Not much intrigue left in most of the leagues, and the Champions League isn't until May 26, but still a lot of random transfer/WC talk to tide us over between the odd meaningless game. Speaking of which, did not expect that Gerrard to coach Rangers move. Fair play to him though, could be an interesting challenge

Wolves ran the damn Championship this year, so well done to them. Last weekend of the Championship season sees Fulham and Cardiff 1 point apart for the second spot, with the Bluebirds(hosting Reading) in the lead; Fulham are playing relegation-threatened Birmingham City (burn motherfuckers burn). Villa have the fourth spot locked up. Boro will play Villa if they draw or better. Derby County are sitting three points (and three goals in GD) behind them in 6th; PNE and Millwall (who finish against Villa) could catch them for the last playoff spot, though Millwall would need a 9-goal reversal in addition to a win on Sunday.

At the bottom end of the table, there's three points separating 23rd placed Bolton from 19th placed Reading, though the Royals have a 10-goal differential advantage over the nearest struggler (they'd go down if they lost and Birmingham, Burton and Barnsley all won). Birmingham are playing the aforementioned Fulham, and would go down with a loss and Bolton and Burton wins (with a 4-goal differential shift to bolton) OR Burton and Barnsley wins. Sunderland are going to League One no matter what. Sorry suckers.



1 Wolves
45 46 99
2 Cardiff
45 30 89
============================
3 Fulham
45 35 88
4 Aston Villa
45 31 83
5 Middlesbrough
45 22 75
6 Derby
45 19 72
============================
7 Preston
45 10 70
8 Millwall
45 10 69
9 Brentford
45 10 68
10 Bristol City
45 10 67
11 Sheff Utd
45 6 66
12 Norwich
45 -7 60
13 Ipswich
45 -3 59
14 Leeds
45 -7 57
15 QPR
45 -10 56
16 Sheff Wed
45 -5 54
17 Nottm Forest
45 -13 53
18 Hull
45 0 48
19 Reading
45 -22 43
20 Birmingham
45 -32 43
21 Barnsley
45 -21 41
============================
22 Burton
45 -42 41
23 Bolton
45 -36 40
24 Sunderland
45 -31 34

that’s ... something.

Fulham plays Derby, Villa play Boro. Barnsley and Burton join Sunderland on the slide down to League 1 (from which Wigan and Blackburn are coming up! Remember those guys?)

don't let the same thing happen today.

is it a playoff to get promoted?

depending on the league, there are a number of automatic promotions (championship has two, league two has three, not sure about league one) and then the next four in the table are typically vying for the last promotion spot. the semis are played home/away like the CL KO rounds and then the final is at wembley.

some other countries have some pretty strange rules where one of the relegated teams from the division above also drops into the playoffs. if they win, then they are not relegated.

So if it's level at the end of 180, they go to ET, then pens.

gonna be the most meaningless Clasico in a while

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/qvzxgm

kid has 4 goals in 4 starts, playing with ease in multiple positions, hopefully Tuchel gives him a shot like Emery did with Lo Celso (who's kept improving through the season)

Smh. Players with something to prove still don't bother to show up.

On the other hand if Southampton go down, I’ll be honestly sad

Damn.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/sir-alex-ferguson-seriously-ill-surgery-brain-haemorrhage-190922379.html

Sir Alex Ferguson has undergone emergency surgery today for a brain haemorrhage, his former club Manchester United have announced.

The procedure has apparently gone “very well” but he needs a period of intensive care to optimise his recovery. he is reported to be ‘seriously ill’.

United added that the 76-year-old’s family have requested privacy in the matter.

United midfielder Michael Carrick said on Twitter: “Absolutely devastated to hear about Sir Alex being unwell in hospital. All my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Be strong Boss.”

Ferguson’s son Darren, manager of League One side Doncaster, did not attend his side’s final home game of the season against Wigan due to his father’s illness.

crazy

Midfield injuries killed and the team didn't have the depth to still be playing CL football this late in the season.

but that west brom finish was a joke.

Changed the club and changed English football. About 4 years too late (and may OKS be my witness, I’ve been asking for a change for at least that long) but will always be a legend in the game.

really does feel like the end of an era

i can't imagine a man being more dignified in a high-pressure role.

He’s pure class - for better or for worse. He’s the one who got me into football in the first place and then made me fall in love with it

Because holy shit is this going to burst into flames.

if he does well, props. if he doesnt, well who would?

and Shearer went RIGHT back to the couch after the barcodes went down.

