It was a special win, special because we beat the current English and Europe Champions; special because we had not won against them in our previous 15 encounters. Also, the fact that they took all 6 points against us last season which turned out to be the difference between the winners and second spot made this win even sweeter.
The score line of 1-0 doesn’t show the true picture. Man City showed fight but we restricted them to only 4 shots in those 90 minutes – least under Pep’s since 2010 going back to his Barcelona’s reign. The stalemate ended when a half-time, electrified substitute Gabriel Martinelli shot was deflected from Nathan Ake’s face to the City’s goal. Ederson was in no position to stop that deflection. It was a lucky one, but luck only favors the brave. We had some luck in our way when Declan Rice did a brilliant goal line clearance in the opening minutes of the game. Gabriel and Saliba made sure to kill the Haaland hype who had exactly zero shots. Martinelli is a chaos and I’m sure is the worst player to play against, in the league. Mikel is learning, he rested Saka and asked Gabriel Jesus to play at RW which everyone was calling for, and saw we needed to shake things up at the left and brought in Martinelli at half time. I doubt a year younger Mikel would have done that.
We have talked this enough but mate it’s happening every week. Mateo Kovacic received a first yellow when he did a late ankle-breaking tackle on Martin Odegaard. It was reviewed and was deemed only yellow-worthy. To anyone else, it was a RED. But that wasn’t the all of it, he did a similar challenge to Declan Rice and was punished with only a foul. It should have been a yellow again, Mateo Kovacic should have been sent off IN THE 35th MINUTE. We don’t know how the game would have ended; may be with a much better score line but when was the last time referee favored us?
The win leaves us unbeaten in Premier League, with 20 points in 8 games. We are 2nd, as Spuds have scored more goals but have the same point tally. Spuds hangover won’t last long, and I’m sure comes the January break, there will be clear picture of title challengers and top 4s.
Right, short one today. Hope you are still talking about the Saliba x Haaland clash because I am and Haaland falling like a pack of cards begging referee for a foul when there was a none, was a delight to watch.
A City was conquered this Sunday. The Bridge is next!
Nice write up but the have itself was not very exciting, true the result was. Our attack was dismal the first shot on goal was Martinelli and we only had 2 of 12 attempts so this was a defensive battle and without Rodri or KDB to unlock or defense we always had a chance to win this one.
Result excellent, game itself and attack not so much.
have/game
“Mikel is learning, he rested Saka…”
Ermm… not exactly. Saka was injured, and not even on the bench against City. And the reason he was injured is the exact opposite of Mikel “learning” anything at all. Saka was already in the red zone when it comes to injuries, and Mikel finally broke him when he decided to start him against Lens. That’s when he had a muscle injury, and had to be subbed off early. Fingers crossed Arteta’s stubbornness and stupidity is not going to cost us long term.
Hi Ambarish
The site looks brilliant. Congratulations. And that red jacket…. Very sophisticated!
I think Killroy is right – the result surpassed the performance. The players did their absolute best and worked hard as a team. You can’t ask more than that. Rice makes a massive difference.
Someone on LG coined the most appropriate name for Arteta he shall from now on be referred to as NoRoteta 😆
two quick points:
(1) there’s been ample chatter about us “winning” the possession battle which has inevitably led some Galaxy Brainiacs to conclude that MA outmanaged his former boss…of course not a one spoke to the elephant in the room, City’s greatly depleted midfield, when discussing the matter…I guess it makes sense, as one rarely finds nuanced debates inside an echo chamber
(2) many of these same Kool=Aid slurpers suggested that this match perfectly personified our resident MIT’s footballing vision…if that were the case, it means that we functionally spent 200+M to turn the clock back to an earlier phase, when we deployed a much more sideways-dependent boring brand of football
no wonder MA has an inflated ego, as his blinders-wearing wet dreamers will find a way to shower him with flowers regardless of what’s on offer…as I stated following the match in question, I’m elated that we banked 3 points against this particular opponent, but there was nothing revelatory on offer, minus the unfamiliar result…I can only hope that the combination of a now healthy Marts and a “rested” Saka can reignite our stalling offence when we return from the break
Morning all, another busy week that’s keeping all thoughts of football on the back burner. First look at the football news this morning and there were 2 things that caught my eye.
