Villa and Chelsea are on level points, with one team the picture of momentum after appointing an elite European manager and the other floundering after it poached a manager from midtable rivals. Ollie Watkins scored more goals in February than Chelsea has in 2023.

Man City ended the shortest month by dispatching Nigel Pearson's Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Man U are seeing a new dawn under ten Hag, and Arsenal are STILL Toppadatable (c) Calm.

Barca might have its very own Calciopoly just as Juve find NEW ways to fuck up their bag.

No creativity in your Vocabulary whatsoever…..just like
Villa’s trophy case.

Your new name is Memphis Bleek!

to their own damn manager?

Down 1-0 until the 77th, now up 3-1. I think ten Hag might be the real deal here.

on a goal that should have been disallowed.

MU of the last few seasons would have folded.

the mentality is right now.

its gratifying to have it backed up

>Down 1-0 until the 77th, now up 3-1. I think ten Hag might be
>the real deal here.

*likely 10 or 11 after this weekend

it's good that we are ahead of schedule but we are not in the title race

were gonna slow up.

and even still, we're gonna get caught out once or twice the longer we stay in these cup competitions because we'll have to have an 11 where McTominay, Lindelof, Maguire are starting.

Saka and lil Gaby balled out, and ESR even got a run out. And Jesus is lurking! The resurrection approaches.

Trossard deserves a shout out too! Great pickup for depth. Shoot, Eddie even put in work in a good short stint.

Life’s good.

>Saka and lil Gaby balled out, and ESR even got a run out. And
>Jesus is lurking! The resurrection approaches.
>
>Trossard deserves a shout out too! Great pickup for depth.
>Shoot, Eddie even put in work in a good short stint.
>
>Life’s good.

But that ship has sailed and we might get him on the downside when we need an experienced head around the place. He's exceptional technically but he also doesn't mind being an aggressive shithead. Which you need sometimes.

The BEST keeper in the world (didn't make the World XI but that's just the weird way alla dat was voted for).

now in the semi-finals!

blaming it on the Martinez post above

I, like most people, was expecting us to go in an get smoked missing our top 3 scorers (Lewa, Pedri, and Dembele are all out injured), but we got a grind it out win in Madrid. Hopefully we'll be back at full strength when we play them again in a few weeks.

but it looked a lot like the almeria game but roles reversed. Madrid had the ball but no creativity and barca had few chances, but by far the best ones.

needed that W.

given the injuries, i'll take it. watching how much araujo has vini absolutely bottled up is enjoyable AF (why wouldn't he switch wings? balde/alonso was built for vini to exploit. is he that one footed?)

(also, anyone up on vitor roque from brazil? rumors is he's next big signing for striker. gonna be interesting to watch that play out, especially with RM winning the race for endrick)
-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

so im looking forward to finding out

his team qualified directly for group stage so he'll be on BeIN 3-4 times

had been 8 in a row

its so odd to me that Lazio has held on Milinkovic-Savic, Immobile, and Luis Alberto while NEVER putting anything around them. When all 3 play they are good enough for CL knockouts; but if any one of them isnt playing, they're terrible.

So happy for that dude

If he can get a healthy run of games, still think he can blow up. ESR too honestly. I’m Hale End biased but I want them to succeed more than Viera and I think their ceilings are higher. Not sure if Mik sees it the same way.

Glad we have the depth with every striker injured now. Hope trussard & Eddie injures aren’t serious. Jesus we need you!

>Jesus we need
>you!

Showed up like they thought Liverpool was just going to rollover

To be honest they have for a while now, other than obviously that Madrid L

Social Media Apology FC gonna show up again this evening. haven’t seen them in a while

RM match. Then they got a win against weak wolves and now this win.

I wouldn’t say they are back ….MU just simped up. The real
MU showcased itself!

Got damn, by a lame ass liverpool.

Chelsea may not have offense right now, but our defense ain’t no joke and we ain’t
getting lumped up by a TD.

They got their little English muffin trophy and thought they were good.

Nope …still shite.

Poor Sancho…career ruined in Manchester. SMH

That's all I can say about that.

DVR'd it. Saw the first goal so FFW'd the game to see if we'd get back in it when I did that saw 3-0 then just FFW'd to the end.

Wow.

team just needs to bin that one and move on to the rest of the season

I mean, that FEELS flukey based on the season so far. It will be interesting to how the team responds.

edit: actually i don't know if it's flukey at this point. i want it to be, but we've scored ONE goal in our last 7 Anfield games and lost 4-0, 5-0 and now 7-0 so maybe Anfield is just our haunted house until further notice. who knows.

Sorry I missed it, but at the same time couldn’t have been compelling watching

Darwin's goals were great, Cody G's 2 goals were superstar goals, and Salah's second was a beaut that caught the crossbar, plus a lil love for Firmino at the start of his farewell tour

Gakpo saw all that Ajax in Man U's squad and apparently took it personally

knocking it on to himself when cutting in like that on #1 is a move that he does often enough that it seems like someone should catch on at some point, but nope! just too strong and sudden

the second showed what he can do off the ball with an excellent run before a SWEET little chipper over De Gea

to think Chelsea and Man U paid €100M each for Mudryk and Antony while Liverpool got Gakpo for half that is both impressive and mildly annoying. i think PSV probably left 20M on the table but he was an academy kid his whole life and the club was probably happy to send him to a good situation at a fair price.

now if yall could just keep your grubby mitts away from Ibrahim Sangare, Xavi Simons, and Johan Bakayoko that would be great.

was that even real? how do you even allow 7 goals?

*insert blinking gif*

ETH gotta rip the team 10 new assholes then apologize afterwards for his part in it cuz he got it wrong too.

but i agree he's an elite player

>but i agree he's an elite player
>


still cant believe we had him and perisic at the same time feeding lukaku and lautaro...sigh. at least we capitalized on that season

Man, if we win with this bum ass team…Im clowning everyone.

Something about CL, where Chelsea and Real Madrid ball out.

LolPSGLol….discoFC getting ousted again.

>Man, if wenwin with this bum ass team…Im clowning
>everyone.

Hopefully they make it to the finals and lose to napoli

only Frankfurt couldve been a more favorable draw

maybe youll get lucky and draw a seemingly lost and adrift AC Milan next, otherwise thats gonna be a wrap

You will learn the hard way.

This team can simply put all of its focus on CL….

Chelsea has a history of this

thinking that this bunch of misfit toys is going to all of the sudden flip a switch and beat Bayern or Napoli or Real (or even Benfica tbh) is a joke

same thing in 2021.

One thing we do have is defense to keep us in a game.. we might lose 1-0 or
2-1….but with being able to keep tons of goals from being scored, the chance
of winning the game will always be there with this team.

This is one of the worst Chelsea teams ever offensively, probably the worst…..but over
2 legs anything can happen

Plus experience

Havertz
Mount
James
Chilwell
Kovacic
Ziyech
RLC
Kepa
Kante
Pulisic
Mendy

Were all part of that CL title.

This team is in the focking quarterfinals…

well played to run the same XI out there today.

and i like that Betis tied it because it put a little more pressure on them to respond.

but i'm still trying to figure out how the Betis goal wasn't ruled out for hand ball.

like, it came off his chest first but then off the inside of his elbow when he's got his arm stuck out all weird and it coming off the elbow is what put it in the position to be played to Ayoze Perez.

like I said 1-0 7-0 = 3 points all the same

Got damn.

We put on an offensive show. I think England would have won the
WC had Chilwell and James been available.

Chilwell is a beast! and Kovacic and RLC did the damn thing

Mudryk- Havertz- Felix might just work, especially with Kovacic, RLC and
Chilwell pushing the pace and the offense to the front.

Cucurella is still a headless chicken though..dude makes me nervous.

https://twitter.com/israbrcln/status/1634643363650740227

Life is a good

Hard fart point against the Hammers, who we haven’t beaten away in a long time. Ollie with 6 in 7. Long may it continue

his being around is a big part of why the club felt comfortable cashing in on both wingers.

January was rough while the club adjusted, but he's got 4 in his last 5 games, and he always puts in a professional shift.

MU and Europa make for such a great marriage…so romantic

😂

The Reynas sound like dogshit to deal with.

