General Football Debates!

[-God of War-]

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Chelsea - Atletico Madrid

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0 - 3
First Half statistics:


Ball Possession
59% - 41%
Attempts on target
4 - 7
Saves
4 - 4
Goals
0 - 3
Attempts blocked
0 - 0
Attempts off target
1 - 4
Attempts against woodwork
0 - 2
Offsides
1 - 2
Yellow and Red Cards
1(Yellow) 0 (Red) - 0 (Yellow) 0 (Red)
Fouls Committed
5 - 9
Fouls Suffered
8 - 5​

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Chelsea - Atletico Madrid

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1 - 4
|Full Time|
Second Half statistics:

Ball Possession
58% - 42%
Attempts on target
12 - 18
Saves
6 - 8
Goals
Cahill 75 1 - 4 Falcao 6 , 19 , 45 Miranda 60
Attempts blocked
0 - 0
Attempts off target
5 - 6
Attempts against woodwork
0 - 2
Offsides
1 - 2
Yellow and Red Cards
1(Yellow) 0(Red) - 0(Yellow) 0(Red)
Fouls Committed
13 - 18
Fouls Suffered
16 - 13​

 

[ReLax -]

And Chelsea just got rocked. Before they try to imprint Barcelona blue print maybe they should take a lesson or two from Atheltico Madrid. I'm not going to deny that I was rooting for A. Madrid as most EPL fans think La Liga is a weak league, but I had a feeling they were going to beat Chelsea, so it wasn't a surprise to me.

The funny part is Chelsea tried chasing Falcao, but he stayed and out performed every Chelsea player.

 

[Escorpiius]

Happy Anniversary to the General Football Debates! thread.

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I know, it's weird to make a post on that but I just feel to do it. Today, September 13, 2012 marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this thread. Yeah, I know, time flies so fast but needless to say, I cherish every moment that I passed on this thread and will hopefully keep taking pleasure in it. When I started this thread a year-back, I never thought it'll provide me with so much pleasure and joy. This has somehow become my football diary and I've learnt/discussed/debated various news over the year in fantastic/innovative ways. Never did I thought that it'll be such a success either. You, guys helped make this thread magical for every true football fans and I can't thank you enough for this.

I also thought I'd make some recaps over things we talked on the Debates! thread over this past year. What we have done:

- Analysis of the forte/weaknesses of big teams like Barca, Madrid, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter, Milan, City ect...
- Coverage of many CL matches from the first match to the final, shall I say!
- Analysis of many many domestic league/cups matches, especially on the EPL and Liga!
- Analysis of many International matches too (and had a 'sister thread' on Euro 2012)
- Coverage of Europa League (momentarily cause United went into it *smh*) & the CAF & CWC's finals.
- Had various speculations and debates on possible and actual transfers.
- Did many pre-matches and post-matches coverages of El Classico's (even did a live coverage recently).
- Did the fight Ronaldo v/s Messi (more times I could count)
- Did various analysis over many coaches (SAF, Wenger, Pep, Mou ect...) & obviously large amounts of players (Rooney, Falcao, Tevez, Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, Pepe and so on...)
- Talked on different upcoming footballing talents like Neymar.
- Debated on refereeing and video technology.
- Debated on the importance of midfielders and strikers in modern football.
- Debated on the racism case involving Suarez/Evra.
- Debated on Madrid's rough style v/s Barca's diving issues.
- Debated on the merits of Ballon D'Or on several fronts.
- Debated on the salaries controversies on LFP!
- Debated on football tactics and style.
- Debated on the importance of entertainment and victory in modern football.
- Debated about possession football v/s packed defending football ideology clash.
- Debated on the Financial Fair Play policy.
- Debated on the creation of an All-Star football tournament.
- Many other things (which I'm too tired to list)....

Basically, we did loads of things in this past year and somehow, this thread almost became a football holy book. The amount of wallies and views in this thread has been amazing and that's really fabulous.

I'd like to obviously thank ReLax for reaching this accomplishment. Will never have been possible without you, bro! Also, big-time thanks to everyone who contributed wonderfully to help us reach this 1-year anniversary - Mikey, Totsuka, Rei, Gatsy, Pesh, Uchiha Seeker, Gilda, Hawker, -God of War- and so on...

