Turkish Delight

That pen wasn't 50/50 by the rules it was 100%. It wasn't struck from close by, didn't deflect, he moved his hand to the ball and wasn't in a natural position. If the rules are applied that's given. It's not subjective. Compare that to the one given to Luton yesterday and it's a million times more a pen.

Thought we were second best after the opening period but would have won with competent refereeing. Under the rules of the game we had a definite pen not given. Had the lines been drawn right for Salah's offside I suspect he'd have still just been off but they might have overlapped slightly which would have put him on. The lines drawn tried to go from his hand to make sure of no overlap but went even further up the pitch than that. It was no surprise to see Darren England was VAR.

You're probably right and hard to see us being so stupid to allow that. Brighton re-negotiating with other parties could have a penalty where they pay us something though if we refuse to walk away as their approach was geared around getting highest possible prices by using that approach (which is what they'll get). Unlikely but I can't see any good reason why we've yet to walk away if he doesn't want to play here.

I wonder if this weird time-bound auction thing Brighton did had any legal terms behind it that would penalise the winner if they pulled out or Brighton if they then negotiated with another bidder. Might not do of course but would explain our position if it did.

1. City 2. Arsenal 3. Liverpool 4. Man Utd 5. Newcastle 6. Chelsea 18. Sheff Utd 19. Luton 20. Bournemouth Top scorer: Haaland LIverpool goals for: 79 Against: 38 CL: Bayern League Cup: Newcastle FA Cup: Arsenal Europa League: Liverpool Dark horse predictions: Spurs to finish bottom half Everton to progress to mid table mediocrity England to win the Euros and Harry Kane to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or Pep to leave City at the end of the season

Why did only 24,000 people turn up in a 60,000 seater stadium from a population of over 7 million in Riyadh for the derby I watched? https://youtu.be/gENEMFq1vpA I'm not saying people don't care as you can see many at the ground do but there is an obviously choreographed and artificial element to parts of those you've quoted that is planted on top of that as well.

Out of curiosity to educate myself I've just watched highlights of one of the recent Al Nassr and Al Hilal games on YouTube. It might be that the rivalry may seem fierce in the city but it certainly didn't translate to the atmosphere at the game for something where they're 'more emotionally invested than anywhere else in the world'. Players who've played in the best South American or European atmospheres aren't turning up there and getting that vibe no matter how much money is thrown at them.

Every club in the top 5 divisions of English football has either won a trophy or promotion since Everton last did.

There's one example in my mind when a ball was played further in front of him than he wanted. It was still his ball but he refused to run after it and instead stopped and had a strop. Absolutely toxic behaviour.

The PR job that was done around that poor kid was a disgrace as was the regime he was being put through by his parents based on the online videos. Can only hope it doesn't harm him too much in the long run. He played against my son a few times. He was good but I didn't think he was stand out against other academy lads his age.

Agree on most of them and I might be in the minority but I reckon Kane scores more than Haaland in that team and is a better all round player too. He only scored 4 less from open play than Haaland in the league last season playing in a shocking Spurs team.

They'll still claim having the first one is more important though!

Joined this yesterday to take a look. Followed a few people I follow on Twitter until the search function broke and my feed is just full of posts from people I don't follow. Looks like a shitter version of Twitter

While that's true they've also won away at Germany in the past couple of years and won 5-0 away at Armenia who smashed Wales last week. They aren't a top side but they're also not one of the worst.

If we'd matched Madrid financially I still think he'd have chosen them. Admittedly it could be PR bluster but he's already been saying that he told Madrid pretty much straight away they were the move he wanted. The error the club made was not putting all its eggs into one basket last year when it was never a certainty we'd get him.

Inter are only there because of the luck of the draw. Their knockout games were Porto, Benfica and AC Milan so they couldn't have had it easier. Fully expect City to win comfortably so I'll be avoiding it. If they do win I want it to be by a scoreline that makes a mockery of the competition to highlight their cheating.

I think it's an interesting experiment. They're organically trying to grow a small club by using their celebrity status to promote them in the US and grow revenue streams. They are playing to a global fanbase to build the club while treating the local one with respect. The interest so far has been huge and when you see teams like Luton and Bournemouth in the Premier League it's not hard to imagine a scenario where Wrexham make it one day.

Trent himself has looked really impressive in the hybrid role. He has the ability to pick a pass that nobody else in our team has and it's brought that to the fore a bit. However, as a team we've only created chances from open play against teams who are terrible defensively while he's played there. Notably the 3 teams who have been relegated. In the other games aside from the first 5 minutes v Spurs we've only really created from set pieces. It's clear that the system isolates Salah on the right and makes us overall play very narrow. Sides who want to dig in and play a low block are limiting us to very little as we aren't moving them about. We don't have the same quality of players that City have so copying them tactically doesn't seem like the right blueprint. For me, Trent either becomes a centre mid in a more traditional role or he starts to learn some of the basic defending elements needed to enable him to successfully play right back. In either situation it shouldn't be a case of building a team around him.

Two years ago we were mainly shit but scraped the Champions League through a big late run. The only difference this time (apart from there being crowds at the game) is that we have these sportswashing cunts to deal with. We'll probably even get the same number of points. These and City will dominate the Champions League spots for years. Leaving two places for us, United, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea (and whoever else may get investment or have a purple patch). Can't help but feel Europa League football will be at least 50% of our seasons in the years ahead.

Other than winning the league (which I think will be too much of a stretch) the best thing that can happen next season is us winning this in Dublin. Prioritising top 4 over it can fuck off.

Absolutely not a fucking chance the VAR can be certain that's a clear and obvious error which is what it should be for making the ref go to the screen.

Double post

I'm at peace with it too. Love the idea of us playing a final in Dublin next season as well.

Those Italian finalists haven't beaten a genuinely top team between them in the knockouts. Roma had one or two half decent teams but Inter couldn't have had a luckier draw and unfortunately I can't see them doing anything other than getting smashed by City. Inter: Porto, Benfica, AC Milan Roma: Salzburg, Real Sociedad, Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen Fiorentina: Braga, Sivasspor, Lech Poznan, Basel

This Brighton line up is dodgy as fuck. Caicedo at right back, no Mac Allister and some centre half who's only played 80 odd minutes for them in the last year. Have to wonder if the Saudis have promised a big fee for someone if they finish top 4.