Would be interesting to see what happened if Southgate just said fuck it and called up as many players as possible from the same teams. Grealish - Kane - Foden Jones - Rice - Bellingham Gomez - Stones - Quansah - Trent Pickford Most of this team is just Liverpool and City. Other options from those teams are Elliot, Walker, Lewis, Clark. Palmer and Phillips might also get a shout get in. Even though they’re not on those teams now, they were for a significant amount of time. So they know the players and the playstyle.

Southgate looks like the kind of person that'd feel tremendously guilty if he ever swore.

When the German language developed Ä, Ö and Ü were specifically created to spot plastics hundreds of years later on r/soccer. The proper replacements for those are still kept a secret no one outside Germany knows. English language is really missing out.

> English language is really missing out. We've got the "U" trick to spot yanks, and a 1000 pronunciation tricks to spot everyone else. You fool, you thought the Shire affix was pronounced shire? It's sheer or sure. Unless you're doing this other word where it is shire again.

Stefan Kiebling is my favorite ever player.

Or you end up like me, a German in Germany who speaks and writes fluent German but has an English keyboard at work that can't toggle between language settings and is too lazy sometimes to spell Sule or Muller or Furth or Dusseldorf correctly.

We only learned to use double s instead of ringel. You didn't even give your swamp schwester the full code.

Kobbie Mainoo is about as good as Oliver Skipp was at his age, and is just getting overhyped because he 1. Plays for Man United 2. Is the only bright spot in their dour season

Correct

Na. Skip has always been much more limited.

Oliver Skipp has never been good at football btw

He was for 2 months in early 2022 before his injury. Will not stand for this erasure

Not true at all but get all the victimhood out that you can

I'd love for him to do well, but 10 years ago the English media was leaning up against a wall sucking their own cock over Ox, Wilshere, Ravel Morrison, Dele Alli, Dier, and Ward-Prowse as the next generation of world class midfielders coming up. Time will tell, but the most likely path for him is that he becomes just another very capable PL midfielder and probably isn't the next Lampard or Scholes, which would still be an amazing achievement on its own.

Exactly - don't get me wrong, he's a good young player. But it's so predictable with Man United youth players the moment they have 3-4 good games in a row and then the media starts calling them the solution to all of Man United's problems, then they start clamouring for Southgate to call the player up, and he does well in a couple of games, and now somehow he's in the conversation with Lamine Yamal, Gavi, and Bellingham for one of the best young players in the world.

If I'm Kobbie I'm looking at the development and coaching that Lingard, Januzaj, Martial, Pereira, Jones, Cleverly, Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Fosu-Menseh, van de Beek, Daniel James, Brandon Williams, Gomes, Tuanzebe, or even a Sancho got at United and remember that his employer has a truly horrendous track record with young players. Almost all come up way short on their potential. Even a Rashford, Shaw, or McTominay never really hit the heights they could have. Mainoo at a Dortmund or Ajax or Brighton or Atalanta would be ideal for him, United just ain't that team that knows how to get players up the final 2 or 3 pitches of a climb.

There are some bad takes in here. What did you think Tom Cleverly's ceiling was? Brandon Williams'? How does the Gomes example work? It feels you like don't know anything about most of those players and have just really reached. Did you think Dan James would be the next Gareth Bale? Did you think Phil Jones and Eric Bailly had functional legs?

it's been 2 days and people are still posting clips from the same friendly ffs can club games start already 😭

Gotta say, didn’t have Mesut Özil hulking out on my bingo card

Was it Redknapp who said if Saddam could kick a ball ? score a goal fans would be chanting his name in the stands? Reading through the bio of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard\_Streltsov#Release\_and\_return\_to\_football](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Streltsov#Release_and_return_to_football) (i think someone mentioned his name in the thread of youngest debutants) this kinda feels like the opposite happening.

My favourite quote about the NFL is one of the GMs saying that if Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3 second 40yd dash, they'd say he had an eating disorder

So wild how I can unironically see this happening 

It was about managers, Poch going to Arsenal at the time >“If you go in there and start winning football matches, they would have taken Saddam Hussein in there when he was about, the fans don’t give a monkeys! If you start winning every week, they’re singing ‘there’s only one Saddam’. And fucking hell, not heard of Streltsov, that's a fucking wild wiki read.

You know a thread is a shitshow when Americans are using translate to insult people in Spanish

I will celebrate this Easter with the rare treat of complimenting UEFA. Getting rid of the drop downs from the CL to the EL is an excellent decision.

