Discussing the second legs of the quarterfinals and looking ahead to the semifinals

The Uefa Champions League is down to its last four teams.

1 from Spain: Barcelona

1 from Netherlands: Ajax

2 from England: Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool

The semifinals begin tomorrow but before we get to that, let's discuss what happened in the previous round.

Porto 1 x 4 Liverpool

Porto 1 x 6 Liverpool on aggregate.

After the first leg in England everyone more or less felt like this was a done deal and that comes with no disrespect towards the Portuguese side, considering the roster talent on each side, the level they are currently playing in and the result of the first leg this was the Reds' trip to the semifinal to lose and in a somewhat more pragmatic style of play than the one they employed last year they managed to keep Porto at bay throughout the 180 minutes, Virgil Van Dijk continues his extraordinary run of form that has turned him into undoubtedly the best defender in the world and at least to me a lock to be amongst the top 3 for the Ballon D'or award, Messi is also a lock that goes without saying, he maybe should be even a lock to win it regardless of what happens from now until the end of the season.

Getting back to both teams this seemed like Porto's ceiling and it would take something truly extraordinary for them to go through as for Liverpool accounting for every factor in play I really see them as the favourites to win the competition and also obviously favourites to beat Barcelona in the semifinals, this doesn't mean that there is too much between the two sides and beyond Messi pulling something out ofof nowhere, there's not much more to rely on for Barcelona fans, I just see Liverpool at a higher level collectively, individually it's a coinflip but for anyone that's seen both of them this year it's clear there's a gap there.


Barcelona 3 x 0 Manchester United

Barcelona 4 x 0 Manchester United on aggregate

Before we address anything I have a small rant to go on.

For anybody that follows football closely and even more for all of the Manchester United fans aren't you just sick and tired of hearing about Paul Pogba transfer rumors I mean enough either stay or ask for a transfer, this is a guy that's been there for three years and every other week we get the same stuff whether is Real Madrid, Juventus or even Barcelona is just exhausting.

When Solskjaer came in and they improved their level of performance while still maintaining a counterattacking style of play that's for those of you who said United can't be a counterattacking team because of their history all while praising the job Solskjaer had done, did you see the win at Wembley against Tottenham if that game happened with Mourinho at the helm I can already imagine the headlines and none of this is a knock on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but merely acknowledging that in the end of Mourinho's run as United manager they were a bad counterattacking team that didn't defend well nor was effective while counterattacking and with Solskjaer especially against good to great opponents they became a good or at least a better counterattacking side but getting back to Pogba well for all of his time at United the one big game against a world class opponent where he actually has shown up is the game against City at Etihad last season when United came back from behind 2 x 0 and won the game 3 x 2 delaying Manchester City's celebration of the Premier League title and that game didn't have much meaning beyond pride really. He got sent off in the first leg against PSG which meant he didn't even play in the match at Paris and he was a complete no show for both legs against Barcelona as well as the match against City in the Premier League and several others, okay I'm done.

The actual game it didn't start off in the way you'd assume given the final outcome, if United were by any means going to pull through and reach the next round they were going to have one chance, not one single goal scoring chance but one chance as in there was not much room for error and the first 15 minutes saw United with its chance to pounce on Barcelona and they didn't, the efficiency that they demonstrated at Paris didn't made the trip to Spain and in those moments where things went their way in Paris well they didn't this time, in the first act of the game Marcus Rashford on a beautiful piece of finishing hit the crossbar, De Gea killed any sort of chance they had of coming from behind by conceding that ridiculous second goal by Lionel Messi who once again put the ball in his back pocket and decided the game like he so often has done this season and in his whole career.

Barcelona advances through the quarterfinals with some questions marks and they will most definitely have to improve if they want to go through to the final but they are still Barcelona and Jurgen Klopp's side will do all but underestimate them. Just notice that even in this set of circumstances Barcelona is still widely considered to be the favourite.


Juventus 1 x 2 Ajax

Juventus 2 x 3 Ajax on Aggregate

The dutch side pull off another major upset, if you have been following my articles you know that I didn't share the opinion that Ajax beating Juve was an upset by any stretch of imagination, what they have managed to do in this season is beyond words really, they dominated matches against Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich in those encounters they've looked like the shot callers, time and time again proving people wrong, they especially in the midfield made Real Madrid and Jiventus look old, Tadic seems to have mastered the art of controlling and dribbling the ball in extremely short spaces and I'm sure you can find individual merits for each player.

