Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

[beninho]

First topic message reminder :

I think bailly does look a good prospect, but he is pretty raw. The spurs pairing is probably the best in tge league as a partnership. I think mendy looks an immense left back, alonso also good, I think rose is better then bertrand though, when fit. I remember a time when full backs had to defend!

[beninho]

Mark hughes first casualty of the year I assume.

[kwinigolfer]

It looked like a funeral at Stoke, Dead Men Walking. Two many players go missing, Shaqiri is not giving 50% let alone 100, and Charlie Adam doesn't have the wheels or focus. No leadership without Shawcross, but honestly don't know who they could get who would be any better.

[pedro]

Liverpool almost throwing it away again..

[Diggers]

To be fair though they didn't, and they were away at a club playing well. It's exactly the sort of game they used to lose and now seem to win or draw at least. That's a 16 game unbeaten run, consistent stuff.

[Diggers]

Shaw starts again, beginning to look a lot more like the player he promised to be.

[kwinigolfer]

To be fair though they didn't, and they were away at a club playing well. It's exactly the sort of game they used to lose and now seem to win or draw at least. That's a 16 game unbeaten run, consistent stuff.

Klavan was offside, surely?

[Diggers]

To be fair though they didn't, and they were away at a club playing well. It's exactly the sort of game they used to lose and now seem to win or draw at least. That's a 16 game unbeaten run, consistent stuff.

Klavan was offside, surely?

Not seen it Kwini, actually had a break in the rain and was out for a walk (and some cake) with the family.

[beninho]

Wycombe played forest greeen rivers, they had a player sent off in the first half, the manager also got sent off for having a go at the ref. The player was the managers son. All a bit random.

[westisbest]

Great start to 2018 for the Villa.

[Diggers]

After this battering, I definitely can't see The Power coming back again. Think he'll know his time is over, pity he just missed a 9 darter though, would have been a nice consolation prize (he actually ended up losing the leg).

[pedro]

What was the middle finger about?

[McLaren]

No Ozil today for Arsenal, interesting. Someone could get a relative bargain as he's going to be out of contract soon, amazing that him and Sanchez could get to that stage.

Do you reckon he will go to Chelsea, City or Utd?

[kwinigolfer]

Whoever takes Ozil had better budget for him checking out of half the games he plays . . . . . . . . just like Shaqiri yesterday.

[Diggers]

Bit harsh on Ozil, he has frustrated at times but has also contributed to a lot of the good stuff Arsenal have done. I'd lay more blame with the lack of a plan b at Arsenal, a lack of any real leaders and an atmosphere of apathy based on having a manager who seems to be untouchable.

[kwinigolfer]

Bit harsh on Ozil, he has frustrated at times but has also contributed to a lot of the good stuff Arsenal have done. I'd lay more blame with the lack of a plan b at Arsenal, a lack of any real leaders and an atmosphere of apathy based on having a manager who seems to be untouchable.

Agree 100%, but it would be nice to see some of that leadership from Ozil - he just seems to be too precious for that. Can't stand him! (Not just the Manager is untouchable, but some of the players too . . . . . . . . and Wenger to blame for that. Cazorla a huuuge loss for them.)

[Diggers]

I think I've seen him play well too many times, it's true he can look laid back and ideally you'd want your creative players to always put a shift in. That can sometimes be overplayed, Arsenal could do with having had a couple of water carriers to let Ozil do his stuff. Agree re Carzola, but he's hardly the future anyway, think he's 32.

[Diggers]

Big, big wins for Palace and the Hammers, definitely 6 point games. Swansea and West Brom looking a bit isolated though some signs Swansea are at least beginning to try.

[beninho]

Watford are being dragged into it. Maybe Marco Silva isn't the second coning of mourinho!

I've never had much interest in palace, but watching them do so well is interesting me, for some reason.

[pedro]

The Roy effect...

