Village Idiot

On the contrary, they love to do sell-with-buyback transfers for this kind of prospects. It's true that they don't usually send the players abroad if they are really interested in them long term, though. They prefer that they get used to play in La Liga. Benítez has a long track record of getting Spanish players to perform in England, so fishing in Spain seems a good choice.

Honestly, I thought we'd had a good transfer window, adding a depth that we'd never had in recent times, but all of them except Umtiti have been failures.

He's been dreadful indeed. I'm still willing to give him another chance under another manager though. Lucho never seemed to had a plan for midfield this season.

Yeah, it's been a very good year for them and Ilarra has been their best player without discussion. It's just that I'm really doubtful he can replicate that level in a more taxing environment.

Real is a massive move tbf. Never got a solid run in the team - when he got his chance he wasn't in a good mental place. He should stick it out for another season at Sociedad before considering another move though. Dude had an anxiety crisis during the preseason friendlies when he first signed, missing several games. Yes, Madrid is a huge move, but Ilarra's issues were extreme. Brilliant player otherwise.

I know I shouldn't but I love those f*** you celebrations. Now we finally have a response to Raúl's "shut up" celebration at the Camp Nou.

Ilarramendi seemed a deer caught in the headlights every time he took the field for Real. I think he'll struggle if he leaves his comfort zone again.

He got a suspended ban, and only for Supercopa games. It was quite ridiculous.

How many CL finals have Juve lost consecutively by now? Four? I hope either them or Atlético win it this year.

Not really high-res, but Piqué just posted this one on twitter: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-IQDvuWAAABTKU.jpg:large

That's absolute rubbish that mind, there was some outstanding contests between those two sides with excellent football on show. And there were a fair few bad tempered cancelling each other out ones (mainly down to Mourinho's tactics tbf). But as you say, obviously that's rubbish. The infamous finger-on-eye game was for example one of the most exciting ones. But people will always only remember the fingering. 3-2 in the super cup wasn't it? Yup.

That's absolute rubbish that mind, there was some outstanding contests between those two sides with excellent football on show. And there were a fair few bad tempered cancelling each other out ones (mainly down to Mourinho's tactics tbf). But as you say, obviously that's rubbish. The infamous finger-on-eye game was for example one of the most exciting ones. But people will always only remember the fingering.

To be honest St George's Day is a fantastic day to get married, so I totally get why my brother acquiesced. But he should have got a place with tellies or wifi, and not a villa in the middle of nowhere. That said, I still fucking love my brother. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

We ran out of booze. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

No tvs at the wedding. Kept tabs on the score but it's highlights for me. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Of all the days to get married, my brother had to pick today. Missed the game completely, but at least I am already drunk. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

So, it looks like NUFC will give me the only footballing joy this season.

So, Tony Adams has brought Kieran Richardson and Nigel Reo-Coker to Granada on trial. This is going to be hilarious.

In all the years he's been playing for them, there's been many runs of Ronaldo up top. He's always went back to wing; he's just so much better with a striker in front of him, creating space and dragging defenders. Granted, now that he's in physical decline, he can no longer run the wing as much as he did. Him at #9 would be second best option, but still, feels suboptimal.

Madrid press are weighing heavily it will be Hazard. But dunno, I think it will be a striker since Benzema seems to be on thin ice. That said there aren't obvious Galáctico targets in that position. Maybe PEA.

In an investigation related to political corruption in the Madrid area, it has tangentially been revealed that one of the accused worked for Florentino Pérez setting up a dummy internet newspaper that vomited pro-Pérez news and, more hilariously, put pressure on Ancelotti to field some players and put out negative news about players Pérez intended to sell

Before the game, the only guy I knew that was confident on turning this over was a Valencia fan that despises us. "Emery always finds a way to throw the unthrowable, I should know", he said to me. It's true that Emery's record at Valencia in big games was always awful. But OTOH his Sevilla team was hard as nails. Yesterday we weren't that dominant but PSG looked like jelly.

Yeah, second pen was soft at best. No point denying that. But I thought the first one was clear as day.

I thought that yesterday was a Ballon d'Or performance from Neymar btw. He's been kinda threading water this season, I hope that this spurs him to assert himself more.

Watching it with the missus. No pissing allowed, but the celebrations will be heroic. Plus she's from Rosario and half-Uruguayan so it will be like fucking Messi and Suárez together.