lmk if this already exists and I'll delete it.

Can't wait for LFC to sign a new keeper.

Meanwhile...

Fred to ManU for £43.7m
Fabinho to LFC for £40m

& so on

70 mil euro? And Bayern might want Digne? YES DO IT DO IT NOW PLEASE JUST DO IT.
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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

FUCK
YES.


BRING MY NIGGA HOME

that's a HELL of a midfield upgrade.

outclassed we were against an elite midfield.

hope he's as quietly great there as he was on the pitch.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/06/07/report-liverpool-lyon-agree-77m-fee-for-french-wizard-fekir/

Looks like something came up during the physical (L’Equipe reporting cartilage-related), and now Lyon is saying the deal’s off. OL prez JM Aulas is customary of these dramatic announcements, so perhaps this is just part of the negotiations. No one in France really expects Fekir to stay next season so we’ll see what the next chapter brings

Reports from the unreliable sources saying we're making offers for Willian. Please no. Stop it.

I really want this to be true

Or so says one of their more reliable sources.
I was so fucking happy to see that.

he's definitely gonna be a headache next season if he stays between his ridiculous self-exclusion from les Bleus and how highly he seems to view himself.

anyway, Abidal supposedly trying for thiago, but there's still too many damn players on the squad as is. need more guys sold.

and fuck this willian rumors. noooooo.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

aka our strongly rumored first summer signing? all i know is that he apparently likes to party.

He was supposed to be the next great English midfielder a few years back but he became an immense fuckup off the field, a bit of a shithead on it, and stopped physically growing. I didn't watch much Villa last year, but he apparently got his shit together and started progressing more. Still, not the highest of ceilings left for him.

Grealish suffered a lacerated kidney just before the season started (got landed on in a challenge). The time off basically set his mind right- prior to that, he had spells of brilliance (he spearheaded Villa's FA Cup semifinal win over Liverpool to ruin Stevie Me's grand sendoff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEWZpTSxI-k) and spells of frustration coupled with some ill-advised partying (google Grealish Tenerife).

The hair and socks make people think he's flashy, but what he's really good at is drawing contact and keeping going. I say this with no irony: the boy doesn't dive. If he goes over, he was kicked (and I would have gladly told you that Ashley Young had become an inveterate diver toward the end of his time at Villa), and he gets right back up and plays on. He will take people on. His vision and pass-weighting is sublime when he's on his game. For Villa he doesn't have a ton of goals and assists, but he's often the guy that makes the pass that opens the defense up. He started to play well in a "Drinkwater" kind of role toward the end of last season. As a third man with Dele and Dier he'd do quite well.

Of the Villa squad, he's the guy I least want to see exit the club.

Also, dude's 22. Plenty of time for him.

much as i love our attacking midfield, physicality gives it all sorts of problems and can shut the whole attack down. a guy willing to mix it up is necessary.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlNzMm5ADui/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=19zyas71i3lwj

Turns out we got that Egypt Moneyyyyyyyyyyy (and Wes Edens from the Bucks). FFP issues will still remain, but now at least we don't have to sell players to stay afloat. Word is any transfer negotiations have been halted until a meeting on Tuesday. Other word is there's interest in replacing Bruce with Thierry Henry.

(his teammate Marchand too), I know JMS didn't have the most consistent season but what a strange turnaround after last summer's Barca saga

He was basically a day away from going to Barça, and a year later he goes to fucking Fulham

Yet another world class player signing for a superteam where he'll split time.

I'll never fully understand it.

What the hell is their line-up supposed to be?

they just collect talent

rn we're in "sell-to-buy" mode, except we want a premium for Daley Blind and trash like Darmian so we cant sell or buy rn.
shameful for a club of our financial might.

you're welcome

he has shown to have no issue during the world cup. so that will be the expectation. no more temper tantrums. no more showoff dribbles in dangerous areas. no more walking around on defense and letting runners go free.

kind of a lateral move at best (for Pool)

Going into the CL final I’m not sure they had a single healthy midfielder on the bench.

man that sucks. he was playing phenomenally well.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/17/liverpool-bid-alisson-roma-bid-world-record

Liverpool have opened talks with Roma over the possible signing of the Brazil goalkeeper Alisson, with an initial offer of €70m (£62.2m) including add-ons being lodged with the Serie A club.

Roma are holding out for another €5m to take the total fee to €75m (£66.6m) for the 25-year-old but both clubs are hopeful that an agreement can be reached.

Chelsea are also still interested in the Brazilian, should Thibaut Courtois leave. Real Madrid, another possible suitor, have yet to make contact with Roma.

Liverpool signed Mohamed Salah from Roma last season but despite the good relationship the clubs enjoy the Italian club would not hesitate to sell Alisson to any other club that matches their valuation.

