Village Idiot

It's like Miguel Ángel Lotina in Spain. Endangered clubs would always sign him because of his "experience" in dealing with relegation battles. Of course he was an expert in them, the fucker relegated 4 clubs Finally people got wise and now he's managing in Japan, but damn the way he secured jobs was ridiculous.

What I wonder is why clubs still hire him at all.

Fun evening. Was a bit nervous during the first half because we weren't putting away the few clear-cut chances we made, but we were far more dangerous in the second half, hoying Coutinho in helped. As I said elsewhere, losing Iniesta makes it that Messi has to drop deeper to create stuff, I hope Coutinho can fill that role so Messi can be freed to just score great goals. Dembelé had a great game too, unlucky to not bag one. Hope he has a breakout season, Valverde seems to like him. Anyway, Alavés are pretty crap but it's always nice to have a good start. When Arthur came on Coutinho went further forward and I thought you looked more dangerous. I've not seen much of Arthur BUT the commentators were suggesting he would be the one to replace Iniesta (not sure if they were just saying that because he's got the shirt number). Not yet, at least. Arthur indeed has bags of talent but he is raw and struggled against Sevilla for example. Give him time though. He's a beautiful passer for sure. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Fun evening. Was a bit nervous during the first half because we weren't putting away the few clear-cut chances we made, but we were far more dangerous in the second half, hoying Coutinho in helped. As I said elsewhere, losing Iniesta makes it that Messi has to drop deeper to create stuff, I hope Coutinho can fill that role so Messi can be freed to just score great goals. Dembelé had a great game too, unlucky to not bag one. Hope he has a breakout season, Valverde seems to like him. Anyway, Alavés are pretty crap but it's always nice to have a good start.

Dembelé could easily have a couple already. If he was a better finisher...

Oh, and Diego Milito.

For Spain I'd say Hasselbaink with Atlético or Trezeguet at Hércules. Both had pretty good seasons when they got relegated, too. Did Hasselbaink ever get relegated from the PL?

Didn't Aubameyang turn you down once Dortmund got involved? Harsh to blame that one on Ashley. Agree on the general sentiment though, the penny-pinching has got to ludicrous levels.

Still convinced Madrid are going to sign someone before the deadline. Iniesta is a big loss, he was our main playmaking outlet last season and we really looked more dull when he wasn't around. I look forward both Coutinho and Dembelé having a full season under their belts though, totally different players to Andrés but both should add incisiveness.

La Liga has signed an agreement with an US company to play official La Liga games on US soil. No date yet for when that would happen, but the agreement is set to last 15 years. So much

This has been a fun game. Much better as a single game than over two legs, although this is probably going to be an one-off.

Woah, what a goal Dembelé.

It's not been terrible given that Sevilla have had a far longer preseason (they are playing the EL quals), but I don't get the feeling we know what to do in midfield now that our lynchpin (Iniesta) is gone.

So weird to play the Spanish Supercopa in Morocco, ah well the trophy is a joke anyway, and having it single game should make it more entertaining.

It's like, of all the Barça players available for transfer or loan, he's the meh-est of them all. He was hyped because he was great in the Spanish third tier, but the Spanish third tier is a pile of crap. Valverde asked to get rid after just spending a couple weeks in preseason with him, and then Nice cancelled the second year of his loan after 6 months with him. The trend is easy to see. It's harsh, but the truth will set you free. He'll just be there to cover for Lejeune until he recovers, anyway.

With Rafinha probably going your net spend I would think would be at £25-30m? Any plans for Barca to sign more players? You need a LWF IMO We won't be signing an LWF after buying that Malcom fella. We'll probably sign one more player, though. We're linked with lots of midfielders. It would also not surprise me if we get a replacement for Digne. I really wanted us to get a striker, but after failing to land Griezmann there really isn't much on the market.

Meh, never been impressed by him.

Mina and Gomes having a medical at Everton, according to our press. That would be 3 Barça players heading to Everton this window. Gomes is a good player with a huge confidence problem. I'm not sure he has the mettle to make it at the top, but at a club like Everton I'm sure he can refind his form.

As I said, if Benítez can make Rondón look like the player he was in Spain, NUFC will get a very good striker. For one season Everything seems so pointless.

They have to in Spain, money just passes through. They really don't, but Athletic makes a point of forcing them to do it. "We're not selling him".

Navas would bomb in the Premier League. His flashy reflex saves barely mask many of his limitations in La Liga.

Kepa has promise, but if you're going to spend €80m (which is ridiculous for a keeper) €20m more lands you Oblak.

Personally I think it's all Raiola making a fuss to get him a move elsewhere or a new contract. I really doubt we're truly interested in him (not that he isn't a quality player, just that I can't see a place for him after signing 3 midfielders in the past 12 months).

No base on those Pogba to Barça rumours. We've just signed Vidal. It's Raiola just trying to up the wages/commission.

Pogba to Juve seems to be getting some serious traction. That+Cristiano would instantly make them one of the top sides in Europe (together with what they already had), imho. That new tax law in Italy is giving Serie A a big boost.