Champions League!
Chatter from the sidelines
- Lavezzi hints at Napoli return First he said he might retire from football, now this
- Allegri to leave Serie A after Juventus wants to work in the PL. Are you sure? 2016 is going to be cray in the PL.
- Mancini: Serie A atmospheres have died the reason for stadia decline in Serie A is depressing, tbh. From what I understand, most of the stadia is owned by the government/municipal bodies and although the stadia is a good source of cash for local government, they don't update them, so they've become run down and rough. Clubs can't update them, because of the red tape (they can change the seats, but in terms of anything more, like new bathrooms, etc. it's a problem). The reason for AC Milan (is it?) to build a smaller stadium is seen as a good thing, because it will be modern, with smaller numbers, and purpose built to their tastes. h/t to untxi for the additional isight- ultra violence in big matches that scares people away from the stadia, scandals & other incomprehensible attitudes from the clubs themselves that alienate the fans, little to no CL football in the last few years, and yeah - also saturated TV coverage
- Boer: Ajax must win Europa League to avoid 'failed year' Ohh, Europa league begins today. I'm not one for gossip, so you didn't hear it from me: Boer was in the running for the Spurs job, as in, it was HIS- but his loose lips sank that ship, as he blabbed to the press in Holland that it was a sure thing and yeah, he'd be working in England, thank you very much. Levy being Levy (and secretive) was pretty upset, so he gave the job to Pochettino instead. Pochettino had to pay Southampton £2 million (because he was breaching contract to take another job). Normally, the payment is agreed between the clubs, and the clubs take care of it (for instance, when Pardew broke from Newcastle to go to Crystal Palace, Palace had to pay Newcastle £3 million for the trouble). Pochettino paying the fee from his own pocket (supposedly) was pretty huge.
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Europa league begins today! The winner of the Europa cup gets a place in the Champions League next year, which is why it's now a BFD, with strong sides thrown on, instead of an also ran competition! Are we excited (well, I am, since the teams I support are in this competition) - Immobile faking illness to avoid Juventus, jokes Klopp Klopp got jokes- but half the Dortmund squad came down with the flu?
- Coutinho: We have to maintain momentum LFC take on Besiktas today
- Besiktas’ Demba Ba returns to haunt Liverpool in Europa League GDI
- New kit round up! The latest strips for Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea and more
Some of these kits make me SMH. All the LFC shirts have been ugly since I've known about the club, that hasn't changed. *sigh* - Insider notes: Qatar set for winter World Cup, MLS CBA update, more To be played in November and December *eye roll* They say that international breaks will be cut, and hope for the disruption for the winter calendar to be minimised
- Why Xabi Alonso Red Card May Prove Champions League Blessing for Bayern Munich tl;dr: it's good because Alonso and Schweinsteiger don't work well together on the pitch, it will have to be either/or- and Schweinsteiger being the captain takes precedence although it's widely speculated that Guardiola prefers Alonso
- Nacer Chadli and Tottenham Hotspur fit and ready for pivotal spell Spurs have it all to do now, 6 games in 17 days! Including a league cup final! No rest for the weary, etc
- Chelsea warn racist fans as police forces unite to find group of thugs that refused to let black passenger on Paris Metro train idek, I remember how the club protected John Terry after he said what he said to a black player back in the day, so it's a case of believing it when I see it. But good for them for saying it
- Liverpool star Javier Manquillo causes ping pong chaos in hilarious Instagram video
OMG, Javier. With the new formation Brendan Rodgers is using (3-4-2-1)I haven't seen Manquillo on the pitch as much (Rodgers is employing wingers in this new formation, Moreno has been converted to a winger instead of a right back and- sorry, you really don't want to know the shifting set up of Liverpool. But I look forward to Manquillo being reintegrated (he played a clutch of matches before 2015) back into the line up. The point is, the video is funny
Misc Pictures
Ozil watching his two clubs
Kevin Kampl- Slovenian footballer of the year
I found this picture so funny. Had to post it
Beckham and Sir Alex Ferguson (not pictured) at the PSG vs Chelsea game. Not his best look
Again, posted this picture because I like it
Real Madrid players walking through the Schalke 04 tunnel for a practice session. How much money did Schalke 04 spent on that tunnel?