Talking about Juventus especially for a moment, in the last 4 matches in the Champions League, the two against Atletico and these two against Ajax no one other than Ronaldo has scored a goal and that's concerning mostly because Dybala is completely out of sync and seems to be playing without a position at least not an effective one he just seems to be in there, Kean is still too young to carry a big part of the load, I really like Douglas Costa but he is always hurt, Bernardeschi is a fine option but not much more than that Mandzukic is getting old and if you look at the midfielders literally none of them have great finishing skills, now Juventus is still a terrific side that should be able to eliminate Ajax and this is more about praising Ajax and Erik Ten Hag than anything else but it'd be negligent on my part to not address those minor issues that the Italian side has.

One last note, despite all the quality they have presented to us in these 4 games, Ajax conceded the first goal in 3 of them including both ones at home so this is a group of players that does not get fazed by the moment even when they get knocked back.


Manchester City 4 x 3 Tottenham

Manchester City 4 x 4 Tottenham on Aggregate. Spurs go through on away goals

A night to remember at the Etihad, 4 goals in the first 10 minutes set the tempo and the rest of the match did not disappoint.

This City side showed an ability to bounce back and be resilient that we haven't seen before, conceding two goals in a span of a few minutes both on defensive blunders by one of your better defenders in Laporte  this could have easily gone sideways but right afterwards Bernardo Silva scored the fourth goal of the game and gave the Citizens some momentum and in the end despite their best efforts Tottenham go through on away goals which is to me a completely arbitrary rule that should not exist but that's a debate for another day.

It's obviously a disappointment for Guardiola and his side to once again be eliminated in the quarterfinals but to me this is the most honourable defeat out of the 3, against Monaco despite being the first year they really looked bad in the second leg and after winning the game at home 5 x 3 I expected that they'd qualify for the semifinals but a 3 x 1 caused their elimination also on away goals, last season not so much the elimination but they were embarrassed by Liverpool in the first leg and the duel was pretty much decided there. Overall they probably deserved at least as much as Tottenham to be amongst the last four, Kevin De Bruyne showed why he is one of the 10 best players in the world and Lloris once again proved just how important he can be.

A side note to think about, when Pep looked at his bench he saw Stones, Fernandinho, Sané, Mahrez, Jesus and when Pochettino looked at his bench Llorente was his best option to replace an injured Sissoko unless he wanted to put Skipp in a baptism by fire that gives you an idea of the difference in terms of investment on both sides.

As for the matches against Ajax, Harry Kane will surely be missed and Son being out for the first leg will also hurt Tottenham chances but given what we have seen so far this is as much of a coinflip as it can be, maybe just a slight 52-48 % chance in favor of Ajax strictly because of the aforementioned absences, but what levels the playing field to me is that I see room for improvement in terms of what they performed so far in the Champions League for Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, especially the latter which would give Spurs a huge boost where as for Ajax this is pretty much their ceiling nonetheless it is a very high one.

The fact is we are in for two great matchups that I can't wait to watch.

See you all for the next article debating the first leg matches.

Spread the word, comment, share your opinion let's get some discussions going.

Reviewing the first leg of this year's Uefa Champions League Quarterfinals

The second leg of this year's Uefa Champions League Quarterfinals are fast approaching and I'm here to breakdown and discuss all four matches that occurred last week for the first leg.

Liverpool 2 x 0 Porto

The result that all home teams seek, a 2-0 win at home is a realistic objective for any side that's remotely competitive in comparison to their opponent and it's practically irreversible mainly because of the away goal rule, not to say that Liverpool was by any means desperate to get a good result at home fearing Porto's strength at home after all they won there 5-0 last year, but the reason why a comfortable win was so important was the encounter Liverpool had against Chelsea yesterday.

The Reds are in a title race for the history books, two teams with outstanding campaigns fighting toe to toe for the right to call themselves Premier League Champions and to call the match against Chelsea this weekend a crucial one is an understatement, given what happened a few years back in a very similar situation against this same Chelsea side well they needed all of their strength and knowing the Champions League duel is pretty much done well it definitely helps.