[kwinigolfer]

I think I've seen him play well too many times, it's true he can look laid back and ideally you'd want your creative players to always put a shift in. That can sometimes be overplayed, Arsenal could do with having had a couple of water carriers to let Ozil do his stuff. Agree re Carzola, but he's hardly the future anyway, think he's 32.

When he's on it he can be very, very good. But he can't be the main man in a team; look at KDeB at Man City - maximum effort and leads by example. Plus: Would much rather have two more years of Cazorla than six more of Ozil - when they'd both be 35.

Good to see CP & WHU starting to punch their weight; the ones that aren't can't all be relegated, but some pretty dismal performances being turned in by half a dozen teams.

[super_realist]

Fair play to Woy Wodgson, he's doing enough to keep Palace above the drop zone. Still a long way to go though, and I'd still like to see a big ego like him get relegated.

[I'm never wrong]

I follow one or two golfers on Twitter, and Justin Rose tweeted about the new Taylor Made driver. I can't seem to find the direct link to the video where he, Rory, Dustin etc are sitting around the table when TM introduced the driver to them, but it can be found on THIS PAGE about six screens down.

[Diggers]

I think I've seen him play well too many times, it's true he can look laid back and ideally you'd want your creative players to always put a shift in. That can sometimes be overplayed, Arsenal could do with having had a couple of water carriers to let Ozil do his stuff. Agree re Carzola, but he's hardly the future anyway, think he's 32.

When he's on it he can be very, very good. But he can't be the main man in a team; look at KDeB at Man City - maximum effort and leads by example. Plus: Would much rather have two more years of Cazorla than six more of Ozil - when they'd both be 35.

Good to see CP & WHU starting to punch their weight; the ones that aren't can't all be relegated, but some pretty dismal performances being turned in by half a dozen teams.

Completely different players for me, Carzola and De Bruyne are your playmakers. They sit deeper and set the tempo. Ozil for me is more of a loose 10, plays that Dele Alli floating roll. Moves between the lines and looks to play people in higher up the pitch. I'm sure Carzola makes Ozil play better, but I've seen them underperform together and it's usually because of a lack of a Cante or a Fernandinho.
I just don't see a way this Arsenal side is better without Ozil.

[navyblueshorts]

I think I've seen him play well too many times, it's true he can look laid back and ideally you'd want your creative players to always put a shift in. That can sometimes be overplayed, Arsenal could do with having had a couple of water carriers to let Ozil do his stuff. Agree re Carzola, but he's hardly the future anyway, think he's 32.

Seem to remember that in Arsenal's better days w/ Wenger, they had the Petits, Vieras, Keowns, Adams' etc to allow the more 'creative' players to flourish. Not sure they have anything like that now and don't seem to feel the need, even though the evidence for is in their own recent history.

[McLaren]

I follow one or two golfers on Twitter, and Justin Rose tweeted about the new Taylor Made driver. I can't seem to find the direct link to the video where he, Rory, Dustin etc are sitting around the table when TM introduced the driver to them, but it can be found on THIS PAGE about six screens down.

Just don't buy the m3 if you hit a slice from a high toe strike location.

[Diggers]

I don't normally condone footballers having altercations with fans, however off the guy really did taunt Livermore about the death of his child then I really hope he managed to lay one on him. Utter scum.

[super_realist]

You have to wonder about the sort of people that go to these things Diggers.
Up here there's a player who has a false eye and some "rival" fans threw a load of glass eyes at him. Not as bad as those who had a go at Livermore, just incredibly insensitive and scummy. There isn't many sports that attract that level of moron.

I suppose the only consolation that this is the highlight of their pathetic lives before they go home to do their 40 hours a week on minimum wage for the rest of the week.

[Shotrock]

I thought this was an interesting article (as it relates to many professional sports followed by many here):

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/29/upshot/internationalization-of-pro-sports-leagues-premier-league.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=35&pgtype=sectionfront

[super_realist]

Interesting that of all those graphs across all sports England have the lowest representation of any domestic nation in any of those leagues. Answers a lot of questions about their poor tournament performance.