One was Maguire is threatening to leave Manure city better figures when he plays. From my perspective there are only 2 football people who actually think Maguire is a footballer: Southgate and Maguire and probably his dad, but we never hear quotes from him, do we?
Secondly, word is we and father Todd are after either Toney or Osimhen for the January TW. Why not A&E both? Go big or go home, right?
We need 2 strikers and both fit the Artetaball mold. Solves the rotation issue and Barca are making overtures to relieve us of Jesus and his divineness in chaos creating where ever he plays.
He’s our ranking Brazilian army knife, now his Swiss comrade has departed; can we gat a Hallelujah & praise be mercifully he’s gone. Would never have got the City points with him instead of Rice in midfield – just saying lads.
Osimhen or Toney LIR who do you feel would be best for us?
https://www.transfermarkt.com/victor-osimhen/profil/spieler/401923
or
https://www.transfermarkt.com/ivan-toney/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/251664
I like Toney because he reminds me a bit of Drogba, who would also be a match for Halland in the air at set pieces, as well as PL tested and proven. The Arsenal would be a big step up for Toney, but one I feel he would match with aplomb and is a big improvement on Eddie, Harvetz and Jesus.
Osimhen on the other hand has this said of him:
“Osimhen is known for his physical strength, pace, and clinical finishing, which makes him a nightmare for opposition defenders. He is also proficient in the air and possesses excellent dribbling and ball control skills, making him a complete striker.”
My take here is Osimhen is a mix of sublime silky Kanu and raw old Wrighty and why I think they could end up being our SAS remember them? Tosh & Keegan? to name more recent striker partnerships would only induce unnecessary pain from flashbacks long since compartmentalized, but you get the gist or will with the Internet.
Osimhen or Ivan Toney or Both?
Excellent layout Ambarish and I would imagine much easier for people where English is not their first language to read. A lot of intelligent English is written here bar typos and recreational influences where legal of course.
Just the level of content you and LIR deserve, Ambarish.
Here’s something to drool over:
Could you imagine a Bassouma, Rice/Partey and Ode/ESR Midfield with a Osimhen, Toney & Saka/Martinelli front three? Bassouma was a big miss by A&E; more so than Caicedo.
If Arteta had the above at his disposal it would be very difficult to NOT win major trophies because Mikel could then stick to coaching something at times he looks very good at – just needs consistency over a season.
Rotation would be a breeze.
Anyone think differently?
citing*
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/emile-smith-rowe-arsenal-newcastle-27892157
Looks like Arteta glib talk is failing . Smith Rowe to Newcastle , which he too will prefer to Chelsea summer transfer talks .
Tony-my preference has little to do with what Striker I rate more, knowing full-well that we will never ever secure both, and everything to do with MA’s tactical shortcomings, full-stop…his wide-side focused, sideways passing predilictions, makes no sense for a more direct player of Osimhen’s ilk…now if Edu grew a pair, went all-in for the Napoli Striker, then pressured MA into injecting some much-needed directness into our tactical script, I would think vastly differently, but I get the feeling that in this particular duo the tail wags the dog…with this latter point in mind, Toney’s much better suited for our particular brand of football, which doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon…I would gladly offer Brentford both Havertz and Eddie for their now suspended front man, but they would never agree to such a swap, as they likely rate neither player and/or our ridiculous wage practices have made any such dealings next to impossible
Medical update – Marc is expected to recover from the catatonic state induced by one of the worst football matches in recent history.
Apparently the alcohol saved him by partially numbing the pain.