Now talking especifically about the game itself as far as the result it was pretty much what we expected, a comfortable Liverpool win but there were some shaky moments after that second goal when Porto could've easily and probably should've scored, Moussa Marega had three very real goal scoring chances and on most days he puts at least one of them in the back of the net. To be fair Mo Salah missed a goal that you just can't and Liverpool created chances to score a third, maybe a fourth goal.

In the end the big takeaway from the game was that the back five that Sergio Conceiçāo prepared for the game didn't really achieve what it set out to, denying space for Liverpool's fast paced line of attack, Corona and Telles didn't produce much offensively and overall you get the feeling that this is quite certainly Porto's ceiling and it would take something way, way out of the ordinary for them to go through unlike any of the other three matchups, at least in my opinion.


Tottenham 1 x 0 Manchester City

The first Uefa Champions League match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a very big one, an encounter that put together the only two teams left in the competition that have yet to win it.

On one side Pochettino's Spurs that despite all the compliments it has received there's always the no titles dig by some pundits.

On the other side Guardiola's side the best team in the world since the beggining of his second year in charge, breaking all sorts of records but there's always the no Champions League success dig from the same pundits and some also point out that he only won the top club competition in the world with Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

No matter what, one of this morronic narratives will manage to go on for another year and that's a shame but at the same time those who agree with such notion will manage to find another absurd theory support.

The match itself was a very intense one with both teams taking turns at pressing the opponent and trying to force a mistake, both teams did a good job especially Tottenham taking into account City's ability to create opportunities at limiting the opposition's chances, there weren't many clear ones.

City controlled time of possession like it was expected but Gundogan and David Silva didn't really perform like they can which handcuffed the Citzens in terms of getting inside the box, especially with David Silva who has mastered that skill, the German midfielder actually plays more in a creative role and doesn't get inside the box as much as he once did. Aguero obviously missed the penalty and really was a non factor in the game, Mahrez had a bad game and Sterling was the only one who actually produced something which is really not a surprise, he elevated his game to another level this year.

Also don't be quick to dismiss or underestimate the fact that Bernardo Silva was out and De Bruyne hasn't really been on the field this entire seadon, subbing him in alongside Sane with 88 minutes already played was a bad move by Guardiola but overall this wasn't your classical "fiasco" by a rich team with no traditions a la PSG against United or Barcelona, this looked more like a team more pragmatic than usual conceding a goal on a defensive blunder and being really self aware as to what they can do at Etihad.

Obviously they wanted to win and Tottenham did a great job at keeping City in check but without Kane at Manchester, the Citzens are still favorites to go through and what that means is that it will take something surprising in the second leg for them to be eliminated, granted the away goal gives Tottenham the ability to lose 2x1 or 3x2 which keeps things even more interesting but like I said City are still the favorites just not by much.

Looking ahead to the second leg something to look out for is how will Guardiola handle the fact that in some way not conceding a goal is even more important than scoring one, 0x0 keeps City closer to advancing than 1x1 or 2x2. A wide open game with lots of chances is definitely not what City wants, 1 goal by Tottenham forces City to score 3 which needless to say it is a tough task.


Manchester United 0x1 Barcelona

A surprising game with an unsurprising result, anyone would agree that this result is a normal one but on the pitch in the 90 somewhat minutes of game time the one goal Barcelona scored an own goal was pretty much all that they produced offensively, at one point in the second half  attempts were 8 to 2 in favour of United, don't get me wrong Manchester United didn't exactly overwhelmed anyone but the way they contained Messi and the whole attack was quite remarkable.

For all the talk about Pogba he has to show up more often in these big games he really was the low point for me when it comes to expectations being met, even Messi that wasn't at his best was the know responsible for the cross to Suarez that resulted in the game's only goal.

I expect more offensively from both teams at the Camp Nou and Barcelona must be careful and unafraid to be pragmatic. The only way if not the likely way that Manchester United manages to pull off another upset is by catching Barcelona off guard running behind their defenders with Rashford and Lukaku maybe Martial, it's hard to see them patiently creating chances, Valverde side must be clinical in their finishing unlike PSG and the best thing they can do for periods of  the match is to give Man United the ball and say hurt me with ball possession, Solskjaer's side is one likes counterattacking and cab struggle against teams that give them the ball. I don't expect given the talent level of both teams the culture of Barcelona and all that comes with it that they will just sit back and defend but that might not be the worst thing in certain periods of the game.