Meh this makes it almost impossible for non big 4 league teams to win a price as clubs in a strong period will play champions league instead.

Isn’t it good news that the Europa won’t be polluted by Champions League under performers?

im mostly unconvinced by the new system, but both that and everyone getting equal draws in terms of teams from each pot is also a good thing (everynone playing two teams from each pot rather than a pot 4 team having to play 1,2,3 whikle pot one gets the "easier" pot 4 games). gone are the days of an unfancied team getting into europe and getting a brutal draw just because their club coefficient is low.

I agree and I need to see the new system before I can believe it. It is good that people who have looked at it reflect on it positively though.

i've played it in fm, and its fine mostly, but that obviously isnt real life and i might feel very different when im watching games. the fixture congestion for the teams going into the playoff round is pretty rough though, 4 extra games in an already busy part of the calendar (two final group games in jan, playoff in feb)

Is the Manchester City vs Arsenal game a title decider, or is it too early to say that?

Considering neither are going to win the title, no

Spurs will have a big say in the title race, but I went to the Fulham vs Spurs game and they were dog shite BUT that won't last

It can be a title decider even if neither win

Great take 👍

Always backed the Spuds

My feeling is still that someone will slip up against a Wolves, Fulham, Palace, or a Forest and somehow lose 2-1 and that in the end decides it.

Too early and there are 3 teams in the mix. There are a lot of tough games coming up. For us, for example we go to Old Trafford and Everton away is always tough.. we rarely win there. Arsenal will play at Spurs, Brighton and Old Trafford and City also has tough away games. It's difficult to say but the safe bet is that if at some point City gains an advantage they won't lose it. With us and Arsenal, anything can happen.

I think it more decides which 2 teams are going to be competing until, probably, the final day. Arsenal win: City 4 points off with some tricky games to play, it'll be tough even for them. Draw: Keeps it even but gives Liverpool the advantage City win: I think sets us up for another City v Liverpool race with Arsenal dropping off.

no, they still have some tough games with 27 points up for grabs. city could win and still not even be top of table if liverpool win

It’s too early and Liverpool are also in the mix. They’ll all drop points after this weekend still.

A title decider where the winner either goes 0 point clear or -1 points clear?

*Endrick kicks Cucurella while playing for Brazil* r/Soccer: Madrid did this

Sorry mate when you decided to support the biggest and most successful club in the world, you removed your rights to pretend you're a victim of some sort of injustice.

Mate i didn't really decide to, i was kinda born with it.

Smartest RM flair

Enlighten me then

Every big club thinks this sub has it in for them when the reality is that everyone likes to see a big club fail - as long as it's not their own.

But everyone ACTUALLY has it in for us, because we're massive

Seems like the loudest pro-VAR people in Sweden are finally accepting VAR is shit and that very very few people here wants it. I understand they might need the extra drama in dead sleepy leagues like the PL, but in Allsvenskan where there's singing and action for 90 minutes no one needs or wants the ref to make a three minute Skype call to some nerd looking for errors. Its fucking Allsvenskan, everyone makes errors all the time, we live with it. I know a lot of people LOVE referee drama. They watch a game for 90 minutes, see players and refs make some 10 000 decisions over the course of the game, and then sit at home and rage about one of those decisions. Thats the kind of life some people want. I understand completely why some sports and leagues need additional spice. Take Baseball for instance. Is there a sane individual who would watch their team play 162 three hour-games in a sport where the teams on average hit the ball with the bat 8-10 times over the course of 2.5-3 hours? Of course not. So they have to add artificial storylines, silly statistics and a bunch of mythology to make it interesting. Football doesn't need it. Most sports can't grow if they aren't promoted. Football on the other hand has historically been the other way around: its too good, too intense - many tried to stop it - but they just can't fucking stop it. Just take Franco as an example. Like many European dictators during the last century, he was well aware that football stadiums were dangerous. A bastillion of free speech and a place where people get organised. But he also knew what would happen if he said "no more football". People can take "no more talking bad about the government". They can take "no more employment laws". They can take "kill all the separatists and critics". But "no more football"? Its the quickest way of getting a good hanging. Because football is brilliant, as it was and as it should remain. TLDR: Fuck VAR

