Village Idiot

ACL for Rafinha

Think we could've won this, but not a terrible result I guess. Worried about Rafinha, that didn't look good at all.

He's not key or anything, but we need every single player until Jan, terrible news.

Roma's defence is sinking without a trace. Hope we take those chances though.

The league isn't very strong though, although to be frank i think pretty much every major league is pretty crap tbh. It's genuinely like arguing which dog s*** smells the best, as all of them outside a small section of teams have extremely crap below them. So what you're basically saying is 99.9% of all football in the world is s****. Give over man. Most of the best players have been collected to a small group of teams, say 10 max so yes. While I understand where you're coming from, it's hyperbole. You can watch good entertaining football at plenty of grounds around the world.

Messi's so good... we could probably play with 10 cripples and still have a chance at silverware if he's up for it.

Espanyol are so shit.

We have plenty of hot but bland male singers too!

She rose to fame in Spain after winning a talent show. She's your usual hot but bland singer.

Keylor is good, but not as good as De Gea. I think De Gea is a better fit in the PL too.

The way it's being reported here it's his WAG who's pressuring him to go live in Madrid so they can be together while she pursues her music career.

Lol, even Rafinha scored against the US. Pleased that he got his first caps and goal this week, although Brazil are really f***ed if he's getting games for them. Was he #10?

Our forward line just can't score. We really need to find a way to make Costa tick, his international record is abysmal.

To me it is, I'm Spanish Are the big two Scottish clubs restricted to Glasgow?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01903/chelsea_1903294c.jpg

If you lot dare brave the waters of google translate, there's a fantastic interview with Sevilla's DoF Monchi. http://www.jotdown.es/2015/09/monchi-bilardo-es-la-persona-que-mas-me-ha-influido-en-el-futbol-y-en-la-vida/ Some fantastic memories of when he played alongside Maradona or Simeone.

No idea Former Spanish president Zapatero hails from that region and was a Barça fan. They don't have any established club in the region, not a single club from the province plays in the top two Spanish divisions. I can only guess at some sort of rejection of Madrid because of regional identity. Madrid are the quintessential Castillian club, and León see themselves as non-Castillian. It's an odd one like. Here's the UK's based on viewing figures. There's a Twitter version but that doesn't seem right because it's almost entirely Liverpool fans. Liverpool fans being the most argumentative online? Say it ain't so!

No idea Former Spanish president Zapatero hails from that region and was a Barça fan. They don't have any established club in the region, not a single club from the province plays in the top two Spanish divisions. I can only guess at some sort of rejection of Madrid because of regional identity. Madrid are the quintessential Castillian club, and León see themselves as non-Castillian.

This map is probably more useful: http://www.jotdown.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mapa-1.png I've always found it interesting that, barring a couple of exceptions, the Spanish north has stronger local clubs. Madrid dominates over the poorest parts of the country, which don't have strong clubs. Atlético and Valencia have a very strong rivalry to settle who's "best of the rest". They are pretty close regarding fanbases. Atlético are a minority in Madrid, but since it's such a big city that leaves them with lots of fans still.

Yes, overwhelmingly so. Only a few "third teams" actually rule in their catchment areas: http://www.jotdown.es/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mapa-5.png Everything white-ish on the map means a majority of Real/Madrid Barça fans. Darker shades of green mean that province has a majority of non-Barçadrid fans.

Pedro had been linked with Chelsea since early in the window. ManU's interest got more press, but it seems they never actually tabled a bid.

Honestly, if Chelsea were so hellbent in fucking up, say, Liverpool they would have gone and met Suárez release clause. Like they give a damn about Liverpool anyway. None of the players mentioned in the discussion would have significantly strengthened Chelsea's rivals, and Spurs and Liverpool aren't Chelsea's rivals. I think people are looking at a poor transfer policy and trying to see malice where there's just too much money. I'll repeat myself, ManCity and ManU have bought countless players that have barely played and I don't see this accusation being thrown at them. That's what rich clubs do, they throw money at stuff. And when it fails they throw more money at it. Seriously, look at ManU these past two seasons. And why would Chelsea sell them Mata if they were so adamant of preventing rivals from getting good players?

I think it's bullshit too, tbf.

They have been languishing under financial duress since the late 90s, when they were forced to sell their stadium (and it was a bad sale, too). They have been crippled with debt and lack of revenue because they didn't own a stadium until they built Cornellà-El Prat. They operate on a shoestring, and even with their diminished fanbase they should still be one of the 7-8 richest clubs in the country. Theirs is a story of chronic mismanagement and short-termism. They have a decent board now. Building their own stadium should help in the long term, but it has crippled them in the short one. The residential developments that were attached to the deal didn't pan out because of the big real state crash in Spain. They have been unlucky, but in 4-5 years they should stabilize. Their challenge is keeping a decent fanbase until then; the attendances have been constantly dropping for the past years.

That list is easily countered by all the quality players ManCity/Arsenal/ManU have signed without Chelsea batting an eyelid. Certainly better that Steve Sidwell. And there's also loads of players that City and ManU have bought that haven't been given the time of the day. That's what rich clubs do.