Bellingham scored again today. England need to build a team around him, and just let him do his thing next summer.
One of his quieter games, but he still started and finished that move (what a ****ing cross by Modric btw)
I can understand that you Brits are more interested in Bellingham and his play at Real but this match has brought also a serious injury for David Alaba, Captain of the Austrian team. Kreuzbandriss/ Cruciate ligament rupture. He's out for many months and most likely also for the Euro 2024. Bad news for Austria. Carlo Ancelotti was shocked, too, of course. Already the 3rd Cruciate ligament rupture in his team (the other 2 are Goalie Courtois and Eder Militao.) All the best wishes to David Alaba for a speedy recovery!
The sooner Carlo leaves, the better (for Barça); TopTop manager, Italian SAF; he will win LaLiga (Girona will eventually collapse) with a truckload of injured players. That, and his abilty to turn very good players into "Best in the World" in a few weeks (Jude).
Spent a lovely couple of days in Spain. First game was Sociedad vs Betis. Bit of meh game but great ground. Then drove all the way to Girona and attended those guys who happen to be league leaders beat Alaves 3-0. Good do all round.
Change of heart for Ancelotti - won't be taking the Brazil job and sticking with Real for a bit longter. Carlo Ancelotti extends contract with Real Madrid until 2026
As if he was ever going to take it. It's a lose-lose job. Win the World Cup, people will go meh they should win, it's Brazil, don't win it, you get sacked. Real is his home and quite frankly the club needs him more than he needs Real.
Watching Real Madrid 2 v 2 Almeria , I've never seen such a biased ref & V.A.R. team in my life , I'm glad I support a tinpot team rather than one where V.A.R .is prevalent in each & every game & if it does come to English lower league football reckon I'll go & watch some Sunday League stuff instead , ruining football , big time .
Madrid were 2-0 down at half time , got a dodgy penalty when 2 of their players fouled in the penalty box & ball hit Almeria players arm , Almeria went 3-1 up after Bellingham gave the ball away & trying to retrieve hit got caught & went down like a sack of spuds so goal ruled out , Vinicious Jr handballs a goal into the net , plain as day but V.A R . ruled it ok , & then in 10th min of injury time they score the winner , Almeria robbed , massive big team bias , even Anchelotti looked sheepish & embarrassed at the end .
Wonder if anyone takes a chance on Dovbyk this summer ? 14 goals in 20 la Liga games so far, 29 in 39 for Dnipro last season and 14 goals in 18 the one before that!
He was acting like a right prima donna all game . You should check out Vinicious Jr punching the ball in the net & the goal after V A R stood , bonkers decision . The Betis 2 v 4 Barca match was fantastic end to end game , not watched much Spanish football this season but Barca have a 16 yr old called Lamile Yamal number 27 short , one hell of a player already , he's gonna have some career injuries aside .
Mixed feelings; Xavi is a Barça legend, one of the very best CMF/AMF of his generation (and more dangerous than Iniesta), but he always seemed weak in terms of mentality; if we're talking about leadership, Puyol, Valdés, Mascherano or even "young" Messi (07-13) were more important than him. He doesn't seem passionate, confident or ruthless, three mandatoty traits for any manager, ex-player or not. And worst of all, unlike Guardiola in 2008-09, he never looked really thrilled with the Barça job. That said, the 2022-23 Liga title should be appreciated; he won it whereas other failed, including Udo Lattek, Luis Aragones, Koeman, or Sir Bobby Robson. Not the "new Pep", but Xavi should be remembered as the "ex-player who won us a Liga" after the 2019-22 shenanigans, during an ugly scandal (Negreira affair), and with a "miserable" budget.
La Liga investigates Bellingham's alleged comment If this did happen I think we know what it would have been about. I think it's safe to say it wouldn't have been racist. I'm not sure what the ex-United player expected to happen. Footballers who are aware of the circumstances were never likely to be on friendly terms with him and a comment or two was almost inevitable. Seems a bit silly to go down the formal complaint route to me.
