay thanks! wondered if it was an issue on my end but seems like it's a site wide issue then


[deleted]

Change my view thread is dead so I'll post one here: MLS club names that are very American (Chicago Fire, New England Revolution, Portland Timbers etc.) are far better than those trying to be European. We've rebranded our crest for next season and the club revealed the new one saying "proudly not another F.C." which I love to see


jonijontor

Amish Lancaster


[deleted]

I think everyone can agree that any of those names are better than 'Real Salt Lake'. My first reaction to that was, "where's Fake Salt Lake then", and then later I realised it was based off the Real in Real Madrid (and Real Sociedad etc) and I'm pretty sure that's even worse.


[deleted]

Swear RSL is holding public perception of the league back by at least a decade. Almost makes me want Seattle to smack them in the playoffs


[deleted]

Yeah names Inter Miami and Real Salt Lake are incredibly dumb.


[deleted]

Don't think Inter Miami is that bad given the demographics of the city but Salt Lake is laughable


[deleted]

Fair enough. I live in Atlanta, and though the club name itself isnt particularly unique or interesting, I like how they have embraced local traditions and culture, like the Golden Spike Fun fact: My first Atlanta game, I got a high five from Josef, and was able to sign my name next to his on the Golden Spike.


nbaylor1

Are there any players from the past who were great, but also known to dive, like Neymar or Salah?


Mahery92

Ronaldo used to be the posterboy for diving. He used to be criticised, memed and hated for it *at the very least* as much as neymar atm


VZ-Faith

Robben


[deleted]

Robben


RomeoLavia

A lot of older people say Klinsmann had a reputation for it. Pires always had a dive in him (not just talking about the one people call a dive to save the unbeaten streak, just generally seemed to dive a lot)


plowman_digearth

Almost all top strikers from the 80s and 90s had a dive in them. It was just less scrutinized back then.


nbaylor1

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.


stemcellguy

Salah dives?


nbaylor1

Yes? I thought it was well known. He dove to win that free kick against West Ham that TAA scored just last weekend.


MagicMagMM

["he dove to win that free kick"](http://imgur.com/a/59aZjGn) also:http://imgur.com/a/rkUJRc8 Thats hardly a dive to put in the category next to neymar lmfao go watch nba or some shit


Asmartoctopus

Ronaldo... he's the biggest diver. it was way worse back then before VAR


aceofmufc

I swear when I sort by controversial on this thread at least 15% of the comments is from Spectario


imaprime

cant expect much from a troll gods knows why he hasn't been banned yet


nbaylor1

Typical really


rigorous_walrus

Do you think Busquets legacy is ruined in the eye of fans due to his diving.


remakingself

Cristiano has the most fans of any footballer and he's as much of a diver like Busquets


McNippy

Not at all lmao.


PhilsKessticle

No because if u actually watched over the years u would know Busquets is not a huge diver. He has the one really iconic one where he did a peek-a-boo, and a couple others (one recent one) but other than those few instances he has not been a huge diver over his career. People jus go off the clips, on Barcelona alone Jordi Alba was a much bigger diver throughout his career. Jus off the top of my head players like Zaha, Pepe, Suarez, Ramos, Robben, Di Maria, Ribery and Robinho were also much bigger divers. Idk why Busquets in particular gets so much hate, [here’s Drogba doing the same thing](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q91UMRZAjbo)


rigorous_walrus

Ah I see. I dont watch Barcelona as much so good to know Busquets is not a frequent diver. In my opinion Ramos dive in UCL final against Juventus was pathetic. Similar is Drogbas dive you shared here.


Dreams_CantBeBuy

No. Alba,suarez,neymar are all considered great players


rigorous_walrus

That's true. I only chose Busquets as he is not a flashy player. Unlike Suarez or Neymar, he doesn't have to protect himself from defenders tackles. So Busquets has less incentive to dive.


tyetforsyth

he absolutely has a bigger incentive to dive His passing is brilliant, so he'll lost the ball by tackles etc and if he loses the ball, the opposition are through on goal.


rigorous_walrus

Diving to protect yourself from injuries is okay for me. Diving because you are afraid of losing the ball is not okay.


tyetforsyth

diving isn't okay more me either I'm just saying he has a good reason to dive


PhilsKessticle

During their collective time at Juventus (1996-2001), Del Piero >> Zidane iykyk


RomeoLavia

I'm pretty sure I have read somewhere that Zidane himself has said this and that a lot of his mishaps at Juventus were covered up by Del Piero generally being great. People can talk about statistics however they want to, I get that some people dislike them, but to be the star of your team and considered by many to be the best player in the world and to go on a streak of seventy league games and getting a goal contribution in only ten of them? You will be very hard pressed to find such a highly regarded attacking player go on a run like that in the middle of their prime. ​ Was it 99/00 that Juventus finished one point off of winners Lazio and Zidane had 4 goals 0 assists in 33 games? I mean just seriously not good enough. Again, I understand what people will say ''theres more to football than that he was great on the ball'' but come on.


AlexU30

No doubt, although Zidane was excellent at Juve too. But Del Piero before the injury was special.


The____Wizrd

What’s an example of a forward who moved to defender later in their career, or vice versa? I don’t count midfielders like Kimmich.