If the deal goes through it would make Alisson the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, eclipsing the €53m paid by Juventus for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001 and the €40m it cost Manchester City to buy Ederson from Benfica last summer.

Loris Karius ended last season as Liverpool’s No 1 but was embarrassed by two mistakes in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.

that way it makes a bit more sense.

vvd and Alisson are both excessive fees, but as they were/are filling gaping needs to help finalize one of the best clubs in the PL, cost is no object.

> cost is no object.
>
>

another wise move for them this summer after Flaco

DiMarzio reporting Barca swooping in on the move (please this and not the stupid fucking Willian rumors).

if this is just about being petty to Roma after the CL loss, I'm here for it. petty petty petty. but also, stop this shit AND JUST BUY THIAGO.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

there were roma fans in the airport ready to cheer him when he got there, but he didn't get on the flight. if this is real, wow.

so. petty. and such good business

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

both Bordeaux and Roma had announced the deal. Then Barca swoops in and Bordeaux is like wait a minute. Then word was Roma was gonna match the 41m bid. But now Malcom’s agents would be in Barcelona negotiating directly with the club.

What’s strange to me is that Barca considers him a plan b for Willian, he’s not a wing player, more of an axial striker type, possibly 9 1/2 (also why William anyway when you already have a younger version of that in Dembele). As for Malcom himself, I think he’s gonna play significantly less in Barcelona than Roma so this all seems like a mistake.

(tbh, i've seen very little of hi, this is mostly from barca twitter/blogs theorizing)

at the RW and Dembouz at LW as wingers of the present/future.

very grimy. i'll take it. better than willian. and if they do get Pjanic (or thiago), i'd be ecstatic.

plus, rumor is coutinho got his portuguese passport, so mina can stay and Digne's getting sold to everton and they're promoting a youth player (Cucurella, who is capable as a backup but not special. Juan Mirand, OTOH, might be special). good.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Sure, more talent's always nice. But we suddenly have a glut of it everywhere in attack with Kluivert coming in, Schick and Cengiz needing minutes, Dzeko still playing at a high level, El Sharaawy still kinda ok, etc.

This was just us spending dat Allison money. I'm sure we can find a home for it elsewhere.

And yeah this is the game and it's how it's played... but as ever, lol @ the much ballyhooed nobility of UEFAlona, now a husk of its former self - desperately buying up all the young wingers to fill the Neymar-sized gap in its heart (and lineup).

you sound mad.

the game is the game. barca' has had to adapt to the transfer game and this is a sign they have--good (barca's usually more transparent about who they're interested in and then overpay for them and/or tap them up unprofessionally, so I'm happy they didn't do that here). similarly good is that they've finally upped the release clause on their best youth players.

mes que un club was always:
a. marketing
b. about the politics of the region and the club
c. about using la masia players. this year they look to be doing that again.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

RE: the game is the game... I said as much 10 minutes ago. It's like, literally right there, in writing. Now as far as anger... well, I do think that in general Barcelona and its fans are the current apex of futbol corny, true. But this is a mild irritant at worst and works for me as further proof that y'all are just as squalid as anyone else with this shit.

(But hey, we don't really know each other so I will totally acknowledge the possibility that you might be the exceptional sort of Barca fan who doesn't put his squad on a pedestal over the other megapowers ;) )

Back to Malcom - the funny thing is that there is a very real chance he could've been for us what he will be for you - a bench player. We can put that loot elsewhere and be fine. We have plenty of young guns who need big minutes next year, signing him sincerely almost felt like excess.

PS - since you threw my shit in quotes... where y'all playing Coutinho and Dembele? Can you remind me how much you spent on them? lol lol lol.

dembele's LW, Malcom inverted RW. and yes, that's one more attacker than there's space for, but there are copa games and rest and time to acclimate and he's 21. it's easy to work out. he'll get plenty of minutes, just not gala xi ones. he woulda been a lot closer to gala xi for roma.

i'm excited because, like i said, this is the board acting more competent that usual. but i'm with you--there are plenty of obnoxious barca fans (but there's no fanbase of successful teams that doesn't have a large number of dipshits, hence noting mas que un club has been mostly about marketing).

for the actual fans as opposed to fanboys, the excitement is really that barca were the ones who played the game smart instead of getting played (the neymar fiasco round 1 when they bought him and then round 2 when he left; the cesc ridiculousness, etc). And under a new sporting director (abidal!). that gives us hope that it won't be like it has been for the last 5-6 years or so of frequent, overly public negotiations where barca end up somehow paying more than was originally seen as a ridiculous price (Coutinho, dembele most recently). also, i fucks with barca going back to having a lot more black players.

