Sergio Agüero

the best foreign player to arrive in england....none of bergkamp, henry, c ronaldo, rvn, drogba, torres etc were this good when they were sold to english sides

first time the epl has bought a legit world superstar?

p sure rvn was that good, btw. Just couldnt have proven it in the netherlands

Questionable that torres deserves listing for the sake of exceptional performance for a fairly limited time at a non achieving team. Ginola?

never seen one second of this guy. actually

he's got it

Torres' scoring record at Atleti is only slightly worse than Aguero's, though I agree he's probably not as talented.

Also think at least four ~30-year-old Abramovich signings were 'legit superstars', even if they didn't quite live up to billing. Robinho maybe a lesser player but at the time, nearly as exciting as Aguero.

yeah, was gonna say, Shevchenko surely a much bigger star than Aguero when he came to Chelsea?

he scored a lot more goals at a much bigger club

smdh at deems for bringing marketing terminology into this

shevchenko was a 'superstar', but then so had been george weah and patrick kluivert, galliani sold him when his reputation preceded his waning powers (see also kaká)

tho yeah rvn was probably the best of those players at the time of their transfer

Sheva scored 19 in 28 in the league, 9 in 12 in Europe (CL top scorer) the season before Chelsea.

But anyway, Agüero! playing with Silva! Should be great.

Ballack probably fits the bill, but we forget because it was underwhelming in the end.

did you watch shevchenko in 05/06? he had become an rvn/inzaghi type of player, a lethal finisher (scored 4 vs galatasaray iirc) but was beginning to slow and not so much of a threat outside the box....rvn moved in the right direction that summer, sheva made an overripe vanity purchase for abramovich

I guess we have to consider Citeh as major contenders for the title. Will be even more hilarious when they come third again despite their £300mn first team. I give him six months with that shower of cunts and he'll be pushing for a move off back to somewhere hotter.

idk drogba was legit awesome final season at marseille as well

kinda bollocks to qualify "best" with height of powers at time of move and then scorn deems for bringing public perception into it - not like there were ever any question marks over bergkamp when he signed, everyone knew he was world class

Sid Lowe's article ends abruptly (maybe he finally hyperventilated to the point of losing consciousness) by calling Aguero a No. 10, not sure how I feel about that. He likes to attack from a wide position but I think it's possible Dzeko will get in his way if they're played together.

that would make sense if public perception neatly correlated with actual talent, or if describing bergkamp with the pretty random honorific WORLD CLASS meant shit when all those other players are/were described thusly

the difference ought to be apparent between someone like bergkamp who had failed at one big club and a 23 yr old who has been pretty brilliant for several years

dzeko is about 70% of the way to nowhere, just another speculative january purchase like adam johnson who might be great, or alternatively will generate some revenue when the new uefa regulations are enforced

anyway i meant to say that as great as aguero is, i think it's quite possible he doesn't reach the level of some of those starry names for citeh

he can play as a sort of #9, but i think he may be too small to play #9 in the way mancini would like.....in which case he has to be played in a 442, or on the wings/ a deep lying position

and there are many ways citeh can turn to shit within the next year or two......

everyone knows bergkamp got stitched up at inter, they just lumped him into a standard catenaccio game. not like arsenal were seen as gambling on a busted flush, there were articles pronouncing "the signing that could change british football" and all sorts. i'm just saying the way you're selling it right now form completely overrides talent - imo bergkamp was as good as aguero, flop spell or not

A thread to anticipate the arrival of a great player, and to preemptively lament the mishandling of his talents by an unappreciative (unworthy?) league/nation.

I like this concept.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/07/27/article-2019419-0D3075D000000578-742_634x422.jpg

That beefy right forearm might be a trick of the camera to some extent, but it's also a reminder that while only 5'7" he's not shoved off the ball easily.

aguero in recent yrs is probably a better player than bergkamp in mid 90s...kinda a forced comparison cuz they are so different, but the way he destroyed barcelona at the age of 20 was just amazing, he's a better finisher and more useful in dragging forwards scrappy half-functioning teams than bergkamp ever was

bergkamp was insanely gifted but his peak yrs playing in a league which was about the level of the current bundesliga

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/07/27/article-2019419-0D3075D000000578-742_634x422.jpg

neat summary of epl 2k11, latin prodge escorted by bluetoothed UAE securigoons through sea of dickensian scamps while tubby fanboy reaches out yet can't bring himself to confirm that the apparition has assumed corporeality

i'm glad i started a fight anyway, though was sure it'd be the torres comment tbph

Mancini will not manage aguero to great effect, i fear. Silva's technique is fairly wasted, yaya's thrusting physicality prioritised, were tevez any less industrious he'd not be the success he has been, and aguero will not slot in as a replacement.

Crespo ballack and shevchenko were prob all as big moves, but really none at the height of their powers and none of them looking to prove anything

deems otm

bergkamp arrived as a failure inter were glad to be rid of, though i adore him unreservedly besides.

can see mancini doing just about well enough to avoid being fired while generally misusing aguero

yeah the worst result to the whole endeavour, really.