TRVL
I hear you and don’t disagree. I think Toney is the raw maverick type of player to me. No real frills, but hard and aggressive vertical player who is a bit like Wrighty; a brilliant anomaly late to the PL party. He also has a bit of John Radford (the early Drogba) in him as well.
I’m hoping that when Arteta has assembled his sum of all parts he’ll be snapped up by RM or BM and Barca.
Consistency, is the buzz word for Arteta and the squad this season for me. We laid our marker against City and put Liverpool on notice. Now we have to back it up by winning and winning comfortably by playing fast quick touch football with intelligent pressing all over the park. We’ve seen it in glimpses for short bursts in the City game and others.
However, generally, the transitions were still too slow and we need to stop slowing our counters down in the oppositions’ final thirds and thus allowing them to get numbers back in defense. Then we are back to tippi tappi football that lacks any real vertical penetration into their penalty boxes.
It’s a major flaw in our play. We only outplayed City for short periods, the rest of the game being mostly a nervy stale mate of both sides often giving possession away. For all that, we only managed one shot on target and a deflected one at that.
It was a mental victory more than anything. The 12-year curse had been broken and lifted and City for the first season under Pep look beatable and dejected. We can expect fireworks at the Etihad of the Manure Fergie days. Keen and Vieira wars in midfield with the legendary and epic battles between Martin Keown and Van Nistlerooy
:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhA3wcvrgyY
Keane & Vieira wars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDBlyfbGI0k
Oh those were the days!!!! But let’s hold our horses here. There were some tasty tackles flying in the City game and prisoners weren’t taken, so I hope this is a sign of ze mental strength returning to our valiant gladiators.
Saliba is Henry levels in defense plain and simple; levels above other CDs in the PL where I’d say in the top 5 in the world. Saliba effortlessly keeping Halland in his back pocket all game says it all really. Saliba also keeps big Gabs from being too anxious in tight games and always pushing Gabs to a better consistency is also in his natural leadership skills; a future captainI hope.
Are they Martin Keown and big Tony levels of today? I think they are close.
Was the City game a glimpse off the future under Arteta only to be seen sporadically or is it here to stay with statement of intent made to actually win the PL this season?
Two words are now that the most important for our season: Consistency and accountability.
The hope is we use the City result to confidently springboard our assault on the PL title. Can we?
Killroy & KP
The world cup rugby quarterfinals all look tasty. I’ve only managed to watch various games making a pint too try to watch the Japan games – such warriors who are becoming worthy adversaries and I think should be part of the southern hemisphere tournaments with South Africa, Australia and the Kiwis.
I’ll add my usual do not bet on my predictions caveat and give my 2 pence worth:
Wales v Argentina
Although Argentina have improved immeasurably from their early outings in the 6-Nations competitions, Wales will be too much who are beginning to click throughout the squad.
Wales to win by more than 10 points.
Ireland V New Zealand
By my predictions the semi final is going to look like this with no southern hemisphere teams left in the tournament.:
Wales V Ireland
England V France
That would make it all very interesting for my thinking and where evry game will be worth watching.
Should have been the final and will no doubt be the game of the quarterfinals. A really tough game to call but I think Ireland will smother the All Blacks to slow their ball and find the quick hand to ball the Kiwis are famed for to seal the game
Ireland to win by 3 or less points where this game could go to extra time
England ve Fiji
This has upset written all over it and our national teams love to choke in tournaments. Still, we have to take our luck and in a bloody and ferocious game we will need to keep our discipline and the penalty count down to below 10 for the Game.
As with the Wales game England should have too much for the Fijians who are far better at 7s. In a tough game of big hits from Fiji I expect England to win by more than 10 points in the latter stages of the 2nd half.
France v South Africa
What a game to rival the All Blacks game. I honestly can’t say which is going to be best because this is going to be a titanic battle in a stadium where perhaps the Springboks are better equipped to take on France. If the French can keep their collective heads from the South African constant onslaught, then the partisan French crowd will be like 2 extra players on the park or at least helping the France players to dig into the body’s reserve 10% few athletes can break into, and find that bit extra when needed.
