Can't really blame a single player for yesterday. The entire team capitulated at the same time.
Marco Verratti
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Can't really blame a single player for yesterday. The entire team capitulated at the same time.
Verratti passed that through-pass for di maria to go through on goal. Didnt study his match but that was pretty nice
My take on that type of players is they aren't game changers.
I'm fact you could probably count on one hand the amount of deep lying playmakers that regularly decide games.
Pirlo has the ability to do it as did Scholes. Xavi plays higher up the pitch than Verrati who is more comparable to Busquets in my opinion.
They need runners and workers around them in order to thrive and yesterday he had neither so couldn't perform.
What I'm trying to say is they are luxury players really. They are the players you only see at top teams who dominate games usually as they are good with the ball and dictating play but put them in a team that has hardly and possession and are chasing the ball all game and they will struggle to have much of an impact.
I'm fact you could probably count on one hand the amount of deep lying playmakers that regularly decide games.
Pirlo has the ability to do it as did Scholes. Xavi plays higher up the pitch than Verrati who is more comparable to Busquets in my opinion.
They need runners and workers around them in order to thrive and yesterday he had neither so couldn't perform.
What I'm trying to say is they are luxury players really. They are the players you only see at top teams who dominate games usually as they are good with the ball and dictating play but put them in a team that has hardly and possession and are chasing the ball all game and they will struggle to have much of an impact.
No they are not luxury players, football is a team sport. You win competitions and dominate eras with a team not with game changers and Verrati, Busquets, Modric or Xabi Alonso are instrumental for teams.
Just so you know....in 2011 we played Barca in the final and we didn't even touch the ball once despite Rooney scoring a belter from nowhere. That wasn't even in the Nou Camp and was at a neutral ground. Giggs, Rooney, Carrick, Scholes, Vidic etc were on the pitch that day. So does that mean they were all massively over-hyped players due to one poor game against a team that was flying at the time?
In 2009 in the final it was the same story. We barely touched the ball for the whole game and Barca won 2-0. Ronaldo, Giggs, Rooney, Carrick were playing that day and Tevez and Scholes came off the bench.
If Barca didn't get 2 very dubious penos last night then we'd probably all be on here complimenting PSG for a job well done in a pressure cooker away game atmosphere
I hear what you're saying but they're not luxury players by any means. They have the vision to see the passes that other players don't see or can't execute. They are the players that always play the ball to a player that gets the assist from the goal, they assist the assist if that makes sense. I guess they're called 'key passes' nowadays.
Anyway, these guys do that a lot so you hardly ever notice them having a direct impact on the game but they pull the strings from deep and that's something we certainly need.
As far as that kind of midfield player goes(so i'm not counting the Zidane, Didi, Rivera, etc) , Pirlo was a game-changer. I think Xavi was a game-changer. Verratti is not at that level yet and he might never be. Doesn't change the fact he's already one of the best midfielders in the world, and one of the top two or three midfield controllers in the world, at 23. He's incredibly talented and an incredible player.
Game-changer=drop him onto any team and he instantly makes it better
Game-changer=drop him onto any team and he instantly makes it better
@JPRouve I think you've misinterpreted what I meant by luxury players. I mean it as in a team fighting against relegation wouldn't have a place for a player like that as at that level it becomes about the basics of being sound defensively or sound on the attacking front.
They are luxuries in the sense of only the top teams can afford to play with one not that they aren't influential in how they play.
But even then you are wrong, Xabi Alonso and Verratti shone with teams that weren't really good in Real Sociedad and Pescara. They don't need great players around them to shine, they just need players playing their football, if you make runs they will find you and they will also defend well but they can't do it alone, no one can.
Players like Pirlo could single-handedly turn a team from relegation fodder to mid-table
Verratti is the best player of the French league and has always been a 'game-changer' with PSG.
This artist is a 'central midfielder', not a destroyer made to play for Hull City or Sunderland. Xavi is much more offensive and Pirlo at his peak was a DPL midfielder who played with aggressive players to protect him.
