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Even if this is what Ashley is doing in practice, nothing on the books would ever reflect this. The guy is a billionaire businessman, not some financial illiterate. I am not sure there would be anything untoward about him using the profits from his own investments, anyway.

The writing was on the wall for both of the Anderlecht boys when they failed to make much of an impact during the Championship season, even though both started their careers at the club fairly well. I like both of them as players and characters and wish them well going forward. The separation is in the best interest of all parties at the current time.

Burnley, Leicester, and Everton are in a somewhat strange position. The table from last season reflects that they are good sides with the potential to push on towards the top six and challenge for honours in the upcoming campaign, but the truth is that all three of these sides played abject, relegation quality football for large stretches and stood out from the rest of the bottom clubs in a very poor Premier League season on the back of a couple runs of good form. Burnley for instance, went 11 matches without a victory at one point and finished the season with an additional five winless matches. Newcastle are in a similar position. It would be very foolish to read a lot into the comfortable 10th placed finish. Everton and Leicester have too much quality imo, but Burnley going down would not be a surprise to me at all.

The Premier League has a very stern penalty for not competing, which is called relegation. There is no requirement to spend your money on transfer fees, and no investigation to be had. As long as Ashley sanctions enough spending to keep the club in the league, which he has shown an interest in doing previously, the TV money will keep rolling and everything is good in Mike's world. If Rafa wanted funds to spend he should have finished 17th. Two strikers are definitely necessary. NUFC will have the worst strikeforce in the league by a significant margin once Mitrovic leaves.

The only strange part of the situation is that Rafa Benitez is still at this club, tbh. This isn't really any reason for him to stay, and he will have a multitude of other offers from around the world as soon as he becomes available. There may have even been serious solicitations from other teams while he has been under contract. Why stay at a club that you have no personal connection to (Obviously this is a club with great support and history, but every club he has managed from the time he joined Valencia has been this way) when the board consistently lies and disrespects the manager, while not allowing him to compete with clubs in similar financial circumstances. It makes no sense to remain here; greener pastures await him in any job he would seriously consider. Even sycophant Pardew eventually left for better.

Schurrle is a highly paid and highly regarded player that will be thoroughly average in England. I don't think it is a very good signing, tbh. Seri was a coup, but this is not on that level at all.

The financial disparity between England and the rest of football seems to grow larger and larger every single season. This league is its own wildly inflated and wasteful world. I would be surprised if there were ten clubs throughout the rest of Europe that had the spending power to match the likes of Fulham.

I would have Mario Fernandes at right back and Cherysev as the #10 ahead of Greizmann, who I thought was one of the bigger underperformers for France, tbh. Subasic is the easy pick for best keeper, as he won two shootouts, but I don't recall a single great save he made all tournament.

I disagree, tbh, not sure who you can it to, other than Modric. He was the leader and best player on the side that defied all expectation and battled to the final. This has not been a tournament of consistent individual brilliance from anyone, or even one that will be remembered for the quality of its football. Today's final was fitting, a wildly entertaining match with plentiful errors, set piece goals, and refereeing controversy and only a few moments of great skill. It is very odd that we now have three consecutive Golden Ball winners that did not play on the winning side, one of whom whose team did not even make it to the final. Almost as odd as the past winner going out in the group stage in 4 out of 5 tournaments.

France 3 Croatia 0. I think Les Bleus will apply early pressure and break through with a set piece (the theme of 2018), and that Mbappe/Greizmann will hurt Croatia on the counter at some point in the second half. To me it will be similar to the rest of their matches this tournament; an incredibly talented side controlling the game on the strength of their organisation and creating goals from individual moments of quality rather than cohesive team play, while being fairly boring in the process. VAR has not been as much of an issue in the knockout stages, but I have a feeling that we will see at least one massively controversial decision today based on it.