Has to be a France victory. Another possible game for extra time because the win will be very narrow of no more than 5 points for the France win.
Marc
Glad to hear you didn’t go in the wrong house and sleep with your neighbour as happened recently. 🙂 Recovery is a bitch and is why I gave up alcohol years ago and, as with the flowerpot men weed is my friend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JKKWJqFpBQ
Commiserations KP & Almunia seems I got both results wrong but not unexpected. Wales look lost at the moment and Ireland let the Kiwis get in their heads absolutely great game for neutrals. It seems our semi pirate Internet app run by the local satellite company now offers a function to watch back 2-days, so for as long as it lasts I won’t miss the rugby or CL for time reasons.
Makes for a happy Sunday.
Hi Tony
I wasn’t surprised that Wales lost (and that things are a little bit sombre in this part of the world as a result…). What was surprising was Argentina’s earlier in the tournament loss to 14 man England. I thought the other game was terrific and hinged on that tackle towards the end that prevented the Irish player from downing the ball. It was pretty even but you can never rule out the ABs. Today’s games? England to win narrowly and France to lose, again narrowly. The second game will be a real bruiser I reckon.
I’ve had a football fix this weekend. County won underwhelmingly on pens. They always win shoot outs thanks to their (kiwi) GK who is a master shot stopper. No Arsenal? No bother.
Hope all is well chez Tony.
This was one of the more entertaining weekends. Both Saturday and Sunday at 11:00am and 3pm local time were the quarter finals of the RWC and they did not disappoint. For me the Wales v Argentina was the more interesting one on Saturday because of the emotions. Also the Ireland loss was tragic.
Next weekend it will be the English to go for the 2019 revenge and Los Pumas to repeat their win over the ABs.
But realistically I see a final of ABs v. Bokks and Los Pumas taking 3rd. Well they would have if Pablo Matera wouldn’t be injured.
Hi KP
All good here, thanks.
Junior wondered if people made money off my predictions by betting against them, which he did, and got them all correct. What great quarterfinals of breath taking rugby from all sides bar England, who have been making games heavy going with silly errors and so will be their undoing against South Africa.
As you say KP, football what football? Next weekend’s semis and the final are games to be savored, as possibly they could be the best so far in the history of world cup famous battles where there have been many. England beating Australia after extra time in the 2003 final with a last ditched drop goal from Johnny Wilkinson just outside the Australia 25 in the dying seconds of the game is a tough one to beat.
Killroy
I concur with your head thinking of a Boks v All Blacks final in potentially the final of finals. What a combinations of games to look forward to. I’m glad the Arsenal game is Saturday, so we have Sunday free for the Semis Sunday.
Could there be upsets? My gut feeling is no. Both the Argies and England have punched above their weight with arguably Argentina having upped their games once again in catching up with the 6-nations sides; therefore more worthy of their semi birth than England.
Hi Tony
It feels like an AB v SA final is an inevitability. There’s even a risk both games could be blowouts. The only thing I can see working against that outcome is hubris.
Hi KP
There’s too much at stake being the final where I think both teams will look to attack weaknesses of each other and good luck finding them. The Boks looked a well oiled and drilled squad against the France team who to be fair made few errors.
For everyone’s sake let’s hope it’s a final to remember.
Hi Killroy
Despite your caveat, I bet my entire life savings on your rwc predictions… I haven’t got a pot to piss in now.😂
One of the better features of international rugby these days is that results are a little less predictable despite there being more games. That said, I’m pretty certain Ingerland and Argentina lose next weekend.
Anyone got any thoughts regarding Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.4B buying of 25% of Manure?
Our Paddy says he was sacked by Sir Jim and that Ten Hag is going to have to dig out results to keep his job, as would any manager to be fair, well except Arteta, of course.
