Unbelievable

Spain score at the death.. 1-0

Norwegian 'keeper is having a blinder. Spain are doing a masterclass in football, but haven't found a way through, yet..

Holy shit

Spain go close, brilliant stuff from Isco

Spain v Norway semi final just started if anybody is after a fix of football..

That should go down well with FIFA/UEFA..

Surely England can get out of that group..

Couldn't disagree more. For their importance in the team they are actually financially underrated. It's amazing you can get a top class match decider, capable of turning losses into draws for under 10 million really. I'd wager (although I don't want to find out) that if Krul were injured all of next season, and we'd had to rely on Elliott, who is classed as a capable understudy by most on here, we'd be as good as down. Those 10-20 saves Krul would make more make all the difference in the table. Edit: you say the difference would be less than once a match between a good keeper and a decent one. That's 30 goals in the season, with it being the crucial position that it is..

Aye, I think I will be watching both simultaneously, the U21 one on the (Dutch) telly, and the Confed one on my laptop.. Mrs will be pissed..

Semi finals today. Spain v Norway at 4:30 GMT and Italy v Holland at 7:30. Should be two good matches. Hoping for a Spain v Holland final.

I'd agree with that based on admittedly little I've seen of Good. If we sell Williamson I'd hope we'd get a replacement in, especially somebody with a bit of height. To go into the season with only Saylor as a more physical centre back capable of tussling with your typical English centre forward, considering Colo, Mbiwa (?) and Perch don't seem to be this type of centre back, would be a huge mistake.

Tiote didn't have the best of season, but last season he was more than instrumental in our fifth place finish. Then again, name me a player who has played to their potential this season just past. No need to single out Tiote this much. An abomination FFS. Sissoko came here in January to a new team in a new league, grabbed us by the neck and practically saved our bacon in those first few matches. He played 11 matches in 30 days from what I've read. Fatigue was an issue towards the end of the season, but to say he can't control a football is rubbish. You also say he was constantly losing the ball, which is obviously hyperbole, but may actually be grounded in reality. I don't know the stats, but I'm pretty sure that players in more advanced positions (which is where he was played) are bound to lose the ball more. It happens to Ben Arfa as well. He tries to create yet sometimes runs into blind alleys, holds onto the ball too long or tries an adventurous pass that gets intercepted. Yet I don't see you complaining about him? In short, your opinion on our players makes you sound like a mackem. Maybe you do have spent too much time on there.. Accusing me of being a fan of an arch rival because my opinion differs from the majority? Hmm, which messageboard have I seen that on, I'll give you a hint, its mostly red. Irony. I haven't accused you of being a mackem have I, just said that you spend so much time on there (you are the poster TWD over there, are you not? If not, apologies) it seems to have affected your judgement. No I'm not, I have been on the forum a few times mostly for amusement purposes but I don't have an account on there. Anyway we are miles away from the original point, which was that a I don't think a midfield three of Sissoko, Tiote and Marveaux would be a good bet as first choice going into the season due to injury issues and form issues. If Cabaye is to leave (which I think he will) we need a replacement in a similar mould, and hopefully of the same calibre. Apologies in that case. Always assumed you were the same person.

Have to say I haven't seen that much of Westwood, but Mignolet essentially saved their bacon last season. What makes you say Westwood would be able to adequately replace him? Seen Westwood mostly for Ireland and he's competent to good but hardly outstanding and I'd say Mingolet is a good deal better but Westwood won't let them down Fair enough. They're already losing their best outfield player (Rose), so to lose their outstanding goalkeeper, who kept them up (barely) and replace from within with an inferior option seems very risky to me, especially with the number of squad permutations they already seem to be having (mostly without any experience in English football too).