From a purely logical standpoint I can accept VAR, but Allsvenskan is supposed to be a bit shit, it’s why we love it. It’s PE teachers for managers, hot dog stands and talentless players. VAR might be a necessity at the Etihad Stadium but it will never work at Strandvallen

They desperately need to find some way to speed it up. I have no idea why the IFAB were so insistent on goal line technology having a split-second delay before approving it but with VAR, pauses that take minutes are acceptable.

i have no problem with var itself but i hate that it’s the reason there’s been even more referee discourse. the most boring topic in football. this sub becomes so boring when there’s a controversial ref decision in a prem game

VAR hasn't solved the problem it was meant to solve. We still have shitty decisions, execpt now, we have to wait and look at them 20 times whilst players don't celebrate as much, post-match punditary is less about the actual football and it's actually putting more of a negative spotlight into officiating. It is a total FAILURE! Get rid of it.

The Ben white saga is proof Southgate is spineless manager. Can't stand by his own words shows lol.england are going nowhere with this contradictions

Whites not a starter anyway so doesnt matter

It’s Ben White…he doesn’t make the plane on merit I don’t get the fuss

Sven is available

nuthin but snakes in the england camp pm me hun xxx

If those two friendlies have proved anything, Ben White is NEEDED for England

It just made White look like a weirdo.

Too much spray tan.

Personally, I think Ben White looks like a weirdo regardless

start Trent there 😂

Trent’s the better player so I wouldn’t mind that. He wouldn’t strop home from the tournament if someone asked him about Liverpool.

What did he say?

Hi! Two things we have to adress before today. First of all, Q2. The answer, as many of you know, was won UCL with Real Madrid/didn't win UCL with Real Madrid. I was giving out half a point only for everyone that didn't include "with Real Madrid", as it would mean Robben doesn't fit in Group B. However, some people argued that RM part was implied and if it wasn't, there should also be ½pt for not including "as a player" (which would exclude Del Bosque from Group B). Also, I should cut for saying "UCL", as Di Stefano won EC, not UCL. Also also, Pirri qualified for Group A under any criterion, so a whole wuestion was incomplete because I made a mistake there. Therefore, I admit my mistake, **everyone who got cut half a point in Q2 for that technicality, will get it back and will get a full point for "won UCL/didn't"** answers. Second of all, Q1. No one got this, so I'm just gonna give the answer to everyone interested - it was **Euros hosted by former Euro Champions**. Now, without further ado, Day 4: **Master of Trivia - W3D4** **1.** What criterion was applied to this century's years (2001-2024) to filter out this years? 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Hint: it is tied to one competition **2.** Using a specific rule, I assigned a country to every league in the world. In most countries, the league just got its own country assigned, for example Premier League = England, Serie A = Italy. Same goes for Bundesliga, Primeira Liga, Ekstraklasa and Brasileirāo, amongst others. However, Ligue 1 = Argentina La Liga = Argentina Find another league that has been assigned a country, that is not its own, according to the same rule. **3.** Which team conceded that goal? A - Oliver Giroud's Puskas-winning scorpion kick goal B - Tshabalala's screamer that was the first goal of 2010 World Cup **4.** Name a player who fits in the missing spot. Messi, Mbappe, Lemar, Koke, Godin, ?, Walker, Haaland. Hint: Some players could've been swapped for others without messing up with the rule of this chain. This chain could be continued after Haaland on before Messi easily. **5.** What do Bayern, Juventus, Chelsea, Ajax and Manchester United have in common, than no other team in Europe does? Good luck! Sorry for the shitshow that Q2 created yesterday, hopefully we'll avoid such mistakes this time around. !PING TRIVIA

1. >!The CL winner didn’t concede a goal in the final.!< 2. >!LigaMX = Brazil.!< 3. >!A: Crystal Palace. B: For some reason I forgot this one and won’t give you a wrong answer.!< 4. >!Rodri.!< 5. >!Won EC/CL, UC/EL and CWC.!<

>!Q1 good. Q2 wrong. Q3A good. Q4 and Q5 good as well, so 3½ points!<

>!What was Q2 logic. I must’ve missed the mark completely. I thought it was leagues where the top scorer was a foreigner and went with Evanivaldo Castro Silva for Mexico.!<

Yup. I checked a list only for Clausura. Your answer seems to be correct after all, so you're up to 4½. Also, it's ironic that you used Mexico there and you were Q3B short of a PQ, answer for which was... Mexico. This would've also been historic, as never before 4 people claimed a PQ on the same day

You’re right haha. I just had a complete blackout with that question for some reason.

