I feel like playing in CA alongside players like Vidal and Alexis Sanchez will have helped BB add a few extra elements to his game too. Sanchez probably speaks enough English to help translate for him so he's not completely in the cold, and learning the Latin American football style might really boost his game when he comes back. At least, until Mowbray chokes the life out of it. In terms of learning Spanish, he might be able to get some help from Daniel Ayala (Spanish) and Louie Annesley (Gibraltarian, and people from there generally switch between English and Spanish in daily conversation).

Brereton does seem to be thriving in the Copa America. Let's hope he gets used properly by Blackburn next season, now we've seen what he can do in the right environment.

Ask Crewe if they want him on loan. They have a decent reputation at the moment for playing younger players, their manager used to be a defender, AND their manager is Gibraltarian too.

It's Benjamín Antonio Brereton Díaz now I'll have you know. He may as well go all in on it.

Says he'd like to go out on loan, maybe that'll be on the cards for him this season. Now he's publicly said he's up for it, if a club comes knocking I don't see Blackburn refusing.

I'm still very annoyed at Julio Ribas for playing eight defenders against ANDORRA. Didn't even make a substitution until he was forced to in the last 15 minutes of the game. Then he brought on another defender.

Sorry but I don't see it happening. Been linked with Norwich and Sheffield United too, but if rumours about Sporting, Benfica and Galatasaray chasing him are true I don't see how he moved to the English second tier.

The keeper basically went into FM goalkeeper glitch mode vs Norway and the Netherlands (until he got injured in the latter game anyway) and saved almost everything that came his way. See here:

Louie once again called up. Slovenia will be a good test for him while Gib should be favourites against Andorra - however with Lee Casciaro, Liam Walker and Jayve Olivero missing it's going to be a fairly experimental side. 17 year old Bilal Douah gets called up even though he's yet to play a single senior game at club level, so could be interesting to see how he performs. Game vs Slovenia will see two of the best goalkeepers in the world (if you believe Jan Åge Fjørtoft) go up against each other with Dayle Coleing in the Gib net and Jan Oblak likely starting for Slovenia.

Lucky there's a few players in Chile's squad who are or have previously played in England so will speak enough English to be able to translate for him.

You never know, he might learn a few things from Alexis Sanchez and come back a better player.

Any news on if Annesley has a new deal yet? Heard he's been offered one, can only think that if he signs he'll either be put in the fringes of the first team or get loaned out to a League One club.

Figured I'll share this live stream of Lincoln Red Imps vs Lynx as for some reason I'm now a chat moderator on the channel.

Commentators going off about how McBride must've had a bad game to be taken off, only for their golden boy Broadhead to get taken off seconds later. Though in the first half they were talking in a very condescending tone about how Barnes started his career with Marine and Annesley is only an international for Gibraltar so best off ignoring everything they say.

Behind due to two sloppy mistakes in the midfield which allowed Everton to counter. With Everton's pace on the break being their main threat, the mistakes completely left the defence exposed and they had no chance. Though Everton fell victim to a similar error which allowed Rovers back into the game and the team have been growing back into it since then.

My bad, that's a shame then. I knew it was often the youth teams of the senior sides who made it + the actual youth league champions (if that team's senior side isn't in the CL) but forgot the age level. This year would've had a youth team of a second tier Russian side take part if it had gone ahead.

Article from Lancs Live about Blackburn's PL2 title bid: https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-pl2-title-challenge-20338260 Would be great for Rovers to win it and play in the UEFA Youth League next season against some of Europe's best. Especially considering the side is largely home grown compared to the amount of money invested by more illustrious rivals.

Yeah Tjay De Barr is a real problem for defenders cos he's very quick and pretty decent with the ball at his feet - it means he gets kicked around a bit and wins a lot of free kicks (including the one Liam Walker converted for their first win as a FIFA nation against Latvia). Problem for him is lack of service, although both his goals for the national team have come from effective counter attacks. There's a reason he got signed by Real Oviedo in Spain's second tier in 2019, shame he returned to Gib this season due to uncertainty about Covid at the time. Hasn't exactly been banging them in at club level either because he's been pushed out wide in favour of Kike Gómez, a Spanish-Filipino striker. Dayle Coleing (the keeper) should be playing in the EFL within a couple of years. Annesley starts again tonight vs the Netherlands. The Dutch are managed by Frank De Boer so honestly anything could happen.

Annesley rested today, Ribas plans to start him vs Netherlands.

He did alright, a few big clearances. Obviously given that Norway had 80% possession he couldn't do much with the ball but the fact they didn't have that many shots in the second half is testament to the defensive work of the Gib players. In all honesty it was mostly Dayle Coleing's day, even though he conceded 3 he mad 12 saves including a fair few stunners to keep out Haaland. I think all the Gib defenders put themselves in the shop window last night (except for Wiseman and Roy Chipolina who are in their mid-late 30s).

Interview with Louie ahead of the internationals. He starts in midfield tonight against Norway, tasked with keeping Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard at bay.

Apparently he has trained with the first team this season, and his versatility might help his chances. I mean, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was already 20 before he got his chance at Crystal Palace.

Annesley's been named in the Gibraltar squad for next week's internationals. Considering their first game is in five days I suppose he was jetting off as soon as the game was over. Good test for him though against the Netherlands feat. Memphis Depay, Montenegro feat. Stefan Jovetic and Norway feat. Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard. He contains them, he should be starting for Blackburn.