You wonder how a team like that got to the CL quarters.
Drawing Inter was probably the easiest draw possible. Having said that, it looks like Bayern got a bye in the quarters with Marseille completely imploding.
Well you never know, Marseille seems like a team that can bore you to a scoreless draw and then snatch a late winner out of nowhere like they did with Inter.
Drawing Inter was probably the easiest draw possible. Having said that, it looks like Bayern got a bye in the quarters with Marseille completely imploding.
Well, APOEL was worst than Inter and I'd say Lyon was too.
And let's be honest, Leverkusen wasn't impressive either (though you have to consider the opponent).
Well, APOEL was worst than Inter and I'd say Lyon was too.
And let's be honest, Leverkusen wasn't impressive either (though you have to consider the opponent).
I don't know about that, I think you're downplaying Inter's terrible form a bit, they're a mess. While Lyon were disappointing you really have to give credit to APOEL - they weren't exactly great but still did the job. As for Bayer - it's unfair to compare them to others as they had no chance, though how they went out was disgraceful.
Inter was a great draw for Marseille, even though they were extremely lucky to score at San Siro. But I guess we can agree that they're no threat for Bayern, are they?
EDIT: @Savi - yeah, it's a Cup tie. BTW looks like Evilo's dead on with his prediction.
I don't know about that, I think you're downplaying Inter's terrible form a bit, they're a mess. While Lyon were disappointing you really have to give credit to APOEL - they weren't exactly great but still did the job. As for Bayer - it's unfair to compare them to others as they had no chance, though how they went out was disgraceful.
Inter was a great draw for Marseille, even though they were extremely lucky to score at San Siro. But I guess we can agree that they're no threat for Bayern, are they?
EDIT: @Savi - yeah, it's a Cup tie. BTW looks like Evilo's dead on with his prediction.
No, I'm just saying on the game they played in the knockout stage. Lyon, APOEL, Bayer, Inter and OM were all bad in their games.
And yes I fully expect Bayern to qualify, but with OM you never know in which form they'll be in a couple of weeks. The team does have great talent (Rémy, Ayew, Valbuena, Amalfitano up front, that's pretty decent).
Yeah Savi, it's a Cup tie, and since Quevilly and G. Ajaccio have qualified, only Rennes is a threat for the Cup. So now Lyon and Rennes have a great patch to the Cup.
And yep, I predicted 4 goals, but frankly, I couldn't say which team would win 3-1.
And yes I fully expect Bayern to qualify, but with OM you never know in which form they'll be in a couple of weeks. The team does have great talent (Rémy, Ayew, Valbuena, Amalfitano up front, that's pretty decent).
But do you reckon they can recover under Deschamps? They're obviously better than what they are now, some talented players too as you said, but they've been bad for a loong time, too long for a quality team. I haven't seen them enough to make a judgement if DD is to blame, but they do look uninspired. Do you feel he's to blame or is it the players?
Both.
DD is stubborn and has put Gignac in the stands, while whining that he doesn't have any striker besides the quality Rémy and the not-so-quality Brandao.
When he finally puts Gignac on the field, he basically blames the Quevilly loss on him.
He put Valbuena in the stands for 2 months and started Lucho Gonzalez : OM sucked. Finally out of desparation he put Valbuena and suddenly OM was a roll and won in Dortmund (on a goal by Valbuena mind you).
So yes, DD is to blame. But the players have been so inconsistent. Ayew has played injured for a while (dislocated shoulder) so has ups and down. Rémy has been out for a while but before that he was the only offensive force they had that was producing (with Valbuena).
Amalfitano has been horrible since his french NT cap, but that's not surprising, the guy thinks the world of himself.
Defensively, they're pretty good. That's the DD mark anyway. But they lack creativity badly.
Yeah, it's baffling how he treats Gignac, but to be fair to Deschamps, Gignac has been a shade of what he was in Toulouse, he never got his scoring mojo going in Marseille, even though at the time I thought he was going to be a perfect signing for OM.
You made a good point about Valbuena, he's a real game changer, but he is a definition of inconsistency. I also feel that the whole Lucho leaving saga didn't help either, he was quality when he came to OM, though he was a disaster at the beginning of current season.
Still, can't believe they're so bad, almost Liverpool-esque.
Since March 3rd, Lille has played 5 games and scored 12 goals (4 wins, 1 loss).
Well read this :
Eden Hazard has 5 goals and 4 assists in that span.
He's playing at a whole other level than the rest of the league right now.
Edit :
And just so you know, about the 3 goals he isn't credited an assist or goal with :
1 against Lyon (1-2) : he was key in obtaining a corner that resulted in the goal.
1 against Valenciennes (4-0) : he sent his young LB (Digne) in a great position for the cross and the resulting goal (secondary assist in hockey terms).
1 against Evian : He sent the Evian defense into fire mode before Mongongu managed to clear the ball to Pedretti who fired it home.
So really, he was in fact linked to all 12 goals.
Edit 2 :
Wow, as I check even further, his form is even more impressive :
feb 26th - Rennes 1-1 Lille : assist from Hazard
feb 22nd - Sochaux 0-1 Lille : nothing !
feb 18th - Lorient 0-1 Lille : secondary assist
feb 12th - Lille 4-5 Bordeaux : one goal, one secondary assist
feb 8th - Valenciennes 2-1 Lille : secondary assist
jan 28th - Lille 3-0 St Etienne : one goal, one assist
Zouma will be top 20 I'd say. Big big potential. A bit similar to Sakho, Thuram upside.
Ongenda is IMO the next big thing in world soccer. But he has been injured a lot lately, which is not a good sign for a 16 year old. He won't be ranked on my list though since he hasn't played pro football yet.
Ruiz hasn't played for Lille yet, so I can't comment, I don't know him other than by name.
Decent list thought the fact they don't rank makes it much easier.
Profiles are nice, but the toughest part IMO is projecting and ranking in terms of future ability.
Anyway, for the most part, these are the top 50 prospects, except for a few guys who shined early but who didn't confirm later on. I'd say it's a year late in terms of prospects choice.
So I'd compare it to my last summer's list, adding a couple of guys that broke out this year.
Anyway, it's quite funny they're a bunch of 10 guys making that while I'm alone doing mine .
EDIT : oh and maybe I missed him but there's no way Lucas Digne is not part of my next top 50. Gianni Bruno too.
I'm sure it'll interest you to know that Jeremie Boga (97) is progressing very, very well and is apparently gonna be capped by France U16s later this year. Is already a regular feature for the U18s and has played reserves against a Fulham team including Kasami/Frei etc.
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are they playing in their own stadium? They seem to have a lot of fans for a 3rd div team..
