RedBullDelfouneso

Looked like he was lacking sharpness. Give him a chance ffs!

Excellent first half, disappeared second half (with the rest of the team).

I was in the stadium today and the home fans were all talking about him at half time. In a better team he'll be fantastic.

He has binned the hair it seems...gone for all black and short for Nike's new 'Hypervenom' boot launch. Clearly he reads VillaTalk...

Rumours are saying that he's actually cost Barca nearer £60m with signing on fees etc. 

With Falcao going to Monaco, La Liga is looking like even more of the two-horse race next year (unless Atletico reinvest that £50m very wisely).

Ridiculous poll. He's neither the new Ronaldo, Messi, Bosko Balaban or Emile Heskey. He's a distinct and marvelous individual talent, who could potentially be a successful signing for Barcelona. Only time will tell how good he will be in Europe.

just a bit of fun, it's not going to be handed to him on arrival at Barcelona airport...

He was due to stay until after the World Cup, but as his contract expires then (July 2014) he would have been eligible to leave on a free transfer, which Santos couldn't afford. Therefore, they had to cash in on him now.

The transfer is said to be around £23m with another £7m add-ons if (/when) he wins the Champions League.

Agree that he hasn't yet done it internationally, but then again Brazil as a whole have hardly lit up the World for the past 5 years.

Also have to agree that Lucas Moura is a great prospect, perhaps more ready-made to slot into European football, but I think Neymar has the great eventual potential...

I guess at Barcelona he can't be that bad. A return of less than 20 goals next season would probably be deemed a poor return. For the money, and if you consider what Zenit/Monaco/Anzhi have spent on much worse players recently (£45m for James Rodriguez??) then it's great business for Barcelona.

The marketing return will probably pay for itself...

There's a lot of debate over Neymar, and whether he'll be a success at Barcelona or not. 

If you're not familiar with how good he is (or even if you think you are), take a look at this:
http://soccersagacity.com/2013/05/26/neymar-barcelonas-new-superstar-2/

Technically gifted, arrogant, selfish...a number of good and bad traits. No doubt, he is a talent.

I think Villanova needs to use Messi as a mentor, so that Neymar learns how to mix his individual brilliance with team work ethic. It's about the right skills at the right time.

Full debate here on whether or not he'll succeed at Barcelona:

http://soccersagacity.com/2013/05/26/barcelona-gamble-on-superstar-neymar/

Actually, he did come up against Valencia or NANI or someone else at man u.... Then he did not bomb forward, but stayed calm and did well. That was his first start for the team. I am sorry that I don't think he did too badly, but why was he isolated one on one against puncheon? Where was the support? You don't need to be world class to get past any man when you are at full speed one on one against him with nobody in support.

Why are you so annoyed I have another opinion than you? Are you the opinion master?

I am the opinion master.

You're right, your opinion is just as valid as mine. Apologies.

Not that they ever actually together in that combo, of course. Barry was gone before Downing showed up.

Yeah but you know what I mean

Don't be rude. I know my football. Stevens was either told to go forward or stay back. He obviously went forward well, so i guess he would have been subbed if Lambert did not want him to do that. You guys overreact like someone got murdered. He did a good job, especially in the second half. If the whole team defended well, he would not have been exposed like he did. Maybe you should take a lesson in football tactics.

I'm trying really hard not to bite...but you did me with that last line.

"Overreact like someone got murdered" - right, I mean...an honest assessment of a player's inept performance is very similar to how I'd behave had I witnessed a murder, clearly.

Saying he played well - I strongly disagree. You seem to be satisfied that running forward regularly makes a good performance. I'm not knocking the lad's stamina, just his footballing ability. He was exposed because he is a poor player, plain and simple. When Puncheon isolates him one-on-one, that is not the team performing badly and defending poorly as you implied, that is Lambert's lack of tactical nous putting a slow, inexperienced full back against a winger like that. And Puncheon is hardly Cristiano Ronaldo is he!

If Stevens comes up against Hazard, Silva, Valencia, Walcott or Bale I think he might end up with his legs around his neck and his head buried deep inside his rectum.

Glad you're satisfied with his performance though.

Well, i thought he did well enough. We also had 4 strikers in the second half, and fullbacks are meant to go forward and central midfielders are meant to cover them. When there is no cover and no winger, you can hardly blame the fullback for it. I think you guys are asking for a Roberto Carlos, but unfortunaltely he wont come.

I'm thinking particularly of the first half, when Puncheon ripped him apart. I was sat L5 and was about 5m from him as he backed off continuously, allowing Puncheon/Lambert/Rodriguez turn him inside and out and get a shot/cross away.

Also, if there is no cover then it is the full back's responsibility to defend first and foremost, not bomb on and then when they get exposed say "well there was no winger to cover me". That's called having a tactical football brain.

I'm sorry for being so forceful in my opinion but if you think Stevens did well against Southampton then you must know very little about football

Bennett's performance against League Two Bradford City was far, far worse than Enda Stevens' performance against Southampton.

Unfortunately, this is literally impossible

well between him Bennett and Lichaj he has looked the stronger defensively. Which doesnt say much

Lichaj is better at LB.

Bennett and Stevens should not play in the first team again this season, there has to be a better alternative. I'd just play Benteke there and pump him full of steriods and caffeine so he tears the winger a new ar5ehole every time he touches the ball, that should do it...

