- Gouffran wouldn't make it with PSG. he is too young, too imature, and he can't endure the pressure. When a player comes to PSG he has to be strong and not a coward like Gouffran otherwise he'll go back to Caen within 6 month. Fred coming to training wearing a cowboy hat is simply impossible here. If he did that with PSG, his career with PSG would be over because of the pressure (fans, media). - Medias are reporting each Souza and Everton Santos moves like a failure. Honestly, what french media knows about brazilian championship ? Nothing. They only know players that we used to see in L1 like Aloisio who is playing for Sao Paulo with Fabio Santos. Valdo said about Souza that he is an experimented player and one of the most interesting player in Brazil in terms of technical skills. He is a big player according to Valdo still. He expects him to succes as well with PSG as he did with Sao Paulo. He is pretty sure that PSG fans will like Souza. He talked with Souza for quite a long while and Showza is ready to play with PSG. Sao Paulo's coach, Muricy Ramalho, is disappointed by Souza leaving because he considered him a key player in Sao Paulo. In my opinion, Valvo is most trustable that any french media which doesn't know brazilian football at all. - Everton Santos is a young player. He reached the semi-final of the paulista championship with Bragantino. According to his interview on PSGTV he was awarded "MVP" of this competition therefore Corinthians were interested into him. It seems like he isn't coming to be a starter with PSG. But we'll see... Souza, Valdo, Everton Santos.
I agree that Gouffran isn't that mature yet, though isn't he from the Parisian area? I'd think playing in front of the home crowd would help his attitude. Not to mention he'd be the best player on the team as well other than Landreau.
Wow those are some strong sentiments on Gouffran. What makes you think that he couldn't hack it at PSG? There was some speculation of him going to Arsenal in the summer, it would be troubling to hear that he can't handle a big team environment. Plus he's going to be 22 in May which isn't all that young by football standards. And what's with Fred and cowboy hats?! You have to explain there I am lost by that comment.
As I said, his hesitations to sign with PSG make me sure that he wouldn't hack it at PSG. When a player comes to PSG, he needs to be confident and mentaly strong enough to endure the pressure from fans and media. How many times did we heard that a player is turning crap after signing with PSG ? I think there is one point omissed by the same people talking that way. Signing with PSG is the best test to know if a player is overrated or not because these players will be judged after each games and if they are lacking of regularity they won't be considered as good players. I'll take for example Ziani at Sochaux or Kalou at Auxerres. They made some good performances which brought them the spotlights. As a matter of fact, they can be bright only during a few games and I think that's not enough to make it with PSG or OM. Gouffran is obviously imature. He tried to force Caen to let him leave for PSG some month ago. He spent his days calling Cayzac and telling him that he wants to come to PSG still. When he noticed that PSG is in a though situation he ran away. That's a cowardish attitude. Arsenal and PSG are different. Some players suit a club, a league and Gouffran wouldn't make an impact with PSG. Plus, if he signed with PSG he would have been playing on the right side and his best position is supposed to be forward. I expected PSG to sign a player whom best position is on the right wing and not another fancy with a forward playing on the right side (Kalou, Frau, Pancrate...). Anyway, Fred came once late on training wearing a cowboy hat . Houllier was very pleased by Fred's attitude. Happy holidays Fred
Not to be too argumentative, buddy, but Gouffran's been pretty good on the right on some occasions with Caen, as well as Espoirs (this would be based off magazine ratings in FF and L'Equipe where he's on the right). I mean it doesn't matter now since the mercato is over, but Rothen/Gouffran would have been quite formidable as a left/right wing combination.
What a beauty goal today by Pjanic for Metz! http://www.dailymotion.com/Iker_-_91/video/x48pjt_30-metz-vs-strasbourg_sport
Hey Bosanac, how's everything been going? Indeed, that Pjanic is very good. It's a shame that his teammates are either not that good or not developed enough yet at the moment.
Well good news is Pjanic got his Bosnian passport yesterday so looks like we will not lose him. All the bad people have been fired around the National Team and a former player, Meho Kodro, took over as manager. The players who were striking are back as well. Things are looking up. We have Edin Dzeko doing amazing in Wolfsburg too. (recently there was news Arsenal was interested) He has basically come in as a sub (he's new to the club and young) and produced as much as the striker who played twice the time. (was voted by one of the top German newspapers as the top player in the first half) Then we have very highly regarded Misimovic. Bajramovic is regarded well. Muslimovic too. Our attack/midfield is looking damn good. In regards to Pjanic, I really dont see him staying there too long. I think this summer he is probably gone..but they are gonna get a good price for him.
Toulouse are now in 18th place. I think thats one of the big stories this season because no one expected them to be in the relegation zone. Baup cant possibly last much longer. They didnt do a lot last summer and this winter in the transfer windows.
I don't think Toulouse will get relegated. Injuries, though, have really hit them hard but I think at the end of the day, there is enough quality for them to be able to stave off Ligue 2. Then again, I was thinking the same a season ago with Nantes.
I dont think they will go down either but I dont blame Baup I blame the president who didnt give him the means to recruit. Im sure he wanted to bring in more than what they ended up signing. Who did they sign last summer who's helped them a lot this year ? One of their big signings was some OM reject, thats how lousy they recruited. Who are their good players besides Elmander ?
