Brigadeiro

Couldn't read because I'm a cheap bastard (and lazy so didn't register for the free trial), but instead went back to the first pages of this topic for reminiscence... Hindsight is pretty funny, the amount of hate that he got when the rumours started and now he's pretty much a fan favourite, and always seems to talk nicely about us 😅

Diving is bloody awful, but it irks me most whenever the player doing it had a pretty good opportunity to do something. Here's your reward, little dumb fella.

I guess talks breakdown whenever Levy says the expectation is to win a title.

Granted they're WC players, but you take De Bruyne and Eden out and this Belgium team look so flat in attack. Carrasco and Mertens are a poor William & Pedro combo, not creative at all.

Anyone watching the game, how is Isak doing? Guess Sweden didn't manage to threat Spain a lot, but he's one of the strikers I'd like us to take a better look if Train Haaland departs to other lands.

First Euro game I've managed to watch albeit only the 2nd half, lots of fun so far... And it's 3-2 for the grown up men in orange. Sorry Val

The entire first half, actually. About people being jealous of him or Havertz leaving when there's no talk about that happening. Plus the Mount comparison, we're all happy that they're both playing? I can understand you questioning the way Frank handled him in the first matches, but besides that I'm really confused on the other topics.

I'm sorry, I know it took lots of minutes to write this, but... What in the world are you talking about? (And Tielemans is belgian)

To be honest, while you're most likely right, Dortmund are probably one of the few clubs in the world that can "afford" such loss, as they always have a new talent waiting to be on the spotlight. They had a poor season in the league, almost missing out on CL, so maybe they're thinking "hey, we're gonna be without Sancho already, isn't it better to secure another year of CL with Haaland (plus the global interest in their games + marketability) end up selling him for the release clause, and eventually we'll recoup that with the sales of Bellingham, Reyna, Moukoko, Knauff..." I can definitely see them thinking like that and would say is the right approach, footballing wise at least. But I also have no money, so what do I know!

Great vid on Billy's trajectory. Loved the bits with his parents, dad is surely a harsh one and probably led to lots of angry moments, but also kept him grounded to be an amazing pro by the looks of it.

I wonder how those one-sided clause activation talks are held... "Well, Oli, we're getting another year of your services." "But I don't really wanna stay." "...too bad. NEXT!"

IT'S TIME!

I'm not from England so don't really have to deal with fans personally, but I absolutely hate losing to Liverpoo and their entitled army of "true supporters". They just annoy the hell out of me. Always make it seem like they're destined for their victories even though some of them come from some really flukey calls (hello Garcia) and it's such a drama whenever they lose to anyone, the media around them, the ynwa chant, you name it... plus I never really liked Gerrard who sounded like a prick when they faced my local team São Paulo in the CWC and eventually lost. (I have the same feeling about Barcelona and the "més que un club" as well, especially since the Messi era) I've also marked Arsenal because it's annoying losing to them after Henry/RvP because they're just so bad yet still manage to get some results, it's quite incredible really. Spurs I just can't consider on the same level, poor fellas.

The way I see it, it's more about wanting someone who will be able to lead the team offensively and be hungry as hell for years to come. They may even have similar games, but Haaland just represents a better deal at the prices mentioned, be it on the field or marketing wise. Like you said, Lukaku should've been here instead of Morata and then maybe we wouldn't have this conversation. Nowadays he's just "another" option. Not really a bad option per se, just not as exciting as getting Haaland or Mbappe. But if TT does prefer Lukaku, then by all means get the guy back to SB asap!

Honestly I'd rather we pay now Dortmund a higher fee than Haaland's release clause for next season and let him stay there for another season than getting Lukaku or Kane now and most likely ruining our chances to be in the running when that clause activates. Having Haaland for the next 4-5 years least is just too good of a option for us to miss, just like getting Hazard was back then. If that's what it takes to get him here, I'd do it and believe in our strikers and TT to get us through next season with reinforcements in other positions.

I believe it's just silly season yet again, folks. At some point Chilwell was also mooted for a 80m+ transfer last summer, wasn't he? It would be nonsense to spend that much on Rice at this point as if we were desperate for him to save us. We're the champions of Europe. We can't be naive thinking all is good, but there will be plenty of players interested and Marina will get a decent deal after all.

At this point it already reached that Tibo situation in which our player is as good as gone and his replacement will effectively cost X-25m. We just gotta hope it will work better than Kepa. It wasn't a mistake loaning Tomori out, but that low redemption fee was. Plus he feels valued at Milan as a key player already, even displacing the captain Romagnoli.

One thing that worries me about Varane is his ambition after he's won basically everything there is to win. I don't follow La Liga so this is based on a few CL games I've watched, but haven't been overly impressed with him the past few years after the World Cup. He made some huge blunders against City last season, and somehow his body language against us (and Inter on group stages) was just meek, Militão showed much more spirit against us. He's a good player, I just wonder about his desire, although a change of scenery may do him some good. I'd like us to either give Guehi/Ampadu a chance, and besides the names already mentioned there's also Pau Torres whom Utd are interested. I'd say we could take a look at Bastoni, but he just signed a new deal with Inter.

Is it officially off-season already or will we be able to hear anything directly from the man in the coming days? I miss him already... Gimme some press conferences, please!! On KdB's injury, is it possible that it was due to Rudi's mask? I didn't see it again at slow motion, but blocks like that aren't that unusual, so it seems plausible that that's what caused such damage.

From now on, I'm exclusively watching Germans at interviews, they all own it. https://youtu.be/ltRa6ty5uO0 "Chelsea were the underdogs while City were favourites. Did that give you more motivation to win the game?" Timo: I don't understand the question, but I don't care! We've won the Champions League!

Someone here posted earlier that the Snake himself cheered on his old club & teammates. Surprised to say the least.

This sequence makes it seems that Kai is about to boot it with his right foot and then is rushing to the stands looking for the missh*t ball. Could be another one of those alternative universe things... Classy player, quietly showing his fangs and bite, loved that response to his price tag.

This man just made impossible to manage Chelsea on next season's FM. Couldn't bare the thought of him leaving, even if it's just a game. Top top attitude, tactically brilliant, great interviews... the way he spurred our fans to cheer on the team and the players whenever things got too anxious... Just brilliant. Dear Roman, keep away from tanning machines and sign this guy up for life. 😍

Judging by the season and by that pic, Timo is absolutely toothless. We love him anyway.

Dunno if it's been translated already, but I think one of my biggest concerns has been eased during a interview in Portuguese. Asked about his future, he said he's always been a big dreamer, aiming for the absolute highest he can. That means he wants another shot at the WC in 2024. It's a tough one to reach, but I was worried that after we had won the CL, he'd think it's job done and come back to Brazil. However I now believe he'll stay for at least another year, because that gives him the biggest visibility against top opposition and increases his chance of being selected for international competitions. Finally, when the journalist asked if he wanted another shot at the Libertadores with a brazilian club, he was kinda unfazed by it, so it doesn't seem like a major ambition for him, even though he acknowledged it would be nice after all. TLDR: I now have firm belief that Thiago will stay for another year, based on something that he half-said. I'm ready to be a journo!