Village Idiot

This has been a trend for decades though? In the 1990s Guardiola had the athleticism of a gnat, but jump 10 years and both Xavi and Iniesta were already fitter and stronger (and nobody's going to think Xavi and Iniesta were physically strong players). Messi did bulk up considerably throughout his career too.

Rashford did quite well for us, but he was the type of player to score the third in a 3-0 game, if you know what I mean. Flick probably sees Gordon as potentially having more impact. Also Rashford had lower fee, but his agreed salary was higher to what Gordon's getting apparently.

Given our track record as sellers, you really want cash in hand.

Flick loves his pacy wingers running at people, and admittedly he got the best out of Raphinha (and Yamal). So I'll be cautiously excited. Tbf our wingplay is the funnest part of watching us play.

So we're rich again? Anyway, tell me what can I expect from him. We do lack wing depth, but that's a lot of money for just depth. I suppose we don't see Raphinha staying for longer than one more season.

Ok, here I am. Sadly I had to watch the game from home, since Camp Nou still has reduced seating and it would be hard to get tickets for a CL knockout even in normal circumstances. Hated not being able to watch NUFC live for the first time since... 2005? Whenever it was we last met in the CL. FFS I remember Shola looking like a star that night Anyway, not coming here to gloat but I saw this notification and now I had to post! I think the score is deceiving and doesn't reflect the relative quality of both sides. Soldier on and I hope to see you again!

We're still broke and we'll take anything. Flick seems the ideal manager for him if he still has any chance to turn things around though.

I have said so a few times, but until Messi came along I'd never witnessed a better player than him in a Barça shirt. That season he spent over here he was incredible, so dominant and effortless. I was so fucking devastated when he was sold. "What if Ronaldo didn't fuck up his knee in Milan" is one of the greatest football what ifs in history. Even his diminished version is one of the best strikers of all time.

Espanyol have been sold to the Burnley owners. All my friends that support them hated their current Chinese owner, which honestly I think it's unfair. The guy paid off the debt and didn't meddle in the football side of things. The fact their 2020s have been so uninspiring it's mostly because he indeed wasn't a sugar daddy, and competing for relevance in the same city as us is the hardest it's ever been. That's modern football.

Nah, the association that's threatened to sue would only have basis if they were mistreated. And since in their press release they don't mention mistreatment, just that - as you say - "this is a shitty thing to do" - I don't think they have a case.

Lamine Yamal's 18th birthday party seems to have reached Wolf of Wall Street-esque proportions, little persons included. I mean, he's 18 and it's summer, but I hope he doesn't lose his head. His dad seems to be quite a piece of work.

Just noticed that Real Madrid have finally released Vallejo. He has such a "fascinating" career. Once a really promising centreback, he was snapped by Real Madrid when he was 18. He then proceeded to spent the majority of his career on the bench and on loan. The net result is that he's got 2 CL medals and one La Liga on 35 apps. I wonder who has the best trophy/starts ratio outside of reserve goalies? (and hello all!)

Huge congratulations lads. You deserved this after all these years. This made my day.

Aparrently we're getting €20m off the Nico transfer! Pep throwing us a bone here. (tbf I quite liked Nico when he was here and wished we'd given him more of a run)

Fucking love David Lynch. I hope Betis finish in the CL now.

Man, this is the least pumped I've felt after hammering a side 7-1. I always have had a soft spot for Valencia - I have many friends down there that are die hard fans, and they are a historic La Liga side with a track record of being hard to break down and competitive. Mestalla always give us or Madrid a very hard time when going there. But now they are such a broken toy. And there doesn't seem to be much hope in the future - I guess if they get relegated Peter Lim will sell and then they can rebuild.

FWIW, we are being strongly linked with Rashford atm, although on loan. We do need a striker because we depend way too much on Lewy, but I'm not sure Rashford is it.

And I know they're your benefactors, but I utterly despise this being played in KSA. Gotta love our new FA president saying they want to extend the deal the day after several Mallorca female fans reported being harassed by locals.

Damn, if it wasn't for Chestnut losing his mind, this could have been a historic drubbing. Can't wait for tomorrow at work, nonetheless! What a strange week for Barça.

6 hours to go, and La Liga has yet to okay Laporta's latest stupid firesale scheme to get enough funds to fit into the FFP rules. That means that we could lose Olmo's registration and the player leave on a free. What a monumental fuckup would that be, but that's Laporta for you. Why oh why were my fellow members so fucking stupid to elect him.

Spain football news of the day is that - to the surprise of no one - the Spanish FA has elected another crook as president. It's a requirement for the job.

And of course we have since sucked. That teaches me.

This is fun/interesting. Top 5 passing clusters for each La Liga Club. The Barça one is very zen and may seem counter-intuitive given how Flick has us play, but it really isn't if you watch us. We just move the ball quicker in the other areas.

Xavi's system required more creativity from the front three - which it really isn't Lewa's or Raphinha's strength. Now that their job is focused on looking for spaces and finishing, they both are having fantastic seasons.

Lewa had a falling out with Xavi last season, you could see he wasn't comfortable with how we were playing. But still, being such a goal machine at his age - what a player