Any win is enough for United to go through. Ox1 takes us to Extra Time so this is far from over, but clearly Barcelona are still the odds on favorites to go through.


Ajax 1x1 Juventus

The match that I personally looked forward the most to, not only is Ajax the most fun team to watch right now in the world but they are going up against Juventus, a team that with Allegri in charge can behave differently depending upon what the match calls for and obviously they have Cristiano Ronaldo which proved once again to be critical to their result, beyond his goal all that Juventus created was a Bernardeschi shot that was close enough to be dangerous and Douglas Costa showing his skill in a 1 v 1 situation leaving the Ajax defender and finishing with the ball on the post, beyond that there wasn't much. This was a Dutch side that dominated the game, in possession, in attempts, attempts on target, quite literally anything had it not been for the heroic performance of Szczesny this could have been far worse

This Ajax side can play with anybody, they have proven that time and time again, Tadic's skill in short spaces seems out of this world, Ziyech and Neres are both playing extremely well, Van De Been seems to be everywhere all the time and De Jong what is there to say about this class act of a midfielder, we all know it won't happen but to imagine this team sticking together for like the next 5 years, wouldn't that be something.

Juventus need to contain this Ajax attack more efficiently and like City they must and probably will try to keep this from being a back and forth shootout because that's just not good for them, I don't see this being a 0-0 affair so I think in order to go through Juventus must win the match, which is certainly doable given their quality but I really don't see a favorite here. It's as close as they come and although I will be all but surprised with a 2x1 win from Juve, a couple of goals from Ronaldo but if I had to bet I'd say Ajax go through.

This is all I have for right now, the review of the four games alongside a preview of what's to come in the semifinals will come soon so stay tuned, help spread the word and let me know what you think in the comment section, I'd really like to discuss my thoughts with you guys especially if you disagree with me.

Till the next time.

Champions League Quarterfinals are Here!

Today we are here to talk about the Uefa Champions League's Quarterfinals, it has been a week since the matchups have been defined and as it would have been regardless of who plays whom we are in for 4 great football games.

PS: It's really a shame that we only get to watch 2 of them live, given that they will be played simultaneously, 2 on a Tuesday and the other 2 on a Wednesday.

These are the four duels we'll get in the 18/19 edition of the Uefa Champions League:

Tottenham Hotspur x Manchester City

Liverpool x Porto

Ajax x Juventus

Manchester United x Barcelona

This is a very odd season, for a a while now it has been pretty much a consensus that there's no big favourite that stands out ahead of the pack and thinking about it that does make sense but here is a counterpoint.

In the last decade or so the Champions League has been dominated by three teams:

Bayern Munich of Robben and Robert.

Barcelona of Messi.

Real Madrid of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Obviously we saw other teams shine in the competition, Internazionale won it during that time span but they have been a non factor for a while, only this year that they got back into playing among Europe's best.

Chelsea also won it, but they should've won it in any other of half a dozen years when they were significantly better structured, more prepared and it didn't happen, so there are other factors that played a role in that season.

More recently Juventus and Atletico Madrid have been to a couple of finals each, but both failed to beat Barcelona once and Real Madrid three times, so there's always a little bit of skepticism in their ability to go all the way, whether that's a correct perception or not it's another subject.

Think about those three teams and consider that Ronaldo left Madrid and even before they were categorically defeated by Ajax at the Bernabeu, there wasn't a lot of belief that this Real Madrid team could go all the way and the little belief that there was only existed because it's Real Madrid and in an era of great success in the Biggest stage.

Let us not forget that Los Galacticos n this century for a while seemed to always be defeated in the Round of 16, that side didn't have what this one now has, the public belief that no matter what they'll go through and at least be a factor until the very end. With this in mind Real Madrid were never the big favourites this season.

Bayern is enduring the end of an era, a side with aging stars on the decline, Robben and Robert stand out, although Hummels, Boateng, Muller and Neuer are all Declining, thus not playing at a level they once did, which is odd to say the least, taking into account their age.

