The Capital One Cup thread 2013/14

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Eriksen has the most unfortunate hairline since Jonjo Shelvey.

[Nerf]

Easy to forget Eriksen's only 21 as well, he's got plenty of time to get consistent. I'd surprised if he didn't turn out as anything but incredible. It took Oscar a little while to find his feet and now he's looking phenomenal.

The problem with Eriksen is that he's suffered in the same way Rooney did. He went from being this highly touted 18-year-old wonder kid and then just... stopped developing. Of course he's still young and of course there's time to turn it around, but his tendency to go missing for long periods of time is what worried me when he was linked to Liverpool. Lamela is largely the same though he undoubtedly has all the tools to be a world-class player; the price tag was a massive risk that could backfire though. At the price you got Eriksen for though, he's a gamble worth taking, but he's just as likely to flop as he is to succeed, at least in my opinion.

Also also also, do I get a prize for talking about Spurs and not trolling?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

From reading a recent interview with Lamela I'm not worried at all about him actually. Except for the European game where he went TOTALLY missing (but then I think I would if I was thrown into the fray on a cold Thursday evening in Moldova somewhere), when he's been playing he's been solid and has been doing the simple things well. Of course you don't pay £30mil for doing the simple things well but his circumstances are understandable and by the end of the season I think we'll have seen some magical moments from him.

Eriksen suffers a little (from Tottenham player perspective) from Tom Huddlestone / Robbie Keane syndrome. Namely, he's got great vision and a very good eye for the game. He can get into great positions (Keane) and make excellent passes (Huddlestone) but, like both players, such vision can be quite speculative, can break down as often as it works and then is left looking a bit rubbish when it goes wrong. No doubt leading to that idea of inconsistency. I think his brain is clever, perhaps TOO clever for his ability and of how things are changing around him so we shall see. Maybe he would thrive hugely in a league where you have a little more time on the ball....Maybe Spain perhaps. Having said that, he's shown enough little touches and passes to show that if he gets up to speed then he'll be great.

[Nerf]

From reading a recent interview with Lamela I'm not worried at all about him actually. Except for the European game where he went TOTALLY missing (but then I think I would if I was thrown into the fray on a cold Thursday evening in Moldova somewhere), when he's been playing he's been solid and has been doing the simple things well. Of course you don't pay £30mil for doing the simple things well but his circumstances are understandable and by the end of the season I think we'll have seen some magical moments from him.

Eriksen suffers a little (from Tottenham player perspective) from Tom Huddlestone / Robbie Keane syndrome. Namely, he's got great vision and a very good eye for the game. He can get into great positions (Keane) and make excellent passes (Huddlestone) but, like both players, such vision can be quite speculative, can break down as often as it works and then is left looking a bit rubbish when it goes wrong. No doubt leading to that idea of inconsistency. I think his brain is clever, perhaps TOO clever for his ability and of how things are changing around him so we shall see. Maybe he would thrive hugely in a league where you have a little more time on the ball....Maybe Spain perhaps. Having said that, he's shown enough little touches and passes to show that if he gets up to speed then he'll be great.

Attackers can't get more time on the ball than they do in the Eredivisie

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Which is probably why he got early hype, before opponents learnt how to defend against him I'd imagine.

[GoGo Yubari]

and by the end of the season I think we'll have seen some magical moments from him.

He already has at least one, IMO. The assist to Paulinho's late winner vs. Cardiff was great.

[Jimmy]

Eriksen got like 17 assists last year in that division, which is an impressive amount

[METALMAN]

The problem with Eriksen is that he's suffered in the same way Rooney did. He went from being this highly touted 18-year-old wonder kid and then just... stopped developing.

Do you really think Rooney is that bad? I think he has improved dramatically since he joined Man Utd, especially after Ronaldo left. Of course, he has his lapses of form, but every player does. It's just that everyone jumps on Rooney when he's not doing so well.

[Baddar]

Rooney stopped developing after he turned 18?

[Jimmy]

and by the end of the season I think we'll have seen some magical moments from him.

He already has at least one, IMO. The assist to Paulinho's late winner vs. Cardiff was great.

Yeah, that was special. We should've given him a run in the squad after that, would've been perfect to build on.

[Nerf]

That's not what I said.

[Colly]

Isn't it?

[Lineker]

The goal decision system will be used in domestic cup football for the first time starting from the Capital One Cup quarter finals.

Obviously only in stadiums that have the technology installed, obviously.

[Berober]

Obviously.

[stokeriño]

Leicester v Man City

Sunderland v Chelsea

Stoke v Man United

Tottenham v West Ham

So...is anyone expecting anything *other* than wins for City, United, Spurs and Chelsea this week?

Annoyingly Sunderland are the ones I see most likely to cause an upset. I might have pegged Spurs to lose were they not playing West Ham, who are just so utterly terrible.

[Berober]

I went to the Fulham game at Leicester the round before, and if I wasn't going home today I'd have loved to go to this one. Well, I can still hope Leicester stuff Man City!

[stokeriño]

Sunderland: Mannone, Celustka, Dossena, O'Shea ©, Brown, Cattermole, Larsson, Gardner, Johnson, Giaccherini, Altidore.

Subs: Bardsley, Ki, Cabral, Roberge, Borini, Mavrias, Dixon

Chelsea: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole, Mikel, Lampard ©, De Bruyne, Willian, Schurrle, Eto'o

Subs: Blackman, Terry, Essien, Oscar, Hazard, Ba, Torres

Will be interesting to see if KDB manages a better showing than, for example, when he started against Swindon. Schurrle to score!

[Baddar]

I fully expect Chelsea to maul Sunderland tonight, but I'll watch it anyway.

[stokeriño]

Half-time. Well that was generally a whole lot of Not Very Much.

[Baddar]

I can't work out if half of the crowd left through boredom or just weren't there in the first place.