Can see them beating arsenal spurs and liverpool, obviously, can't really see them troubling utd over a season, chelsea hmm maybe but i think not.

really, would rather see these guys going to utd or arsenal, but fuck it, aguero every week is still good news

How about something like

              Toure               
 Johnson               Silva      
                        /        
                       /          
                          /      
                       Aguero     
          X              /    

De Jong too far back in his own half to make it into the picture there.

johnson getting games tho? I thought he'd dropped off the radar somewhat.

Tevez still v likely to be x, but wouldn't mind seeing either of dzeko/balotelli in there, could get behind that lineup.

Unfortunately, mancini more likely to play two of the above in a 32311 formation

the city project is so boring that it's difficult to feel hate for it, stockpiling TALENT to vaguely prettify dwindling oil satrapy

they've even managed to shove blinky psycho garry cook into some dim corner of 'the etihad' to further diminish any possibility of content

it's all the easier to hate it, tbh. Balotelli should be crashing cars into wenger's living room and scoring 40 a season. Dzeko could have gotten us 4th or higher. Silva could have, well ok, sat on the bench while barca destroyed utd but u see the point

Sub in Milner if you must, or find room for Gareth Barry. I was going for a slightly overoptimistic but still plausible formation.

Milner   de jong   barry
        yaya
                      scrappy doo

Mancini mid/att

time was city's commitment to boredom was expressed in inflated tranfers for shite like milner and lescott rather depriving the 'white hart lane faithful' of edin dzeko's sliderule finishes

tragedy is a personal phenomenon imo

The period of Shevchenko I mostly missed was Dynamo and his first couple seasons with Milan, so it's possible my idea of him as a player is less dynamic than he really was. Also he didn't invite comparisons to Inzaghi so much when played alongside Inzaghi iykwim.

How long do we reckon Balotelli's going to last now? Move to AC in January?

The son-in-law of God appeared in Manchester on Wednesday

Sergio Aguero has claimed that he is "the Che Guevara of modern football" and hopes to start what he believes will be a revolution when he joins Manchester City.

There has been talk about the Argentina international being Diego Maradona's son-in-law, and the Atletico Madrid man insists that it is unlikely any player will emulate the legendary former forward.

However, he believes that his ability and skill can bring about a revolution in football.

"No one will ever be exactly like Maradona again but I really think that every so often there is a total revolution in football and someone needs to be the revolutionary who starts things off. That's me,"

;_;

Kid's got a right foot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FZ1twJU9k

sid lowe's article on this kid is incoherent at times

It's a bit hyperbolic, all this. How come it's been all Messi the last few years?

I haven't seen anyone put him in the same bracket as Messi.

Still thinking that City aren't good enough out wide to win the title, but the spine of that team is amazing now, assuming that Joe Hart saves all his big fuckups for England.

nasri silva clichy/kolarov richards/zabaleta

p good really, assuming

pretty second rate, tbh. Spurs level players.

"I really think that every so often there is a total revolution in football and someone needs to be the revolutionary who starts things off. That's me. Maradona made some 'noise' in his day and I want to roar a bit in my day - now.

"I like tricks, I like to dazzle, I like to be able to score a goal with one leg bent round the other so that you smack the ball into the net with your wrong foot. Dribbling and leaving your opponent on his backside is what life is for.

"If I achieve what I want to then I'll mark a distinct era in football. I'm the Che Guevara of modern soccer."

These papers just make up whatever the fuck they want and put quotes around it.

nasri/silva are better than ynahtid and chelsea's wingers

fullbacks aren't quite there but still better than liverpool and tottenham

Nasri and Silva aren't wingers though really

A bit disturbing, to me, that City now have more players I actually like than any other team in the Prem. Wonder if this means I'll be rooting for them to win the title? Dzeko, Kun, YaYa, Silva, Super Mario, Kompany all total bros.

there's that

And then there's the point that utd's and chelsea's wingers, and tottenham's fullbacks, are below standard for clubs of that level/aspiration

pandemic- wait til we see how mancini plays them before jumpin into anythin imo

Sorry, what? You can put Nasri and Silva on some sort of purist pedestal, but i'll take the season Nani had last year over either of their's

nasri was better than nani last season, tho i rate nani above valencia/young

lol i didn't even check to see if i agreed with the statement

You're right, as wingers go valencia and nani over silva and nasri, apologies.

And then there's the point that utd's and chelsea's wingers, and tottenham's fullbacks, are below standard for clubs of that level/aspiration

― CH3C(O)N(CH3)2 (darraghmac), Thursday, 28 July 2011 18:30 (6 minutes ago)

then the standard has been lowered

Whatever dude. Nani was in a class of his own in terms of wing play last season xxpost

dunno has the standard been lowered but i rescind the point about utd's wingers, and submit that chelsea's lack of width would be commonly pointed out as a major failing

Valencia has fucked up his ankle again anyway, not that he was ever all that. Malouda's still really good.

Malouda was pretty underwhelming last year from what i saw of him. Valencia has his limits but he was pretty damn good in the one full season he's had at Utd. Sad that he's injured again.

kun put on his twitter that he's had no interviews since getting to engerland. so some cunt just made all that up, which is quite amusing really, in a way.

was it johann hari's byline?