Also, I think it was a position of need because Denis Saurez isn't panning out and maybe getting more wingers who aren't "midfielders" would get Valverde to go back to the 4-3-3 we enjoy as fans. Especially if the Pjanic or Thiago transfer happens. I've been on that train for a while and I hope this will work (without overpaying for a 30 year old Willian to do it.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

The price you paid for Malcom is a much smaller relative cost for Barca than what Roma was going to spend, so really why not? And it's eons better than a Willian swoop. Good business for you guys (and, agreed, much better than your recent history on the transfer market).

Dzeko is clearly a starter, don’t know the other guys you listed except El Sharaawy...what I can tell you for sure is, he’s garbage compared to Malcom. If the other 2 are at that level, Malcom would have had no problem jumping them.

This was total dirtbag behavior on Bordeaux part

they say they’re looking for a midfield and a left back only. Also, Tuchel hints at using Nkunku more this year. That’d be cool.

lot of opinions in France on whether this is a good idea for him, what's the fan take?

There are some who think that firing a manager with a 47% win rate sets a bad precedent. That in these turbulent times with the club, we need stability more than anything. I . . . am not one of those. Xia appointed Bruce because he's a "promotion specialist" with "experience in the league." His entire remit was to get the team promoted as soon as possible. He didn't do that. He did a few good things (Johnstone and Snodgrass loans were smart bits of business). But he gutted out affordable young decent players in favor of a one-year rental of John Terry and signing Chris fucking Samba in the year of our lord 2018. Seriously, if Alan Hutton is your player of the season, you're doing something wrong. Plus the football fucking sucked - it was worse to watch than the hoofball of the MON days (and at least we were winning against EPL opposition then).

Henry is an exciting name, and he's really interested in football management; he wouldn't have quit the easy money of Sky to go help Robby Martinez if he didn't. Yeah, he had De Bruyne, Hazard and Lukaku to work with, but names don't always mean you win- just look at Argentina. Yes, national team management is a very different than club management, which is why I consider Klopp and Simeone to be better and more accomplished than Deschamps and Loew. I think if we bring on Henry and Grealish stays, the young lad's either going to set the world alight and help us storm the Prem next year or he'll go for 80 mill next summer.

All of this, of course, is caveated by whatever FFP restrictions are still on the team, and how much the new majority owners can open the purse for Henry. Though I suspect that with the current squad, Thierry will do a better job than Bruce would.

still feels like he could've picked his spot better for a first club experience (assistant in a PL club ideally), but those don't just materialize out of thin air. He definitely judged correctly that another two years with Belgium was not gonna give him a leg up in his coaching journey, but the history of storied clubs welcoming new flashy investors is littered with cautionary tales

There's a wealth of good strikers and attacking mids - Kodjia, Hogan, Grealish, Hourihane, McCormick (who fell out spectacularly with Bruce), Bjarnasson, plus youngsters like Andre Green and Keinan Davis could all start for like the Southamptons of the world.

On defense, James Chester has turned into a sought-after center half. Tommy Elphick is decent. Mile Jedinak seems like he'll shift to the center of defense. Neil Taylor, Ritchie De Laet, James Bree and Ahmed Elmohamady are all solid fullbacks. You could do a lot worse for talent for your first job.The big question is if he brings in Robert Duverne as the fitness coach, which every continental manager Villa has had does, and which pisses off the "established players" at Villa (most of whom are no longer there).

Following a meeting with the new owners Bruce is staying on.

Russians often turn out to be busts but I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out. I liked the kid a lot at the WC.

Maybe this kid is better prepared for the big move

torn between my hate for Emery and my desire to see PEA ransack the league (I realize I let that agenda sleep for too long, I’m ready to bring it back)

>my desire to see PEA ransack the league

Guendouzi irrational hype train!


Dams he looked good Saturday against the psg kids though

The idea that tactics or a good defensive midfielder is enough to give solidity to this collection of trash is a fairytale.

Sokratis has per's pace. Mustafi still lol status. Holding and Chambers - both will be playing in the championship in 3 years.

On the+ guandouzi is a future stud. Love that kid, honestly not sure we need to keep elneny around anymore. But I'd he gonna get in way of Dat Douz.

But I'm really ready for the season, since I've watched every minute of the friendlies so far

he seems to prefer the 433 and 4231, but i think a 442 diamond is perfect for our personnel.

it'd be a narrow MF, so the FBs push forward to give width to the attack. which is perfect bc we have no wingers lol.

uruguayan kante sits at the base in front of the centre halfs to provide cover for the counterattack, mesut plays in the advanced role with little/no defensive duties, and you get both strikers on the pitch without having to shunt one of them out wide.

