- 5,402
- 4,720
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2009
wait..... you met up with him too??
Couple times, lol
Almost made him eat pork
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: this_feature_currently_requires_accessing_site_using_safari
wait..... you met up with him too??
I love itCouple times, lolwait..... you met up with him too??
Almost made him eat pork
Thought he was arabomar is an honorary mexican, me and @chiva1908
can vouch for him
Thought he was arab
We had him in East LA eating tacos and Horchata from a taco truck...
Thought he was arabomar is an honorary mexican, me and @chiva1908
can vouch for him
Hence the term honorary
Omar, you turning your back on us?
I love it
wait..... you met up with him too??
Couple times, lol
Almost made him eat pork
we played ball once
I overlooked that.Hence the term honorary
Omar, you turning your back on us?
I'm not sure how, but Shakhtar has a pipeline to Brazil. SAF once said Costa was possibly the finest footballer in South America but his club at the time Gremio wouldn't budge from the £25m they wanted. For whatever reason United didn't buy him. Costa ended up going to Shaktar for €6m a couple of months later.The exodus from Shakhtar/Ukraine begins...
Bernard, Douglas Costa, Taison, and Texiria (sp?).... it's all a matter of time
When the war broke out, there was a report on ESPN FC that all the Brazilians wanted to leave the club ASAP & were upset about it. Costa apparently was desperate to get out...
It's a great baby/safe step into European football coming from South America in my opinion. You'll get a great team in a one team league which mean guaranteed CL footy and self confidence in yourself as a player. They got far in the last CL. tying Bayern at home but then getting clapped 7-0. Bernard's case is a safe move, he didn't get blown up attention like Neymar nor is at a quality of Neymar but has playing time and attention. Be it that he was injured during CL time he didn't get a chance. It may take a while but this is a better in the long run for his career to me then burning and crashing like Alexander Pato's career.Good scouting/network for Shakhtar, has really been working for them.
SIGNING: Luiz Adriano has signed the contract that will tie him to #ACMilan until June 30, 2020!
View media item 1610576
COPA AMERICA
BY MIGUEL DELANEY
Di Maria finds his groove in Argentina setup
The ESPN FC panel debate who will have the edge in the Copa America Final, Argentina or Chile.
After the semifinal performance that Lionel Messi put in against Paraguay, a rather obvious question was put to Arrgentina centre-half Martin Demichelis -- but he offered something of an unexpected answer. Demichelis had been again asked about the transcendental talent of his international captain, but he didn't do the usual lionising of Messi. Instead, he lionised him while also pointedly lavishing praise on someone else: Messi's attacking partner Angel Di Maria.
"When they're on form," Demichelis said, "they break the game for you."
The Manchester City defender could say that because Di Maria has made a breakthrough in his own form at this Copa America. The winger who seemed so wasteful and ineffective at Manchester United last season has disappeared. Replacing him is the thrusting and thrilling attacker who was man of the match in the 2014 Champions League final with Real Madrid.
In scoring twice against Paraguay to make it 4-1 rather than 2-1, Di Maria both transformed a narrow victory into a thrashing and also signalled the full extent of his own transformation. The return to form is all the more striking because it has been so traceable in that way.
When the tournament started, Di Maria still looked like the lost player who so often appeared at Old Trafford. Argentina's second game, the relatively unconvincing 1-0 win over Uruguay, was a nadir. The 27-year-old repeatedly gave the ball away with bad decisions and had so little space to run into.
At the very least, a nadir means things can't get worse, and soon they got better. The third game, a 1-0 win over Jamaica, is seen in the Argentina camp as a turning point in Di Maria's form. Against easier opposition, and with much more room, the No. 7 was able to stretch his legs and find his feet. He was able to finally enjoy what he does best again, which is running with the ball at pace.
It wasn't until the Jamaica match when he started properly producing again, as he offered an assist to Gonzalo Higuain within 11 minutes. The Argentine managerial staff were said to be hugely impressed with the way Di Maria allowed the side to suddenly alter the speed of attacks and with how he quickly got up to speed with the specific role that coach Gerardo Martino demands of him. The manager and his assistants share Demichelis' view, that the United winger is the second most devastating player in the team, after Messi but ahead of Sergio Aguero.
Andel Di Maria helped lead Argentina's 6-1 romp over Paraguay in a Copa America semifinal with a second-half brace.
Andel Di Maria helped lead Argentina's 6-1 romp over Paraguay in a Copa America semifinal with a second-half brace.
Some Argentine media, such as La Nacion, have even reported that there is considerable irritation among Martino's staff at how United manager Louis van Gaal has treated Di Maria and with the limited ways in which he has been used. They reportedly believe the United boss has "ruined" the record signing and taken away "his football rhythm." La Nacion also reported that Di Maria barely has a relationship with van Gaal and would favour a move away from Old Trafford this summer -- preferably to Barcelona or Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich, and Manchester City have even been mentioned.
If that is true, Di Maria's upturn in performance might not mean all that much to United, given he could be off to a different football system and environment. Part of his return to form has been that he is not in such a constricted role. Di Maria has been allowed to run into space again in a way that is so rarely seen at Old Trafford, as he has gradually realised the requirements of Martino's role.
Of course, his drop-off was not all down to van Gaal either. Di Maria has often looked uninterested himself, but as is often overlooked in such cases, there's also the reality that Di Maria is a young man adjusting to a totally different culture and climate. That takes time and will inevitably affect a player's mood before his football, even without something as traumatic as the break-in he endured in February.
Back in the national team environment in which he is so comfortable, Di Maria has clearly recovered his confidence. He is enjoying himself again, sharing many jokes with Messi and Ever Banega. He was also conspicuously excitable and full of life when speaking to ESPN FC and other media in the mixed zone after the Paraguay game. He was back in the groove, as he pretty much conceded when talking about the change in his form and his first goals of the Copa.
"I kept doing things well for the team, working physically, working defensively but missing something in attack," Di Maria said. "I'm happy because things came off well today, especially before the final."
He could be the key to winning that final, too, especially going by the rationale of Demichelis and the technical staff. One of the reasons Argentina ran out of steam in the World Cup against Germany last summer was that they also ran out of options and angles of attack. A Messi who wasn't even fully fit was the only star attacker who started the final, meaning it was easier for defenders to crowd around him. The rest of the attack just didn't need to be worried about in the same way. There was nothing else to really occupy markers, or to offer Messi an out-ball.
That is no longer the case. As Demichelis made so clear, Chile will have to think about Di Maria too. The player himself has changed the thinking about his form. He's back to his best: a game-breaker.
Miguel Delaney is a London-based correspondent for ESPN FC and also writes for the Irish Examiner and others.
[emoji]128517[/emoji][emoji]128517[/emoji][emoji]128517[/emoji]I voted @SinnerP, he would do a new thread proud...
He rejected them again ? Didn't he reject them to sign for Hull before ? He doesn't seem to have much sense.So Tommy Ince turned down Inter Milan again to sign a 4 year deal with Derby?!?! I guess he doesn't like the idea scungilli over his fish & chips or bangers & mash...
7500 jerseys are sold over the counter on the first sales day at BVB's store
View media item 1609788
Their fans are really on another level...