Time for a new thread? Time for a new thread.
With the Women's World Cup coming up, seems like this is a good time to congratulate Forest Green Rovers' Hannah Dingley, who has become the first woman in England's top divisions to manage a men's side.
Of all the clubs to do this, Forest Green was probably atop the list, but nevertheless, another barrier broken. All the best to her.
Also, David Squires has another belter this week. "Onanarama" nearly killed me. (Also, my Obsure Online Betting Sponsor is WhaleTrade.net, which seems like a thing that would've been real if the internet existed in 1897.)
90,000 at the Rose Bowl. Just sayin'.
England in the Euro U-21 Final.
I do get why they're so overpowered in FM, because on paper, England's current crop of players is really, really, really good.
Xhaka to Leverkusen for €25m apparently.
At 31 that's an amazing haul and much needed to off set the eye popping money Arsenal is throwing around otherwise.
Xhaka really had a great season last yea.r I'm sure to many people's surprise also. He was such an up and down player for Arsenal. I was personally ready to drive him to wherever he wanted multiple times.
He definitely added some steel to the team but also a level of toughness that was terrifying. Any time he started getting into it with other players I just assumed he would be the one to set it off and get a red.
What a very weird career that man had at Arsenal. He went from despised by supporters to generally beloved.
I love these early days of the transfer window, as a large chunk of these moves will only end up mattering in FIFA. Like, I'm not at all convinced that Marco Asensio is going to make any meaningful difference at PSG. He'll be fine, but that's it.
Is this where we will talk Women's World Cup?
I see no reason why not, we talked Women's Euro 2021(2) in the last thread.
USMNT and Canada currently playing a stupid one.
88': USMNT 1-0 Canada
93': USMNT 1-1 Canada
109': USMNT 1-2 Canada
114': USMNT 2-2 Canada
USMNT into the Gold Cup semis on penalties.
The last goal in that game was nutty.
88': USMNT 1-0 Canada
93': USMNT 1-1 Canada
109': USMNT 1-2 Canada
114': USMNT 2-2 CanadaUSMNT into the Gold Cup semis on penalties.
Sure why not
For the love of God Harry, just force a move. I'm begging you.
You go to Bayern and I'm willing to guarantee 30+ goals and a deep run in the CL. You have given Spurs the last nine seasons, for a club that's not going to be anywhere near Bayern's level anytime soon. You've given them more than the loyalty they deserve, it's okay to look out for #1 now.
Steven Gerrard off to Saudia Arabia after he originally turned them down.
He cited the 'real family feeling' in his decision. I guess it's that family feeling like when you were a kid and your parents just paid for everything. I get it Steven. That would be pretty great at 43.
Not sure if the club knows he's a coach and not a player anymore and not even one of those 1970 player coaches.
This photo is killing me he looks like a political leader addressing the nation about waging war on a foreign country
Sayyid Al-Saeed Al-General: Steven Gerrard ibn Gerrard Al-Ashturi
Is this where we will talk Women's World Cup?
FYI, The Guardian is previewing all 32 teams before the tournament if you'd like to learn more about the competitors.
Kickoff in nine days!
Also, David Squires has another belter this week. "Onanarama" nearly killed me. (Also, my Obsure Online Betting Sponsor is WhaleTrade.net, which seems like a thing that would've been real if the internet existed in 1897.)
Another beauty from Squires today, especially The Restoration of Chelsea.
Pulisic to AC Milan looks like good business for everyone.
Just getting out of the gong show that is Chelsea could really help his career.
Also getting out of the PL where the north american coverage of him was exhausting will be nice.
Newest rumor is Pogba to Saudia league.
Forgot about Pogba tbh.
Kinda the perfect fit really as he's already 30.
I wonder how many of these bailout bids teams are getting have fine print. 'You will come play a friendly here....' etc etc
Newest rumor is Pogba to Saudia league.
I wonder how many of these bailout bids teams are getting have fine print. 'You will come play a friendly here....' etc etc
You will agree to our Super League / Champions League competitor proposal on this date in the future....
Fulham reject Al-Hilal’s £25.5m Mitrovic bid, Cardiff target Ramsey return
Yeah, they're going for everybody.