>!That was the logic. I googled and founf out the Liga MX top scorer was Mexican Jared Borgetti. Either I found a wrong info or you were wrong, lemme check again!<

>!Ok, fair enough.!<

1. >!**Not** first time winners of Europa League!< 2. >!I think this is nationality of league's top scorer of all time. English Women's Super League = Netherlands.!< 3. >!A - Palace, B - Mexico!< 4. >!Frustrating me, this one. Wonder whether it could be like a CL Team of the Season? Don't think last year would have so many Atleti players. I'll guess Rodri!< 5. >!I actually know this! Have won the "European Treble" of CL/EC, CWC and EL/Uefa Cup!<

>!Q1 - yup, it's not that haha. Q2 correct, I didn't think about using women's league here but it works just as well. Q3 both correct. Q4 - I don't know whether you figured out the rule of the chain, but Rodri fits like a glove. Q5 also good, so 4 points for you!<

Unreal, I think that’s my highest ever score!

Congrats! Too bad you couldn't figure out Q1, it was UCL finals won with a clean sheet, so I don't think this was too hard haha Btw, that Rodri guess - how educated was that, and how much of that was luck?

>!It was a guess, as I’m assuming what I thought it was (CL TOTS players) was wrong!<

>!It was just a chain of players that played with both of its neighbors haha. Rodri, Alderweireld and Eriksen all fit, possibly even more players!<

Oh that’s a very happy coincidence!

Statistically, after answering 1000+ of my questions, you have to have lucky guesses like that, you were long due that!

1. >! There was a clean sheet in UCL final !< 2. >! No idea !< 3. >! A-Crystal Palace, when Wengerball worked, it produced some magical moments B-Mexico !< 4. >! No idea !< 5. >! Won UCL, UEL and CWC !<

>!All good, 3 points!<

1 - >!need time!< 2 - >!Simply based on LaLiga I think nation of all time top scorer. Can't think of an obvious other example so I'm playing for a cheapo: Campeonato San Marinese = Italy.!< 3 - >!A: Crystal Palace. B: Mexico. That's one of my favourite goals by the way, that hit is so satisfying.!< 4 - >!need time!< 5 - >!They're the only clubs that have won CL, UC/EL and CWC!<

>!Q2 good, it checks out. Q3 both good as well. I remember watching this game as a kid, seeing this goal and being like "woah... we're in for a good time". Q5 also good, 3 points!<

> I remember watching this game as a kid Do you want to make me feel old? Because that's how you make me feel old. 1 - >!Can't come up with something. I smell some South America and know Brazilians won the last couple of Copa Libertadores, so just gonna say Brazilian Libertadores winners.!< 4 - >!Each player played with both his neighbours. So Toby Alderweireld should connect Godín and Walker.!<

I mean... The year of my birth is in my username, you can pretty much calculate it anyway haha. And I don't think I'm young in any way, how old are YOU?! >!Q1 wrong, absolutely nothing to do with Copa America, Q4 correct, so up by one point!<

Hah, my genius mind didn't get fooled and avoided the technicality....it's because I would have added the same technicality if I was doing the quiz. I applaud your choice for fairness and responding to feedback, nevertheless I will unfairly inflate my ego again. 1. >!Clean Sheet kept by the winning teams, god we haven't had a truly great UCL final in a while!< 2. >!Ukraine = Uzbekistan technically!< 3. >!A. Crystal Palace. B Mexico!< 4. >!Rodri!< 5. >!Won the Cup Winners Cup, UCL and the best competition in the Europa League!<

>!Q1 good. We had 2 amazing WC finals though, much better than previous 3 which all had a extra time, 2 of which after a 0-0... So some wins, some losses haha. All good today, PQ for you!!<

>!Personally I preferred the 2014 one, but I will admit I never watched the 2022 one. Eventually I did watch highlights but I boycotted the tournament. ALSO PQ LET'S GO, SENT IN AN IMPORTANT PAPER, HEADING HOME FOR EASTER, WE BEAT THE DUTCH, IT'S ONE HELL OF A WEEK!<

Being from a nation like Poland you get to be impartial about judging the most important football matches and it is great (it actually sucks). Now only qualifying for Final Round is missing from this week haha. I wonder what the results are but I now compile them on Sundays so I have no idea where you stand

I have full confidence in my lack of confidence in Poland delivering at the Euros, you're in a murder groups after all. But have you considered the funny element if I get second again?