He screwed himself over by pouting in camp despite that, and his mom and dad dug the hole deeper by being holy terrors.

Reyna WAS healthy for the WC and should have played.

Berhalter got hard headed and it cost the USA on the pitch.

that's not to excuse Gio's attitude at the time. it also doesn't excuse Reyna's parents behavior.

but, nah, Berhalter got THAT part wrong.

The most Gio played was 67 minutes three games (and a week) before the break (then 45 and 29). It was a calculated risk to bring him, but Gregg thought he could handle the headache better from within the camp than to have Claudio mouthing off in public at every opportunity.

theres no reason he cant give the national team 30 minutes at 2/3 of the tempo

Until they got to Doha and he was moping around the place.

if he cant reach our most talented player he has to go

scottie bowman got sergei fedorov excited to play as a defenseman in like 40-50 games over the course of his time in Detroit. not just do it, but be excited about it, and excel at it.

Berhalter's tactics and resumé arent good enough for him to pull any "get on the bus or get out" nonsense. his best players are more accomplished than he is many times over. if he doesnt have the rap to finesse one mercurial talent into accepting a 30mpg every game sub role, what value does he have?

over the Reyna family (and maybe even Gio).

not to say there's anything shocking about that cuz Gio's parents were wilin', but moreso interested in the interpersonal relationships of Gio and the other guys in the squad going forward.

https://twitter.com/USMNTvsHaters/status/1636360032882241536

and hes backing the wrong horse regardless

Reyna actually has a future with the national team and will be a major factor in any future real success, while Berhalter is just the latest model of easily replaceable MLS coach.

plus, Pulisic hasn't done enough of anything anywhere to warrant this sort of tut-tutting about his teammates.

"it was an unfortunate situation, and im hoping to be able to help Gio grow and learn from this"

the end

from the whole thing.

i don't really give AF about who is right or wrong re: Berhalter vs. The Reynas, especially going forward.

Berhalter is TRASH and shouldn't be coaching the USMNT. Gio is a talent and should be playing for the USMNT whenever possible.

the next coach will probably realize he aint all that and his best days are behind him and will start to treat him like a regular player

there is a version of this team that has him on the bench in 3 years

"The biggest thing is making sure that everybody knows we're here for a reason and what's happened with Gio in the past is in the past and what happened at the World Cup happened at the World Cup and we moved on from that as players," 35-year-old Ream said Tuesday.

"I think the biggest thing for us as a leadership and all the guys in camp is to see that he's working hard, training hard, that he's wanting to be here and up to this point, it's been nothing but positive," Ream said. "Having conversations with different guys, everybody knows what he can bring to the table, everybody knows how talented he is.

"And to see him come in here with that attitude and the work rate and the desire to be a part of the group and just get back on level terms with everyone without having to overly address it has been a big positive for all the guys to see."

"I've had individual conversations with him. Those will stay between him and I because I think that's important, to have that kind of line of communication and trust between players, between teammates, between groups," Ream said. "What he's feeling, what he's seeing, what his worries may be will stay between him and I, because I think that's important to allow him to move past everything that's happened.

"And I think it's important for all of us to be able to move past that and work together as a good team."

~ from ESPN

Liverpool fodder

https://twitter.com/beanymansports/status/1635786638017155079
I swear to god pep is not a real person sometimes.

really need a response on Sunday, won't be easy.

if anything it's made it easier on yall chasing the title to not have the rest of these games

https://twitter.com/gffn/status/1637159122327011328?s=46&t=A9WToJV0wU-lu9vhoGVWEA

Thank god fit international break. Hopefully it’s just 3 weeks & back after the break

🤞🏾they win it

Hate to admit, but Chelsea can definitely beat Madrid

Hopefully city gets to the final and loses again

>🤞🏾they win it
>
>Hate to admit, but Chelsea can definitely beat Madrid
>
>Hopefully city gets to the final and loses again

sweet sweet vindication awaits

>sweet sweet vindication awaits

I don’t think that’s coincidental.

Man this shit is epic. It’s crazy that before these last 3 years, they barely played against
each other.

There are good relations between both clubs…and in the past two seasons the winner
has went on to win CL.


I’m happy. And FOCK BARCELONA….Jersey and his minions have been avoiding the
threads ever since the report came out on Barcelona buying Refs.

there arent a lot of individual players left that can change a whole match on a dime, but Real has like 3 of them

but one more round of getting used to the idea that they belong and that THEY should be the ones scaring ppl and it wont matter

the more i talk about it the more excited i am to see Kim Min Jae vs Benzema

who might that someone be?
-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

Frauds

And we looked so damn classy thrashing Bournemouth today. Next up after the International break is Chelsea, who are… on the exact same points?

Willian red and a pen for a blatant handball denying a goal
Mitrovic red for accosting the ref
Marco Silva red for interfering w/ the replay

Perfect back heel to set up balde for thr assist.

12 points. 3 straight clasico wins. And without pedri and dembele? Damn.

Lol vini's best play against barca all season was Araujo header.

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

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

Fulham could have seen that out as not great as we were playing. Would have been 1-1 after the penalty.

once they went down to 9 they had no chance.

©Thierry Henry

but both flail in the other's competition.

tho barca could argue a combo of a shit draw, some rough calls and tough injuries in CL--but they just beat real again without pedri and dembele. just...weird.

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

what odd timing

4/1 Dortmund
4/4 Freiberg (cup qtr)
4/8 Freiburg
4/11 Man City

4 matches in 10 days against CL quality comp as Freiburg is currently on pace to qualify for CL next year

i dont think he has the emotional composure to handle being Bayern Munich coach, but i suppose we might find out early

otherwise I agree

>what odd timing
>
>4/1 Dortmund
>4/4 Freiberg (cup qtr)
>4/8 Freiburg
>4/11 Man City
>
>4 matches in 10 days against CL quality comp as Freiburg is
>currently on pace to qualify for CL next year
>
>i dont think he has the emotional composure to handle being
>Bayern Munich coach, but i suppose we might find out early

and thats too mind boggling to actually be funny

I guess he used the madrid job likely coming open in the Summer and Spurs vacancy (don't laugh) as leverage.


https://theathletic.com/4343865/2023/03/24/bayern-munich-julian-nagelsmann-sacked-inside-story/

Julian Nagelsmann learned of his imminent dismissal as Bayern Munich manager via social media on Thursday night, as did his players.

The timing of the move, just over a week before a crucial phase in the season with games against league leaders Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg (DFB Pokal) and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League, caught most of the club by surprise. It wasn’t planned that way by those in charge, either. For one last time in Nagelsmann’s short reign, things had quickly taken a turn for the worse and delivered unexpected consequences.

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Bayern had held talks with Thomas Tuchel over the 49-year-old taking over at the start of next season, but the German champions were forced into pulling the trigger earlier by unforeseen events over the weekend.

To the shock of executive chairman Oliver Kahn and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, Bayern were an abject mess in the 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, a collection of individuals with no discernible common purpose on the pitch. The worst showing in a season that had already seen its fair share of poor results — Bayern haven’t been this bad for 11 years in the league — stoked fears the entire campaign might disintegrate next month.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

Leverkusen revived under Alonso, dishevelled Bayern and Dortmund dreaming

Three defeats in those games mentioned above would have left Bayern without much chance of silverware, a worse outcome than in Nagelsmann’s debut season, when they were knocked out by Villarreal in the Champions League quarter-finals, crashed to a 5-0 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach in the cup and only won the by-now-regulation Bundesliga title in underwhelming fashion. Bayern couldn’t contemplate a similar or even more disappointing outcome.

Still, not everybody was convinced the situation was unsalvageable, at least in the short term. Bayern’s excellent results in the Champions League, where they have eight wins from eight games, had stoked optimism that the team and Nagelsmann, whatever their problems, could raise their game when it really mattered.

Until a few days ago, the club’s preference was to leave Nagelsmann in situ and then make a clean break in the summer. But Tuchel, who has been living in Munich for a few weeks and could regularly be seen walking his dog in the leafy Bogenhausen quarter, wasn’t prepared to wait. Bayern were told in no uncertain terms they had to move now or risk him signing for other suitors.


