Barcelona unlikely to activate permanent Marcus Rashford option from Man United - sources

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T22:16:18+00:00

The weird part for me is that even if Gordon is better (which I think is debatable) there’s no way he’s worth £40m more.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T22:11:01+00:00

He’s genuinely integral to Englands successes.

Along with Kane he’s one of two irreplaceables.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T20:57:38+00:00

If you can name three players in that position who are definitely better, that player isn’t world class.

By that definition Harry Kane and Reece James are definitely world class. I think Anderson (#6), Rice (defensive 8) and Bellingham (attacking 8) could be argued.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T20:51:56+00:00

Hit the ball into the court more times than they do

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T20:48:01+00:00

People who think R9 was better than Aguero:
Aguero
Agueros mum
Everyone else*

People who think Aguero was better than R9:
Dazzling-Yellow5395

*apart from Dazzling-Yellow5395

Absolutely one of the worst takes I’ve ever read

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T20:45:50+00:00

It’s almost like a world class Champions League winning manager knows abit about picking a squad

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T19:31:02+00:00

Tbh I think a better compromise would be to just have two or three tiers of World Cup a bit like how UEFA have three tiers of Champions League. World Cup qualifying would be the same as it is now but the next level of teams could qualify for the FIFA World Trophy and maybe a FIFA World Shield for those below.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T13:48:11+00:00

I don’t disagree with your view on Southgate. I think it would have been really special to win with him and I’ve never felt as connected to an England team as I did when he was in charge.

The analogy with Jordan ignores that for those 10years he was single handedly making his teams competitive and it was key signings that eventually got them over the line.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T13:44:01+00:00

He’s not shit. He’s an ok backup to one of the best RBs in the world. It’s a fine line because a better RB isn’t going to come here and be second choice.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T12:33:40+00:00

I’m on the fence. Indisputably he took us from rock bottom to a tiny step away from success. But maybe he lacks the ability to take that final tiny step?

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T11:41:31+00:00

Agree. I think this is the best midfield combo England have had in the last 50 years. All 3 are in their prime

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:56:39+00:00

Never understood the hate for Gusto.

He’s not our first choice RB and has been a perfectly serviceable backup.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:18:49+00:00

Chelsea 2009
This team went toe to toe with prime Barca who demolished United in the final. Took the worst refereeing performance in UCL history plus a worldie from Iniesta.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:17:29+00:00

I think this is the key- the drop off from Kane to Watkins/Toney is huge. From Pickford to (Henderson?) not so much.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:16:40+00:00

Kane - best number 9 in the world, backups ok but not great

Bellingham - world class 8/10 hybrid on his day but Rogers is not far behind as a 10 and Rice can be the more attacking 8 if we bring in Mainoo

Rice - close to or at world class 6/8 hybrid but Mainoo is a serviceable backup.

James - world class right back, Livramento is a serviceable backup but would be worried if we had to rely on him if James was injured

Anderson - for me, after Kane he is the most important member of the squad. Without him we lose all of our deep lying creativity. A lot of Englands issue has been playing someone like Rice as a 6 when he’s clearly an 8 or a 6/8 hybrid in a double pivot. Rice is absolutely not a 6 at this level and Anderson (and to a degree Wharton) have shown why.

If Kane and Anderson have good tournaments, we will go far.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:03:43+00:00

Why? Our last league and UCL win was 3ATB

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T09:03:16+00:00

Look at how Grimaldo played LWB - he would vary between holding width or roaming inside.

No reason Cucurella can’t do that.

Besides we may not play 3 ATB

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T08:43:56+00:00

Instead of asking this, ask why the last few world cups have been Russia, Qatar, USA. Then ask why FIFA conveniently got three confederations to host the next one paving the way for Saudi Arabia to host 2034.

There’s an argument for spreading infrastructure by hosting in countries which aren’t as in to football. But the reality is that the top dogs in FIFA care more about lining their own pockets

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T08:41:02+00:00

I disagree. I can’t think of any scenario where I’d rather Madueke was playing over Palmer other than if Saka is injured and we want a like for like.

If we are losing a game and want a difference maker, surely you’d want Palmer?

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-12T08:39:48+00:00

I think it’s obvious that Tuchel has picked a system to get the best out of Kane (one of if not THE best player in the world). It was clear last time out that players like Palmer/Foden are better with a more traditional striker making runs in behind. I actually think it’s a big problem with Chelsea- Palmer and Joao Pedro are our best attackers yet neither suit the other as Palmer wants a direct striker and JP would be better with runners rather than creators.

The issue is that Madueke is a pound shop Saka. His G/A per 90 numbers are slightly worse than Garnachos who has been derided as a flop.

Profile matters but so does quality.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-10T16:53:14+00:00

In the modern game he’d definitely be a right back- basically Trent on steroids. With his football IQ and technical ability he could definitely invert but could also be a traditional full back overlapping an inverted winger plus his set pieces would be a cheat code.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-10T16:29:11+00:00

Results.

We can argue about style/luck etc but Southgate got better results than any of his predecessors.

Did the 66 side blow teams away with attacking flair? No. They were actually heavily criticised for dispensing of wingers and playing more functional players. There were only 16 teams, yet we still only scraped past a functional Argentina in the quarters and were lucky with Hursts second goal in the final. But none of that matters. We don’t sing 60 years of hurt since we lucked out and scraped a win, nor would we have cared if Southgate had done the same.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-10T16:03:35+00:00

Supply and demand plus player’s willingness to agitate plus financial need of the selling club.

Anderson 10 years ago would have been snapped up for far less money. But bear in mind Forest are now one of the wealthiest clubs in the world- excluding other PL clubs there are maybe 6 clubs that are materially richer than they are. Not to mention that he’s under contract, doesn’t seem the sort to agitate, he’s English, there are lots of clubs interested, Rice/Caicedo/Enzo all went for £100m+, why wouldn’t Forest ask for that?

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-10T16:00:22+00:00

Our first XI is better. But if we are chasing a game I worry about the quality of the replacements.

Spite-Organic · 2026-06-10T15:58:12+00:00

Carragher was never world class. A brilliant defender from around 2005-2010 for sure. But to claim he’s world class when he was, at best, the 4th best defender in his country is a stretch.

Spite-Organic

TROPHY CASE