Vesper

fuck that shit

Hunting in the Pontine Marshes Horace Vernet, 1833

LiVARpoo! https://thedailybriefing.io/i/166577604/liverpool Luis Diaz to Barcelona? The Catalan giants are understood to be prioritising a move for Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams. However, sources suggest the Colombian is attracting interest from another European giant, which has been corroborated by Christian Falk. A £35m deal (£30m initial fee plus £5m add-ons) taking Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen has been confirmed. The Merseysiders do retain a buy-back clause on the player - the exact value of which remains a mystery, though it has been hinted this is a sizeable figure should Liverpool wish to bring the centre-half back to Anfield in future. Marc Guehi is expected not to sign a new deal with Crystal Palace. The Eagles are prepared to part ways with the England international this summer in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer in 2026 when his contract is currently due to expire. (Ben Jacobs) Liverpool are nearing a verbal agreement with Guehi. (Valentin Furlan/Rudy Galetti) West Brom are closing in on a deal to sign Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips. (John Percy)

€320m in toto gross, for 4 years of salary😦 https://www.turkiyetoday.com/sports/saudi-side-al-hilal-offer-160m-package-for-osimhen-as-galatasaray-hangs-on-3203314 Saudi giant Al Hilal has reportedly submitted a staggering €160 million package to sign Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, in a move that could reshape the summer transfer window. According to Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, Al Hilal has offered Osimhen a three-year contract worth €40 million per season—net—with an option for a fourth year. Should the deal go through, Osimhen would instantly become one of the highest-paid footballers in the world.

Chevs is 7 years younger and a better (IMHO) keeper already

our next manager 🤣

hard pass

we need to buy Lucas Chevalier will cost around £35m or so and worth every pound

So, Rodrygo's wage dends are not crazy at all. £196,154K PW gross (£10.2m per year) compare that to that fuckstick Sterling (who is on £350K PW, or, at best, £325K PW)