>Because holy shit is this going to burst into flames.

From what I understand they're so in debt they won't have any money for him to spend, which means he has one less thing to worry about, and can just get on with the football and making grimly determined faces on the touchline. And if they suck, he won't come off too badly because it's terrible circumstances anyway.

it's steven gerrard.




full disclosure: i wish i had come up with that joke

6th on the table, just missing European football and wondering why...who ends up managing the Toffees next season and what can they do to get back into the top 4 , or at least Europa League, since Sam Allardyce is most likely gone...

i'd be shocked if we come up with 4 points.

Means nothing. They'd beat Barca if they played tomorrow.

because we have chelsea on goal differential? not that klopp knows how to play for a draw; they just seem to happen sometimes.

could have been higher in the table, for whatever that's worth.

If chelsea should somehow draw, LFC takes 4th also

trying to get some clarity on this, but i can't find it anywhere. so if they lose\chelsea wins this weekend, and then they lose to RM in the CL final, they get bumped to Europa?

>trying to get some clarity on this, but i can't find it
>anywhere. so if they lose\chelsea wins this weekend, and then
>they lose to RM in the CL final, they get bumped to Europa?
>

guess China ain't the new new anymore

not sure exactly how that makes sense (you can't play him, coutinho, messi, dembele, and suarez at once, can you?). and atletico's mad about it.

Also, Yerry Mina to liverpool on loan sounds win/win to me. I hope that's what happens if barca needs that non-EU spot.

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

almost finished in 3rd after the wild Spurs/Leicester game.

Has Conte been fired yet?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2018/may/15/david-squires-on-the-north-bank-redemption-arsene-wenger-arsenal

https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2016/jun/17/david-squires-on-england-beating-wales-at-euro-2016

Was in a car crash after dropping his kids off at school. Jesus.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/15/jlloyd-samuel-dies-car-crash-aston-villa-bolton

I'd love to see a young manager with a tactical genius rebuild and grow with the team.

Hiring Carlo would make them like just any other club. Allegri isn't going to leave Juve anytime soon. Tuchel just got hired by PSG. Pep's entrenched at Man City.

So Arteta and Vieira have priors with the club. Vieira has more management experience, but tbf it's at MLS level. Pep has been raving about Arteta's work with him, and is supposedly upset that it's got to come to this.

Because if not...no point in firing Wenger.

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Jack Butland (Stoke City), Nick Pope (Burnley)

Defenders: John Stones (Manchester City), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Leicester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

Midfielders: Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Fabian Delph (Manchester City)

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

There are worse midfields.

No message

i think you have to go

------Dier--Henderson
Sterling---Alli*---Rashford
--------Kane

for a front 6 and even that's nothing special.
*lingard in better form this year but no way he starts since alli's a bigger star

can't compete with champion contenders, but isn't exactly like US-level either.

>*lingard in better form this year but no way he starts since alli's a bigger star

this is a strange argument coming from a mourinho acolyte.

and i dont think he has it. i'd give lingard a run or switch up the system but i would not count on dele alli at all.

but england don’t have the talent to afford keeping, arguably, their second best attacker on the bench. especially an attacker who plays day in and day out with england’s best attacker. international footy is more about molding your tactics to the talent pool available, not the other way around.

on the bench.

i can't wait for harry to get all the blame for his midfielders not getting him chances.

https://streamja.com/bJwj

Keepers (3) : Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/ANG), Steve Mandanda (OM), Alphonse Areola (PSG)

Defense (8) : Djibril Sidibé (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart/ALL), Samuel Umtiti (FC Barcelone), Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (PSG), Adil Rami (OM), Benjamin Mendy (Man. City/ANG), Lucas Hernandez (Atlético de Madrid/ESP)

Midfield (5) : Paul Pogba (Man. United/ANG), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich/ALL), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus Turin/ITA), Ngolo Kanté (Chelsea/ANG), Steven Nzonzi (Séville FC/ESP)

Forwards (7) : Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea/ANG), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelone/ESP), Florian Thauvin (OM), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco).

i saw le10sport say that united is in for him.

was great last year but had an up-and-down season. Suffered a pretty serious injury at the start of last month's 7-1 drubbing from PSG which had most forecasting him out for a long time, but he got a second opinion from a non-team doctor and is somehow back. Kind of a rich man's Kurzawa (the faintest of praises), has the same issues of pushing forward well but not always committed to his actual role

