El Profesor
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Everything posted by El Profesor
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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.
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Definitely. If they had cash, Haaland would be a target. Like Jovic was. There's something wrong with Real's finances and their different behavior in the transfer market is a reflect of this crisis. Also, some years ago, Hazard would already have been shipped off to another club. Instead, he will be getting every chance to prove himself there because Real can't really afford anymore players of his talent.
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The La Liga era is over. Barcelona and Real Madrid will have to learn to operate in a different way. It always felt inevitable. Spain's economy isn't developed enough to support the best football teams in the world and La Liga was too slow to build a worldwide viewership in comparison to Premier League. Barça and Real Madrid will need better coaching and scouting to compete on a continental level, after all the money won't come up so easy.
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I just have no words for it. Thousands of brazilian are losing their Lives because of our irresponsible and criminal president. In Manaus, patients are dying suffocated due to a lack of oxygen in the city hospitals. It's devastating. So far, a grand total of 0 people have been vaccinated in Brazil.
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The stage of capitalism where we´re at, with mass production giving consumers an unending possibility of product choices created a generation of people who has a hard time coping with the denial of their wishes. Since politics is a zero-sum game, this reflects in a tendency of using of political violence when your side is defeated. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
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This is the best article I´ve read about the coronavirus. Lawrence Wright is a brilliant writer. It´s really long, but there´s also an audio version for those prefer it (it´s more than 3 hours long, btw). Probably the best pice of writting of 2020. Just amazing. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/the-plague-year
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Yes, they're going the Cruzeiro route. It's even worse for Botafogo though, since at least Cruzeiro has a massive fanbase. This is not the case for Botafogo, their fanbase is relatively small.
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Yes. They're terrible. Botafogo is definitely being relegated this year. And worst, I think the existence of the club is at stake. Botafogo has huge debts. I don't see a way around it, specially with relegation. A shame, such a traditional club. Lecaros looked good in their last match against Corinthians.
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Neymar has organized a huge party to celebrate the new year. It will last 5 days, from the 26th to the 31st December, and 500 people were invited. According to rumours, the guests have their cellphones confiscated at the entrance. That party is the hottest topic in brazilian social medias at the moment. In fairness to Neymar, most people in Brazil really don't care about the pandemic anymore. It's a bad look for sure, but he's far from being the only one. This must be said. It could affect european football as a whole though. It wouldn't be a surprise if we see big COVID outbreaks in most european leagues when the brazilian players return from the break.
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Manchester United Discussion
El Profesor replied to a topic in Premier League - English Football Forum
I don't think so. With Rabiot and Ramsey finally settled and producing, and also with the arrivals of McKennie and Arthur, Juventus has depth at the midfield position. Pogba would improve Juventus but not at the cost of Ronaldo. Dybala should be the one included in a deal. Juventus is still very dependent on Ronaldo. Despite Morata having improved their attack, the likes of Dybala, Kulusevski, Chiesa and Bernardeschi are not giving Juventus enough at the moment. I think the team that needs Pogba the most though is PSG. They need an addition to their midfield in the winter If they are to make another deep run on Campions League. -
Yes. Bolsonaro put all his coins on Trump and now we brazilians are going to get screwed big time. Some people on the potential Biden administration have already indicated that they're not going to deal with Brazil. In some sense though, I think considering the profile of our economy it was always a matter of when not if that we would end up more aligned to China than to the US.
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That's the highest xG score I've ever seen.
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He's still a great CB and Pepe has been much more disciplined since the end of Mourinho era at Real Madrid. A guy like him would be a decent addition for Liverpool considering the circumstances. It's harder to get a long-term fix like Koundé or Upamecano in January because Sevilla and Leipzig have ambitious goals for this season and I kinda suspect Liverpool might be saving its bullets to move for Mbappé next summer. But I guess van Dijk's injury could change FSG's plans.
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Saw on Twitter an analyst mentioning that Liverpool should bring Pepe, from Porto, in January. It doesn't need necessarily to be Pepe, but I think that bringing a cheap veteran CB in January as a stop-gap to the decisive moments of the season makes a lot of sense for Liverpool.
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Tottenham Hotspur Discussion
El Profesor replied to a topic in Premier League - English Football Forum
On portuguese TV they're saying Benfica striker Carlos Vinícius is going to Tottenham on loan. This is a really good signing. He's a good player and it's really tough to find talent players that would accept limited playing time with Kane being the undisputed starting striker. -
Braithwaite seems to be a really nice person. Can't help but root for him.
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I'm not sure about the rules, maybe Chris can explain, but Barça moved some of their highest salaries with all those exits, not to mention the Semedo transfer fee. They'll sign at least one of Gini, Dest or Depay. Right now, Dest seems the closest to moving to Barça.
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I still think Barcelona will sign a player. Lots of movement, many exits, Koeman will secure at least Gini or Depay, I think.
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Koeman told Puig he isn't getting much playing time this season. A loan would be ideal for Puig, he needs to play regularly and gain more body strenght. Barcelona should find a team that will give him minutes and that has a good structure for him to develop some muscles.
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Some observations from the 1st half of the Girona friendly: - Araújo and Trincão are good, they will be important for Barcelona this season; - Coutinho looks impressive in the pressing, the Bayern loan after all might have done him good, he is stronger physically and more commited to his defensive obligations as well; - Front three without Suárez is much more athletic and pacy; - Messi... seems happy? ; - Koeman has a much better idea of what he wants from this team than Setién; - Playing with this motivation and hunger, Barça can definitely fight for La Liga. @Carnivore Chris
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Everton is showing interest in Torino's young brazilian defender Bremer.
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Interesting midfield formation, Chris. I have a serious gut feeling that Koeman actually, deep down, wanted Messi to leave. He obviously will never admit it, but that's what I feel. That doesn't mean I think Barça would be better without Messi, but I think Koeman planned to rebuild this team with the attack centered around Griezmann, with intense pressure and athleticism from all players. It will be interesting to see how he will fit Messi on that equation. From what I read on Twitter, people were impressed by the effort and commitment put by the 2nd half formation to win back the ball. I still think Barça will regret the Arthur deal. Many Barça fans are writting him off as a failure because of 2 games after the pause, but he was one Barcelona´s best players in the early part of last season and under Pirlo, he will grow a lot.
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Hazard seems to gain weight very easily. They're not happy about it in Spain.
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General La Liga Discussion
El Profesor replied to Carnivore Chris's topic in Spanish Football Forum - La Liga
This is interesting. I remember saying in a convo with Sir Balon that La Liga was condemned in the long-term because middle and small teams in Spain are just too fragile financially but maybe the pandemic will accelerate the process of weakening of domestic spanish football. -
Marcelo Pitaluga to Liverpool is a done deal. Liverpool will pay Fluminense 1 million euros and could pay an additional 1 million euros in bonus. Marcelo is a 17-year old brazilian goalkeeper. He's a big goalkeeper, 1,91m tall, and is said to be really good. Marcelo is a starter for Brazil's U-17 team. Fluminense is so broke, this is peanuts for a player of his potential. Alisson's brother, Muriel, plays for Fluminense and Alisson trained with Marcelo last year, so it's not much of a surprise that Alisson played a big role in that transfer in convicing the kid to move to England.