Max Weiß

Mykhailo Mudryk’s doping charge explained: Can Chelsea sack him if found guilty and could he appeal? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6104741/2025/06/19/mykhailo-mudryk-Chelsea-doping-charge-explained/ After provisionally suspending Mykhailo Mudryk in December for a failed drugs test, the English Football Association (FA) has now charged the Chelsea winger for violating its anti-doping regulations. This means Mudryk, who has not played a competitive game of football since the end of November, could now face a maximum penalty of a four-year suspension. Although the 24-year-old was in Wroclaw, Poland, to watch Chelsea lift the UEFA Conference League on May 28, he is not with the squad for their ongoing involvement in the FIFA Club World Cup, which is taking place in the United States. In statement released on Wednesday afternoon, the FA said: “We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with anti-doping rule violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of regulations 3 and 4 of The FA’s Anti-Doping Regulations. As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.” As per the FA’s anti-doping regulations, Mudryk now has 20 days to decide whether to accept the finding and whatever punishments follow, or request a hearing with the FA. Although a four-year ban would be the worst-case scenario for Mudryk, likely suspensions could range anywhere from two years to a month, depending on any mitigating factors. Here, we explain the background to his case — some of which appeared in an article previously published in December — and what happens now. What has Mudryk done? In December, it emerged that a routine drugs test found Mudryk to have — in Chelsea’s words — “an adverse finding” in a urine sample provided by the player. This immediately led to a provisional suspension from Chelsea’s first team as they awaited the results of further testing. When urine samples are collected, they are put into two separate containers. The A sample is used for the initial test, and if that comes back positive, they then test the B sample to verify the accuracy of the first result. So, following Mudryk’s positive A sample, his B sample was then tested, which verified that he had tested positive for meldonium, a banned substance. Mudryk playing for Chelsea in the Conference League (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) The Athletic previously reported that Mudryk returned the positive test for meldonium after being away on international duty in November during a period that saw him feature in Ukraine’s Nations League fixtures against Georgia and Albania. Before his positive test became public knowledge, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was asked about Mudryk’s absence and simply said he is “out”, or that he was ill, without giving any further reason. Neither Mudryk nor Chelsea have spoken publicly since the FA announced its decision to charge him on Wednesday. In December, the club issued a statement saying that Mudryk “has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances”. In the same statement, the player said: “This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and I am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.” What are Mudryk’s options now? If the charge is upheld, the player’s options would be limited. “If a ban is imposed, he will have the option to try to reduce the length of the ban by appealing the sanction,” says Dan Chapman, a partner and head of employment and sports law at Leathes Prior. Chapman notes that any appeal by Mudryk would be to the FA, though his legal team may also explore whether they can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which is where Paul Pogba had his four-year ban reduced to 18 months. Chapman says that the “domestic process is reasonably speedy”, both in terms of possible sanctions and any appeal. “Appeals to the European system are complex, even if available, and will take some while,” he adds. “The thing with Pogba was that he was of an age where the sanction was career-ending and challenging the ban was his only play. If Mudryk feels that he has no realistic prospect of overturning any ban, the situation could change. “Depending on how long the ban is for,” Chapman continues, “the advice might be that once the FA process has been concluded, he will need to accept the outcome and that he will still have plenty of time to play after the ban ends.” What are Chelsea’s options? If the FA finds against Mudryk, then, unlike the player, Chelsea would have several options. In the standard Premier League contracts that are in place between all players and clubs, there is a definition of gross misconduct, and being found to have taken a prohibited substance falls under the definition, as it does in accordance with FA rules. “The club, on the face of it, would have a relatively open-and-shut case to say the player is guilty of gross misconduct and, if they wanted to, they could terminate the player’s contract,” Chapman says. “They would need to give 14 days’ notice to the player in writing if that is what they wanted to do. “There is an appeal process available to the player, and we are not talking about an appeal against the drugs finding, but an appeal against the decision of the club to terminate his contract for gross misconduct. “The player can follow that process, although it is hard to see how any appeal could realistically be successful if the FA allegations have been upheld.” When Mudryk joined Chelsea in January 2023, he signed an eight-and-a-half-year contract, the last year of which is optional, meaning he could be tied to the club for another six years. But Mudryk would not have the remainder of his contract paid out if he is sacked for gross misconduct. Chelsea would only need to pay him for the 14 days. Mudryk featuring for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Another option open to Chelsea, Chapman explains, is that they may decide to keep Mudryk, given his age, potential and remaining contract length. In this scenario, the Premier League side may seek to renegotiate the Ukrainian’s contract and put him on a significantly lower wage while he serves the ban. It would still be up to Mudryk, however, to sign a new deal on reduced terms. He may instead fancy his chances as a free agent if the alternative to that is being sacked by the club. If Chelsea opt to sack Mudryk, then Chapman says they could, in theory, also sue him for damages, which is what they successfully did when they sacked Adrian Mutu in 2004 after he tested positive for cocaine and was handed a seven-month ban. “That is a very rare step, but that is an option open to them,” adds Chapman. “They would argue they bought an asset for £80million, he breached the contract, and now the asset is worth virtually nothing. “Not many clubs would ever want to do that because the message you are sending future players is that if you sign for us and things go wrong, then we may sue you. This doesn’t tend to happen, but it can. The signs so far, and who knows whether this is a justified position not being privy to the facts, is that Chelsea are being fully supportive of their player.” What is meldonium and which sportspeople have been found to have taken it? A prohibited substance, in short. Meldonium is a heart disease drug developed in 1970 in the former Soviet Union. It is designed to combat ischemia, a condition where blood flow is restricted to body tissue, muscles or organs. It boosts metabolism and increases blood flow and, by extension, the exercise capacity of athletes. It was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of banned substances in January 2016 after its previous inclusion in the agency’s monitoring programme the year before. Former Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova had been the most high-profile case of an athlete being banned for using meldonium. A failed drugs test at the 2016 Australian Open led to a two-year ban issued by the International Tennis Federation, with Sharapova accepting she had made “a huge mistake” in taking the substance. Sharapova was banned for using meldonium (Michael Dodge/Getty Images) Sharapova told a news conference in Los Angeles she had been given a medicine for 10 years by her family doctor and had been unaware that it had also been known as meldonium, which had been added to WADA’s prohibited list in the weeks before her failed test. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced Sharapova’s ban to 15 months in October 2016 after finding that she did not deliberately cheat and that there was no “significant fault or negligence on her part”. The use of meldonium was not uncommon among Eastern European athletes before its ban, but it was the subject of a doping scandal in 2016 when the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia replaced its under-18s squad with an under-17s team at the World Under-18s Championships due to several players returning positive test results. Philip Buckingham How unusual is it for footballers in England to fail drug tests? Adverse findings are few and far between and, most commonly, have been due to traces of recreational drugs being discovered. Mutu, goalkeeper Mark Bosnich and one-time England midfielder Jake Livermore were all given suspensions by the FA for testing positive for traces of cocaine, as was the Cardiff winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing more recently, in 2020. Further afield, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is rare but not without precedent. In February, Pogba was banned for four years when found to have taken a doping agent while at Juventus, a suspension that was later reduced to 18 months when an appeal to CAS found the consumption of the drug had not been intentional. He is still without a club. In February 2021, Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, then playing for Ajax, was banned for a year by UEFA after testing positive for furosemide, a diuretic. That was reduced to nine months by CAS after the court accepted Onana’s explanation that he had confused the medication — which he said belonged to his wife — with aspirin. On November 4, Oscar Zambrano, the Hull City midfielder, was also given a lengthy ban. Zambrano had returned a positive test last season when playing for his Ecuadorian parent club LDU Quito, but had remained eligible to feature until CONMEBOL issued a ban for breaching anti-doping rules. Hull, who had only signed the player on loan, said Zambrano intended to appeal through CAS, but the case is not yet listed. Philip Buckingham What kind of punishments can be applied? Doping bans ordinarily fall between two and four years, although appeals can reduce the length of those bans, as was seen in the case of Pogba. “If we look at what happened with Paul Pogba, his violation and the consequences that followed, that was a lengthy ban,” says Jibreel Tramboo, a sports lawyer at Church Court Chambers. “I understand the circumstances are different, but the point still follows. “Anti-doping regulations are a strict liability offence. Athletes are fully responsible for substances found in their bodies. It’s irrelevant if it’s accidental or intentional. If it’s there, it’s a breach. You could argue a reduced sanction if he can demonstrate no significant fault or negligence in what he’s taken, but there is arguably no defence.” Philip Buckingham

