Adam Lallana

[Captain]

The mancs are trying to offload Fellaini for £15M it seems.

 

Good luck with that.

[Major Tom]

I've no idea why they keep doing it. My point is that whether or not They're doing it, it doesn't mean it's right. Buying on factors like ability, potential, mentality, etc, is a better way to get quality players.

 

I am not judging whether it's right or not, I am merely asking the question why managers keep doing it. There must be a reason why managers continually overpay for English players.

 

I am not sure there is a definitive answer but was interested in people's views.

[JohnnyH]

The mancs are trying to offload Fellaini for £15M it seems.

 

Good luck with that.

It'd be funny if Everton bought him back for that. Basically a 12 month loan the Mancs paid £12m for only to make themselves worse and Everton better. The only flaw is Martinez isn't daft enough to buy such a limited player.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I am not judging whether it's right or not, I am merely asking the question why managers keep doing it. There must be a reason why managers continually overpay for English players.

 

I am not sure there is a definitive answer but was interested in people's views.

Hype would be the biggest factor. What examples are you talking about.

[Jairzinho]

I am not judging whether it's right or not, I am merely asking the question why managers keep doing it. There must be a reason why managers continually overpay for English players.

 

I am not sure there is a definitive answer but was interested in people's views.

 

Most managers are fucking shit.

[Major Tom]

Hype would be the biggest factor. What examples are you talking about.

 

Probably most English players who have ever been bought and sold! I maintain these things can only ever be judged in retrospect but I think at the time they moved and if you were going to compare them on ability alone, an equivalent foreign player would have been far cheaper.  

[Gym Beglin]

I bet Man City buy Fellaini.

 

If Pellegrini can find a use for Lescott and Demichellis, then he can find a role for Kompany's mate Fellaini.

[therevivalist]

The mancs are trying to offload Fellaini for £15M it seems.

 

Good luck with that.

I don't think Martinez will take him back for five. Was  good player under Moyes system but doubt will fit Martinez's way of pass and move.

[Pureblood]

Thank God foreign players like Veron and Shevchenko don't get hyped too much.  It's only the English what are a waste of money, innit.  

[Malarkey]

Just don't get the fixation with English players for top dollar. Same goes for Barclay, amusing as it would be to piss the bitters off he's still done nothing in the game to warrent the kind of cash he'd command.

 

These players are decent but they're never going to be world class or come anywhere close to it.

 

A few years ago we had players like Mascherano and Alonso in the midfield, that's the kind of quality we should be looking for again.

 

The thing with half decent players is you don't realise they're half decent until they're up against top class ones and then you just get your heart ripped out watching them chase shadows.

 

Reminds me of when Ince reckoned him and Redknapp were the best midfield partnership in Europe and they went up against Zidane and Petit against France, and it looked like Stevie Wonder trying to fight Zorro.

 

Was the same when we got beat by Chelsea in the FA Cup under Kenny, it was the most soul destroying thing I've ever seen because our midfield were trying, they were just inferior and it was taking them 10 passes to do what the Chelsea pair were doing in 2.

 

If we could pull it off, I bet some would be happy to see us spunk 50 million on Barclay and Lallana, possibly more, and they'd get absolutely torn apart by a Barca or a Juventus, absolutely ripped open.

 

Nationality and hard work will never trump genetics, say no to expensive British players.

 

That's a load of shite, to be fair.

 

In the way the grass roots set up is now and how direct players are taught to play, it's remarkable how players with the technique and ability of Barkley and Lallana have been able to thrive playing a continental style of football in an English league.

 

Genetics my arse. You sound like John Hammond of Jurassic Park.

[Stu Monty]

I am not judging whether it's right or not, I am merely asking the question why managers keep doing it. There must be a reason why managers continually overpay for English players.

 

I am not sure there is a definitive answer but was interested in people's views.

 

Because in the short-term game that is management it's probably safer to play the percentages and take a player you know won't struggle to settle in the country or in the league. 

[cmuller]

Neither barkley or lallana are near the standard of top level players. Do a few good things every match but people ignore how many times they give it away in good positions. Far too regularly

[Jairzinho]

Genetics clearly has a huge impact in football, and all other sports.