Four years in and does anyone really know how we are going to turn up at the Bridge and how we are going to play, right? We’d hope something similar to City’s line up with ESR at 8. One thing Arteta is now is unpredictable, which is all well and fine if the squad understands and can produce quality football consistently.
Not just scraping though as we have for most of our games thus far.
The Chavs away will not be an easy game and Pochettino is beginning to gain traction with his squad.
If Ten Hag get the funds he needs to keep the dressing room onside in January, Manure could well get back in contention for a CL spot.
Finally, Spuds in top spot needs sorting sharpish! That’s the worst sin Arteta can commit: allowing the Spuds to be higher than us.
I, for one, have had enough for it. Let’s hope Fulham can do us a favour Monday night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Xe3z5tVfQ&pp=ygUYSGF2ZXJmb3Jkd2VzdCB2IHBlbnlib250
Hi Tony
Check this out from last night. Fantastic game and their best display of the season. Junior and I had a top time. I really rate County’s manager – great communicator and motivator and always able to make tweaks to improve the team. The polar opposite of Arteta! The second goal by Abruzzese is a thing of beauty – left footed, into top left corner and it crashes in off the bar. The kid is terrific. The other lot put up a spirited comeback in the second half. There was even a bit of tension with their fans getting uppity (I suspect most were Cardiff supporters as well given Penybont/Bridgend is only 20 miles from the capital). That ST is worth it’s weight in gold!
Thinking of going to Bala (nice little town up north by a lake) to see them on Saturday or failing that, the dark satanic burgh of Blackburn to watch Cardiff.
I think we beat Chelsea this weekend. They might have really expensive players but there’s a real rawness/callowness to them at the moment. A trip to the bridge these days is at least a much less fearsome game than it was under late Wenger (his 1000th game comes to mind…)
Oh Tony… Your point about Ratcliff. An absolute arsehole. Him buying a stake in a club of wankers like Manure will be a perfect match. He doesn’t have a history of sporting success either. Since his INEOS company took over sponsorship of Britain’s foremost cycling team from Sky, they’ve been really disappointing.
Manure were shite pre and post Ferguson. What he achieved there was pretty impressive in some ways (although I never saw it quite that way at the time… ). He bullied and threatened the rest of football to such an extent that it ultimately won them trophies, many at our expense. If only they’d fucking sacked him a few months after he started.
Hi KP
Thanks for the link looked a great game and well worth the travelling. The number 3 you mentioned has that rocket Stuart Pierce used to have from his left peg.
The lake visit for the Haverford game sounds nice. I think I’d plump for that one also for the photo potential as I’m going to seriously get back into my photography hobby now Hasselblad has made their tech far more lightweight. 100MP you can make 5-meter prints from and still not lose any clarity, sharpness and depth of field.
I’ve been wondering if Saturday evening is going to be a bridge too far. They are coming off 3 wins against Burnley, Brighton and Fulham meaning Poch might have finally turned a corner with his squad where the players are not only listening, but they are also hearing and responding.
The team should pick itself after City:
Reya
White – Saliba – Gabs – Kiwior
Partey – Ode – Rice
Saka – Jesus – Martinelli/ESR
With Rice at 8 we don’t need Zinchenko getting in the way as he often does or his poor defending: Zinchenko is best used off the bench.
If Arteta really wants rid of ESR, then he should play him to up his price. I really feel for the kid and wouldn’t blame him if he joined Willock with the bar codes to guarantee minutes this season.
I think I’ll wait for the team news before predicting because, as of now, I’m not convinced we are going to get all 3 points Saturday, because the win against City was a scrappy affair almost causing Marc to become an alcoholic where it took him 4 days to post the post game suffering the PTSD was so bad having been witness to it at the Emirates.
I mean Marc has been awol for a while now; hope he didn’t have a relapse.
Hope all is well in your part of Wales where it looks like it might get a bit wet from the news.
