I’ve definitely heard of Porsche cars. Indeed, I’ve driven a couple. One of five German car companies I can think of, the others being Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. Italian car companies that spring to mind are Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Fiat.

Man U had a bid turned down for Marco Arnautovic. Man U are the gift that keeps on giving.

De Gea in goal for them is a huge problem. A GK that can’t build play with his feet kills building from the back especially when combined with an organised opposition press.

Hells Bells let your head go Bernard , you're on fire I want you on my Trivial Pursuit team ... other German cars Messchersmitt , Borgward , Wankel , Opel , Daimler , Goggomobil , Maybach ,

Italian ... Isetta , Alfa Romeo , Lancia

In my spotty youth used to play Top Trumps cards as a craze for a while. Wankel never failed to have us all giggling.

So in order to see how good I could be as a manager, for the first time in a long time I entered 2 teams in the Premier League Fantasy competition.

Suffice to say I'm 54th and 58th.

In a League of 59.

Yeah not wrong ; after watched the highlights this morning I mused .... What a seismic shock for their fan base , wait four months , along comes the season opener , new manager , full house at home ....... and get dicked by a little South Coast outfit that has a thousandth of your financial clout

I’m annoyed I forgot Alfa Romeo. Lancia? Come across the word but didn’t know it was an Italian car company. Never heard of Isetta.

I didn’t know Daimler were German. Had presumed they were English. Messchersmitt I thought made planes in the war. Didn’t know they made cars. I thought Opal made sweets, not cars. Opal Fruits. Never heard of Borgward, Wankel, Goggomobil and Maybach.

Smutty little deviant .

When we lived in England the first time in 1973 , I used to push the daughter around the lanes in a Surrey village of Coulsdon , there was a Goggomobile parked behind a gate with a hedge growing over it .
Wonder if it's still there ? be good in these days of sky rocketing fuel prices .

Goggomobile. Sounds 'strine'.

Daimler was originally German ....... going out on a limb without Googling I think Daimler Benz manufactured the first internal combustion engine somewhere around 1888 . Think they were bought out by Jaguar who in turn I think were bought by Ford [ guessing ]

Opel with an E is the car .

Messerschmitt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR200 not destined to rival Rolls , Lincoln , Mercedes anytime soon

If we had Martinez who would he replace and in which position?

Don’t see it myself. Very curious.

The Wankdorf Stadium is another schoolboy gem.

Oh yes.

Star? Really? Good luck to him anyway. Living the dream.

In that case they’re another I hadn’t heard of.

Looking at their team, it's just comical how poorly built that entire squad is.

You start with De Gea, a great shot stopper who doesn't have feet. Then a defense led by Maguire who makes John Terry look like Ronaldinho. Their full backs are the traditional sort that bombs up and down the flanks hitting crosses but has very limited passing ability. In central midfield they have McTominay who should be playing for Stoke, and Fred who is decent carrying the ball in tight areas but has absolutely zero passing range.

Then they look to their front three and they're worried about the form of Bruno Fernandes and Rashford, and the fact that Jadon Sancho hasn't kicked on at all, but it's just a simple fact in modern football that you can't start your creative play in the final third. How anyone expects those players to perform when the entire team below them are so devoid of technical ability is beyond me. That's probably the entire reason they bought Martinez despite his limited height, because he's an actual ball playing defender.

Rangnick said they needed to sell ten players and buy ten players, and he basically got the sack. The way I see it they are where Arsenal was a few years ago, with a bloated and overpaid squad that needs a huge overhaul. Looking at their transfer dealings thus far in the summer, it doesn't seem like they've realized it though.

I so hope that we turn up at Old Trafford without that inbuilt inferiority complex that we seem to reserve for such occasions.

We are miles better than them. Their next two home games are Liverpool and then us.

Hopefully really tough times for them.

How much did we make from his sell on fee?

Its an interesting hypothesis. I'll scroll through my National Geographics to check if these tribes are known to binge on Get Carter and the Sweeney, and have a strong aversions to pastry and Gilberto 'the fish' Silva.

There was a place in Matabeleland called Wankie. Now Hwange. Also this:

https://www.dw.com/en/austrian-village- ... a-55740967

Reminiscing about where we came to the here and now with a formidable back line. Oh the memories.

