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@N U F C in Sporcle.

Well it's been snowing lately I'd say a mix of history, size, lifestyle..the problem isn't attracting talent anymore, but the lack of funds to actually purchase them. However I think Barcelona are going the right direction. Pedri, Dest and Ansu have the potential to be real stars and spending big money on crap has been the club's main downfall in recent years. Coutinho and Griezmann especially were terrible signings really and cost the total of 250 million or so the money has been invested terribly. Pedri has been the best signing in years, he was 17(18 now) and was purchased for around 4 million. De Jong was also a great signing and a few years of rebuild could work out well, although the club will now have to take a new approach due to financial crisis. Similar to how Bayern function, as Ricardo mentioned. What people forget also is that the team under Pep and Enrique were special sides, there was always going to be a drop when Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta and Alves retire, Messi ages and Busquets and Alba decline(not to mention players like Suarez, Villa, Eto'o and Neymar over the years). It was a once in a lifetime era for the club and football runs in cycles.

Did I say best league?

Tuesday @nudge

These 3 are the forum kids, all born while I’ve been on the place. They’ve got many distant internet aunties and uncles they don’t even know about

Great post, Chris. I agree with most, except for Serie A. Give It a chance. The football played there at the moment is probably the most interesting in continental Europe. Italian coaching has dramatically improved. The likes of De Zerbi, Inzaghi, Gasperini all make their teams play a football that really is pleasant to watch. Also, the level of scouting is great, lots of otherwise unknown players come to Italy and develop into really good players. It's not the league it was in the 90s, but it's really entertaining.

On the one hand, I sympathise with them because they were lied to. They were lied to constantly, pretty much any time they’d watch the news there’d be some Brexiteer cunt lying about how great it would be for the fishing industry. And they were certainly the loudest voice on the issue. But they weren’t the only voice. So on the other hand, it just shows there’s a whole lot of people that went along with lies without looking more into what the fuck Brexit was doing for their particular industry. They could have been a loud voice in protecting themself against self-serving twats like Farage. Instead they went along with the bullshit and now they’re reaping what they sow.

You do get the odd entertaining game like the one this morning. Perfect entertainment to wake up to! And I remember watching this - I think I sat bolt upright when this flew in. Couldn't believe what I'd just seen.

Not the best. You're probably talking League One quality at best, with the odd match that really stands out as higher standard. I don't mind watching it though - like you I end up getting up early and this is on if there's no cricket.

@Spike What are you gonna name your new brother in law ?

As wedding proposals go, this is pretty special to be fair.

The weather must come into play, but Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world by a large margin. United are the global brand but there's a reason why Ronaldo couldn't wait to move to Madrid, 30 something league titles at that point and a European pedigree unmatched by any club in the world. Away from honours and the weather, I do think how the game was viewed in England vs Spain would have some sort of effect. It's only recently the mentality of the English football fan has leant towards technique rather than muscle, highlighted by Freddie Kanoute's observation of his time in England vs Spain, in England they applaud a hard tackle or chasing down the ball pointlessly and in Spain they applauded the intelligence of conserving his energy. Mourinho's comment too about how surprised he was when people celebrated winning a corner in England, that blood and guts mentality. The very best have always played in Spain and they've been appreciated completely there too, and that appreciation goes down to the technically gifted, intelligent players that aren't the world beaters. Then aside from that historically a lot of the best players came from South America, Brazil and Argentina....and Real Madrid and Barce are two biggest clubs on that continent.

All leagues are like this now though, as the Premier league has become the NBA of football unfortunately. There is talk of the Serie A, but I personally believe it's terrible compared to what it should be. The quality is closer to the MLS than the Serie A of the 90s and it's become more competitive due to Juventus declining. C.Ronaldo is their only top player right now. These clubs themselves can no longer compete for the big money signings in the long run. We won't be seeing Mbappe going there or Haaland, for example, that is for sure. La Liga will become more open now itself and that's not because of quality, but due to a lack of it. It's exciting to watch but I've never known it to be so devoid of world class stars. I would say the Bundesliga is full of young talent and should, in theory, be about to step into a great era. However, other than Bayern, the other 17 clubs are simply warming players up ready to move to the Premier League. They can't compete with these ridiculous TV deals and foreign investors. It will only become significantly worse and especially since the covid crisis. This is also why a European Super league will inevitably be formed, as clubs will break off in an attempt to create a league which can compete financially with the Premier league, which itself is a Super League. Football will never be the same again and VAR has destroyed it itself. It was an awful decision to implement technology in this sport. It doesn't work.

Massive incel vibes this post

Why does it seem that all the evil/hated characters are women?? I mean fair play, they really do the characters some justice when you hope something horrible happens to them or they get some just desserts at some point... I don't know, where do they draw that inspiration for being manipulative and scheming from...

That's an understatement... I hear nowadays he rejects roles that die on screen though In all seriousness, I think Jennifer Connelly carried the show in Season 1. Without her, it would be much, much worse.

Doubtful.... He does not do well with his characters does he...

Really looking forward to it... Can't wait to see if Sean Bean's character lives until the end of the season

I like a lot of this guy's stuff. This has to be the best rant about Trump I've heard to date.

And if you'd focus more on the forum instead of making babies. You'd have as many reputation points as me!

Yep it's taken a lot of time for that division to start getting up to a competitive level and I hope it continues for a few years.

I agree. This is what Serie A clubs did. Sure, Serie A is not the powerhouse it was in the 90s, but the overall quality of the league has really improved a lot compared to where it was 10 years ago. And on a much more sustainable model, which is good. Covid is an issue, but in my opinion it has only accelerated a process that would happen anyway. The structural conditions for long-term financial domination were never there. Barcelona and Real Madrid can´t compete with Premier League clubs financially in the long run. La Liga is just way behind PL in worldwide viewership, sponsorship and TV contracts. Both clubs will need to operate more like Bayern, getting the most promissing players in their domestic football at an earlier age and developing them into world-class players, instead of attracting the very best players in the world and paying huge sums for them.

If anyone wants to know how I react to any @MUFC post, just look at the face on the left. It's a mixture of confusion and 'wtf'.

Queenslanders sleep with their shoes on? I always stamp on my shoes or bang then before putting them on. Spiders, spiders everywhere.

Was inevitable really. HBO considering Robert’s Rebellion series, https://winteriscoming.net/2021/01/21/hbo-considering-roberts-rebellion-series-game-thrones-projects/