Hopefully, we'll reach newer milestone and Insha-Allah, we'll keep this football love alive and keep springing up new topics, apart from the ones we already talked on.

​

 

[ReLax -]

Spoiler

Happy Anniversary to the General Football Debates! thread.

You must be registered for see images

I know, it's weird to make a post on that but I just feel to do it. Today, September 13, 2012 marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this thread. Yeah, I know, time flies so fast but needless to say, I cherish every moment that I passed on this thread and will hopefully keep taking pleasure in it. When I started this thread a year-back, I never thought it'll provide me with so much pleasure and joy. This has somehow become my football diary and I've learnt/discussed/debated various news over the year in fantastic/innovative ways. Never did I thought that it'll be such a success either. You, guys helped make this thread magical for every true football fans and I can't thank you enough for this.

I also thought I'd make some recaps over things we talked on the Debates! thread over this past year. What we have done:

- Analysis of the forte/weaknesses of big teams like Barca, Madrid, United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter, Milan, City ect...
- Coverage of many CL matches from the first match to the final, shall I say!
- Analysis of many many domestic league/cups matches, especially on the EPL and Liga!
- Analysis of many International matches too (and had a 'sister thread' on Euro 2012)
- Coverage of Europa League (momentarily cause United went into it *smh*) & the CAF & CWC's finals.
- Had various speculations and debates on possible and actual transfers.
- Did many pre-matches and post-matches coverages of El Classico's (even did a live coverage recently).
- Did the fight Ronaldo v/s Messi (more times I could count)
- Did various analysis over many coaches (SAF, Wenger, Pep, Mou ect...) & obviously large amounts of players (Rooney, Falcao, Tevez, Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, Pepe and so on...)
- Talked on different upcoming footballing talents like Neymar.
- Debated on refereeing and video technology.
- Debated on the importance of midfielders and strikers in modern football.
- Debated on the racism case involving Suarez/Evra.
- Debated on Madrid's rough style v/s Barca's diving issues.
- Debated on the merits of Ballon D'Or on several fronts.
- Debated on the salaries controversies on LFP!
- Debated on football tactics and style.
- Debated on the importance of entertainment and victory in modern football.
- Debated about possession football v/s packed defending football ideology clash.
- Debated on the Financial Fair Play policy.
- Debated on the creation of an All-Star football tournament.
- Many other things (which I'm too tired to list)....

Basically, we did loads of things in this past year and somehow, this thread almost became a football holy book. The amount of wallies and views in this thread has been amazing and that's really fabulous.

I'd like to obviously thank ReLax for reaching this accomplishment. Will never have been possible without you, bro! Also, big-time thanks to everyone who contributed wonderfully to help us reach this 1-year anniversary - Mikey, Totsuka, Rei, Gatsy, Pesh, Uchiha Seeker, Gilda, Hawker, -God of War- and so on...

Hopefully, we'll reach newer milestone and Insha-Allah, we'll keep this football love alive and keep springing up new topics, apart from the ones we already talked on.

​

It's been a year already lol and Your right about the holy book lol

Happy Anniversary to all

By the way Catalunya is fighting for dependence right now (Or at least want money, roughly about $6 billion), I wonder what will become of Barcelona/Madrid and the Spanish national team if it goes thru. Rosell is saying Catalunya will still compete in La Liga, so thats good. I don't see it really happening, as Spain isn't in the best of shape, or for that matter Europe to be doing this. Also the whole Spain/Catalan national side.

 

[Gilda]

@Relax -In my opinion this would only complicate things. So, not really looking forward. ~_~

It's Getafe-Barca tonight! We have to win even without Iniesta and Jordi Alba. At least Puyol is back.

 

[Luther]

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[ReLax -]

4-1 Barca! We missed Iniesta/Alba and had Messi/Villa come in on HT, Alves didn't play, still won 4-1

Madrid lost!! I'm still not sure why CR7 was "sad", but now he has a reason Spanish press is going to rip him apart now.

