speeeeeeedie

Blatter also came out with this the other day; ESPN: Qatar World Cup "a mistake". He's stating the obvious there. He knew at the time and went along with it for his own rea$ons.

This is the beauty of football; we all have opinions. Gomez missed WC2018 and the Euros through injury. He will get back to his best. Klopp rates him, he signed a 5 year deal this summer. White and Tomori come up often on here. I haven't seen much of either. I did see Tomori for AC Milan last month against Cheslea. He was at fault for a goal and was sent off. White has been displaced in the middle at Arsenal by Saliba. Southgate has given both of them about 5 minutes of game time. If you ask me, they aren't getting in. Gone are the days of England having the ability to call on Terry, Ferdinand, King, Campbell, Woodgate. Tripper, Walker, Stones, and Maguire will be playing in their 3rd tournament for Southgate. Shaw would have been but was injured in 2018 (and had been bullied mercilessly by Mourinho). Southgate likes that familiarity.

I don't disagree with your premise at all. I'm trying to think what Southgate would do, rather than what my ideal squad would be. I'd have Joe Gomez in. He won't make it but I really rate him. TAA as a wing back would be an interesting choice. I have no idea if he can play there. Klopp doesn't care as much about his mistakes as he makes up for it with his goal output. Southgate is much more safety first but that position may help him. I read a BBC article summarising Micah Richards' view on Sterling. He, like me, thinks that he'll start along with Kane and Saka. I'd have Foden in for Saka, although Foden is one who hasn't yet hit the heights for England. Maddison has been superb for Leicester, but I don't know if Southgate trusts him. Rashford has picked it up lately but isn't the player Man U and England fans hoped he'd be. Ignoring his legal troubles I wonder what Mason Greenwood would have looked like if he had played the last 12 months? I also think that Southgate will switch systems between 4 and 5 at the back.

@J*B Moving here to talk England players. Your England 11 in the Prem thread looked like more of a wish list than a potential line up. Ramsdale is flying for the current league leaders, but I seriously doubt that Southgate will drop Pickford. Southgate likes who he knows, Pickford has never let him down. Tomori and White will be lucky to make the squad. I think that TAA won't make it either. His defensive lapses have been far too numerous this season. Walker will be fit, it is looking likelier that James will be too, and Kalvin Phillips. However, none of them will have played any football so my money is on Trippier starting game 1 at right back. He is in fine form, and another who Southgate likes. Shaw will play at left back/wing back, who will back him up now that Chilwell is out? Southgate may opt to take only 1 left footer with Trippier providing cover. This was Southgate's last squad. 28 players. 26 are allowed in Qatar. Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Ivan Toney Other players not listed who have featured for Southgate are Gallagher (Chelsea). Rashford. Sancho. Calvert-Lewin. Of those 4 I'd say only Calvert-Lewin has a chance. I said thast the team that drew with Germany would be Southgate' 11 for Iran with Pickford in for Pope. With wing backs I'll go; Pickford Trippier Stones Dier Maguire Shaw Rice Bellingham Sterling Kane Foden 4 at the back; Pickford Trippier Stones Maguire Shaw Rice Bellingham Mount Sterling Kane Foden

Of that 11 I reckon only 4 will play: Bellingham, Rice, Foden, Kane. Pickford is ahead of Ramsdale. White, TAA, and Tomori will be lucky to make the squad. Chilwell is injured. Grealish will come on as sub. Anyway, there is an England thread. Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0. Potter has a job to do. Would he be willing to bring back Lukaku? It will mean changing the way they play but Chelsea need something. Newcastle hammered Southampton. Man U were well beaten by Villa. A day later I'm still wondering how City were awarded that penalty.

Elon Musk finally bought Twitter last week and it's garnering plenty of news stories over here. His first actions were to fire the CEO and other top positions. Reports out yesterday say that he's going to get rid of 50% of the workplace today. I have no idea what he will do with the company. From what I've read Twitter isn't a big money maker, so has be bought it for other reasons?

I'll give it a listen.

I finished Malcolm Christie yesterday. It was the best one I've listened to. I recommend it. A complete contrast from Ben Marshall and his nonchalance. It's a 2 parter, but worth the time to listen to. He's wellspoken and has a good story to tell. Recurring themes I've noticed whilst listening the podcasts are the unscrupulous nature of agents, the ruthless sometimes petty nature of clubs, and the selfishness of football managers.* I'll give the Owen Coyle one a miss. I'm not interested in what he has to say, regardless of the terrible job he did at BRFC. *after reading that sentence it is very pro player; not unexpected for a podcast interviewing former players. For some balance the podcast also illustrates that a good portion of footballers - especially during their playing years - are extremely immature, make bad decisions, listen to the wrong people, and have no idea that there is a world out there.

I said plenty of times that when Mouronho was in his pomp he could have proven that he was the best in the world by taking Stanley to the Prem. Imagine Pep trying to work on intricate tactical plans with league 1 and 2 cloggers.

During Mourinho's pomp I'd tell mates that if he really is the best manager in the world he should try his hand at Accrington Stanley, a team with one of the lowest budgets in the football league. In fantasy land if either Klopp or Guardiola was willing who would do the better job there?

