Mpache

Uruguay and Argentina have the best culture in the world along with England in my opinion.

I completely agree with everything in the post, but YES to this specific segment here. I remember there was an offside in the build up of the Palmeiras - River game that nobody saw or would have questioned without VAR. That's the sort of thing that pisses me off. Not clear and obvious at all. VAR could actually work with improved offside rules too, but they need to cut out that non-clear and obvious shite.

This is fantastic

I like the Europa league. It doesn't benefit the clubs directly but it benefits coefficients. Not only that but I think it's a necessary competition to measure which league is stronger. The Champions League only has the strongest team of each nation, which isn't always telling. I firmly believe they also need to measure the secondary and tertiary teams.

I really hope more clubs do this. I hate VAR but I think the right approach is asking around how to improve it, instead of shoehorning it in without any sort of regulation.

Shocker from Ole.

Not sure how unpopular this is but here we go. Keepers are always regarded as best when they reach their old age, but I think that same opinion should apply to CB's. The best and most mature tournament performances I can think of from CB's were over 30, and they weren't as good prior to that. Let's take a look. Diego Godin - I didn't like him until Simeone kicked in. He just kept getting better with age. He was about 28-31 when he was key in those runs with Atletico Madrid from 2014-2017. Mario Yepes - The 2nd best CB in the 2014 World Cup at around 37/38 years of age. Martin Demichelis - After the penalty woe against Barcelona in that 2013-14 CL, he reinvented himself and became the best CB and a key piece for City to win that title over Liverpool. Was also the best CB in the 2014 World Cup, easily. 34 years of age. Alberto Rodriguez - Have to shoehorn this one in. Average to good defender before 2013, then became the 2nd most important asset to Peru's World Cup qualification. We still haven't recovered from his absence. Pepe - Was always a good CB but has become even better since leaving Real Madrid. One of Portugal's key performers in the 2016 Euro's if not THE best player for them, and still performing at a high level in the CL. Brazil should have never let him go. Diego Lugano - Similar to Godin really. Just like keepers, a few of them who relied on pace don't age quite as well, but keepers are similar really. There are exceptions. Casillas hasn't aged as well as Buffon, for example.

100% agreed. It's a good stat to have in the modern day. Same with xA. I get so frustrated when a player I like to watch makes a good pass, then his player misses the shot. Without the low assist number, people take it in as how the assister did badly, when really his pass was sensational and not finished by his teammate.

How to ruin someones childhood in a photo:

I think that's an awesome gesture. Also glad he's alive to see it. Though perhaps it would have been better to name that to a Paulista stadium rather than a Carioca one.

I'm going to wait a few months worth of travel news before I make plans. Maybe I can start planning in July, my best hope is I can go to Europe in October/November.

I would be OK with that really.

@El Profesor Who wins Copa do Brasil today? I only really care cos it will determine Ayacucho's opposition in the Libertadores.

Guilty pleasure, I used to cut my hair like that. I stopped doing it once I realized that it would no longer be visible after 2 or 3 days, because of how quick it would grow back

Vilca looks a lot stronger now. Hope he can debut/get a loan out soon.

Yeah I'm not travelling until young adults are getting vaccinated. I'm hoping I could at least travel within Canada this summer. However, it's not so much the virus that scares me, it's getting stuck within a country that does so.

How possible do people reckon travel will be by June/July?

Have to unleash my hidden power then.

The whole discussion. THE WHOLE DISCUSSION! FFS

We should merge this with the Off Topic thread really. It's dead.

Ha, yeah I got banned in 2014 from the original forum but was allowed back here. I've had a few close calls on here but I blame Teso driving me nuts for those. Stan is a great fella in seriousness.

You're still known as Halewood tbf.

Well nice to meet you. I haven't been arrested in a jail or anything but I was behind forum bars from 2014-2017. Stan arrested me. Like the pope, I forgave him.

Is it Fiddy Pence or whatever his name was?

He gets a lot of people riled up, but he never "attacks" anyone or resorts to personal insults. He's just here to have a laugh really, which I see nothing wrong with.