A team is 11 players on the pitch: Matuidi is generous but is poor in terms of technical skills, the WF (Lucas Moura and Draxler) were useless, the CF plays low on the pitch ---> thus, it's harder for him to enlighten the game.
I'm not sure Pirlo was considered as a 'game-changer' at the age of 23.
Good post.
This artist is a 'central midfielder', not a destroyer made to play for Hull City or Sunderland. Xavi is much more offensive and Pirlo at his peak was a DPL midfielder who played with aggressive players to protect him.
A team is 11 players on the pitch: Matuidi is generous but is poor in terms of technical skills, the WF (Lucas Moura and Draxler) were useless, the CF plays low on the pitch ---> thus, it's harder for him to enlighten the game.
I'm not sure Pirlo was considered as a 'game-changer' at the age of 23.
Good post.
And Xavi was on the pitch when Barca lost to Bayern 7-0 on aggregate. And Pirlo was there for the 4-0 loss in the Euro final and for Milan's collapses against Liverpool and Deportivo.
Euro final is the most overblown game ever. We only had enough in the tank for the first half and it was very even. Game ended when alba made it 2-0 in stoppage time. Second half wasn't a game of football
In general, inferior players are reliant on superior players to get them through the hardest parts of a game with their class and composure. It's obviously a synergy where the grunts do what they can and the class players in turn control or decide matches. There's no doubt the grunts failed yesterday, but Verratti is the one rated as £100m or whatever, not them. He shouldn't go down with the ship like that if he's the player some tout him to be.
There are games where if the aforementioned were not there, their teams would've collapsed. Games where the team dependency was such that those players carried others as and when they had to until they got their nerve back. Comically inept? PSG looked overwhelmed and unsettled. The lack of composure caused numerous problems for them, and for that, they needed a man on the ball who could steady the ship and calm the waters like all top-class metronomic players are praised for doing.
Verratti has shown he can do what he did not last night, before. As long as he retains the ball and plays it off, his bit is done in the chain, and if it falls apart at the feet of others, he's got absolutely no culpability for that. The issue for me is that him going down with the ship isn't even a footnote, but a great or good game and there will be countless posts of praise and covetous eyes. He is not scrutinised like other players considered world class are.
Not blaming him, just pointing out an inconsistency when it comes to Verratti's standing. Wasn't expecting Maradona incarnate out there yesterday, just a top class player looking a notch above as his team-mates capitulated.
We came out like a fireball in the first final and risked so much on getting the early goal. It was clearly a tactic and in the end it backfired because we didn't get what we set out for. The game after that wasn't as intended because we were set up to play on the break (via the hoped for early goal that didn't materialise) we already knew we couldn't match them in an open game of football, so the outcome, since we didn't get the early goal, was pretty much a given. We didn't capitulate, though, and were simply beaten by a better team, which happens.
PSG's loss yesterday isn't really the issue (I thought they would lose before the game kicked off) rather it's about how individuals in the team played. Verratti isn't ever going to be some game-winning super-midfielder and the only question I would ask is whether he held his own and did what he could last night in the way one expects a player of his calibre to do. You can easily be on the losing side and still walk off the pitch having had a good game.
Yes, he had a bad game. It happens. Incidentally, a PSG fan might tell us how many bad games he's had for PSG? Particularly big games
Like PSG pretty much this entire season?
Yes, but those types of players are still reliant on others do at least get themselves open after they create some space. PSG players never did yesterday
How many bad games has he had? And how many brilliant games in big CL nights?
One bad game. One.
Scholes played well in milan when they tore you to shreds? Pirlo played well in La Coruna? Modric played well in the clasico?
It's one game
I think you should look up my posts about Verratti. Even as I bumped this I said I rate him highly. I just find it interesting how he is not scrutinised like other players he's rated against.
What a fraud of a player. So happy we're not in for him. Mourinho got that right.
Please give me your rating of your preferred midfielders.
Anyway, I respect your point of view.
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I'd love him at Barcelona, in a heartbeat
I agree with what you're saying but so many times Ibrahimovich went missing in big games and everyone questioned whether he really was an elite striker as he had never really proved himself in a league that would have been considered among the toughest in Europe. All those doubts have evaporated pretty much since he moved to the PL at 35 years of age proving he can do it consistently at any level. It might be the same with Verratti. He may need to move to a team like Barca to be fully appreciated.
