chicagoblues said:
BigOscar said:
Neville Kneville said:
I'm saying that because in the last few games for Lille, all of the other players have worked harder off the ball than Lopes. It's pretty clear what I said, not that he can't run at people (he is excellent at it) but that he needs to put in more effort when he doesn't have the ball & move around more. I am not saying he can't pass the ball, I'm saying he is not at all on the level of a Silva when it comes to playing a through ball, & even if he was, he hasn't been doing that for Lille. He has been getting caught on the ball a fair bit & some of his passing has not been great.
He has been unusually immobile at times compared to what I would expect from him.
You are now doing with Lopes, exaclty what you do with Rekik. You are describing what you THINK his assets are, rather than being thuthful about what he is actually producing, on the pitch, right now.
I am watching him carefully & weighing up what he is actually producing on the pitch so far this season & where he needs to improve, not what I saw him do last year in the reserves. That is now gone. We are looking to what happens next.
So we should ignore the hours and hours of football we've seen from him and declare that he isn't going to make it because he's a lazy stroller, based on two hours of football based across about 6 sub appearances? In almost every single appearance he's made for Lille so far, he has been brought on and clearly told to play a free role and try and make something happen in attack. He's been brought on to try and inject some attacking intent to what has been a dreadfully defensive side, so I doubt he's being told to track back. And he has done that, every time he's come on he's looked like the man to potentially change things with his directness. Yes, he has been tackled more often that you'd like and tried to force a few incisive passes that aren't on, but that's clearly because he's trying to force things and impress. All the Lille fans seem pretty keen on him and see him as their main potential difference maker. I think most people watching him realise that he's too keen to impress and he'll settle down when he settles in and knows his place in the team.
You are the one doing to Lopes what you've done to Rekik, as in being a miserable git who only looks for the faults in our youngsters, for reasons that aren't altogether clear. Saying his passing is not at Silva's level is just a bizarre criticism. His dribbling isn't at Messi's level yet either and his heading isn't even close to John Terry's. Are you honestly expecting our young players to have as good passing and vision as the most incisive passer in world football? If you are then it might explain why you are so critical of our young players.
I don't know why I bother responding to you tbh, you've clearly decided it's your job to be the forums pessimist, who's job is to ensure that no one gets excited about any of our young players or their future prospects. I know exactly what you are going to say anyway. I'm sure you'll repsond with your default "I thought the forum was for people to honestly say how bad our players actually are" bollocks that you usually do. Anyhow, untill the forum adds an ignore function, I guess I'll just have to work harder at skipping over your negative shite.
Spot on .
You can both fuck right off.
I am using Silva as an example of a player with a certain talent. No way would I expect Lopes to be at his level. We have kids at City who show signs of possibly being that kind of player. Lopes isn't one of them, he is a different kind of player. If you can't see that, you are even more of a clueless, myopic cheerleader than I thought you were.
I don't expect any young player to have a touch like Silva & I don't expect Rekik to be able to head the ball like John Terry. I expect he will need to become that kind of hard, good in the air, crafty player Terry is if he is to make it, as he is too small & far too slow to be a dominating player like Vince or Lescott. So far he shows no signs of becoming that player. He has nothing that most other clubs reserve team cbs don't have other than he is a bit better on the ball than some of them. Most of his rep, is made up, by people like you, who suck his dick on one thread, then viciously attack Boyata on another.
Lopes is a different matter altogether. He has everything to become a really top player. Pace, skill, a vicious shot, intelligence, a decent eye for a pass, the ability to score goals, cross, take free kicks both direct & delivered & the ABILITY to be a real grafter like Tevez as well.
Has he been doing the last bit for Lille ? NO HE FUCKING HASN'T. He's had some nice touches, set up one or two chances, took some nice free kicks & corners & one shot that was like a missile. But off the ball, HE IS CAPABLE OF MUCH BETTER.
I rate Lopes very highly & am commenting on improvements i believe he can make THIS SEASON, NOW, to get him into our first team squad for next season. If he doesn't do it & gets into the habit of coasting, rather than going full on,, I fear he may miss out at City as our standards are very high & we demand a lot.
I believe he can play for City & is the best player at Lille, suffering from playing next to poor quality players but I want to see him dominate the game, I want to see him work harder than them & get stuck in more as well as outclassing them at football. I want to see him take this chance & make the best out of it he possibly can. He can do it, he has everything he needs.
What he did in the reserves no longer matters. The reality of Lopes as a footballer is what he does from now on.