Chelsea were mesmerised by Flamengo’s wide combinations. This is how Filipe Luis’ side do it https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6441719/2025/06/21/flamengo-Chelsea-wide-play-analysis/ If there’s one thing that distinguishes Filipe Luis’ Flamengo, it’s their passing combinations in attack. In the nine months under Luis, Flamengo have mainly played in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with the front four having the freedom to occupy narrow positions and combine in the central or wide areas. As a result, Flamengo’s flying full-backs have been a key element of their attack. But the approach differs from one game to another depending on the characteristics of the players and how the opponent sets up. After beating Esperance de Tunis with two goals that perfectly encapsulated their offensive style, Flamengo’s wide combinations proved effective in their 3-1 victory against Chelsea on Friday. Luis continued with the regular Flamengo setup, with Jorginho partnering Erick Pulgar in midfield and Luiz Araujo, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Gerson behind the striker. However, the deviation came up front, where Gonzalo Plata, who is more of a winger than a centre-forward, started in place of Pedro. Flamengo’s wide combinations were present from their first attack in the game, with Gerson in a narrow role and right-back Wesley Franca pushing down the right wing. Here, Gerson is marked by Levi Colwill as Danilo plays the ball into the midfielder. Gerson sets it back to Wesley. This passing combination entices Colwill and Marc Cucurella to press. Even before Danilo plays the ball to Gerson, Plata is in the correct position to attack the space behind Chelsea’s left side. Wesley then plays the ball into the path of the Flamengo forward, but the attack is stopped for a foul on Gerson. In this example, it’s the left-back, Ayrton Lucas, who is vital to the move. Lucas plays a line-splitting pass into the dropping Plata… … and then dashes forward to make an overlapping run, with Malo Gusto and Trevoh Chalobah dragged up the pitch by Araujo and Plata. The reason Moises Caicedo isn’t in a position to support the right side is that he is protecting the gap in Chelsea’s defence and keeping an eye on De Arrascaeta, who is looking to attack it. Plata then passes the ball to Araujo… … who tries to find Lucas’ third-man run, but the ball deflects off Gusto… … and Flamengo’s centre-forward does the job. However, Lucas’ poor first touch allows Caicedo to halt the attack. The positioning of Plata and Araujo, coupled with the timing of Lucas’ run, created a three-vs-two scenario down the wing and exploited Chelsea’s right side. In another example, Flamengo build the attack down the right and Wesley plays the ball in-field to De Arrascaeta. Before the right-back plays the pass, Gerson is already attacking the space vacated by Cucurella pressing forward, and Plata is positioning himself towards that side to pin Colwill and prevent him from defending the third-man run. Caicedo tries to track Gerson, but the timing of the midfielder’s movement gives him a head start, and De Arrascaeta finds his team-mate with a one-touch pass behind the defence. The dynamic of the move forces Chalobah, Chelsea’s right centre-back, to be the player pressing De Arrascaeta… … which means that when Plata runs towards the penalty spot, Colwill needs to adjust his position, creating a gap in the defence. De Arrascaeta smartly attacks that space and Gerson finds his run, but the attacking midfielder’s cross is easily collected by Robert Sanchez. When Flamengo’s wide combinations had a final output, they were dangerous. On this attack, Gerson is in a deeper position, and Wesley is occupying the right wing as Jorginho plays the ball to Danilo. Enzo Fernandez is initially keeping an eye on Gerson… … but Jorginho’s forward movement alters his attention. Meanwhile, Danilo’s pass to Wesley moves Cucurella up the pitch, and Gerson starts his run early to attack the vacated space, with Caicedo unable to support the left side in time. Wesley then plays the ball back to Jorginho, which changes Fernandez and Caicedo’s focus for a second and stops them from tracking Gerson’s run. That amount of time is enough for Jorginho to chip the ball into the path of his team-mate… … putting Flamengo’s forwards in a four-vs-three situation. Gerson then combines with Bruno Henrique… … before switching the play to Plata — a pass aided by Araujo’s off-ball movement, forcing Gusto deeper. Plata then dribbles inside against Gusto’s momentum and strikes the ball into the roof of the goal, but Sanchez saves it. From the commencing corner kick, Flamengo managed to equalise through Bruno Henrique, before Danilo gave them the lead three minutes later from another dead-ball situation. After the cooling break, Luis switched Plata and Gerson’s positions, before introducing Wallace Yan instead of the latter in the 82nd minute. It took the 20-year-old exactly a minute to make his mark on the game by scoring Flamengo’s third and final goal. In the build-up to that goal, Wallace attacks the space behind Cucurella as Flamengo’s substitute right-back, Guillermo Varela, plays the ball to Plata. Flamengo’s right-winger then passes it to Wallace and overlaps the forward to provide a passing option… … before the duo combine to cut through Chelsea’s defence and make it 3-1. Flamengo’s wide combinations have been a key part of their attack under Luis. The dynamic nature and different variations make it hard to stop. Even if their players are matched in numbers, the timing and unpredictability of their movements give them the upper hand. Flamengo’s slick passing moves aren’t just easy on the eye, they are effective, too.