Bayern with the signings of Pavard and Hernandez (coming next summer) are in the process of replacing or at least trying to replace some major pieces that were cornerstones for a team that was virtually a lock for the Uefa Champions League semifinal on a yearly basis for practically a decade, a bit of a stretch but you know what I mean, a team that probably  should've won more and only didn't because they happened to face two of the 5 greatest players ever and that is undisputable.

Then again they lost two Champions League finals and neither one involved Messi nor Ronaldo, surely that final at home against Chelsea must  be looked at, as the one that got away.

Even with the tradition and blackness of a clear cut favorite, Bayern never threatenwd to take that position.

Barcelona remains the strongest of the three this year, now that's obvious given that the other two were eliminated, but even before the round of 16 began that was clear, Why you ask?

Because they still have Messi at top form unlike Real who sold Ronaldo and Bayern that's seen its stars decline.

Because despite a significantly worse performance as a unit from what they once were, Messi seems to always decide games in which they've been outplayed and although Xavi and Iniesta are both gone, individually this roster is not worse than those from the Guardiola days at least not significantly worse, some key players like Dani Alves for instance are very much missed but Rakitic to me is a underrated players, Arthur seems to be made in a Lab to emulate Xavi and you undoubtedly have more offensive firepower.

A third reason that's probably more or as important as any is that regardless of how that team compares to the one from a few years back, this team in terms of individual talent is as good as any in the world, you could make an argument that with the presence of Messi that they are the best, and the Messi factor can level the playing field when comparing Barcelona to teams that are better trained, tactically better thus performing at a higher level as a unit, like Manchester City or even Liverpool as an example.

Lastly we have Madrid that especially with Zidane at the helm seemed to always elevate their level of play (which probably was never the highest or as high as it could be) in the big games, it's not that they were often mediocre and happened to win the Champions League three times in a row, there were some great moments especially in that second year but they didn't dominate as often as one would think for a team that accomplished so much, and as we saw this year you can only elude defeat so many times until it catches up to you, clearly there were other factors that played a role in that elimination, no Ronaldo, an even more inconsistent side but you can't deny any of them.

Considering all of that it was and it is clear that this year's edition was about as wide open as it could be, and with the Quarterfinals set, we see something very interesting.

All four matchups have clear favourites that can be identified by anyone, not all will agree but the consensus is that if Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City and Liverpool go through to the semifinals it will surprise no one, but...

Looking at each game individually you'll see that a lot can happen.

Manchester City vs Tottenham

We had almost this exact scenario last year, Manchester City with an outstanding campaign in the Premier League, already champion of the Carabao Cup facing an opponent from England with a smaller budget, out of the title race, coming with a manager that's been there a while but hasn't won a title, fighting for a top four finish in the Premier League, a significant difference is that City had already won the   League by this time last year, unlike the current season where they are fighting head to head with Liverpool for the title.

Now most of those facts do not play a role in the duel and can be looked at as coincidence, but one cannot overlook the fact that Tottenham despite what they spend can beat any team any time, a big problem that's cost them a Premier League title in the past is that they can be inconsistent and endure too many ups and downs. One of the keys to the game for me at least is can Mauricio Pochettino come up with a gameplan that disrupts City's tempo, it's obvious that Guardiola's side will dominate time of possession and I don't see Tottenham beating them with 2 banks of four, always compacted, looking for one ball, maybe a set piece and then playing the second leg not to lose, they are not equipped that way and I don't see it working, to beat them I believe they will have to look for periods in the match to beat them in intensity and catch them off guard, if they can do that we'll be in for a great game.

Manchester United x Barcelona

Out of all the four matchups this is the only one where we see two teams with equal conditions, two European giants with massive budgets, surely you could make an argument that Barcelona is better but it's nothing alarming and the problem with Man United was never individual quality, putting Messi aside (like that's possible) they stand in the same level as Barcelona. Solskjaer has repeatedly exceeded everyone's expectation, how much of that is linked to the psychological side and how much to the tactical side won't become clear until later on.

It's true that United has declined in the recent games both in performance and result, the only victory since that night in Paris has been a 2-1 win against a Watford that impressed no one, but to keep up the level Solskjaer established when he first got in there was an impossible task, at least for the time being.

I certainly can't and will not argue that this is a 50/50 duel but putting United at 4 to 1 odds as I have seen in a lot of places well that's pushing it.