Puyol made his return after injury, and than he also made his exit back to injuryU_U He will be out for 4-6 weeks, so will have defence crisis againU_U enough for Madrid to make a comeback in Liga and he won't be their for the first Clasico in Liga on Oct. 7.

Man U won 4-0 VS Wigan
Arsenal thrashed Southampton 6-1
Chelsea drew 0-0
City drew 1-1
Liverpool drew 1-1

Milan lost

Bayern won 3-1
Dortmund won 3-0 VS Bayer

 

[-God of War-]

Awesome! Can't wait for the Champions League to start.

 

[-God of War-]

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*I will try to post all the BundesLiga updates and matches from now one.*

15 September

German Bundesliga 2012/13
Matches
Home Away
Full time »
Fürth 0-2 Schalke
Draxler 48, Holtby 88
Venue: Furth
15/09/2012
Full time »
Dortmund 3-0 Leverkusen
Hummels 29, Błaszczykowski 39, Lewandowski 78
Venue: Dortmund
15/09/2012
Full time »
Bayern 3-1 Mainz
Mandžukić 2, Schweinsteiger 13, Kroos 90+2
Szalai 59 (P)
Venue: München
15/09/2012
Full time »
Mönchengladbach 2-3 Nürnberg
L. de Jong 45, Xhaka 53
T. Klose 17, Simons 25, Kiyotake 55
Venue: Monchengladbach
15/09/2012
Full time »
Stuttgart 0-0 Düsseldorf
Venue: Stuttgart
15/09/2012
Full time »
Hannover 3-2 Bremen
Huszti 6, 90+3, Andreasen 10
Hunt 26 (P), De Bruyne 74
Venue: Hannover
14/09/2012
Full time »
Augsburg 0-0 Wolfsburg

Standings:
Nr/Club/Pts

1 FC Bayern München 9
2 Hannover 96 7
3 FC Schalke 04 7
4 Borussia Dortmund 7
5 1.FC Nürnberg 7
6 Eintracht Frankfurt 6
7 Fortuna Düsseldorf 5
8 Borussia M'gladbach 4
9 VfL Wolfsburg 4
10 SV Werder Bremen 3
11 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3
12 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3
13 SC Freiburg 1
14 1.FSV Mainz 05 1
15 FC Augsburg 1
16 VfB Stuttgart 1
17 Hamburger SV 0
18 1899 Hoffenheim 0

 

[Escorpiius]

Madrid v/s City - 3-2

A match where both teams seemed to be more cautious about not losing but went crazy in last 30 minutes. Mou heavily criticized Madrd's teamwork and this angered certain players (Ramos benched) and certain player's ego like CR7 seemed vexed. By such, Madrid's started sloppily against a defensive Man.City. Ronaldo tried 3 soloist shots - one saved by Hart, one deviated by Higuain and stopped by Hart and the last one was deviated by Khedira but off-target.

The play barely took some intensity and Madrid kept struggling to pierce City's defense. Their roses and far-shots weren't really a problem for Hart's caliber. Meanwhile, Nasri got injured and was replaced by Kolarov. Di Maria tried certain things in soloist too. A good cross after a dribble that Higuain couldn't rattle in and a shot that was barely off-target. City didn't really have any chances; though their counters looked to have potential danger especially when orchestrated by Toure or Silva.

Second half but Madrid kept struggling to pierce the defense and relied on far-shots again with Marcelo being the closest with 2 off-target shots. Madrid paid for the lax-ism and Toure pierced the whole field in a style; so unique to his. His power-play is fantastic and his assist to Dzeko was perfect who made it 1-0. Toure nearly doubled it but couldn't score and on the following action, Marcelo tried for a third and the ball was deviated by Garcia and went in. City didn't gave up though. Their possession started increasing as Madrid fatigued throughout the match. Kolarov scored on a free-kick to make it 2-1; free-kick where the Spaniards Casillas and Alonso did poor decisions.

Modric and Benzema entered to try bring the difference. Associated with Ozil, Modric and him quickly changed the pace and Madrid started working the defense finally. Their play became suddenly more fluid and Benzema, on a pure striker class goal, made it 2-2. Benzema and Ozil kept working brilliantly and thank to these 2, CR7 nearly scored the winning goal but Hart was there again.

