The Talentspotter - All Comments

Weekender: Ned Flanders, Joey Barton and Graham Norton

FourFourTwo's Inside Track — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:22:58 GMT

1. Expect Hansen's head to shake about Swansea vs Wigan Pre-match attention will be on Roberto "Bob

re: Is new boy Carl Jenkinson exactly what Arsenal need?

Winno — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:14:06 GMT

Interesting report. Can I ask, how many times have you seen the lad play live? Have you scouted him personally?

re: Have Manchester United uncovered their very own Patrick Vieira?

DoronSalomon — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:20:09 GMT

Disappointing read. Sounds like you've only ever watched YouTube clips of him.

FYI the video of the 'screamer' is against Portsmouth's U18 team in the FA Youth Cup game this year... not for our Reserves.

Vieira comparison beyond lazy and actually there was much more to his move than you've suggested there. There's no mention of Le Havre pawning him out to Chelsea and Arsenal who both offered him a contract.

It's a shame because Pogba is a super talent but you've only generally profiled him - no mention of how intelligent he is in possession and no mention of areas he has to improve on such as his positioning which is very poor.

There's a lot of hype about him right now and whilst I'd love to believe he could be included in the first team soon, he's far from ready.

I've sent you a tweet outlining the same things but if you read this first feel free to tweet me.

In future, would rather read about United youngsters from someone who has clearly watched them a lot.

re: Have Manchester United uncovered their very own Patrick Vieira?

unitedrant — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:39:50 GMT

Pogba is really nothing like Vieira except that he's black and lanky and French. He's a much more skilful player for a - great with the ball at his feet, superb range of passing, and an exciting dribbler. But you acknowledge this in the article. The Viera analogy is just lazy to be honest.

re: Why Ozil could fill Scholes' shoes

gbouras — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:29:13 GMT

he's signed already, apparently!

http://tinyurl.com/2asjukd

re: Why Ozil could fill Scholes' shoes

sam from bremen — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:40:01 GMT

this guy is very talented. i've seen him many times in the weserstadion in bremen and must admit that he has a great future. at the moment he seems to young with to many up's and down's. he will never breakthrough at old trafford at the moment. you can't compare him with scoles. he has not yet got the will and the passion a utd or any other english player needs. he still needs a bit of time. let's see what will happen...

re: Why Ozil could fill Scholes' shoes

wxmshaun — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:11:58 GMT

Great player, id like to see one of either

Alexis Sanchez, Gio Dos Santos or Oezil.

re: Why Ozil could fill Scholes' shoes at United

seanCFC — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:14:11 GMT

He's coming Chelsea...

re: Why Ozil could fill Scholes' shoes at United

John Tring — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:25:39 GMT

Utd need a lot of personnel: on and off the pitch. We already missed out on the most critical signing for many years to come: a wonderfully gifted and crazy guy who would have blown all of us away. Wondering who's the bloke? A hint would help: he goes by the initials JM...got the drift?? As for players, a decent right back please...a lot of crucial goals in big matches were conceded from the right side last season..1 less goal against Chelsea would have Utd as Champions

re: SCOUTING REPORT: Exactly how will Marouane Chamakh fit in at Arsenal?

Vinay — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:32:05 GMT

"But if anybody can drill that into him, it's Arsene Wenger."

Are you sure?

re: SCOUTING REPORT: Exactly how will Marouane Chamakh fit in at Arsenal?

sigmund — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:12:44 GMT

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

re: “If I had to choose one club, it would be Arsenal”

travellermimi — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:01:10 GMT

Lets see how monsieur Sissoko does in south africa this year ;)

re: Scouting report: The next Andrea Pirlo

Yorugua — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:34:00 GMT

Didn't this already appear in the latest issue of FourFourTwo?

re: Scouting report: The Basque Wayne Rooney

Marrsio — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:29:13 GMT

Plenty of great players coming through in Spain: Pacheco, Canales etc. Gulp.

RCM

leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com

re: Scouting report: The Basque Wayne Rooney

Yorugua — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:07:34 GMT

Wayne Rooney looks like a bizarre Alien experiment gone awry or what would happen when you cross a Female Rugby Player with a Pug Fighter who was born with dainty features.

In all seriousness Wayne Rooney has no equal, perhaps the Uruguayan Cristian "Cebolla" Rodriguez has a similar game to Rooney's but Rodriguez does not have Rooney's scoring touch and plays solely on the wing. I forsee Jonathan Wilson writing a chapter on Rooney one day... if England finishes third or fourth in the World Cup with Wayne Rooney clicking on all cylinders then his legend will be cemented in my book.

re: Scouting report: Urziceni look to test Liverpool's patience

newmusicartists — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:15:23 GMT

interesting stuff - going to the twitter page now!

re: Why Everton have more than a Sporting chance

Karl13Contra3 — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:14:30 GMT

Excellent article. Right on the money. Veloso and Moutinho have wanted out of Sporting for the past couple of seasons and deals keep falling through because Sporting wont reduce the ridiculous clauses they have set. Veloso went missing last season after Sporting refused Bolton's offer(I think it was 14m) and his father went on TV saying that his head wasn't right to play football. He hit great form recently only to have more transfer speculation being quashed once again because of the costs involved. Moutinho is more of a premiership player than Veloso. He harries people for 90 minutes as well as always being on the backs of the referees. A no nonsense player that gives it all. Leidson is probably the best striker to play in Portugal since Jardel. He consistently puts the ball in the onion bag although injuries have started to creep in. His height and weight fools defenders into thinking that he can't dish it out or take punishment and is Sportings most dangerous player especially when he is underestimated. Florent Sinama-Pongolle probably wont get a run in the ninety minutes. He's not convinced anybody with his performance and it looks like a panic buy on behalf of Sporting.