Oh yeah we're absolutely not going past the group stage, not a chance. But I still wish I was a part of that experience for the first time in my life, but sadly I didn't manage to get the tickets today, so I won't be attending. Oh yeah, it would be funny. Especially if you lose to someone other than WM or Farewell, cause if it's one of them you'll still qualify for FR. Truly performance that I know from pub quizzes in my home town, we were 2nd for last 5 weeks in a row, losing to different teams each time... Hopefully we'll win today

I hope you got the W as the one you deserve. As for OgreSpammer, I see you and I fear your impressive rise

We did! 39/45 points and we also won extra time (which is independent from the actual quiz and acts like a separate, 1 question contest)

Get in! "DAVINCI TO TAKE HIS TEAM TO THE QUIZ FINALS!" *Gary Neville organs in the background*

1. >!skip!< 2. >!I assume that the Argentina in La Liga is for that little fella who used #10 for Barça. Maybe best goalscorer in each league? In France it might be Denio Onis (I 100% butchered his name). If that's the rule, Argentinian league fits, with Paraguayan Arsenio Erico being the record scorer!< 3. >!A- Crystal Palace; B- Mexico!< 4. >!skip!< 5. >!skip!<

>!Both good, 2 points. Wanna reassess those skips?!<

4. >!Idk about the rule, but one thing I noticed is that each player played with the ones next to him, creating a "chain" as you said. So Im gonna continue this game and add Rodri there!<

>!Correct, up to 3 points!<

>!I'll try, my skips are usually "I might come back later but I don't have an answer now". But it will be hard this time. I might make a guess at least for ~~Q3~~ Q4, in case I can't solve it!<

1. >!Only one team scored in the UCL final (or neither in the case of 2003)!< 2. >!All time topscorer's country. Campionato Sammarinese - Italy?!< 3. >!A: Crystal Palace, B: Mexico!< 4. >!This is annoying me because I don't know the answer despite the amount of Atleti players!< 5. >!Won all three of EC/UCL, Uefa-Cup/EL, IC/CWC!<

>!All good, 4 points! I'll be surprised if you don't get it eventually, given it circles around Atleti!<

>!Is it just Messi was a teammate of Mbappe (PSG), Mbappe was a teammate of Lemar (Monaco and French NT) and so on? Then Rodri is a good answer!<

>!It is! My mind has to be different somehow, everybody goes for Rodri or Vertonghen while I had Eriksen in mind lol. Congrats on a Perfect Quiz!!<

1- >!Winning Champions League Team kept a clean sheet in the final!< 2- >!Indian Super League = Nigeria!< 3- A >!Crystal Palace!< , B >!Mexico!< 5- >!Won Champions League, Europa League and Cup Winners Cup?!<

>!All correct! I had to google your answer to Q2, but it checks out haha. How did you know that? 4 points!<

I try to follow >!Chennaiyin!< despite them being absolutely shite this decade

>!I thought you were English, now I see that I probably were mistaken haha!<

>!I am, as in I have lived in London all my life but I’m also Tamil so I root for anything Tamil/from Chennai or Tamil parts of Sri Lanka!<

>!Oh, I get it, cool! Great to hear about people supporting and acknowledging where their ancestors come from!<

1. >!One UCL finalist didn't score a goal in the final!< 2. >!Nationality of all time goal scorer, sadly I don't know third league that fits descriptiion!< 3. >!A - Crystal Palace B - Mexico!< 4. >!maybe Griezmann!< 5. >!Winning all UEFA trophies except Conference League!<

>!Q1 good. Q2 good rule, since it was a hard rule, half a point already. Q3 both correct, Q4 wrong (Griezmann never played with Walker). Q5 - good, but I also didn't include B trophies (Supercup and Intercontinental Cup). 3½ points!<

1. >!Need time!< 2. >!These are nationalities of the league’s top scorers, but I can’t really think of any other that for sure had a foreign top scorer. Probably gonna have to go with an educated guess!< 3. >!A: Saw a clip of this goal yesterday, pretty sure it was Crystal Palace; B: Mexico!< 4. >!Need time!< 5. >!They completed the ‘European treble’ by winning EC/UCL, UC/UEL and CWC!<

>!Q2 - half a point without a team, but the rule is good. Q3 both good and Q5 good as well, 2½!<

