Paranoid Android Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 Barca wont sell anyone under 25 ever again. All loans. Too scared of having a cesc situation again. I think they want to have 100 youth players out on load at all times and each summer pick the best ones to come back and join the first team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eupraxia Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Did anyone else catch the documentary on Roy Keane and Patrick Viera on ITV4 last night? It was quite an engaging watch, and you have 29 days remaining to watch it on their player: https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/keane-and-viera-best-of-enemies/series-1/episode-1-keane-and-viera-best-of-enemies Great nostalgia trip for any mid-2000s football fan, and their discussions are very revealing. It's great to see two infamous adversaries get together and discuss what was going on behind the scenes at the time, and all of the psychology involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 It was an interesting watch. Roy Keane is an utter fanny these days. Paul Ince better than Paul Scholes? Cuckoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Paul Ince better than Paul Scholes? Cuckoo! Totally different types of player but i'm inclined to agree with him in a "complete midfielder" way as Ince was comfortable in both attacking and defending whereas Scholes was only ever any good going forward as his tackling was worse that a blind quadraplegic with chainsaws attached to his stumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eupraxia Posted December 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I think we can safely assume that Roy Keane's all-time Man Utd colleague selection was based primarily on personality and bite, as opposed to true footballing ability. To me, Roy Keane is evidently a man who judges others and holds grudges or respect accordingly, and he's an interesting character for that. Scholes was perhaps too clean cut, and lacked the controversy that Keane ostensibly craves and likes to see in others - Keane even feeds off it. I concur with Alkaline, though; Scholes' tackling was suspect to say the least, not withstanding the tired old cliche. It could easily be argued that Ince had defensive intellect as well as effective attacking nous, whereas Scholes was an attacking midfielder who was happy to press and work, but his judgement when tackling was often questionable. He scored many memorable screamers, though, and people arguably tend remember that more than they remember tackles. Personally, I'd plump for Scholes alongside Keane for true balance, but I doubt that was a consideration for Keane. I also agree Keane's a bit of a pap these days. He probably always was, but now we witness more acerbic observation and bitterness because he talks more than he plays. I still laughed out loud at some of the things he says in the documentary; I found it interesting and perversely telling that he named Brian Clough "without a doubt" the best manager he played for. I still fucking loved Roy Keane the footballer. Absolute machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fertuiee Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Cloughie would have agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Ince ahead of Scholes I've heard it all now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Nicky Butt was better than the both of them. Ask Pele, he'll back me up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 If you add Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes together you get Paul Ince. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Did Pele not also include El Hadj Diouf in his list of top 100 players ever?!? It must have been at that time, surely not ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Dundee United doing great work securing some of our young talent to contracts so at least we don't lose out on em. Ryan Gauld just extended last month and Stuart Armstrong signs today. Good times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Did Pele not also include El Hadj Diouf in his list of top 100 players ever?!? It must have been at that time, surely not ever. Nicky Butt wasn't on his FIFA 100 list (which contained 125 players) for some reason but he did say that he was the best player of the 2002 World Cup albeit before England went out against Brazil in the QF. He may have changed his mind after that but I haven't seen any evidence of that so I'm thinking that no one eclipsed Nicky Butt's greatness at that tournament in Pele's eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) Dundee United doing great work securing some of our young talent to contracts so at least we don't lose out on em. Ryan Gauld just extended last month and Stuart Armstrong signs today. Good times. I dont think Gauld has extended yet, unless ive missed it..... Either way its brilliant news for United. Edited December 12, 2013 by The Milner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I dont think Gauld has extended yet, unless ive missed it..... Either way its brilliant news for United. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24812193 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Fair enough, i had missed it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) There's more to defending than just tackling though. I don't agree Scholes was only good going forwards either. It's a bit of a myth that he was an attacking midfielder, but he often played there to plug gaps, like when Cantona was suspended and Hughes had been sold, and then again to accommodate Veron, He did well there, but it wasn't his role. For all the goals you got from him behind Van Nistelrooy, you didn't get the best out of his complete traits there. He controlled games single handed when employed deeper. Ince didn't. Defensively, his ability to cut out passes in his own half was tremendous. As much as he loved to stick the boot in and take down an opponent (because he was a nasty bastard), he was capable of some excellent tackles as well, which are often forgotten under Scholes' 'can't tackle' reputation. His off the ball movement and anticipation in his own half was better than Ince, as was his work rate. IMO, of course. Keane and Scholes was arguably the best two man midfield of recent times. That's not IMO though. It's just the truth. Really though, Keane is being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian, as he likes to do now, as he found a way to be "insulted" by Fergie's praise for him in the Juve 2nd leg tie in 99: "It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt it was an honour to be associated with such a player." By that logic, no player is ever deserving of praise, because every footballer is just doing their job. What a fud. Edited December 12, 2013 by Joda Serk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Yeah id agree with that, Scholes could tackle, but he knew exactly when to stick the boot in, and he did it very succesfully. Its laughable to think that Ince was half the player Scholes was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Easy Wishes Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Scholes' most important trait (IMO), certainly with regards the United teams that he was so central to the success of, was his ability to control the tempo of a game. Yes, he was technically excellent and a good ball-playing footballer but his decision making and knowledge of where his team-mates took up their positions was intrinsic to United's long term success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Didn't Ince once say that tackling was better than sex? I've taken part in both (twice each) and sex is definitely better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 (edited) Yeah id agree with that, Scholes could tackle, but he knew exactly when to stick the boot in, and he did it very succesfully. Its laughable to think that Ince was half the player Scholes was. I wouldn't say half. Ince was excellent. I think Fergie's very harsh words towards him as he exited clouds alot of peoples judgements. Ince was one of the best at the time, but Scholes was one in a million. Edited December 12, 2013 by Joda Serk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Ince was no Jim Bett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkaline Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Ince was no Jim Bett. I've heard it said that Ince was the Black Jim Bett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Scholes could tackle but he could also be a petulant cunt who just loved hurting people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 He denies it, but he was a nasty bastard. The basis is a great midfielder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 I've bought a Manchester United lamp.It looks great in the middle of the table.LOL 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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