Viva la FCB

Will miss this guy.

Will be interesting to follow his development. I think he would have benefited from another year with Mainz but we'll see how this works out.

Wow this came out of seemingly nowhere.

Its dumb and I dont agree with it at all. Basically from what I can gather theres a few reasons; Hes on the highest wages for a defender, can generate funds from a sale and they dont see him as a clear upgrade on anyone in the mix for a starting spot. We also probably had to sell a CB I suppose is the other side of this as theres just too many. Even with De Ligt sold we still have Upa, Kim, Dier, Stanisic and Ito. Stanisic and Ito can cover LB/RB as well but its definitely crowded.

Its not a gotcha moment or any big revelation but it certainly is very rare for any media member part of the system to call it out for what it is. That is why its important to spread the message regardless imo even if it reaches a handful of new people its worth it. Its why I applaud Buttigieg for going on Fox because you're absolutely right enough people dont go outside their eco chambers or algorithm or even attempt to fact check for themselves anymore. Whether or not he changes anyone's opinion is unlikely and hes even said himself if he reaches one person its worth it to him.

Saturday 17th August, 2024 Derby 0-0 Middlesbrough, 12.30 Osnabruck 0-2 Freiburg, 14.30 Parma 1-2 Fiorentina, 17.30 Rangers 2-0 St Johnstone, 17.45 Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Stuttgart, 19.30 Valencia 1-2 Barcelona, 20.30 Sunday 18th August, 2024 Rennes 1-2 Lyon, 19.45 Palmeiras 0-3 Sao Paulo, 20.00 Boavista 0-2 Sporting Braga, 20.30 Mallorca 0-3 Real Madrid, 20.30

The league is the best to predict

Yeah I didn't get that at all but alright man. He blames the media nearly entirely and even his own network because they've all fallen in the trap of just looking at numbers and their own bottom lines instead of actual reporting. Such as calling out not fact checking Trump, he's not blaming Trump at all lol.

Yeah I don't disagree. Sweden looks really strong too for that matter, Finland maybe to a lesser extent. It just feels like it's been so long since we've had real best on best international hockey.

To PSG he goes.

Yep any available NHLer is eligible, they worked out a deal with the league. I actually think the US team is stronger for the first time in a long while. Dont get me wrong the Canadian side still looks really good but the weakness in goal is quite apparent this time around. Should be some great games!

Definitely winter, and thank fuck hockey is coming back for the next one baby.

Yeah thats true too i suppose. As you said money/greed is a main motivating factor in not going back to lower leagues after ageing out. So if that doesnt exist what motivation would there be.

Yeah I get what you mean. What I was trying to say (and poorly, I apologize) If the numbers of youth and lower tier ref's are in danger though (idk about Germany or Europe in general but in NA as Coma was talking about its a huge issue) that one way of mitigating that is to be rid of the age rule. Because if your youth and lower tier ref participation dwindles, eventually I would think it would have to affect the pool of top tier choices.

This might be one of the best rants Ive seen from any news media member in some time. So perfectly on the nose.

I suppose thats true but at the same time where do pro ref's come from? I assume it starts in youth and lower tier levels.

The latest here. All teams interested in loan with purchase option and given his injury record thats probably the only way we could move him. Sad days but the guy cannot stay healthy for a season much like allot of our players it seems.

All the more reason to get rid of the age rule that keeps removing very capable ref's.

This signing in general aint looking good. Guy hasn't ever looked comfortable when hes had a chance and this pre season was not really different. Destined to be sold after this I reckon.

Word was Leverkusen set a deadline on Tah. This is the latest, hopefully its done then and we can move on.

Yeah I wont stop watching it but this whole season moved at a snails pace. It felt like how far they moved the story along could have been done in a few episodes let alone an entire season. Disappointing.

W for Stuttgart!

Bild is refuting the report. Says same thing in that Leverkusen is willing to sell at around €30m though and I do think it likely happens if we sell De Ligt still.