I'm more pleased by Hernandez' inclusion. Always useful to have a wing/central defender on the squad. No offense to Rami but if he sees the field in an elimination game I'll start lighting a prayer candle

no laca, martial, rabiot. interesting.

i thought amavi might get a shot @ LB, he's had a good season.

kimpembe! dude is a boss. rami over laporte tho?

sucks for payet, picking up a knock at the worst possible time.

hoping to see some of the youngins get in the squad soon (moussa, augustin, ndombele, aouar, tousart)



>Keepers (3) : Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/ANG), Steve Mandanda
>(OM), Alphonse Areola (PSG)
>
>Defense (8) : Djibril Sidibé (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard
>(Stuttgart/ALL), Samuel Umtiti (FC Barcelone), Raphaël Varane
>(Real Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (PSG), Adil Rami (OM),
>Benjamin Mendy (Man. City/ANG), Lucas Hernandez (Atlético de
>Madrid/ESP)
>
>Midfield (5) : Paul Pogba (Man. United/ANG), Corentin Tolisso
>(Bayern Munich/ALL), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus Turin/ITA),
>Ngolo Kanté (Chelsea/ANG), Steven Nzonzi (Séville FC/ESP)
>
>Forwards (7) : Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid/ESP),
>Olivier Giroud (Chelsea/ANG), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Ousmane
>Dembélé (FC Barcelone/ESP), Florian Thauvin (OM), Nabil
>Fekir (Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco).

>no laca, martial, rabiot. interesting.
yeah none are hugely surprising based on DD's past choices. Lacazette's recent form probably made the choice harder than he expected. Kinda glad Rabiot didn't get in, he seems to need to understand he has to commit to playing as a gritty #6 now and again

>
>i thought amavi might get a shot @ LB, he's had a good
>season.
his last couple of months didn't do him any favors. He was awful on Weds and DD purposely delayed his announcement by a day to take the game into account. Though that didn't hurt Thauvin who was pretty much a ghost against Atleti


>
>kimpembe! dude is a boss. rami over laporte tho?
DD gonna DD. Rami's been solid all year, maybe he's chill with everyone in the locker room?

what a dunce

given his contrasted record (consistently solid to great wth Paris but steady laying eggs with France) you know he wasn’t gonna start, and it’s clear why Deschamps favored Nzonzi (who’s not getting a minute of playing time either). Precisely because he wanted none of the bitch fest.

I’m more miffed for King Com. Not sure Fekir was the better option but Coman didn’t get enough burn with Munich this year, I guess.

whatever. Now I’m gonna need Kimpembe to start (BETTER, debate your moms). Also, TTBOI (also better at this point).

besides that I really hope charo & Lemar both have a great world cup. They’re my 2 faves on that squad. Mmmmbop too of course.

if there is a guiding force in this universe, he'll be in another shirt come late August.

dude has been very mysterious about his future, saying he had "interesting opportunities" which made it clear he wasn't looking at MLS or China, but for the life of me I can't see why PSG is interested to recruit him. Tuchel hasn't exactly sounded ecstatic about the prospect either, guess our new coach is gonna have the same transfer control issues as the previous ones

Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao), David De Gea (Manchester United), Pepe Reina (Napoli)

Defenders: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Nacho (Real Madrid), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Isco (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Forwards: Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Rodrigo (Valencia), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid)

no Sergi Roberto but no matter this team is primed to win

that forward line is underwhelming for a contender.

and no S. Roberto is surprising. A utility guy like that is useful. Surprised both nacho's got it over him.

another 4-6-0 style roster...though I do love iago aspas. been a pain in the ass to play against for years.

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

would be much more confident in spain if he had gotten more minutes. he also disappeared a couple times i watched.

it's a big ???? in the forward line. which i'm tired of for spain and diego costa suuuuuuuuuuuuucks w/ the spain lineup, imo.
-----------
you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

He's been everywhere; his teammates seem to LOVE him; he gets all the glory of being part of that epic Spain squad with none of the pressure weighing on him or blame when it all fell apart. He was legitimately one of the top three if not top one keeper in the Premier League for a five year stretch. He's gotten to be a vital part of Napoli's rebirth as a factor in Serie A.

but maybe that was more near the end

for Liverpool standing dormant while City, United, Chelsea and Spurs surged past them.

