Partey still gets into most XI's when he's fit (ironically). Maybe I jumped the gun on timber, but he had an excellent pre season and was top notch in the community shield Vs City. Got his ACL done in the next game.

Agree with that last paragraph.

The Partey on form for the first six months of last season probably does. The Partey that has spent the majority of his Arsenal career playing crap doesn’t. That’s why you’ve managed to cope without him because he’s not really been that important to the team.

I think we win the league if partey was available for even just the first half of the season. We dropped a fair few points adjusting without his ball progressing qualities.

He's started every game since returning to full fitness, he's clearly an important part of the team.

(As much as I'd like the cuuuuuunt to be fired into the sun).

Doubt it, City would just have won more games.

Madrid had to do without Courtois and Militão for pretty much the entire seaso.

When Alaba did his ACL in Jan, I said on here it was absolutely crazy not to sign a CB before the window shut, and put it down to the need to save every penny in view of the potential arrival of Mbop.

Carlo's since come out and said that the reason for not signing a CB was that in his experience, teams and players give their absolute best when the circumstances are most adverse.

A lot of punters reckoned it was suicidal to go on with just Rüdiger and Nacho, and just Thouaméni (and 5ft 8in Carvajal!) as emergency replacements.

It turns out the first two have been excellent at the most important moments, and were the pair chosen to close out the shootout against City.

It turns out Carletto might know a bit more about football than me. Who'da thunk.

Madrid have coped so well with their injury issues. I didn’t realise Courtois was back now, by the way. Will be harsh on Lunin it he gets back in the team for the final.

It's a big question in the Madrid media right now, though I don't know whether it's the case for Carlo.

As far as I'm concerned, it should be Lunin all day. With both at their best, Courtois is the obvious choice, but he's barely been back a couple of weeks and it's hard to tell how things will go when he faces his first real test.

As well as having earned it, Lunin's made big strides this season, is part of the team and defence that's made it this far, and he looks to be ready.

I just don't think Courtois is a risk worth taking right now.

agree with that IOAG
Lunin is the one who's helped Madrid get to the final, he should play

Agree with all that. Lunin’s really played his part, would be harsh to drop him for the final.

Forza ...got a good one for you

https://twitter.com/footitalia1/status/1790119570822304129

comment by Peks Targaryen - zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor ("a dragon is not a slave" (U6618)
posted 49 minutes ago
Forza ...got a good one for you

https://twitter.com/footitalia1/status/1790119570822304129
----------------------------------------------------------------------


italian kids r the best

A few yrs ago Rube stadium was close 4 a game after chants insulting Napoli.

Juventus ask if they cud let in 20,000 kids 4 free to the game instead of empty stadium

FIGC said ok

The kids chanted eggsact same songs as adults did a few weeks b4

Spurs's least spursey defeat

It was pretty Spursy. Son misses a one on one and then they give away a pen straight after.

yes that was spursy football
what a fack up of a club

was it a goodgame?

n is it true the Tootenham fans inside stadium cheered 4 Man Cs*?

Looks like Girona have blown their chances of finishing 2nd after beating Barça. Last night's home defeat to Villarreal means Barça could move 4 points clear if they win away at bottom-placed Almería tomorrow.

Too bad. Never paid that much attention to them, but my paternal grandad was from Girona province, so I guess I ought to like them. They also play a nice, well-oiled brand of football.

On Villarreal though, a word for Marcelino's quiet success there. When he took over after 13 games, they were on course to finish the league on 35 points, which would have had them in the thick of the relegation fight.

Their ppg since he joined would have them finish on 64-65 points, which would be in between Atleti and Athletic, i.e. just outside the CL slots.

He always seems to go under the radar when people here talk of La Liga managers. What’s his reputation like in Spain?

comment by #4zA (U22472)
posted 7 hours, 41 minutes ago
n is it true the Tootenham fans inside stadium cheered 4 Man Cs*?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah they did.

comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 2 hours, 4 minutes ago
Looks like Girona have blown their chances of finishing 2nd after beating Barça. Last night's home defeat to Villarreal means Barça could move 4 points clear if they win away at bottom-placed Almería tomorrow.

Too bad. Never paid that much attention to them, but my paternal grandad was from Girona province, so I guess I ought to like them. They also play a nice, well-oiled brand of football.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a. was he a separatist ?
b. you must have a Catalan surname (I think you've mentioned this before)
c. have you taken a 23andme or Ancestry DNA genetic test? I'd be interested to see your y-chromosome & mtdna haplogroups . You're a 1/4 Basque aswell aren't you

comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 2 hours, 29 minutes ago
He always seems to go under the radar when people here talk of La Liga managers. What’s his reputation like in Spain?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He's quite highly regarded and has won several managerial awards, but he's also earned a reputation for being a difficult and somewhat morose character. He's either left early or been kicked out of several jobs due to falling out with the club management, which probably helps to explain why none of the top-3 have never taken him up.

He was fairly unpopular during his stint at Athletic, whose fans considered his approach overly conservative and the football boring.

Generally speaking, contrary to his character, he seems pretty pragmatic and adaptable in football terms, and some of his teams have played more expansively when he's had the tools.

Personally, I reckon he might be a good fit for Atleti if/when Simeone decides to pack it in, since they wouldn't demand an attacking brand of football and he'd be free to set them up according to the players at his disposal.

comment by Peks Targaryen - zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor ("a dragon is not a slave" (U6618)
posted about 2 hours ago
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 2 hours, 4 minutes ago
Looks like Girona have blown their chances of finishing 2nd after beating Barça. Last night's home defeat to Villarreal means Barça could move 4 points clear if they win away at bottom-placed Almería tomorrow.

Too bad. Never paid that much attention to them, but my paternal grandad was from Girona province, so I guess I ought to like them. They also play a nice, well-oiled brand of football.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a. was he a separatist ?
b. you must have a Catalan surname (I think you've mentioned this before)
c. have you taken a 23andme or Ancestry DNA genetic test? I'd be interested to see your y-chromosome & mtdna haplogroups . You're a 1/4 Basque aswell aren't you
----------------------------------------------------------------------
a. No. He was only 2 when his family moved to Madrid, which would've been around the turn of the 19th/20th century, and as far as I know they were a pretty conservative family.

b. Catalan-Madrileño on my dad's side and Basque-Asturian on my mum's.

I think there was a spot of German in the Catalan branch. Probably some Semitic/Sephardic background there too.

Don't know much about the Madrileño part.

Basque bit was very, very Basque - from the inland valleys of Gipuzkoa.

Asturian part I don't know much about either, but my grandma was from a small village on the fringes of Gijón.

c. Don't be ridiculous. Sapiens as far as I know or care.

I remember reading about him being a bit of a difficult character with Bilbao.

Would be interesting to see how he’d do with Atleti. They could do with moving away from Osama Sim Laden’s terrorist football, but not too far the other way given the foundations the club has been built on.

Will be hard to replicate the consistency of the results whoever they appoint. Though Pulione doesn’t seem to actually want to leave, which is understandable given how much he’s paid. Wouldn’t get that elsewhere.