Village Idiot

Patrick Vieira looks out of his depth.

What a boring PL night, to be frank.

FFS Bojan.

Yes. 8-0 aggregate.

Ahhh... about to finish the game.

Played 5 minutes yet? His second start tonight.

0-3. Afellay.

Didn't you (sort of) abolish your reserve side too?

I really doubt we'd get 35m for Bojan.

Rakitic starting for Sevilla. Daring. Madrid putting out their best (fit) XI.

Thiago, what a goal

Bentley crosses to Zigic. Assume that's going to be Plan A for the rest of the season.

Something I never understood... Tévez only speaks Spanish... how can he captain the squad?

Adriano 0-1 Yes, I'm actually relieved.

Highlights the fact that Carroll will thrive with the crosses of Liverpool's wingers.

New owners, they might not care. Chori Castro is a productive winger and he's assumed that will leave at the end of the season, De Guzmán is having a great season (amazing pickup on a free). Espanyol are also skint, and I'd invite you to nick their best players. Osvaldo is their most productive striker since the good Tamudo years and has a great drive, Luís García is also having a very good season but you seem covered on that department (off the striker).

Man, I'm an oldskool Barça fan, we are known to be utter pessimists. The new generations have it too good.

Very weak lineup from us tonight. Even weaker that against Betis. Hopefully we won't face the same scenario...

It seems that Madrid tried to force out Pedro León in deadline day after a training bustup with Fernando Gago. He is a very good winger, not Real Madrid level but certainly good enough to take you forward.

I know a lad who started supporting Barca when you were 's***' as such. Weird, but more acceptable than latching on say after you won a treble. Gotta say that our "s***" era saw us sink into the gaping abyss of finishing 6th and the unspeakable horror of not winning anything for five years. Years of watching Rochemback attempt to pick up a pass is something I wouldn't wish to an Espanyol fan though.

I accept fans from regions other than the club's own, mind. I still think they'd be better served if they supported Columbus Crew or Mumbai FC over Manchester United or Barça, since you just can't compare living in a community that breathes and lives that football team. Sports support is a community undertaking, you share it with others. But there's always an emotional connection to it even if you're not from there. You dislike us because as a kid we were cheaters in your eyes (I think I know the game you are refering to, the 1982 European Supercup? I have always had a slight irrational distaste for Villa since losing it), you loved Milan as a kid because they were great, I loved the Bulls as a kid because Jordan was the f***ing man. We are very impressionable as children and we can gain connections to distant clubs we should never care about for some strange reasons. I verily stand by my opinion that ultimately a true sports love isn't chosen.

http://worldcupsoccerfifa.com/am-i-a-glory-hunter-for-recently-starting-to-support-barcelona/ You don't f***ing chose what team to support. It choses you. Where were you when Fabio fucking Rochemback was our midfield maestro?

And yes, Barça gloryhunters make me sick and I can barely contain myself from punching them in the face when meeting them abroad, but we need them to pay Messi's wages.

I'm always amazed how people say that they were born/raised as a XXXXX fan, but they they say that they are now fans of this other team. I know part of it is due to relocation in such a large country (and schedules where your team may only play another team every 3-4 years), so they switch to the local team. Only a few teams seem to have transcendent fans that stick with their team through thick and thin. I think the "cult" teams are Green Bay Packers, Red Sox, the Cubs (although that's almost for comedy sake) and maybe the Steelers. Steelers seem to have a loyal fan base. Also one of the things I liked about American sport fandom is the loyalty to their college teams (I couldn't give a fuck what my uni team did to be honest).

I still own a Luís Figo Barça shirt, it's some sort of forbidden treasure for me. I even used to wear it around Madrid.