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Feel the Phil.

We nudged him to the glory

I am the clear winner of the prediction league, the 1. Bundesliga fantasy league and the (small but very prestigious) 2. Bundesliga fantasy. Surely the rest of my life will be an anticlimax. I was not aware of the extent of the influence one of the estemed members of our comunity have had on behavioral psychology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/may/30/ernesto-valverde-barcelona-nou-camp-stone-roses?CMP=share_btn_tw When Pep Guardiola left Barcelona, he made two recommendations to be his successor. One was Tito, the other was Ernesto Valverde. Johan Cruyff also highly rated Valverde and always wanted him to one day coach Barcelona.

Great! I wasn't so sure about the idea of letting you win in all competitions but obviously it did pay off. Once again the nudge theory was proven...

Who gives a fuck what that pretentious, snobby, self-righteous muppet says? He's an utter mong.

Iniesta: "I'll never never fight with Barça" In an interview last night with Spanish radio station Onda Cero Andrés Iniesta spoke about various things from the situation regarding his contract renewal (the headline quote), how he thought the season had gone and where the errors had occurred and his future in the Spain national side. Andrés Iniesta isn't one for ever being controversial as he's too diplomatic for that, but when you read him between the lines you do capture what he really feels deep inside. These are the main quotes from the interview live on air last night: On the current situation with his contract renewal. "I've had that contract sitting on the president's table for months waiting to be signed and I've never lied to the club in the past and I haven't done it this time. I always wait until the end of the season and that's what I asked the club let me do this time around again. The reasons are that the older you get, the more you have to take everything into perspective and value it all for my own good and also for the club. It's all about sensations and sentiments with decision making and this is no different. I have to look deep within myself and see what I'm able to offer, see who the club brings in in terms of recruits and from there on we'll see. To retire at Barça would be beautiful and that's what I've always thought I'd do. But if I don't retire at Barcelona because I have to leave, then I won't ever play against them which means that my destination would obviously be outside Europe. I never want to have that sentiment one must feel by playing against something that you've felt inside since you were a child... It would be like confronting my parents although obviously in a different manner. I never want to play against Barcelona, ever!. If I can pick and choose the amount of games I play and injuries respect me, then I can play on for a few years yet at this level, I know myself 200%. But obviously that's all based on luck with injuries and you never know what's around the corner in that respect. I have to evaluate a lot of things, but I want to renew my contract with the club without a doubt and I'll never fight the club in that respect." The summery of the season "It's been a strange season on the personal aspect, one of impotence. One injury was a muscular one that almost kept me out for three months and then there were two other injuries due to tackles I received. When you play in midfield you are part of the mechanics of the side. The further back you play the more organised you have to be which is where tactics come into the reckoning. The further forward you venture into the pitch depending on the state of the game, the more independent you feel and where you're not a threat to what's needed on the whole team aspect. I play in a particular position in midfield where I'm neither one thing or the other, but always subjected to the cogs of the side... If I fail, other features fail or even more detrimental is that if I'm not on my game, the way I play through instinct, then it's better if someone else plays. What I mean is that when I come back from an injury, it tends to take me various fixtures to feel the game again because it's not only the person that returns from injury, but also in your absence the team can change ever so slightly that only you as the footballer will feel it and then you're playing catch-up. From that moment on you not only have to recapture your instincts, but also read what's changed because you can't expect a team to change for you as that's impossible. Once I've achieved these things, then the whole thing slots into place. That's the thing with injuries... Some players come back and they're at it from the word go and others depending on many factors, take more time. It's very sensitive to myself as the individual, the team and the coach who has to make the correct decisions for the team. This is a collective sport and I am a part of the collective." "On how the season has gone for the team in general, well it's frustrating because our first target is always La Liga. It's the most satisfying thing to win as it marks a whole season and tells us all which side has been the best throughout. The season has been very close from beginning to the end which to be honest is very strange considering how many times we failed. The part you ask me about refereeing decisions is too controversial because how do I answer something I don't know about? You want me to give you an answer on something I can't tell you. Errors are made by everyone in life and referees are human beings and they're also part of the game. The game at this level is so fast and so full of moments that errors will occur which is why the more help the referees get starting with the players respecting them and not trying to trick them and finishing with anything that technology can throw at us that will ease the pressure on them. I don't think the referees decided the title because we dropped points against sides we normally beat and in moments where it was in our hands. We failed in those moments and Real Madrid didn't... A league championship is based on regularity, on consistency and our rival was more consistent than us even if only a little bit (laughs). Whoever wins a league title, deserves it." On the new head coach Ernesto Valverde "Valverde's football is well known in Spain and fans in general of all teams enjoy it. He is different to what we've had in recent years but he knows us more than well so he will be able to understand us and at the same time using that understanding, add other factors that hopefully make us more competitive. I hope he succeeds because he's a great guy." On the Champions League Final, Juventus v Real Madrid "(laughs) As a Culé you know the answer. I'm a 'Barcelonista', and as one I never want my rival to win. I'll be with the national team when that game is on and I'll watch it with all my colleagues which should be fun." On the World Cup in Russia and his possible retirement from the Spain national team "I'm not 28 (laughs) and that's the reason I'm hoping we qualify for the World Cup in Russia. I want to enjoy one more international tournament with my country as playing for your national side is the maximum a player can achieve. Being an international means you have done everything correctly and that your country calls you. It's an honour and it's the highest level a footballer can perform in. It will probably be my final tournament, but that decision has to be made correctly when the moment arrives." On Piqué (because it's a Madrid based radio station and Piqué is always on their mind) and Messi "Gerard is the way he is. He isn't two faced and he will tell you things as he sees them. He is an extremely intelligent individual and that can sometimes make him say things others don't understand and at times even us, we don't understand him. Then in the end we see what he meant and you get it. Each person is how he is and you have to respect that because there is no malice in the things Piqué says ever. From my personal point of view he's a great friend, a great person and someone I admire." "Messi is just amazing, but you already know this (everyone laughs). We are very alike personality wise because we don't shout and rage about anything and even in the dressing room we sit quietly just thinking about things. We know each other from when we were kids because even though I'm older than him, we both lived in La Masia and you can say we practically grew up together. On the professional level I've never seen a footballer like him... One thing is watching him on tv, but another is observing him on the pitch. Actually, sometimes it's more interesting observing those that are playing against him, their faces when he receives the ball, the panic, the rival's team adjustment that occurs all of a sudden. It's these things that viewers can't perceive because you have to be on the pitch and we know and feel these things which alters how a game will normally pan out."

I completely agree. Objectively speaking, Messi isn't just the best football player of all time, he's the single best athlete/sportsperson of all time. What he does......it's Art in its purest essence. All hyperbole aside, he's the best Football Player of All Time, AT THE VERY LEAST. Having said that, FC Barcelona has LONG existed and thrived (with varying degrees of success, obviously) way before Messi ever came on the scene. Sure, there have been a significant increase in trophies with Messi but I have no doubt that if and when Messi does retire, say, 5 years from now, Barca will BUILD UPON his legacy and go on to achieve even greater heights of success. Success breeds success, and FC Barcelona will survive and thrive long after the "once in a lifetime entity that is Messi", (whom we are truly blessed and fortunate to bear witness to and admire) has hung up his boots and rode off into the sunset, as it were.

So only managers that have done similar things to Wenger can have an opinion?

Happy Birthday Robbie DiMatteo

Wearing my Make America Great Again cap in front of the top man's tower.