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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

Top five transfers to the PL so far:

1) Rodri, 23-year-old CM to City from Atletico for €70 million

2) N'Dombele, 22-y-o CM to Spurs from Lyon for €60 mil

3) Aaron Wan-Bissaka , 21-y-o RB to United from Palace for €55 mil

4) Mateo Kovacic, 25-y-o CM to Chelsea from Madrid for €45 mil

5) Raul Jimenez, 28-y-o CF to Wolves from Benfica for €38 mil

Andre Gomes is no. 7. That's a lotta center mids!

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

What is your impression of Rodri. From what I have read, his data profile does not really match up with Fernandinho, but there is some questioning of whether or not that's because of Atletico's weirdness tactically.

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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

I've always thought the idea of a "Fernandinho replacement" was kind of silly/myopic. No two players are the same; coaches like Pep tweak things to amplify their strengths. As for Rodri, I never watched Atleti and thought "wow, this guy is amazing", but he ticks all the analytical boxes, and the team was pretty good with him in the lineup. He also got to show-out a bit more with Villarreal, too. Also: he's 23. I like the deal.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

How did Pep tweak/How would you expect him to tweak in the future, when Fernandinho is unavailable/leaves?

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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

Most obvious on-the-horizon shift is perhaps a more defensively capable player in the David Silva spot as he ages out.

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Guilherme Jacobs's avatar

Messi complaining about Conmebol supposedly favoring Brazil is a great reminder of how far from Argentina he actually is. Ask any latin-american fan about which teams seem to be favored on the Libertadores and I think there is a good chance they'll say they're from Argentina. Regardless, not trying to start controversy, just something that yet again points to how he is an international icon, not much an Argentinian one, like Maradona was.

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Hector's avatar

i laughed at that too... but the guy hasn't lived in argentina since he was 10, he has no idea what goes on down there.

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Cesar's avatar

Messi is right in this case. Otamendi got fouled in the box late in the game by Allan. Looked like the ref discussed going to VAR but he had already given Allan a yellow earlier so going to VAR would have meant giving a penalty and a second yellow for Allan. VAR should give these guys some cover to make these tough calls but they’re still afraid to call them.

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Guilherme Jacobs's avatar

My point is not about the foul, just about how he is out of touch with South American football. I get the complaining, I would do the same if a foul kept Brazil from winning against Argentina or something. But to bring out Conmebol "favoring" a country is weird. Not that Conmebol is some saint, btw. They absolutely suck.

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Owen Brown's avatar

Victoria Beckham likes to drink tea made by boiling water and then dunking crystals in. No tea bag.

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Luis's avatar

Happy Independence Day to the US people in hear, i've been chatting with a couple of friends about this but how do teams like Mexico and the US face better competition? The friendlies are a joke and continental tournaments seem to follow the same script-I want to see both these teams succeed and improve before getting to the world cup and as a fan of both(bigger El Tri guy) it's frustrating to see them in tournaments like the gold cup

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John's avatar

Has no one mentioned that Spurs added a player in the transfer market? What kind of world are we living in?! 🤣

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Guilherme Jacobs's avatar

for a club record! Talk about compensating your lack of movement

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Hector's avatar

What an awful pass back by Peru. They got extremely lucky there

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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

Remember when Chile's keeper couldn't save the second goal because the post got in the way since he was running back to the goal from the corner flag?

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Sam's avatar

I was rooting for the Dutch to pull this off, but that performance combined with the lack of rest makes me think that the final won't be much of a contest.

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Jes Merrell's avatar

Oh wow! I just discovered this place and am blown away by quality and quantity of participants. I’ll observe for a while and perhaps opine a bit later from the casa in central Mexico.

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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

Welcome! And please feel free to opine; that's the point!

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Matt Gaydos's avatar

What is the deal with Dybala and the argentina team? does Messi just not want to play with him? did he sleep with somebody’s wife? not only is his lack of minutes weird, it’s almost like it’s meant to be insulting. like when they subbed him in with 4 minutes left in one game.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

Dybala himself has said he can't really play with Messi. They want to do the exact same thing. You would think they could figure something out, but this seems to be a bit of a theme with Dybala considering his inability to adjust to having CR7 at Juve this year.

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Matt Gaydos's avatar

that’s true. but also on argentina I guess for not investing in a coach who’s good enough to try and make it work

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Carter Boyle's avatar

What do people think about the penalty given in extra time last night between Mexico and Haiti? Seemed like bullshit to me, feel bad for Haiti. They worked their asses off. Will feel incredible to see our boys beat Mexico this weekend though.

