EiF

Josep Maria Bartomeu - the disastrous situation he engineered at Barcelona, a thread:

Sports related, so we’ll talk about it. Taking away college kids’ ability to make money off of their name and image. It’s unfair as colleges will continue to profit off of teenage labor once again. Grave mistake.

Arguably the worst captain in Barcelona history.

Liverpool pulling this off would be…something. Seems unlikely now? Arsenal had their chance. Chelsea signed multiple strikers. City are good (kind of…they *could* try)? Genuinely, the best fit in the world is Barcelona, but we already know they do not have the funds to buy.

This might just be the greatest signing announcement of all time. An ode to Rios and Otamendi beefing when Colombia played Argentina. Simply beautiful.

Aside from Messi, this is the single best footballer to ever join MLS (when talking current ability). De Paul on his day is still one of the best midfielders in the world. Atleti wasn’t going to renew and they got €15M for a 31 year old set to leave. They needed the revenue.

Not Gyokeres’ best performance, but even then a lot of positives considering he was up against one of the best CB partnerships in football (now his teammates). Way too many people discounting him before giving him a chance. This will be a great signing for Arsenal.

Looking back on it, is this Ronaldo second half performance vs Sweden a top 5 all-time international one? Has to be up there given the importance and what he produced. Unstoppable.

At first, the Rashford move for Barcelona looked amazing considering his profile. But now, we’re learning that the master negotiators Deco and Laporta: - took on €14M in salary - pay appearance bonuses - pay a penalty for not exercising the buy option of €30M United…

My word this kid is going to be a superstar.

Ridiculous, ridiculous save. Berger is a monster👏

This year’s football IQ test will be who is putting Lamine Yamal any lower than #2 on their Ballon D’Or list. Not to sound rude, but anyone who has Lamine other than #1 or #2 hasn’t watched him play or can’t properly evaluate individual quality. There’s no other explanation.

Palmer: “what’s he doing” Reece James: “are you going to leave?”

Has to be the most awkward trophy lifting ceremony of all time 🤣

Infantino trying to urge Trump to get out of the trophy lift and Trump not getting out of the way was PAINFUL to watch 😭

….lots and lots of boos for this medal ceremony huh?

Overall, we found the Club World Cup to be a very enjoyable, worthwhile tournament that should only continue to grow in stature. Fun that it’s every 4 years, will make it more special, you get tons of unique games, and every team took it very seriously. We’re fans.

Anyone hating on Chelsea or the Club World Cup is jealous their team didn’t win it (or wasn’t even in it). Simple as that. A brilliant tournament from start to finish, with some incredible matches and upsets, ultimately capped by a thoroughly deserved winner.

Chelsea, the first winners of the *new* Club World Cup. Incredibly dominant performance, the first half was simply fantastic. Palmer, Joao Pedro, Caicedo the standouts on the pitch, and then Maresca deserves enormous credit for the tactical set up. What a win.

PSG are pathetic. When they win, they are all smiles and likeable. When they lose, they act like a bunch of spoiled children. Dirty, sore losers.

Is this the best first half Chelsea have ever played? Thinking back on all-time Chelsea performances, including that Hazard masterclass in the Europa League final against Arsenal, but hard to think of anything that tops this.