Thomas Tuchel wanted the Bayern Munich job straight away, which forced the club’s hand (Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
History taught them to take that threat seriously. In spring of 2018, they had approached Tuchel with a view of installing him as Jupp Heynckes’ successor. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, then the club’s CEO, was the former Mainz coach’s champion on the board, but president Uli Hoeness was unconvinced: he feared Tuchel’s stubborn, irascible style wouldn’t be a good fit for the “big family” ethos at Bayern. The board pleaded for more time, but Tuchel decamped to Paris Saint-Germain rather than wait for them to make up their minds.

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The fear of missing out on the proven winner and most successful German coach after Jurgen Klopp in recent years for a second time, five years later, had Bayern bring his appointment forward. Nagelsmann was supposed to learn of his fate in a face-to-face meeting on Friday, but the story leaked via a third party before he was contacted.

There is plenty of embarrassment and regret in Munich over the manner of the 35-year-old’s departure, but not about the decision itself. Nagelsmann, they had hoped, would learn from his mistakes of the second half of last season, when a flurry of tactical and personnel changes saw Bayern lose their rhythm to the point of coming to a “standstill”, as Leroy Sane told The Athletic last summer.

Players had complained the coach was overcomplicating things in training, making too many changes during games and not communicating enough with them. Nagelsmann vowed to listen more and adopt a steadier approach to selection but had to abandon his 4-2-2-2 formation after a run of poor games in September.


Bayer Leverkusen’s win over Bayern Munich last weekend was the final straw for the club’s board (Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
He recently re-introduced a 4-2-3-1/3-2-4-1 hybrid system that was sometimes the best of both worlds but more often a confusing compromise. In addition, there was a latent tension between his preferred possession game and a more direct style favoured by some influential members of the dressing room. Like his idol Pep Guardiola, he asked a tremendous amount of his team; unlike the Catalan, he didn’t manage to instil total confidence in his methods.

Bayern’s build-up play through the centre-backs was a particular problem against high-pressing sides in recent weeks, but Nagelsmann resisted attempts by seasoned players to modify the setup. New signing Cancelo not realising he was supposed to leave his wing-back position to play as a second No 10 just 10 minutes into the Leverkusen defeat summed up the constant, low-level misalignment between Bayern’s game and the manager’s ideas.

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While some players who had experienced Pep’s exacting standards and his constant adjustment to the opposition were at ease with Nagelsmann’s attempts at micro-management, a sizeable contingent found him overbearing. “He puts the system over the needs of the players,” was an oft-repeated complaint in club HQ corridors.

One example was the 3-1 loss at Gladbach when Dayot Upamecano was sent off after less than 10 minutes. The team were surprised to hear Nagelsmann castigating them for not pressing harder at half-time even though they were a man down.

Some pros also found it hard to be constantly in and out of the team, especially without the manager taking the time to explain his decisions in great detail. He struck up a close relationship with Joshua Kimmich but failed to bring many other seasoned pros on board.


The Manuel Neuer affair — the axing of goalkeeper coach Toni Tapalovic in the absence of the injured World Cup winner — won him few friends in the squad, as did his decision to substitute talisman Thomas Muller a few minutes into the defeat at Gladbach. Nagelsmann later vowed not to repeat that mistake but subbed Muller again at half-time in Leverkusen. His predecessor Niko Kovac had also made the mistake of marginalising Muller.


go-deeper
GO DEEPER

Neuer: 'I felt like my heart was being ripped out. It was the most brutal thing in my career'

At Hoffenheim and Leipzig, Nagelsmann made his name by always picking different line-ups tailored to the specific challenges of each game. But the complicated dynamics in Bayern’s dressing room demanded a less interventionist approach. Too many players felt undermined by the never-ending changes.

Looking back at Nagelsmann’s 22 months in charge, it’s easy to find some great games. But tellingly, no single player was able to play at their very best throughout that time. Neither were the team.



Bayern’s individual quality was such that they could still win most games, especially in the Champions League, where a combination of good fortune and extra effort brought top results. In more mundane engagements, however, Bayern lost control and shape with worrying regularity.

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It didn’t help team morale that Salihamidzic and Kahn, determined to back Nagelsmann to the hilt, blamed the squad’s poor mentality after bad results instead of analysing the underlying reasons for Bayern’s diminished dominance. “I’ve rarely experienced such little drive, mentality, aggression and power,” Salihamidzic said after the Leverkusen defeat. “That’s not what Bayern Munich is all about.”

Some important members of the club’s hierarchy, too, were a little put out that Kahn and Salihamidzic continued to sing the praises of Nagelsmann for tactical reasons in meetings a few weeks ago, at a time when the duo had all but concluded a change at the helm was in order. Only on Monday had chairman Herbert Hainer told Kicker magazine that they were “planning with (Nagelsmann) for the long term”.

Nagelsmann didn’t help his cause by occasionally showing his inexperience. Eyebrows were raised when he arrived to training on a skateboard and drove a motorcycle in town, part of a pattern of behaviour more suited to an older brother than the father figure craved by the dressing room.


His relationship with Lena Wurzenberger, a former Bayern reporter for Bild, Germany’s biggest-selling tabloid newspaper, also did little to improve trust between him and his team.

Many players didn’t care about those distractions but others had a tough time relating to him. Highly engaging on tactics, he was often too outspoken in press conferences, inadvertently revealing private conversations in the process. Former Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt had told him “today’s training session was the hardest in the last four years”, Nagelsmann said proudly in the summer, causing unwanted headlines in Italy for the Dutchman.

It was equally clumsy and unnecessary to talk at length about Serge Gnabry’s trip to Paris Fashion Week, putting explicit pressure on the Germany international to make up for his misstep in the game against Eintracht Frankfurt. The 27-year-old was poor in the second half in the 1-1 draw in January, a result that ushered in another mini-crisis. Bundesliga coaches are better served playing the “good cop” role, as other club leaders are prepared to utter public criticism. Nagelsmann didn’t so much lose the dressing room as never really connect with it in the first place.


Julian Nagelsmann’s relationship with former tabloid reporter Lena Wurzenberger caused some unease in Bayern’s squad (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images for Paulaner)
To be sure, all these misgivings would have dispersed had Bayern found consistency or a sense of progress, but neither have been forthcoming since the winter break. Instead, the team seemed to lurch from one extreme to another, not a conducive environment to foster young talent such as Paul Wanner (17) or former Ajax midfielder Ryan Gravenberch (20), who has been all but frozen out, much to the astonishment of many of his team-mates.

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Nagelsmann was supposed to develop youngsters in Munich, as he had done to great effect before, but could not square their demands with that of a very deep squad full of personalities. Bayern are well aware that some of those challenges are structural and will be faced by Tuchel, too.


Nagelsmann will no doubt be a success again elsewhere (Photo: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
A Bavarian and childhood Bayern fan, Nagelsmann seemed like the perfect fit. Perhaps he still will be in the future. There is no ill feeling towards him at the club. While the board would have liked him to listen more to their advice, they have worked with enough top coaches to accept their idiosyncrasies. He was generally well-liked and appreciated as one of Germany’s biggest coaching prospects.

But the time wasn’t quite right yet for him. If it’s true that teams eventually always resemble their managers, maybe Bayern were never truly at their best for a sustained period under him because he hasn’t yet figured out how to maximise his own considerable talents either.

Chances are his next club will be the beneficiaries of that maturing process. Bayern, though, can never wait. The only long-term strategy Germany’s most insatiable club have ever signed up to is their unequivocal demand for short-term success.

Tuchel will know the drill.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/23/premier-league-player-on-bail-amid-allegations-investigated-for-third-offence?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

This makes the Arsenal story a lot less “feel good” for sure.

referees to call games in their favor.

They should be permanently expelled from top league play if allegations
against them are proven to be true.

What a fraud of a club, and anyone who follows them.

Jersey-silent.

nothing but crickets in this thread

Just because you jump around like cut-rate Johnnie Cochrane whenever someone YOU like catches heat …

There are bigger fish to fry here. This isn’t a shit talking matter.

This is serious, organizational cheating on an elite level. Chelsea has never stained
or disrespected the game in such a way. It’s an unforgivable action. It’s cheating.
There is no other situation that compares. Hell this could go as deep as the “disgrace
game” where Chelsea were blatantly cheated out of the match. It might not just
be limited to La Liga matches as it was once reported. A through investigation has been
implemented.