[Section_31]

Yeah, genetics isn't the defining quality when it comes to athletes rather than graft, that's why Socrates could smoke 40 ciggies a day and still be one of the greatest midfield players the world has ever seen, while Jay Spearing plays for Bolton. 

[Section_31]

Thank God foreign players like Veron and Shevchenko don't get hyped too much. It's only the English what are a waste of money, innit.

They were both world class players who'd proved their worth in other leagues and internationally who merely failed to settle in the English game, they weren't overhyped in the slightest mate.

[Major Tom]

Yeah, genetics isn't the defining quality when it comes to athletes rather than graft, that's why Socrates could smoke 40 ciggies a day and still be one of the greatest midfield players the world has ever seen, while Jay Spearing plays for Bolton.

 

You said genetics always trumps hard work. That is bollocks. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don't apply it, you're fucked.

 

Saying that; talent plus graft will always trump graft.

[Section_31]

You said genetics always trumps hard work. That is bollocks. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don't apply it, you're fucked.

 

Saying that; talent plus graft will always trump graft.

 

No I never.

 

I said 'nationality and hard work will never trump genetics'. 

 

Meaning that, just because you've got a couple of English lads who're good mates, great team spirit and all that good stuff, who're decently gifted and 'like to put a shift in', that won't count for shit when they're up against world class talent. Again, attitude and circumstances not withstanding - that's the bottom line, a better player is a better player when it comes to talent, I don't see how this is such a controversial statement, it's the underlying principle of why people pay £50 to watch Premiership players play football and don't just go and watch their mates in the park instead. 

 

Don't know why everyone gets so precious about this stuff, is it because they're English is or is this just how footy discussion goes these days on here? If your disagree you're 'talking shite' or 'talking bollocks'. Tedious. 

[Pureblood]

They were both world class players who'd proved their worth in other leagues and internationally who merely failed to settle in the English game, they weren't overhyped in the slightest mate.

 

So are you saying foreign players don't become overpriced?  I bet there are tonnes of examples.  What about El Hadj Diouf?  £10m worth of shit right there when that was a lot of money.  

 

And Veron wasn't World Class, he was a one trick pony stupid fucking pirate.  

[Section_31]

So are you saying foreign players don't become overpriced?  I bet there are tonnes of examples.  What about El Hadj Diouf?  £10m worth of shit right there when that was a lot of money.  

 

And Veron wasn't World Class, he was a one trick pony stupid fucking pirate.  

 

No, I said Veron and Shevchenko weren't overhyped. What's going on on here today? Some kind of forum rage? 

[Jairzinho]

Being English isn't the only reason for players moving for more than they're worth. Diouf's was, obviously, down to post tournament lunacy.

[sh#t waffle]

Pre-tournament lunacy wasn't it? Am sure it for announced just prior to the Senegal vs France match?

[Jairzinho]

Pre-tournament lunacy wasn't it? Am sure it for announced just prior to the Senegal vs France match?

 

Fuck, did we? Always assumed it was sorted afterwards.

 

Ok, then. Houllanacy.

[Major Tom]

Don't know why everyone gets so precious about this stuff, is it because they're English is or is this just how footy discussion goes these days on here? If your disagree you're 'talking shite' or 'talking bollocks'. Tedious.

 

People in all walks of life hate their opinions being challenged. And normally never react that well. Calling someone a 'cunt' is just really the Internet version. Lame, but folk will be folk.

 

Don't really understand your point re genetics, then. But I'm about as fussed over it as you clearly are. So we can let that go!

[J-V]

Pre-tournament lunacy wasn't it? Am sure it for announced just prior to the Senegal vs France match?

 

Yes, it was. 

[Section_31]

If hard graft trumps genetics, that must mean the literally thousands of youth players we've released over the decades were simply not working hard enough. The only person who'd agree with this is Iain Duncan Smith. 

 

Someone should tell all those white lads out there with dreams of winning the 100 metres at the Olympics too that all is not lost.