polymerpunkah

Could work up a little Abbott and FSG skit with Tchouaméni. "How many pounds will he cost?" "Tchouaméni." "Yes. Tchouaméni. How many pounds will he cost?" "Tchouameni." I know his name, but how many pounds will he cost?" "Tchouameni." etc

Listening to the BBC this afternoon they had a Spanish fellow on (whose name I didn't catch) saying that La Liga itself has signed some sort of agreement with an investment firm that will somehow channel 100 million pounds to Barca and allow them to keep Messi. (No idea how accurate, and his English, though infinitely better than my Spanish, wasn't too consistent as to tense, so I'm not sure if this is a done deal, or a prospective deal.)

Qatar vs US first Gold Cup semi-final about to start. I think Qatar might pull off the upset. Canada to lose to Mexico later.

They've also lost their keeper. A big loss, IMO. Jiminez will be back, by the looks of it, so that will help. And they do have a talented squad. But I'll go with Dean Smith at Villa as well. Heightened expecations, under-performance early on, players noses get out of joint, Smith out. Lampard in.

I won't get worried until he starts slagging off twitter supporters.

If Guardiola has made under-the-table arrangements I wonder what sort of tax questions might come up. Will the UK government take a less lenient approach than that taken by eg. the Spanish government?

Are the other clubs in the Prem--or at least some of the other clubs in the Prem--looking the other way for fear of discouraging other sportswashers swooping in to overpay for their teams?

Mexico vs Honduras in one of the Gold Cup QFs tonight/tomorrow morning. I'm expecting some top-notch shithousery.

Slutsignal > Batsignal

So another Jack Grealish?

Michael York will save millions!

Watching Milner, it's clear he isn't a "natural goal-scorer". But it's also clear he's trained himself to become an excellent penalty taker. Maybe other players don't see the utility: if they're not one of their side's penalty takers, they're not really going to get that much chance to use the skill. Better to train at something they'll use throughout matches--there's a lot of money out there, and a lot of competition for jobs.

Disappointed for Henderson. I didn't like Southgate taking the captaincy from him. I don't suppose Henderson did either. But he reacted like a captain should. Class player/person.

Look at Messi, working his ass off. And Neymar getting fouled and not going down in a rolling heap. Strange days.

Decent half of football from Argentina. Hopefully they don't run out of gas. Thought the ref did a good job, as well.

I don't know. But Tite did give at least three keepers matches, so maybe it's just that he's decided on Ederson? ____________________________ This could be interesting.

It's on Fox/Fox Sports in the US and TSN in Canada.

Brazil vs Argentina in the Copa final today/tonight. 1 AM GMT Hopefully Messi can overcome the huge gulf in talent between the two squads. But I doubt it.

No worries. I learned my lesson the time I misidentified a porcupine.

I saw a groundhog out hiking today. I think it was actually a marmot. First time I've ever seen one here in north central BC. It seemed pissed off, for no particular reason I could see--sat there chittering away at me as I wandered by. I wouldn't have taken it for a football fan, but who knows.

Hopefully they get the ref from the Spain/Italy semi. He didn't seem to be buying a lot of the shithousery.

What a shame. Never a penalty in a million years. And VAR lets it go.

What a disgusting dive.

Westergard MOTM for me.

The Danes need a miracle.