Pata

Quite excited about this Inter-River Plate match.

Not like he has ever had many options to change the team though due to injuries and general lack of quality squad. IMO adding good reliable depth to the squad is probably even more important than adding starters due to the drop off in quality to the next player in most positions. We are probably playing at least 8-10 extra games compared to last season and right now we have two good options only at LCB, LW and RB (and Trippier is ancient).

Just saw that amazing goal he scored on the second half too.

Proud to have seen Shefki Kuqi wearing the NUFC shirt.

That's class by Suarez.

Flip thinks a Brazilian was fouled, mild shock.

What a boring half of football that was.

I don’t believe it comes down to us deciding now is the time to sell him. More down to him deciding he wants to join one of the mega clubs like Barca, Real Madrid, Bayern or PSG and no one can blame him when it happens. And there’s really nothing we can do about it, much bigger and successful clubs than us have been used as a stepping stone to Real or Barca. He’s not going this summer but we need a really good next season to still keep him. That would also very likely mean that he’s had another amazing season. I don’t see him signing a new contract without a realistic release clause but luckily we are still in a good position with three years left on his current deal.

Obviously we should never sell a player like Isak but he has almost become too good for us. Top 3 striker in the world should be playing in a team challenging for the CL trophy every season and earn much more than we could ever pay in the near future. I'm absolutely certain that he isn't going anywhere this summer but it's a different story next summer. There are maybe five teams in the world who could sign him and those clubs have massive pull even when Isak loves NUFC and Newcastle. Not really worried about PL teams buying him but Barca especially must be looking at him with Lewa's age, hope their finances are still a mess. PSG and Bayern are a bit scary too, PSG don't really have a striker and Kane is getting older too.

Assist and a decent freekick attempt.

IMO we need a RW no matter what Osula is seen as.

Subbed on at 55 minutes against Finland. Edit. Seems to play as RW.

Wouldn't surprise me if Saudi Arabia had an agreement with FIFA to help with the looming CWC if needed when they were given the WC.

Why was Eales a shit hire?

Nah, there's a big difference in scoring 20 with no penalties and 20 with half of them being penalties.

Went to check Palmeiras' team ahead of the Porto match and got excited when I saw an 18 year old RW valued at 60m. Then I noticed Chelsea have already bought him.

Also the time of day, midday game on a scorching hot sun on an open stadium is basically non-existent in Europe.

Strong flashbacks to WC94 which is the first major tournament I can remember from watching this.

It's certainly something that should exist but there's really no room for it in the calendar. Can't blame FIFA for trying as if it had the prestige and tradition it could be a really big event not that far below World Cup or Euros as a summer tournament. The Inter Miami debacle really didn't help either, makes mockery of this being a serious tournament. Will probably watch some games but if it was cancelled tomorrow it would be a real moment.

Not a single sprint though.

Depends a lot on where we sign them from, Isak was that but impossible with players from PL.

Inter played the last league games with basically a second team out there despite being in the hunt for the title. They might have ran out of legs but that wasn't due to lack of rotating as they were using their super deep squad in the league games.

It goes in cycles and all the players were U-21 when the qualifiers started. Surely it makes more sense to do it like this than having to drop off players from a major tournament after their birthdays?

Moving our great RB to LB so we can move our great LB to our great midfield is peak N-O.