I except Emery to fuck it up

unofficially off to everton for 22 million pounds. works for me. Debate is between Cucu (not looking like a longterm LB prospect, but more experienced and solid and is 20) vs. Miranda (the long term LB of barca's future, probably, but only 19 and definitely looks a little young). I think you promote Cucu so Miranda can get regular minutes and then sell Cucu in a year or two and promote miranda then if he's cool with it.

everton supposedly trying to also get Mina (a little sad, but I think Marlon might fit better as a backup for barca's style) and gotdamn Arthur looks good, scored a gorgeous goal in his first game for barca.

and aleix vidal to sevilla almost definite.

only problem: Andre Gomes and D. Suarez picked up injuries and I wanted both sold. now i think neither is getting sold. damn.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Mina, Marlon, Arthur, and Malcom. Signing Malcom means one of them has to go and it's obviously not one of the new signings, so it's between Marlon and Mina. Mina's older and fits tactically a little less than Marlon and has higher value on the market.

I wish he'd stay and they sold Verm, but signing Malcom made it necessary. maybe a buyback clause?

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

B/R Live reveals pricing and plans for Champions League and Europa League coverage

Turner Sports has announced pricing details and more coverage plans for its B/R Live streaming service, which will be broadcasting every single game of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions to viewers in the United States.

The pricing plans range from individual matches ($2.99 per game), a monthly subscription ($9.99) or an annual plan ($79.99).

With a subscription to the streaming service, you’ll have access to more than 340 live Champions League and Europa League games per season including everything from the Group Stage (beginning in September) through to the finals (in late May and early June). B/R Live also streams select matches from the Scottish Premiership, Belgium Jupiler League, Polish Cup and Swiss Cup. Bleacher Report Live is available online, as well as by downloading the B/R Live app through iTunes or Google Play, and/or via Apple TV, the Roku platform and Amazon Fire TV.

In a seismic shift in how consumers are offered UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches in the United States, the only Europa League game featured on television will be the final (on TNT and B/R Live on May 29). Meanwhile, TNT will televise 46 UEFA Champions League games throughout the season. That’s in stark contrast to FOX Sports’ coverage of the Champions League where they showed 146 games per season on television. For the Europa League, FOX Sports had 205 Europa League matches on TV compared to TNT’s one.

TNT is in more homes than FOX Sports 1 though. TNT is in 90 million homes, which trumps FS1’s 84 million households.

Speaking of the actual coverage itself, pre-match, halftime and post-match studio shows will be available on both B/R Live and TNT, with the lineup consisting of the following:

• B/R Football Matchday: One-hour pre-match show airing at noon ET on UEFA Champions League match days,
• B/R Football Halftime: Halftime show during UEFA Champions League matches,
• B/R Football Extra Time: A bridge show airing on TNT in between UEFA Champions League matches,
• B/R Football Postmatch: A 30-minute post-match show recapping the day’s UEFA Champions League action.

As of press time, Kate Abdo and Steve Nash have been already announced as two of the talent that will be bringing the coverage to you (with Abdo taking the role of host while she continues to work for FOX Sports).

Regarding announcers, all matches will use the world feed for commentators.

One of the biggest changes that soccer fans will notice with the UEFA Champions League coverage for the 2018/19 season is the kickoff time. Instead of most of the matches kicking off at 2:45pm ET on a UEFA Champions League matchday, they will be begin at either 12:55pm ET or 3pm ET, which will allow broadcasters to feature a double-header of soccer coverage (see below):

• Group Stage: Tuesday, Sept. 18, through Wednesday, Dec. 12, with weekly matches held Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 12:55 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET. All matches will be available on B/R Live, with one match per game window (two each day) televised on TNT,

• Round of 16: Tuesday, Feb. 12, through Wednesday, March 13, with matches on B/R Live and TNT each Tuesday and Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET
• Quarterfinals: Tuesday-Wednesday, April 9-10 and April 16-17, with live coverage on B/R Live and TNT at 3 p.m. ET
• Semifinals: Tuesday-Wednesday, April 30-May 1 and May 7-8, with matches on B/R Live and TNT at 3 p.m. ET
• Final: Saturday, June 1, at 3 p.m. ET on B/R Live and TNT

Live UEFA match coverage will include the upcoming UEFA Super Cup – Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid – held Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 3 p.m. ET, and available on both B/R Live and TNT.

UEFA Champions League action will immediately follow with the Playoff Round (play-in rounds), held Tuesday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-22 and Aug. 28-29, with all matches available on B/R Live and TNT at 3 p.m. ET.

