Activate Another Lever and Still Lose to a Madrid Remontada - The Small Teams Thread

Great coaches can have personal bias still. Zidane called Pogba a friend and that's why he was so keen on having him at RM despite a stacked midfield with KCM and Isco in their prime. Club made the smart decision there to pass on Pogba especially for world record transfer fee and insane commission Raiola asked.

I have read Klopp wanted Brandt at Liverpool instead of Salah, but Edwards said no. Edwards had to leave Pool as Klopp's status grew bigger. Now apparently Pool are in talks with Edwards to bring him back, but he's demanding CEO post so that a future coach can't push him out.

As for Pogba, what a dumb ass. Can't even earn generational money from Saudi now in semi-retirement era due to stupid doping move. Went after the bag in his prime and fumbled it at the stage where older players are making a ton.

 

Inaki scores. Nico assists. Athletic Bilbao 2-0 up on aggregate. Looks like Athletic Bilbao going to CDR final.

Nico got dumb 2nd yellow mocking the ref in last league game so he will miss Barcelona game on Wednesday at San Mames.

 

Barca is going to face an Athletic team coming off an important CDR semi game and without Nico.
It looks like they lucked out because I was fairly certain that Barca would drop points this weekend. Now not so sure.

 

Bilbao can beat them if they play without fear.

 

3-0 on aggregate. Brilliant from Inaki. Maybe Athletic can reduce intensity in 2nd half to save legs. Barca game is important for them as they are in Top 4 race.

¡GOL DE NICO WILLIAMS 🇪🇸(2002)!
¡QUÉ JUGADA DE IÑAKI WILLIAMS!pic.twitter.com/NgGQBJs5D1

— Football Report (@FootballReprt) February 29, 2024

 

It looks like this game may be a non-factor now in their preparation for Barca. If anything this performance may raise their confidence going into the weekend.

 

Pogba was an amazing player. Hindsight is easy, but nobody can know how everything would have went had he come here and played under a coach who loved him and who he loved and who would have accomodated tactically in a way he never was at United. Maybe with a different fitness crew his injuries wouldn't occur either.

Also, nobody can know whether he was willingly taking doping or he was lied to by someone he trusts. For me he was always a nice character and a kind person who people hated for no reason other than "he dyes his hair". Shame his career is ending this way, but I'm definitely not going to kick someone like him when theyre down.

 

Will be a dumb move this happens. No club can match supply chains of Nike/Adidas throughout the world. Cheaper copy jersey sales will sky rocket.

🚨 Barcelona are about to make a historic decision — The club is set to terminate its contract with Nike and create Barça’s OWN brand to manufacture the jerseys. This will mean that the club will be sponsor itself and keep 100% of the profits.

(Source: @SPORT) pic.twitter.com/wMu4u9reLd

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) February 29, 2024

 

I would not be the RM fan or even same person if my inicial introducción to being a RM fans had not been 7 consecutive years of seeing Barca dominante and Madrid crash out of CLs like they were being paid to.

At 17 I quickly let my emotions take control and CR7 became my idol and Messi public enemy number 1. If as a young adult I was able to go almost go a decade without seeing RM lift a trophy, as I get older the more I apareciste each wi and am sure could go another 7/10 years without a trophy. Also, being a RM fan as a teen I also became obssesed with arsenals transfer strategy of buying young and developing, something very un Madrid like. Also something that never worked out fornarsenal. Its funny RM follow that strategy now that im an adult and seeing little 20 year olds about yo take control of european football in our shirt.

 

If Pogba needs a baby sitter coach as a grown man, tells a lot about his character. He made his choice to follow money. Utd were a Europa League team when he joined. I have been critical of Pogba ever since. Not just when he's down.

Some treat him like a baby still. Even after doping ban, might not be Pogba's fault. He knew how Raiola works. If he has a shady doctor while no relevant footballer has failed doping test for years, easy to say where the blame lies.

 

Her family member who was holding her was also attacked, but luckily there were some human beings amongst the Atletico fans who had the decency to intervene.

I wish I could say this was shocking behavior amongst that fanbase, but it isn't. Shameful.

 

Took them 6 months to arrest this guy. Wow.

 

Some one will come along and tell you Real Madrid fans and all of Spain are pretty much the same so how dare you single out that fan base, and it’s all good, nothing to see here

 

I don't know the details of this, but could it be that Nike isn't willing to pay what Barcelona wants? There has been a noticeable exodus from Nike by many pros, mostly because Nike isn't re-signing them and wants to save money. It could be the beginning of a trend.

I've always wondered how Nike can afford so many sponsorships, both in Europe and United States. They sponsor most of the top college teams, they sponsor the NBA, NFL, MLB, they sponsor or equip most NBA players, NFL players, they sponsor a plurality of football players in the top leagues in Europe, a bunch of top pro teams, national teams, etc. It's mindboggling. I mean, it helps that countless people buy the 54895 colorways of Jordans that were released almost 40 years ago, but still.

They also decided not to renew Tiger Woods' contract. He's no longer what he used to be, but he'll be around for a few more decades potentially selling a bunch of merchandise. We may see similar things happening in the near future.

 

Jhon Arias is a stud

at this point, I hope he stays in Brazil instead of going to some shit leave like Russia or Turkey just for money since the real leagues never wanted him for some reason

 

Turkey is probably a fantastic destination, no? It's a beautiful country with a history most countries around the world can dream of. The league is also fairly decent, and quality of life should be exceptionally high for a good football player. After years of Brazil, I wouldn't mind spending some time in the Turkish league. Would definitely beat playing in the MLS for instance, as Turkish people actually adore football, similar (or perhaps even more) to Brazilians!

 

I just don’t think the football is good enough to maximize form. I think the Brazilian league is up there with the portugals and French leagues. Not that far behind serie a tbh

 

Slave labor. Don't let the rainbow logo fool you. They are evil.

 

I didn't know the level is that high; learning new things every day! If he's serious about it, then I guess he should stay in the Brazilian league and keep in form for the NT.

 

Having trust in someone and being given trust is not babysitting. Neither is tactical maximization. Going for United is one thing, not going to Madrid from United later is another one. And of course you can say he shouldn't have trusted the doctor so its his fault, but theres a difference between being naive and being immoral. Perhaps because of that childlike naivety I find Pogba's personality is infinitely more likeable than Mbappe's for example.

 

Wait, football players have personalities? lol.

At some point, these guys become self-obsessed clowns and lose any personality trait they might have had at some point. Exceptions exist, like Kroos.

But when I see clowns like Neymar or Pogba or Mbappe arriving at the stadium with gigantic headphones, colored hair, and acting like ThUG LiFe rappers... gosh, that's cringe.

Benzema, a 33-year-old man, received his BdO dressed up as Tupac, lol.

If there's one thing football players don't have is a personality.