Honestly, Varane sucked without Ramos, or so it seemed to me (I don't want too many of their matches). And honestly there could be parallels to Lenglet without Pique. Both did really well as the younger part of a CB tandem, where an experienced CB was very clearly telling them what to do, then floundered without their "batman"... It is not a perfect analogy but the fact that Real might get 50M or even 40M for Varane is comical to me (particularly where the team which wants him could just wait a year and get him for free), Varane is not that good (or only good with an alpha CB directing him). Meanwhile, can we even find a team to give us even 30M for Lenglet??? Mind you I don't think Lenglet wants to leave and I think he brings some value, and we don't have any money to bring in another Left footed CB. Right now we have Pique, Lenglet, Araujo, Mingueza, and Eric Garcia plus the ghost of Umtiti. Need to sell at least 1 even if we play 3 CBs at times (and I understand that Koeman pretty much promised Laporta a return to 4-3-3...
Wow! What the hell happened in Belo Horizonte?!! (Atletico-MG v Boca Juniors) Were the VAR reviews of Boca's goals the correct decisions?
I hear they got screwed in the VAR call in the first leg . The one in this game was one of those milimetre offsides that is pissing a lot of fans
Boca Juniors were furious after having goals disallowed by VAR in both legs of their Copa Libertadores tie against Atletico Mineiro.This was the goal they had disallowed in the first leg.pic.twitter.com/QQY7EvhWEl— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) July 21, 2021
Yep . That one I saw . It is what it is with the mm offsides …. reaction is probably due to both put together . Although it’s still inexcusable what happened afterwards . Boca players ended up getting peppered sprayed inside because they started trying to reach the ref locker room while destroying a bunch of shit.
This sounds promising, new VAR rules on PKs for English Premier League clubs (love that the photo is of the Sterling PK in Euros semifinal): The Premier League is to try to end the art of “buying” a penalty, as it announced tougher refereeing criteria for deciding spot-kicks. When the 2021-22 season begins, referees are to assess three criteria before deciding whether a penalty should be awarded for a foul challenge. Officials must first consider the degree of contact experienced by the attacking player, then the consequence of that contact, before finally taking into account the motivation of the attacker in reacting to the challenge. “Referees will look for contact and establish clear contact, then ask themselves the question: does that contact have a consequence?” Riley said. “They will then ask themselves a question: has the player used that contact to actually try and win a foul penalty? So it’s not sufficient just to say: ‘Yes, there’s contact.’ https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...r-league-players-buying-a-penalty-next-season
Seems Lukaku is on his way to Chelsea for a reported 115m euros. Can’t help but feel that Chelsea have been robbed. Lukaku has consistently proven that when the stakes are the highest he tends to disappear. Chelsea already had him once before and let him go, then United let him go as well. Let’s see if anything has changed this time around.
With Raiola and his father asking for commission + a fat signing bonus because the buying club won't pay a transfer fee to BVB ? I don't think so.
Isn't he on a free after this season? The summer window is closed so that means either January (which no team will spend that kind of money in) or wait until he is free in July 2022. I could be wrong about his current deal though...
Wrong indeed. He’s under contract until 2024. In the summer of 2022 his release clause of 75m comes into effect though, which is probably (more than) half his current market value. They’ll be all over him. Wonder who he picks if Mbappe does go to Madrid.
Even if he was on a free ... he'd want that supposed transfer fee for himself and his agent in one manner or another. I think what triggers next year is some clause that he can leave for 60m or some figure like that. But that's 60m for BVB.
Ok, I started a new thread for the new season. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/yawn-the-2021-22-other-teams-thread.2116731/