The Great Striker Transfer Summer

christmasborocooper wrote:

messiah wrote:This he is immature thing is something said by those who isn't following his career and just have the same impression of him from two years ago.

He is still a young man bud has grown a bit based on what I have seen.

Also the robinho comparison is so, lol, the only thing they have in common is their size and the fact that they played for Santos.

Neymar is a great finisher, has that calmness in front of goal that messi does, the ability to great more time on the ball than most players, so instead of just shooting they walk the ball around the keeper.

Also has a bit of passing and vision, not up to barca levels, but he can pass the ball 100x better than robinho.

That being said he will struggle with the limited amount of space he gets in Europe and especially for barca, which is the main reason he struggles in international football, but he will now be playing against it, week in week out. so if he has any football intelligence should figure it out over time.

Robinho scored a lot of goals in Brazil....

Neymar scoring a lot in that league doesn't prove a lot.

messiah wrote:

christmasborocooper wrote:

messiah wrote:This he is immature thing is something said by those who isn't following his career and just have the same impression of him from two years ago.

He is still a young man bud has grown a bit based on what I have seen.

Also the robinho comparison is so, lol, the only thing they have in common is their size and the fact that they played for Santos.

Neymar is a great finisher, has that calmness in front of goal that messi does, the ability to great more time on the ball than most players, so instead of just shooting they walk the ball around the keeper.

Also has a bit of passing and vision, not up to barca levels, but he can pass the ball 100x better than robinho.

That being said he will struggle with the limited amount of space he gets in Europe and especially for barca, which is the main reason he struggles in international football, but he will now be playing against it, week in week out. so if he has any football intelligence should figure it out over time.

Robinho scored a lot of goals in Brazil....

Neymar scoring a lot in that league doesn't prove a lot.

Didn't say he scored a lot, said he was a good finisher, robinho needed and empty goal to score in kinds still does.

He ia Along with, jair,Pele,zico tostao,and a few others, the only player to have scored 20 plus goals in their first 32 games in Brazil.

Not that I think this means much.

Jaime wrote:

messiah wrote:

christmasborocooper wrote:

messiah wrote:This he is immature thing is something said by those who isn't following his career and just have the same impression of him from two years ago.

He is still a young man bud has grown a bit based on what I have seen.

Also the robinho comparison is so, lol, the only thing they have in common is their size and the fact that they played for Santos.

Neymar is a great finisher, has that calmness in front of goal that messi does, the ability to great more time on the ball than most players, so instead of just shooting they walk the ball around the keeper.

Also has a bit of passing and vision, not up to barca levels, but he can pass the ball 100x better than robinho.

That being said he will struggle with the limited amount of space he gets in Europe and especially for barca, which is the main reason he struggles in international football, but he will now be playing against it, week in week out. so if he has any football intelligence should figure it out over time.

Robinho scored a lot of goals in Brazil....

Neymar scoring a lot in that league doesn't prove a lot.

Didn't say he scored a lot, said he was a good finisher, robinho needed and empty goal to score in kinds still does.

He ia Along with, jair,Pele,zico tostao,and a few others, the only player to have scored 20 plus goals in their first 32 games in Brazil.

Not that I think this means much.

Keirrison scored a lot of goals in Brasil too!

Sink-or-swim time for Neymar
Tim Vickery

In recent times, Brazilian club soccer has been selling its stars rather than selling its spectacle. Santos and Neymar bucked the trend for a while. Bid after bid came in for the boy prince of the Brazilian game. They were all swatted away -- until now. On Friday night, the club made it clear that they were prepared to accept a number of offers. Neymar was left to choose, and has opted for a five-year deal with Barcelona.

Right up to the last, the player was stressing that he was happy to stay another year and see out his contract with Santos, and there is no reason to doubt his sincerity. A case could certainly be made for staying put for another 12 months. One of his main objectives is to shine on home soil in next year's World Cup -- winning the tournament in front of his own fans would bestow on Neymar a place in Brazil's pantheon. The risk now is that a difficult adaptation to life on and off the field in Spain might take the edge off his game at exactly the wrong time.

In an ideal world, then, Neymar might have stayed until 2014, and Santos were not desperate to sell. True, they receive an injection of cash but, without the biggest star in the Brazilian game, other revenues -- especially from sponsorship -- will surely plummet. The club, though, did not have sole say in the matter. They only owned 55% of the player's registration. The rest belonged to investors -- 40% to a fund linked to a supermarket, and the remaining 5% to a group of illustrious Santos fans. Had Neymar waited another year, he would have gone as a free agent, leaving the investors empty-handed. This was clearly an important factor in the timing of the move.

But if economic forces are now driving Neymar across the Atlantic, for the past few years those same forces have enabled him to stay at home. A decade ago, there would have been no argument -- a youngster of such promise would have been snapped up by a European club after no more than a handful of first-team appearances. However, Brazil has since been enjoying a consumer-based boom and, with their millions of supporters, the soccer clubs were perfectly placed to take advantage. In the course of Neymar's four-year professional career, the country's top clubs have seen their revenues double. This is the money that has kept Neymar at home, both in the form of wages paid by Santos and countless advertising campaigns in which the player has featured. Neymar is Brazil's boom made flesh.