It’s already been proven that Barcelona PAID referees…but why? We all know the answer

Now run along and let the adults speak.

FORGIVE ME, Oh Master of the Loud and Wrong. How could I ever repent from this grievous error?

and learn something or two about the actual state of the investigation.

the prosecutors office and the treasury in spain have said they have zero evidence there was any cheating/influencing of refs. there is documentation of the reports he provided. it looks like dude just made millions playing barca for chumps. there is zero evidence this extended beyond la liga matches. Tebas, the madridista head of La Liga (fuck that dude) is behind UEFA opening an investigation because Tebas and Laporta absolutely despise each other (and Tebas is trying to fight the super league proposal and this was a way to split the RM/Barca deal to work together on that).

barca didn't pay a single ref, you absolute fucking idiot. they paid a guy who also sat on a committee overseeing refs who wrote reports after matches (including being honest about mistakes in barca's favor). it was dumb AF to do, given the guy also oversaw refs (also, LOL at the idea barca was being favored by refs that era given it included some egregiously bad decisions that handed at least one liga title to atletico. anyway...).

in fact, barca has already sued multiple journalists for lying about the investigation (which I also find to be bad behavior for a club, but also, sports media in spain is batshit). the greatest possible irony is that if barca wins those cases, it'd be a windfall profit to help reoslve the wage bill issue. LMFAO if that happened.

i don't post about barca on here much any more because you're such a fucking annoying piece of shit that it isn't fun to post about the sport. which sucks right now, because barca is 12 points clear in the league and just beat real without pedri or dembele. and Messi keeps proving he's the GOAT and the rumor barca might sign him is heating up. it's a good time to talk about this sport, but your assholish behavior has ruined what used to be a great fucking monthly thread.

so keep my name out of your fucking posts.

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

There are court documents proving that Barca paid a former VP of Spanish refereeing.
Don’t play the stupid game….from 2001 to 2018! 17 years!

https://www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11095/12840842/negreira-case-uefa-investigating-barcelona-over-millions-of-euros-paid-to-former-referees-chief

Barcelona will also be investigated for falsifying business documents.

Barca paid all that money for so many years just to get reports on refs? …

FOH.

“Court documents show Barcelona paid €7.3m (£6.5m) from 2001 until 2018 to the company of Jose Mara Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spanish football's refereeing committee; UEFA's investigation could lead to a Champions League ban”

so you need to hold all judgment until then. Right?

they didn't pay a ref. he wasn't a ref you absolute moron
-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

He was VP of a referee committee for crying out loud…He had close association with
league referees, and he was a former referee himself.

Act dumb.

I'll let future president pique explain:

would put my hand in the fire (and say) that Barça have not paid the referees," he told RAC1. "If you want to buy a referee, it's as easy as slippin him an envelope (of cash). You don't go to the vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. It doesn't make any sense.
-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

just found no evidence of Barca paying to influence refs and dismissed.
And now you pipe back up.

Also hilarious coming from a fucking Chelsea fan. A fucking Abramovich sycophant-ass Chelsea fan.

Funny how you ain't have shit to say when we spanked Madrid the other day, either, after the shit you were talking.

IF the allegations are true, it's obviously really bad, but you clearly haven't even read anything beyond the headlines and then come in here poppin off at the fingers.

And, I won't be responding to you further.

a Russian Oligarch spending money to win championships. This has to do with the integrity
and spirit of the game, and you know that.

So you can save that shitty comparison, because it makes zero sense.

And again there are court documents proving that Barca paid millions for
close to 17 years to a former VP of refereeing…the investigation is to find if it was more
than for ref analysis….and you know got damn well it was!

As far as Barcelona beating Real Madrid, congrats, you will go
on and win La Liga ….while Real Madrid conquers the world!

God damn cheaters.

Any other time yall would be talking shit …now y’all don’t want to talk..

I’ve never dodged any topic or talk thrown at me regarding Chelsea or RM…
negative or positive. I’ve always been here.

Heat is on that ass .. Own it!

which is why the government forced a breakup of your favorite criminal enterprise

maybe you should just chill

Because apparently we're kicking the tires enough that the For The Love of Paul McGrath dude did a whole scouting pod on him.

first of all hes an incredible ball winner, who doesnt linger with it once he has it. he has the quick feet to be able to that little plant and poke once he's separated the ball from someone.

hes also very smart about where to be in the 2nd or 3rd level of the press. he takes options away and creates turnovers just by knowing where to be, and his height/strength/jumping means hes not really even challenged for gobbling up clearance attempts.

hes not the fastest guy in the world, but long legs means he can close 5-10 yards in a few strides, and hes very very strong.

passing is very good, and while hes not the midfield QB (Joey Veerman has kinda assumed that role), the power in his legs means he can release runners wayyyyy down the field on a counter. and of course a week or two ago he scored the 6th fastest goal in recorded history at 106 mph, so if he starts creeping up in possession he can let that thang fly.

all in all just a wonderful destroyer mid, with enough passing to create one-ball counter attacks.

i knew this was coming when the club cashed out on their title hopes but im distressed by another low release clause that will see Gakpo/Noni/Sangare go for only a little more than Ajax got for Antony. Gakpo in particular might already be at Antony's ceiling. at least this will be a summer move, and he'll be around to contribute to the cup run and race for 2nd.

He said that in 2022, Sangare's heatmap was similar to peak Kante's in that it was all across the centerline. Whereas this season he's been much more along the right side of midfield. Is PSV playing more of a double-pivot, or has he gone from playing as the base of a three to a right-sided 8. And if we were to bring him in, would he be best for us playing the narrow right midfield of our 4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1, or back in the pivot alongside Kamara or Luiz?

Ruud is a little more structured in the double pivot, as the injuries to the backline have led to a more disciplined approach

there was nominally a double pivot last year too, but veerman had a lot more freedom to get forward. nowadays the preferred pairing is sangare and erick gutierrez, who is also very good in defense, so they stay pretty balanced.

hes definitely at his best protecting the back line. last year he did more of what tyler adams does for the US, this year its more like Kimmich+Goretzka but with less freedom for swashbuckling.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/24/everton-charged-with-alleged-breach-of-premier-leagues-ffp-rules

Everton referred to independent commission over alleged FFP breach
Decision relates to the club’s spending last season
Case referred to commission by Premier League

Everton have been referred to an independent commission for an alleged breach of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules in relation to their spending last season.

The announcement follows an audit of all Premier League clubs’ financial records for the 2021-22 season, which had to be provided by the start of March this year.

Last year Burnley and Leeds wrote to the Premier League to question whether Everton had broken the rules after they recorded losses of £371.8m over the last three years.

Under Premier League rules, clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105m over three years – and clubs who break its profitability and sustainability rules can be fined or deducted points.

At the time of their joint letter, signed by the Leeds chief executive, Angus Kinnear, and the Burnley chairman, Alan Pace, both clubs were threatened with relegation – and both also indicated their right to make legal claims against the Premier League and Everton.

A Premier League statement on Friday confirmed that Everton had been referred to an independent commission that will rule on the case.

“In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred an alleged breach of the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules by Everton Football Club to a Commission under Premier League Rule W.3.4,” it said. “The assessment period for which it is alleged that the Club is in breach is the period ending Season 2021/22.

“The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission’s final award will be published on the Premier League’s website. The League will be making no further comment until that time.”

An Everton statement said they were disappointed with the decision and that they are “prepared to robustly defend” their position to the commission.

“Everton Football Club is disappointed to hear of the Premier League’s decision to refer an allegation of a breach of Profit & Sustainability regulations to an independent commission for review,” it read.

“The club strongly contests the allegation of non-compliance and together with its independent team of experts is entirely confident that it remains compliant with all financial rules and regulations. Everton is prepared to robustly defend its position to the commission. The club has, over several years, provided information to the Premier League in an open and transparent manner and has consciously chosen to act with the utmost good faith at all times.”

https://twitter.com/greggevans40/status/1639670069448826880?s=46&t=GMPUia5W6UF0zApqPLIbYg

He did the same thing at Chelsea. When he couldn’t get his way, he started
to verbally attack the club and players so that the club would sack him. He was doing
all types of immature stuff behind closed doors ( not showing up to certain events and
press conferences, etc).

