Village Idiot

Will translate his entire answer then... José Enrique: "I'm already in a big team. Newcastle are a great club. City might become a big team but Newcastle is one of England's greats and I'm very happy to be here".

Can't say I'm too keen on his signing, particularly since it won't be a bargain. We do need a left winger though.

Oh, and... Q: "In what big English team would you love to play?" José Enrique: "I'm already in a big team"

Ok, he gave the interview and - as you can expect - it was pretty par for the course. He dodged all the questions regarding him signing for some other club in January (said nobody made a formal offer for him in the summer), had praise for the fans, said he loves living in England, wants to bring the club back up, etc... Best part is when he says that Viduka was his favorite player at Newcastle. He also said he thinks Bassong was the best defender in the team.

Been reported by our press that we are meeting this Wednesday with Man City officials to talk about Robinho's transfer...

Well it would be when they had it perfect last season, and now its not. Results are results obviously, but they're not as good as last year, and Real have improved drastically. Really? I haven't seen a drastic improvement. He's been injured for a few weeks. What about the other 100 million pounds they spent? Not working out, then? Is Enrique even mentioned as a potential squad member? Capdevilla is weak. You'd think he would get a chance. Not going to happen while playing in the Championship. I reckon he would be in the mix if Newcastle hadn't got relegated. Hmmm....I just hope that's not reason he mentions when Atletico or someone sign him in January. Regarding that, there's that interview that he gave in Spain where he said there had been "interest in him but no formal offers" before the season started. They also asked him about Valencia/Atlètico/Villarreal etc... coming after him and he dodged the question with the usual "i only want to focus on Newcastle" talk. Most amusing thing of the whole interview is that he said that Viduka was his favorite player at Newcastle. He had great praise for the fans.

Is Enrique even mentioned as a potential squad member? Capdevilla is weak. You'd think he would get a chance. Not going to happen while playing in the Championship. I reckon he would be in the mix if Newcastle hadn't got relegated since there was talk of it while he was at Villarreal.

Pity Spain has such good options for the wings, otherwise I would fancy Pedro having a chance of making the World Cup. He still can if he keeps this goalscoring form all season though, 8 in 15 for a winger is silly.

I don't think the absences of Xavi, Iniesta or Messi will be doing them any favours. Yeah, I dont mean just this game though, they don't seem as scary without Eto'o. As a few people have said before, Eto'o defended from the front and caused the opposition to mistakes, meaning more chances. Ibra offers something different. Aye, Eto'o would have never given an assist like Zlatan did for the first goal. Very different players, all have a lot going for them. I wish I could stitch Zlatan's ability with Eto'o's drive and aggresiveness.

Aouate has very good reflexes, but all the game he's been doing this "pull a great save but let the ball bounce inside the 6 yard box" business. Good for Henry, he needed a goal.

Yay! Pedro! That keeper is a bit dodgy when handling the ball.

He's still not fully recovered from his last injury, he played against Kazan but I understand Guardiola wants to play it safe with him.

1-1 Bah.

Awesome by Zlatan assisting Pedro for the 1-0.

No Xavi, Iniesta or Messi on the starting lineup... jesus.

Arsenal seems to be pulling the foot off the pedal now, they do that a lot although 3 goal advantage should be more than enough this time.

Mallorca are on top form, but they play positive football and we seem to only be struggling against sides that play deep and leave no space on the last third (Kazan, Osasuna, Almería...). We should win.

I dont think you'll get him until he's past his best imo. He seems to value the fact that Arsenal saw what Barca didnt. Mmmm? He was highly rated by us. He saw more opportunities at Arsenal, but that doesn't mean we didn't think he was special.

Bah, we won't get Cesc for less than 60 million at this pace

Can't watch this one in the US apparently, was sorta getting addicted like last one. Good luck.

Yeah, but that's a name on itself, we just call them "Barça-Madrid" "Madrid-Atlético" or "the derby" if you are talking to other fans of your team or your local rivals ("you won't get a sniff at the derby" and such). But lately we are starting to see all this "Derby Madrileño" "El Clásico" thing on the press, I assume by influence of the English media and the globalization of the game. I guess we are just getting on with the times and all this branding malarkey. EDIT: Silly topic but I need very few excuses to procastinate.

I thought that was the name of Boca v River. It was probably f***ing Sky. Yeah, that was my impression too. But it's starting to get used in the press around here (fucking Marca), although it really has zero tradition. We don't really have a story of naming our derbies/rivalry matches like you do.

Zlatan's work rate and Iniesta's aerial prowess will win the game for us, surely. By the way, who came up with the name "El Clásico"? We sure as hell did not. Only have heard that nickname in the very few last seasons.

Cronaldo has seen his injury worsened and will spend a further month in the sidelines, potentially missing El Clásico. He has, however, dodged surgery for now (that would sideline him for 3 months...). Spanish TV showed a guy a few months ago claiming that he had put a hex on him and that he would barely play until Christmas unless Florentino paid him $$$$$$. Voodoo blackmail! So awesome.

Just watched the Wham - Villa highlights. That DaCosta guy surely was wearing jetboots on the penalty play.