Village Idiot

As usual, Athletic looked great but failed to capitalise on it and ended losing. Still, they won their group Still think Bielsa's got something great going on there (taking into account the club's limitations when recruiting personnel), and at some point it will finally click and deliver the results. They have been steadily improving after the very shaky start to the season. They probably have their most talented squad since the mid-90s, when they last qualified for the CL.

West Ham fans sure are a...unique bunch I too would resort to hallucinatory drugs if my team was managed by Sam Allardyce. But as said, Wham fans seem to really rate him. I thought he was pish in the prem, but maybe he's matured.

Wow, I knew that Moratti was putting cash, but wasn't aware Inter were *so* heavily subsidised by him (and that he had such deep pockets to afford this), that averages to more than €45m a year!

So Fulham's out? Heh.

Pretty interesting article on the 3-man defense tactics that are creeping up lately: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/dec/13/the-question-3-1-4-2-formation-rise

No. I'd say Del Sol and Peiró. But they're from the same times as Suárez.

To be frank, very few Spanish players succeeded abroad until very recently, and not too many high profile players even went abroad to begin with. How many made it in England until the mid-2000s with Torres, Campo, Reina...?

http://www.goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2011/12/14/2802308/samuel-etoo-handed-seven-match-ban-by-cameroon-fa Good old Samu.

They're a Qatari club though, given that we are Qatar's bitches they might call in some favors.

We'll see, we were pretty bad in the 2009 one, even though we won it. I'm willing to bet on Neymar being a Real Madrid player after a €50m+ transfer this summer if he has any hand in defeating us. I'm not going to rush into the streets to celebrate if we win it, but certainly would annoy me to lose it. It's a tin cup, but possibly the hardest tin cup to qualify for. And I'm looking forward testing us against a team with Santos' standing in the history of the game.

Apparently there were *10* scouts of clubs (mostly foreign), watching the last game of our B team against Almería. Fucking vultures

http://www.goal.com/en/news/90/france/2011/12/14/2802170/frank-rijkaard-in-the-frame-for-paris-saint-germain-coaching Yes please, make it happen. I'd love to see him managing a (potentially, at least) big club again. Just grab Ten Cate as his assistant and they'll be sorted.

Aye, I think the same. Sometimes a club and a player just don't click and this seems to have been the case. Not sure it's a simple as that in this case, he was turgid for Liverpool before he left. He wasn't in top form, but certainly not "turgid" either. He had 9 PL goals to his name in that awful,awful Roy Hodgson Liverpool side when he made the move, and only scored one afterwards.

Bebe (he only spent a few weeks at Guimaraes before signing for them).

I watched quite a bit of Tomkins the past two seasons, due to the recommendation of a Wham supporting friend who rates him quite highly. He seemed completely out of his depth to me, and made quite a few howlers and seemed to crumble under pressure. It may have been too soon for him, as he is young, and Wham were awful all around so that didn't help. I suppose that he would work as a backup, with a good upside if he indeed develops into a more reliable player.

Well, Villarreal choked as I feared. Sadly Valencia did too... "El País" reporting today that according to Atlético's accounts they owe €215m to the taxman. One third of the overall La Liga debt to the state. They are easily the most indebted club relative to turnover in Spanish football (€550m according to a neutral estimation last year). They really need to get rid of the Gil family, but who would want to take such a poisoned chalice?

Incidentally, Marca linking Villa with a January move to a big English club, although they're probably only trying to stir shit up in our side. (I do think Villa may move in the summer if he falls to the wayside though)

Where would Torres go, though? Can't see many clubs that would take his current wages. And yes, I still think he has it, it's probably more mental than anything at this point and a fresh start with less pressure would do wonders for him

Balagué in "Lampard to sign for Real Madrid" rumor. Make it happen, José.

Heh, Wolfsburg have cancelled Hleb's loan and is sending him back to us. Can't just get rid of him, can we?

I don't know, Mirandés are just a Segunda B team, but at the same time the only undefeated team in the Spanish pro football pyramid and playing at home while Villarreal are at their lowest point in their recent history and plagued by injuries. I wouldn't touch that bet with a barge pole.

According to Spanish daily "El País", Valencia have finally sold Mestalla for €250m (they were looking for €400m a few years ago, but that's the real estate crash for you). They have borrowed an additional loan of €110m to complete their new stadium (work had been stopped due to lack of funds). Overall debt drops to "only" around €200m, at much more comfortable terms than before, and the new stadium should be completed in a couple years. It might be the end of the tunnel at last.

There's always bound to be one upset, but I don't expect any big gun to fail. Cronaldo has even asked to play tonight. Have in mind that after this weekend's la Liga game we start our winter break, so there isn't that much of a need to rest players.

Hardly the best example to use. Valencia have been experiencing crippling debt for ages now, nearly had to sell their entire squad a few years back. They actually did need the money. Aye, the money raised by those sales saved the club, really.

Heh, just seen a review of our past Bernabéu games since Guardiola took over, and Lass - the man that's always on the verge of being sold - is the only one alongside Casillas to have played in all of them. A survivor indeed.