Guru Murphy has just gone up in my estimation

https://twitter.com/thecentrelefty/stat ... titHwKbpkg

Platini was a great player, but it should be remembered that the Ballon d'Or was only awarded to European players until 1995. There was a certain Argentinian who was quite decent in the mid-80s but wasn't eligible.

It’s actually an award I take very little notice of. I didn’t know only Europeans could win it up to 1995. Nor did I know Maradona, the greatest player I’ve seen (I assume that’s who you’re talking of), thus couldn’t win it.

I looked it up once just because I was surprised by the fact that Maradona never won it. However, that rule doesn't explain why Ljungberg never got one..

Conte really going for it tonight with no less than two attacking players in the starting eleven

Platini's peak was before Maradona. Maradona was off the charts in 1986 but in the 1982 world cup, for example, he was an ill-disciplined hothead. I would say that Platini was widely regarded as the world's best player when France won the Euros in 1984. Maradona totally surpassed that in 1986 but that doesn't take away from Platini's greatness.

I take your point though. It was a European award for years. A list of the world's great players that excludes Pele and Garrincha is daft.

Yeah, Platini still would've won the 83 and 84 ones, but I do think it's possible that Maradona would've given him a fight in 1985. And then of course, seeing how the award has always favored players who perform well in the Euros and World Cup, I don't think it's a stretch to say Maradona would've been a 100% guarantee in 1986.

Sperz should be booked purely on how ugly their kits are.

Atrocious. Looks like a training kit, and not even a nice one.

Ok. I'll have to take your word for it since I wasn't around at that time. Now I'm tempted to research some highlight videos.

Terry Butcher?

When I was 8 years old in 1993, a friend (accidentally) hit me in the forehead with a golf club. A friend's mom bandaged my head because I was bleeding quite a lot, and as my parents were taking me to the hospital to get stiches I asked my dad if I looked like Terry Butcher because I had seen that photo of him from the World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989.

I’ve watched this half and they’ve been completely outplayed and battered by Man U, some 18 shots at goal from Man U. But yet, when Spurs have 1 of maybe 2 vaguely dangerous counter attacks the commentators wax lyrical how this is the exact way Spurs want to play. I’m sorry that’s nonsense, Spurs and Conte do not ‘want’ to get dominated and rely on good saves from their gk, poor finishing and a touch of luck to just stay in the game so they get one chance on the counter which they HAVE to take.

Ha. Brilliant. And I truly hope you never looked like Terry Butcher at any point in your life!

Arsenal women currently leading European champions Lyon 3-1 away from home.

Very pleasing to hear.

1-0 Man Utd, Tottenham need to push forward now

Completely agree. There's a difference between a catious approach where you try to hit teams on the counter and just being outplayed which is what happened in the first half. I find that narrative lazy and tired.

Chelsea have dropped points.

Brentford - Chelsea 0-0 FT. Very good result. Not sure what was up with Brentford when we beat them, because even though we were very good I found their effort against us pretty lacklustre. They're not an easy team to beat at their ground.

Chelsea drop 2 points at Brentford.

Even better now Bernard, 4-1.

And now it's 5

Amazingly it’s now 5-1. Quite unprecedented.

Things working out nicely so far. Chelsea dropping points. Man Utd up a goal. Now that Sperz are behind things have picked up. Good old school football, they are getting stuck in, end to end and it reminds me a wee bit of the type of British football I fell in love more than a couple decades ago.

How are they spinning Spurs being a goal down? A cunning plot to lull United into a false sense of security?

Utd are playing really quite well now. They’ve taken the bait. The fools.

They won't know what hit them

Son has been seriously underwhelming so far this season. Only three goals in the league, all scored in the same game against Leicester. Kane is carrying a heavy load at the moment.

2-0 Man Utd

Nice. Totts 0-2 now.

Spurs have been shocking.

You just don't understand their plan, it's very intricate

It’s exactly what Conte wants

Notice how Romero completely took himself out of the game by needlessly sliding in to that tackle which rebounded off a Man U player and ended up with Bruno guiding it in to the corner with Romero on the deck.
But some Spurs fans will tell you this guy walks in to our team. Always sceptical of CBs who play in a 3, and even more so ones that play in a 3 protected by 3 defensive mids.

Paul Merson said it before, there’s only one reason you play 3 at the back and it’s because you don’t trust the defence

Now finally I’m hearing some scepticism on Spurs.
Comm just said, 7 wins this season and 4 of them against the bottom 4 and many will tell you they’ve not played that well yet this season.

We’re getting this critique week after week. Time for some proper analysis on Spurs. They’re bang average

Merson is a terrible pundit, but there is a grain of truth in that statement. I always find it wasteful to have an extra central defender when you could use that spot for a more progressive player and get better control of the game.

According to the BBC, Lyon's women had lost 1 of their last 82 home games before tonight, and last conceded 5 in a game in 2005.
Our girls have gubbed them 5-1. Doing the shirt proud.

Lyon has also won the CL six times in the last seven years, only missing out in 2021.

Brilliant result. Saw David Dein speak at an AST do last night. But with all the results today, this isn’t the time to talk about it.

Absolute scenes in parliament. All this shithousery started on June 23rd 2016. This is the direct result of the ideological madness that is Brexit. We need a general election now.