El Profesor

By the way, I think Paquetá is the perfect Klopp player. Dude is a machine both defending and attacking. I agree on Poch. I also think he won't survive the season. But to be fair, it's really tough to fit Neymar and Messi at this point of their careers. Neymar lost some of his pace, he can't really be a winger anymore. I'm not sure what Poch should do. That job is quite the trap, as Tuchel can attest.

Icardi makes it 2-1 PSG. Very unfair for Lyon. That penalty call was bizarre. It was Neymar who actually fouled Gusto (who looks like he's the real deal, btw. Only 18) Anyway, there is lot to be excited for Lyon fans. Their midfield is one of the best in the world, Paquetá, Bruno and Caqueret all had very good performances. Bosz is a good coach and they'll fight for the Europa League title this season.

Bruno is going to the top. Excited to see how he develops under Bosz. He's my favorite brazilian midfielder.

Barça sold Emerson to Tottenham for a fee of 30 million euros. They bought him from Betis this summer and turned into a profit. Considering that they have already Dest at RB and the financial position of the club, it's a good deal. The other big news involving Barça today is that their attempt to sign João Felix on a loan. I like it a lot for Barça but I'm not entirely sure Atleti will agree.

Paquetá's control is beautiful. Dembélé slots home to put Lyon in advantage.

Honestly? I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the retreat being purposely botched to justify a renewal of american presence in Afghanistan. I mean, on my opinion it's just incompetence but considering US's government long history of lies to manufacture support for foreign interventions (e.g. the Tunkin Gulf incident, Saddam's WMD), it's hard not consider this possibility. But then again, I'm far from an expert, so it may be just me being stupid.

This is how it all started, for those who didn't see it:

In fairness to Payet, I don't think professional players should put up with that kind of behavior from fans.

That's common in France. Marseille fans always throw objects at PSG fans and the league does nothing, for example. Something like that was bound to happen, considering the neglect of authorities. IMO Nice should lose this match and play at least 5 home matches without fans on the stadium.

It's the Nice fans this time. They were throwing bottles at Payet, who lost it and threw it back. Then, the fans invaded. Players were also involved in brawls. Ligue 1 has to put an end to it. In Brazil, it was common to see such scenes. But in the early 2000s, teams were heavily punished, any time objects were thrown by fans, teams lost the right to host matches with fans. Now, it is very rare to see fans throwing objects on the pitch.

Wild scenes in Nice. Fans have invaded the pitch.

What a goal by Paquetá.

Atlético Mineiro signed Diego Costa to pair up with Hulk in the attack. Flamengo signed Andreas Pereira, Kenedy and will make an effort to sign David Luiz and Thiago Mendes. Dudu has returned to Palmeiras after a loan in Qatar Not a bad window for the 3 strongest clubs in brazilian football.

Biden gives me some serious Brezhnev vibes: a gerontocrat that came into power after a period of huge instability and whose main mission is to keep the illusion that everything is ok. I might be completely wrong, but I see Biden more as a caretaker than as a proactive president. I feel like the entire logic of his administration regarding foreign policy will be trying to stay away from and postponing any substantial commitment in money and in lives.

IMO the exit from Afghanistan marks the end of the "boots on the ground" era. The US will continue meddling in the Middle East but with a more discrete approach. Airstrikes and drone attacks, the use of small elite units and mercenaries are here to stay.

So guys, I made a list of books and podcasts (I love to make lists of books I want to read ) that help understand american intervention in Middle East. Some books: Overal History of Middle East 1) "Islam: A Short History", Karen Armstrong 2) "A Line in the Sand: The Anglo-French Struggle for the Middle East, 1914–1948", James Barr 3) "Lords of the Desert: The Battle Between the United States and Great Britain for Supremacy in the Modern Middle East", James Barr 4) "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East", David Fromkin 5) "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror", Stephen Kinzer 6) "Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East", Gerges Fawaz Iraq 1) "Imperial Life in The Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone"; 2) "The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi", Aram Roston 3) "Saddam: King of Terror", Con Coughlin 4) "Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation-Building and a History Denied", Toby Dodge 5) "Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad", Oliver Poole 6) "The Fall of Baghdad", Jon Lee Anderson 7) "The Iran-Iraq War", P. Razoux Afghanistan 1) "Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History", Thomas J. Barfield 2) "Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban", Stephen Tanner 3) "The American War in Afghanistan: A History", Carter Malkasian 4) "The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan", Gregory Feifer 5) "Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan", Artemy Kalinovsky Podcasts "Blowback" - Season 1 "Conflicted" - Series of Episodes: Prophet´s Dilemma: The Sunni Shia Split "The Fault Line: Bush, Blair and Iraq" (Podcast) "Conflicted" - Episode: Ghosts in the Mountain - The Soviet-Afghan War

This feels like a repeat of Iraq. Ahmed Chalabi was also a nobody in Iraq before 2003, right?

I've found a thread on Twitter regarding the Afghanistan Papers. It gives some well needed perspective on how the regime backed by the US collapsed so quickly. The level of corruption and incompetence is hard to believe.

Interesting thread from an expert on the reasons of the fall of afghan government. Seems very similar to what happened to South Vietnam.

Nice to see the Parc des Princes at full capacity again. One of the best atmospheres in european football. And Icardi opens the score for PSG. Great assist by Diallo.

Hulk is at the moment the best player in brazilian football and should return to our NT in my opinion.

Finished "The Great Gatsby". Loved it. Now after reading "The Quiet American", I´m once again back to Vietnam.

I gave "The English Patient" a try because I saw that it was awarded the "Man Booker Prize" and also because I tend to like everything related to World War II but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Actually, I am a huge historical fiction fan in general. Have you read "A Brief History of Seven Killings" ? It also won the "Man Booker Prize" and the synopsis really attracted me. I may give it try. And yes, I'm loving "The Great Gatsby". Probably because I'm interested that post-WW1 atmosphere the book portrays.

I gave "The English Patient" a try, but I just couldn´t keep reading it. I´ve found it to be super boring. Now, I´m reading "The Great Gatsby" and I´m loving it.

Is it true that Taliban gained popularity in part because the group opposed the practice of Bacha-Bazi? I also rmemeber reading somewhere that the americans allied themselves with warlords that were keen on this practice and that this undermined their efforts to gain the hearts and minds of the afghan population.