Well if we're gonna sell, make them pay over market price.
The PIF (seems more accurate to refer to all the Saudi clubs just as that) is allegedly offering Jordan Henderson circa-700k a week.
Nuts. And the money doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF reported a loss on investment activities of $11 billion last year compared to a profit of $19 billion in 2021. Total assets rose to about $778 billion from $676 billion
They can absolutely do what China did, except even bigger, and not care about the losses.
This US Gold Cup squad is sad and the player skill vs the A squad is quite large.
The PIF (seems more accurate to refer to all the Saudi clubs just as that) is allegedly offering Jordan Henderson circa-700k a week.
Also, credit to Gary Neville, who has done a very good interview with Delle Alli.
Also, credit to Gary Neville, who has done a very good interview with Delle Alli.
He’s not gone yet because Liverpool want a fee and Al-ettifaq we’re expecting to get him on a free.
It does look like Fabinho is going to Al-Ittihad though for around £40million. Frankly I’d add another £20million to that and get Caicedo from Brighton (sorry Brighton fans) rather than Lavia from Southampton.
Strong rumours as well that Thiago will be going to Barcelona as well.
Interesting times for Liverpool. I bet they are wishing they knew all this was going to happy when they were still in the mix for Bellingham.
I’m not intrinsically against any of these moves to be honest as I think Fabinho has definitely lost that spark, And Thiago is injured so often he’s out more than he plays, but I am surprised about Henderson given his track record for LBGQT rights and what have you. The again, £700k a week would make me think twice too.
£700k could go a long way also for any charitable stuff Henderson is interested in and 5 years from now no one will remember he went off and robbed them of £700k a week.
I can't find it but the BBC had an article quoting a Saudi official around what they are doing and how it's not similar to what happened in China. The points were pretty meh and not concrete. Messi + the MLS already proved there's another option to the Saudi League for all these over 30 players if they want it.
Hoping Arsenal can get on the gravy train and unload maybe Partey I guess? But that rumor train has cooled off and it's not like Arsenal had a stable of octogenarians to send off. Al-Anyone can I interest you in a Pepe?
I’ve read this morning that Al-Ettifaq do not have access to the Saudi PIF so the transfer fee being asked for by Liverpool is likely to be a major stumbling block.
Honestly some of this I’m sure is smoke screen for how much Chelsea’s FFP situation has been bailed out by their players being bought for the league. I know Manchester United and Arsenal have helped, but the purchases of Havertz and Mount don’t cover half of what Chelsea need.
DYING.
Running into the f*cking GOAT in the cereal aisle at Publix. What a time to be alive.
Although, to be briefly serious, I imagine he's going to discover the thing that Theirry Henry spoke positively of in his time in the MLS. Which is that he can actually do this now, whereas in Europe/Argentina, it would genuinely be impossible.
Like, those people in the background do not know who the HELL that short guy is. There are large swathes of this country where that man can go and be totally unrecognized.
Who?
Also, real banner day on football Twitter apparently, post Mendy verdict.
When you consider how hard it is to get footballers to wade into certain issues, it really does underline how much they must really believe some of the messages they are posting today after the verdict of Mendy’s court case. Startling window into how they really think.
Running into the f*cking GOAT in the cereal aisle at Publix. What a time to be alive.
Aww, there's video of this I saw today, and you can see people starting to "notice" and ask for selfies, even if they clearly don't know who he REALLY is, and you can hear Messi ask his wife to get the car keys.
It very much has a "ah, I thought we could do this... ahhh shit, we can't" vibe. It's nowhere near the videos we've seen of him in Argentina, but it's still sad. Dude was literally out grocery shopping with his wife and kids and had to cut it short because... he's Messi, and people noticed.
I hope they'll be able to have other, normal experiences, but I also know in today's clout-obsessed "gotta post it" culture, chances are low. Like, I get it, if I walk past Messi in the grocery store, I wholly understand the urge to be like "HOLY SHIT GUYS LOOK!" but also, dude was there with his family, like...
Man, I'd love the money, but I do not envy the fame.
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