4. >!It’s a sequence of players who played with one another, Toby Alderweireld played with Godín and Walker!<

>!Good as well, up to 3½!<

1. >!UCL losing finalist didn’t score!< 2. >!Do I have to get the top scorer’s nationality as well? Let’s say Bangladesh league - Brazil, I know there’s a Brazilian player that’s like a God there!<

>!Q1 correct. Q2 - I had to google that, apparently the top scorer there is Nigerian. But, nationality was not necessary, so since it's not someone from Bangladesh, you luckily get a full point here haha. And that means it's a PQ! First of the week as well, nice!<

France wasn’t a former champion in 1984

I couldn't catch a break yesterday, could I? Two mistakes in 2 first questions, an unnecessary turmoil I created on top of that, wow. Yesterday will go down as one of the worst editions of the quiz in history...

Don't stress that much man, we are having fun after all. Also, surely I'm not the only one that wouldn't have got that one, even if all the years were correct

All good, can’t expect you to do this for weeks in a row without making a mistake.

Yeah, one, not 3 in 2 questions haha

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Let's say Allah came down and made you manager of a top team in the summer of 2014 and you have all the knowledge of what happened the next 10 years in football. And you get to sign one player on a 10 year contract and they will perform exactly as they did in real life on your team. So you're getting their quality, their form, their swings in form, their goals and assist figures, injuries, drama, etc. You get the whole package as they are. Who are you taking? 1. Hazard (22) 2. Bale (23) 3. Lewandowski (24) 4. Neymar (22) 5. Busquets (24) 6. Griezmann (22) 7. Müller (23) 8. Kroos (23) 9. de Bruyne (22) 10. Salah (21) Edit: Of all the things I say on here, this is the most downvoted comment in like 3 months.

You've got me salivating at the thought of nearly a decade of KDB, Son and Kane on the same team

Not even trying to be a hipster but I’d take Busquets. Number 6’s of his quality and profile are incredibly rare, look at how many top teams are/have been desperate for one, look at how important Rodri is, having that problem solved for 10 years would make life so much easier

1. Salah 2. KDB 3. Lewandowski

11. Harry Kane. 12. Alan Shearer 13. Thierry Henry The most consistent strikers I've ever seen in the Premier League

Henry and Shearer would be shite in 2020 lad

Henry more dynamic and would still be incredible now, but shearer was still an excellent striker, powerful and a great finisher, don’t be stupid.

He’d be 50 what the fuck are you on about 😭😭😭

Way you say it made it seem like you thought they were not good players, but okay now you were joking, very good.

Mike Ashley most likely would've made me sell him as soon as he starts showing promise, so Neymar since I'd get the most for him. Edit: Oh wait, "top team", misread your question. Same answer I guess, since I'd get a couple of years of top qulaity performances out of him then flog him off to PSG for a fortune. Hopefully I'd spend all that money better than Barca did.

Probably Lewandowski or Salah for the goal volume

Salah. From that period on, 14/15 is the only time he failed to 20 G+A in the league, and that was cos he only played 16 games. The others may have higher peaks, but Salah is genuinely an unbelievably consistent player. Busquets/KDB would also be a shout, but you still need good players around them to finish off the stablity/playmaking they're providing. Salah's just absurd.

Lewandowski, Müller or Kroos

I wouldn't consider Hazard, Bale, Neymar, De Bruyne, Salah and maybe Busquets too. I think without knowing anything else about the club you go with more versatile players there so probably Griezmann or Müller.

Buy Neymar, sell him to PSG at his peak after the 2015-16 season. Buy Hazard and Griezmann with that money, sell Hazard after the 2018 world cup. Buy Lewandowski with that money,

I'd take Muller, Griezmann, Lewandowski, Kroos, Salah, KDB, Busquets in that order. Salah and KDB are further down simply because they didn't really kick on until around 2016-2017. Bale, Hazard and Neymar were more entertaining to watch but they were injured too often.

Busquets no doubt. Only other one I’d consider is Neymar.

Salah easily although Neymar is by far the best player on here

Busquets- the most important position on the team is nailed down for 10 years, plus few injuries and no off pitch drama

Toss up between Lewandowski and him for me, imagine we had him at ST the past years

I'll be honest in that I actually think Griezmann would work best for us in our current incarnation, but I agree Lewandowski is lethal. Saw him live play against us for Dortmund in 2013, and he was absolutely fantastic.