Yeah if nothing else with 'one leg bent round the other so that you smack the ball into the net with your wrong foot' is a dead giveaway - I'm sure Aguero would know the word rabona, which is Spanish and was first used in Argentina.

i thought of one- veron

Robinho. There's a pattern here.

tbph never really figured robinho to be all that myself

Were Zola, Gullit, and Vialli all well on the downslide when they came here?

thought to be (wrongly), yeah, yeah

But yeah Veron a good shout. He's a fucking great player and youse are all idiots.

What if City had managed to spend that £90m on kaka?

veron was a fucking great player, i think i'd forgotten how good when he moved to ynahtid

probably about the same level as aguero

Close call that. Like Barca missing out on Beckham and settling for Ronaldinho(if that's what happened)
xp to ismael

Eventually one of these great players will have a reasonable career in England.

Tevez, though he's done everything possible to obscure the fact.

first time the epl has bought a legit world superstar?

― CH3C(O)N(CH3)2 (darraghmac), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 22:43 (2 days ago)

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2009/5/25/1243266973958/Juan-Sebastian-Veron-Manc-001.jpg

Overmars, Kluivert, Shevchenko, Gullit, Yaya, Barthez all CL winning superstars. Klinsmann, Robinho and Silva had played in a WC winning team, Gullit/Klinsmann/Pires/Silva/Schmiechal in a Euro winning team. Shevchenko had won Ballon D'Or. Ok he didn't have a great season before he left AC but it was still Shevchenko and people were still going ape shit. Also Crespo and Ballack not to be frowned upon. Most of these names didn't have great times in the Premiership, and may actually be a large part of the 'foreigners don't adapt well' myth but they were all legit world superstars.

But yeah super excited to watch this dude. Shame he had to go to a Mancini side but when he is fired in November and they hopefully get a manager whose tactics are worth watching, a team with him as the spearhead has real potential.

Sorry Barthez (and Blanc! and Desially! and Thierry I guess) won the World Cup, not the CL. Although Desailly may have, I think! And Wiltord also won the Euro before being signed and although he came with a big reputation, wasn't a legit star. (See also: Malouda.)

crespo and ballack better at time of move and bigger names than probably all of yr other entries there, tbh, save maybe jurgen.

The others were either past it, not there yet, or decidedly unglamourous/bit-part names in high-achieving teams.

I mean, wiltord? Schmeichel? You can't make a serious parallel here.

I think what Aguero is saying upthread is "I like to mix it up, I like to do stuff".

haha Can see the headline now "KUN SMANGS IT!!"

de jong, kompany, and micah richards(!) apparently not happy about Kun's contract. maybe this team will collapse before they even play a game.

Good luck any of 'em matching their current contracts elsewhere. Off you go.

amen

Valencia is apparently going to be fit for the start of the season btw. Which is nice

De Jong, a star performer in manager Roberto Mancini’s midfield last season alongside Yaya Toure, who earns £200,000 a week, was believed to have been offered £80,000 a week.

Kompany and Richards also feel undervalued by their big-spending club.

Richards has been offered a five-year deal worth £65,000 a week while Kompany has been told to expect a four-year deal worth £80,000 a week. However, the pair are mulling over the offers.

richards and de jong are cunts but kompany is probably the second or third best cb in the league

Micah Richards is basically kept around as some link-to-the-past John Prescott figure by now isn't he?

agreed, at citeh he's prob undervalued at less than 100k, i like the other two but at that money they're doing well.

the best foreign player to arrive in england....none of bergkamp, henry, c ronaldo, rvn, drogba, torres etc were this good when they were sold to english sides

― MY WEEDS STRONG BLUD.mp3 (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 22:28 (2 years ago)

ozil is probably at a slightly higher level now than aguero was when he joined city, but only because he is two years older

rn they are at about the same level

He hasn't had quite the impact on the epl like those players you mention did. There's time yet though.

none of those were as good as aguero at 25, except ronaldo who had left england at that point

thierry henry going into 02/03 was probably about the same

aguero forcing his way past big defenders is one of the great sights of the epl

Aguero tore EPL defences to pieces and won City the title two years ago. His lack of impact last season was mostly down to injury and Mancini being a cretin. He's on nine goals this season. Only Suarez is more dangerous right now.

aguero is a better player than suarez

he should be the best player in the epl and he needs to show it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X18CVpTbuRU

at 19 he was better than every current player apart from messi

also worth watching those highlights for ronaldinho's last moment of glory at barcelona

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0KUOeCCYAAQgq8.png

http://i.imgur.com/W7axafQ.jpg

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his average goals/min is comfortably the best since the epl began despite him suffering from recurrent hamstring injuries for most of that time

neat summary of epl 2k11, latin prodge escorted by bluetoothed UAE securigoons through sea of dickensian scamps while tubby fanboy reaches out yet can't bring himself to confirm that the apparition has assumed corporeality

― MY WEEDS STRONG BLUD.mp3 (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 23:04 (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

miss this guy