SMH at Reus
Manchester City with their goat in a nod to the Chinese New Year
Barcelona had sponsorship duties yesterday, so everyone turned out in their kit with the home colours
A company called telefonica
Right, last picture of Barca
Training day
Hummels might not be playing tonight because he has the flu
Dortmund training. Hopefully they'll show up tonight
Kun was supposed to be training but what had happened was...
Disquiet abounds in the Spurs camp since Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen (not pictured) have held off signing their contracts with the until the end of the season. The consensus is that they want to see where the team ends up on the table before they commit their futures to the club. What with a torrid three years of going through three managers (Pochettino is the fourth) they are understandably gun shy
6 matches in 17 days, no problem! They play Fiorentina tonight. TIL: Xabi Alonso's brother plays for the side.
Idek the context of this picture. Manquillo, Moreno and Enrique walk into a - gahh it's a bad joke, I won't finish it
Sturridge and Sterling in training. Let me tell you how popular they are- I can find pictures of them on tumblr! Tumblr- home of the white boy/latino boy thirst, where trying to find a picture of Bony is like hen's teeth. Liverpool, like Spurs are in a race for the top 4 spot and have a crushing spate of matches in the upcoming months
Sterling has yet to resign his contract extension with LFC. His agent's demands are shocking (an aside: his agent is breaking from the firm he has to launch his own business, and they think that the outrageous demands is by the agent in order for him to make his bones). So he might not sign, he might leave. Liverpool fans are steeling themselves for the worst, because the best players never stay for long
It seems that Balotelli and Sturridge really get on. Like, proper love in, mutual presidents of each other's fanclub and ish. They want to play together, but Rodgers says no
Sings off key, "I'm in love with the Kolo"
Schalke 0 - 2 Real Madrid
Lucas Silva got his start over Illarramendi. What will it take for Illarramendi to realise that he won't get much play time if he stays on? Silva seemed to have played at a good level if I read Marca correctly. I don't know, tbh. I was cleaning my house
Marcelo and Ancelotti happy
Real Madrid had to wear their pink outfits because UEFA deemed that their black outfits were too similar to Schalke 04's home kit. They say the pink kit has been their most successful kit to be sold so far, but the team didn't want to wear it due to superstition (the last time they wore it, they lost). With this win, I guess they can put their 2-4 defeat to bed and wear it some more. Yay for wardrobe recycling
OMG we've recovered our form! Ronaldo got out of his three game 'slump' and Gareth Bale was cited by the commentators as being too tentative, and they're wondering if the whistles of the Real Madrid fans are getting to him. Y'all know how they look like, so I'm not putting their pictures in this post
Marcelo and Silvia, two Brazilians in Real Madrid pink
Toni Kroos, bless him (and I'm cold on on him) for this comment:“A lot of teams would have liked to have Real Madrid’s ‘crisis’ - we lost one match.” Thank you for proving calm commentary, the wailing and gnashing of teeth by everyone is kinda ridic. Can't find a picture of him solo, it's too early for me to be looking at Ronaldo and Bale, this will work for all of us
Basel 1- 1 Porto
Controversy. A lot of people had issues with the officiating of the game, iirc
Gonzales drew first blood
A lot of footie fans I knew watched this game for this lad, Jackson Martinez. He's been linked to move to a PL club in the summer. I don't know which one though, names keep changing
Gonzales receiving treatment as he got kicked and was bleeding from his ear. I didn't watch much of this match, because again, cleaning the house for Chinese New Year
OP: done. As usual, any broken links, pushback on commentary, missed news we all can use, post in comments. I will amend as needed after today. Yayy!