Village Idiot

Just noticed Monaco won their group scoring just 4 goals. Some kind of record, surely?

PSG have consistently been less than the sum of their parts since they got rich. That squad is top 5-10 in Europe on paper, imho.

3-4-3 I believe this is going to be an entertaining game; can see goals at both ends given we can't defend for shit with 4, much less with 3.

My thermometer says 9!

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp143/ricardomb00/1418235987_extras_noticia_foton_7_0_zpsbdcc538e.jpg

Pedro apparently starting at RB tonight. No Xavi, no Rakitic. Lucho has gone mental.

Just imagined them as gremlins after being rinsed with water.

If you have 2 FT now and use one, you will have 2 again in next round. If you don't use one you will still only have 2 FT next round. You get 1 each round and can only have 2 at one time. Thanks, I'll keep my remaining one, then.

For some reason I feel somewhat happy that Liverpool managed to turn the megamillions we gave them for Suárez into fuck all.

I'm going to test drive Van Persie for a couple weeks, but I'm likely to drop him for somebody cheaper and get Di María on midfield once he gets back.

I don't get 2 free transfers next week if I have two now and I only use one, right?

La Liga has gone mental and after years of ignoring the issue has now started a barrage of fines against any remotely offensive chant heard in a stadium. A total of 10 clubs have been charged for events in the last two weeks.

This looks straight from the 80s http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/08/steaua-bucharest-romania-lose-name-colours-emblem-court-ruling-defence-ministry?view=mobile#opt-in-message

Funny they're sinking so much money on academy facilities when they probably won't be using a single academy player.

His stock is pretty low among fans at the moment, although there's been some uptick in our performances these past weeks. Still, we don't really look like a team yet. I get what he's trying to do; he wants more directness, and quicker transitions, but I don't think we have the players for that. There's been moments where it has worked (like the second half against Espanyol), but usually what happens is that we look fragile in midfield and vulnerable to counters. We lose too many balls as we take more risks, and our midfield is too one-paced to apply effective pressure to win it back, and the guys upfront aren't contributing to that since they are as offensive as you can get. I think we work best when Messi drops to #10 and Suárez/Neymar run in front of him, with Xavi in midfield surrounded by more dynamic types like Masch and Rakitic. Alba is playing much better than last year, but Alves is a disgrace. There's nothing coming from the players' camp, besides Montoya wanting out. Piqué and Xavi seemed unhappy at the beginning of the season, but they seem to have calmed down (and both are trending upwards in form compared to last year, even if still way below their best). PSG this week will be a good test.

Excellent

He's totally derping in there.

One of the good things to come out of the hooligan confrontation this week, is that La Liga has tightened its violence and abuse rules. For now, it has forced Madrid to expel 17 members of its singing section that pelted abuse to Messi and Catalans during their last home game. If this ends up cleaning up the stands of Spanish stadia, it will be for good.

Success should be playing in England, the vast pun possibilities of his name are being wasted in Spain.

Last one in particular was a piece of beauty.

I scored 30 points and I'm up one place

Abject first half, but one of the best performances of the season in the second. We are so over the place atm... Still, tomorrow's gonna be a great day to be a Barça fan in Barcelona

5-1 Now this is getting into ''will love it tomorrow at the office'' territory.

Bailed out by Messi like the old times, although this second half performance is encouraging.

FCB: Bravo; Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba; Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Rakitic; Suárez, Messi, Neymar. RCDE: Casilla; Arbilla, Álvaro, Eric, Fuentes; Cañas, Víctor Sánchez, Salva Sevilla, Lucas Vázquez, Sergio García, Caicedo