Rodrygo Goes player profile https://www.caughtoffside.com/2025/06/19/rodrygo-goes-player-profile/ We’re hearing a lot about Real Madrid wide-forward Rodrygo Goes at the moment as his future could be in some doubt this summer. The Brazil international has been widely reported as being a target for Arsenal, so who is he, what are his attributes, and how likely does a summer move look for him? Who is Rodrygo Goes? Background and early career Rodrygo, whose full name is Rodrygo Silva de Goes, was born in Osasco in Sao Paulo in 2001, and was on the books at Santos by the age of ten. After rising up Santos’ academy, Rodrygo eventually became a regular for their first-team. He signed his first professional contract in July 2017 and made his senior debut later that year. In the end, Rodrygo scored 17 goals in 80 games for Santos before he was unsurprisingly snapped up by Real Madrid, who recognised a clear wonderkid and paid close to £40m for him, as reported by Sky Sports at the time. Rodrygo linked up with Real Madrid in 2019 and it took him a little while to find his feet, but he scored a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, making him the second youngest player to do so in the competition’s history. Career statistics and playing style Rodrygo was eased into the Real Madrid starting XI quite slowly, but it’s fair to say he eventually established himself as a key player for Los Blancos. It’s only really in the season just gone that he started playing less often, leading to some uncertainty about his future at the club. Capable of playing out wide or up front, it seems there’s major doubt about the 24-year-old fitting in to the new tactical set-up of incoming manager Xabi Alonso, according to the Independent. His stats would surely make him tempting to Arsenal and other top clubs, though… Rodrygo record for Real Madrid Season Games Goals 2019/20 26 7 2020/21 33 2 2021/22 49 9 2022/23 57 19 2023/24 51 17 2024/25 52 14 Rodrygo’s profile looks like just what Arsenal are lacking right now as he provides a real threat from out wide due to his dribbling, pace, skill, and eye for goal. There’s a flair and unpredictability there that no one else in this Arsenal squad really offers, with Jude Bellingham even previously describing Rodrygo as the most gifted player in the Madrid squad when speaking to CBS Sports… Rodrygo has also described himself as a “team player”, as per quotes via ESPN, though this was in the context of also admitting to some frustration at how he’s often been used to plug different gaps. Clearly, this is someone who will work for the team wherever he plays, but who is also ready to be more of a main man than he has been so far. Summer transfer window 2025 So what’s behind the Rodrygo to Arsenal links? Well, a fair few reliable sources have spoken about it now, even if it doesn’t exactly look like anything concrete is that close to happening. Arsenal need a left winger, though, and Rodrygo looks like he could clearly be an upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, so what have the transfer experts been saying? Fabrizio Romano Speaking on his YouTube channel recently, Romano said: “Rodrygo is a player appreciated by Arsenal. There are no doubts about that. “For sure he’s a player they like. For sure Arsenal will add an important winger this season to the squad. So Arsenal will be busy in the next weeks, the striker, the winger. So it’s going to be an important window for Arsenal. We all know that. “Rodrygo is a player they like internally. I would say of course a great player, a top top player. But at the moment, my understanding is that Real Madrid are yet to receive any official approach, official talks, bid or whatever.” Charles Watts Writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside column this week, Watts told us: “Rodrygo would be my pick as the new left winger, with (Nico) Williams now seemingly out of the picture. “We know there is interest there from Arsenal, but that one does feel like something that could run deep into the window. “It’s not yet clear whether Rodrygo will be available. The expectation is that a final decision will be taken after Real Madrid’s stay at the Club World Cup. “So a lot depends on whether Arsenal would be willing to wait to see if a deal could even be possible for the Brazilian.” Ben Jacobs Posting on X earlier this week, Ben Jacobs said: “Arsenal hold a genuine interest in Rodrygo and have held exploratory talks on the player side dating back to May. Understand Real Madrid want around €90m.” Meanwhile, Arsenal players past and present have also weighed in with their views on this potential deal. Speaking to the Podpah Podcast, Rodrygo’s fellow Brazil international Gabriel Magalhaes expressed a clear desire to see the Madrid ace join him at the Emirates Stadium. “Rodrygo is a phenomenon, for me. He’s not at Arsenal…” he said. “If it depended on me, I’ve told people already, he’s a phenomenon. His name is mentioned a lot. If it was up to me, of course.”

