Nov 26, 2020

RIP to the hand of god

 

Oct 29, 2020

Jota solid Portuguese striker/winger recently signed by Liverpool...looking good

 

Oct 25, 2020

So a couple of thoughts of yesterday 8/24:

- El Clásico ended up being a great spectacle with more than just pride being on the line. If there is one thing I've learned about this Real Madrid team, one that infuriates me in fact, is the lack of motivation they have going against 'minnows', in turn to fixtures like this then all of a sudden they are playing Galactico football. Koeman made a brave decision to start 3 teenagers with Fati continuing his ruthlessness in front of goal and fellow countryman Serginio Dest having a great showing, it's the vets who let this team down. Busquets failed to track Valverde's run on the first goal, Pique failed to provide leadership in the back and Messi had a few glimpses but felt disconnected to the team. Part of that disconnect lies within Koeman's emphasis on having equal ball distribution along the whole team + more of him being positioned along the final third rather than being the playmaking focal point, in the long term it's fruitful for the team since they need to transition away from Leo dominating the ball as his days look numbered at the club, only his Stans will be the ones complaining. As for Real, Zizou read the game perfectly and made his adjustments whenever the tempo demanded, I'm still laughing at Koeman putting in 6 forwards and completely unbalancing his team, the scoreline would have been uglier had Neto not made those saves in the end. Great game, Zidane is the man, f--- you FC Barcelona.

- I also excited for United-Chelsea that followed afterwards...until I saw the game. I think this had one of the lowest expected goal rates I've ever seen from any stat database lmaooo. But why did we have such a dampening game (no pun intended) you ask? Well, I think Ole woke up that morning and thought "Gee, we actually got an amazing result against Paris by playing conservatively...let's turn it up a notch!" and therefore we got a fairly restrictive line-up and a highlighted emphasis on man-oriented marking to put the clamps on Chelsea's forwards (in the same vein Maguire put I forgot who in a chokehold lol). Granted, United had no choice considering the injuries that amounted and the slow reintegration of Mason Greenwood as he's evidently still trying to make up for off-field issues. Rashford will someday be a one man offense like Son/Memphis/Sterling, he just needs to work on his decision making on when to s---t and when to facilitate a teammate. Chelsea on the other hand, need to still be patient as their new offense develops chemistry and with the return of Ziyech they will need to work on which piece of the puzzle will work best as their most optimal starting frontline. In this game for example, Chelsea was crying for another destabilizing central presence that could float between the lines and force United to pull out a defender/midfield pivot to prevent the ball getting to a dangerous position--someone like Ziyech if healthy or Havertz could have done that role (sadly he was stationed out wide again). Might still be echoing this all season, but both teams are still works in progress and are no where near where they should be, but it makes watching their journeys feel the worthwhile. Last note, Daniel James f---ing sucks.

- Elsewhere, Dortmund and Bayern scored a bunch of goals, Atalanta lost to Sampdoria's ancient frontline, Inter beat one of Serie A's worst teams, I heard Liverpool earned another crucial win and Ajax put a staggering 13 goals past a hapless team. Crazy that Frankie de Jong left that team to play with plumbers like Messi wow

 

Oct 24, 2020

LETS GOOOOOOO

Another clásico win fellas @Alpha @OwI @Guma

 

Oct 24, 2020

d--- great W for Leeds yesterday, defeating the only team that had 12 points after 4 games. We're talking about Aston Villa that managed to crush Liverpool at home 7-2 and take all 3 points 5 days ago at Leicester.

Also the 2nd and 3rd goal from Bamford simply amazing.

 

Oct 21, 2020

Disastrous first half, we once again struggled at creating vs an aggressive low block. Distinct lack of confidence within certain players (Rodrygo, Jovic, Militao), plus some motivational issues as this team has a habit of being complacent against opposition like Shakhtar & Cadiz. Credit to Brazil—I mean Shakhtar for their gameplan at exploiting us on the counter.

Decent response in the 2nd half but it’s an unacceptable result on our part (as I typed this Valverde scored an equalizer—Edit: welp nevermind). Idk which Barca or Madrid will show up this weekend, neither have been convincing let alone close to being elite.

 

Oct 5, 2020

I'm putting a bet on for Everton to be crowned Champions because anything is possible this day and age.

