dybala out now your friend can't possibly win and schadenfreude ensues

Best team in the world and Ronaldo is the best player ever. You just can't disagree now

Yes, I've a few drinks MOTHERRR

Only team to ever retain the trophy. Best team in the world? Can't argue with that. Still disagree about Ronaldo though.

cheers to you

have it all while it lasts

me, i'll drown my sorrows in gin i guess...

As disappointed as I am for Buffon, I'm pleased for Zidane. He's had to convince a lot of people of his worthiness as a manager and probably still does, despite achieving what no manager has ever done before. I'm not putting the back to back victories squarely down to him, but if Mourinho or Pep had done it I doubt we'd ever hear the last of it.

One thing I fucking HATE hearing whether it be about Pep, Mourinho or any of the great managers out there is when people say "I could manage that team". Friend of mine said it last night and I damn near ripped his head off.

If you can't see what Pep did to that Barcelona team, or Ancelotti at Milan or the rest, then you're totally blind and no better at making judgement than the guy who watches football once in a blue moon.

Sure, there are some players out there you can back off and know they'll do the job. The obvious ones being Ramos, Ronaldo and Marcelo. However, when you have young players in your squad like Isco, Asensio or Varane who are still green and need fine tuning that's where Zidane has stepped up and shown how good of a manager he is already.

The improvement in those players over the last two seasons has been massive.

It's gonna be interesting to see who Madrid do go out and buy this summer. Hazard and De Gea being the obvious targets, oh and Charlie Adam (who wouldn't want him?)

Gordon Strachan

As fans we only really get to see what managers do in terms of signings, team selection and minor tactical tweeks. With the biggest teams that's probably the easiest part of their job, and one I dare say many of us could do just as effectively (on paper). What we miss is the relationship these great managers have with their players: their ability to gain the respect of superstars, manage egos. However much your friend may know about tactics, etc, he wouldn't now how to deal with an individual like Ronaldo, or be able to tell someone like Ramos something he won't want to hear and have him respect his decision. He'd be laughed out of the stadium. We've seen how even seasoned manages (like Moyes) have struggled to make that leap so a fan (however knowledgable) really wouldn't stand a chance.

FAKE NEWS!! What an idiot, I mistook "pot" for "group". Must be because I don't smoke pot. The groups are actually:

A
Russia
New Zealand
Portugal
Mexico

B
Cameroon
Chile
Australia
Germany

And apparently you were right.

Ouch. If he stays (City fans are asking the club to sell him), maybe the presence of A.S. will help him regain his true level. Or something.

That story seems to be changing by the hour. Although it looks like a straight fight now between Man City and Bayern. I want him to stay in the Prem but I think he'd do better at Bayern.

even if it ends up being a dishonorable acquisition i'd love to see him play for bayern, obviously

The problem is that Bayern's "wings" are taken — Robben and Ribery. How do you move the pieces for Alexis to play from the start? Because if they sign him to warm the bench, fuck that...

I've heard Bayern plan to sell Ribery to Marseille if they land Sanchez. Not sure how much money's involved for Ribery but I'd say it'll be a good deal for them. Also, isn't Ribery quite injury-prone? Sanchez seems to go on and on.

ribéry is 34 and though brilliant and loyal and beloved by the fans, he can't play a full game reliably anymore.

robben kinda the same. he goes in does his magic blam.

but bayern needs to start getting ready to replace them-- soon.

costa has been bitching about getting sidelined and is supposed to play more and he was brilliant under pep but with ancelotti not so much-- he did get injured though.

coman meh. mueller had a strange season. lahm retired can't storm up his wing. alexis would be a huge boon.

plus extra bonus for having 2 shilenos on that team ueón (vidal the other). i mean they could really gel in an extraordinary way for their national team and take it who knows where in russia.

Russia vs Chile in Moscow (friendly pre-Confederations Cup) ended 1-1 minutes ago.

putín was prolly zapping them w/ microwaves, el hijueputa

I didn't watch the whole game (probably 60 minutes or so from the start), but from what I saw Chile clearly dominated the match, despite a couple of Russian shots. Vidal scored a valid goal which the ref inexplicably annulled. Alexis went in in the second half and the first thing he did was brilliantly passing the ball to Isla for the latter to put the 1-0 (56'). Somehow the Foreign Elections Meddlers equalized at the 67th minute. If only a mistake can explain a goal, somebody must have fucked up, but BEFORE YOU SAY BRAVO you must know he didn't play today; the keeper was Johnny Herrera.

So yes, this is all Kellyanne's fault.

Come to think of it, you're damn right, as Chile's goal today proves: Alexis and Isla know exactly how to get in sync after their years together in Udinese.

well, yeah, germany did the same with its bayern core, and before it was spain with barcelona, for italy it's probably juve, etc.

with england i suppose it's the entire opposite-- they suck internationally because there is no great english team where english players are the core (is there? most stars i can think of are international).

for latin american teams it's harder to win it all in general, especially in recent decades, because their players are scattered all over creation, so there's no core team to hold them together, and they must make up for it with extra talent.

i mean imagine if suárez, neymar and messi could play together as... say, "the south atlantic team". it would be bananas. but come international season they scatter and dry up alone.

True... I gotta tell ya though, if nobody fucks with Sampaoli and the guy doesn't lose his mind, Argentina could finally become the team they're always threatening to be but always ends up being flushed down the crapper and whining like little bitches. I fear the Sampa-Style!

On the other hand, when he was in charge of the Chilean national team he was interviewed by some Argentinian mook on TV and Sampaoli told him that players like Messi and Agüero couldn't be asked to make the same "sacrifices" on the pitch (e.g. constantly press on the rival's last line as if their lives depended on it) that guys like Alexis, Vargas or Medel make for 90 minutes.