TRVL
Got any early thoughts on the Chelsea game?
I have a nasty feeling Storm Babet is going to severely disrupt the football if the predicted 4 days of rain starts tomorrow or Friday.
A supercomputer’s generated results being reported in may papers see the PL finishing as below:
Full simulated Premier League table
1st: Manchester City
2nd: Arsenal
3rd: Liverpool
4th: Tottenham
5th:Newcastle United
6th: Aston Villa
7th: Brighton
8th: West Ham
9th:Manchester United
10th:Chelsea
11th:Crystal Palace
12th:Fulham
13th:Brentford
14th:Wolves
15th:Nottingham Forest
16th:Everton
17th:Burnley
18th:Bournemouth
19th:Luton Town
20th:Sheffield United
Have to say I like Manure’s and the Chav’s positions and Brighton and Spuds swapping positions would feel much better.
What I’d like more is the swap between City and us in a reversal of last season. Let’s get real here City have been dropping points indiscriminately recently, and we have been scraping or scrapping wins by the skin off our teeth.
There have been varying reports of us making bids for the £100m player and that £80m or £60m player for the January window. That is going to have Eddie pouting what about my promised time, boss? ‘You’ve had it’, likely Arteta’s reply.
Jesus has no problem because he’s demand with Barca or was, so shouldn’t be a problem finding a home for a player whose best attributes are causing chaos in and around penalty areas, but not scoring so much himself; he leave’s that to those around him. We need a 20+ goal a season 9.
I’m not holding out hope for ESR as Arteta would sell him grandmother to buy new toys in the Jan TW.
So, this new striker has to start scoring from day 1 or we are royally fucked because as with the failing Havertz and Vieira he will keep playing said striker blindly praying and offering deals with the devil for his shiny new 9 to actually score. Kind of how he wanted Jesus to do when he never really did at City.
Who are these sensational strikers? Elite Newbies? Isn’t Valhovic pulling up trees in Serie A? Or has he been black listed for previously turning Arteta down?
Are we going to capture the bridge tomorrow and see the Chavs capitulate? What a nice thought to end with.
Morning all
A pre – pre game post before Ambarish posts his war cry ‘Let’s Up The Chavs’ post. The meatier the better Ambarish. But, before I talk football: a small rugby interlude.
Not surprisingly the ABs reamed Argentina a new one in a masterclass tuition of how rugby should be played. Something the Puma’s can take much from game in some ways, and just have to admire the New Zealand running game; full of speed and invention even from their extremely mobile pack.
England play South Africa tonight and need a miracle to beat the Springbok who are peaking at just the right time. England at their current level are clear underdogs who have surprised many getting so far, certainly me but, every once now and again the underdog slays its Goliath on that day, and march on to the Semis.
Clive Woodward my all time England favourite manager from the DM has this to say:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-12655219/SIR-CLIVE-WOODWARD-Englands-titans-fight-fire-fire-ahead-crucial-World-Cup-semi-final-avenge-2019-Boks-mauling.html
Like Sir Clive, when I think of a world cup meeting my mind goes back to 2019 and I remember why it was a time to forget. Yet going back further games between the nations have been closer and full of incidents.
South Africa to win and face the All Blacks in the final as we expected last weekend. For England it’s back to the drawing board.
So, what of this weekend’s football?
Some intriguing games today starting with the Merseyside derby.
Can Dyche bully Pool into giving up points? not a chance! Not for me. Robertson is going to be a big miss for them this season with his arm injury, but Klopp will solve that issue without too much fuss, and a change in attacking tactics could well, freshen up their game. Personally, I hope they miss Robertson as they’d miss breathing. Just saying.
I hope they all fucking walk alone.
Next up before us is City at home to my underdog team: Brighton. I’m going with my heart here and saying De Zerbi is going to give Pep problems and nick a draw. My head says City 3:1.
Then we are at The Bridge. I’m going to stick with the team I feel is going to have defensive steel but enough up top to score enough to win.