But nonetheless, the Modric influence as deep-lying playmaker went crescendo and Ronaldo can always say, better late than never. With a power shot on the left flank, he gave the victory to Madrid as City crumbled 3-2.

Overall, there are still much questions. Madrid dominated the game but was really sloppy until Modric's entry. I know it seems risky but Modric-Ozil are meant to work together; not as competitors for the No.10 position. If Mourinho really wanna make something about the lack of teamwork he's complaining, combining these two looks like the best option. As for City, well, they showed discipline in the match and did a fantastic match tactically; where the efforts of Hart and Toure didn't pay off. It remains a starting loss; mainly after their consecutive draws to Liverpool and Stoke. They are playing Arsenal next, so it might start looking like a heavy hell bump for the Blue Moon side...

Otherwise, Paris ran rampant against a low-level Kiev team.
Arsenal and Porto coolly disposed of their opponents - 2-1 and 2-0 respectively.
Milan started on a 0-0; which confirms the level drop.
Dortmund won 1-0 on the finish against Ajax. Being in a Group of Death, those 3 points will be extremely precious.
The shocker came from Zenit's huge defeat against Malaga - 3-0. I was expecting Zenit to dominate this group.
Finally, Shalke won 2-1 against Olympiakos.

 

[-God of War-]

Champions League
MatchDay 1 (Group F)

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Bayern - Valencia

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1-0
|1st half Statistics|

BALL POSSESSION
66%-34%
TOTAL ATTEMPTS
9-0
Attempts on target
6-0
Saves
5-0
Goals
1-0
Attempts blocked
0-0
Attempts off target
3-0
Attempts against woodwork
0-0
Offsides
1-1
Yellow and red cards
0(Yellow)0(Red)-0(Yellow)0(Red)
Fouls committed
7-6
Fouls suffered
6-7

 

[-God of War-]

Champions League
MatchDay 1 (Group F)

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Bayern 2-1 Valencia

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Full Time Statistics

BALL POSSESSION
62%-38%
TOTAL ATTEMPTS
17-4
Attempts on target
10-2
Saves
9-2
Goals
2-1
Attempts blocked
0-0
Attempts off target
7-2
Attempts against woodwork
0-0
Offsides
2-3
DISCIPLINARY
Yellow and red cards
0(Yellow)0(Red)-4(Yellow)1(Red)
Fouls committed
17-20
Fouls suffered
20-17

Other Matches: Celtic 0-0 Benfica ; Chelsea 2-2 Juventus ; Barcelona 3-2 Spartak Moskva ; Man. United 1-0 Galatasaray ; Braga 0-2 CFR CLUJ ; LOSC 1-2 BATE ; Shakhtar Donesk 2-0 Nordsjaelland

 

[ReLax -]

Barcelona VS Moscow --- 3-2

It wasn't easy, but Barcelona bounced back to win at Camp Nou were they haven't been defeated in the last three years hold a 14-3-0 record in CL there. Messi scored two including the winner, he missed a PK howeverU_U Could have made it a hat trick. I'm worried with him missing these PK's recently, this is a good win because we will struggle in Russia for return leg. Pique also picked up an injuryU_U No Puyol, Pique, Alba, IniestaU_U won't be surprised if we drop points in La Liga and CL group stages. I wonder how long Pique will be out for? Without him and Puyol we will be weak as hell in the back and if he doesn't return till after the Clasico (Oct. 7th) it won't be a good sign.

Juventus VS Chelsea --- 2-2

The Old Lady (Juventus) with a heroic come back after Oscar took advantage of Juve bad defensive work in the two min time frame were they (Chelsea) scored the 2 goals. After that Juve seemed to be running the game despite not being on target. Its good for both side now as they can focus on the weaker teams in the group till the next showdown.

Man U VS Galatasaray --- 1-0

It seems United pretty much dominated that game, but just squeezed away. Nani missed a PK, which could have given them a 2-0 lead in the second half.

Bayern Munich VS Valencia --- 2-1

Bayern dominated this game inside out all tho the scoreline is upsetting to look at even for them, possession/shots were all in their favour. Schweinsteiger took the lead for them with Kroos adding the second. Mandzukic missed the PK. and Valdez lone scorer for Valencia.