 

Oct 2, 2020

Europa league group stage :

 

Oct 1, 2020

Results from yesterday :

Europa League playoff :

Rio Ave 2-3 Ac Milan (I don't remember last time I've seen such an amazing penalty s---t out with 24 penalties in total. The final result was 1-1 and in extra time the portuguese team took the lead but Milan managed to equalise in the last minute.)
Rosenborg 0-2 PSV
AEK Athens 2-1 Wolsbugrg
Rangers 2-1 Galatasaray
Sporting 1-4 LASK Linz
Tottenham 7-2 Maccabi Haifa
Basel 1-3 CSKA Sofia
Malmo 1-3 Granada



*also today we will have the draw for the group stages and these are the notable teams in the competition : Ac Milan, Arsenal, Tottenham, As Roma, Napoli, Benfica, Leverkusen, Villarreal, PSV, Celtic, Leicester, Real Sociedad, Granada, Feyenoord, Rangers, Lille and Hoffenheim.

Primera Division :

Sevilla 1-0 Levante
Celta Vigo 0-3 Barcelona



EFL Cup :

Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal (it was 0-0 after 120 minutes with Arsenal qualifying after penalty s---t out)

 

Oct 1, 2020

My team - Rangers FC - are up against Galatasaray tonight in a Europa League qualifier.

Wish us luck boys!

 

Oct 1, 2020

Fingers crossed... we might actually qualify from that group.

Chelsea with the easiest group it seems.

 

Sep 30, 2020

Excited for Midtjylland! Awer Mabil putting on for South Aussies

 

Sep 30, 2020

Crazy day of football yesterday :

We had the Champions League playoffs and these teams managed to qualify into the groups : Krasnodar(RUS), Midtjylland(DEN), Salzburg(AUT), Dynamo Kiev(UKR), Ferencvaros(HUN) and Olympiacos(GRE).

The group draw will be in about 14 hours.

It was a crazy game in Danemark. After 0-0 in Prague, in the 81' it was 1-1 and Slavia at this score would have qualify. Midtjylland was awarded a penalty but they missed it, however the referee saw an infrigement and decided that the penalty will have to be taken again and this time they scored. In the end it was 4-1 for the danish champions.

EEL Cup :

Burnley 0-3 Manchester City (Sterling scored two goals)
Brighton 0-3 Manchester United (Pogba with an amazing freekick goal)
Everton 4-1 West Ham (Calvert-Lewin with the hattrick)

Serie A :

Benevento 2-5 Inter (Lukaku scored two goals and new signing Hakimi started in the first eleven and managed to score as well)
Lazio 1-4 Atalanta (Alejandro Gomez scored two goals)

Primera Division :

Huesca 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid 1-0 Valladolid (Vinicius with the goal)

Bayern Munchen managed to win the super cup after defeating Dortmund 3-2

 

Sep 30, 2020

I CANT DEAL WITH LOSING TO TOTTENHAM I JUST CANT... another game we just self imploded.

 

Sep 29, 2020

Sorry for this @Jakey but s---'s funny as h---

 

Sep 27, 2020

Thoughts on 9/27:

- It'll be a good idea for Bayern to start recruiting some players since this team is looking pretty thin now. That high line went unpunished for too long and the one time the offense just could not get things going & were impeded by a successful zonal-making system, they got curb-stomped. It won't happen every week, Bayern will be too powerful to contain (especially since Lewa wasn't starting), but hopefully this encourages the rest of the league to not simply cower at the sight of these juggernauts and go for a strong gameplan to make them earn points. BvB & Bayern losing in the same week, hope we get a good title race.

- We had a derby today with Sheffield-Leeds today, these were big points at stake. Already, El Loco Bielsa shows he has multiple tricks up his sleeve as he rolled out a back 3 + emphasis on midfield numbers to match Chris Wilder's patented formation. Shots and chances were created (seriously guys this was a crazy match) and it took until the 88th minute from Bamford to seal the win and another valuable 3 points for Leeds as they continue to impress in their return to the Prem. I was a huge fan of Sheffield's brave football last season, hoping this bad start doesn't go on for too long.

