Stan

27 minutes ago, Coma said:

Ha, how many levers are they gonna pull to make this happen?  They have no money.

I could see Kimmich wanting to leave though.  He wants to play the 6 but no one will let him.

We'll take him as a replacement for Dewsbury-Hall or Ndidi

PLEASE GET ALL PREDICTIONS IN BY FRIDAY 14th JUNE - Topic will be LOCKED at 20.00 (BST)

Friday 14th June, 2024
Group A
Germany vs Scotland, 20.00

Saturday 15th June, 2024
Group A
Hungary vs Switzerland, 14.00

Group B
Spain vs Croatia, 17.00
Italy vs Albania, 20.00

Sunday 16th June, 2024
Group C
Slovenia vs Denmark, 17.00
Serbia vs England, 20.00

Group D
Poland vs Netherlands, 14.00

Monday 17th June, 2024
Group E
Romania vs Ukraine, 14.00
Belgium vs Slovakia, 17.00

Group D
Austria vs France, 20.00

Tuesday 18th June, 2024
Turkey vs Georgia, 14.00
Portugal vs Czech Republic, 20.00

I will send out a reminder 2-3 days beforehand for anyone that hasn't predicted.

23 minutes ago, OrangeKhrush said:

A Home Grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).

So there's 9 players listed above that meet that criteria, or will soon given their age as some are currently under 21.

Plus a quick scour around the internet shows the following are also classed as home-grown, or if currently U21 will be classed as HG if Chelsea keep them by the time they turn 21:

Robert Sanchez
Jamie Cumming
Marcus Bettinelli
Ian Maatsen
Bashir Humphreys
Tino Anjorin
Harvey Vale
Mason Burstow

Granted some might not stick around, but they're not short of homegrown players, or with several players in their academy that could come through the ranks.

First ever European trophy for a Greek club too. 

Fiorentina losing in this final 2 years in a row. 

Shite. 

Can't tell it's a football club badge.

Looks like a sign for a bottle bank. 

Corberan or van Nistelrooy apparently. 

8 minutes ago, OrangeKhrush said:

Chelsea's last real asset and another HG player, not sure how they will meet the UEFA home grown quota.

Its a good signing for Villa.

Off the top of my head:

Chalobah, Colwill, Chilwell, James, Gilchrist, Sterling, Chukwuemeka, Madueke, Palmer. 

Not even sure what the HG rules are these days but there's enough there I think, plus enough players U21 that don't need to be counted into the squads. 

As for 'last real asset', just patently not true.

36 minutes ago, ScoRoss said:

 

Champions League and Europa League expansion taking up more midweeks, and aren't always in the same midweek. 

Champions League first league stage fixtures are the week of 17th September. Europa League doesn't start until the next week.

Seeding is to keep the teams in different competitions apart. Otherwise there is no day available to play the game.

Funny how managers are quick to point the finger at domestic cups for 'fixture congestion' but not heard many, if any, managers shout out at the Champions League expansion... 

46 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

Rooney to Plymouth, Maresca to yourselves and Kompany to Bayern.

Very very random.

It's like playing FM for 20 years and seeing who's knocking around at a club you never thought they'd be associated with

Where's that money come from?! 

Don't mind players progressing but this stuff annoys me in football. 

Palace have their hands on a decent player but they don't get enough time (not even 2 seasons?!) out of him because a big club will just pay stupid money even if they slap a massive price tag on him. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cl7725g1xjdo

Quote

 

Bayern Munich have appointed Vincent Kompany as their new head coach on a three-year deal.

The Belgian, 38, succeeds Thomas Tuchel and leaves Burnley for the Bundesliga side after the two clubs agreed a compensation fee.

Kompany won the Championship with Burnley in 2022-23, but the Clarets suffered relegation from the Premier League this season after finishing 19th.

"It's a great honour to be able to work for this club - FC Bayern is an institution in international football," said the former Manchester City defender.

Kompany, who retired from playing in 2020, joined Burnley from Anderlecht in 2022 and signed a five-year contract extension last year.

However, he refused to answer questions about his future after the Clarets' home defeat by Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season.

Burnley said they were initially confident of keeping Kompany at Turf Moor but "the changing dynamics of the situation" made it impossible.

"We understand the allure and prestige of a club like Bayern Munich and respect Vincent’s ambition to explore new opportunities," the club said.

 

Reminder

@Pyfish @Tommy @nawoo 

Saturday
Mexico 3-1 Bolivia
Costa Rica 0-2 Uruguay
Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Real Madrid
Brazil Women 5-0 Jamaica Women

Sunday
Philadelphia Union 2-1 Montreal
LA FC 3-2 Dallas
Gent 0-1 Genk
Metz 1-2 St Etienne
Atalanta 3-1 Fiorentina
Vasco 0-2 Flamengo

Tag colours need changing 

Final squad announced 

Protecting the big clubs once again. 

Quote

 

Everton are interested in signing midfielder Kalvin Phillips on a season-long loan deal from Premier League champions Manchester City.

Phillips joined City from Leeds for £45m in 2022 but has struggled to make an impression and spent the second half of last season on-loan at West Ham.