Whats up with the missed PK, Messi, Nani, and Mandzukic.

Cluj VS Braga --- 2-0 - Surprising win for Cluj and disappointment for Braga.
BATE VS Lille --- 3-1 - Another disappointment for Lille
Shaktar VS Nordsjaelland --- 2-0
Celtic VS Benfica --- 0-0

 

[Escorpiius]

I wasn't expecting Barca to struggle that much but oh well, they still won. I didn't see it, so can't say much on it.

I watched bits of Juventus v/s Chelsea. Chelsea scored on glimpses of brilliance of Oscar. But Juventus has dominated the match and deserved the draw; if not the win. But we all know that, dominate against Chelsea doesn't mean much. You need to win to make it count.

United was superior that Galatasaray technically but we wasted way too many chances. Sure, Galatasaray touched 3 times the woodwork and De Gea saved us twice but still, it will have been a different match if United buried goals before. The quick goal by Carrick was a great start but I don't know how they were so less efficient afterwards. Valencia, Kagawa, Rafael, Nani were all very good in the acceleration and dribble, yet the finish wasn't there. It could have been a goal galore if they netted 2 or 3 goals in first half. The missed penalty started scaring me that we might concede a goal in injury time but luckily, that wasn't the case. I don't understand why Fergie is repeatedly choosing different players to shoot penalties though. If I count from the friendly match against Barcelona to tonight's match, it's 0 penalties scored out of 7 opportunities. That is definitely a very bad sign. We'll need to stop fluctuating players to shoot it (Rooney, RVP, Nani, Chiicharito). It's gonna increase their hesitation. Choose one fixed player to shoot it and let's keep it like that for most part of the season. That's the most reasonable option according to me.

Otherwise, Bayern won calmly and with confidence. Lille got off their game and got punished by Bate Borisov. Cluj winning over Braga was surprising and if Braga is truly the most serious contender to challenge United, then it's 3 costly points for Braga. We'll need to wait and see who really become the most apt to challenge United in this group. For now, Cluj is on top.

Shaktar VS Nordsjaelland --- 2-0 - Easy well claimed point for Shakhtar.
Celtic VS Benfica --- 0-0 - I'd say a good point claimed by Celtics and 2 points lost for Benfica.

 

[ReLax -]

I wasn't expecting Barca to struggle that much but oh well, they still won. I didn't see it, so can't say much on it.

I watched bits of Juventus v/s Chelsea. Chelsea scored on glimpses of brilliance of Oscar. But Juventus has dominated the match and deserved the draw; if not the win. But we all know that, dominate against Chelsea doesn't mean much. You need to win to make it count.

United was superior that Galatasaray technically but we wasted way too many chances. Sure, Galatasaray touched 3 times the woodwork and De Gea saved us twice but still, it will have been a different match if United buried goals before. The quick goal by Carrick was a great start but I don't know how they were so less efficient afterwards. Valencia, Kagawa, Rafael, Nani were all very good in the acceleration and dribble, yet the finish wasn't there. It could have been a goal galore if they netted 2 or 3 goals in first half. The missed penalty started scaring me that we might concede a goal in injury time but luckily, that wasn't the case. I don't understand why Fergie is repeatedly choosing different players to shoot penalties though. If I count from the friendly match against Barcelona to tonight's match, it's 0 penalties scored out of 7 opportunities. That is definitely a very bad sign. We'll need to stop fluctuating players to shoot it (Rooney, RVP, Nani, Chiicharito). It's gonna increase their hesitation. Choose one fixed player to shoot it and let's keep it like that for most part of the season. That's the most reasonable option according to me.

Otherwise, Bayern won calmly and with confidence. Lille got off their game and got punished by Bate Borisov. Cluj winning over Braga was surprising and if Braga is truly the most serious contender to challenge United, then it's 3 costly points for Braga. We'll need to wait and see who really become the most apt to challenge United in this group. For now, Cluj is on top.

Shaktar VS Nordsjaelland --- 2-0 - Easy well claimed point for Shakhtar.
Celtic VS Benfica --- 0-0 - I'd say a good point claimed by Celtics and 2 points lost for Benfica.

