Oh Sam, you rogue.

Must spread more long-balls before passing to Big Sam again.

That is priceless. It was like a scene from a horror movie or some kind of big boss at the end of a SNES game from 1993. Fucking shit, that is the best thing I've seen in futbol, better than the game itself almost! I don't even need to see the context, it may ruin it. Just that moment of trash-talking stare down. Epic.

No almost about it. A very boring 0-0 at full time. That was by far the highlight.

No I meant in the broader sense, as in the game of futbol itself, not that particular match ;)

Out today, this year's Ballon D'Or shortlist:

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain)
Radamel Falcao (Monaco)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
Manuel Neuer, (Bayern Munich),
Neymar (Barcelona)
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain)
Yaya Touré (Manchester City)
Robin Van Persie (Manchester United)
Xavi (Barcelona)

FIFA World Coach of the Year shortlist:

Carlo Ancelotti (Paris Saint-Germain)
Rafael Benítez (Napoli)
Antonio Conte (Juventus)
Vicente del Bosque (Spain)
Alex Ferguson (formerly Manchester United)
Jupp Heynckes (formerly Bayern Munich)
Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund)
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil)
Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

Lukaku the man.

does sy-gossip has its own fantasy premier league?!

It used to but with fewer members now it hasn't been kept up. I'm in a league from a West Ham site I go to but it'd be good to have one for here again.

last we had one was for the euros.

i'm guessing next one would be for the world cup.

oh, the fucking world cup!!!

A great interview with Jurgen Klopp

"If Barcelona's team of the last four years were the first one that I saw play when I was four years of age ... with their serenity, winning 5-0, 6-0 … I would have played tennis."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...-klopp-arsenal

AWESOME

thanks!

My selfish side desperately wants him to come to the Prem but I think I'll respect him even more than I do already if he stays at Dortmund.

i admire the fucker enormously. except that he's some sort of christian mule, but eh, i forgive him that.

on good and totally self-involved news, i expect to finally have my satellite link later this month. FUCKING A RIGHT!

bundesliga, here i come

I didn't know that. It's interesting though. Loads of Italian, Spanish and S'th American managers and players are very religious, even beyond local cultural norms - Kaka, Javier Chicharito Hernandez, etc - but nobody sees it as an issue. When a Northern European player or manager expresses even a hint of religion, though, it becomes a talking point.

It's similar to music. If a rapper or rnb or pretty much any black artist mentions God in a song, nobody says anything, but if a white rock band does it they're usually described as playing Christian Rock. Hmm.

Why has nobody mentioned Ramsey's goal against Liverpool?

It's the fact that he doesn't even look to see what he's doing. Brilliant.

Ramsey has to be an early candidate for player of the season

Just as this has to be an early shout for goal of the season

That's not real. Clearly some FIFA shit going on there.