ponsaelius

Shocking remembering to not remember Shota Arveladze.

It's LinkedIn Premium Account with a dash of Mens Mental Health™. I enjoyed the Eddie Howe episode cos Eddie is Eddie but it left me never wanting to listen to another second of the podcast.

I much preferred it to last night's game But then I happily go and watch the Northern League on the regular so I don't think pure technical quality is the only thing I'm looking for from my footy fix.

Personally prefer a one sided final to unbalanced two-legged semi finals. Anything can happen in a one off final on neutral ground - so at least there is potential for chaos factor or a shock. Both of these semis should have been well matched - Milan have just been dreadful. Both Milan teams have had luck with that side of the draw but equally a lot of big teams in Europe have just been shite this season IMO. Inter deservedly put out Barca in the group stages. La Liga and Bundesliga teams have not contributed well to the tournament. Two of the PL teams in Spurs and Chelsea have been really poor all season and their league form was reflected in this competition too - particularly Spurs.

Milan are a weird team like. Even within this season they've flipped from being a defensive shambles to then putting together runs of ridiculously solid defensive performances (1 goal conceded in 4 games Vs Spurs and Napoli to get here). They do massively rely on their two best players in Maignan and Leao, the latter of which is a big miss tonight. But I said when they did a number in Napoli it was a huge loss for the competition and it feels like this semi is proving it the case (as much as I'm thoroughly enjoying the overall spectacle and atmosphere).

Good player but only a wing back - never solid enough to be an orthodox left back at club level I don't think.

Both just sell home season tickets for each team. Both average 70k+ this season and that's their own fans. The away derby fixture is just like a normal away fixture so you don't have a season ticket for that game. For the derby there is a designated away end like in this game - usually just the upper tier of the curva (about 7k).

It's quite a good comparison because both players are categorised as midfielders but probably have had the best form of their careers playing effectively as second forwards. Gerrard was at his best when he played off Torres for Liverpool IMO. De Bruyne in this city team doesn't actually get the ball a huge amount for a team of their quality - comparing him to a other Guardiola midfielder like Iniesta for example. But he's ridiculously direct and effective one he gets it. Last night was a case in point. Personally I think De Bruyne is the more effective but he's played in a completely dominant team which has made his life easier. Gerrard carried some very ordinary Liverpool sides to great things.

There were some on here who didn't even want his contract renewed last summer. I was always a defender of Longstaff but never really expected him to become an ever present the way he has done. Even if he becomes a squad player rather than first choice over next couple of years I think it's huge to have players in and around the squad who are from the area and have a direct emotional investment in the club.

Fair play to make that VAR call, good decision. Not a foul.

They've also still played some games at Druid Park this season, which will have had lower crowds.

I flip back and forth with Maddison. Got to say I've found watching him recently quite frustrating - he prances around the pitch often trying the more difficult dribble/pass and can be ineffective when the going gets tough. That said his return from a statistical point of view is obscene in such a poor side. And I do think we need more 'foot on the ball' technicians in the forward areas going forward to break open tight defences rather than being all pace and power. I could see him playing nominally wide right for us if we did sign him.

I think it's a really interesting case study with the training ground. Leicester were heralded for their investment in it quite significantly. I remember seeing lots of videos/footage of the facility go viral because of how state of the art it is. However their previous training ground has a sporting covenant restriction so can't be used for anything else and therefore they were not able to offset any of the cost of that investment by selling off that land. That's a significant £100 million investment for somewhere just for players to train. Obviously you want to instill professionalism/standards at every level, and facilities are one part of it, but is it worth it if it means you're not spending elsewhere as much IE on the playing staff? There's also a question of whether moving a training ground into the middle of nowhere (it is absolutely miles from Leicester) can contribute to severing the connection between the players and the city they represent - if the only time they're ever there is on a matchday. It probably doesn't matter as much for us, because we can afford to throw money on infrastructure, but definitely feels possibly like it might have been a bad allocation of resources in Leicester's case.

I'd say that's very good odds, aye. I would lump on that if I hadn't already put two separate bets on us missing out on top 4 anyway which was also extremely generous odds (and effectively covers the same thing).

A draw from the last three now will probably be enough for them to be safe imo.

It just has no basis in reality whatsoever IMO. Even betting odds are more accurate.

Lyanco is a nutter

He's never looked anything like a player who can play at that level to me when I've seen him mind. Not even sure he's better than Targett tbh.

Steele was terrible for Boro in the Championship. Why on earth is he playing in the PL for a side pushing for Europe.

Up 2% to 92%. Load of utter twaddle if you ask me this stuff like

Think despite the contrasting styles.amd result the main difference between the two teams here is the goalies. Swap them round and Brighton win comfortably.

Google seems to agree with you tbf. Makes sense that he was a Gordon alternative at that price. Still think it'll be a difficult signing to pull off - rare that Athletic players move on so early in their careers.

Nico has a buyout clause doesn't he? Anybody know what it is - because there's no way Bilbao will be selling him without it being paid.

This Brighton result will probably push our daft FiveThirtyEight/Opta percentages up. Which is patently ridiculous because it's obvious Brighton were not getting top four.

This will keep Ev up with their fixtures like.