Guardiola and Klopp are both superb managers who undertook different journey's getting to where they are now. Guardiola has had 3 jobs; Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Man City. Each one was the best team in the country when he took over. He did and continues to do a marvellous job. Klopp started in the German second division with Mainz. Moved to Dortmund, then Liverpool. None of those teams had or continue to have the resources Guardiola has enjoyed. I don't think 1 is better than the other. Klopp is more charismatic but has won fewer trophies than the more precise Guardiola.

All these can be true; The bidding process for Qatar was corrupt. It should never have been given the World Cup. They have exploited workers building the facilities. The timing is odd and domestic leagues will see ripple effects from it once the season starts again. However, I'm looking forward to it. I love the World Cup. Brazil and Argentina look to be favourites.

He will be fine. It won't be long before he gets another job in the closed world of football. Ronaldo is making the news again. Ten Hag confirmed that he refused to come on against Spurs, and rather than stick around he did one before the game was over. Ronaldo has always had a bit of petulance about him, and this doesn't look good at all. However, through his eyes he still thinks he's the world's greatest goalscorer so I can understand his reaction. It's wrong for him to do though it as it sets a bad example. Ten Hag doesn't want him. Man U should negotiate to pay him out and let him leave so he can move on.

Surely he has to go now? Another game with no goals. Another defeat. He has never looked comfortable at Villa.

I wouldn't class he 0-1 as one of the wort games I've ever seen. The result and the way Bolton scored was a kick in the knackers but the game itself wasn't awful. I watched the 2-1 win with a couple of Bolton fans. That was satisfying. My memory has Roberts clean through and scoring, although in typical Roberts style he nearly fluffed it.

A solid performance from all involved. Rovers looked comfortable in letting Sunderland attack them throughout the second half. As I and others said during the game; if the final ball improved there would have been a couple more goals. Did JDT switch fullbacks to counteract their also wrong footed wingers? I liked the look of Clarke. He had a bit of Grealish about him, but no one ahead of him to finish.

Rovers look brightish. No final ball at all so far though. Brittian doing well on the left.

I spoke to my Boro supporting mate about the game. He said it will be the save of the season. He also said that Rovers completely dominated and should have been 3 or 4 up before Whatmore's goal. He did acknowledge that Rovers were the better team and a win was a fair result.

I'm surprised that there haven't yet been any comments on the Liverpool-City game. It was an absolute cracker. A real heavyweight bout. Klopp got sent off. Guardiola moaning and moaning. I'll give credit to former Rovers loanee Harvey Elliott. Klopp played him and he did not disappoint.

Reece James is likely to miss the World Cup; The Guardian - James has knee injury Kyle Wlaker had a groin op last week. TAA is out for a month. Trippier needs to be careful.

Oh, I know. Hence me caveating it with "potentially suicidal". I don't expect a win so why not go down swinging? Ideally I'd have a 3rd central midfield player and drop either Gallagher or Hedges, but Rovers don't have anyone capable. Buckley is too lightweight. Wharton Jr. is close but similar to Morton. Could Mola do it? I don't know anything about him.

3 at the back has been working quite well, however, I think that Pickering on the left is miles better suited to a traditional left back role. Playing pie in the sky football manager and expecting another defeat I'd go with the potentially suicidal 4 attackers. Kaminski Brittain Hyam Wharton Pickering Travis Morton Dack Hedges Gallagher Brereton

There are lots of sad fanboys across the globe this morning. Barcelona's 3-3 draw at home to Inter Milan puts them in serious jeopardy of going out in the group stage. Inter need a win at home against bottom placed Plzen to knock them out. They should have done it last night. Inter had a glorious chance in the last minute. I can't remember who it was but he shot instead of squaring it for Mkhitaryan who had an open goal. Liverpool scoring 7 after going 1 down (again) is impressive even given the opposition. Elliott played well. I saw at least 3 articles stating that "they are back". City on Sunday will answer that. Bruges have already qualified for the knockout stages along with Real, Bayern, and City, as have the impressive Napoli. Juventus are in trouble.

As bad as the performance was I don't think that a personnel shake up is needed. Players have bad games, the topsy turvy results are down to the manager. JDT needs to have a good think as to why his current methods bring about dramatic changes in standards from one game to another. Szmodics got loads of praise last weekend. He looked nothing like a footballer tonight. His touch was abysmal. Brereton had a bad game, but he is far too important to leave out. Travis is club captain. He is limited but is a competent championship midfielder. Dack should play every week. I am starting to agree with the what's the point of Rovers developing other teams players argument. Morton has potential, but it's looking like Wharton Jr. is as good. Hirst doesn't have it. @Gav said earlier that neither did Brereton when he first signed. Brereton was a permanent signing. Hirst is at Ewood to get experience. He won't fire Rovers to promotion. If Rovers are to get loanees I'd like to see established players who aren't getting a look in for Prem teams come in. They'd have the nous and ability to stop nights such as tonight.

Nice one Gav. I am interested too. DC is worth a visit.