Sissoko, Sinclair, Lescott, Cahill and Olsen? I can't see us sigining any of them

Olsson is achievable but no idea if he's on PL's radar.

Think Cahill loan would be excellent business, as would Sinclair if we don't have to pay big wage contribution.

Lescott looks unlikely now, and Sissoko...well who knows.

I picked Sissoko as one of my 5 signings to save Villa

Would be a good signing from what I have heard/seen of him, but for me a FB and CB is higher priority as I am convinced Delph can do a job as CDM.

Overreactions. He played well enough. Had a nice shot. Went forward well in the second half.

This was as bad a defensive performance as I've seen.

'Getting forward well' is not a positive when you then don't get back quick enough, leaving us exposed to counter attacks. He is very poor in all defensive areas and needs to be loaned out to improve, he'll cost us too much in the Premier League.

I'm 25, so I've only got about 15-20 years of reference, but it's certainly the worst I've ever known.

Every time I think of a Young - Barry - Milner - Downing midfield I die a little inside...

Half decent big man? I'd say he's an absolutely brilliant "big man". The flicks, the touch, the headers that find their target 9 times out of 10. The way he can chest a ball down, any ball, floated 50 yards or smacked at his chest from 10. The little backheels and the endless running. Very good movement too, very good.

If he can ever learn to finish with any kind of regularity he's going to be world class. If he'd scored in either of those games we would all be waxing lyrical about how astonishing he is again. A little bit of luck here and there and he would have, a couple of the saves in those games were real top drawer. He also ballsed one or two up, I think he's feeling a little pressure and trying to be too cute. It's coachable, he has the technique.

I'd say luck combined with opposing skill and the occasional Heskey like fluffed chance are holding him back at the moment. He'll come good again in that regard, he just needs to keep plugging away. I remember when people used to say the same about Crouch, that he'd never be able to finish for toffee, they were wrong. He isn't HALF the player Benteke is.

I think he's great, we're lucky to have him.

Absolutely spot on. I have watched Villa with a few mates who support other teams and the only positive they ever give Villa (this season) is "that Benteke is an absolute threat" or something similar. He scares defenses.

I really think he is one of the best headers (when you factor in heading, strength, consistency of winning aerial 50:50s) that I have seen in the premier league. If you remember Drogba when he came to Chelsea, he was mocked for his inconsistency and fluffed chances. But he always had that brute strength and raw threat, which is exactly what Benteke has. Because of his size and strength, it's easy to forget that he's only 22 - give him time. If he was in a better team (i.e. Spurs) he would be shining even more brightly due to the service he'd be getting and the assists he'd be credited with from better players who would finish his knock-downs.

As the last guy said, we're lucky to have him.

It's amazing that people are slamming Benteke. Yes, his finishing was wayward in the So'ton game but all strikers suffer that occasionally, especially when they are carrying the team.

The headers he wins and his physical presence make him a real threat. If the team around him wasn't totally sh1te...

Stevens performance on Saturday was the worst individual performance I've ever seen at VP. He made Puncheon look like Ronaldo. I've never seen a kid so out his depth...and that was against Southampton.

He doesn't tackle at all, that's the problem. He stands off, stands off, stands off...then lacks the pace when the winger darts past him. He's not brave, not committed enough, can't run, can't tackle, can't head. Sorry state of affairs...

It's a really intriguing draw, no doubt! Funny to see the varying opinions on this and other message boards on who will beat who.

FWIW, I think:

CZE v POR - Portugal to win, fairly comfortably if Ronaldo is firing

GER v GRE - Germany will cruise this, they are just too good. Greece were valiant in the group stages but lack attacking strength

SPA v FRA - Expect a close game, I imagine a score draw and extra time, then it's a lottery from thereon

ENG v ITA - Another tight game, Italy will have more possession but if England score first I think we'll hold on

POR v SPA/FRA

GER v ENG

It's anyone's game at this point, one game, one moment...it can all change.

I've done a full preview here:

http://soccersagacity.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/euro-2012-quarter-final-preview/

Come on Eng-uurr-land!

Two relatively dull games today...who would have thought that Group A would provide better games than Group B (thus far)?

I'm still confident that Germany will kick on and get stronger as the tournament goes on...

I wanted to hate your blog, but I found it quite enjoyable to read. You should probably steal the format from The Guardian a little less shamelessly though.

Thanks, I think!

Any similarity with The Guardian is accidental - the look/feel is a WordPress template and any content is my own.

On the Kadlec subject, I think the Kadlec that people might have heard about is a young CF who didn't play, not the donkey LB that played last night.

Kerzakov was awful last night but I think it was just an off day, as he was Zenit's top scorer last season so probably isn't completely useless. Pavlyuchenko should start the next game though, you can't do much more than score goal-of-the-game coming off the subs bench...

Good performance from Russia today, Dzagoev predictably impressive. What a game it will be when they face Germany or Holland in the next game...

http://soccersagacity.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/euro-2012-day-one-5-things-we-learned/

Compare the mock ups to this...

I wasn't jizzing my pants when I saw the West Ham kit and I won't be over these kits either...

Am I the only one that thinks these look like West Ham shirts...?