How hot is it in Qatar during December? was thinking the temperature might make the football a bit shit like in South Africa but i have no idea what their weather is like in December. The football in South Africa had nothing to do with the temperature. SA is fairly south anyway and the tournament was during the coldest season. Russia and Brazil were significantly warmer. I still believe the Qatar World Cup will be a fantastic event. Supporters for every team in a very small area (easy for travel) in a country that will spare no expense (financial or other) to make the tournament great and expand their profile. The enjoyment will of course be tainted with the stench of corruption and the blood of slaves, but I have learned to accept this with FIFA and life in general. In 3.5 years when this starts, everyone will be watching and enjoying, just as they were for this disgraceful tournament in Russia everyone was telling me about only two months ago. Couldn't agree more. If they aren't prepared to host it when it should be hosted, then it should go to someone else. Why rule out every single country with this climate? Not every country has hospitable conditions during the same time as Europe or has leagues with the same schedule. Changing the date is just common sense.

I have a feeling Sunday's final will resemble 1998.

How did Sweden with their zero good players have you worried and not Croatia? 50:50 game for me On a sidenote I think VAR has helped England as defenders know they can't just maul Maguire and Stones to the ground at set pieces and get away with it With the exception of the Argie game, they’ve steadily looked shit. If it wasn’t for Subasic, Iceland would’ve raped them as well. Couldn’t beat a shit Denmark. Struggled with Russia. Struggled somewhat with Nogeria. Sibasic saved them against Iceland. Subasic and Modric are amazing, however, and could be the difference through individual ability. Sweden had shown throughout the WC they could play as a unit, defend well and utilize set penises very well. They had no star power, but that’s not really how International football work. I agree that Croatia have looked fairly average outside of the Argentina match. I didn't see the Iceland match but against Nigeria, they didn't really create much of anything from open play at all. They were gifted two very preventable goals from set pieces (especially the second, an entirely unnecessary penalty given away) and were able to sit back in second gear after this. The performances in the knockouts have been very disappointing. The draw has been good for them and they should dispatched of both sides they played in 90 minutes, never mind 120. They have gone through because of five or so horrendous penalties from the opposition and have not looked confident at the back by any means. England's performances have been more impressive overall, but it is still hard to trust them. Imo, they have played one match against a full-strength side of an equivalent level, and this was a real struggle at times. Again, it took penalties and they looked ready to wilt for a period in the extra time. Knockout football can be random at times, both of these sides have had spells of looking impressive, but have benefited greatly from the draw (including the group for England) and sheer footballing luck. I think the difference will be England's dominance at set-pieces. They have goal(s)from set pieces in all four legitimate matches they've played thus far, which is an amazing record and a serious credit to Southgate. Croatia also looked genuinely exhausted towards the end of the Russia match, and there is a short rest period for this match, probably with little or no rotation. It is hard to see them being a consistent attacking threat. Mandzukic looked broken down at the end and Vrsaljko (one of their better attacking threats from fullback) may not be able to play. There is a lack of depth at the back, and the idea of Corluka against Sterling, Kane, and Alli for 90+ minutes is very good for England. England 2 Croatia 0.

Our paths crossed twice, Flip. I was able to see: Brazil v Costa Rica Argentina v Nigeria Iran v. Morocco Russia v. Egypt Germany v. Mexico Set up my wife, brother, and father to stay with me in two flats in St. Petersburg and managed to grab one ticket for myself to see the Germany match on a one-day trip to Moscow. I had spent a good amount in Russia before and know a few other Africans in Piter who live/study there and speak the language, so I did not have to deal with the same culture shock as most people. Honestly, I prefer it to Moscow, architecturally the city is very beautiful and it is a lot calmer and easier to navigate/afford than the madness of the capital. The World Cup was incredible, btw. The atmosphere at all of the matches was fantastic and it was brilliant to just relax, party and enjoy life and football with people from all around the world. Outside of the non-stop requests for photos and drunken CSKA supporters chanting to me about Ahmed Musa, the locals were brilliant as well for the most part Funnily enough, watching Rojo rip away our hopes and sliding back into the seat with my face in my hands while surrounded by thousands of Argentines jubilating, throwing beer in the air, and chanting the "Vamos Argentina, Messi Maradona" song that had been echoing around the city for days is not a moment from this World Cup that I will cherish. You are right though, the Latin American supporters dominated this World Cup. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico took over whatever cities they were playing in and I saw more as many Colombians as Nigerians even though they never played a single match in a city I was staying in. It is a shame that Europe has dominated the tournament to this degree, a bit of the enjoyment was lost when South America was knocked out.