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Jes Merrell's avatar

Totally correct, and this from a hard El Tri supporter. Never should be awarded but that crowd and atmosphere, so huge and overwhelmingly roaring for Mexico, you almost expected some ref advantage but not to that degree or at that point of play.

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Carter Boyle's avatar

Well said. The crowd was sublime but it was a home game for Mexico essentially. Cruel twist of fate for Haiti. Mexico should have had to earn a real goal. Watching them last night made me think USA can beat them. Surprised they've been so mediocre here.

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Jes Merrell's avatar

I have lived in Mexico for 13 years and follow El Selecion passionately. Our new coach, only 6 months in and with a fantastic CV, sees a looming, unavoidable generational changeover. He knows that some big names are likely gone for 2022 and he is looking for breakout performances from new names in several key positions. That makes this effort, while end-of-the-world important to every Mexican fan, more of an experiment than normal. Tato is too shrewd to move quickly so we see the next 18 months of friendliest as tryouts for 2022 with almost a blank sheet for his known starters.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

No era penal. Why Concacaf decided not to use VAR for our continental championship makes no sense and makes the tournament look like an utter joke.

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Hector's avatar

No penalty. Pretty terrible to consider two matches now in the KO stages had clear mistakes (the penalty called in favor of Costa Rica against Mexico was an absolute joke and outside the box).

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Mapate Diop's avatar

How does Sarri line up Juventus? And how soon until we hear from Veronique Rabiot about it?

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

I'm really intrigued by this. Will Sarri be able to get Ronaldo and Dybala into the lineup comfortably together? If not, does Dybala leave? Does Sarri keep Higuain? Supposedly he has been told he can leave.

Based on his history, seems like maybe Sarri tries Pjanic in the Jorginho role with 2 of Ramsey, Rabiot, Matuidi or Can in front.

But Sarri, despite his rigidness last year, has adapted some in prior years, so it will be interesting to see what he does.

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Mapate Diop's avatar

Whatever they try, Allegri will look like more of a wizard as time goes on.

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Ryan O'Hanlon's avatar

Buy Trippier. Build the team around him. Nothing else matters.

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Hector's avatar

dont think there'll be many goals in this one. one of those cagey matches that's 0-0 until tired legs make an error

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

So far spot on. Neither team wanted to do anything that half that would come anywhere close to maybe opening them up.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

Anyone have thoughts on Joao Felix at €126 million? Makes him the 5th most expensive transfer of all time.

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Christopher Harwick's avatar

Not exactly sure how different their profiles are, but I do think it'd have been interesting if Atleti went after Dybala. He's 25, obviously quite a bit older, and his Juve contract goes till '22 (not sure how long Felix's was). But I do figure he'd have been cheaper and while not logging all of the minutes in Serie A he's more proven than Felix.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

Seems like a reach, even in this era of hyper-inflated fees. He hasn't played much against high level competition and has seemed to struggle when he has (Nations League semis). Doesn't exactly compare to Mbappe who had been great in Champions League and helped Monaco win the Farmer's League.

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Hector's avatar

do you know what his wages will be? it's a lot in transfer fees but if the wages are low, it makes sense.

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Hector's avatar

for example, juve paid $382m in total CR7. 117 for transfer and then 70m a year in wages.

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

Not sure what the wages will be, but what I will say is that someone like CR7 is a proven commodity and also brings vast marketing potential despite being credibly accused of rape. Felix has not proven he can perform in a top-level league, which is what makes the fee seem so high to me.

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Hector's avatar

of course, my only point with bringing up Ronaldo's similar transfer fee was that when you include the wages, this kid is probably still going for 1/3rd of other players in his same transfer budget.

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Brian's avatar

Tonight I am pulling for the Dutch. I'd hate the see the USWNT lose a final, but at the same time it would be great if the Dutch women won a World Cup before the Dutch men (who have been in 3 finals!).

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Scott Shaheen's avatar

watching jill ellis's inspired run has me wondering when Mourinho will accept his true destiny - managing a midtier european side to a shithousing semifinal appearance in the Euros. I'm sort of surprised he doesn't have a job at the moment

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Matthew Meeks's avatar

Doesn't even need to be mid-tier. Have you seen how his native Portugal play? They won the Euros playing very Mourinho-y. Think he takes that job at some point.

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Francis's avatar

Tea Related Celebrations-

Finger Guns... Finger guns the entire bench and they all fall down... Morbid, but Ill stand on this hill,(or die on it)

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