Village Idiot

My Atlético friends reckon he can fill in on the left, too.

I imagine he'll be a nailed on starter. How are his crosses? His crossing is average, I'd say. He used to have a great engine (he's 31 now, so we'll see if he still has that) and by all accounts is a solid defender. He's not a flashy player, really, but very dependable.

Steady player. Didn't really feature at Atlético but was always solid for Málaga and was in the fringes of the Spanish team during his peak. I guess you're signing him as backup? Hasn't played much these past two years.

Obviously the law wasn't made with Messi in mind, but the idea is that sending somebody to jail for a first offence can be a self-defeating purpose. You commit a fairly petty crime (as I said, violent crime is excluded from this), and you go to a place where you'll be surrounded by criminals, with a very big chance you won't get employment once you get out, which all means you'll be headed straight to a self-perpetuating cycle of crime. So we aim to short-circuit this vicious circle by giving a "first strike" to first-time criminals. A second chance, if you will. You get a criminal record, and your name will be on police databases all over, so it's not like you won't end with your ass in jail pretty soon if you do it again, and you'll get extra penalty for recidivism.

In Spain you don't go to jail for a first offence if it's under two years, and there wasn't intentional violence involved. That's the law, and it's the same for Messi and for anybody in the street.

Tranfermarkt has him valued around the 4.5m mark? (not sure if euros or £ but there's not a great deal of difference in the rate atm He's one of the best players in a team that's been consistently top half in the past seasons, and that doesn't need any money since they just sold Nolito to City. Whatever transfermarkt says, €6m just isn't going to cut it. Given how stupid the market is nowadays, I'd say twice that.

Friend of mine from Vigo says the Jonny bid is true, but they have turned it down (€6m looks very little given how highly rated he is).

That's pretty good news actually. There was a lot of fear around here that the EU would order us to become commercial companies - and thus stop being fan owned - but instead they just want us to pony up the difference in tax (which I'm perfectly fine with).

He's had a pretty good season, possibly his best since he left Liverpool. Happy for him.

He reportedly took some convincing in order to agree to stay. I expect that Lucho will rotate the team more, after what happened towards the end of the past season.

He's been quality for Villarreal, will give Barça much needed depth in the middle.

You just made me youtube it. What a beautiful half-volley

Neymar new 5 year contract at Barça

Barça have bought Umtiti from OL, €25m. He any good? He's in the France squad (hasn't played yet), so I guess there must be *something* in him. Would be nice to not burn money in useless CBs for a chance.

I suppose that the Spanish press is being just clueless/fishing for cheap clicks, but the "Benítez for England" thing is being widely reported over here... Tell me there's nee chance of it happening, please. Both as an Irish fan and as a NUFC fan.

You guys are taking Brexit way too seriously.

I suppose Madrid will want to move Morata on, I can't see him accepting a backup role. And I can't see Zidane promising him a starter role. Regarding the "XXX is better than YYY" discussion. Modric is great, Kroos needs to be accommodated - which isn't a crime by itself except when you're in a team that doesn't do much accommodating, like RM -, and Piqué and Ramos are very different beasts. Actually they are such a great pairing for Spain because of how different they are.

Incidentally, I think the yanks have a chance if they are able to seize their physical advantage + extra rest. I watched the repeat of the Argieland - Venezuela game (hey, I'm on a football binge these days) and Argentina didn't look particularly solid. Their whole gameplan was "give the ball to the guys upfront and let them figure it out".

For a moment I thought they were going for some cringey "Da Vinci of football" pun there.

I don't think they need him, nor that he's better than their current options. But that's never stopped Pérez. With any luck, this means they'll dump Casemiro in order to shoehorn everybody in the side.

I'm really torn about the USA - Argies game. I usually support the yanks in every tournament where Ireland isn't present, but I'd like Messi to win something internationally.

We don't know how to schedule a league with 22 teams. That's why.

Messi beard tracking: http://estaticos.sport.es/resources/jpg/6/0/leo-messi-causa-furor-copa-america-con-barba-1466324485906.jpg

What I'm supposed to do now? Drink more?