Remember this guy? Nice enough man I suppose, but shouldn't have been in an Arsenal shirt as long as he was. Good luck to him though. I know I rode him hard (but he needed it and benefited from it. )

Schalke 04
On 1 February 2021, Mustafi joined German side Schalke 04 on a permanent transfer. He was reportedly signed as the replacement for Liverpool-bound Ozan Kabak on a six-month contract. He made his debut five days later in a 0–3 defeat against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

Levante
On 2 September 2021, Mustafi joined La Liga club Levante on a two-year deal.

Ornstein reports that Brook Norton-Cuffy has signed a new deal with Arsenal, he only had a year left, likely to go on loan in the Championship. He’s a fantastic talent at Right-back. Good to tie him to a longer deal

Nice. Matteo pleased as well.

Ornstein confirms Arsenal still like Tielemans.

https://football-talk.co.uk/173215/davi ... tielemans/

Man U now linked with a bid for Rabiot. That is like pouring petrol on the fire.

Man U had a much smaller rebuilding job than Arsenal because whilst there were factors of underperforming high earners which were similar they had a more successful recent team than us and they have a much bigger budget meaning more room for error.

I'll maintain the first step for Man U in their rebuild (and they still haven't taken it yet) is humility. Once they realise they are nowhere near the attraction they were and they realise they can't just sign a few big names and make it back to the top then they can start the rebuild.

How many of that Man U squad would you even take in our squad? Most of them are simply not very good footballers. I think Elneny would start in their midfield no doubt.

Their recent transfers have been woeful, for me it always seems lazy, there is never really a surprise signing for Man U, they mostly seem to buy whoever is the talk of the papers at the time. You could probably go through a list of signings that clubs in 7th-14th have made in the past 2 years and easily come up with a team better than Man U's for half the cost Man U have spent in that time.

A few sources in Spain saying Arsenal are in negotiations with Villarreal over Yeremi Pino, 19-year old right winger. No idea about the validity of the sources, but I know he's rated as one of the best young attacking players in Spain. Very interesting if true.

Really painful having to wait until Saturday for the next game.

And getable due to the money issues that seem to be there for most Spanish clubs

Apart from scoring a fine goal last night, Nuno Tavares was also named man of the match and is getting lots of praise for his overall performance. Marseille are playing him as a left wingback with three central defenders, I can understand why he'd work well in a formation like that. Hides his flaws and lets him use his ability to drive forward. He's not a bad player, but I wonder if he'll ever work in a back four.

Posts mentioning that it was Saliba's debut at Friday's CP game.
Guess better than referring to him as a "new signing".

Torriera has joined Galatasary. I expect Bellerin and Mari to follow him out the door pretty soon.

Ødegaard covered more distance than any premier league player at the weekend. Lots of reports were that he had a poor game. At least the workrate doesn't stop so he still offers something even if his passing and touch is off.

RIP Olivia Newton-John. Dead at 73.

Gosh, that’s a shock. Any idea what she died of?

EDIT: Apparently breast cancer. My wife knew she’d had it.

That’s good to hear.

It is a shock Bernard. She battled cancer for 30 years apparently. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992.

Before Fergie, they were in the same position. Ted MacDougal as an example. They never thought about how players fit in. They have returned to this phase. I am convinced that City actually take the piss with them. Alexi as an example - City say they want him and Utd step in and just overspend, Ronaldo - exactly the same. It looks like Utd hear about City rumours and just can't allow the player to go to them. If I was running Utd the person I would want to start the reorganisation is Edu. Get rid of the dross and start the rebuild. I don't think he would be interested but thats the model many clubs will look to for the future.

I thought you may know more about this but her father was a Professor in German at Melbourne Uni, but I believe he may have been a spy before that with MI5. Not an unusual path as I know of a number of ex British spies who moved down here with their families, often with name changes but not in this case. I can't confirm this. Her grandfather was a Nobel winning scientist who fled Germany.

She was a big supporter of cancer research. We have lost 2 great singers this week. Olivia and Judith Durham. I have such fond memories of her and John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. I was not a particular disco liker but the songs from that movie and Grease live in my mind just like the songs from the Sound of Music when I was very young. RIP Olivia: one of the greats.

Gidday Decaf I've got the sneaky suspicion that Bernard googled all those names first , then was deliberately vague to cover the fact he had .

Its an old Karen trick in the Golden Triangle