[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

1st time it's ever happened apparently.

I don't imagine it'll happen again (or regularly, at least) but fair to say the hype that's been surrounding the Prem for years is finally starting to translate into actual success. I actually don't want English teams to continue to dominate to this extent. I'd like to see one in each final but a total close-out does make it a bit less interesting. As a one-off though, it's great. If only as a statement.

i think it’s more than a statement—it’s a sign of a developing fault line. financial escape velocity + domestic competitiveness = more english top teams. it’s the supra-league, and the rest are feeders now.

the new prem makes the calls for a transeuropean league moot. this is the world cup, every day.

[!@#$%!]

i just overheard “pep to juventus” on bloomberg wtf??.

-

post-search: they want pep or poch?

lol i dont think so

[_tunic_]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

So, apologies for ignoring the Champions League final that I'm sure you're all hyped about, but: Women's World Cup? Anyone looking forward to it? Predictions?

Dutch will win it of course


heck I don't know, I don't follow it so much. But we do have some very good players, e.g. Lieke Martens who was European player in 2017. And we have some other good players that play in the UK for instance, Arsenal I think. So we will hopefully have a good chance of getting far into the tournament.

The Dutch team is playing your country this Saturday, in my hometown, in a friendly match. We call it an uitzwaaiwedstrijd. the last game before they leave to the tournament. Last time they played the same stadium, there was a crowd of 30.000 people, it will be similar this time. Back then they won 7-0 against Northern-Ireland. Let's hope for a more equal match, shall we? And according to the article I read it will, your squad were called "physically strong and superfit"



edit:
you're 6th in the ranking and we're 8th, so it will definitely be a good match-up as last preparation.





================================
totally unrelated:

Did you hear about the Norwegian kid that scored three hat-tricks in one match? Under 20's squad against Honduras. Total score 12-0
He was born in Leeds, so there is a possibility he could be selected for the English grownups team.

[!@#$%!]

yeah pep is going for the glory i think, and today the only fair competition is the prem. pep’s got enough money, the sheik can always provide more, and he already was in a monoleague previously with bayern, and with la liga there was real. what is the challenge of beating fiorentina or sampdoria? juve always wins domestically, and a team needs more competition to get better. it’s not enough to just amass great players.

pochettino just needs to take spurs shopping.

[choc e-Claire]

@_tunic_: The match should be pretty even - we beat you last time we played, but that was in 2017 and you didn't have home ground advantage.

Australia has beaten pretty much everyone recently, so there's no team we're definitely going to lose to. However, at the actual WWC you've got an easier draw than us - Canada are tough, but you should beat New Zealand, and definitely Cameroon.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

pochettino just needs to take spurs shopping.

That could be the one big problem for Spurs. They have the money but their owner is notoriously tight.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

That could be the one big problem for Spurs. They have the money but their owner is notoriously tight.

yeah but... his vehicle needs spare tires

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video...m3wLDlc9Q.m3u8

(give it a moment to load and expand)

[demonrail666]

That isn't loading.

Yeah, they needed new blood last season. How many players did they bring in? Zero.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

That isn't loading.

Yeah, they needed new blood last season. How many players did they bring in? Zero.

you click on it and it wont open a black page, then a tiny square, then a video player?

ok lemme see if i can find the whole tweet. the tweet is about financial trades but the sport is one you like. one sec..

[!@#$%!]

here: https://twitter.com/dollarsanddata/s...59162334138368

[!@#$%!]

the evolution of the pit stop blows my mind. i havent seen auto races in ages. what they do now is amazing.

guess i just needed an excuse to post it ha ha ha.

but no, spurs specifically needs a kane replacement i thought. can’t wait for him the long periods that he’s on the mend.

same as the slow pit: waiting, waiting, waiting for fresh tires while the other cars race ahead

get lewandowski, haa haaa haaa

get someone

[demonrail666]

The need a back up, but it's hard to attract a top player to essentially play an understudy role, considering when Kane's fit, he plays.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

The need a back up, but it's hard to attract a top player to essentially play an understudy role, considering when Kane's fit, he plays.

from what ive read kane had injuries last year as well

replacement could be a wunderkind or could be an ageing star as long as there’s sufficient quality. they could rotate, much like robbéry did for ages (not sure that’s a strict portmanteau).

it’s a grueling schedule with 4 simultaneous competitions with no breaks and it’s 2019 and it needs a fast pit stop like man city has. not 1981.

reminds me of this mcenroe/borg documentary i saw the other day: when borg returned from early retirement he was still playing with a wooden racket. so it did not go too well for him.

bundesliga at least has christmas break and it’s just league + pokal, and 7 teams in europe. but the prem+epl+fa+champions/europa nonstop is fucking murder.

 

things are changing as we speak, there’s no need to go away for a while to see the mutations happening. it’s deep bench time for english teams with man city in the lead. it only makes sense that contenders must emulate. and a lot of rotations, or death, for the top 4-6.

[demonrail666]

Teams do rotate, far more than they used to, but where teams like Spurs could/should definitely spend more, they'll never be able to emulate Man City in terms of squad depth, just cos they don't have that kind of money.


And is what Man City's doing even legal?

[!@#$%!]

no idea about the law.

but start agüero? or start jesus?

even if others can’t do it at the same level, they have to try to close the gap.

[_tunic_]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

@_tunic_: The match should be pretty even - we beat you last time we played, but that was in 2017 and you didn't have home ground advantage.

Australia has beaten pretty much everyone recently, so there's no team we're definitely going to lose to. However, at the actual WWC you've got an easier draw than us - Canada are tough, but you should beat New Zealand, and definitely Cameroon.

I think you'll be in favour tonight. It's a bloody 26 degrees today (that's in Celsius ). First hot day of the year, and we Dutchies are not accustomed to it yet I'm afraid.


But it will be an all football night, on the same channel is first our match at 6PM and then the Champions League final

[_tunic_]

sad news:
Reyes passed away today in a car accident. I actually am not very sure who he is right now, I'm bad with names. But at 35 years old. Damn. R.I.P.

[demonrail666]

That's awful. I remember him at Arsenal.

[_tunic_]

oh, I just realised this:
the male and female best player in UK championship were both Dutch this year! Miedema and Van Dijk

 

that will of course change the chances for tonight's women's match


what are the odds for Liverpool? Will they win easily? I hope they will.

[demonrail666]

My local bookie has Liverpool at 10/11. I agree they should be favourites but that's way over the top.