Catch-all game thread for the rest of the season. We host Sampdoria in Matchday 22 @ Stadio San Paolo today.
its hard to get myself to care about serie a. we just need top 4. where are the hamsik haters? he is our best regista
we are really not good at getting out of pressure... no one to pass to upfront with both the 4 man defence and 4 man midfield playing almost on the same line
With Hamsik and Allan in we have a completely different team. Allan is as pivotal in defense as Hamsik is for offensive movements, but Hamsik is very important for defense as well. His movement without the ball is good, but his unselfishness and awareness is special. He knows how important it is to keep possession in order to win, and he is by far our least selfish player. I could see it again today and I don't understand those who just don't care about a faithful player like that, where the ******** have their hearts been buried? He has been very important to our play for years and he has never left us to be benched in Paris or whatever. I just don't get it, you can hate him all you want but you simply cannot deny that out of the entire line-up he's the ************************ who deserves to be there the most...
Nobody hates Hamsik. He played well today. My concern is he doesn't played well every game and tends to dissapear when come to crunch games. Also with age catching up, his stamina is not what it used to be, which is why even last Season Sarri and now Carlos has to rotate and rest him more and more often. On one hand, we can keep him and use him sparingly but eventually he will be like Totti, retired in Napoli but frankly not contributing much in his later years, unable to keep up and becoming a bench player. Or while he still got some fuel left in the tank, can opt to play in other overseas league which are less demanding to extend his career where he can also be paid much better after we bid him a fond farewell, not unlike Iniesta and Xavi in Barcelona. I dont see what's wrong with that and I think that's better for both Hamsik and Napoli.
The gap in quality in the Serie A has gotten too far. This was as if we were playing a relegation candidate. Samp never threatened.
Nobody plays well in every game and Napoli is mostly the weaker team against the big ones, so basically you want him to be a God? The guy played with Yebda by his side, for God's sake. And the 'big game' argument is weak anyway, as I do not really believe in that thing on which it is based, if it does indeed have any foundation at all. And it must be clear even to you that you are exaggerating. Didn't he just show yesterday that Napoli with him is still the best Napoli? Is he 41 years old and has he been hiding it for all this time without me noticing, or what exactly is the problem here? And I really love the Totti argument. I totally remember AS beating the shit out of everyone as soon as Totti stopped playing, not even Real Madrid would win the CHL 3 times under such circumstances. And the funniest thing is that Totti never had to come from the bench to save the day, because AS were so powerful without him that they basically had no competition at all. Juventus actually didn't win the Scudetto, right? When Totti left, Roma won. Jesus Christ those arguments are making me thirsty, I should drink myself to death...
So are you dead already? LOL... I think you are watching the matches thru tinted glasses to arrive at this conclusion you mentioned above because they are lots of matches last season where he was still a regular starter ( but sub off because he run out of steam ) that he just disappear and look either lethargic and cannot influence the game. I am not exaggerating. Those are particularly glaring towards the final of last season crunch games against Florentina ( we loss 3-0 away ). Much criticism were then levied at him even in this forum but I will just assumed he simply isn't what he was used to and I don't blame him. Totti argument fits because if we keep Hamsik until his final days, this is going to be the exact script that will play out. Actually, it's your Totti arguments that make no sense. Because if you know what happened during his last few seasons at Roma, he conflicted with Spalleti, then coach of Roma because he couldn't get any playing time and basically, it's the right decision because he basically couldn't even run by then having approached 40. The truth is age catches up with all footballers, and 99.99% of footballers are not freaks of nature like Cristano Ronaldo. Some footballers just regressed faster than others. Would you not prefer Hamsik to leave on a high note while he is still widely loved, cherished and respected by the fans or you want him to overstay his welcome when finally his legs gave way and fans blamed him for not being his former self? I really don't see why you get so upset by this. Fortunately Hamsik knows that himself which is why he is asking to leave. It's not the club forcing him out. That much is clear. I think we can leave all these debate aside for another day. Let's take our time to honor and gave thanks to a player that has given so much to the club.
Next game against Fiorentina against an inform Muriel, Chiesa and Simeone, I like all 3 players, Fiorentina has a nice little team right now, this match is huge for them and because we have the EL coming up and an 11 point advantage over Inter I can see us not performing extremely well.