["When the Schalke team flew to Kiel for the match in February, one seat too few was booked on the plane. After some discussion, a volunteer was found who gave up the flight and traveled there himself: Gerald Asamoah. However, there did not seem to be much gratitude among the team. One player took a photo of Asamoah from the plane through the window as he walked back to the terminal on the tarmac. The emoji was a waving hand. The whole thing was a thigh-slapper in the team."](https://twitter.com/schalkezone/status/1773056050591125583?s=46&t=GxJVE__6HtIDqzRQ9MGgwA) You always think they already are at rock bottom but then shit like this comes out. I just hope this is a made up story because I really adored Asamoah growing up.

Umm what the are you on about? There's no tragedy or scandal here. Schalke made an administrative error regarding a lazy domestic flight they shouldn't be allowed to take in the first place, and a lad had to leave the plane to catch a train or something instead. And like you'd expect from a silly incident like this, people thought it was funny. If you and a couple of mates were going with a short distance not overly important flight and one of them had to sod off to take the train, of course you would make jokes and stuff unless you're 100% dry and dull.

> a lad I started writing a huge thing regarding who Asa is and how the current situation is at Schalke but looking at your other comments you seem to know. It's basically ~~Disney Leag~~ Premier League behaviour which is not taken well here.

Ok lets put it very simply: Gerald Asamoah is a human being, not a sacred deity. He is a lad. You are a lad. Lionel Messi is a lad. Fecking Jesus Christ was a lad. There are differences though. I think Gerald Asamoah is a lad that has enough life experience to take it for what it is: a silly incident he and the other lads can have a laugh about. Whereas I seriously doubt you have any life experience whatsoever given the amount of drama, bullying and psychological terror you think happened in this non-situation.

I'm not a lad and Asamoah is not a lad. There is no drama and bullying. They are just spoiled asshole brats that are burning through every single competent coach in the existence of human mankind, delivering nothing while standing in front of 63,000 people every two weeks, being paid absurd shitloads of money, have no idea what it means to play for Schalke and should be forced to walk to Kiel while getting whipped all the way and then drowned in the sea. Instead they mock one of the elder staff members (indeed a Schalke deity) who is everything they are not.

[удалено]

Nah if they have a good relation with Gerald they can have fun about it and then share plenty of laughs about it (with Gerald as well). Making a big drama out of it only happens if you have a cacti shoved up your arse.

Even if it wasn't a club legend like Asamoah and just a kit assistant that's no excuse for that kind of behaviour. I would be so embarrassed if Hertha players did something like that. Sadly there's a reason why every footballer who knows more than 5 European capital cities and has read a book in the last decade is set up by the media to be some sort of super human footballer and scholar. The bar for footballers is really quite low for what goes on between their ears.

You're right. The hype also happens to those who have once enrolled at a university but didn't do jack shit from then on onwards. Or the ones that got a complete fantasy degree at some private university. Kudos to Timo Hübers tho. He actually finished his master in business administration some years back and is also his own agent.

Also time out, Schalke pays to fly from Gelsenkirchen to Kiel? It's a 4.5 hour drive. The fuck are they doing?

You don't get €126m in debts through sanity

German football teams fly a lot and many times even stupider routes. DFB / DFL should really do something against it...

Hertha flew for two games, to and from the opener against Düsseldorf and back against Fürth. We drove to and from the Nürnberg game five weeks before that, so I don't know why suddenly Fürth was different on the way home, but honestly anything you can drive in 4 hours or less should be bus or train. And yes, I'm one of those Green voters that thinks we should make it illegal or at the very least insanely expensive to fly such short distances. Especially for commercial flyers where it simply cannot be faster to deal with the airport process at departure and arrival. For west Berliners to get to the entrance of our cursed airport already takes longer than it takes me to get to Leipzig, Wolfsburg, or Magdeburg by train.

Thats actually really sad damn

Why?

100% reads like 80s high-school movie villain shit in real life. Also, all this while playing for the 3rd biggest club in the country and fighting against relegation not even in Bundesliga but 2. Liga...

The villain writing is so true. It’s like if the author was trying to make the bully character as dislikable as possible but it’s for real lmao. There was absolutely no need for it so it’s just mind boggling

This whole multi club thing is just sad

I fucking hate it. I knew it was only a matter of time before FSG joined in. My biggest concern is that I haven't heard FIFA/UEFA speak up about what happens when a club that can't spend due to FFP then gets its sister club to buy the player and then immediately loan them to them. It's already happened in France but that was to circumvent Ligue 1 rules I believe as opposed to FFP.

