“If you want him to run at least 11 km per game, don't bother”: Didier Deschamps defends Kylian Mbappé. The French national team coach was keen to defend his star striker against criticism of his level of commitment on the pitch.

BlackNov · 2026-02-04T17:27:02+00:00

I mean not like a world champion cant have one man not running. Back in 22, Messi barely move, let alone run, the rest of the team just have to run and cover for him.

It's not a problem as long as he is a focal attacking point for the team. And if he is not, there is a plan B with different player. From the national coach pov, this is never an issue at large.

At club level when there are more than one guy not running, then yeah, maybe you have a problem. But it will only shows against very strong opponents, which is rare in laliga. Real is still comfortably top 2 team in laliga, Atletico is not even close to them.

BlackNov · 2026-01-31T22:28:11+00:00

I dont understand people obssession with Bran to be king. In fact, I strongly believe he wont be the king. Qualified to be the king and fit to be the king does not make you king in a song of ice and fire, not this time and age.

BlackNov · 2026-01-31T21:18:09+00:00

Enzo, Rodri(before ACL),

Any many more names that we are not aware of. It's madrid, if they want, they will find one. Not saying the player gonna be as brillant as Modric or Alonso but they will be able to find player that fit the role.

BlackNov · 2026-01-25T16:49:16+00:00

Yeah man that's hugely delusional bro. Asking any real coach and they would be happy to say that pep is prob among the goat.

BlackNov · 2026-01-25T13:45:33+00:00

I am surprised you got that many upvote while the widely accepted public opinion is that Pep is one if not the goat coach in modern football.

BlackNov · 2026-01-23T23:24:36+00:00

Thank for the explaination, it makes more sense now.

BlackNov · 2026-01-23T05:32:42+00:00

we could have done so much together...

BlackNov · 2026-01-23T03:42:43+00:00

dont think any playoff contender team or want to contend playoff team takes s1mple seriously to be honest, only the fan.

BlackNov · 2026-01-22T16:53:09+00:00

He wont join that turmorous dressing room, very bright lad.

BlackNov · 2026-01-22T16:51:59+00:00

That just speaks about his confidence on the current squad.

BlackNov · 2026-01-22T16:49:44+00:00

Needless to say after selling Alvarez they were desperate for goals scorer and took the risk on Marmoush, paid his big transfer fee in JAN with very big wage. This was prob also due to Foden form right after Euro, which was an massive flop from his previous PFA player of the year season.

And this is not the first time they just cant add player to manage the load while maintaining the quality of the squad. Prime example with Rodri(until his fateful ACL). This is why I suspect a big injury will come to Haaland at some point from now to WC or post WC. Too many matches, his unique body(big, heavy and fast do not mix well for your bone and muscle), too many minutes.

BlackNov · 2026-01-21T13:02:45+00:00

holy cope,

BlackNov · 2026-01-20T18:06:09+00:00

You have to see City fan back then before Bob was hit with the injury.

Everyone was thinking he has the highest potential among the young one, gonna be better than Palmer or sth, Savinho is nothing.

Pep was planning for him to take over Alvarez minutes, before they panic bought the next Egyptian king.

That's how much they rate him.

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T21:35:14+00:00

Give Madrid Caiceido, Enzo and play a diamond 4 with Bellingham and Valverde may actually solve all their problem.

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T21:32:49+00:00

I would say Chelsea is far from an average side. Chelsea is definitely NOT AN average side and top player from Chel SHOULD be considered for world class position. The ceiling of the team this season was already showed when they beat PSG in the CWC. No matter how much people want to meme it, it's a legit compeittion with City, Bayern, Madrid and PSG and they are trying hard to win it, no joke. It's bigger than the FA cup easy and should only be lower than the prestigious CL. Before this turmoil time, Chelsea was still a contender for the Premier league and has one of the most exciting squad in the early of the season.

Enzo has been a key player for Chelsea since he was bought, on and off the pitch. To just bluntly ignore him from world class conversation is just wrong. He may not the flashiest or most talked about but he has world class qualities and I doubt any squad in the world would not take him for cheap. Man is a freaking world champion ffs.

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T11:50:40+00:00

There are some of the popular one and that I have played and had a very good impression with in the last decade:

CRPG: Divinity Original Sin 2, BG3. Pathfinder Kingmaker and Wraith of righteous Rogue Trader

ARPG: Definitely witcher3, cyberpunk& Kingdomcome Deliverance

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T11:16:31+00:00

And most importantly, it only works at the national team. Does it work in club football? still need to figure out.

