Village Idiot

It wasn't just the final. Throughout the tournament we looked more fragile with only Busquets holding. We also looked more fun since we had one extra player going forward, but Del Bosque is about winning.

Well, I said "find" because people like Costa or Torres weren't multimillion transfers. Agüero was expensive but unproven, too.

We'll play with two deep midfielders, that means Busquets+Xabi. We tried only one holding mid in the ConfeCup and you saw what happened. Can't see Xavi starting every game - he's no longer doing that even for us now. That's where Thiago or Iniesta could go.

I think both Juanfran and Carvajal will be there. We are only carrying Albiol as extra CB and Martínez isn't even a natural, so my guess Ramos will only be used as RB in an emergency. Villa won't make the list, he's had actually a rather indifferent year. One of Llorente/Negredo will be cut. If Thiago is fully fit my guess is that Cazorla won't make it. If not, Thiago will be cut. Dunno who the 7th man could be. Injuries could play a part too.

Spain preliminary squad: Porteros: Casillas, Reina, De Gea. Defensas: Juanfran, Carvajal, Azpilicueta, Ramos, Piqué, Albiol, Javi Martínez, Jordi Alba, Moreno. Centrocampistas: Xabi Alonso, Busquets, Navas, Xavi, Koke, Cazorla, Thiago, Silva, Iturraspe, Mata, Iniesta, Cesc. Delanteros: Diego Costa, Pedro, Torres, Villa, Llorente, Negredo. No Isco - some people here wondered if he'd malke the list - or Arbeloa. Didn't know Thiago was already fit. 7 will now have to be cut.

Wait, the mackems are letting Poyet go?

Wonder if Atlético will keep their streak in finding strikers: - Torres - Forlán - Agüero - Falcao - Costa That's quite the list of #9s.

Wouldn't surprise me if they obtained an extension to his loan.

Too many teams imho. The talent gets diluted too much.

Where does Pardew stand in the list of longest-serving NUFC managers?

I haven't followed García's performance at Brighton, but he really was one of our hottest managerial prospects. He's very ambitious, maybe a bit too much. He left Barça because we wouldn't make him manager of the B squad just yet, and seems to be leaving Brighton after failing to get promotion.

Is the new name a suggestion than Other Clubs' Transfers will be the only transfers to happen this year?

Is this true? / Was doing the rounds in Spanish forums the other day, I checked and it's true

Last time that: 1) Atlético won la liga 2) Real Madrid won the EC 3) Austria won Eurovision It was 1966. :frantic:

Would you rather Barca won the league and Real the CL or Atletico won both? Would you rather Barca won the league and Real the CL or Atletico won both? No way, I'm not that small time I want my team to win trophies.

Man, if we somehow end up winning this... No way this team can beat Atlético nowadays though. Particularly when Atlético can just sit back and protect the draw while we exploit their counters - like they already did in our CL tie.

Doesn't change zip if we don't win.

FFS what a save from Elche's keeper.

Real Madrid have been at their Lisboa hotel since they beat Bayern.

Luís Enrique was caught meeting with our DoF this week, so it's pretty much a given at this point. Regarding Laporte, he joined Athletic when he was 16. You don't actually need to be *born* there, just to live there since bairn, but it's probably a bit of a stretch of his policy. EDIT: Actually, I just checked, and although he moved to Bilbao when he was 16, he lived in the French part of the Basque country since he was a bairn, so it's not that much of a stretch.

Man, he had Javier Mascherano and Tévez and still managed to almost relegate West Ham. He should never, ever talk about his second PL season in there When he benched both and had football sensations Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood starting instead

I know he's been rather shit since he left us, but Rijkaard

Anyway, it's just Arbeloa talking about himself and his career. Who the f*** cares about Arbeloa talking about himself and his career? He only has a few quotes about some players and managers he's worked with, but nothing surprising. 1) Ronaldo (the fat one) often asked which team they were playing against before taking the pitch. 2) Benítez is a very methodic, almost obsessive, manager but doesn't cultivate his relationship with the players. 3) Xabi Alonso doesn't easily get along with others. 4) The relationship between Mourinho and the players deteriorated significantly during his last season at Real Madrid. 5) He doesn't want to speak about Casillas (sort of implying that they can't stand each other) He paints a bit of a cutthroat view of football "I don't need to be an example to anybody" - when talking about unsporting behavior to get an advantage. Also how your dressing room mates are also rivals that can take your place, that football is actually an individual sport where the thing that matters the most is how you perform since you don't control what others do.

Man, that's fucking long

Redknapp is the quintessential chequebook manager, pair him with your owner and it will be a fun ride.