robsblubot

Yeah don't think Biden has actual "fans" tbf, but I'd not consider them equivalent: one is a lawless conman, while the other is a by-the-book establishment (and 'ed) politician. Trump's loss, esp considering that GOP did well in senate and house, was IMO a clear rebuttal to trump. That must have stung for a guy who is pure ego.

Proper news double check the stories before they publish - they have a reputation. Tabloids and opinions dressed as news (in social media) don't worry about reputation for obvious reasons. We don't trust footballing news from tabloid sources - same applies here. Personally I consider the unvetted opinion, that is dressed as news the biggest problem at this time. Social media esp is playing a part that nobody in their right mind would want them to. He just lost Arizona too... so according to trump himself, that's a landslide.

no, it's not true. lol There is no widespread fraud. I wouldn't call your "news source" news. If you are really that averse to checking the news on reputable sources, like the NYT, and need to hear from a far-right source, you could at least use https://wsj.com/ .

Are you talking about the election that trump lost (by as much landslide as his win in 2016)? if so, then only if you follow the ridiculous conspiracy theories. And for that, not even the garbage Fox News is would be enough... you'd have to dig deeper into different garbage... Facebook garbage might do. again, (heavily) *decentralized* is the keyword here. Think about it for a second: voters register to vote in a county. The counting is done per county as well, which makes controlling and detecting fraud, esp the significant ones, quite easy and obvious. (e.g. where the numbers come from etc) Short of a sharp turn into full dictatorship - I once thought this country was more resilient to that (before hitler II came along) - but then elections would become a moot point from now on. Who would bother? Same as voting against Putin in Russia.

that is indeed what happens in the the vast majority of times when a team acquires a few players significantly changing the starting XI. I think I've seen, maybe a couple of times where the players just "clicked" and started playing together right off the bat, and it likely because they were experienced players. I think most of us were worried about Lampard's (seemingly) inability to correct the defense. Mendy corroborated a lot of opinions here that one of the biggest problems we had was indeed kepa. If you go back his thread, I was never a fan (to say the least), but his recent form was a constant liability.

^^ that's interesting and scary stuff there heh You are right though, election fraud is actually more difficult in the USA for the simple fact it is decentralized. Each state can have its own laws regarding a lot of things, including the election.

Then the 200 or so ballots are removed from the count and we move on. About the same number recounts usually "correct" (in favor of the winning party). Again, the crux of the matter is how widespread it is. Trump is claiming, without any proof, that it is the "most widespread fraud ever!" which really does sound like something the whiner in chief would say. You don't change the rules during, much less after you lose the game. The problem for the president's strategy of course, is that the loss was a bit heavier than he anticipated. Having to fight legal battles in multiple fronts reduce the odds of succeeding to negligible. Not that I have any sympathy for the strategy though.... he is literally trying to steal the election. * were the pollsters that wrong in the end? people just don't like him.

I can see that. Pedro was more direct, like Mount is, which is showcased by his ability to score. On the other hand, I thought Pedro's defensive work was only at the level of Willian's in very special circumstances. Willian is very consistent in his defensive work. I'd say that it is his most obvious quality as he does not really have games where he's not tracking back, or not applying pressure to the opposition. His attacking deficiencies are well known though. And I see that consistency in Mount too. This is a very important role in football. You need to have the option to close down channels in specific games, and Mount gives you that with the added benefit of his ability to score. Mount is a bit underrated esp by England fans.

Reece IMO is the one academy player who is closest to WC. He's been improving a lot esp around his initial deficiencies: work rate (esp lack of urgency) and defense. He has the one characteristic that I've seen in the very best fullbacks over the years, which is the ability to produce good crosses from anywhere on the pitch. The vast majority of FBs need to get into good positions behind opposition's defense line to produce good crosses, while Reece can do that much earlier, sometimes even before the opposition has a chance to challenge him - very difficult to defend against that.

Heh if they got Willian expecting goals and assists, that's on them (they can't read stats apparently). It's apples and oranges though as they have entirely different roles, even if same position. When I hear criticism on Mount (Chelsea and esp England), it makes me laugh. It's really good for the manager to have Mount as an option for the tougher matches.

Willian is a very different player. The only thing they have in common is that both may roam on the right wing. It'd be as wrong comparing Ziyech Mount. (Mount has been doing Willian's job for us) A more apt comparison, even if from the other side, would be Mata IMO. Ziyech looks similar to Mata in terms of style of play, but with a much higher work rate, which will allow him to be influential in far more games, and tougher games at that. That has been my issue with Mata.

nah he's a decent/good player and that's about it. Need to improve a lot! For all his height, his aerial play is pretty mediocre. His far better games are against the weakest opposition. Mount is the better player (more influential in tougher matches), while Reece is the only one with WC potential, IMO. Youth bias playing a part here.

well, it is known that the true measure of presidents is who their friends are and who they surround themselves with. so, ^^ that's a very good sign that they did not want Biden

In Portuguese, one would say that "Ziyech acabou com o jogo." Roughly translates to: he finished (destroyed with) the game, as in mortal kombat, "finish him." (I guess you could say "dominate", but it's really not the same heh) Just thought a player delivering such a performance fully deserved that sentence. I'm seeing things in Reece that I've only seen in the best fullbacks over the years. If he continues developing as he has, he can easily become a world class player.

the best one is Trump: "It's amazing how those mail-in ballots are so one-sided too." I hope he's just lying as usual, otherwise the guy is truly a moron.

fair enough. I disagree though, especially in the middle of a pandemic (which is not being handled well in the USA) as I merely think it's a matter of will: to make it work as CO clearly does. The penalty for fraud should be a strong enough deterrent -- it is pretty steep.

there is the possibility of fraud everywhere. The crux of the lies by trump is entirely about how widespread it is. Literally an ongoing conspiracy theory by the person most likely to being able to actually carry it out, due to him being president (according to his own administration when used "the amazing powers of the US presidency" as a legal argument several times). Besides, no problem here then since Florida went to trump to avoid "socialist" Biden lol and the same article says republicans were more likely to vote by mail (likely including military) and they talk about how Bush won by counting the mail in. Once again, we are in the middle of pandemic, but instead of making mail in voting easier and safer, the president tried to undermine it as a winning strategy. It will fail because his loss will be in multiple fronts.