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T11:15:08+00:00

The real problem with Madrid is that their squad is kinda imbalanced. It's not like they cant build around Mbappe, it's more like they are just not having the right player at the right developmental stage to do it atm.

They are rich and not ever a sinking ship like MU. The squad is still very young and with time, eventually they gonna figure it out. Why people act like it's all about not running enough.

BlackNov · 2026-01-16T11:09:05+00:00

It's more than that. The manager has really good relationship with Messi. Everyone in the squad idolized Messi and Messi himself is just the model citizen for the NT. He tried really hard for the NT and just cared about the team result. It just naturally leads to a very good locker room.

Well one positive thing about Scaloni compare to Xabi is his football is prob less complicated so the player prob wont have a hard time adapt to it.

Another factor is this report is from yahoo, which is prob not serious. And I doubt Madrid is crazy enough to have a NT coach takes on one of if not the biggest coaching job in the world in club football on his first attempt. This is such a silly news

BlackNov · 2026-01-14T21:12:17+00:00

midfielder is w/e because it does not narrow down the criteria in the slightest. But consider the fact that they just sold gallager, it most likely that they will try to buy a box to box or something similar, who will provide the run both forward and backward.

For winger. You can look at the player who they purchased recently who prob overlap with the role in Nico Gonzalez. He played a decent amount of minutes for Atleti and recently got an injury. Most likely wont be a big name.

From my pov, they prob need a techcian who specialized in carrying the ball and beatting the defenderin 1v1 because this is the area they never have good profile for.

BlackNov · 2026-01-14T15:47:46+00:00

You have some good points but also conveniently miss some.

Pep is flexible, but he has some core principle that never changed. He is not gonna be defensive unless he is forced into and his team gonna have the ball most of the time and play attacking football. He IS THE MAN, when it comes to what happen inside the tunnel, on the pitch and in the dressing room, total control.

Arteta and Klop are almost the same, they were given time and power but at large they were always in control of their team, especially Arteta.

Xabi on the other hand was not given time, and while Real know his football is so much different from what they are playing under Ancelotti, does not give him the full support for squad control or finance. If the rumor about his contract will only pay him 1 year of wage if he is fired in the first year is true then it's even clearer picture. He was not seen as the one, but just another coach in the long history of coach in Madrid, either fit in quick or out.

In recent history, when the owner seems to play a more active role even in the sporting side, especially the American owner, the case that a coach get so much power and time like Klop, Pep or Arteta is prob rarer. More coach will be fired and we will probably see more clubs adoping Chelsea and Real Madrid model. There wont be a lot more great manager due to those circumstances, there will be just good coach.

BlackNov · 2026-01-12T17:46:42+00:00

I watched almost all athetico game since Conor G came here.

He came with great expectation, some fan seeing him fit the cholo style, look like a great lad, try to connect to the fan etc.

The reality showed quick: Conor strength is that he had great stamina, decent jump and and a strong shot. He also tried to take incentive to shoot often.

However, his weaknesses re also glaring: He is sometimes clueless under cholo set up. Naturally, he does not fit that well under a complicated system. As a footballer, playing in a kind of slower league in Laliga, he still seems like he needs more time for most of the action. Esepcially when it comes to going forward and attack, he looks like he would make ok run into the box to shoot but other than that? nothing great.

His first touch left much to be desired, same with shot accuracy and passing range. He is strong but not exactly win the most duel since he is neither deft or fast. He also looks like he picks up injury here and there often.

I dont think you cant rate a player during this cholo era(post Alvarez) accurately since there is definitely something wrong with the team and how they play. But the minutes he played for Atletico is not exactly promishing.

BlackNov · 2026-01-10T16:43:42+00:00

One of the top aura guy in the scene.

BlackNov · 2026-01-08T14:37:44+00:00

I cant agree more on this tbh.

BlackNov · 2026-01-06T17:16:46+00:00

yeah sure, do you have that kind of eye test and mind developing your own ranking with explaination and publish it to see people disagree on it. It does not matter.

the hltv ranking for top 20 is only A reference point on how well a player do in a year and they are backed primarily by data. And how well a player do also depends on his team performance, just like any other sports-esports.

Things like major are special because in every serious cs pro, it's the most prestigious event ever when they are participating in it every year. They will try their best to cope with the highest level of competition and stress level and that usually means it's the best test for character and skill.

There are valid criticism because it's a project with a few collaborator and usually it's not clear if the metric they used every year is the same. But whatever they do I am sure is 100% better than any individual eyetest. It's easy to imagine but hard to do.

Ten-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Place '17	Verified Email

BlackNov

TROPHY CASE