There was a period there at the end where he was the best player on the club by a mile.

Pretty good. I now know much more about Juninho.

wouldn't mind seeing a behind the scenes of the Madrid game

Guess they'll need a couple months still to get it together.

https://twitter.com/bbcsport_david/status/998635490084622341

Sad yet true reality

https://twitter.com/davidjaca/status/998640401555828738



@davidjaca
Get ready for the video sessions, Arsenal players. And lots of them. Joaquin’s famous anecdote is that ‘Emery played so many videos, I ran out of popcorn’. Can exhaust players, suck out their motivation etc.

We'll give him 2 years, maybe 3 to figure it out.

thought his camp had admitted recently that PSG was perhaps a step too high for him. Guess they meant that strictly in a Champions League-sense

i've been telling my mates this whole time that it isn't the next guy that really matters, but the guy after him.

emery will manage the 2-3 yr transitional period, get us back in UCL, and buy gazidis and co. the chance to do a proper managerial search in a non WC year.

https://talksport.com/football/antoine-griezmann-latest-french-star-tells-atletico-madrid-he-will-stay-summer-180522283639

IMO he always wanted to stay in Spain, but Barca doesn't offer assurances of anything except being in Messi's shadow. I think he likes being a big deal in his club, and now that he's finally won something, he feels better about Atletico competing next year. Not saying he won't still go, esp if he blows up this summer, but I'm not expecting it

his price made him a bargain but it's not the move Barca needs to be making, it's better when there are more teams w/ star players, and maybe barca won't fuck up this summer and will have a smart transfer window focused on rebuilding the midfield and shoring up the fullbacks.



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

so Adrien Rabiot was only picked as a supplement for the WC squad (basically extra players who only go if there is an injury to one of the original selectees) and promptly threw a hissy fit, basically explaining sitting on the bench was beneath him. Deschamps reacted by throwing some pretty decent shade, at least by DD standards, during a press conference, and now Rabiot's future with Les Bleus is bleak.
Coupled with Le Duc's clear intention to avoid a #6 role as much as possible, it might be time for him to go.

Uh, I mean, he's a great creative midfielder who loves going forward. Arsenal desperately needs one of those right?

Shoot, what if we throw Verratti in?

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/2018-fifa-world-cup-denmark-coach-age-hareide-launches-extraordinary-attack-on-flashy-french/news-story/478bfbf5c0cce0e14ce7a1f04df87842

Probably make it out of the group whether France smacks them or not, so not much at stake.

In fact, I'm rooting for them and Australia, just because.

I hope he keeps it like this til the Denmark game, then scores a hat trick in the first half & gets a wild disrespectful, styling on you type cut done in the locker room at half time.

saying he's not gonna look for a new club but he feels he's accomplished what he wanted at RM. Madrid fans can correct me but there was 0 noise about him leaving this summer, right?
With him gone, Ronaldo maybe actually going (though we've seen that story before), could be a crazy summer at la Casa Blanca

https://sports.yahoo.com/real-madrid-coach-zinedine-zidane-says-leave-club-000428118--sow.html

I can see a logic behind the move--RM is in for a big transition and he clearly didn't trust the next gen (didnt play Ceballos, Theo Hernandez, Asensio, etc that much). Little reason to believe they'll make up 17 points on barca (who look likely to return an identical squad + improvements) and can you really expect another CL path like he's had?

I wonder if a new coach = C. Ronaldo out and Bale gets primary billing? No matter what, gonna be a crazy summer.

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

so I definitely think he knows what he's doing and is seeing the writing on the wall eg with Ronaldo's latest drama-queen antics

Still, kinda bonkers. Makes me wonder if RM are gonna come extra hard at Neymar now. Cmon $350million bid :)

really nice signing if it goes thru. reminiscent of anelka in '97.

#betterthanalli

All these new age 70-100m transfer phenoms still ain't holding his jock: Martial, Dembele, etc.

Even mbappe- love him, and he'll surpass Anelka, but at 18/19 Nik better.


I think he burned so many Bridges later, people forget just what an absolute monster he was.


I know nothing about this new guy, but safe to say he's no Anelka

And dude had BOLTON pushing for Europe.

just the nature of the signings (same age, same clubs, similar circumstances)

>I know nothing about this new guy, but safe to say he's no
>Anelka