^^ this! folks seem to be buying the lies from trump.... despite the complete lack of any evidence. There is nothing weird about mail in ballots (some of which were actually in drop boxes) esp in the middle of a pandemic. They are actually more secure than in-person because there is a paper trail with signature! Consider that that's how a lot of military folks vote and some states have been doing that for decades (e.g. CO). The accuser needs to provide proof. That's how things work. Whiner in chief.

Yes, perhaps the team is a bit soft, perhaps height is even more of an issue, but the idea was to keep possession given that most players are now skilled enough for that. We just haven't been able to do that yet. The whole team is doing better in defense and helping out closing down players and runs. You have those Silva moments, or a good header by zouma (good in the air), but defending is really the whole team. I hope that when we are discussing the midfield here, we are not only talking about Kante and Jorgino, because if we are, then we'd be the only team in the world who plays with a midfield duo... Yes they are the CMs on paper, but midfield is every player who roams in midfield during the game; and that's typically (at least) 5 players at any given time these days - possession sides tend to have even more players in that area at all times. When luiz played for us he joined the midfield often, even if most folks don't see that as important ability for a defender, it can help a side esp with transition. Zouma cannot do that, but I think Silva can and will be able to help more than "just defending." His passing is really good even under pressure (yes I worry about zouma's passing but he does bring height and power which we may lack atm). it's the same with Kai and the wingers.. they will learn how to move in and out the center midfield area and without spending as much energy. I'm optimistic that once the players trust themselves in the defensive tasks, and start jelling, these tasks will get easier and they will start producing more up front. They might be overtight with the effort to stop the bleeding right now, which was very important to do. I also don't understand what the mandatory Abraham sub brings, esp because despite his height, he's pretty poor in the air and at winning that second ball. Giroud would be a far better option to close out the game and/or just hold the ball up front as it is something he does often for france. Maybe Abraham is suppose to counter, but Timo is better at that. Oh well.

Silva: that tackle/block on his buddy Cavani at the end of the game was something else. Mendy looks like an excellent gk what a signing! He's twice the goalie Kepa is and that's completely unrelated to form. Patience... lots of new players who are also new to the league.

ah my bad did not see those in there.

There is also Washington DC... prime example of taxation without representation. They are super blue, so the GOP is terribly afraid DC gets any representation. I'm not entirely sure a pacific separation wouldn't be in the cards for the future. The feeling seems to be mutual: as in the blue estates don't want to deal with red states and vice versa. All of this is only possible because the GOP and their crazy views actually have representation, even if smaller. Fox New proves that people can be convinced of literally anything. * Democrats are full of shit in certain areas too, but nothing compared to Fox News and GOP propaganda. The anti-science rhetoric alone should be grounds for legal action esp during a pandemic.

heh get rid of the electoral college and things will be a lot fairer overnight. No surprise here though... Binden is almost a ridiculous candidate, but he is a "safe" one and above all, he's a human being which makes him the only pick in this ticket. Hilary was terrible though, but still not the monster Trump is. IMO, the crazy amount of money in politics, even citizen united itself, is just a natural "progression" of pure capitalism. Money will find its way into the most effective investments... and politics can be very effective. "Soft money will find its way and seep into the political system and corrode it, unless we plug every hole." sen schumer BTW, google 'cuomo on colbert" that bit was both entertaining and truthful as Cuomo described how it is to deal with this administration and criticize their "handling" (if you can call it that) of the pandemic.

Heh there are far more progressive places in the US than Miami or Florida, but good luck (in whichever form it may take). I think a lot of people find Trump abhorrent. Many in the GOP hate him as well. What some conservatives are not getting is that this is not Bush II that we hate him because he's a GOP president... it goes way beyond disagreeing with someone's policies. I don't even find comedians who mock trump funny, because having a terrible person like him as the president of the USA is just so sad. Now, the batshit crazy judge isn't entirely on trump. That's mostly Moscow Mitch and his "pact" that puts party above country. Taking the elections slightly aside for a moment, and the problem here is becoming of representation. Perhaps we will be able to fix some of that by election day (talking about congress too), but if not, representation will get even more skewed towards the minority. In other words, congress, white house, and now the supreme court will always side with the minority on most issues. Although you are definitely right to be concerned, I suspect going back in LGBTQ's rights will be so unpopular that they may not dare go there (they only have a fraction of conservatives on these issues). On the other hand, they did vote for Citizens United, because corporations are people too. We are witnessing the making of an authoritarian president - don't think he's too shy about that. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/us/politics/trump-executive-order-federal-workers.html "Trump Issues Order Giving Him More Leeway to Hire and Fire Federal Workers The move would give the president greater freedom to weed out what he sees as a “deep state” bureaucracy. The executive order, which could be rescinded if he is not re-elected, was condemned by civil service unions." How can you provide oversight over someone who has the power to get rid of you?

Eden, "But if I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation." when trying to justify showing up for pre-season carrying extra weight. And that's when playing for his "dream club." We sold him at the right time.