But however dazzling the boom -- and there are signs that it is running out of steam -- it was clear that sooner or later Neymar would be heading for the exit. Players are not only motivated by financial considerations. The top stars also want to earn each other's respect, and nowadays that takes place in Europe's Champions League. Neymar may have become the fifth-highest paid player in the world, but serious doubts remain.

Bayern Munich ambassador and former great Paul Breitner was last seen in medieval armour representing the club at Wembley on Saturday in the ceremony that preceded the Champions League final; he was in similarly gladiatorial mood on a much-publicised recent visit to Brazil. "Nobody knows how good Neymar really is," he said on a TV show. "Not even he knows. He has to demonstrate his quality where world-class football is played -- in Europe. He has to play every day against great players like Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and all the other top players in Europe. Then we will get an idea of whether or not he is really a star."

There is little doubt that Neymar's permanence in Brazil has been good for Santos. For a start, the club have attracted a generation of new supporters. But it is not so clear that it has been as good for Neymar.


The talent of the 21-year-old is unquestionable. As flexible as a young George Best, he has the capacity to improvise at pace, to glide past his marker on either side, to see and seize on situations with such speed that it can appear that he is working in a different timeframe from his opponents. More than just a dribbler, he can pass as well -- his right-footed crosses that curl in from the left towards the far post set up reams of chances -- and, crucially, he is a natural finisher, calm, precise and direct in front of goal.

But he has yet to tip the balance against top-class defences. Time after time, when he comes up against compact opponents who know how to reduce his space, he is struggling to make an impact. And it is not clear that he has made much progress over the past two years. There is a danger that he has been allowed to spend too long in a comfort zone -- shining in a style in which deep-lying defences leave plenty of space on the field and referees are quick to give fouls for the slightest physical contact.

How he will fare in his new surroundings promises to be one of soccer's most fascinating narratives in the next few years. He joins an illustrious line of recent Brazilian Barcelona success stories -- Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho down to today's Daniel Alves. Significantly, though, all of them found their feet in Europe with a smaller club before shining for the Catalan giants. In contrast, Neymar is diving straight in at the deep end. Sink or swim, he is bound to make a few splashes.
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/6043?cc=5739

Super Mourinho wrote:

Sink-or-swim time for Neymar
Tim Vickery

In recent times, Brazilian club soccer has been selling its stars rather than selling its spectacle. Santos and Neymar bucked the trend for a while. Bid after bid came in for the boy prince of the Brazilian game. They were all swatted away -- until now. On Friday night, the club made it clear that they were prepared to accept a number of offers. Neymar was left to choose, and has opted for a five-year deal with Barcelona.

Right up to the last, the player was stressing that he was happy to stay another year and see out his contract with Santos, and there is no reason to doubt his sincerity. A case could certainly be made for staying put for another 12 months. One of his main objectives is to shine on home soil in next year's World Cup -- winning the tournament in front of his own fans would bestow on Neymar a place in Brazil's pantheon. The risk now is that a difficult adaptation to life on and off the field in Spain might take the edge off his game at exactly the wrong time.

In an ideal world, then, Neymar might have stayed until 2014, and Santos were not desperate to sell. True, they receive an injection of cash but, without the biggest star in the Brazilian game, other revenues -- especially from sponsorship -- will surely plummet. The club, though, did not have sole say in the matter. They only owned 55% of the player's registration. The rest belonged to investors -- 40% to a fund linked to a supermarket, and the remaining 5% to a group of illustrious Santos fans. Had Neymar waited another year, he would have gone as a free agent, leaving the investors empty-handed. This was clearly an important factor in the timing of the move.

But if economic forces are now driving Neymar across the Atlantic, for the past few years those same forces have enabled him to stay at home. A decade ago, there would have been no argument -- a youngster of such promise would have been snapped up by a European club after no more than a handful of first-team appearances. However, Brazil has since been enjoying a consumer-based boom and, with their millions of supporters, the soccer clubs were perfectly placed to take advantage. In the course of Neymar's four-year professional career, the country's top clubs have seen their revenues double. This is the money that has kept Neymar at home, both in the form of wages paid by Santos and countless advertising campaigns in which the player has featured. Neymar is Brazil's boom made flesh.

But however dazzling the boom -- and there are signs that it is running out of steam -- it was clear that sooner or later Neymar would be heading for the exit. Players are not only motivated by financial considerations. The top stars also want to earn each other's respect, and nowadays that takes place in Europe's Champions League. Neymar may have become the fifth-highest paid player in the world, but serious doubts remain.

Bayern Munich ambassador and former great Paul Breitner was last seen in medieval armour representing the club at Wembley on Saturday in the ceremony that preceded the Champions League final; he was in similarly gladiatorial mood on a much-publicised recent visit to Brazil. "Nobody knows how good Neymar really is," he said on a TV show. "Not even he knows. He has to demonstrate his quality where world-class football is played -- in Europe. He has to play every day against great players like Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and all the other top players in Europe. Then we will get an idea of whether or not he is really a star."

