Vesper

2022 FIFA World Cup, Quarterfinals Croatia Brazil https://www.sportfacts.net/sports/2022/world-cup-qatar-croatia-vs-brazil-s1/ https://soccerworldcup.me/croatia-vs-brazil-stream-online-1

Nketiah shines to ease Jesus worries as Arsenal put Lyon to the sword in Dubai https://theathletic.com/3982995/2022/12/09/nketiah-shines-to-ease-jesus-worries-as-arsenal-put-lyon-to-the-sword-in-dubai/ No matter what people’s views are on the relevance of these mid-season friendlies, it is crucial that Arsenal and, more importantly, Eddie Nketiah, take some momentum into the Premier League’s resumption on Boxing Day. To that end, Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Lyon in Dubai on Thursday and Nketiah’s goal and all-round performance are hugely encouraging. Gabriel Jesus’ knee injury means there will be a huge amount of pressure on the 23-year-old when the league returns. That is why these matches in the UAE against Lyon, AC Milan and Juventus carry importance. Nketiah will have a crucial role to play for table-topping Arsenal in the second half of the season and he needs game time under his belt before the serious stuff gets going again. He looked sharp against Lyon, even before his goal. Early on he was peeling out to the left and managed to beat the offside trap to create a decent chance for Reiss Nelson, who hit the post. These movements are what Jesus did during his best form at the start of the season and his rotations with Gabriel Martinelli made Arsenal an even bigger threat as they became harder to track. If Nketiah can continue to replicate the Brazilian in this way, then Arsenal have a great shot at winning their first league title since 2003-04. Nketiah’s involvement in deeper areas was also encouraging. During the striker’s resurgence last season, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “We know this capacity he has to make runs in behind — the timing of it (and) how he attacks the box. But his link-up play, his understanding of spaces, timing of receptions, where he wants to come and work, which passes and spaces he will find afterwards, have improved a lot.” His role in the build-up to Fabio Vieira’s goal (receiving a long ball under pressure on halfway before moving it on) sticks out but was not the sole example. Ten minutes before Vieira scored, the Portuguese dragged a shot wide from a similar area, with the chance coming from Nketiah receiving the ball on the turn between the lines before spreading the play. In the second half, he also displayed the turn he started to develop last pre-season (when he steps towards the ball before bouncing away with it to escape pressure) to win fouls in good areas. For his goal, he burst into the box before coolly finishing in the bottom-right corner. As a whole, the defensive organisation of Arsenal’s first-team players was compact in the right areas (high upfield) and caused multiple turnovers of possession during their 65-minute run-out before the academy players were introduced. Looking at other individuals, Vieira took a little while to get a feel of the game but picked up and it was not a surprise that he provided an assist to go with his goal. On the left, Nelson continued the good form he took into the break. Further down the pitch, Kieran Tierney, who started to invert again during the second half, was also promising. Not only did he do this in midfield, but he was able to break forward with third-man runs up the inside channel to get into the final third. While the majority of this group consists of players who would not start with a fully available squad, there are some who will definitely be playing when the Premier League returns. That is why these games are so important. Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Matt Turner and Thomas Partey have all exited the World Cup (some of whom are travelling directly to Dubai to link up with the squad). Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil) and Bukayo Saka (England) are still involved in Qatar. Speaking about Jesus’ injury and whether it would have a bearing on Arsenal’s January transfer plans, Arteta said: “It affects who we are as a team because he gives us so much. What we can do after that, when we know the timescale and when we can have him back, we will look at the options and try to make the right decisions. “We look at the squad and consider every option with the players we have available. There are things that we can try (if) we have the need to do so.” Whatever the decision, there is no doubt that there will be a lot of pressure on Nketiah’s young shoulders when the Premier League gets going again.

3 or 4? after next season, there is only one more season (2024/25) in between that line-up's season (2025/26) I posted They cannot sign all of those in just 2 summers (2023 and 2024) although they could (and likely will) make huge inroads then they already are possibly well down that path, unfortunately The only thing they are being stupid about IMHO is that fucking Super League bullshit I doubt they 100% run the table on all of those (Bellingham will be hard as hell, for instance, as would the first two CB's listed in my options list), but I wager they will come damn close, especially given that alternatives list Only one on there I really wanted was Havertz, who unfortunately just is not a good fit it turns out, for us, given the systems we have used at least he played a huge role in winning the CL for us Sancho was never a 'OMG, we have to buy him' type for me examples of that type for me were/are : Tchou, Bellingham, Gvardiol, Skriniar, Oblak, Osimhen (as we had no shot at Mbappe or Håland, despite trying for Håland, the money was just too insane and once his RC kicked in, Citeh was there), Theo (years before him, Alex Sandro), and Hakimi.

