Futbol '23-'24

[surfer]

Spare a thought for poor Lutz, whose loyalties will surely be tested by a potential Tuchel - Kane (-Upamecano) Bavarian partnership. Look like Levy's ego might have the last word though.

[roger.haddad.]

Every headline I read about Kane seems to involve Spurs rejecting the offer. Wonder if it ends up going through.

[Wombatz]

haha, indeed i do not want this to happen, tüchel alone is difficult enough for me to root against ... luckily it won't happen with levy happy to just frustrate everyone. gvardiol to city, bleugh. if rats manage top 4 again after losing that many seminal players it's either a miracle or bundesliga getting ever worse. anyway, sufficient storylines everywhere and i'm looking forward to the new season ...

[Wombatz]

this morning the news is that kane is on his way to munich ... still don't believe it, the plane will be abducted to paris, or he'll smoke a reefer to fail the medical, or they'll diagnose a silverware allergy, or whatever ...

edit: ah ok, now harry will have to live at the airport until his days are up.

[Wombatz]

(loyalties for today are clear, though, rats for the win (and harry missing a 89th minute penalty would be cool))

edit: that was fun! (german "supercup," league winner against cup winner, in munich, 0:3 for rats.) okay, rose might be a really really good coach, the way everybody knew what to do at all times, with all the new players already part of the team. impressive and sharp ... and even werner picked some passes out of the air. of course in the end it came down to olmo converting his chances while nobody at bayern did. kane in after an hour with three touches, doing that pro forma jog between defenders he usually did when spurs were at their most desolate ...

[roger.haddad.]

Really curious to see how his season at Bayern plays out. Congrats on the win


Saw 5min of the Liverpool game today. Idk if I'm ready for all of this yet lol. The bits I saw were not encouraging.

[surfer]

(loyalties for today are clear, though, rats for the win (and harry missing a 89th minute penalty would be cool))

edit: that was fun! (german "supercup," league winner against cup winner, in munich, 0:3 for rats.) okay, rose might be a really really good coach, the way everybody knew what to do at all times, with all the new players already part of the team. impressive and sharp ... and even werner picked some passes out of the air. of course in the end it came down to olmo converting his chances while nobody at bayern did. kane in after an hour with three touches, doing that pro forma jog between defenders he usually did when spurs were at their most desolate ...

The second goal was astonishingly class, Olmo was sublime, a magician

[surfer]

now harry will have to live at the airport until his days are up.

I chuckled, rumor was that his clearance was being held so he couldnt register in time to play in the supercup, even Levy's not that splenetic

Liverpool's midfield is young or new, and they need reinforcements, they were ready to pay 1.24 Kanes to get Caicedo.

[roger.haddad.]

Caicedo looks to be going to Chelsea. I guess players really do have no interest in playing in the Europa League lol.

[surfer]

Spurs played well on Sunday, and I think a midfield trio of Bissouma-Bentancour-Maddison could be a real engine, the first substantial midfield we've had since Eriksen and Dembele left. Bissouma was almost Dembele-esque, holding off 2-3 defenders at a time, rolling and bouncing off them and driving forward into space before squaring to Maddison. The defense was a bit unlucky and much improved in the second half. Rico Henry was roasting Royal down the left in the first half, not so much in the second. Van den Ven looked good despite the OG. The biggest issue is the front three: Son and Kulusevski did not look comfortable and were not effective receiving the ball in wide areas more or less on the touchline, and having to face up the full backs. That's definitely not Son's game, and Kulu didnt really do much either. Richarlison was OK; I will always see him through the prism of Mandzukic, and hope he can really become a pressing monster, high work rate, disrupter, chaos agent, poacher, aerial threat. United looked poor against Wolves, and I think we have a good shot at 3 points on Saturday.

[roger.haddad.]

The Kane/Bayern memes are out of control lol. Poor bastard really needs to win a trophy soon or the internet will destroy him.

Endo joins Liverpool start to finish in about 48min. I don't watch Bundesliga much so no idea what to expect.

[surfer]

I don't watch Bundesliga much so no idea what to expect.

He's 30 years old so if I were you I'd hope for 1 good season.

[Wombatz]

expect more depth to the squad.

(endo was great for stuttgart (who are fucked now) and enough of a mentality monster (cough) to fit into any team, but it's highly unlikely his qualities of keeping stuff together from the back will really shine as brightly on the biggest stage)

[roger.haddad.]

Yeah he def. looked WAY off the pace and unprepared for the "physicality" of the PL today but I'm sure he'll get some chances and adapt over the course of the season.

Szoboszlai on the other hand looks like he just walked in and became the best player on the team.

[Wombatz]

(endo was great for stuttgart (who are fucked now) ...

stop the count! of course stuttgart now are the first league leaders. bayern didn't look great but kane dropping back (for good purpose, not out of desperation) seemed potentially frightening with like three speedy runners up front. rats screwed it up but i guess that inconsistency will be happening for a while now while the team settles (if it settles). spurs were good fun and everything exactly as predicted by darren. someone up front will have to find something ... kulusevski wasn't bad in what he did, so it falls to either son or richarlison to start scoring, which is a bit of a long shot. chelsea are so funny.

[surfer]

Yeah he def. looked WAY off the pace and unprepared for the "physicality" of the PL today but I'm sure he'll get some chances and adapt over the course of the season.

Szoboszlai on the other hand looks like he just walked in and became the best player on the team.

I agree Szobaszlai looked fantastic, winning that penalty with that outside of the boot "chop"cutback. Energetic and dominant in midfield. MacAllister had his red revoked, but they are still short a few bodies in midfield. I dont think whatever experiment Klopp is trying with Gakpo in a recessed 10/8 role will work.

[surfer]

(endo was great for stuttgart (who are fucked now) ...

stop the count! of course stuttgart now are the first league leaders. bayern didn't look great but kane dropping back (for good purpose, not out of desperation) seemed potentially frightening with like three speedy runners up front. rats screwed it up but i guess that inconsistency will be happening for a while now while the team settles (if it settles). spurs were good fun and everything exactly as predicted by darren. someone up front will have to find something ... kulusevski wasn't bad in what he did, so it falls to either son or richarlison to start scoring, which is a bit of a long shot. chelsea are so funny.

I watched the Bayern match, agreed Kane looked like a natural fit, and took his goal really well, was calling for Sane to pass it to him for a few seconds before.

Our gruff Mediterranean tavern keeper has spun quite the spell over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Max Rushden calling for him to "run the country" after he finishes winning the domestic treble with Spurs. Papa Sarr, looking like prime Dele making late runs into the box.
Otoh, Richarlison had 0 shots, and lost all his aerial duels.

[surfer]

5 different Rats scoring within 25 minutes

[surfer]

Darwin's smash and grab headline at St James Park hid a match that drifted between costly defensive errors and wasted chances. Clinical Nunez, which is not a word I've used on him often. VdV deserved to be sent off, not a question. Though Isak didnt have the greatest match, he is a class talent. As is Lius Diaz, and Alisson who had an incredible save on the shot from Miggy. Almiron was electric at times. Really entertaining match! I think Liverpool is being rebirthed especially with this Hungarian cat Szobo who's like a breath of fresh air to often stale reds.

[roger.haddad.]

Glad to see Darwin putting his scoring boots on. Having mixed feelings about Liverpool rejecting a huge offer for Salah. I think he goes next year. I know this transfer window is over so no time to bring on a replacement, but the price is def. enough to be able to make a strong offer on a player that will go to Chelsea anyway lol.

VVD looking dicey, the backline is making it look like we're gonna have to outscore everyone this season. Which is to say, par for the course.