And here he does something similar at Tottenham. He does this wherever he goes,
especially when he wants outs. I know it’s Tottenham and all, and they always choke
in the end, but Conte’s history speaks for itself.

Juve, Inter, Italy national team, Chelsea and now Tottenham..

Dude is a quitter.


He is one hell of a coach….but is psychotic as shit. Tuchel is a choir boy compared to him.

the Mbappe era is cool obvs but I think I might be most psyched about that Maignan/Upamecano/Konate partnership

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/29/roman-abramovich-secretly-bankrolled-dutch-football-club-leaked-documents-suggest?CMP=share_btn_tw

Roman Abramovich secretly bankrolled Dutch football club, leaked documents suggest

Exclusive: Files reveal €117m in loans for Vitesse Arnhem originated with then owner of Chelsea, despite repeated denials

Roman Abramovich secretly funded the takeover of a Dutch top division football club and bankrolled it for years during the period that he also owned Chelsea, leaked documents appear to show.

Two investigations by the Netherlands football association were unable to uncover any financial ties between Abramovich and the club, Vitesse Arnhem, and concluded that the Russian oligarch had no managerial influence on Vitesse. Both Vitesse under its then owners, and Chelsea under Abramovich, repeatedly denied the oligarch was involved in funding the Dutch club.

The financial information has come to light in the Oligarch files, a cache of leaked data originating from the Cyprus-based offshore service provider MeritServus. The documents, reviewed by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, appear to reveal for the first time at least €117m (£102.8m) in secret funding from Abramovich for the Vitesse takeover, which flowed through a series of entities registered in opaque offshore tax havens.

Links to Chelsea were suspected at the time of the 2010 takeover, which was led by the Georgian former footballer Merab Jordania. While he described Abramovich as his friend at the inaugural press conference, Jordania denied the oligarch was involved.

The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) launched a first investigation into the financing of the takeover but found nothing to conflict with its rules.

Suspicions of links continued after Jordania’s takeover, as Chelsea used Vitesse – which plays in the Dutch Eredivisie – as a partner club, to which players not yet ready for the demands of the English Premier League could be loaned and gain competitive experience. Many Chelsea players went to Vitesse on loan throughout the 2010s, notably including the Serbia international Nemanja Matić and the current Chelsea and England star Mason Mount, who played for Vitesse in the 2017-18 season.

Further questions were asked after Jordania left in 2013 and another associate of Abramovich, the Russian businessman Alexander Chigirinsky, took over. Vitesse and Jordania revealed at that point that Chigirinsky had already been financially involved in the club, since the 2010 takeover.

In April 2014, Jordania appeared to allege that Chelsea was involved, fuming that Vitesse had been prevented from strengthening its team in a bid to win the Eredivisie and qualify for the Uefa Champions League because “London didn’t want that”. He later withdrew the comments, and still maintains there was no truth to the allegation.

The revelations prompted the second KNVB investigation, which concluded “there are no indications that Chelsea has a say in Vitesse’s policy”.

In 2017, the Guardian reported that associates of Abramovich based at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge offices had been involved in the Vitesse takeover. At the time, Chelsea declined to comment, saying only: “We enjoy a close working relationship with Vitesse Arnhem, as we do with other clubs.”

The rules of Uefa, the European football confederation, require clubs that play against each other to be independently owned and run “to ensure the integrity of the competitions”, and that “no individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a Uefa club competition”.

The leaked trove of documents appears to show that Abramovich bankrolled Vitesse’s spending with a series of loans worth at least €117m (£102.8m) by the end of 2015. This was a huge investment for Vitesse, whose total turnover in 2014-15 was €14m (£12.3m).

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 after becoming a Russian oil and gas billionaire, pouring £2bn into the club to fund signings of world-class stars. They delivered unprecedented success, including twice winning the Champions League. Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea last year after being subject to sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The KNVB’s first investigation in 2010 reported that a company, Marindale Trading, had facilitated the funding for Jordania’s takeover of Vitesse. They said a connection could be made with Chigirinsky, but that they had found no “certainty about the possible managerial influence from Mr Abramovich”. In 2015 the second investigation concluded there were “no indications that Chelsea has a say in Vitesse’s policy”.

The Oligarch files shine further light on these arrangements. They do not show whether Abramovich or his club held managerial influence at Vitesse. However, they strongly suggest that he provided significant funding to the club.

Loan agreements and other documents confirm that Marindale Trading, a company newly registered in the British Virgin Islands owned by Chigirinsky, funded the takeover and the club. They also show that Marindale had itself received a series of multimillion-euro loans, routed through entities in different tax havens.

The loans appear ultimately to originate with Abramovich. In August 2010, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Ovington Worldwide, lent €20m to a company registered in Liechtenstein that documents indicate was linked to Chigirinsky: Trigonia Anstalt. Ovington Worldwide was owned by another BVI company, Electus Investments, which was controlled by the Sara Trust. Roman Abramovich was the sole beneficiary of the Sara Trust, and therefore the ultimate beneficiary of the BVI company, Ovington, that lent the money to Trigonia.

On the same day as Ovington lent the €20m to Trigonia, a different company linked to Chigirinsky – Limburg Holdings, registered in Belize – made a loan to Marindale Trading. Ten days later Marindale lent the exact same sum as Ovington, €20m, to the company Jordania used as the vehicle to buy Vitesse. This more than covered the agreed purchase price for Vitesse, which was €6m, rising to €8m.

During the subsequent three years that Jordania owned Vitesse, five loans worth millions of euros were made that all followed the same pattern. Abramovich’s company, Ovington, loaned money to the Chigirinsky-linked company, Trigonia; then Limburg Holdings lent to Marindale Trading, which lent the exact same amount of money to Jordania’s holding company for Vitesse, almost always on the same day.

In these initial series of loans, the documents do not show Trigonia transferring the money to Limburg, which then lent to Marindale. But the documents, and matches of dates and figures, strongly suggest that the money flowed from Abramovich’s company, Ovington, through the Chigirinsky-linked companies, to Vitesse.

After Jordania left in 2013 and Chigirinsky formally took over as Vitesse’s owner, the documents show that the pattern continued but with Trigonia no longer in the chain. Ovington, Abramovich’s company, lent millions directly to Limburg, which in turn made loans to Marindale, which lent the exact same sums to the Vitesse holding company. At least one further loan was recorded as having been made in this way even while the KNVB was conducting the second investigation.

In December 2015 the loans were rerouted a final time, when another Abramovich company registered in the BVI, Wotton Overseas, took over as the lender. Wotton Overseas, the documents show, was owned by another trust, Europa, of which Abramovich was the beneficiary. By the end of 2015, the total loans made available by Abramovich’s companies in this way matched the figure ultimately made available to Marindale Trading, the company that funded Vitesse: €166m. Of that, €117m appears to have been drawn down.

Chigirinsky remained in charge of Vitesse until May 2018, when he sold the club.

Asked about the arrangements, Jordania told the Guardian in a telephone conversation that Abramovich and Chigirinsky were both good friends of his, and both had lent him money when he needed it for Vitesse.

“This is true, yes,” he said. “It was my personal project and they supported me very much when I bought the club with my resources, and then when I started the project sometimes money wasn’t enough and I was using also money of my friends, and first of all Roman Abramovich, Chigirinsky.”

Jordania said that although he explained to Abramovich that he needed the money for Vitesse, the money was lent to him personally, not directly for Vitesse.

“It was, let’s say, personal debt, my personal debt to Abramovich and Chigirinsky.”

The KNVB told the Guardian that its two investigations by forensic accountancy firms were into “the governance of Vitesse and whether there were ties with Chelsea FC and/or Roman Abramovich. Both firms could, on the basis of the evidence put to them, not discover the existence of such ties.” The investigators in 2010 relied on public information, and the second “was based on information and documents provided by Vitesse”. A spokesperson pointed out that the KNVB had to rely on the information provided to it, because it has no “public investigation powers, like, for example, the police”.

A Vitesse spokesperson stated that between 2010 and 2016 the club’s holding company received loans from Marindale Trading of €136.6m, then invested in the club in the form of share premiums. The spokesperson added:

“Vitesse has absolutely no knowledge of any loans between companies owned by … Chigirinsky and Mr Abramovich.” Representatives of the club were “not aware” of any funding from Abramovich.