@Fortitude Verratti had a poor game playing with tactics that doesn't suit him but out PSG's 5 midfielders he still managed to be the best one as Lucas lacked a brain, Draxler was nonexistent, Matuidi was a donkey, and Rabiot donated the ball back to Barca most of the time. He's probably not as scrutinized as much as someone like Pogba because he doesn't play for us and we're all focused on a record-breaking match.
Lol, seriously? Based on one game?
He's a poor WUM.
Some people seem to get some sort of kick from trawling websites trolling. Different stokes for different folks I guess.
This is a stupid post from all angles.
In 2014 he was bullied by David Luiz in the second leg against Chelsea too.
People saying they would swap Pogba for him are mad in the head. Pogba is a much better player and more suited to the PL.
Imagine if Pogba performed like that against Barca?
Imagine if Pogba performed like that against Barca?
Yeah, imagine if Verratti perfomed like that against Rostov
Wednesday he was worst than that.
What a fraud of an analysis. So happy were not in for your scouting opinion....
Not as bad as Pogba on Saturday. So whats your point? Pogba and Verratti are 2 different players anyway.
Verratti would actually be an excellent complement to Pogba as long as there is a DM behind them.
Poor old Pogba and lil Verratti are both useless without a proper adult like Kante playing behind them. Maybe the DM can also teach them about left vs right, how to put their coat on by themselves, and maybe a step by step guide in how to lose their virginity. Oh for the days of Keane and Scholes in centre mid. Two players who didn't need their hands held.
I don't think so.
Poor old Pogba and lil Verratti are both useless without a proper adult like Kante playing behind them. Maybe the DM can also teach them about left vs right, how to put their coat on by themselves, and maybe a step by step guide in how to lose their virginity. Oh for the days of Keane and Scholes in centre mid. Two players who didn't need their hands held.
As several before me have alluded to but would still like to point out Kante is not a DM , he usually plays with One i.e.
Matic and he is not as great as some of the posters might believe.
As for days of Keane and Scholes times were different back then with most teams in PL playing 2 in the centre a basic 442 so they usually weren't outnumbered in midfield and we did struggle in Europe playing as Underdogs till we changed our tactics.
If he leaves PSG, he'll head to Bayern or City... or Madrid
He loves Ancelotti and since Alonso leaves they're clearly looking for a replacement.
Can it be Marco ? Maybe, but it may be Kross also coming back to Bayern and then leaving the spot for Marco in Madrid who is loved deeply by Perez.
Then there's City and Pep's inconditionnal love for the midfielders
He loves Ancelotti and since Alonso leaves they're clearly looking for a replacement.
Can it be Marco ? Maybe, but it may be Kross also coming back to Bayern and then leaving the spot for Marco in Madrid who is loved deeply by Perez.
Then there's City and Pep's inconditionnal love for the midfielders
Easy when you are playing other teams who also play 2 man midfields.Poor old Pogba and lil Verratti are both useless without a proper adult like Kante playing behind them. Maybe the DM can also teach them about left vs right, how to put their coat on by themselves, and maybe a step by step guide in how to lose their virginity. Oh for the days of Keane and Scholes in centre mid. Two players who didn't need their hands held.
If he's a fraud, what is Pogba I wonder?
Ah I was wondering who it was,exquisite to say the least.
I'm not the best person to ask about rating modern midfielders as my criteria appears to be too harsh when it comes to the supposed successors for the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Schweinstieger, Vidal and the like. Time provides the grand reveal, so we'll see who emerges from the current crop.Please give me your rating of your preferred midfielders.
Anyway, I respect your point of view.
Kind of my point is that he is already massively appreciated to the point where he's seen as indisputably one of the best midfielders on the planet already and rated at an exorbitant price, even if the monied up PSG owners weren't such a prohibitive hurdle.
Yeah, you're probably right. Just as one of the supposed elite midfielders on the planet, he came out of the game pretty much unscathed.