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Why don't elite European academies produce elite strikers as much as they do other positions? I attempted to answer this as well as I could. Feel free to read my take on it here⏬ differentpitches.org/initiatives/lx…

I smell a World Cup semi final

Enciso one of the most wasteful players I’ve ever seen

Yassine isn’t real and El Moutabet is slowly becoming one of my favourite players and midfielders Panichelli is pretty wasteful in front of goal and takes a while to pull the trigger

A silver lining in a very grey cloud Lyon were dumped out of the Europa League with a toothless display at the hands of Celts Vigo tonight Nothing was going right, they lacked ideas and imagination with only 4 shots and one on target But today saw the return of Malick Fofana (20) who’s been out for the whole season and Alfonso Moreira (21) returning from a handful of months on the sideline nes Both are dynamite left wingers blessed with blistering acceleration and wonderful agility. Each are capable of producing something out of nothing and it will be interesting to see how Fonseca fits them in the same lineup This will boost an already thrilling attack of Endrick, Nartey, Himbert and Sulc and will massively upgrade Lyon’s chances of getting UCL football They have a brilliant track record of producing great footballers with Cherki, Barcola, Mikautadze, Gusto and Caqueret all shining elsewhere Don’t sleep on them. The returns of Fofana and Moreira will feel like two new signings building something special.

So so weird

Manzambi is toppp

You just have to laugh

Archie Gray vs. Atletico Madrid (H)

“I’ve never seen Neymar as a top, top player as in….Messi, Ronaldo, that category” “Is he likeable?” “What about Mane?” Non-conversation.

Stupidly good squad but biggest takeaway is Canvot being considered a midfielder?

Mate what is going on

4 goal contributions yesterday and a hat-trick in the game before That makes it 25 g/a in 30 games for Raphinha this season When the pressure is high and Barcelona need a moment of magic, the Brazilian comes to life What more could you want from a winger who scores in the biggest games, presses like a maniac and has an infectious intensity to win which rubs off on his teammates He’s a true leader whilst being a world-class player who can create and score at the highest level We don’t speak about Raphinha enough. Every manager would kill for a player like him his name belongs with the best of them.

Huh

Today is a good day

Nothing against Mamadou Sarr, we like him, but what has he done to deserve more opportunities than Josh Acheampong? The obvious explanation is that he cost €14 million. Clubs should trust their own first and foremost.

He’ll go right to the top

The worst thing is that without UCL we can’t attract these elite players that would take our squad to another level so we’re just stuck signing these project players for the foreseeable United, Arsenal, City are all more attractive for the Anderson’s and Barcola’s of the world

I’m all for criticising him and he may be out of his depth (though I doubt any manager would look good with these players) but this is not the rhetoric to run with Like how are you having a go at this?

Has pep never scratched his head before?

You’re laughing but some director cunt is unironically going to bring this up in the executive debrief tomorrow as a serious point