news and gossip (fa cup, afcon, etc pics)
News Round Up
- Barcelona reconsider £123m Qatar kit deal due to 'social and political' reasons
Oh, that explains their latest kit - Paul Pogba will NEVER return to Manchester United, says Juventus team-mate Andrea Pirlo Never say never, but Pogba is star quality. If the Serie A really want to make a challenge (apart from getting their stadiums in order, sorting out the ultras, etc), keep Pogba. Although there's some interesting speculation re: Serie A players looking to the MLS in terms of the money in light of Giovinco's deal(although average American footballers don't make much). I should really find that article
- Galliani Tricked Into Revealing AC Milan Transfer Targets um, oops?
- Gonzalo Higuain Controversial Brace Sees Napoli up to Third in Serie A I'll take your word for it
- Cassano leaves Parma troubled club, so the player has left
- (South) Asian kids playing football on the streets of Bradford are nowhere near Valley Parade on match day... too little has been done to challenge the barriers that keep them away in my neck of the woods, South Asian kids always play cricket and cricket is a relatively white and public school sport here. So this report is a surprise. I use South Asian because what Americans consider Asian isn't what the English consider Asian (Asians are called 'Oriental' over here. I know).
- Gareth Bale: I'm happy at Real Madrid, the fans love me... and Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't spoken to me about not passing! did he speak Spanish? That would be a good way of integrating
- Manchester United reject approach for Adnan Januzaj from PSG Idgi they don't play him, won't loan him, won't sell him
- His Heart and a Coach’s Advice Take a World Cup Star Abroad DeAndre Yedlin, by Joining Tottenham Hotspur, Swims Against Tide on U.S. Team Nice article. Klinsman told Yedlin not to make any decisions without consulting him first, Yedlin finds the training hard, fast and intense. He can't play in the English game because Pochettino isn't impressed by his fitness levels- yet.
Social Media
I'm assuming that Hirunde means 'season' right? My German translations tell me nothing, Bundesliga assumes you know everything (and this is catering to the American market!) and to ask German fans on tumblr is an exercise in self flagellation and being talked down to. No, I never did German, because I grew up in the shadow of South America and Florida extending into the Caribbean basin like a dick. The language order (after my own creole) would have been English, Spanish, French and Dutch. Probably Danish if I grew up in the US virgin islands (and not even then, the US bought the islands from Denmark in 1915, iirc? Cuba was on my doorstep, and they did Russian due to Cold War reasons). German wasn't an option in the Caribbean you know? If I'd been raised in Europe, Probably it might have been. Sorry, I'm annoyed at everyone today.
That being said, Kagawa was a victim of a lot of things whilst at Man Utd. You got the feeling that they only got him for the Japanese market, and only played him on tours, or out of position. He was badly man managed. So yeah, I can understand the scars, he seems like a sensitive soul.
Pictures
FA Cup Chelsea 2- 1 LFC (AGG)
Nowadays, to be an LFC fan is to get used to disappointment. It happens
Ugh. This match. Normally, I'm pretty neutral towards Chelsea, and like their manager well enough, but ugh last night I truly understand why people loathe the side
This man. Diego Costa just...ugh. I'd say things, very bad things. I know that South Americans do play a nasty kind of football. Simeone's time in the Argentine squad (and when you see the Uruguayans play ugh) taught me that back in the day. To quote a player from Eibar, they'll kick you black and blue, and then on top of that, make sure that you get a yellow card. Costa is from this school
Skertel and Costa- this will run and run
Costa is lucky. I don't know which side of the bed he sleeps on, who his deity be, but for him to escape that match without a red card was lucky.
I get that football is a contact sport, and that things do happen. But Costa instead of striking, was just stamping everywhere
Twitter as usual takes bad things and turns them into much needed humour, lol. You, with your own Costa card can get stamps (and once your card is filled, you get a free stomp!).
That being said, though. LFC's subs were rubbish. Glen Johnson is lazy and sloppy, Balotelli doesn't mark, has daft decision making skills, and Lambert is lumbering and slow. I'd rather see Manquillo on the ball than Johnson (although Manquillo can be bullied off the ball, at least he works).
No one marked Ivanovich (Johnson and Balotelli, y'all had ONE job. ONE job at that moment
Neither Johnson or Balotelli didn't mark him. Props to Mignolet, he made some miraculous saves, was on the ball, he honestly couldn't stop this one, because no one marked the Chelsea player
That being said, it felt like a proper PL match, one that I haven't seen in years, what with all the foreign managers and players in the PL (and to some extent in the Championship side), the game has gotten to be a hybrid. It was physical, fast paced and mean. But the referee had too light a hand in the match, I feel. I get the fact that the game should be free flowing, but he didn't call out Chelsea for time wasting, etc.
Honestly, as much as I bitch about LFC (Spurs not so much, but they do get the hairy eyeball from me), we're playing better. Coutinho is creative and industrious (Coutinho with Willian here)
Mignolet has worked through the hailstorm of criticism into a better form, and a better version of himself
We have a creative midfield, and slowly, our defence is getting solid
That being said, my wish is that we sell off Balotelli (Qatar might be good for him, I think and we might claw back some money, although not much. Balotelli's done at this level in Europe, sorry. It's not even because Rodgers or whatever, because Balotelli has failed to flourish under other managers before. Realty has trumped much lauded potential and he's not as good as the fates promised, and it pains me to say this), Glen Johnson, Lambert and the rest of the deadweight, and really beat the bushes for a good striker, because we have two bad ones, and Lallana is still taking time to get to what he was
Coppa Italia: Milan 0- 1 Lazio
Oy, it didn't go so well for AC Milan last night. That being said, looking good Inzaghi. Just because the sword of Damocles is swinging over your head doesn't mean that you should let yourself go
I will learn from your ways *as jp brushes biscuit crumbs off her stomach*
AC Milan- the words Sinking Ship are being banded about
I can't find much pics re: Serie A, I gotta admit. Apart from say, Juventus. I guess it's a niche interest now? Like, say, watching the Portuguese league?
Honda is not amused with your foolishness, world
AfCon 2015
Algeria are through! As a Spurs fan, I'm kinda mad, because it means we won't get our players back until mid Feb. But! Algeria are though!
Carl MeMedjani of Algeria vies with Senegal's Southampton star Sadio Mane during the AFCON tie match report here. Speaking of which, Senegal is throwing their toys out of their pram, and have asked FIFA to ban Diafra Sakho for two games, because they said that he missed out on AFCON on purpose (citing a back problem) only to play for the FA cup this weekend
Ghana prevailed over South Africa, thanks to this man, Andre Ayew. I gotta say, tried finding AFCON 2015 on tumblr, but not much joy.
OP: done. Any misinformation, broken links, pictures and whatnot, leave in comments. That being said, it's going to have to wait until tomorrow, because I'll be offline for the rest of the day. Well, until Spurs anyway