“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
I'm sorry. He's an amazing player, it's unbelievable. But calling your teammates Fiats and saying you're a Ferarri? You're a dick.
At first I thought he was trashing the league but he went on more about people he has to play with. Even trashed Sweden. lol.
2 years without a league trophy....? I hope. Maybe go back to the glory of Ligue 1?
Maybe he's getting his excuse ready just incase. My teammates are Fiats. Jesus Christ, who says that midseason, second place in the league? Odd interview.
Last edited by Brooker; 07-20-2019 at 08:46 AM.
It’s just his schtick. If it gets someone riled up, that’s the point.
It’s a branding and image thing; look how hard Lewandowski and his wife have tried to promote his image and brand but have never succeeded. Zlatan has, and that’s the reason why.
Sure, it’s obnoxious. It’s meant to be, but you just can’t take it seriously.
The thing with Zlatan is that he’s still impressive in the ways he’s always been impressive, just incredibly slow. He could still fit into teams in top leagues and perform to some extent, just not at the highest level or in any way involving speed.
Just looking at the hat trick.. First he heads a long ball to his foot, plays it over the defender then blasts the inside of the ball with his right foot to curve the ball away from the keeper to the corner. Second goal he outjumps the defender for a classic header. Third, he toys with the defender dribbling one way so he can blast a left footed shot. The array of skill even in those three goals is something else.
Sorry to say but without him they are a bottom feeder in the west. So what he says is right might be rude and blunt. But euros are not as sensitive to words as North Americans He is a 1982 Ferrari playing with a bunch of 2019 fiats. Lol. Sad but true all he said to start was at Vela’s age. He was playing for top clubs in top leagues in Europe. Vela is great this year but you can’t even have these two in the same conversation One is a great player and the other is one of the GOAT. Maybe if they even toss him a Porsche to play along side you might see a Cup. Lol.
Last edited by SPALE; 07-22-2019 at 09:18 AM.
He is also an extremely dirty player. He broke facial bones of an LAFC player Friday night.
https://twitter.com/taylortwellman/s...092342784?s=21
Last edited by ensco; 07-22-2019 at 09:34 AM.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
Yeah he is a total nutcase. Still the best striker in the league by light years.
He makes Landycakes look likeable.
What have I become!
It's not his fault the other guys is a foot shorter then him,if that was O.Gonzales it would be forearm contact with chest,instead of head. Look at that video and you will see he is looking for the ball,arm high is for his own protection.
having said that,i would rather have him on TFC then half the roster we have now.
We are setting the bar extremely low if you believe this to be true.
In a sport where guys are reaching over their heads all the time to actually grab a ball (basketball) you see far fewer blatant elbows to the head.
It defies physics to think soccer players naturally jump with their elbows out at 90 degrees from the torso and swinging outward. It’s either intentional or it’s trained because everyone is concerned about taking an elbow from an opponent. It should stop, for player safety and just in the name of common sense.
Let’s see how many guys jump with their arms out like that if the automatic penalty for touching the opponents head is getting sent off.
Zlatan looked and sized up the opponent well before. The contact to the head was deliberate and unnecessary.
This. anyone who thinks he was just going for the ball doesn't know the game or is fan-boy/girling on an idol and ignoring the truth. If DISCO doesn't slap him with a serious penalty it will continue to be the joke we know it is. (translation - I expect them to do nothing as they let Villa and Martinez away with all their sh!t)
Football is unique in that sense. In other sports where players reach over their head to grab a ball, their outstretched arms are their leverage. Rugby from line- outs is the same, huge physical men jumping, with arms straight up in the air. Gaelic football similar, physical sport but again when you jump, your arms are in the air, as your leverage.Football is different, for obvious reasons you can't jump with arms raised above your head, but you also just can't jump with arms limply by your side or you'll get no leverage. Players put their arms out as leverage and protection. I've no doubt Ibra done his man here on purpose, the sly look just prior to it was the giveaway. The other player being smaller and 2nd to the collision didn't help him, you can actually see he was in the process of raising his arms but was just too late. The speed and angles the balls come at a footballer is different than in other sports as well, from goalkeeper kick outs to whipped in crosses. Kevin Moran was an old hero of mine, played for Utd back in the day. He was tough as they come, played central defence, but he was only about 5 ft 10. He played in a different era, a much more physical era, and like the guy Ibra done, Kevin got a lot of head injuries due in large part to his bravery but also due to the fact he was just a a little too small for that position. There will be collisions, some will be unavoidable, but ones like this can be punished.
The leverage argument is bogus.
If you look at the mechanics of jumping, once you spring upward the natural position for the arms is swinging downward in close proximity to the body, not flailing outward like we see all the time with soccer players. I mention basketball because they naturally have to bring their arms back up and yet they still elbow opponents in the head far less frequently.
The elbow position we see also doesn't make any sense if it's the context of finding leverage to head the ball. At that position you have very little power to push off an opponent. It's also at odds with a sensical technique to use if you have a free header. With the arms outstretched like that you're going to load more into the shoulders / upper back and generate less power than you would with arms closer to your body engaging your core muscles to drive the rest of the body forward.
This is entirely about protection (or cynically, dealing damage). The game really needs to move on from this.
Nah that's nonsense. In football, you're natural instinct when jumping in the air to flick on a ball, hanging in the air or coming at you with pace, is to use your arms/elbows initially to get you as high as possible in the air. Then there is the element of protection. Forget the "mechanics of jumping" because like the basketball reference it isn't relevant. When you jump in football, you have an opponent who will jump with you, and who can make contact legally, that changes the mechanics completely. Even when a player has a free header, you will often see their arms bent at the elbows with with forearms facing upwards, that isn't for power or protection, it's to help them with accuracy. You're trying to use a scientific approach to a sport with contact that isn't relevant. I'm not sure if you are saying footballers should jump 100% with arms by their side, and forgive me if that's not your point, but if that is your point then it's not practical and very naive.
Agree to disagree on this. Don’t think we are going to reach any sort of consensus.
This isn't the first time Ibra's done this. He leads with his elbows all the time and it's well known. He better be disciplined for it.
It was almost certainly intentional though I don’t think he would have intended to injure the player, especially with what ended up happening.
Worthy of a ban for sure, but anyone can just walk out Fellaini’s career of elbows to the face to show how often these things just become “part of the game.”
There’s definitely going to be work to stamp out this sort of thing, but MLS does have to stop coddling certain players. They probably didn’t want to do anything or he’d call MLS a shit league in a shit country or something.
Players from an early age are thought when going for the header jump with arm up and elbows wide to get more strength and accuracy on the ball,and for their own protection too.
Was Ibra going to break his cheekbone,no,was he going with his elbows wide,yes, it's not his fault other guy is foot shorter them him,it is professional sport shit like this happens and will happen again,otherwise we all should play E-sports and stay safe in front of our screens.