Village Idiot

20k for 10 minutes in the Conference FFS

Any particular reason we are getting such heel reactions from the Brazilian crowds, flip? Is it just because we are currently the top dogs, or is there something else I've missed?

Martínez was plan A instead of Song, but Bayern outbid us (45 million...). Personally I think he's a ticking bomb at CB. Never filled me with confidence seeing him play there for Bielsa.

Has he tried to pronounce Bigirimana yet?

To be honest I saw him taking over Iniesta since he has more end product, but Iniesta's form has been out of this world since Fàbregas signed. Comfortably our best player these past two seasons after the small argie fella.

I just had a howler Anyway, I don't see why Tévez would be a better partner than Higuaín, in abstract. Both should work well with a tall striker that can drop a bit deep and has a good allround game.

Tevez might work better with Llorente? I can't see why. I certainly haven't seen an amazing chemistry between them for the Argie team.

29 though, Higuaín has much more ahead of him.

I have trouble spelling his name majority of time, god help JFK. It's probably Kinnear trying to sign Defoe.

That probably means Higuaín is definitely off to Arsenal, then.

Santa Cruz on that list while not having Shearer

I think in the context of the article where I read it Swansea would fit. Is Laudrup staying? That would make it more likely. Suppose Southampton would be a good bet too, since Pochettino has tried to get Liga players there.

He slipped my mind somehow. Too many good players for two midfield spots, possibly.

Would have done a job for you I believe. Him, Cabaye and Tiote would have been a pretty well balanced midfield trio. But you seem to have a lot of midfielders already, although some are shit.

Last year of contract.

I'll drop this here just because I can. Apparently we have offers from "lower table" Premier league teams to loan Deulofeu.

Not a player they truly needed, but there isn't that much "gettable" Basque talent out there for them. Beñat was probably the best one.

Beñat to Athletic for €8m. To be unveiled this week according to Marca.

Xavi is 33, Iniesta is 29. Fàbregas is 26, Thiago is 22. This is what we're trying to do when we bought Fàbregas and promoted Thiago. A line of succession.

Starting to think no one saw us beat them. Or Switzerland. Both the only two competitive games we've lost since 2008. I think we'll be fine for a few more years. Xavi and Alonso are the oldest players that need replacement in the short term, and people like Fàbregas or Martínez are more than good enough to take over their roles.

Thiago and Isco are very different players though. The fact they play together in the U21s should be a hint

Thiago is still very, very green. He has all the talent in the world, but makes lots of mistakes still. He suffers from what I call the "De La Peña" syndrome, where he tries to show how good he is with every ball he touches, which costs him a lot of mistakes. He isn't ready for all the first team football he thinks he deserves, and has had a particularly awful season until the U21 tournament. Madrid's midfield tore him to shreds in La Liga, for example. But losing him would be a mistake, since the potential is there, technically he's a marvel to behold. And I think it's a mistake for him to go to the Premier League.

Disagree with the first statement nearly as much as I disagree about Brazils strikers being better than Germany and Spain's. Fabregas has become very underrated recently too. I may be biased, but Busquets is a truly excellent player in his role. Possibly one of the players with best defensive positioning in the planet, one of those players that seems to be everywhere without really having great athleticism. Plus he does everything simple and rarely makes mistakes. The silver lining about Thiago leaving is that our weakened depth in midfield would make Fàbregas to play there again. Why Spain and Barça play him so much as #10 or even deep striker is a mistery to me. I haven't seen a single good game from him in that position. Our best football from last season was produced with Fàbregas on the wing, though. When him, Xavi and Iniesta linked up it was

No, although everybody expects it to be resolved this week, either way. The fact that Guardiola indirectly talked about him in his presentation yesterday makes people believe Bayern would be in the mix too. Anyway, I hope it's solved soon so I can finally let off steam and get pissed off. I've been in this annoying pre-pissed off state since the rumors started almost a month ago.

We were pretty shit yesterday actually. Lopetegi is such an awful manager, fortunately the guys upfront were good enough to get at least one, but Ghana deserved more. I believe the first well-drilled team we encounter will do us, though, we just rely on the individual brilliance of the likes of Suárez/Deulofeu/Jesé.