The NFL one was pretty funny as to how it lacked diversity.

[raycastleunited]

Thanks Shotrock.

What an interesting article. Just shows what a global game football is.

[raycastleunited]

Interesting that of all those graphs across all sports England have the lowest representation of any domestic nation in any of those leagues.  Answers a lot of questions about their poor tournament performance.

The NFL one was pretty funny as to how it lacked diversity.

I believe this demonstrates how commercial premier league clubs have been, to the detriment of the national team. Clubs / leagues in other European countries have been more protectionist, no surprise that the list of the richest teams is dominated by England.

[beninho]

The premier league has been a massive commercial success. The thing is, while we can see the impact it has had on the national team, other big leagues and clubs would like to be in the same position as the premier league clubs. I saw sonething previously of the la liga bosses talking about being so far behind in tv terms and sponsorship, why else play the classico at midday, for foreign viewers, same with the scheduling for most games. Even the bundesliga is allowing clubs to be bankrolled more then before,leipzig, hoffemheim Wolfsburg.

[pedro]

Great game tonight btw.

[kwinigolfer]

Interesting stat on minutes played by English players in this BBC analysis:
Measured in minutes per match:

13/14: 637.46
14/15: 694.69
15/16: 593.32
16/17: 636.93
17/18: 656.88

What I find striking is (my perception) that the contribution from other Home Countries and Ireland is diminishing. Tough to look back over the post-war period and not find a top English team without at least a couple of Welsh, Scots, Irish (N&S) in key roles until the past ten years.


Yup: Great game tonight.

[super_realist]

Interesting stat on minutes played by English players in this BBC analysis:
Measured in minutes per match:

13/14: 637.46
14/15: 694.69
15/16: 593.32
16/17: 636.93
17/18: 656.88

What I find striking is (my perception) that the contribution from other Home Countries and Ireland is diminishing. Tough to look back over the post-war period and not find a top English team without at least a couple of Welsh, Scots, Irish (N&S) in key roles until the past ten years.


Yup: Great game tonight.

Be good to see a comparison of this against the same stats in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. I would expect they would be closer to 800.

[McLaren]

Further to INW's post about the m3 and m4 (which seem to have just copied BMW's branding) here is the mygolfspy initial take on the "twistface" technology.

https://mygolfspy.com/2018-taylormade-m3-m4-drivers-fairways-hybrids/


Apparently it has been in the cobra driver for a while, and as far as I know that was a good but not revolutionary driver.

[super_realist]

Further to INW's post about the m3 and m4 (which seem to have just copied BMW's branding) here is the mygolfspy initial take on the "twistface" technology.

https://mygolfspy.com/2018-taylormade-m3-m4-drivers-fairways-hybrids/


Apparently it has been in the cobra driver for a while, and as far as I know that was a good but not revolutionary driver.

Funny how in their new advert they have a bunch of pro's with the tagline. "used by the world's best" with the rather amusing addition of 9C on the side of the line up looking like Ashley Cole in his Roma team picture like he doesn't belong.

[navyblueshorts]

Further to INW's post about the m3 and m4 (which seem to have just copied BMW's branding) here is the mygolfspy initial take on the "twistface" technology.

https://mygolfspy.com/2018-taylormade-m3-m4-drivers-fairways-hybrids/


Apparently it has been in the cobra driver for a while, and as far as I know that was a good but not revolutionary driver.

Thanks Mac. Quite like the sarcastic tone of the article. TM being the golfing snake oil salesman (again?).

[McLaren]

Mygolf have now also put out a tweet saying they have confirmed that the XXIO had the same bulge and roll variation the m3/4 have but in 2010.

https://twitter.com/MyGolfSpy/status/948970101696495618

The XXIO had six regions of the face with "optimized" bulge and roll.