All UEFA Europa League matches will be available through B/R Live including:

• Group Stage: (Thursdays) Sept. 20, Oct. 4, Oct. 25, Nov. 8, Nov. 29 and Dec. 13 at 12:55 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET
• Round of 32: (Thursdays) Feb. 14 and Feb. 21, at 12:55 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET
• Round of 16: (Thursdays), March 7 and March 14, at 12:55 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET
• Quarterfinals: (Thursdays), April 11 and April 18, at 3 p.m. ET
• Semifinals: (Thursdays), May 2 and May 9, at 3 p.m. ET
• Final: Wednesday, May 29, at 3 p.m. ET, on B/R Live and TNT

way cheaper than any other pro streaming option in the US

$50 might be doable

Still, exposure-wise this is a step-back, even if the option to buy individual games is interesting.

Also prepare to be told about the Champions League and Steve Nash's role about 14,000,000 times when the NBA season starts

it's either/or? Am I reading this right?

https://deadspin.com/champions-league-coverage-set-to-get-fucked-the-same-wa-1797935599

Trash

http://awfulannouncing.com/turner/turner-sports-to-broadcast-46-champions-league-matches-b-r-live.html

Match on tv will also be online - but your cable package won't get you online access. So if you wanted both tv and streaming, you'd have to have cable and buy the over the top pass.

dunno if they'll differentiate between traditional cable subscribers and streaming (Sling, Youtube TV, etc) ones

Also I'd completely missed this:

UEFA changed its broadcasting windows this year so there could be two separate windows and thus fewer teams playing at the same time, avoiding broadcasting conflicts. The first match window starts at 12:55 ET while the second match window starts at 3:00 ET.

Serie A too, but at least there are a few weeks to go for that

Ha ha hahaha ha ha hahahahahahahaah hah ah hah ahah ahahaha hahahahahaha.

pretty good exhibition until the 66th minute or whenever, when Barca subbed out most of their lineup

the B-team (or really, C-team) was shambolic though...Roma started slicing through the back line like they were cardboard cutouts

the barca bench + b team was up 2-1 vs. Roma for 60 minutes and then the kids lost, shockingly, the the roma bench.

Malcom looked good AF tho. that's all that really mattered. Cucurella's gonna need to step it up to ever spell Alba in a decent game. And this is the Rafinha barca fans were all excited about 4 years ago.

sergi roberto + arthur were often crowding each other a little which had me worried for the midfield, but tha was a strange midfield trio playing a weird psuedo double pivot. preseason's for experimentation, i guess.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

I'm no club superfan but obviously Barca had their back-ups' back-ups over the last 30 minutes...that said, it was just ugly soccer for any level (unpressured back passes directly to Roma, two teammates trying to dribble the ball at once, Roma having three guys on the break all unmarked)

first Barcelona goal was nifty though, with everybody contributing a nice touch

Malcolm is incredibly fast up the wing, got a little 1v3-ish at times but it's preseason and what do I know

i had just been on a barca board arguing with people who were claiming the game was proof la masia is broken (half of those kids have zero chance at playing for the senior team, tbh or are juvenil A players) and the backline was the best example of that.

Cuenca was a backup for barca b, Chumi just got promoted to barca b (only one on the backline with potential, imo), Monchu just got promoted to barca b (and was definitely in over his head--those backpasses...yikes), Palencia is subpar barca's trying to showcase as he leaves and just got replaced by Moussa Wague (YES!), and Miranda's the only one with a real likelihood of being a barca regular but he's also 18 and at least a year or two away.


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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

our transfer operations are back to being a fucking joke like they were before Jose arrived. no wonder he's been so targeted w/ his comments this preseason.

not the solution.

unknown to the outside world.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/premier-league-transfer-news-deadline-day-window-close-shorter-latest-man-utd-liverpool-chelsea-a8474746.html

In the last few weeks, one Premier League club were trying to negotiate what would be a relatively high-profile purchase from a foreign counterpart, only for the deal to repeatedly fall down when it got to price. The officials at the other end were completely unmoving on their valuation, because they knew the English side had so little room to manoeuvre themselves. The Premier League have to get any deals done by Thursday, so have lost a lot of leverage, and a lot of breathing space.

It is one of many complications that has arisen from what may be the most short-term and reactionary decision the modern Premier League has taken, given that it has created what is by far the single biggest issue ahead of the new season: the early closure of the transfer window. So many clubs just will not be ready in the way they'd like, because they were not prepared for a decision taken a year ago.

It is all the more “crazy” - the specific word used by many individuals involved - because it really all stems from relatively mild irritation at one single issue from last summer.

Back in the first week of September 2017, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs at the time voted to close the window early this year, and they essentially did so because they had just come out of a situation where certain high-profile moves - specifically Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from an Arsenal that had just lost 4-0 to Liverpool - had created a bit of a distraction around the first few games. That was it.

“Those were the issues most of the clubs arguing in favour were using, that once the season has started we should know that we can’t possibly sell to another Premier League club,” chairman Richard Scudamore said at the time. “I think they just decided: ‘We’re going to break for the border, go it alone, put our marker down, go with it.’