I totally agree with that. Actually, Gignac I think has the ability to be a very good player in L1, but he's struggled with injury as well as form. With Congré, Mathieu and Jönsson, that's 3/4 of the opening day defenders out with injury. Also, Emana's missed out on the past few matches due to CAN and he would definitely be their best midfielder. I'm not saying they haven't underachieved, in spite of the injuries. They have, but I think they'll get better once everybody is back healthy, plus considering how they lost this weekend, they will be plenty motivated.
Mathieu, I think people thought he was international quality but I guess he's not good enough to make the les bleus roster. I thought Bergougnoux was gonna be good enough to make the national team also but he's not even close.
absolutely the same here. bryan played lots for france in lower categories, but he hit his ceiling. and there was a point when mathieu looked as big a prospect as toulalan, but nobody would say that now.
I was not really that high on either but Gignac was considered for the A' I think back when he was at Lorient. Considering the depth at forward, I don't think he'll be able to join Les Bleus either, though if he develops right, he could become a consistent 15-20 goalscorer in Ligue 1, which isn't bad at all. The thing about all these guys is that a player can impress at lower levels coming up, but the big question is always if he can do in higher leagues. Obviously, Ben Arfa, Nasri, Benzema, etc. have all been able to do that, but for each of them, there's many others who haven't justified the hype (Anthony Le Tallec is a good example).
Things have gotten so bad at St. Etienne that there will be major changes in store. http://news.maxifoot.com/info-073542_80212/football.php
Yeah I would say that they are in bad shape considering that they are supposed to be one of the "large" French clubs and they are in the wrong half of the table. I mean the are behind teams like Nancy, Nice, Le Mans and Valenncienes who dont have nearly the fanbase that they have. The only other large French club who's doing worse is Nantes and they are in Ligue 2. Even PSG are in better shape !
It's a good argument. My only counter is that despite the allure of playing for a team that dominated decades ago, Saint-Etienne is not really as big a city as the other big ones that you noted. I mean, they're about a third of the size of Lyon. Then again, did anyone expect them to challenge for a title or European spot this season? I don't deny they should be doing better considering the players they have, but it's not as if they are big underachievers yet.
You're right about them being good years ago and not being a huge city but they are still one of the top 8 teams in the country in terms of fans, attendance, etc. I didnt expect them to challenge for a title or Europe but I didnt expect those teams I mentioned earlier who are ahead of them to be doing it either. St.E. has way more fans than those teams do.
They were appalling vs Strasbourg. Non-existent. They offered us a penalty and two red cards. Saint-Etienne would have lost this game even if it were the only team on the pitch.
they need to realize there are more than two matches a year that count. honestly, they would rather finish 17th and win a derby than get a CL spot! so the best thing that could happen to ASSE would be for OL to be relegated. unfortunately for them, that's not likely to happen this century. getting rid of their presidents would be like 5000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean: a good start. but there's a huge green mafia behind them that needs to be pulled out at the roots. no matter what kind of structure they put in place, it won't change the fact that this club is run by people who are one step in front of the law.
The TFC-OM match drew the largest crowd in Toulouse history. http://news.maxifoot.com/info-074201_80225/football.php
Looks like those mid table jitters are starting to crop up. 2 consecutive matchdays with 4 0-0 draws (and we're hoping that neither of the sunday matches fizzles out). It hasn't been that bad since that dire 12th day Here's a list of all 0-0's since the league started. Code: 1 Str-Mar/ Psg-Soc/ Lil-Lor 2 Mar-Ren/ Len-PSG 4 StE-Bor/ Mtz-PSG/ Lens-Val 7 Val-Mtz/ Str-Lor 8 Soc-Str 10 Lor-Cae 11 Val-PSG 12 Mtz-Ncy/ Lor-Nic/ StE-Aux/ Mon-Cae 13 Nic-Soc/ Mar-Lor/ Tou-Mtz 14 PSG-Ncy 15 Str-Val/ Tou-Mon 17 Ncy-Val 18 Lyo-Nic/LeM-Lor/Str-Ncy 19 Tou-Ren 20 Cae-Ncy 22 Cae-Aux 23 Lil-PSG/ Aux-Ncy 24 PSG-LeM/ Mon-Lil 25 Lens-Nic 26 Tou-Mar/ Bor-Lil 27 Lor-Ncy/ Mon-Val/ Soc-Ren/ StE-Nic 28 Nic-LeM Cae-Lor/ Val-Lil/ Aux-Len Code: Aux Bor Cae LeM Len Lil Lor Lyo Mar Mtz -4- -2- -5- -3- -4- -5- -8- -1- -4- -4- Mon Ncy Nic PSG Ren Soc StE Str Tou Val -4- -7- -6- -7- -3- -4- -3- -5- -4- -7- Here's an interesting stat. 5 teams have been involved in an inordinate number of 0-0 games Lorient (8), Valenciennes, PSG, Nancy (7) and Nice (6) All of them with the exception of PSG are in the running for Europe... (and actually PSG are only 3 wins off that Nice 6th spot...)
I dont understand why there's so many 0-0 draws. Not enough good players maybe. I don't know what can be done to help improve things. Cutting 2 teams and going back to 18 certainly couldn't hurt.