Ndombele Watch Lyon have secured their place in the CL next season, so it definitely would not be considered rude to make enquiries Also, as was hinted in the L'Equipe article and has been stated more plainly elsewhere, it's notable that Lyon are quoting a price of £88m to PSG - but considerably less than that to us, which would give us a leg-up as long as we don't take the piss For some reason I felt the need to emphasise that last part...
£8.50 and three bags of Cheesy Wotsits? Levy has never given more than two bags of Cheesy Wotsits for any player....
Too late. Kompany already confirmed as Anderlecht's new player-manager. Oh well, it was a nice thought while it lasted
I'm going to suggest Anderlecht were quick to replace their manager after conspiring to finish bottom of the championship playoff, meaning that even though the Belgian league has a system designed to try and keep the likes of Anderlecht and Brugge in European competition no matter how middling their seasons, Anderlecht failed to do so in spectacularly inept fashion
I'd have DA for one year just so that he can bring that cocky attitude with a winners mentality. Totally agree with what you're saying though about our philosophy going forward
Bale left on the bench in Real's final game of the season where they lost 2-0 at home to Betis. I'd say that, if it wasn't already pretty certain, it's now 100% likely he's set to leave.
So what is/was Bale to them ?? The eventual heir to CR7 ?? That has not worked out, has it. The prime on-pitch factor in their 4 CL campaigns that lead to the trophy ?? Apart from the 2018 final, IMHO the evidence is not strong on that. One would hope that "Bale" shirt sales etc over 6 years have covered the rinsing that Levy gave to Perez in 2013.
Zidane's said that he wouldn't have brought Bale on even if he had a fourth substitute Could be worse, Monaco wouldn't have brought GKN on even if they were allowed to use six...
All the focus on Bale has distracted us from the real magic of that defeat: Betis' opening scorer is called Loron Moron.
It’s probably fair to say that despite his current troubles, Real did actually get their money’s worth for him. IIRC he’s scored three winning goals in cup finals, two of those have been in the champions league. He’s had his fair share of injuries which I think irked a lot of the Madrid fans but 102 goals and 64 assists in 231 games is still damn good. Not really sure why Zidane was/ is so anti-Bale but nonetheless, he’s easily in the top ten best footballers in world football when fit.
What's this boards opinion on Andre Gomes ? Can't say I sat up when he was playing , what could he bring to the team that I've not seen ?
A year ago it made sense in a nonsensical way as Los Ladrones were The Cristiano Ronaldo Show, but the moment Bale signed his contract the Narrative was permanently thrown off its axis as the Show Pony went from being the most expensive player in the world to not even being the most expensive player in the team - and, based on what Footie Leaks unearthed, that was a very real worry with the Los Ladrones hierarchy - so of course El Caudillo was not happy, and because he was unhappy that meant the club was unhappy Yet you'd think that sort of toxic mindset would have dissipated when the Show Pony ****ed off to Juventus last season, yet it hasn't and the fans continue to single out Bale for any mistakes while shrugging their shoulders when any other player makes the exact same mistake, just as we're hearing Zidane say he wouldn't have brought Bale on today even if he had a fourth substitute and it's utterly bizarre
By all accounts, Bale has struggled to adapt to life out in Spain. Can't remember which former team mate it was who spilled the beans a few months back but the gist of the interview was that Bale and his family just weren't happy out there, he never made much of an effort to learn Spanish, and aside from Modric rarely interacted with other players or joined in for team bonding events. We complain about the fickle nature of fans in this country but the Spanish are far, far worse. They turn on a player after a poor run and never let up, ignoring all positive contributions as they simply wait with baited breath for the next poor performance to use as another stick. Similar situation with Coutinho at Barca. They want him to be the next Iniesta but do zilch to actually encourage him to reach that level. We're pretty bad in this country but firmly draw the line at the venom and vindictiveness you see out there. Case in point being how everyone got behind Sissoko and helped in his gender/species reassignment to become a Goat.
It depends, as Beckham didn't bother learning Spanish either during his time in Madrid - there's even a story of Michael Owen reading a Spanish dictionary on a team flight only for Beckham to ask "What's that you're reading?" - but even though Beckham had far less success than Bale during his stint he was never given designated scapegoat status, which in Spain means fans will bellow and bawl from the stands because the player misplaced a pass...three or four games ago