Chigirinsky did not respond to detailed requests to comment. Demetris Ioannides, a managing partner of MeritServus, didn’t respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. Previously he has said trust law and data protection regulations prevented him from disclosing information to third parties.

Lawyers for Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chairman throughout the period, said in response to questions: “As regards Vitesse, our client has no knowledge or recollection of the allegations regarding arrangements between Mr Abramovich and Vitesse, or statements made by CFC about Mr Abramovich and Vitesse. If the events you describe happened at all, they are not matters that our client had any involvement with, in any capacity.”

Lawyers for Chelsea said that as the club has been under new ownership since May 2022, all the questions were for Abramovich to address.

In response to detailed questions about the loans that he appeared to have provided for the takeover of Vitesse and to bankroll the club’s costs, a lawyer instructed by Abramovich declined to comment.

And you know what else?

Duh.

All this was a given….so late pass.

Why do you think so many players were loaned to Vitesse?

I’m not sure what your point is…but hey it’s a free world, so continue
to waste your time.

And the fact that you would copy the stupid posting style of another user really shows
how lame and a loser you are….quit being a 3rd grader.

I thought the group would enjoy it. David Conn, one of the reporters on the byline, is one of the best on the football financials beat.

I think he gets a nosebleed if he has to read more than 2 sentences

>I thought the group would enjoy it. David Conn, one of the
>reporters on the byline, is one of the best on the football
>financials beat.

posting a link in the post to go and read the article, instead of killing
a thread and making it unnecessarily long. That way replies from posters
are not interrupted.

But your lack of brain cells and the synapses that connect them make it
impossible for you to comprehend that.

Other posters understand that, so you’re the only silly mofo that does it like
a feral juvenile.

Log off OKP,

You get ridiculed and humiliated by everyone in these posts 😂

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Title races, European spots, relegation and pride: the stories to look out for in top five leagues

MUNICH, GERMANY - APRIL 23: Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund jumps for a header with Leon Goretzka of FC Bayern Muenchen during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund at Allianz Arena on April 23, 2022 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
By The Athletic UK Staff
1h ago
Napoli look nailed-on champions, while Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are well on the way, but in England and Germany it’s all to play for at the top of the table.

And, of course, the title is not the only thing at stake as we canter towards the end of the 2022-23 season. There are European spots up for grabs, what could be vital prize money for higher league finishes and the looming spectre of relegation.

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in your favourite league — let alone five at once.

So, fear not, our writers are on hand to tee up the run-ins to Europe’s five biggest domestic leagues, and the key plotlines to look out for in the final months…

Premier League

A unique Premier League season restarts this weekend. Postponed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, then paused for the World Cup, now two intense months remain to find out whether a new champion will be crowned, or if we’ve all been rope-a-doped.

Nobody could begrudge Arsenal. So beautiful, almost perfect. Most observers — including Arsenal fans — anticipated the wheels to fall off, but wins were unremitting and now, eight points clear at the top of the table, glory appears inevitable. Does a twist loom?

Perhaps it does in Arsenal’s April fixture list: away to Liverpool, home to Chelsea and away to Manchester City, the reigning champions who are far beyond the chasing pack, but far behind Arsenal. Refashioned as an Erling Haaland vehicle, perhaps their eyes are elsewhere.

On the other side of Manchester, the wonderful madness — for observers — that is United, at least until Erik ten Hag substituted Cristiano Ronaldo with discipline and team spirit (Anfield excepted). Now they occupy a Champions League spot but could be leapfrogged by newly resilient, newly rich Newcastle when the two meet at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Tottenham: world-class striker, world-class stadium, fourth place in the table, but engulfed in chaos. Their manager Antonio Conte left during the international break and Fabio Paratici, the man in charge of appointing his successor, has been banned by FIFA. So it’s popcorn time again in north London. Biting at their heels are the aforementioned Geordies, Liverpool (remember them?), Brighton and Brentford; we may be on the cusp of a new era of champions, but also of European representatives.

Chelsea, previously Champions League establishment, spent so much and spread it so creatively, but with such poor outcomes. Scroll down, down, down the table to find them 10th, alongside Fulham and Aston Villa, and above nervy Crystal Palace and steadied Wolverhampton Wanderers.


Then down to the disruptor clubs of previous seasons: West Ham and Leicester; the former in a relegation spot, the latter one point above them — and one point above them, Everton. A slip in a Premier League match can be costly, as can a slip in off-field decisions. West Ham are away at Leicester on the final day of the season. A relegation decider?

To the bottom, rock-bottom for Southampton. So much promise, so much admiration, but a wall has been hit. Their fellow south-coast strugglers Bournemouth are showing more fight, dragging famous recent Premier League returnees toward the drop zone: Leeds United, Nottingham Forest. History provides no protection but does provide stories. Several may be written this season.

The one game you can’t afford to miss? Manchester City vs Arsenal on April 26

Andrew Hankinson

Bundesliga

Remarkably, every game still matters in the Bundesliga.

With the exception of Borussia Monchengladbach and Werder Bremen, who sit comfortably in 10th and 11th respectively, everybody still has something to play for. Or something to fear.

Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich continue their duel for the title on Saturday but, behind them, Union Berlin and Freiburg still occupy the box seats for Champions League qualification. Given the comparative financial heft of those chasing them — RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg — holding on to those positions would be a remarkable achievement in each case.

Union have taken the more circuitous journey to this point, but Freiburg have never played at that level either. Head coach Christian Streich has led his side to eighth-, 10th- and sixth-placed finishes in the last three seasons and has done so on a playing budget which, last year, was around half of Hoffenheim’s, let alone the truly big beasts.


Down in the basement, everyone’s nervous. From Augsburg (12th) and below, every team is at risk of relegation. In Germany, the bottom two go down automatically, while the side finishing 16th must play-off against the third-placed team from the division below.

Schalke’s revival has been the story. They were dead and buried before the World Cup, looking truly helpless, and even when the season resumed there was little suggestion of any burgeoning resilience in a 6-1 thumping by RB Leipzig.

But they haven’t lost any of the eight games since. Good defensive recruitment in January has helped; so too has the work of coach Thomas Reis. He was actually sacked by Bochum — themselves mired in trouble — earlier in the season, so that’s an intriguing plotline.

Elsewhere, the struggles (and melodrama) of big-city club Hertha Berlin continue, and Stuttgart and Hoffenheim are also enduring desperately poor seasons that may well end in the 2. Bundesliga.

The one game you can’t afford to miss? Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund on Saturday

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Serie A

It’s no longer a matter of if but when Napoli win the Scudetto. The question is: how soon? They have a chance to match or break the record set by the Grande Torino in 1948. The immortal Granata won the league by a 16-point margin with six games to spare.

April is going to be intense, particularly with so many teams from Serie A featuring in the latter stages of European competition. Juventus, Inter and Fiorentina are stretched across three fronts — there are Coppa Italia semi-finals next week — and that should make a congested race for the top four very interesting. Lazio now have nothing else to focus on but the league and are so sound defensively it’s hard to envision them dropping out of the Champions League places.


The other variable is the fate of Juventus’ appeal against the 15-point penalty. Win it on April 19 and they’ll likely leapfrog everyone into second place. Elsewhere, Fiorentina have a great chance of reaching a Coppa Italia final and emulating Roma in lifting the second edition of the Conference League.

Serie A has a series of compelling mini-leagues within the league so I’m curious who comes out on top in the one from eighth to 13th as it could decide which coach gets the next big vacancy. Udinese were the revelation early on this season under Andrea Sottil and have rediscovered their form. Thiago Motta has quietly got Bologna playing to their potential.

Then there’s Raffaele Palladino, probably the break-out coaching star of this campaign who has done an excellent job since stepping in for Giovanni Stroppa at Monza although the highest net spend in the division has undoubtedly helped.

Down the bottom, Verona, Sampdoria and Cremonese all look doomed. Spezia’s decision to bin off Luca Gotti for Leonardo Semplici brought an unexpected win over Inter and had the double effect of crushing morale among those already adrift in the relegation zone.