- Shocking result from Manchester City. Pep is a bum for crying about Leicester's deep block, this isn't your first rodeo going against that set-up and he's had his team's in recent memories punish teams for sitting too deep. So this poor display indicates a few things; this game will just be an anomaly as City will return to the mean and the results once again flow back in their way with dominant possessional sequences and clinical finishing once the strikers return, or, once again their defensive recruits fail to establish themselves and another topsy-turvy season awaits. Time will tell, but dropped points are dropped points and City will regret this result. Still, let's savor the image of Leicester and Everton topping the Premier League looooool

- Didn't catch these games but I'll just comment on the statistics: Spurs once again drop points, Mou will complain against VAR and they really need to convert. Wolves got smoked...by....West Ham. My countryman Rauuuuuul Jimenez showed today he isn't just a threat to opponent's goals, but to his own as well.

- Whirlwind match day in Serie A, as Gattuso got us started with a shocking display of cavalier football as Napoli put 6 past Genoa who were missing talisman Mattia Perin in goal. Osmihen continues to impress despite not scoring, great fast build-up and my other countryman CHUCKY LOZANO got 2 for today, keep it up! AC Milan continues their winning ways, signs are looking good as Pioli continues to manage his midfield to perfection (they'll be a tactical nightmare once Tonali understands their possessional phases + defensive organization) and the backline will improve exponentially once Romagnoli returns, although Rebic's injury sucks as their attack is pretty thin. Ronaldo rescues Juve as Roma gave the Bianconeri a run for their money. Dybala will eventually force teams to start developing more conservative gameplans, but Pirlo is still finding his identity as they didn't look very comfortable today as their deeper lines were overwhelmed at times by Roma's numerical superiority in the midfield. Their defense also stinks and they seriously can't wait for De Ligt to return. As long as CR7 is there, Juve won't be dropping easy points, but they look much more mortal this year.

- Oh boy, Atletico...Suarez joining a Simeone team is a match made in h---, today is an indication of things to come. He looked hungry (pun intended) and now teams are going to s--- their pants trying to figure out how to contain him, Costa & Felix meanwhile that midfield wins every duel in the middle. Atlético will make a run for sure, as long as they all stay healthy. Leave it to Unai Emery for regressing an electrifying offensive team from last season (that qualified for Europa) into this shell that got trampled by Barcelona. Ansu Fati looking even more confident since his cameo for Spain weeks ago and he'll be an important scoring outlet if this team doesn't find a striker in this window. Too early to write off Barcelona as long as their attacking potential flows, but I am skeptical of De Jong-Busquets anchoring a midfield against more stronger opposition and gameplans that involve stuffing midfields. Will be an interesting season from the Blaugrana, it's certainly Messi's last so we'll see if he has his own Last Dance.

 

Sep 27, 2020

No worries, my pleasure I figured there are american fans in here that love this game and due to timeline issues can't watch the games and maybe they wanna see quick highlights of their favs.

I watch a crazy amount of games I have two 32" and 27" monitors and one 50" tv and when games are on is like VAR booth in my room lol.

I don't know if you watched the full Chelsea game but I did and they looked awful even in the 2nd half and Werner lost almost every ball, I hope they can improve not that I'm a big fan but I appreciate teams that make smart transfers and want to see them perform well, but honestly I can't see Chelsea finishing in the top 4 this year.

I think this season of Seria A will be the most competitive we had in years with Inter, Juventus and Atalanta capable of winning the league and Napoli, Lazio and Milan fighting for top 4. All 6 teams played amazing football so far.

LE : Like @Alpha said, always a pleasure to read your thoughts on this beautiful game.

 

Sep 27, 2020

Great analysis from you as usual.


I watched Brighton vs United
Brighton were robbed of a victory. They were just too unlucky. The way the match turned out to be and ended reminds me of this repetitive scenario when you're playing FUT and everything/the script is just against you while the opposition scores from the few chances they get.


As far as Betis vs Madrid goes
Valuable victory 3 points. Jovic needs more time and the only way he's going to find his niche if he is on the scoresheet. Valverde is a guerrero (warrior). Another game, another MOTM.

 

Sep 20, 2020

Amazing striker, too bad injuries kept him off the pitch, but everytime he came back he played amazing. Great signing for As Roma imo.


Bale returns to Tottenham.



And Leicester got their hands on one of the most talented young players out there. Believe me if he adapts to the Premier League this kid will be a beast. It is a one season loan deal but the foxes have the option of a permanent transfer.

 

Sep 20, 2020

s--- is a rollercoaster

Bamford's assist from the wing was exhilarating!