“When the 20 are playing each other you could have a person in your team one week and be playing against him the next, or worse the player not playing because of speculation about him going to another Premier League team so he’s not available for a week or two of the season while the window is open.”

Yet it’s really difficult to see how that is more desirable than the situation many clubs could well have this season, where their managers could have nothing close to their planned squad available to them; where they’re a lot shorter than they should be.

That is the biggest problem. As one figure already involved in some deals this summer told The Independent: “a lot less business is going to be done, because there’s a lot less time, and the worst thing is it was all so obvious.”

There a number of other reasons the decision beggared belief at the time, and not just because it afforded such a negotiation advantage to foreign clubs with their windows still open, or the fact the first window after the vote involved a World Cup.

For example, if the buying clubs were having such trouble getting these “distracting” deals done in extended windows, did they really think shortening the timeframe would make it easier? And what of the clubs with wantaway players? Since so much of the previous problems came from them digging their heels in when negotiating, what did they think shortening the timeframe was going to do? There’s a possibility it just puts a decision off, since it will close the window before bringing any situation to a head, and may just see a wantaway player kept for an extra few months.

And this is the entire problem. It is a cosmetic solution, that doesn’t tackle the core issues it was supposed to, but instead creates a multitude of other complications.

Not for the first time, the biggest club put the biggest light on this, and best illustrate some of the complications.

Manchester United were actually one of five clubs - along with Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea City - to rightly vote against closing the window early, although that was against the wishes of Jose Mourinho who said he would “prefer the window to close as soon as possible”.

Except it’s difficult not to think that the Portuguese’s own opinion was equally influenced by his frustrations of the time, specifically executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s perceived slowness in getting deals done.

Shortening a timeframe just puts people under more pressure, however, and doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll change their fundamental approach to the job.

Hence, here are United and Mourinho again, facing exactly the frustrations they did last window - but now with less scope to for those frustrations to be eased. The Portuguese would ideally want to sell up to five players, and bring in that experienced centre-half and right-winger - with a midfielder a real bonus. As it stands, United probably only have the time to maybe sell one more, and get that defender, with many club sources still maintaining it will still be Toby Alderweireld - but that it’s likely to go right to the wire.

The pursuit of that centre-half highlights a few other complications with the prematurely closed window. Leicester City are in a position where they can set a price of £70m on alternative Harry Maguire, who will now at least have his head turned, while sources close to the Barcelona hierarchy say they see United’s need in the immediate wake of a good individual World Cup as the chance to offload Yerry Mina for much more money than they might otherwise get.

Then there’s Alderweireld’s club Tottenham Hotspur, who are another of those enduring a particularly slow window when everything should be speeded up. There are many around the club who maintain they will only buy after they sell, but they still want to do both and - if true - the shorter timeframe has so far essentially weakened Daniel Levy’s usually successful approach. It makes the Spurs squad even more hostage to the window closing early, and means they are more dependent on other clubs’ willingness to blink.

It all just creates one grand stand-off, but where the walls are closing in - and that will panic a few.

It might mean we see a lot of chaos over the next week, but not necessarily a lot of closed deals; a lot of scrabbling and left-field bids and enquiries, but not really clubs doing business in the manner they would see as ideal.

This is another issue the window has highlighted: how well certain clubs are run, how prepared they were for this situation. Liverpool, Wolves and Fulham stand out here, although the ground is set to move a lot of over the next seven days.

Either way, it surely means many will be in favour of running the window along different guidelines next time.

will be on ESPN+, which does have a free 7 day trial if you don't care about the Championship and just want to watch the game on Sunday

just hijacked another deal, this time signing Arturo Vidal for 30 million out from under inter.

bonus points for forcing Inter's hand who have been flirting with trying to sign Modric from real madrid.

arturo's what EV wanted Paulinho to be but also old. Hopefully this is a bridge signing and Frenkie de Jong signs next year.
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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

PSG are offering a salary bump but Barca told his camp he was a priority, though the figure quoted was 40mil which PSG will just laugh off

If we get Vidal and not Thiago I'ma be so fucking hot
Goddammittttttt!

it's just that everyone remembers it (and it was a clean tackle for the second yellow).