Colwill coming good becomes insanely important IF we fail on Gvardiol and Fofana simply never regains pre injury form we simply do not have the pull to grab a Gvardiol level CB replacement (there are SO few out there, especially left footers) https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-josko-gvardiol-out-of-Chelsea-transfer-range-croatia-world-cup snip Asked about interest from Chelsea while on duty with Croatia, Gvardiol said: “[Chelsea are] a big club of course and, who knows, maybe one day I will be there. It’s really nice to see things like this, especially because there is [Mateo] Kovacic, so you never know. I talk with him.” Now compare that response with him being asked about the possibility of joining Real Madrid. “Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world, so who knows… maybe one day I can play there. I would like to, yes. Luka [Modric] doesn’t have to tell me anything about Real Madrid, it’s not necessary. I already know everything, I know it’s the biggest club in the world and how important it is to be linked to a team like that.”

2025-26 Real Madrid potential starting XI eeeeek GK Thibaut Courtois CB Josko Gvardiol CB Éder Militão (see below, I am still not sold that he is who they want at the end of the day) LB Alphonso Davies (only team that could pull him, I wager, maybe Citeh could) RB Achraf Hakimi DMF Aurélien Tchouameni CMF Federico Valverde AMF/CMF Hybrid Jude Bellingham LW Vinicius Junior RW Endrick CF Kylian Mbappé and I can see them also looking at (if things go in a different direction for some above) red are the hardest to pull CB Rúben Dias (they are the only team who could pull him) CB Ronald Araújo (only because it is Barca) CB Matthijs de Ligt CB Cristian Romero LB Bukayo Saka LB Nuno Mendes LB Theo Hernández RB Reece James RB Trent Alexander-Arnold (his defence, though, yikes) RB Diogo Dalot (vastly superior to TAA on defence) CMF Nicolò Barella (very doubtful they need him, but I did want to list one CMF) AMF Jamal Musiala (hard as fuck pull, but imagine him as the AMF, Bellingham as the CMF, Tchou as DMF, and they sell Valverde to fund, which, I admit is VERY unlikely, as Valverde is top 3 CMF on planet himself) AMF Florian Wirtz (IF he recovers fully) Winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (ambipedal, can play either wing, which is huge) RW/SS Rafael Leão (they really do not need him IF they end up with Mbappe, as they already have Vini Jr there too) CF Erling Håland (not sure if they even would move for him, if they pull Mbappe, you start to have overload up front, as both Vini and Mbappe are LW'ers (Mbappe can play CF too), not sold on one of them moving to RW, especially if Endrick, a left-footer, blows up there, plus Endrick can play CF as well) CF Victor Osimhen CF Dušan Vlahović CF Gonçalo Ramos (if he keeps blowing up)

levers

been preparing myself to lose him to RM for months now we should have closed it out this past summer (and let him play for RB this season) I deffo can see Gvardiol as the best CB on the planet in a few years he may well be their new Ramos I also see them making a play for Bellingham that new billion euro stadium/retail complex fully opens this coming season, so that is an extra 150m or so in additional revenue each fiscal year the thing that SUCKS is that they are buying players I love and getting rid of most of the cunts (soon or already have) that I hated (mega twat Ramos, CR7, Carvajal (eventually, I cannot stand him and he soon is 31yo, turns 32 this coming season), Marcelo, Lucas, Casemiro, Pepe, Nacho, Asensio, Isco, Bale, and also eventually, Benz) I detest Militão and Cuntois (but do admit he is the best GKer on the planet atm, arfff) though, so still some to hate, LOLOL (I do not hate Kroos (one of the most underrated WC MFers in the past 30 years IMHO, he is, and has been for ages, the best precision/accuracy passer on the planet, has never been under 91, 92% completion rate (and often higher, as high as 95/96%) for last 10 years or so) and Modric, they were always fair play superstars who rarely, if ever, cunted it up hardcore)

I wonder if they will also move for Estêvão. They certainly are lickrish enough for 'as many super youth prospect Brasilians as possible' to do it. Similar situ to when they moved for both Vini Jr and Rodrygo. PLUS they also have that 20yo AMF, Reinier, out on loan, after buying him for €30m in 2020 from Flamengo - Eder Militão €50 million - Reinier Jesus: €30 million - Rodrygo: €45 million - Vinicius Junior: €45 million - Endrick: €72 million - Estêvão Willian: ???? If they drop around €50m or so on Estêvão, they are very close to €300m total transfer and add-on spend for those 6 RM need to start putting the Brasilian flag on their kits, lolol