Doesn't our position in the league also determine which pot we will be lumped together to draw in the UCL groups? If we have a low league position, even if we qualified for UCL, we might get drawn into a very competitive group. At least that's my understanding. Feel free to correct.
it does... but yet again it doesnt mean too much since we can still get placed in a group of death... again
It can't happen again, it just can't! If it does, I will start doubting the nature of the whole process... You have already accused me of bias, which is cruel, arrogant, and too damn confident. I have no reason to defend Hamsik. I despise all people equally including myself, that is, I do not discriminate... I think that it was pretty clear that Hamsik can produce a huge impact on the team in the last league game. We had trouble even to get a good look at our opponents' goal in the previous matches, yet in the last game we were much faster and straightforward, which in my opinion produced a good number of goals and opportunities. You may think the opinion is inspired by bias, and to that I can only tell you that it isn't, but of course it can be wrong. So far, I haven't been convinced by your arguments. Totti was much older than Hamsik during the times mentioned, so that alone makes the whole comparison wholly irrelevant. However, my argument was that there is no way to determine whether he deserved to be benched or not. If you think that coaches are omniscient, than that's where it ends. But I have seen so many coaches make so many primitive errors that I refuse to accept such a wild notion. I remember Totti coming on in the last minutes and deciding the game for the benefit of the great Luciano, saving his bald ass. And I am not at all upset, Hamsik's image or whatever do not concern me in the least. I just believe that it is stupid that he wants to leave while he still has something to offer to the club. I have not yet been convinced by our midfield without him, and our leaders obviously believe that it is good even if he leaves, which I do not agree with. Therefore, I cannot agree with the statements, especially those of DL, though the journalists ornamented them terribly, as always. DL supposedly hinted at the fact that Hamsik had realized that Fabian was better. This is utter bull, as Hamsik wanted to leave for China immediately after the disappointment produced by the results of last season. We have an interview in Slovak newspapers that proves without a doubt that Hamsik had those thoughts long before Fabian, and that he did not think that he was getting weaker than the rest of the squad. Maybe DL just wants to make sure that people will not talk about his share in Hamsik's disappointments, but rather about Hamsik's imaginary failures. It is indeed cruel, but it's a wicked world we live in. He simply wants to earn a lot of money before he retires, and he no longer believes in any success with Napoli after last season, and presumably also after the numerous failures that we have already attained this season, though the CHL story was more of a bad luck story than anything else... And to finish this up, why don't we wish for Mertens' departure? His form is often as lame as Kardashian, and he is as old as Hamsik. Yet it is the legend that you feel must leave... And I am the biased one, the man who just wants to restore his faith in humanity by searching for some sense in this world, yet continuously finds very little of it...
Definitely, but I agree that Hamsik didn't deserve to be benched. After Jorginho left only Hamsik can do his job imo. But I think a picture is starting to appear, a picture where the coach does not see a type like Hamsik in his plans going forward. Hamsik could've lasted 4 more years playing the regista in a Sarriball system, with that I'm certain, but I can't evaluate carlo's tactics enough to deduct a relevance for Hamsik in the starting Xl
Why? I happen to have a variety of different opinions, but I do not think it means I'm crazy. I mean, I am, but not because of this. But I would indeed care to hear which points of the post make me batshit crazy, as currently I am trapped within my assessment month. PS: I still cannot determine how it is possible that you have found out about my addiction to batshit, I have always thought that I'm the only one that knows. You have successfully scared the shit out of this crazy little boy. There has not yet been enough data to determine much, at least in my opinion. So far, I am flabbergasted concerning many things, as he seems to be determined to use the whole team, though he apparently preferred the Hamsik, Fabian, Ruiz midfield, or at least that's the one he trusted the most in the crucial games. I do not see the picture yet, and I really think Hamsik has just lost the drive and now wishes to make a big buck, but hey, if the picture becomes reality I'll be the first one to bow to you, sir. I guess that's why they say you need to see at least a year's worth of work before you can begin an evaluation of a coach's job. Here it is done after the first 5 minutes of the first game, conclusions are then magically certain and everything becomes crystal clear.
That is a very good explanation. Well, blame the universe, not me, brother man. It's not like I wanted to be like this, I was just born exceptionally weird. Too weird to live, too rare to die.