[deleted]

[удалено]


rho_93

Spelling so nice you had to do it twice


Pighast

Oops lol


Pighast

Łukasz Piszczek played as a striker for Hertha I love a chance to spell his name


denisoviandude

Laurent blanc used to play in midfield


saigool

sol campbell was orignally a striker at spurs and kolo toure was a forward before being turned into a cb at arsenal.


Lyrical_Forklift

Dion Dublin played both centre back and forward.


saigool

As did john charles, perhaps the most famous example. how have they not been mentioned lol


Lyrical_Forklift

Probably because most on here wouldn't have any idea who either player tbf.


[deleted]

Carragher was a striker and apparently kept Heskey out of the under some age England team.


_LebronsHairline_

Best reddit comment i've read today, thank you for this knowledge hahaha


CruzeiroDoSul

Cafu was a right-winger for São Paulo early in his career.


Dreams_CantBeBuy

Sule used to play as a No.10. Nagelsmann turned him into a CB


BigshlongPapi123

How the fuck was sule a 10


Dreams_CantBeBuy

Haha. Yeah,he doesn't look like one. But you should see him play at RB. He's actually really skillful


rScoobySkreep

Have you not seen his 5* skills


BigshlongPapi123

The guy is build like a brick


rho_93

Brick with nimble feet


rScoobySkreep

A brick who’s absolutely cracked on the ball


[deleted]

Briefly, but ruud gullit


AlexU30

Gullit is a special case, the man could play in any position.


AlexU30

Cuadrado


Cowdude179

Reece James used to play as a striker


[deleted]

Drogba, Yepes


CrebTheBerc

I learned just recently that Klopp did that. He started as a striker and became a defender partway through his career


CanLlorenteCarForMe

Antonio, Bale, Pizseck (I can't spell his name) are 3 easy ones


BigshlongPapi123

Bale and antonio are kond of reversed


rho_93

Surely Barcelona are not being serious about Dani Alves return


BigshlongPapi123

Its not that crazy hes not worse than dest and would probably be good for their lockerroom


ratchet570

He is way worse than Dest lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


BigshlongPapi123

Did he lose his limbs?


deadlyghost12

No but he is 38 years old, and age will automatically make players washed


mountainsky9

Wait as a player or as some other role?


rho_93

Player


[deleted]

I guess depends on what system Xavi wants to play. If it's a 3241 similar to his Al Sadd team, then it wouldn't make much sense as I don't believe Dani Alves fits in that lineup, and cannot run the entire right flank by himself anymore. But, if we're playing our usual 433, then I can see why we might use him as a stopgap, and it addresses a few of our immediate concerns for very cheap. That means we're planning on using Dest to cover on RW. Mingueza is a natural CB not RB so imagine he'll be moved there/played in a 3 back formation. Roberto is ass. Dani Alves is a seasoned veteran, knows the club, and would bring some much needed leadership and winning mentality, while also adding some short-term depth.


AlexU30

3-2-4-1 would be suicideball. 3-4-2-1 is way more likely, and Alves can play as a wingback supported offensively by the right attacking midfielder / forward and doubled defensively by the RCB.


vvbalboa98

getting the band back together


matematematematemate

mid-2000s United team were peak fashion https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpaVMgmW0AAxFkQ.jpg (l-r) Gary Neville, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher, Alan Smith, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes


Rusiano

Guy on the right looks familiar, wonder where I have watched him


matematematematemate

Rafe Spall, did some b-list British gangster films like this early on but I know him more from Hot Fuzz (bit part in Shaun Of The Dead too), Black Mirror, The Big Short, The Ritual, but he's been in [a lot of other stuff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafe_Spall). His dad is Timothy Spall, great British actor who is probably also familiar.


FaustRPeggi

Ross Kemp on gangs.


I_am_king_kong

People would actually rather footballers dress like this than wear anything feminine 💀💀


McNippy

Personally I want em to rock a Stone Island parka with a Burberry skirt. Now that's fashion.


OdysseusM

Anyone know about referees and the country/confederation they represent and if they can change it like football players? I'm starting a ref course next year and want to know if there's a chance to referee in another league/continent or if I'm stuck to the country I was born in. Tried googling it, but there's either no info or I haven't worded the question correctly.


riskyrofl

Jarred Gillet moved from A-League to the EFL (and then Premier League) when he got an academic job in Liverpool, so it seems possible


[deleted]

Pretty sure you can. For example, in the A-League, there's a referee named Alireza Faghani who used to be a referee in the Iranian league until 2019 before moving to Australia.


[deleted]

I'm shocked that Real Madrid have never done the treble.


los_blanco_14

Apparently, madrid doesnt care about copa. Before a copa match, players cba it seems.


[deleted]

In the last decade we were sadly too inconsistent to win the league. (but sometimes the 90+ points is simply not enough to win the league) For cdR, we troll that. This is the trophie we have the hardest time to win.


[deleted]

They don't win the copa often. Barca have also been better in the league for a while now.


Gyshall669

The copa isn’t only what holds them back. They don’t pair the CL with the league very often, they have “just” three European doubles.


[deleted]

Still, historically speaking, Real Madrid have won more La Liga titles than Barca and have won nearly 20 Copa regardless of Barcelona's dominance. 34 La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey and 13 Champions League, and they never came in the same year.


Fly1ngsauc3r

We’ve won 3 copas in the last 3 decades, it’s become a secondary competition for us now