goodrobotusses

When they mention "Thommo" as being a corroborating source, do they mean the former player/assistant manager Thommo or Flounceboy from Twitter? Also, Jamie Dalton is good for passing on info from the press in other countries, but I think that's the extent of knowledge. I'm always on the verge of unfollowing him, because though I like getting the low-down on the French league, etc. he comes across as a bit of an arrogant t** when it comes to Arsenal.

I can't wait. It's going to be brilliant.

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Are there even any clubs in the league who wear red and black at home? I suppose there might be a call for it against Villa, though we'd both have the same shade of blue trim on our kits.

It would be a nice shirt if the stripe was anything other than blue. I'm keeping fingers crossed that it's an elaborate marketing hoax that Tony Evans is in on (he says he's seen it and is most distressed). Would be a lot of effort to go to for little benefit though. BLUE!

We need one of him. Could do everything. Left, right, head it, dribbling, crossing, free-kicks, passings, quick over the ground. Sigh. Also, we should totally bring back the red nets.

Celebrating his missus' pregnancy in the way my old man used to. Like how Heitinga's got his wedding ring on that girl's a*** too. When in Rio...

R9? Like CR7 and DB23? Not into all that at all. Ronaldo, IL FENOMENO.

Rafa needs intelligent footballers and time for his methods to bed in. He'll get neither there.

Really don't want Rafa to go there.

Ah right. I saw you'd pointed out it could be a hoax, and only assumed it must have been true when I saw an RT from the ESPN guy.

Guardiola's said that Liverpool's academy is the only one that could rival La Masia and we could produce twenty top players from there. Obviously he'll know Borrell and Segura well. Bloody Rafa, eh?

I'm mostly upset that this thread isn't called "Why are some posters dissing the owners, Comolli and Kenny?".

Alonso's age isn't really a factor. He'll comfortably play at a high level until he's 36-odd. His game isn't based on physicality - he's slow as anything. What he has, though, is one of the best football brains on the planet. Even in terms of general fitness, by all accounts he's a consummate professional and doesn't really pick up many injuries. Not that he's coming back. Sob.

Think they're just mentioning which clubs the lads belong to. At this level only the nerdiest football fans are going to know who's from where, so I guess the commentators compensate. That Isco lad (who scored the FK) is highly regarded - plays for Valencia. This will be a good experience for the English lads, coming up against highly technical players who can keep the ball for fun. Part of the reason this youth-level CL will be really good for our lads - different experiences, different kinds of football. Just as I type that England score and Wisdom gets into a bit of set-to with some Spanish lads. EDIT: Wasn't Wisdom, was the England no.5... though Wisdom was booked, so maybe it was. No replays.

First 15 minutes Spain had something like 67% possession. It's U19, by the way.

Hey Swipe, I dropped you an email via your profile. Couldn't send you a DM.

No fan of the pony tail, but it's infinitely better than this: As an aside, a Google image search for "Andy Carroll cornrows" brought up this: Just say no, kids.

That picture of Biscan in a towel is going to be burned into my psyche forever.

In fairness, that's quite a clever piece of self-promotion. Or a massive waste of time. Either/or.

Kewell plays up front for Gala, doesn't he? Apart from that time he played at centre-back for them (seriously). EDIT: just to prove I'm not lying - http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/matthewhall/archives/2009/03/harry_kewell_is.html

Neil Mellor and Jon Parkin formed a right fat front two for PNE.

City fans taking inspiration from their Lech Poznan counterparts:

Downing is s****. Young I'm not covinced by, but I'd take if it was for a decent fee. His game needs to develop beyond the same pattern of 'run the right-back, check, cross' though. Classically English, totally one-dimensional. Let's think of it this way: if United/City sign Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal get Hazard, and we get one or both of Young/Downing, we're the ones who've gone backwards.