How many times has Lionel Messi bailed out Barcelona when they had subpar performances, they have a comfortable lead in LaLiga but that's a testament to the lack of another real contender for the title this season as much as anything else, obviously the fact that he has done that so many times means he can do that again but for a team who relies on one man so often due to its inability to perform well as an unit playing against an United side that for all it's issues can be deadly on the counter I just don't see a justification for such a large favoritism.

A lot of people think United is going to sit back and try to absorb pressure as much as possible and rely on quick transitioning to catch Valverde's side off guard and I can see some of that for parts of this encounter but regardless of Barcelona's struggle against that type of opposition if United plays like they did in Paris it will be ugly, especially until Dalot came in and moved Young into what became a back 3, yes they sat back and gave PSG the ball but the key is they were extremely passive, they left a lot of space, PSG just failed to convert chances time and time again, with the quality in the midfield that Barcelona has I don't see that happening.

Solskjaer can do one of two things. He can either sit back as he did but with a much more aggressive posture one that doesn't give the opposition as much space and really do a better overall job at closing the holes and denying chances or he can bw bold pressing Barcelona and occupying the final third of the field at least for periods within the match. We'll just have to wait and see.

As it is with all four games there is a obvious favorite but whatever happens I see this being a close game over the 180 minutes.

Liverpool x Porto

Here we have a repeat of last year's round of 16 encounter one that was decided pretty quickly when the Reds came in and scored 5 at Porto on a 5-0 win, that's a longshot to happen again, yes overall Liverpool is a better side but that clearly was one of those games where the weaker side is keeping it close and thus maintaining itself in the game but once the opposition manages to break through and score the first, the other team then must change it's position which opens up more space for the team ahead to explore and it just piles on from there but when you look back the play over the 90 minutes it doesn't necessarily reflect what you saw on the field.

I really see Liverpool amongst the favorites to win this Champions League, behind no one really and their display against Bayern only helped solidify that theory, they won comfortably without being brilliant in that sense they sort of reminded me of Real Madrid in these last few years.

For Porto the key really is do not give Liverpool's attacking three room to run, make them create chances from the midfield and do it marking Firmino very tightly he is their most creative player probably in terms of finding passes and creating chances, try and take advantage of the attacking fullbacks that the Reds have, staying away from Van Dijk (easily the best defender in the world right now)

They really have no better option than dropping back and leaving Liverpool as little room to run as possible.

Overall given what Ajax have already proven that they can do against both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in this Uefa Champions League edition I see this rematch of last season as the one with the greatest difference between the odds on both sides.

Juventus x Ajax

This could easily be considered the most interesting matchup of the four especially from a tactical point of view, how will Ajax play, will they keep the same level of boldness, try and be a little more pragmatic, how will Allegri prepare Juve, we all have a general idea of what both teams will try to do but how well they do it will affect a lot of what comes after, whether it's the first 15 minutes, first half or the first game, the adjustments will definitely come.

Whether Ronaldo will even play or not we don't know, a lot of that I think comes from the fact they are playing Ajax not Barcelona maybe that isn't the case, but I really doubt that. Weather it is wise or not we don't know, ask Sergio Ramos he went through a very similar situation but that's a topic for another day.

There are a lot of battles within the war that we can discuss like how will David Neres try to explore the hole left behind by Cancelo that likes to go forward a lot will the Portuguese fullback even start is Tadic going to produce at the same level playing as the false 9 dropping back behind the defensive midfielders, Pjanic and De Jong both control the pace of their team they are the thermometers if you like that sort of thing, how will they be marked, who's gonna get more space to work with, if Blind plays as a centre back will Ronaldo or Mandzukic position themselves behind him in on crosses through the area to try and produce headers on his back, something Juve is known for doing. Both representing different alternatives are Dolberg and Dybala bound to get in on the action and play key parts in this showdown involving two former winners of the Champions League.

Given Ajax style of play and the record Juventus has in the last few years regardless of who wins the first leg this won't be decided until the end of the match in Turin.

For now that is all I hope you all enjoyed this article, I will see you soon with reviews of each match and what to expect for the second leg.

If you enjoyed what you saw, spread the word, also I encourage everyone to interact and communicate with me, comment, leave your opinion and we will certainly talk about it.