I certainly will do so!!

shit expert they know Sanchez well

at least we are trying for true quality there not this Garnacho or Gittens bollocks

LW one of these Rodrygo Bradley Barcola Kenan Yildiz Morgan Rogers CF one of these Alexander Isak Lautaro Martinez Viktor Gyökeres Victor Osimhen we need to stop fucking about I do not give a fuck about BlueCo's cash, they have already shown they are fools with it

I so rate Yıldız

Explaining the group-stage tiebreakers at the Club World Cup https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6434652/2025/06/20/club-world-cup-group-how/ The group stage of the 2025 Club World Cup is nearing its conclusion, with the second round of fixtures ending with Manchester City vs Al Ain on Sunday, June 22. After the third and final round finishes on Thursday, June 26, the top two teams in each of the eight groups will progress to the knockout stage, which begins with the round of 16. If two or more teams in the same group end on the same points, however, a range of tiebreakers will be used to decide which will finish higher — different to the methods FIFA has previously used at World Cups. So, how will teams be separated if they are tied on points? At the men’s and women’s World Cups, goal difference (the difference between the number of goals scored and conceded) from all group matches is used to separate teams tied on points. At the Club World Cup, though, the first tiebreaker is teams’ head-to-head records. If only two teams in a group are level on points, the side that won their match finishes higher. If their head-to-head result was a draw, they cannot be separated by goal difference or goals scored in their head-to-head, so the decision would go straight to the group-wide metrics — first, overall goal difference, followed by overall goals scored. If both of those are equal, the teams’ disciplinary record is the final tiebreaker, with the last resort being drawing lots. If two or more teams are level on points, their position in the group is first determined by results in the matches between the sides that are level. If those are equal, goal difference from the matches between them is the next metric, followed by goals scored in the matches between them. How does the disciplinary record work? FIFA uses “team conduct scores” to decide disciplinary records. In each game, a yellow card is minus one point, two yellow cards to the same person is minus three, a straight red card is minus four. These apply to team staff as well as players. When are the last group-stage fixtures? The final round of group stage fixtures runs from Monday, June 23 to Thursday, June 26, finishing with Red Bull Salzburg vs Real Madrid and Al Hilal vs Pachuca at 9pm ET (2am BST on Friday). When are the knockouts? Round of 16: Saturday, June 28 to Tuesday, July 1 Quarter-finals: Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5 Semi-finals: Tuesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 9 Final: Sunday, July 13

your lad got POTM lolol