[Roller_Coaster]

If anyone's been upset about how quiet the Ross Barkley story has got recently, be prepared for it to become a whole lot quieter.

Chelsea have apparently agreed to seat Ross Barkley in their training ground, taking him away from the Everton training ground where he has quietly spent quite a lot of time sitting recently.

I do happen to think there's a very good PL player in there somewhere but with a seemingly poor attitude. Unless/until he fixes that, this post may well be the last you hear of him...

Unless you follow Genk, Queens Park, Glentoran, FC Guadalahara (or wherever else Chelsea will inevitably loan him out to).

[Roller_Coaster]

Taylormade offerings...

Never liked them, probably never will. Like the article says, Callaway overtook them (or were perceived to) last year so they needed to do something. Unfortunately it looks like it's only the marketing department in full flow as Hammerhead looks to be a version of Jailbreak and twist and shout faces are seemingly nowt new.

Is this the first foray into the driver war without full blown Adidas R&D funds?

[beninho]

Will Barkley cone bavk the same after such a big injury. Good player, just never got passed potential.

[kwinigolfer]

Will Barkley cone bavk the same after such a big injury. Good player, just never got passed potential.

Certainly well worth a 15M pound roll of the dice for Conte. Not sure London's the best setting for him, but sure Allardyce would've hung onto him if he thought he could get him to contribute.

[McLaren]

Barkley is one of those English players that probably only make sense if you are English. He was physically strong at a young age and therefore looked ok when he first appeared but since then hasn't added attributes like keeping the ball, passing, movement or reading of the game.

[super_realist]

Will Barkley cone bavk the same after such a big injury. Good player, just never got passed potential.

Certainly well worth a 15M pound roll of the dice for Conte. Not sure London's the best setting for him, but sure Allardyce would've hung onto him if he thought he could get him to contribute.

Strange buy from Chelsea, clearly a guy with an attitude problem, and not very professional.
These days £15m is like putting a quid into a fruit machine, but he seems not to have it upstairs to be a top pro.

[navyblueshorts]

Mac's probably got a point. Talented as a youngster and physically able to compete early on. He doesn't appear to have moved on and opposition players have worked him out maybe. Too much lolly too soon as well? Clearly not unique as we (England etc) have a recent history of competing internationally at under-21 level, but not thereafter as too many of the good youth players simply never amount to very much cf. their international peers.

Still, £15m isn't a lot. Probably worth a punt, but not sure how he fits in with Hazard et al. Probably to get splinters in his backside.

[Diggers]

Don't really agree te Barkley, wouldn't say he was particularly bigger and stronger than his peers, most kids these days 6" plus and pure athletes. I wouldnt say his game was based on strength and pace, he had always had good technique and time on the ball. Plus he has 21 goals and 18 assists in I think about 120 league starts. That's pretty good going for a midfielder. He was arguably in the form of his life before his injury, if the injury had no lastingly effects 15m is a steal.
Have to say re Chelsea English midfielders, when I've seen Drinkwater play he has looked really good, a lot more composed and assured on the ball.

[McLaren]

I am sure he will be worth a punt, especially when Chelsea ship him off to somewhere like stoke or Newcastle for £30m.

[Diggers]

I don't blame him for moving, Allardyce is hardly an appealing manager for an attacking midfielder. Especially when they spent big on Sigurdson. I don't think Chelsea have anyone in his mould right now, he'll give them energy through the middle, Willian does that to a degree but he doesn't seem to be as in favour, not sure why as he is a quality footballer. Though interesting to see that he, playing in much better sides, had pretty much exactly as many goals and assists as Barkley does in the same amount of games. Plus Barkley is just 24, Willian is 29.

[super_realist]

I don't blame him for leaving, but he went about it in a poor way. I can't see him being a regular for Chelsea either, so he's gone from not playing at one club, to probably not playing at another.
Mac's right that he'll probably end up at a team closer to his level, West Brom, Palace etc.

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