Well in Barcelona defense Pique leaving in the first 10 mins, without Puyol/Alba and Alves who returned from injury it did hurt us a lot and Alves OG didn't help much neither, Messi miss on the PK could have made it 4-2.

Juventus did play wonderful all tho Pirlo and Marchisio weren't on A game, despite Marchisio having a few chances. If they were on their A game, they could have taken the three points. I know this is a weak argument, but without their manager (Conte) on the touchline also effects a little bit (hey, sometimes manager can influence their teams)

Pique is out for 2-3 weeks with foot injury and Shakira has confirmed she is pregnant with Pqiue baby

 

[Totsuka No Tsurugi]

so the old lady is back ? let see how they roll in CL this season
by the way credit to Oscar especially for his 2nd goal that was awesome not even buffon can do anything about that

 

[-God of War-]

Follow the UEFA Europa League MatchDay 1 (live) at Uefa.com

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Important matches:
Young Boys 3-5 Liverpool (Full Time)
Udinese 1-1 Anzhi (Full Time)
H. TEL-AVIV 0-3 Atletico Madrid (Full Time)
AEL 0-0 MÖNCHENGLADBACH (Full Time)

Internazionale 0-0 Rubin (Live)
Totenham 0-0 Lazio (Live)
B. Leverkusen 0-0 Metalist
Lyon 0-0 SpartaPraha

Other matches:

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[IzunaUchiha2]

Uefa champions league was awesome sorry im late to post this dudes . Ronaldo ( my fave player) scored the winner of madrid ( My fave team hala madrid) . Oscar was simply awesome . Messi also scored 2 goals but missed a penalty . Seroiusly he is missing these days but its good since im a madrid fan . Barca struggled on the Cl match lol
xd

On the other side who do you think will win the la liga matches . I think barca wins against granda and real madrid win against that other real team .

It was awesome in premier league with Ashley Cole's goal . That was a good one . Suburb

Now if chrisitano ronaldo stays with Madrid i want them to win Champions league .

 

[IzunaUchiha2]

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Like that other guy I will be doing Real madrid and La liga news .

We missed the sunday match due to some "Sabotage" of the floodlights but on monday the game was nice . Karim Benzema was playing awesome for the first time and he scored a good goal

Ronaldo added to Karims goal by a penalty its good he doesent miss these days .

So overall the game was good . I will be looking forward for their next match . Hala Madrid!

 

[Escorpiius]

It's been some time since I spark a new question for a debate. So, I'm gonna ask one which just went through my mind?

I've noticed that most of the promising young talents of the footballing world are turning out to be either attacking midfielders or wingers. It's weird that when we mention most of the future great prospects, there are so many few super-calibre strikers - except Neymar and a bunch of teens. I know, we've debated on the importance of both strikers and midfielders and somewhat, it's disturbing how much the 'striker craze' has died out.

Some of the future promising midfielders/wingers (and some are already pretty much known) include: Ozil, Hazard, Kagawa, Wilshere, Coquelin, Ganso, Oscar, Lucas Moura, Thiago Alcantara, Isco, Sahin, Ericksen, Gotze, Reus, Cleverley, Morrisson, Pogba, Kroos, Shaqiri, Weiss, Savic, Powell, Tunnicliffe, Tabanou, Dzagoev, Sterling, Saso, Tello, El Shaarawy, Lamella, Coutinho, Henderson, McEachran, Lukaku, Miyachi, Kovačić, Giuliano, Halilovic, Gündoğan, Holtby, Wijnaldum, Ananidze, Leitner, Krhin, Gyau, Ninis, Kantarovski, Toral, Lanzini, Brahimi, Bruno César ect..

Is it due to the importance of midfield in today's football? Why are most players evolving as attacking mid. or wingers in the academies? Are all the top teams doomed to play with only one or 'false' striker in the upcoming future? In a stereotypical football world where goals are viewed as key, can the new legion of midfielders create a revolution? Or are the numbers of promising strikers as great, or greater?

Up to you, ReLax & anyone who feel interested in this topic? Answer the questions and we'll try to further elaborate on it.