Reya
White – Saliba – Gabs – Kiwior
Partey – Ode – Rice
Saka – Jesus – Martinelli/ESR
We know from ESR’s great pre injury period that ESR has a telepathic partnership with Saka, so if Marts is fit and healthy, he should start but at half time, sub Partey for ESR, and let Saka and ESR connect again with Rice can covering the midfield and Ode can step up to false 9. Kiwior can invert and we move to a high line of a back 3.
For the first half Partey and Rice can pivot away with Rice releasing each other at will to make quick transitions and MF vertical carries/dribbles. This is where Arteta has to be more assertive and not play safe tippi tappi pretty triangles that eventually get dispossessed in their final third.
Poch will know what Arteta is planning unless we see Partey at RB and perhaps Havertz at LB. Then it’s into the unknown galaxy brain time. I mean Havertz has popped up in most other positions thus far.
Somehow, I see us getting all 3 points from a ragged game much the same as we witnessed against City.
We haven’t clicked in the way we did last season and questions have to be asked why that is the case? Unpredictability is fine and dandy so long as everyone is onboard at the same time. This is not the case with our squad. We are misfiring all over the park because Havertz and Vieira are not right for our system. Copious amounts of playing time has proved their critics right over and over again.
Quite honestly it’s painful to watch where we are pretty much reduced to 10 v 11 when either is on the pitch. They are mostly passengers, more getting in the way, as LB Zinchenko does in very crowded final third areas, where both very rarely make any sort of impact needed in the game, which would very much be needed against Chelsea at the Bridge because Poch will impose his Chavs on us, which could be a feisty encounter.
Three wins on the bounce with decent football now being played – not great – for clarity, but Chelsea will be tough at home, so, let’s hope we are Arteta at his meanest!
I’ll predict a score when I see the team sheets. Have a good one LIR.
Tony-sorry for the tardiness, I’m in full blown travel mode presently…Vancouver for 4, San Fran for 3, home for a few days, then off to NYC, to visit my son, which will hopefully lead to a Vegas excursion to checkout the Sphere…you’ll want to have a looksee at that venue, if you haven’t heard and/or seen already
we should be fully healthy, so to speak, and as such, with the right tactics, they’re no match for us presently…if we get things wrong we could end up missing out on 2 points…I’m in such a positive frame of mind I’m leaning towards the cup half full side of the ledger, so here goes, 3-1 good guys
TRVL all good and happy to hear of your travels; all very cool places with great diversities and places to bake. 🙂 I’m enjoying a very sticky Thai cross with Big Sur for this weekend that’s been drying for just over 2-weeks. If you’re into photography I’m in the process of getting the X2D-100c and the 907x-50c with full complement of XCD lens that fit both cameras and will be hopefully arranging a Nepal trip for LIR to find the finest temple balls and take pictures. Maybe the other way round will work better. 🙂
I know Vegas well or at least I did way back when. When I take Mrs T on the PCH1 San Diego to Nappa drive, we’ll stop at Vegas and detour to Palm Springs. We’ll definitely do the Sphere and have some fun. I saw Siegfried & Roy back in the 90s enjoying all the pomp and regalia, and still have no idea where the elephant went – smoke, mirrors & holograms, I guess.
Enjoy your vacation and hope you can pick up the game somewhere. Laughlin is a great drive and Vegas by the sea. It was discovered by a pilot who had a regular flight over the Davis Dam. You got sleepy Bullhead City on one side of the Colorado river and a bunch of casinos on the other Nevada side.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=laughlin&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Hurrahs at the end was a cool place to stay. The Riverside used to have a bikers bar – maybe still does. It’s about a 90 minute drive from Vegas, up the I-15 I think.
Eddie is a £100k a week waste of space.
Wrong selection once again has cost us points. Zinchenko can’t defend Jorginho is just past it for the PL.
Arteta never learns. Have I missed anything?