In all competitions for club, he's played 440 times and gotten 4 double yellows and 1 straight red.
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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

But I watched that Bayern-Real game and recall that he committed at least 4 yellowcard-worthy offenses. Really stupid. (Of course Casemiro did the same thing in that game, but....)

and should tone it down. but he's actually very good at not doing the extreme tackle and avoiding double yellows save for some high profile games when he gets frustrated either at the score or at tactics.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/720829/Chelsea-transfer-news-Wilfried-Zaha-Crystal-Palace-Tottenham-Premier-League

Gonzalo loaned out, Bonucci & Caldara swapped

Ostensibly a huge move and yet all of this feels very uninspired. AC Milan breaking the bank for Leo last year tho, wow, what a fuckin L.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45042260

Looks like this is how we splash the biggest chunk of the Allison $$$... and I kinda love it, as unsexy as it is. I rate him pretty high and while DDR is eternal in my heartpiece he's also 35(!) and can go maybe once a week.

I wish PSG would go for him but apparently we'd rather fail at spending 100mil to bring Kante in

red star jersey is dope too

good to see Nkunku & the U19 kids playing well

agreed on Nkunku, he had a very good run at the end of the season, hopefully Tuchel gives him some PT

As for Buffon...Tuchel better split time at least equally with TTBOI. If Buffon plays more, it’s a travesty.

missing the WC may be a boon for him (and us)

OTOH Chelsea is in trouble if Hazard or De Goal leave, they look like a borderline top 6 team rn

with or without those guys.

I'm not well versed in the ownership dynamics, is this considered a bullish sign for the club's ambitions, or no change?

Which didn't do much, but put a limit on kronke's most craven instincts.

The fact he took out another loan against arsenal to pay for it says it all.

The St Louis thing was a debacle.

that's not a bad move for Chelsea if they can make it happen

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/07/chelsea-kepa-arrizabalaga-athletic-bilbao-record

This shit is outta hand

will feature a game or so a week on ESPN/ESPN2, and the rest will be on ESPN+. Surprisingly Ronaldo's first game won't be on TV, maybe because it's at Chievo lol

Even though I know that means Alexi Lalas is about to become a much bigger part of my life.

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/italys-serie-a-is-heading-to-espn-with-one-match-each-week-featured-on-espn-or-espn2.html

Key Swipe: And among those chunks of gossip are reports that Jack Grealish is staying put at Aston Villa for now, the club insist, soothing Steve Bruce’s troubled soul and doubtless frustrating Spurs, who were thought to have had a £25m deal lined up. Sky says Aston Villa’s executive chairman Nassef Sawiris has told Tottenham and any other potential suitors “he is not interested in their money”.


https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2018/aug/08/transfer-window-kepa-to-make-71m-chelsea-move-pogba-bernard-grealish-and-more-live

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

*either in the MoPo era, or the last 6 years altogether. cant remember off the top.

not really sure what levy is doing here but i think this is the year it falls apart.

That was back before Sawiris and Eden stepped in and Villa were struggling to pay the taxman. If he had offered 25 mill then he probably would have gotten Grealish.

if it takes 40, it takes 40.

if it takes 90, don't buy Grealish. Buy Kovacic.

We're the 11th richest club in the world and we spend like leicester.

£40M would be better spent on someone else like Sessegnon honestly...Adams Traore went for £18M...Hell, Shaqiri went for £13M

https://twitter.com/JackGrealish1/status/1027620949439467522

"Let's get to work."

LEGEND.

Isaac Success looks set to join from Watford, along with Joe Bryan from Bristol City and John McGinn from Hibs. Plus Norwegian keeper Orjan Nyland signed yesterday, and Axel Tuanzebe is back in on loan. We went from having to sell Grealish, Chester, Kodjia and anything with any value to a huge window overnight. This is great.

Keylor Navas the most disrespected player of all-time. damn.

Navas has been underrated for years.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Navas has been nothing but excellent for them and they shit on him like this

De Gea was supposed to show up and all he did was ball the hell out.

fuck all this

https://deadspin.com/soccer-on-american-tv-is-going-straight-to-a-fiery-pay-1828176306

Back in the golden age of soccer TV in the U.S.—think back, if you were lucky enough to be there for them, to those naive, innocent, halcyon days of 2016—America was the best place on earth to be a couch-dwelling soccer fan. In those heady times, stateside followers of the beautiful game could gorge themselves on what felt like an infinite number of matches from all the best leagues in Europe from the comfort of their living rooms. Armed with nothing more than a fairly standard cable package and a job and/or interpersonal relationships that wouldn’t be too badly damaged by your spending a borderline disgusting number of hours with your ass on cushioned leather and your eyes glued to a screen, and you too could become a bona fide, totally satiated soccer fiend.

Fan of the Premier League? Well just crawl out of bed, flip on the TV, and turn to any of the half-dozen or so NBC Sports channels which will be showing literally every single EPL match of the day! Prefer your soccer of the more continental variety? In that case, switch the channel over to BeIn Sports for all the best Serie A and La Liga games that week, or head over to one of the Fox Sportses to see what the Wonderteen is doing in the Bundesliga! Adjusted your class schedule to ensure you had the all-important window from 2:45-5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays on Wednesdays open? Great, then tune into FS1 or FS2 for the day’s big Champions League fixtures! Has the TV programmer of one of these networks bumped your preferred match in favor of something else? No worries, all you have to do is log into any of these channels’ websites or phone apps, type in your cable info, and you can stream any (or mostly any) match from these leagues on your laptop or phone!

