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Attackers Are Overrated
I've sent something like this in before, so I doubt it will get printed, but Gavin Flannigan's letter provokes me to try again.
I am sick and tired of the best attacking players being called the 'best players in world football'. Put a keeper and 10 very good attacking, but rubbish defending players (Ronaldo, Kaka, Maradona, Pele-style) against a keeper and 10 less good attacking, but better all round players (Viera, Roy Keane, Xavi, Alonso-style), and there's no question who would win everytime. Also, if you go by form and results, Gerrard has a very strong argument to be considered one of the three best attackers in the world, so they wouldn't all be in Spain anyway.
Just because it isn't as flash to be an excellent tackler and passer of the ball as it is to be an excellent dribbler and user of unnecessary tricks, doesn't mean that they can't be one of the best players in the world. It's symbolic of the vacuous minds who watch football nowadays, I suppose, that they don't understand the game as a whole, but rather get excited over the eye-candy.
Greg (expects the last line to get angry replies) Bishop, Taunton
Lescott Is Overrated Too
Sam M's email this morning was the last straw for me. What is the obsession with Joleon Lescott being one of the best defenders in England? Seriously. Putting him in a list with Ferdinand and Vidic is crazy. I'm an Everton fan and even I can see this is patently untrue. For a start, Jagielka is a much, much better defender. Maybe Terry is not so ridiculous as I'm with those that think he's over-rated as well...
I've thought a lot about it and it must just be the fact that he chips in with 5 to 10 goals each season that gets him noticed. The problem is, he's a defender so it's not what he's paid to do, it's just a bonus. As a defender, he does a good but not great job. His concentration is average at best and he is caught out far too often (Drogba's goal in the Cup final for a start). Also, he is poor on the ball. Just watch the amount of times he'll stand there at centre back and hoof the ball forward. Yes, he did a decent job at left back but only because he would kick the ball past defenders and use his strength to get past them. In terms of actual ability, I would have Baines there over him everytime.
Don't get me wrong, much as it doesn't sound like it, I love Lescott and have no desire to see him leave. BUT, if City offer anything like £20 mill I would bite their hand off. Even that money would be vastly excessive but we would need a replacement and it is the mega-rich City... Thinking about it, £15 mill plus Micah Richards would be just fine.
Sam M. A different one, obviously
Who's The Best Centre-Half?
Rio Ferdinand, by some distance, and I can't stand him or United. At the top level, in the Champions League or Internationally, he is far superior to Terry or Vidic, one of our few genuinely world class players. And the concentration problem he supposedly has are ancient history, brought up by a lazy media and ignorant fans who just trot out convenient stereotypes.
That isn't to say Terry and Vidic aren't great players, they clearly are. The drivel about Terry being crap really shows people who actually understand football to those who don't. Yes he is slow to turn, but the fact he has been and is a great centre half in spite of this is to his credit, not a stick to beat him with.
Richard (who the ***is John Lescott) Strzelecki
...Seems I only send mail when Sam M ask a question I would pick Nemanja Vidic because he can not only defend well but also scores crucial goals yeah I know he is not the fastest defender in the world but hey you don't play against Torres and Eto'o every week.
Olaolu "still waiting for a new number 7" Hassan (Nigeria)
...Ferdinand by a mile.
Terry and Vidic are similar types, Vidic being much better player (Terry is over-rated and getting slower in my opinion)
A myth was perpetuated by Man U fans last season that Vidic was our real rock at the heart of the defence, rubbish. Ferdinand is the best defender in England by a mile and possibly in Europe.
Lescott does not deserve be mentioned in the same sentence as the other three, half decent defender but compared to the other three ABSOLUTE PONY
That is all (for now)
A
...Good Morning F365 Editors,
Sam M. poses an excellent question worthy of a thoughtful response. After deliberation, I choose John Lescott. I assume he is Joleon's older brother who tough the Evertonian all he knows but never made it himself because of nasty nose candy and foot fetish.
If you are going to have your dreams dashed, coke and chick feet are good enough reasons as any I can think of, so hats off to Johnny Boy. I play on a Men's league team here in Washington, DC and would welcome the Good John L. to our side assuming he can lay off his habits for 90 minutes at a time.
Brandon "Second Chance" Russell
Why Brown Is A Laughing Stock
Seems Jenny, York is a tad peeved at your "lazy, cheap and snidey" article on Proud Phil Brown. To explain why Mr. Brown is the laughing stock du jour, let's revisit those quotes again, shall we?
"We had hoped to meet with Michael before we went to Italy but when you're up against Manchester United, you know you're on the back-foot," he told Hull Sport.
"To be in a two-horse race with Manchester United for an England international gives me great pride."
"He was ready to consider coming to Hull City but he has joined the champions of England. You can't argue with that but for me it was positive to see us in the running."
So basically:
a) Hull (chairman and manager) expressed an interest in a player through the press.
b) They "hoped to meet" the player
c) They didn't meet the player
d) At best the player was "ready to consider coming to Hull": so he hadn't considered it yet, but might have.
e) The player signed for Man Utd
f) Phil Brown gets "pride" out of this sequence of events. Why?
Dave Lillis, Dublin
...Get a sense of humour and perspective please...
I loved the tigers for sticking it to the league by beating "bigger" teams and playing some great football along the way. It was when they beat Arsenal that I truly admired them and officially adopted them as my second team.
It's funny that in this time you could hear barely a muffle from the headset wearing, fanta tanned hero (this is what I thought of him at the time) that was Phil Brown. It was only when it started unraveling that we saw Phil's true colours. It was his blatant and shameful talk about Wenger shaking his hand and Cesc spitting that I lost all respect for the man and by extension his team. It became quite obvious that we could no longer ignore Hull because of the git leading them. He damned himself to be forever ridiculed by everyone and especially by 365 and will be butt of satire for sometime to come.
Jenny, in the immortal words of Richard Pryor: "...have a coke and a smile and shut the f**k up"
Thank you,
Skye (How about another Ballack diary entry gents?)
...In response to Jenny from Yorke: yes. Phillipa Brown has definitely helped Hull make a name for themselves. I believe the term is classed as 'C**s'
Yours hilariously
Stewie Griffin
Proud
As a Spurs fan can I just say I was proud that we were in the race to sign Joe Cole. I'm sure he seriously thought about taking a cut in wages and giving up Champions League football to come and play for us.
I feel as proud as I did when we almost signed Rivaldo.
Carl (Phil Brown is a tit) Gavaghan, THFC Whitby
...I'm sure Phil Brown will be very proud that Hull v Chelsea is the first live game of the season.
To be seen on TV with a club of Chelsea's stature shows the progress they've made.
Simon (Proud of his Football Manager Hall of Fame Ranking, to even be in the same list as Alex Ferguson is an honour.) Tester
Arf
The two most interesting threads in this morning's mailbox were about Obertan and Phil Brown.
This got me thinking: if ManUre loan their new signing to Hull, would the Obertan Man be proud to play for the Ubertan Man?
Sorry, it's a slow day at work.
Adam (would like to read Craig Denham's idea for a Jens Lehmann based sitcom) Graham
Harsh
Much talent, great potential, mentally weak, let go by his french manager, played for mid table side, sold to big 4 club.
Is Obertan the French Jermaine Pennant?
Gary '6.9 on the Dichter Scale' Orford
Obertan: Bellion
Just had a look at Youtube videos of Obertan and I know that you cannot really judge a player by their "best of" videos but the videos of him show absolutely nothing apart from a turn of pace. He really is David Bellion, look at the quotes below from himself and his 2 previous managers.
Obertan himself:
"He [Ferguson] has put me at ease. He said to me that he knows my pros and cons. It's my potential that interests him. He has confidence in me. It is flattering and surprising.
Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc:
"I was surprised too, but it is an unexpected chance for him to play with one of the best clubs in the world,"
Lorient manager Christian Gourcuff
"He certainly has some talent, but also some gaps (in his game),"
Greg (glowing recommendations) Doherty
He Might Be Quite Good
MC, bru,
This one goes out to Bob Taylor, London,
I've done a little bit of digging so bear with me.
The previous winners of the 'Toulon: Player of the Tournament' include:
Riquelme,
Henry,
Rui Costa,
David Ginola,
and some miserable Southampton youth prospect called Alan Shearer.
The award for this year went to some kid called Obertan. I'm not saying he is nailed on to emulate these previous winners, but at todays prices £3mill is not bad at all for a bit of potential. While being coached by Sir Alex and training with Ryan Giggs he may indeed learn a thing or to about wing play.
The phrase 'no brainer' springs to mind.
Hugh, Cork
Fergie A Better Judge Than Blanc
Did Bob from London ever stop to think that, seeing as Sir Alex Ferguson has won everything in the game multiple times over the last 30 years, and Lauren Blanc is a rookie French coach who's been in the game for about 30 seconds in comparison, that SAF might actually be the better judge of player?
"Selling club questions departing player". - Wow, how surprising that is. Christ, have people got no perspective? Do they think before they start typing, or even hit the "send" button?
Craig Denham - I agree. Cristiano Ronaldo is a super player, easily the best in the world at present, but quite frankly, in my opinion, we'll never see another player like Ronaldo the Brazilian for some time I suspect. He was easily the best striker I've ever seen and that includes Batistuta, Shearer, Vieri, Van Nistelrooy, Romario and Lee Trundle. El Phenomenon was the best player we'll ever see in my opinion.
Harry - Manchester.
Who Do Toon Fans Want?
I have a question for Newcastle fans - who do they actually want as their next manager?
Are the majority still deluded into thinking it should be a "messiah" who, whilst being a club legend, is in fact useless at football management (i.e. Keegan, Shearer).
Or are most of them sensible enough to see that an out of work gaffer who has experience of the Championship and would have a decent chance of getting them promoted (i.e. Coppell, Curbishley, Jewell) would be the correct choice?
Just wondering.
Duncan MacGregor
Barca Not So Shiny
Whilst agreeing with Laporta's general criticism of Madrid, I can't be the only one getting fed up with Barca portraying themselves as some kine of footballing paradise, a model we should all copy blah blah blah.
They are a great team who play fabulous football, but in case Laporta hadn't noticed, their best player is an Argentinian they took from his homeland at the age of 14. Their best striker (at the moment) is a Cameroonian. And for info, the last three Barca winners of the Ballon D'or have been Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Stoichkov....
Nick Smith
This Is What We Need The French Letter Back For
Well, Luke O'brien sure showed how ignorant he is. First off, Lorient is a talented team and one of the few over that last few years to have been playing "beautiful football" in Ligue 1. Their coach, Christian Gourcuff (Yohann's father) is lauded in France for that, and they have regularly beaten the big boys in Ligue 1.
But even then, if Lorient was crap, wouldn't Obertan have walked into the starting line up. Does Luke know that before Obertan was loaned lorient were fighting for a European place; Whilst at the end of the season they finished 10th.
And lastly, is he saying that any player who plays for a shitty team has no chance of playing well, because that defeats the purpose of the sport.
Guillaume 'PSG champions of ligue 1 2010' paris
Well Done Kelvin Davis
I just want to send a quick note on the great side of football. Today Southampton Captain and last years player of the year Kelvin Davis signed a new 3 year contract with Southampton Football Club, after turning down West Ham United. At 32 years of age he could have had a final swansong and payday in the Premiership, but has shown outstanding loyalty and class by rejecting the money and the higher class of football to sign for a team starting on -10 points in League 1. The reason he has done this is due to the fact that he feels partly responsible for our relegation, and he feels a responsibility to our fans. Yes, you read that right, he takes responsibility. It's just brilliant to see in this day and age there are footballers like this, and that loyalty is not dead.
Kelvin, we thank and salute you sir. You won't regret it.
Simon (Markus Liebherr's Red and White Army) Goddard, SFC
Comedy
Dan (Celtic had the fanciest paper and envelope) Kelly, Belfast
I imagine clubs get these kind of job applications all the time - I like to imagine some poor bloke sitting in an office sorting mail and sighing "Another bloody comedian".
I suspect Hibs are the only one of those clubs that can't afford the postage to reply to them all!
Dave (also) Belfast
Badum, Tsssch
In response to Ben Greener and his comment about Newcastle United season tickets, I was walking down the road the other day and I saw a NUFC season ticket nailed to a post. I said to myself "I'll have that" . You can never have too many nails...
Chris Nixon, HK
Good Idea
Following Deco's recent interview in which he wants things to change at Chelsea if he were to stay, I just wondered what your readers think......should moaning footballers be made to say which of their team-mates they feel they ought to play ahead of...e.g Deco should be made to say which player in the Chelsea midfield he feels he should be in the team ahead of; Tevez should have been asked who he felt he should have played ahead of in the champions league final e.t.c.
Just a thought.
Michael Odunewu
A Baldy Eleven
Premiership Bald XI
GK. Fabien Barthez
RB. Jaap Stam
CB. Steve Bould
CB. Frank Leboeuf
LB. Alan Wright
CM. Steven Ireland
CM. Thomas Gravesen
CM. Lee Carsley
AM. Attilio Lombardo
CF. Temuri Ketsbaia
CF. Gianluca Vialli
Ready to take on the hairy eleven, I think the three forwards will confuse any defence!
Captain is 'Steve Bould' and Manager Jim Smith
Dave (Up the Blades) Hughes