The 28-year-old was part of the England team that reached 2020 European Championship final, but is now out of favour under manager Gareth Southgate and has failed to make the cut for this summer's tournament.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c9een8l88xko

34 minutes ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Where did I say it would?Have to say googled Greenwood and saw the accusations were mentioned in his German wiki entry. Saw a sentence there you apparently ignored, though: "Die Anklage wurde Anfang Februar 2023 fallen gelassen, nachdem Hauptbelastungszeugen ihre Aussagen zurückgezogen hatten und neue Beweismittel bekannt geworden waren.^"   

The intersting parts are bolded and translate to: " The charges were dropped after new evidence emerged."  Not sure whether I'm willing to brush aside that and the doctrine "innocent until proven guilty" as  easily as you seem to do.

 

I didn't need to read the Wiki entry, so no I didn't ignore anything. 

You haven't seen the videos. 

No-one knows what the new evidence was. I don't think it's ever been publicised. But what was publicised was Greenwood beating the shit out of his then girlfriend. Clear evidence, not a Wikipedia line. 

Charges being dropped doesn't equate to not being an abuser. 

7 hours ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

To be honest, don't think that would tarnish their reputation since I guess the least Germans know about his domestic abuse history. I didn't because not even football magazines reported about it let alone other media outlets. And as long as Brits don't spent much money on Dortmund merch the reputation Dortmund has in the UK is of no significance for them, to be frank.

Sorry but that doesn't absolve who he is or what his behaviour is like towards women. 

Whether fans know about it or not shouldn't be the decision-maker for Dortmund, and Dortmund themselves would fully know his history (if not, they must be living under a rock). 

It's not about Dortmund's reputation in the UK, either. 

There's probably a reason football magazines or media outlets didn't report it. It may be that they didn't want to be open to all kinds of legal minefields on what they can/can't report. 

Have you seen the videos of when the abuse surfaced? They're not pleasant. He's a vile man and Dortmund would do well to steer clear of signing someone like this, whether his reputation is bad/not known in Germany or not. 

Kick-off 20.00 (BST)

Venue - Stade de France, Paris

Live on BT Sport

        VS     

REFEREE - Slavko Vincic
VAR - Nejc Kajtazovic
 

Borussia Dortmund - Road to Wembley
Group Stage - 1st
Round of 16 (1st Leg) - PSV 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Round of 16 (2nd Leg) - Borussia Dortmund 2-0 PSV
Quarter-Finals (1st Leg) - Atletico Madrid 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Quarter-Finals (2nd Leg) - Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Atletico Madrid
Semi-Finals (1st Leg) - Borussia Dortmund 1-0 PSG
Semi-Finals (2nd Leg) - PSG 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Top Scorer - Niclas Fullkrug - 3
 

Real Madrid - Road to Wembley
Group Stage - 1st
Round of 16 (1st Leg) - RB Leipzig 0-1 Real Madrid
Round of 16 (2nd Leg) - Real Madrid 1-1 RB Leipzig
Quarter-Finals (1st Leg) - Real Madrid 3-3 Man City
Quarter-Finals (2nd Leg) - Man City 1-1 (aet) Real Madrid
Semi-Finals (1st Leg) - Bayern Munich 2-2 Real Madrid
Semi-Finals (2nd Leg) - Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich

Top Scorer - Joselu / Vinicius / Rodrygo - 5

Team History in Champions League

Borussia Dortmund
Last Champions League Final - 2013 - Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Times Won - 1
Runners-Up - 1

Real Madrid
Last Champions League Final - 2022 - Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool
Times Won - 14
Runners-Up - 3

Kick-off 20.00 (BST)

Venue - Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens

Live on BT Sport

       VS      

REFEREE - Artur Soares Dias
VAR - Tiago Martins
 

Olympiacos - Road to Athens
Group Stage - 3rd (Europa League)
Knockout Round Play-offs (1st Leg) - Olympiacos 1-0 Ferencvaros
Knockout Round Play-offs (2nd Leg) - Ferencvaros 0-1 Olympiacos
Round of 16 (1st Leg) - Olympiacos 1-4 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Round of 16 (2nd Leg) - Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-6 (aet) Olympiacos
Quarter-Finals (1st Leg) - Olympiacos 3-2 Fenerbahce
Quarter-Finals (2nd Leg) - Fenerbahce 1-0p Olympiacos
Semi-Finals (1st Leg) - Aston Villa 2-4 Olympiacos
Semi-Finals (2nd Leg) - Olympiacos 2-0 Fenerbahce

Top Scorer - Ayoub El Kaabi - 10
 

FIORENTINA - Road to Athens
Group Stage - 1st
Round of 16 (1st Leg) - Maccabi Haifa 4-3 Fiorentina
Round of 16 (2nd Leg) - Fiorentina (aet) 1-1 Maccabi Haifa
Quarter-Finals (1st Leg) - Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Fiorentina
Quarter-Finals (2nd Leg) - Fiorentina (aet) 2-0 Viktoria Plzen
Semi-Finals (1st Leg) - Fiorentina 3-2 Club Brugge
Semi-Finals (2nd Leg) - Club Brugge 1-1 Fiorentina

Top Scorer - Lucas Beltran / Nicolas Gonzalez - 4

1 hour ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Is he that bad or are Leicester interested in him as well? Genuine question since not following Premier League.

It's his domestic abuse history - I wouldn't want him anywhere near us!

1 hour ago, The Palace Fan said:

A lot of very repetitive winners. 

I could never understand when I was younger why American sports had draft systems. Obviously it would never work over here as you'd eliminate the concept of relegation, but seeing graphs like that make me realise why they do it and why it works for them.

Scotland is the worst.

Closely followed by Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia.

Other leagues may be repetitive but at least there's at least 1 different winner in the past 5 seasons.

Don't do it, Dortmund