Hope England take out Croatia. Failing to beat inferior sides for 120 and sneaking through on penalties for two consecutive rounds should not be rewarded.

Russia is winning this whole tournament.

Because if there is a second phase, knock down etc. the player is always onside (unless the keepers gone flying out). Apologies if I'm misunderstanding, but does that mean that if the player receiving the ball is further forward than the keeper, but still behind the defender on the post, they're still offside? Does the keeper count as the "last defender" regardless of any defenders that are behind him? I believe the rule is two players between the attacker and the goal for offside. There was a goal ruled out for offside in the 2010 World Cup on a corner when the keeper had come forward and only one man was behind him. I understand the logic regarding the potential offside on a corner, but I feel you would prevent more goals by having an extra player to block any goalbound effort than worrying about positioning for the second phase.

I've played football since I was a child and I still do not understand why some teams do not put a player on the posts to clear balls like that on corners. Have someone there to clear the ball!

The new substitution rules could be a saviour here to the Croatia if Subasic is truly injured. Croatia in the group stage have been entirely different prospect to Croatia in the knockouts. They have been fairly flat against sides that are markedly inferior on paper. The draw has been kind to them and they need to taker advantage.

It's the nature of knockout football, tbh. They have only gotten one result that should be considered surprising, the win against Mexico. Other than that, they've done what was expected of them and benefited from a favourable draw in the second round. Even England are likely heading to the semi-finals with one result that would be considered impressive in isolation. The more surprising thing is how consistently top teams have made it to the final of this competition (especially compared to the continental tournaments), tbh, with all of the similar outsiders over the course of many years.

We can't even fucking qualify. It's never coming home. What if trump was still on office, would you want to ? Is this a serious debate for Americans? I don't care if a Pol Pot, Stalin, Idi Amin triumvirate is running my country. I still would want to win the World Cup. In the nineties, Abacha was executing dissidents and stealing billions from the coffers, while the country declined. Everyone still wanted to win. There is 100% chance America will make the semifinals in 2026, fwiw.

The other continents will need to step up, tbh. Europe has thoroughly dominated the world stage for the past decade. The African and Asian powers should be embarrassed that middling European nations can so consistently out perform them with similar talent levels. It is also three consecutive tournaments where the performances of Argentina and Brazil have simply not been impressive. Argentina made the final last time, tbf, but the last great side from that region was Pekerman's Argentina in 2006, imo. I think it will be France and England in the final now, tbh. Allez les Bleus!

Costa was injured no? He's immense It is ludicrous that Willian started every game in this tournament. He has been rubbish the entire time, and it was surprising he kept his place after the Costa Rica match. Brazil were very lopsided throughout, everything going through Marcelo and Neymar with Willian and Fagner just passengers.

Why do people hate Pogba again? People are weird, man. I appreciate Pogba. His style reminds me of a 17-18 year old lazily dominating against a team of the younger boys from the boarding school. Even though he is one of the best, you always feel as though he could go up a gear and just tear everything apart, but it rarely happens that way

Get forward? Stones passed the ball out of touch without a player within 10 yards. It was that or hoof it. No one was showing for the ball. England look exhausted and deflated by that goal. I really did not see Colombia scoring at 1-0 and I don't think the players did either. Have not recovered at all.