There is little doubt that Neymar's permanence in Brazil has been good for Santos. For a start, the club have attracted a generation of new supporters. But it is not so clear that it has been as good for Neymar.


The talent of the 21-year-old is unquestionable. As flexible as a young George Best, he has the capacity to improvise at pace, to glide past his marker on either side, to see and seize on situations with such speed that it can appear that he is working in a different timeframe from his opponents. More than just a dribbler, he can pass as well -- his right-footed crosses that curl in from the left towards the far post set up reams of chances -- and, crucially, he is a natural finisher, calm, precise and direct in front of goal.

But he has yet to tip the balance against top-class defences. Time after time, when he comes up against compact opponents who know how to reduce his space, he is struggling to make an impact. And it is not clear that he has made much progress over the past two years. There is a danger that he has been allowed to spend too long in a comfort zone -- shining in a style in which deep-lying defences leave plenty of space on the field and referees are quick to give fouls for the slightest physical contact.

How he will fare in his new surroundings promises to be one of soccer's most fascinating narratives in the next few years. He joins an illustrious line of recent Brazilian Barcelona success stories -- Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho down to today's Daniel Alves. Significantly, though, all of them found their feet in Europe with a smaller club before shining for the Catalan giants. In contrast, Neymar is diving straight in at the deep end. Sink or swim, he is bound to make a few splashes.
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/6043?cc=5739

Monaco to Falcao

The quoted price is 60M Euro. Very surprised that Chelsea didn't go out at splash some cash on Falcao. Now City, Chelsea and Real Madrid will battle for Cavani. This means next year will be the fourth straight season without Cl for Falcao. Shame that we don't get to see him at the highest stage. Hopfully Monaco builds a great team that can compete with PSG and get Cl football soon. Initially I was hoping against this but it looks like they have already bought a couple of good players. They will probably need more but a good start.

Super Mourinho wrote:I'm sure Falcao loves football but that isn't his only concern. Remember that football players can make enough money so they never have to work again but they only have a limited time to do this so I don't begrude somebody who's primary work skill is only applicable for 15-18 years and tend not to have many other skills. The choice I don't get is when you can get money and to play at the highest level. If he had waited for Chelsea or City he might have gotten a similar deal.

Luis wrote:How anyone can say there's nothing wrong with a top class player going to a club purely for money is beyond me but sums up the modern day football fan. He could have joined a club like Chelsea or Madrid and played at the very top level of football, won titles and finished his career in style. Instead he's opted to just make money in an average league. It's his choice but it's the mercenary choice and the choice of someone who doesn't truly love football.

Fey wrote:Nice weather also counts for something, winter in Monaco is pretty damn good I believe. Though, we shouldnt underrate Ligue 1 anymore. Any given footballer would rather join that league then the Serie A.

Super Mourinho wrote:What is interesting is how far Brazilian players have fallen compared to the last decade when Brazil was touted as having one the best teams ever. Back then they had Ronaldo+Rivaldo+Adriano+Ronaldinho+Kaka but lately all they have delivered is Robinho+Pato who were highly proclaimed but fell through in an embarrasing way for Brazillian football. Interesting that only Kaka of those 5 players came directly to a big club in Europe. At the moment there simply aren't any Brazilian world class players in attack. I can't remember when Brazilian football was less influential in attacking football.

messiah wrote:Adriano and kaka. Is a no no

abundance wrote:

messiah wrote:Adriano and kaka. Is a no no

pfff. Adriano was huge he just threw away his career for reasons that had anything to do with his football; re. Kaka, if Neymar will end up having an impact on his new european club even vaguely resembling the impact that Kaka had on Milan, you'll be doing triple backflips yelling at everyone that Messiah is the prophet that just KNEW.

abundance wrote:

messiah wrote:Adriano and kaka. Is a no no

pfff. Adriano was huge he just threw away his career for reasons that had anything to do with his football; re. Kaka, if Neymar will end up having an impact on his new european club even vaguely resembling the impact that Kaka had on Milan, you'll be doing triple backflips yelling at everyone that Messiah is the prophet that just KNEW.

Kimbo wrote:I don't think most footballers "love" football, it's just something they have a talent for that can lead to an easy life if they apply themselves. It's just a job.

As for Chelsea and Monaco being the same, one is a clear step up and one is a step down to a club in Europes 5th or 6th league. He has sacrificed his chances of ever making my world XI, he'll have to live with that.

bluenine wrote:

abundance wrote:

messiah wrote:Adriano and kaka. Is a no no

pfff. Adriano was huge he just threw away his career for reasons that had anything to do with his football; re. Kaka, if Neymar will end up having an impact on his new european club even vaguely resembling the impact that Kaka had on Milan, you'll be doing triple backflips yelling at everyone that Messiah is the prophet that just KNEW.

I don't think people outside Serie A realise just how good Adriano was before he wasted his career on alcoholism and partying... that is a perfect example of how some brazilians completely waste their talent...