‘I’ll miss you’: Belgium’s Eden Hazard retires from international football The 31-year-old forward did not score in three group games ‘A page turns today... Thank you for your love’ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/07/belgium-eden-hazard-retires-from-international-football-real-madrid Eden Hazard has announced his international retirement in the wake of Belgium’s group stage exit from the World Cup in Qatar. The 31-year-old revealed the decision on his social media account less than a week after his side were eliminated following a goalless draw with Croatia. Hazard, who made his Belgium debut as a 17-year-old in 2008, wrote: “A page turns today... thank you for your love. Thank you for your unparalleled support. Thank you for all this happiness shared since 2008. I have decided to put an end to my international career. The succession is ready. I will miss you.” The Real Madrid winger earned 126 international caps, scoring 33 goals and captaining his country 56 times. However, he played in a minor role during the World Cup campaign, playing an hour in the win against Canada and the defeat by Morocco, coming on for the final three minutes and added time in the match against Croatia. Hazard made 245 appearances for Chelsea between 2012 and 2019, helping the Stamford Bridge club to two Premier League titles and two Europa League wins. His Belgium teammate Kevin De Bruyne tweeted: “What a journey it has been. Congratulations, Capi. You’ll be missed!”

Gabriel Martinelli 'followed' by Barcelona at World Cup amid Arsenal contract uncertainty Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli has yet to agree on a new long-term deal and it has emerged that the Brazilian is being monitored by Barcelona, who are weighing up a swoop https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-barcelona-transfers-martinelli-worldcup-28674689

I am not saying we will get Nkunku over the line, I just do not think its 100% a done deal. I fully admit I may well be wrong. I am truly worried about Gvardiol. Once a player, unprompted, mentions Real as a dream club, it is pretty much over. Bellingham was always a massive stretch, and now, with his taking his play to truly WC levels for the past 12 months, I think the only way we have a shot is via brute force money, and if Citeh are involved and unlock the pursestrings, or Pool or Manure really splash the cash (both may soon have new owners as well), or again, IF he is under the Real spell, we are likely fucked. Endrick was never coming here, he always was Real-bound. It is why I never put a lot of faith in all the 'news' that we were the clear frontrunner. Palmeiras have an even younger wunderkind Estêvão Willian (not William, which is how sloppy sites are spelling it) 15yo, born in 2007, a left footer as well, and a winger Palmeiras just turned down €35m for him from PSG https://www.palmeiras.com.br/sub-17/ Nome: Estêvão Willian Almeida de Oliveira Gonçalves Idade: 15 anos (24/04/2007) Local de Nascimento: Franca-SP Altura: 1,70m Pé dominante: esquerdo Chegada ao Palmeiras: 2021 Palmeiras Sub-17 2022: 34 J / 23 G Palmeiras Sub-15 2022: 4 J / 8 G Palmeiras Sub-15 2021: 17 J / 3 G Títulos: Paulista Sub-17 (2022), Paulista Sub-15 (2022), Copa do Brasil Sub-17 (2022), Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17 (2022), Paulista Sub-15 e Festival TSFC Sub-15 ESTÊVÃO Atacante

In-demand Simakan pens long-term RB Leipzig deal RB Leipzig has handed defender Mohamed Simakan a contract extension that runs to 2027 in a bid to ward off reported interest from several of Europe's biggest clubs. https://www.beinsports.com/au/bundesliga/news/in-demand-simakan-pens-long-term-rb-leipzig-d/2000720 another class CB off the table

yes, hell no unless it's on a free, lolol

Ettan Fotboll third tier here in Sweden that is where Potter started with Östersunds AIK's (the team we follow here in Stockholm) next game is versus Östersunds in the Svenska Cupen AIK:

he was horrid yesterday

Absolutely nothing special about Enrique. He is good looking, foreign, intelligent, and dresses sharp, so of course the 'only non British managers need apply' club fawns all over him.

Hard pass. I am fine with Potter atm.

I so hope so

that is why Gonçalo Ramos is on my CF lists

I think we fail on Gvardiol, Bellingham, and Endrick. All 3 likely end up at Real. I still am not 100% convinced we even land Nkunku, but feel we are favourites atm.