Well we are in good company giving away 8 goals in a game now ! Impressive from Bayern but Barca were woeful defending.
Lyon will play Bayern Munich in the second of two France-Germany clashes, PSG and Leipzig contesting the other. Maybe the EPL is not quite the bees knees after all.
Not usually one for schadenfreude but.... BWWWAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA..... . . HAAAA HA HA HA HA HA, HEEEEHHH HE HE HE HE HE HE... etc., ad nauseam
RB Leipzig are a disgrace to real football and I don't like Bayern so can I become honorary French for a couple of days ?
PSG are just another bought team, but do play in a rather nice city. Lyon is a great place if you like some really good food, although it does have a bit of a traffic problem. So what with buying players and attracting cars I would just give football a miss for the moment if you are off German teams.
Actually Munich is also a nice city - it's just that Bayern have such an aura of arrogance about them that only their own supporters like them. RB Leipzig have bent every law in the book in order to get where they are today,. all paid for by the CEO of Red Bull (who also has neo Nazi sympathies) I agree about PSG being a bought team - which only leaves Lyon I'm actually struggling with getting up any interest in football without crowds and my only real wish for this season is to see Watford playing in front of fans again as soon as possible.
Dutch contacts have confirmed that Ronald Koemann is on his way to Barcelona, having said on multiple occasions that he would see out the Dutch national team job until 2021, after the Euros. He has something of a job on his hands to clear out the rotten shell that Barca have become. Messi has said he will never play for them again (he's said this before) and Luis Suarez is known for dreaming of finishing his career at Ajax - who are subsequently preparing an offer for him. At 33 Suarez can still do a job in the Eredivisie, though Ajax have no shortages up front and desparately need a left back ! Where will Messi go - Watford ? Somehow I can't see him moving to another European club - if anywhere, then back to Argentina, he is rich enough and has nothing left to prove. As for Barca it is sad to see how low this once great team has fallen - no leadership, no fight, and a playing system which none of their players understand or respect. They need a couple of years to rebuild without the old guard, but is Koemann the right man for that ?
Apparently they went for Koemann because they didn't know that fat Sam was looking for work - rumour has it that they have a woman called Ella at the Neucamp who serves good pies all he has to do is say Pi Ella.
In the latest twist to the Koeman story - Arsene Wenger has offered his services to the Dutch footballing authorities to lead the Oranje in the Euros next year ! This looks unlikely as the Dutch have never had a foreign team trainer for the national squad. The other candidates are likely to be Giovanni van Bronkhorst, Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu (hands off Erik ten Hag !) - with Wenger it would only be an appointment until after the Euros. Even at his advanced age Wenger still has a fantastic football brain and his style would be well suited to the Dutch national team.
I've just seen that fans are being allowed back into stadiums from level 7 downwards in England. Restrictions now only apply from the Nationwide League upwards - meaning that St. Albans City and Hemel will still be playing to empty stadiums but Kings Langley will be allowed to have fans back in, as long as groups of more than 6 do not cluster together and social distancing is observed (not sure about masks, there's no mention of that). The logic of this being that crowds from the Southern League Premier downwards are seldom more than a few hundred, are nearly all local, and social distancing is easier to regulate than for bigger crowds. For once it appears that footballing authorities have made the right decision in that many non league clubs may simply have disappeared under the present rulings. Actually a club like Kings Langley could be onto a winner here if fans are prevented from going to the Vic. Not doing a plug here but they (Kings Langley) offer cut price admission for fans who have Watford season tickets (at least they were doing that last season).
Spurs charged the council £33,000 for using their stadium as a food bank for the poor. I wouldn't like to defend that if I were a Spurs fan.
Still quite satisfying to know that 1.3 Billion spent over 10 years can't buy the champions League title ! Disregarding my dislike of Bayern I'm so glad that Neymar didn't get his hands on the trophy.
Poor old game that I only watched on and off. Bayern were the better side, but PSG did have their chances. I cannot get into these games at all without the fans, it is supposed to be a spectator sport. I did see some pictures taken at the Nimes game in the French Ligue 1 where they had fans in but with every other seat empty. It looked ok even if rather odd with everyone wearing a mask.
It really is weird Frenchie. I saw the Red Bull Salzburg v Ajax Amsterdam pre season friendly on YouTube live and one side of the stadium was open for fans, with very few masks being worn. The Ajax v Utrecht friendly allowed 4,500 fans in with spacing in between them in a stadium built for 53,000. How long will it be before we have full stadiums again ? Possibly towards the end of the coming season. Which raises the question that Ajax play their 5th pre season friendly tomorrow night - ok. they are not rivals of the Hornets, but they start on the same weekend as us - our rivals eg. QPR are already playing pre season matches, so where is our pre season build up ? Only matches buld up match fitness and give coaches an idea of their best formations on the pitch - I hope we are not starting too late again.
