Keep Rice away from the field vs France. Let Hendo have his last day out

We’re all Mikel Merino, aren’t we

Zlatan talking about Spain and praising them for team play is just a little funny with how much of an individualist he was as a player

I’ve made peace with Arsenal playing a lot of football next season without Saliba, Rice and Saka. Totally understand them wanting to play for their countries (and their managers picking them) but we’re on a constant tightrope. Hoping they all get the rest they deserve.

Top marks for Spain - that was a top performance. I thought this would be a fun clash of styles but they rendered France (who had a collective stinker) completely irrelevant. They played them perfectly and France didn’t look like scoring all game. Total energy and organisation.

The fall off of France’s midfield is real. In another world they’d have Pogba still at the peak of his powers. Eventually the FIFA in real life lineup was going to get figured out.

Love the boos when Infantino was shown on the screen.

Superstar forward will win you so many games but having the better midfielders and defenders is king.

i'd trade this entire tournament for saliba to return healthy, what is this bs

I don’t even care who wins this game. Just didn’t want any Arsenal players getting hurt. Cant even have that

It’s absolutely a foul. What I don’t like is that for all Yamal’s talent he’s also not getting to that ball much less getting a shot off. That it translates to the highest percentage chance to score doesn’t compute for me.

Everything about Mason Greenwood is disgusting. It’s gross that teams are willing to employ him, it’s gross that United has made a massive profit on him despite everything. It’s just a failure on so many societal levels

United getting Tielemans and Arsenal at the very least pushing for Bruno G shows how warped the market is Everyone thinks their hot 21 yo midfielder is an 100m player. Props to some clubs for just turning around and going with an older option that costs less and can contribute immediately

Vacation has been nice and I relaxed a lot but I wasn’t expecting to get as much writing done as I did. Of course, I forgot my iPad/laptop so I’ve just been tapping at a Google doc in all my free time. I’m actually excited to get back home to my desktop so I can proofread. Weirdly excited lol

I can’t claim to know much about programming but I mean…you have to feel you slice a lot of the demographic for this game by not including these features. Just that little bit of effort and I bet this bundle sells better

Seems like a water is wet thing but the four teams in the semis I’d say were the four team shortlist of who was most likely to win. France and Spain were the obvious favorites with England and Argentina as maybe a half tier or whole tier behind.

I’m sure people will talk about the sending off and it absolutely warped the game. But this was probably Argentina’s least controversial win

Hard not to feel like the four best teams are the ones that are left.

The Swiss were organized and giving Argentina fits. It was going to be a real moment of quality that broke the deadlock. Argentina have more of that

Xhaka channeling those SHOOOOOT instincts from his Arsenal days there

This is a change to the laws. This is the first event where this was possible because the Argentinian player was originally shown the YC. Mistaken identity is a poor moniker for these situations, but this is within the updated purview of VAR.

i just don’t quite understand how that’s “mistaken identity” as defined by VAR’s regulatory rule set — “If the referee penalises an offence but has clearly misidentified the player who committed that offence, only the identity of the offender can be reviewed.” simulation falls into that?

I don’t think players should get sent off for simulation personally.

Might be in the minority here but looked like a bad dive from Embolo. He should know better with his experience. Feel for him though, going out in such a big game

I don’t even know with England. After that they feel as likely to win it as they are to lose it. They just keep getting through.

I’ll give credit to the England camp for managing Saka. When he’s come on he’s looked sharp. Gives me hope that with some time to get himself right we’ll see his best again

Most unrealistic thing would be getting Jude at Arsenal but what deal do I need to make to make it happen.

Djed Spence

Spurs players diving.

Wasn't there a journalist writing bizarre stuff & making cases that Jude Bellingham shouldn't be selected for the England team? Forgot his name but wondering if he would learn anything after last night. Basics like Maybe not going after individual players, keeping it constructive, etc. etc.

I know I said this I didn’t realize he was trying to be just like MM

As a neutral person here I just don’t want pens because of the discourse.

My main issue with Haaland is that he normalizes Manchester City and kids that don’t know better might start thinking it’s ok to support that club

Jude reminds me a lot of Merino actually. Figuring out his main position on the pitch is difficult. But when he’s on the field you know you’re going to get something. He’s a moments player but he lives and breathes them

Bellingham is crazy. How the English have made Kane the teams face and not him is crazy. Guy is built for the big moments

The whole world waking up to Mikel Merino is so funny. Like you think Arsenal fans make those MM9 jokes for no reason? Nobody knows what exactly he is but he just works. Welcome to the wacky world of Mikel Merino

Fair play for Belgium they played well. Difficult to win when Mikel Merino is on the other side

I don’t really follow awards season too much but I hope there’s some way these awards can be Regina George crown broken up between The Pitt and Hacks. Both shows absolutely rule.

After thumping the USMNT 4-1, Belgium players take the piss out of Trump during their locker room celebrations, singing "YMCA" & mocking the so-called Trump dance. Soccer is politics by other means, no doubt about it.

Oh just 24 days ago…whoops

Being fair. I’ve never liked Bruno at Newcastle. Because he’s good and he’s an asset to play against. But that on our side? Great. It’s just onfield assholery and shithousing, I can get over that

The options for Newcastle would be to give Bruno a big contract to stay. But a lot of that Newcastle situation is in flux. Bruno is seeing that ship start to sink a bit and not sure if Newcastle have what it takes to plug the holes. You can’t justify selling him and Tonali, but difficult now

Really fun being on the other side of this for once

Rebecca Lowe introducing the desk as “two of Lionel Messi’s former teammates and Alexi Lalas” lmao

Argentina are the new villains of this world cup denying everyone the good stories

Seeing people malding about the signing of a third choice keeper is so funny to me. All the reporting indicates he’s coming in to give Setford a chance to go on loan. People just want to be angry all the time lol

They’re doing this entirely just to make a play at setting the market they want. It’s felt more and more like consumer spending has mattered less and less. Now it’s like business partners don’t even matter. “You need us so get on board” fuck these guys

The commentators last night being like “if you’re American don’t end your relationship with soccer, follow your local club team” Instead of highlighting that the women’s World Cup is next summer. Gross.

I do hope that the scandal of Balogun’s suspension doesn’t fade just because the US went out. Whatever inquest needs to happen absolutely should still happen.

The backline was always the big question for the US. They’ve been dire tonight