Arena "The Beautiful Game" - The Official JCC Football (Soccer) Thread.

Players know they can't touch the referee, poor judgement by Mitrovic that cost Fulham the game.
Unfortunate since they played well.

 

To be fair, as somebody else on the pitch today who shall remain nameless but may be from Portugal knows from experience, they don't enforce that rule consistently. No excuse for Mitrovic losing his cool like that, though.

Edit: Just to clarify my position here before I inevitably get too wrapped up in El Clásico - I'm fine with deliberate contact with an official being grounds for automatic expulsion in sports (something something Odo scene from DS9 something something), but if that's the case, you have to do it every time.

 

You had me at Odo

Youuuuuu're outta here!

 

That's a hell of a first La Liga goal for Kessie, ****.

 

That’s Palace down, and Everton safe.

 

Manchester United: Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus says he has made bid for club -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65054294

This is what a club needs.
Unfortunately I don't see how anyone can beat Qatar

 

Nagelsmann has been controversial appointment for a long time now; I am not surprised that getting this deep into the season with the title still under serious five way contention(!) might get him the sack. That is totally unacceptable from FCB’s perspective, even if it makes for an exciting year for the rest of us.

 

Italy lose a long-standing record in Euro qualifiers at home by losing their opener to 10 man England.

Italy threw the kitchen sink at England in the second half but it wasn't enough.

 

The constant sacking of managers is probably one of the worst things about modern football

 

And yet, the "Southgate Out" morons on twitter are out in force

 

lol@Italy.

Bild is claiming Nagelsmann got axed so abruptly because they knew they wanted Tuchel to replace him and were worried Spurs might **** that plan up. I can believe it, that’s the kind of merciless move they pull.

Ironically Nagelsmann might actually be a better fit for Spurs than Tuchel, and you know, wouldn’t be yet another former Chelsea manager.

 

The lesson as always is **** Bayern

 

Italy despite being European Champions couldn't even qualify for the World Cup, this result isn't particularly surprising.

Congrats to Harry Kane for becoming England's Top Scorer

 

So I guess Pochettino will be the Real manager? I doubt they give it to Raul

 

Give over

Italy haven't lost at home for years until today. They're European champions and just missed out on the World Cup. I was not expecting England to win today, I was hoping for a draw but was expecting a loss. At home in Napoli with the "Ultras" in place, Italy was far and away the hardest team England will face in this qualifying group.

We were capable of beating them so the win wasn't a shock but on their day, England can beat anyone. On balance though, the win was not what I would consider the expected result and they had us under the cosh in the second half.

You underestimate the Azzuri at your peril

 

As long as that day isn’t a final in the last 65 years. Semi days aren’t great either.

 

I think Poch’s PSG tenure showed he’d be a pretty bad fit for Real, he can make good tactical calls but he can’t get expensive old players and Kylian Mbappé to do them.

So they should absolutely go for him. Just all the **** in. Hala Pochdrid.

 

Since when has Real been shy about a bad appointment?

 

Conte is very clearly trying to get himself sacked by Spurs, is Pochettino not more likely to return there?

 

Maybe not, Spurs seem to be seriously considering a move for Nagelsmann per The Guardian. He’d be a brilliant fit for what they and their fans want and will inevitably fail when he can’t actually get the backing he needs, but what a failure it will be!

 

You’d think he’d avoid statements that could be summarized as “do you know who I am?”

Feeling pretty good about the Czech national team’s qualification chances after that win over Poland yesterday, they’re by far the most dangerous other country in the group. If everybody can stay healthy this should all, on paper at least, be a formality.