The one game you can’t afford to miss? Napoli vs Milan on Sunday

James Horncastle

Ligue 1

Unsurprisingly, the title looks assured for PSG in Ligue 1.

Opta have given the Parisians a 99 per cent chance of wrapping up a record 11th league crown, but it is not quite done and dusted yet, even with a seven-point lead. Christophe Galtier’s side have swapped a 21-match unbeaten run for four defeats in 13 league games since the World Cup and their recent wobbles have added a surprise question mark. Their upcoming fixtures against Lyon, Nice and Lens will likely decide if there’s any chance of the door opening to would-be challengers, though that does feel outlandish. Off-field matters, including the futures of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos, are set to take much of the focus in the coming weeks.


The only other real certainty in the league seems to be that Angers will go down, stuck rock bottom with 10 points and managerless once again. The rest of the relegation battle is open, with five teams fighting to steer clear of four relegation spots — a change as Ligue 1 moves from 20 teams to 18 next year. Five points separate 19th-placed Ajaccio and Strasbourg in 15th, who had much higher hopes for this season. There are some big clashes still to come, starting with Auxerre vs Troyes this weekend (17th vs 18th), so expect twists and turns.

The battle for Europe is very much alive.

Marseille lead the way under Igor Tudor, two points ahead of the impressive RC Lens. Franck Haise is doing a marvellous job by improving on last year’s seventh-placed finish, despite losing key players last summer. They do have a tough run-in though, with six top-half teams still to play. Monaco have their eye on that third Champions League qualification spot, while Rennes, Lille and Nice — the latter revitalised by one-time Middlesbrough player and now coach Didier Digard — look set to carve out the remaining European spots between them. Sixth place will not carry a European spot this year, as the last four of the Coupe de France all reside outside the top five.

The final thing to mention, of course, is Will Still. The 30-year-old coach has lifted Reims from early relegation fears to comfortably top half, powered by Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun (his 17 goals is only bettered by Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David, 19 each). His remarkable unbeaten start — 18 games in the league — came to an end at Marseille last week, but considering their form, you can’t write off a few more surprises before the season is out.

The one game you can’t afford to miss? Lens vs Marseille on May 7

Peter Rutzler

La Liga

La Liga returns this weekend with Barcelona 12 points clear in the title race, but there is plenty still up for grabs up and down the table.

Real Madrid have had the international break to get over their recent Clasico defeat at the Camp Nou, and Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s main focus now is preparing for their looming Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea.

Atletico Madrid’s upswing in form ever since Joao Felix joined Chelsea means they look to have automatic qualification for next year’s Champions League sorted — but Diego Simeone’s team still have to play the other top-four challengers: Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Villarreal.

Things are a lot less clear at the bottom, where just six points currently separate 11th-placed Mallorca from Almeria in 19th. Surprise strugglers Sevilla and Valencia are both on their third coach of the season already, and in real danger of going down. The two sides meet at Mestalla in two weeks’ time — right in the middle of Sevilla’s two-legged Europa League quarter-final with Manchester United. Adding to the spice will be fans’ protests against Valencia owner Peter Lim. Those are getting angrier by the week.


Next Wednesday brings the final Clasico of the season. Madrid travel to the Camp Nou for the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, with an injury-hit Barca 1-0 up from the first leg.

Other upcoming fixtures to look out for include Barca hosting Atletico Madrid on April 22 or 23, a few days before Atletico celebrate their 120th birthday at home to Mallorca.

The Sevilla v Betis city derby in late May could also be a cracker given both teams’ situations. Barca fans of course will want to sew up the title as soon as possible, but many might quite like to win the trophy on May 14, when they play away to their city neighbours Espanyol.

The one game you can’t afford to miss? Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid on April 22/23

Dermot Corrigan

(Photo: Boris Streubel/Getty Images)

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Michael Owen, Yaya Toure, Gary Neville and more: The Premier League Hall of Fame 2023 player shortlist
By The Athletic UK Staff


2h ago


The Premier League has revealed a 15-player shortlist for its 2023 Hall of Fame — a string of stars who could soon join David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney in a select club.

England’s top flight set up its Hall of Fame in 2021 to honour the top players to have graced the Premier League since its inception in 1992.

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Legendary managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger became the first bosses to be inducted this week, and now a new player shortlist will give fans the chance to salute three more memorable talents.

Here, The Athletic rounds up some of the best interviews and features on the latest players in the running — many featured in our own Premier League 60 tribute series — and explains how the selection process works.

Tony Adams (Arsenal)

In his dreams, Adams is still captain of Arsenal and England.

“I’ve got a new knee. I’ve had one replaced, and now I can’t even do a quad stretch. That’s hard for football. You go out on the pitch, you do your quad stretch, ‘Wahey, we’re going to play football today!’ That’s the muscle, you know, when you’re kicking the ball, that’s the muscle that…” He trails off. “You can never get over it,” he explains. “Football gave me everything. It was my first memory, sitting on the sideline watching my dad play football. It’s been a part of my life forever. You know, I’m getting old, and I can’t play football anymore… and there’s a grieving.”

Tony Adams speaks to Oli Kay about Arsenal and addiction — read more below.

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GO DEEPER
The Premier League 60: No 23, Tony Adams
Sol Campbell (Tottenham, Arsenal)

He arrived at White Hart Lane as Arsenal’s No 23 and stepped off the team coach into a din of poisonous abuse, 4,000 white balloons bearing the word “Judas” and banners condemning his defection. One simply read “John 13:27” in reference to a Bible verse that begins, “When Judas took the bread, Satan entered him…”

The antipathy has hardly been tempered by time.

One of the most acrimonious moves in Premier League history takes in perceived broken promises and a sales pitch delivered in the small hours over strolls in a sleepy suburb of north London — via a whistle-stop tour of San Siro and a rejection of Barcelona.

Dom Fifield, Daniel Taylor and Phil Buckingham take up the story below.

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The story of Sol Campbell leaving Spurs for Arsenal
Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

Michael Carrick showed cool authority for over a decade in Manchester United’s midfield as a player. There was an elegant restraint about Carrick, and his long-time United manager Sir Alex Ferguson referred to “a casualness about him that causes people to misunderstand his value and his constitution”.

Even Carrick, when describing the difference between himself and his brother Graeme, who is a coach up the road at Newcastle United, has said: “I’m a little cold, a bit more clinical and objective.”

Some of that aspect of Carrick’s personality has been visible since he took the Middlesbrough job in mid-October – he is an observer on the touchline, not a performer – but those inside the club, at the training ground and in the changing room, have seen other facets to him. There is discipline and drive and ambition — but also laughter.

Michael Walker meets Carrick, the manager — read more below.

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Michael Carrick's 'patience, calmness and positivity' have reinvigorated Middlesbrough
Petr Cech (Chelsea)


Petr Cech suffered a depressed skull fracture in October 2006. Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images.
Life or death. Petr Cech can’t remember it — or anything from that three-day period in October 2006 — but that’s what it was.

The incident, well known by almost all English football fans, occurred as then-reigning champions Chelsea visited newly-promoted Reading. A challenge with Stephen Hunt. A knee that collided with Cech’s head.

At 1am, Cech was rushed into emergency surgery, where the surgeon delicately removed the fragments, reassembled his skull, and fitted two metal plates over the injury to save his life. If it wasn’t for the close proximity between Madejski Stadium and the hospital, and the swift actions of his doctors, it’s possible he wouldn’t have made it.

Cech was a record-breaker, a leader and a goalkeeper who defied serious injury to return to and excel at the very highest level — read more below from Matt Pyzdrowski.

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The Premier League 60: No 29, Petr Cech
Andrew Cole (Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland)

Cole was the most expensive footballer in English football when he moved from Newcastle United to Manchester United in January 1995 for £6million (plus Keith Gillespie) but it took him until his fourth season to really shine under Sir Alex Ferguson.

“I was overthinking,” he explains. “I’d not done that before. Previously, I’d let my game flow. The fee was weighing heavily on me, too. And some of the abuse I got went too far. What pissed me off was that me and Sutty (Chris Sutton) went for a similar fee and he was getting nowhere near that kind of flak.

“And don’t get me started on people who think that because you earn a lot of money, you don’t have problems. Money doesn’t take away your problems.”