Tiote didn't have the best of season, but last season he was more than instrumental in our fifth place finish. Then again, name me a player who has played to their potential this season just past. No need to single out Tiote this much. An abomination FFS. Sissoko came here in January to a new team in a new league, grabbed us by the neck and practically saved our bacon in those first few matches. He played 11 matches in 30 days from what I've read. Fatigue was an issue towards the end of the season, but to say he can't control a football is rubbish. You also say he was constantly losing the ball, which is obviously hyperbole, but may actually be grounded in reality. I don't know the stats, but I'm pretty sure that players in more advanced positions (which is where he was played) are bound to lose the ball more. It happens to Ben Arfa as well. He tries to create yet sometimes runs into blind alleys, holds onto the ball too long or tries an adventurous pass that gets intercepted. Yet I don't see you complaining about him? In short, your opinion on our players makes you sound like a mackem. Maybe you do have spent too much time on there.. Accusing me of being a fan of an arch rival because my opinion differs from the majority? Hmm, which messageboard have I seen that on, I'll give you a hint, its mostly red. Irony. I haven't accused you of being a mackem have I, just said that you spend so much time on there (you are the poster TWD over there, are you not? If not, apologies) it seems to have affected your judgement.

As for Perch, I'd prefer to see Anita, Marveaux or a fit Vuckic starting or coming on before such a limited player. Perch fits well with our manager though and in a way is a reflection of him, conservative and boring. Exactly. He's seeing more first team action than he should do, and not because better players are injured for once.

to be fair, if we could get a good price for Perch I wouldn't be against letting him go. Like Willo, he shouldn't be that hard to replace. What difference would that make? I see where you're going at, but let's assume for one second that there is actually some kind of causal relationship between our transfer income and spending. Say we got 3-4 million for Perch, and that money was reinvested in 2-3 promising youngsters like Bigi, would you really be opposed to it? As it is, Perch is often preferred in midfield to Anita and Bigi, and I don't think he should be, as I rate both these players higher. I appreciate he's a useful option to have on the bench due to his versatility and the fact he rarely lets us down, however, and would be perfectly happy to see him stay, but if he was to go (can see him wanting first team football too, at some point) and we were to reinvest the money, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

to be fair, if we could get a good price for Perch I wouldn't be against letting him go. Like Willo, he shouldn't be that hard to replace.

Tiote didn't have the best of season, but last season he was more than instrumental in our fifth place finish. Then again, name me a player who has played to their potential this season just past. No need to single out Tiote this much. An abomination FFS. Sissoko came here in January to a new team in a new league, grabbed us by the neck and practically saved our bacon in those first few matches. He played 11 matches in 30 days from what I've read. Fatigue was an issue towards the end of the season, but to say he can't control a football is rubbish. You also say he was constantly losing the ball, which is obviously hyperbole, but may actually be grounded in reality. I don't know the stats, but I'm pretty sure that players in more advanced positions (which is where he was played) are bound to lose the ball more. It happens to Ben Arfa as well. He tries to create yet sometimes runs into blind alleys, holds onto the ball too long or tries an adventurous pass that gets intercepted. Yet I don't see you complaining about him? In short, your opinion on our players makes you sound like a mackem. Maybe you do have spent too much time on there..

Tiote inept for 2 years and Sissoko can't control a football? You spend too much time on RTG TWD. Your brain is slowly but surely eroding.

Not in Monaco. Pretty clear, why everyone rich moves there. Yeah but if they are made to move their headquarters to France that will change, this is what the meeting is about I'm not a tax expert, but isn't a person's tax rate dependent on where they are resident, not where their employer's headquarter is based?

Have to say I haven't seen that much of Westwood, but Mignolet essentially saved their bacon last season. What makes you say Westwood would be able to adequately replace him?

I hope so, but even if they weren't it would still make sense to sell Williamson for a decent fee. It shouldn't be too difficult to find an upgrade/younger version with potential for the 2 million touted.

Get in, the good news keeps on coming in today.

It would be good if he started showing it on the pitch regularly if he is indeed massively underrated and a much better player as you suggest. He's played 30+ games in the last few seasons in one of the best teams going and he helped his nation win the ACoN. That's proof enough for me. He does the simple things well IMO, doesn't go round scoring screamers and getting the headlines but he's a solid 7/10 player most games. Well, if it is true that Chelsea are willing to sell him at a loss they must not be overly impressed by him. What you are saying to me sounds not much better than your bog average Premiership player, hence my statement he is not much better than Tiote imho. In such a good team, most Premiership midfielders would be able to do the simple things well and be a solid 7/10 most games.