Well that was like the good old days. Absolute snakes. But I enjoyed that game.
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Well that was like the good old days. Absolute snakes. But I enjoyed that game.
Shakespeare was being credited by the guy chairing the TV3 Panel for getting Leicester to the last 8 of the CL. I may be wrong but I think Ranieri won the league and got them playing in the CL in the first place and then got them out of the group and to within a 1-0 home win over a Seville team to get to the last 8. All that is soon forgotten. Shakespeare, who will be sacked before too long is now the genius. Incredible.
Never liked Nasri either as a person or as a footballer. Last night cemented my opinion. Wound up by Vardy, who risked his teeth to get him sent off. Leicester won the game with the opposition having over 70% possession. Amazing.
Why is it pronounced "Lester?" I've been butchering that for years. I used to think Cillian was Silly-an too.
You're Silly-an.
35 minutes gone and the way Monaco are playing football is a joy to watch.
They've certainly replaced FC Basel in my heart.
Monaco are the potential new Basel, but Charlie they still have a long ways to go before they emulate the doughty swiss epl skelpers.
They had a poor 3rd quarter but were a transformed unit after Man City scored, Monaco just woke up for that last quarter, were first to most every ball, won near enough every challenge and controlled the rest of the game. I love it when a goalie in added time, transforms a meat and veg catch into a spectacular diving save and looks up both hurt and exhausted.
I don't know about you, but every time I heard Lemar, I smiled and thought of Hedley.
Well that was delicious from start to finish.
Eamo's Road to Damascus moment in the studio afterwards was worth waiting on too.
Leicester v Monaco would be certainly the tie of the QFs if it came to pass.
Megaphones should be banned at games. All you could hear throughout the game was some Monegasque shouting in to a megaphone to get the crowd going. Irritating. Almost drowned out George Hamilton stating (when it was 2-1) that if Monaco scored again, Man City would need 2. George gets very confused about away goals and aggregate scores sometimes. A rarity for a game to be won on the "away goal" rule.
3 things City don't have: one's a European Cup, two's Kompany and three's a crowd.
I have to watch the CL on various streams BT net etc, with English commentators and pundits who have been going on about the best league in the world.
Then there was a period when after saying that they would stop, followed by a bit of awkward dead air silence, "maybe we're not the best but we're the most exciting league in the world" and all were happy again with their lot,
"We're not the best, but we're the most exciting" they all chirped together.
Now they have dropped the "we're not the best" and just concentrate on the "we have the most exciting league in the world" bit.
Monaco's average annual net transfer spend for the last 4 seasons is GBP 13m, Man City's is about GBP 95m p/a
I'd assume there's also a big salary gap.
After yet another early epl euro exit, the pundits offered solutions for Man City's ills and came up with a list of 4 players that they need to replace.
The solutions were that Man City need to spend more money and keep spending it.
That's similar to RTÉ's analysis. After Monaco well and truly stuffed them they concentrated on what Man City have to do rather than talk about the greatness of Lemar, Bakayoko, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva and Mbappé.
How Subasic had a towering performance after an absolute 'mare in Manchester. How Moutinho's calming influence changed the shape of the team in the last 10 or so. How Raggi ran himself literally and figuratively into the ground.
How the 20yo Malian, Toure came on and replaced him and looked like he'd been there all night.
(EPL failure) Falcao has to come back too...
At one point George referred to a "famous victory" for Monaco... I ask ya, who the fook are Man City? They may have money but they never had Tigana, Barthez, Petit, Djorkaeff, Thierry Henry, Thuram, Trezeguet, Saviola... And some sort of European pedigree in the 80s, 90s and noughties...
(Monaco are hardly short of cash either)
They can buy who they want but if you persist with defending set pieces like that when a player like Lemar is over the ball then you're gonna lose and lose badly. And long may it continue.
Monaco spent a fortune on transfers in the season 2013/14 after promotion to League 1, but had to sell most.
Averaging a net spend for last 4 seasons of GBP 13m p/a is not splashing the cash. They did a remarkable job selling their assets and buying smart.
Monaco decided to comply with the FPP rules while PSG and Man City just slithered out of serious sanctions, paid the fines, kept their star players and readjusted their flows of income.
There is some sense of justice restored, justice as perceived by Monaco, now leading PSG in the league and just after kicking out Man City from the CL.
Whoa whoa whoa...
I said they aren't short of cash. I never said they were splashing it.
Not so Bonnie. The club once had money to spend on players, they had to sell and operate within incomes earned, under supervision from Uefa's ffp. The owner may not be short of cash but that does not reflect in how the club operates or it's bank balance.
So Monaco are in penury?
Doing what they did to come in under the FFP rules is laudable and refreshing, but I wouldn't be thinking that they're the Sligo Rovers of the CL just yet.
Good preview of Atletico v Leicester here - http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39558996
Four intriguing quarter finals in store. Will probably end up watching Juve-Barca and Bayern-Real but the other two are very appealing as well.
Juventus seriously impressive last night. 3-0 might have been slightly flattering but they only really coughed up two chances all night and could have scored more themselves. Iniesta and Suarez will normally score those though and it's a completely different tie.
It's amazing the way the narrative on an Italian sides remains the same, TV3 in this case, regardless of their approach or the way they're set up. Juventus basically played with four strikers yet Souness repeatedly spoke about the Italian mindset and how they'd be happy with a 0-0 and maybe hope to nick something a bit more on the break.
Dybala is a class operator. Of course, he owes much of his progress to his great mentor.
http://www.si24.it/wp-content/upload...la-630x300.jpg
Worrying stuff in Dortmund, being treated as attempted murder I heard on the radio earlier, predictably enough I guess. At least nobody was badly hurt, this time.