As a Braga fan I loved watching J Pereira. Had he not moved to Sporting for 3m he wouldn't get a look in for the Portuguese national team. He very tempremental and referees generally don't give him much room for error. Very good at going forward and doesn't give his opponents much time to settle in. His biggest problem is his height and defending corners. When Braga played in the Europa League last season he was dropped against Portsmouth and AC Milan for fear of being beaten by their aerial abilities. Bit dodgy for corners too..

My money is on Everton... Sporting just don't have it in them to beat a team that are high on confidence and with so many players returning from injury Everton are on a roll at the moment. 2 or 3 nil home win I reckon.

snowballjoyrider.wordpress.com/.../the-season-finale

The run in to the end of the Portuguese league..

re: Is this Argentinian wonderkid the next Sergio Aguero?

Yorugua — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:11:09 GMT

Maradona shouldn't have to think this thru too much, Milito & Lavezzi upfront (sorry this kid can wait for 2014)... Messi can play as right winger and stick Banega in as midfield distributor... kaboom you got yourself a World Cup Finalist!

re: Is this Argentinian wonderkid the next Sergio Aguero?

Marrsio — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:04:43 GMT

From all accounts he is absolutely prime. Let's hope Maradona doesn't get jealous and mess him about a la Messi.

RCM

leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com

re: Is 'the new Zizou' heading for the Premier League?

Marrsio — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:42:22 GMT

Interesting, thanks.

Rob

leftbackinthechangingroom.blogspot.com

re: Scouted: The Liverpool target with an 'infinite future'

Yorugua — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:55:44 GMT

Juan Mata in english is translated to roughly "John Kills"... but why go after Mata, go after Banega, he's all that and a bowl of chips!

re: Scouted: The Liverpool target with an 'infinite future'

san_san12 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:40:12 GMT

Teams will do well to recognise the players who support the more highly praised players like Villa and Silva. The players who work tirelessly behind the scenes when a big name player is playing will often stand out on their own if given the chance. Mata has already shown he is a player with quality and his future appears set to be bright.

re: Scouted: The Liverpool target with an 'infinite future'

arsenalwalcott123 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:49:39 GMT

Liverpool should and will dream on

re: Meet the sides ready to give City & Spurs nightmares

Gary Parkinson — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:41:56 GMT

Could you just repeat yourself there? Couldn't quite hear above the thundering hooves of your high horse.

Of course we want all British sides to do well in European competition. The blog isn't derogatory, it merely suggests – with tongue in cheek – that both sides have under-achieved ("this season", note, not this month: the January window is a chance to top up, not start again).

Ambition isn't to be sneered at, but there are fairly definable measurements of success in football, the league table in particular being a blatant meritocracy.

Any right-minded individual would have pegged City's expectations higher than mid-table, eight points above the drop zone and 18 off the top four. And even the most pessimistic Spurs fan can't have predicted the relegation battle they're undoubtedly involved in.

There's nothing wrong with ambition, but once you spend big money, you're bound to be judged on results. Or, as a City fan, did you extend a warm welcome to your neighbours' £28m midfield misfit Juan Seba Veron?

re: Meet the sides ready to give City & Spurs nightmares

M147WN — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:20:20 GMT

Tell me why certain pockets of the English (I assume you're English?) media attempt to belittle native English clubs on tour in Europe by writting snide comments like, "So now you can find out which Canadian winger could be about to tie Micah Richards up in knots, which former Chelsea star may dump former team mate Wayne Bridge on his backside, which Brazilian midfielder is going to give Didier Zokora the run around and which Croatian full-back is going to mess up David Bentley’s precious, precious hair."??

Why are you having a go at clubs representing our country abroad when it would be just as easy to write something mildly complemenary??

Both clubs are ambitious that's obvious but you see this not as an attribute be applauded but one to be sneered at and ridiculed?

The whole piece smacks of desperation! The initial comparisons of both clubs are cringeworthy!

The transfer window didn't shut more than 3 weeks ago and yet with the additional personnel gained both have "massively underachieved"?? & the final one re. the '81 cup final just highlights your inablity, or lack of knoledge, or both, to write an article worthy of being read anywhere other than this toilet of journalistic nonsence!

Your piece is laughingly headed "The Talenspotter", well here's news for you, I don't see any talent here! In fact quite the opposite!

FFS why don't you get behind English teams rather than slag them off at the first opportunity?