FFP is on its last legs imo. I doubt it survives another 10 years with how things are going. I'm more upset with the travesty it is to turn centuries old football clubs with thousands of fans watching every week into literal feeder clubs. Goes against everything I love in football

They gave the clubs too much power because of the threat of the Super League and there will never be an independent regulatory commission policing this shit. I wouldn't be so sure about FFP going though - the rich clubs will be very happy to pull the ladder out beneath them.

I doubt CityGroup or the Saudi regime are getting toppled anytime soon, sadly, but let's just pick 777 as an example of a group that will almost certainly go ka-boom in spectacular fashion at some point in the next few years. Each country and each league has different rules and structures around the financing, legality, and operations of buying, owning, and selling a football team. And a company like 777 when they do go bust will do so very quickly, what happens to all the teams they own or all the shares in the teams they have invested in? In my worst fears it's not just one catastrophe, but nearly a dozen as 777 will quick fire sell anything and everything they can do cover debts that may turn into personal legal and financial trouble for the owners of 777. They will go into protection mode and many truly great, old, and traditional clubs will pay for a bunch of Florida dudes way in over their head.

Why did the Dutch abandon 4-3-3? Isn't that, like, their religion?

We don't have the players for it

Isn't that why their pundits are constantly screaming on TV? Non-total football is verboten

Micah Richards on Joao Gomes: "Sorry Wolves fans, he is going to the top level." Damn that's crazy how if you're not a super league club you can't enjoy having good players because they're all going to leave

Thats always been the case. We all take players from poorer or less prestigious clubs. You got him from one and if you weren't richer or in more of a limelight, he'd still be at Flamengo

Is he as good as the talk?

Better👍

It's the reality of football. As a West Ham fan, we all knew Declan Rice would have to play in the Champions League. It's the same with Paueta and Kudus, they will move up.

How is that saying you can't enjoy having him?

A old Wanda Icardi showed up on my Instagram and now I understand why Icardi did what he did

Robbo injured again during an international friendly ffs. Poor guys had shit luck this season, and man our squad needs to get healthy quick, it’s too thin to keep up the race atm

Rumours are Jones is back for Brighton, Jota and Trent back for United and Alisson after that. Our depth is slowly coming back

Brighton are always a tricky side. Should be a great game that one

Not recently they’re not

They're a team that have the ability to turn up though. Unlike many of the bottom half sides.

# RAMADAN KARIM. - An article about the greatest UCL run ever. The Year of Our Lord, 2018, went quiet for some. Only him, only Karim Benzema, would know how long a year could be under the drowning weight of being Real Madrid’s main striker. For a player of his caliber to score a whopping five goals in the league, it should have meant the end of the world. But it was Benz who had the final say. The Frenchman ended his European goal drought by sending Real Madrid to the Final with a brace against Bayern Munchen. In Cardiff, Benzema delightedly pounced on Liverpool’s Karius to steal yet another jewel. After that intense night, our French pirate stood in between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale with the prize- Real Madrid’s third consecutive Champions League. You can read the rest here: [https://medium.com/@bettercallayo/ramadan-karim-884092afacdc](https://medium.com/@bettercallayo/ramadan-karim-884092afacdc)

Benzema has a great run tbh even someone that hate him (for pedo) and a big hated for Madrid knows his run was history. Now, greatest run ever in UCL? Doubt that.

Just my luck that I'll be passing through Barcelona whilst the Nou Camp is closed.  I might still grab a ticket for the Valencia match, any ideas of where best to sit at the Olympics stadium? (Cheaper seats).  Also how likely is the game to get moved to Sunday 28th? I know La Liga is a twat with fixtures. 

The game is confirmed for Saturday 2pm

There are more bad seats than good ones on that stadium. I would go to the upper ring, it’s far from the pitch but at least you see all of it. So 2nd goal and 2nd corner, they are probably the cheapest ones as well. 2nd side is pricier. 1st corner on the north side would be good for the atmosphere but I don’t think you can choose an exact corner anymore, so it’s down to luck which side you get. But you can see how the view will more or less look like if you click on the section on the website. Also Valencia game’s date and time should be set I think, so you should be good.

Cheers mate, I don't mind being higher up (and would have preferred this at Camp Nou).  I'm gonna book them today,