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We always seem to play down to their level. No matter how shite their football has been or how terrible their form has been leading into the games with us, we always match them shit for shit. I expect much of the same tomorrow unless Maresca gives us some nice surprises in the XI. Both teams will play not to lose.

Wirtz and Sesko also on zero zero

I double-checked this because it is quite unbelievable. Our last win there was the Mata winner twelve years ago. Haven’t even scored more than once there in 15 years

I would drop Enzo for Andrey Santos for this one. Maresca would never do it but I would. United are SHIT in the middle of the park and especially against athletic, mobile midfielders. We could really cause them problems in there with legs and pressing which Enzo doesn’t have. I think he could be a liability against a side who is a real danger on the counter attack. I’d drop Tosin for Josh as well since United are surely going to try playing a shit load of those balls into the channels and over the shoulder which Tosin gets roasted on. Mbuemo, Cunha, Ahmad, etc are highly dangerous in space. Josh’s pace and ability to get around and recover is needed.

Not expecting much our United record is so shakey. Plus our last League win there was 2013!!! But gotta change that eventually...

Think Yernited will wait a bit before they sack him, its a lot more expensive - around 27.5m before his first anniversary. 12m after. United bloke I know, cant call him a friend, said hes got 3 games to turn it around

Rumour has it he could be sacked if United lose it, apparently face to face talks with Radcliffe have been had this week

Spot on. They’ll be in desperation mode already. They’ll be extremely motivated to make up for that embarrassment in the derby and will raise their game as they always do against us for whatever reason despite being shit against every other big team. We need to take the game to them and attack with pace and purpose. If we do our usual walking pace + pass it around slowly at the back bullshit then we’ll let this awful Man United side beat us. Lose this and I’m going to seriously doubt we’re going to kick on and have a solid season.

some people was hype about this guy but we can see he is another bundesliga tax in Prem he can't do anything against tough defenders who are not high line like Germany , 50 millions for this guy is mad when you not get top GK for these money or defender like Bastoni

This is an important consideration. Not only was it possible to hide these payments from authorities at the time, they were not even discovered when the club came under heightened scrutiny because Russian owned assets were sanctioned. It's clear therefore that such payments can be hidden relatively easily. This means there is no way to be sure that other clubs have not engaged in the same activity. Indeed, given the competitive nature of the football industry and the insatiable greed of agents, I'm guessing that many, many, clubs are guilty too. If authorities can't find these payments, but are determined to stop them, it would be counterproductive to impose heavy sporting penalties. Doing that would only make clubs all the more determined to keep their mouths shut about their own regulatory breaches. There must be penalties but I'm guessing that these are much more likely to be financial than they are to be sporting.

Murray-Campbell vs Bayern U19 👏

The agent charges from FA are under Roman. We were fined by UEFA under BlueCo for some things, hotel sale and then something to do with squad ratio cannot remember the exact details. And if we don’t follow the guidelines over the next 4 years, it could go from £30m to £90m if I remember rightly. Aston Villa were also fined around the same time.

Talk about pure game and match control from Barca, absolute first class. Soaked up the first 15 minutes of the atmosphere and then got on the ball, shut the crowd down and dominated and frustrated Class from Barca and shows if you have the technical players and quality you can do anything

The atmosphere at St James's at the start was something else, Barca have done brilliantly to shut it down, nothing in the game now

Chelsea Legends Team v Liverpool 11th October The Blues' squad is now made up of nearly 20 players, and Head Coach Roberto Di Matteo has a job on his hands to pick his strongest team: Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Carlo Cudicini Defenders: John Terry, Marcel Desailly, Gary Cahill, William Gallas Midfielders: Claude Makelele, John Obi-Mikel, Katie Chapman, Ramires Attackers: Eden Hazard, Florent Malouda, Gianfranco Zola, Gemma Davison, Salomon Kalou, Joe Cole, Diego Costa, Eidur Gudjohnson More to come

Just Maresca being Maresca, he is starting to make me scratch my head with choices and bizarre line ups

Israeli minister touts Gaza 'real estate bonanza', defying international backlash https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y59z6rznvo Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the Gaza Strip could be a "real estate bonanza" and that he is in talks with the US about dividing up the territory after the war - an idea previously condemned internationally. Speaking at an event in Tel Aviv, he said "a business plan is on President Trump's table". "We've done the demolition phase... Now we need to build," he said. In February, Donald Trump floated plans for the US to take "a long-term ownership position" over Gaza, saying it could be the "Riviera of the Middle East". The idea would involve the forced displacement of Palestinians in the territory and be in violation of international law. The US and Israel have said it would involve "voluntary" emigration. The BBC has reached out to the White House and the US State Department for comment on Smotrich's remarks. Trump's plan - which was roundly rejected by Palestinians, Arab states and the wider international community - later appeared to have been dropped by the White House, with Trump describing it in July as "a concept that was really embraced by a lot of people, but also some people didn't like it". But the Washington Post reported earlier this month a version of the idea was again under discussion, and would involve Gaza being turned into a trusteeship administered by the US for at least a decade while it is developed into a tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing hub. Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has involved mass air strikes and building demolitions, has caused widespread destruction to the territory. The United Nations (UN) estimates 92% of housing units have been damaged or destroyed, 91% of schools will require full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be fully functional again, and 86% of cropland is damaged. The UN estimated in February that the reconstruction of the territory would cost $53.2 billion (£46.1bn) over the next 10 years. "We paid a lot of money for this war," said Smotrich. "So we need to divide how we make a percentage on the land marketing later". Smotrich, leader of Israel's Religious Zionist party, is an ultranationalist who has been sanctioned by the UK and other countries over repeated incitements of violence against Palestinians. He has control over planning in the West Bank and has repeatedly pushed expansionist policies. In late August, he unveiled a proposal for the annexation of approximately four-fifths of the the territory. He said the plan would involve "applying Israeli sovereignty" to approximately 82% of the West Bank, adding that this was in line with the principle of "maximum land with minimum Arabs". Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state - during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them. The settlements are illegal under international law. Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 65,062 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. This week, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - an allegation the Israeli government strongly denied.

When we have Andrey Santos, it did not make sense to have James in the middle. Maresca has been reluctant to use Santos for some reason but he's looked solid to me and plays like a midfielder in that role.

Well like most of you I agree that James in middle is so so. But no one really complained when we used him in the final against PSG. So it worked before and he tried it. This time did not work. I guess long term with James in the middle it's not the option. It might work here and there, especially in one of games but he needs to build better his mid, Maresca that is.

regardless of the loss, i just want to say something: “your stadium, your house, our cup”

Roman only (if we are talking about the 74 charges)

Werent the fines mainly due to the previous administration or are they both to blame.

Sanchez James Fofana Josh Cucu Santos Caicedo Estevao Palmer Garnacho Pedro This is my ideal lineup now. Give Enzo time off, drop Tosin and Chalobah, and bring on Neto when legs are tiring.

With Marescas desire wannabe Pep its possible to happen.