Andy Mitten analyses the man whose legendary Manchester United status after playing a leading role in the 1999 treble appeared implausible after his start to life at Old Trafford.

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The Premier League 60: No 22, Andy Cole
Ashley Cole (Arsenal, Chelsea)

Defending elite forwards is always a challenge, but it is also what you live for. You want to match yourself against the best. I was fortunate enough in my career to be able to go against some of the very best my generation had to offer, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben and Gareth Bale.

As a defender, you have your basic principles that you learn as a kid. My first principle, as a left-back, is nothing through or over my right shoulder.

My body position is going to be shaped where I can see the striker with the centre-half, but I can also see the man on the ball and the winger.

Ashley Cole’s defending masterclass, in his own words — read more below.

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Ashley Cole: How to defend against elite attackers
Jermain Defoe (West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bournemouth)

Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Andrew Cole, Sergio Aguero, Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry and Robbie Fowler. They are the only players who have scored more Premier League goals than Jermain Defoe, whose tally stands at 162.

Defoe is leaning into his laptop explaining the science behind why he is in such esteemed company, describing the art of goalscoring in minute detail: how he hits shots with zero backlift, the triggers he looks for in goalkeepers, winning “first contact” in the box, lurking in “blind spots”, “setting traps” through body language and a whole lot more from his very own poacher’s lexicon.

Jordan Campbell meets Defoe to talk the art of goalscoring — read more below.

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My game in my words. By Jermain Defoe
Les Ferdinand (QPR, Newcastle United, Tottenham, West Ham, Leicester, Bolton)


Les Ferdinand scored 41 Premier League goals for Newcastle, thriving with Alan Shearer. Photo: Getty Images.
Les Ferdinand had everything you would want in a centre-forward, from goals, to grace, to power, to movement and timing, but what set him apart was the hang time; the way he took to the air and then stayed up there, as if the world had stopped turning, just for him.

In the games when it all came together, Ferdinand did not play football. He soared.

“A few weeks ago a gentleman came up to me,” Ferdinand tells The Athletic. “He said, ‘Would you mind standing up, please?’ So I stood up. He said, ‘How on earth did you win all those balls in the air?’”

Read more below from George Caulkin on the striker whose 351 appearances in the Premier League brought him 149 goals — but who especially thrived under Kevin Keegan on Tyneside.

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The Premier League 60: No 60, Les Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand (West Ham, Leeds, Manchester United, QPR)

How old was I when I first experienced racism? Probably about seven or eight.

It was a neighbour, I was riding my bike underneath their window, and I heard the lady say something but I didn’t understand what it meant. So I went to my mum and asked her what that word meant. My mum went down and kicked through the woman’s door.

(When) you’re doing really well and you’re fine, people don’t see your colour. But the moment you do something wrong or you fail at something, like you missed a penalty, you’re seen as black.

In a powerful and wide-ranging interview with Roshane Thomas, Rio Ferdinand discusses racism and homophobia in football and just how far the sport has to go. The article below contains offensive language.

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Rio Ferdinand: I was seven when I was first racially abused - my mum kicked her door down
Robbie Fowler (Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester City, Blackburn)

For four minutes and 33 seconds, Arsenal were in a dizzy spell they could do little to escape.

Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown were all spinning around inside Storm Fowler. And try as they might to batten down the hatches, the 19-year-old just kept on running at them.

The standing Kop was gone but here was a new hero making them sway together as they always had.

“If it had been anybody else it might have been like, ‘Well, that’s a surprise’,” said Jamie Redknapp. “But it was Robbie and we had witnessed it day in and day out in training. ”

Read Caoimhe O’Neill on Fowler’s stunning performance against Arsenal in the 1994-95 season — part of The Athletic’s Golden Games series.

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Golden Games: No 9, Robbie Fowler for Liverpool v Arsenal
Gary Neville (Manchester United)

There is a story in Lee Sharpe’s autobiography, going back to his final year or so at Manchester United, about him sitting in the canteen one day and suddenly becoming aware of a strange noise coming from outside.

It was a dull, repetitive thud. When Sharpe went out to investigate, he found his team-mate Gary Neville taking throw-ins against the gymnasium wall. “As hard as he could, over and over again,” Sharpe recalled. “Practising long throws, Gary Neville’s idea of fun.”

Sharpe’s autobiography, My Idea of Fun, came out in 2005 when he had just finished at Garforth Town in the Northern Counties East Football League.. Sharpe, an England international and classic “boy wonder” at the age of 19, retired from professional football at 32.

From that point on, Neville, the younger man by four years, went on to win two more Premier League titles, a second European Cup, two League Cups, another FA Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He finished his career with over 600 appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team, as well as 85 England caps.

Danny Taylor on the traits that took Gary Neville to the top — read more below.

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The Premier League 60: No 55, Gary Neville
Michael Owen (Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Stoke)

Michael Owen’s career ended on April 12, 1999. Or at least a version of it did.

After that date, Owen scored 175 goals in 396 games for five different clubs. He won the Premier League, the FA Cup, three League Cups and the UEFA Cup. He won the Ballon d’Or and World Soccer magazine’s World Player of the Year. He appeared 76 times for England, scored 36 goals which included a hat-trick in arguably their greatest non-tournament victory ever, and he played at four international tournaments, scoring in three. He scored in cup finals, derbies, for three of the biggest teams in the world and under some of his generation’s great managers.

But the player that Owen was and could have been for years to come disappeared that April night.

Nick Miller on what was — and what might have been. Read more below.

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The Premier League 60: No 36, Michael Owen
John Terry (Chelsea)


John Terry made 492 Premier League appearances for Chelsea. Photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images.
In playing terms, there are two John Terrys.

The first is the exaggerated, caricature version of Terry as the archetypal old-school English centre-back in the Terry Butcher and Tony Adams mould.

But this was a centre-back who improved his game steadily under the coaching of various managers, who possessed brilliant positional skills, who read the game excellently, who had an excellent record of not conceding fouls and who was an absurdly underrated passer.

Michael Cox on why opposition strikers hated facing the Chelsea player — read more below.

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The Premier League 60: No 14, John Terry
Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

When you play in England, the intensity of the game, especially in midfield, can take you by surprise. English players are always coming at you from all angles when you get the ball. They come at you fast and try to push at you, especially in the early minutes, almost to shock you and see how you will react.

One of the physios at City explained it to me very simply.

He said, “You’re already a big guy, but you need to do something to deal with the shock when people run at you while you control the ball. We need to build your muscles to absorb it. We need to build the strength in your bum and hips.”

Yaya Toure on why bums — yes, bums — are so important in football. Read more below.

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Yaya Toure: Why bums are so important in football
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

Heads turn as Nemanja Vidic walks through central Belgrade. He’s the greatest Serbian footballer of recent times, but they don’t hassle him and he’s never been one to court publicity. The idea of Vidic being on social media is as likely as him managing Partizan Belgrade.

The former Manchester United defender has already followed up his coaching badges with a Master’s degree at the University of Limoges, the UEFA Executive Master for International Players.

He’s choosing his path carefully but he wants to stay in football and now boasts a skill set beyond being a former player.

The five-time Premier League and one-time European Cup winner talks tactics and formations. At one point he asks for a clean plate so that he can put beans on it to show different systems.

Andy Mitten meets Vidic — read more below.

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Nemanja Vidic interview: Advice for Maguire, football becoming about the individual and earning the roar of the crowd
Premier League Hall of Fame – how does it work?

The Premier League says that its shortlist takes into account Premier League career statistics and voting data from previous Hall of Fame shortlists in 2021 and 2022. Career achievements considered include individual and team honours, as well as a player’s total Premier League appearances, goals, assists and clean sheets.

To be eligible for this year’s Premier League Hall of Fame, players must have been retired by 1 January 2023 and only a player’s Premier League career is considered, as opposed to their performances in other competitions.

The Hall of Fame launched in 2021, with inaugural inductees Dennis Bergkamp, Eric Cantona, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard and Alan Shearer joining Beckham and Henry.

In 2022, Drogba was inducted along with Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Wayne Rooney, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, Patrick Vieira and Ian Wright.

(Top photo: Getty Images)

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when they started this thing. EPL fumbled this

I hope they choke in the end in CL