Back then, almost literally every single European soccer match anyone could conceivably want to watch was only a cable package away. It was a glorious time. That time has now passed.

We’ve already been documenting the rapid demise of peak soccer TV at the hands of the greedy dickbrains who run TV networks, and come the 2018-19 European season that starts this month, that era will be all but dead. The process of murdering our cool and good American soccer TV setup and sending it to hell began last season, when NBC Sports took their amazing product and made it shittier by greatly cutting down the number of matches shown on TV and hiding the other matches behind a $49.99 paywall. Not long after winning the English language UEFA Champions League TV rights away from Fox, Turner wasted no time ramping up the evilness by announcing their plan to completely cripple American Champions League coverage. And this week has brought even more bad news on top of what we already knew.

Last fall, we discovered that, starting with this upcoming season, Turner will broadcast only a tiny number of Champions League matches on their TV channels, and will erect a big paywall around the bulk of the rest. Last week we finally learned the cost to bring down that paywall: You can choose to pay $2.99 per game (nick-young-face.jpg), $9.99 per month, or a $79.99 annual fee to access their new streaming platform. Oh, and Turner’s channels won’t air a single Europa League match, save the tournament final. The rest of the Europa matches are also stuck behind the paywall. It’s truly gobsmacking that Turner expects people to shell out such exorbitant prices for such a limited number of matches, no matter how important those matches may be.

Ah, but the bad news continues. Last week also brought news that Comcast, the biggest cable provider in the land, and Verizon would no longer carry BeIn. That’s about a quarter of U.S. cable subscribers losing access to Real Madrid’s and Barcelona’s and all the other Spanish clubs’ domestic games. There’s better news for Italian soccer fans: Today ESPN won the TV rights to Serie A. But temper your excitement, Milanistas, because ESPN will only televise a single Serie A match every week, with the rest of them scuttled off behind their own, $4.99 monthly streaming service. Flat out appalling.

Obviously this is awful news for those of us who follow a wide range of European leagues and had been enjoying the good times of yore. What once came with your not-all-that-premium cable package will now run you at least $190 per year on top that cable package, and it very well might not include any La Liga games. This is bad for cable users, it’s bad for cord cutters (most of the best matches won’t be accessible to those who only pay for these assorted streaming services since they’ll be exclusively televised), and it’s bad for the growth of soccer fandom and thus soccer itself in America.

All isn’t quite lost, though. While NBC Sports’ Premier League package is worse now than it was, it’s still pretty damn comprehensive without ponying up for their streaming platform. Turner’s castration of the Champions League rights is unforgivable, but at least Univision has the Spanish language rights; not only can you still watch every game if you get Univision (full disclosure: Univision owns Deadspin and we love them), even if you don’t speak Spanish your ears will thank you for no longer subjecting them to anymore Warren Barton commentary. And while we may be in the last throes of the wonderful era of easily accessible, legal means of watching all the soccer you can take, there r SoccerStreams of more dubious legality but extremely high quality out there for all to find with just a quick Google search. When soulless corporations close a door, just open a new browser window.

i knew a bunch of coverage was going straight to shitsville w/ these greedy corps and their apps, but that article put all the info in one place for me.

i have expanded cable so i'm covered with EPL and Spanish coverage on Univision, but damn, I didn't know Comcast is ditching BeIN, which i currently have.

:(

on the "fair" side of things, at least ESPN's price for Serie A is reasonable. them other networks are wilin'.

it seems so hit and miss

There will usually be a perfect HD acestream (vlc spinoff program) link to pick for any big of the big teams.

I'm on mac so I'll have to figure out acestream

Yay. Let's see if Spurs has any movement. It's really stupid to not buy another forward, since son is going away too play in the Asian games for the first couple of weeks. And it looks like he'll be serving in the military next year, if they don't win this tournament. They haven't improved much in years. It's not like the rest of the league is sitting stagnant.

Digne a while back, today they bought Mina for 30 mil pounds and a loan of Andre Gomes for 2.5 mil

Good buys--Mina looks like a great EPL defender not a barca-style defender, Digne's solid and Gomes could recover some confidence and then get sold.

Eric Abidal is a fucking great sporting director. Especially if he can get de Jong next summer and loan Cucu to Betis. only miss is/was thiago but Pep Segura's still holding a grudge about thiago leaving. fucking segura sucks.

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia