Tino Livramento to NUFC being reported.

Some Aggies own Burnley now

"The stars just aligned...we fell in love with it" 💜 @dudeperfect sat down with us and explained why they chose to invest in the Clarets 📽️

The full interview is now on YouTube ⤵️

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 8, 2023

If been out of the loop the last 24 hours so someone correct me if I have this wrong.

After spending weeks penny pinching Southampton as they slowly got closer to their asking price for Lavia but never reached it, Liverpool then more than doubled their Lavia offer for a last minute swoop for Caicedo that was slightly more than what Chelsea offered which Brighton accepted.

Except Caicedo said no, he wants Chelsea but Chelsea still haven't actually signed him. So they put the Adams transfer on hold so that they can focus on Caicedo even though the deals were meant to be "independent" of one another.

Meanwhile Lavia is like "What the hell?" and feeling like everyone's backup option in case the player they really want says no.

Is that more or less accurate?

How many will Haaland score this season?

Talking heads are saying Chelsea might try to scoop up both Lavia and Caicedo but they also haven't put in a bid for either yet as far as I can tell.

I can't see any way both players wind up at the same club. Whomever gets Caicedo, the other gets Lavia and Adams?

Any JJ Watt or Dude Perfect sightings at the Burnley game? Haven't been able to watch much of the broadcast.

Tyler Adams deal collapsed which I feel like is a good thing.

Watt is there. Some some stuff on his social media.

Out in Left Field said:

---

How many will Haaland score this season?

---

He'll win the Golden Boot again no doubt. Probably be near the same as last year although if KDB can't stay fit he'll not have quite the same service as last year

Couple of the Dude Perfect guys were there and on the USA pregame as well

Well depends on your perspective I guess; apparently it fell apart because the medical indicated his hamstring injury would keep him out until pretty much the next transfer window (per Daily Mail anyway; how are they getting all the medical leaks lately?). Regardless, link:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12399159/amp/Chelsea-backed-Tyler-Adams-deal-medical-tests-revealed-Americans-hamstring-injury-four-months-source-says.html

**** yeah boys were back!!!

Really looking forward to the season and good luck to all your squads!

YOU NEVER WALK ALONE

This scorebug for the Everton Fulham game is…something

Ugh. Total non contact knee injury for Tyrone Mings. That looks bad.

45+9 Emi Martinez with the most blatant cynical non DOGSO foul you could possibly have. There was a another defender back and the foul is a long way out on the wing but as Howard noted that defender isn't a GKer.

I want Emi sent off just because.

He was likable early on because of his story, but he has become the ultimate ****** bag over the last few years

After being pulled down, Tonali gives the ref the universal "you need to show a card" signal and the R obliges by showing him the card.

Hilarious.

Emi and his horrific defense have given up 5. He may wish he had been sent off after all.

Howay the lads!
Howay the toon!

As a neutral who, admittedly, has taken a fair amount of joy in making fun of Spurs in the past… this Tottenham match is at least a fun watch. Kind of wish they still had Kane. They need to take that Kane money and make a run at someone good like Osimhen. Whatever the question is, Richarlison is not the answer.

Mathguy64 said:

---

I disagree. Richarlison is the answer. You just have to ask the right question.

"Who plays for Tottenham, can't score and is one of the three most punchable faces in the PL?"

---

Top 3 in no order, Richarlisson, Pickford and....?

Neal Maupay for Everton

Flying kung fu kick to a chest. Just your every day garden variety EPL yellow.

Cool story. Sounds like they are sitting pretty in the Jon Moss fantasy table.

He probably had Onana starting this week

Also love how a clear handball that prevented a goal wasn't called because we have no ****ing clue what handball is anymore and it changes depending on the competition.

Wow. The center and VAR officials from the United-Wolves match got suspended from working this coming weekend.

The focus on "clear and obvious" wishy washy terminology is the bane of VAR. the focus of video review needs to simply be to get the call correct. A similar issue is why instant replay died in the NFL in the early 90s because all of the focus was on whether the replay was "conclusive" leading to reviews that lasted forever and then the call on the field was upheld 90% of the time as "inconclusive" even when it was obvious that it probably should be overturned. Maybe it's different in other languages, but "clear and obvious" in English leaves VAR open to a lot of linguistic interpretation and a gap for bias to creep in. Instead of focusing on making the right call, human beings can get caught up in whether or not the review was justified, and a whole lot of other mumbo jumbo. The directive to officials using VAR systems should just be to focus on getting the calls correct. If something may have been gotten wrong, and you can fix it, look at the replay and make the right call.

I don't think it's the language so much as it is the responsibility to enforce the language. IMO, you have to enable the VAR official to overturn the call on the field. Refs are human and are naturally going to be biased to upholding their own decisions.

Also… I think the German VAR model is better: rather than having a specific VAR official for a specific game, they have a group of guys that monitor the entire league remotely from Koeln (Cologne). So when a call needs to be made, there are multiple eyes on it and while the ref still ultimately has the final say, the VAR decision isn't just a 1v1 interpretation of the event, the VAR room carries the weight of having several guys looking at it.

Let's get some way to early takes on EPL season. Time for trash talk and terrible predictions.

Man City: Should win the league. With DeBruyne out for 4 months, I think we might actually have a race. Haaland will need to play 1 billion minutes so him staying fit will be key.

Arsenal: I think a top 3 finish barring injuries looks likely. Ultimately too many games and insufficient depth will likely result in fewer league points this year. I bet Arsenal look for a striker in the winter break. Saka, Odegaard and Rice need to have good seasons.

Newcastle: Similar to Arsenal. If they can beat Man City this weekend this race will get interesting early. I do think for a side that struggled to score last season, if they can find goals they will be intimidating.

Chelsea: $860 MM spent and Sterling is still a starter. Seesh. Spending $120 MM on a CDM seems a bit much, spending $120 MM on a CDM when your coach loves to play a back 5 so your team will have 6 defensive minded players on the pitch seems really dumb (unless you are Burnley who likes a good 7-9). I won't be surprised if BHA finishes above them.

Liverpool: Early Salah drama. This team looked off. Being able to move McCalister into a more advanced role could be the cure. a 30 year old unheard of Japan cdm sounds more like a patch then a solution. I could see them contending for champion's league, i could also see them contending for the final Europa league slot.

Man U: The ref's have gifted them at least 2 points. If Arsenal and Newcastle don't have the depth for European competition, Man U definitely doesn't. Rashford will need to stay fit. ETH will have a big season. Either he will keep them in the top 4 and get some momentum or they could drop to top 6 and the pressure will start to mount.

Tottenham: Eh they lost kane. Everyone is happy. Unless you are a spud but who cares about their feelings.

Edit to clarify finish:
1 City, 2 Arsenal, 3 Newcastle, 4 Liverpool, 5 Chelsea, 6 Man U, 7 BHA, 8, Tottenham

Love it


I think the standings at the end of the year are as follows:

1 - City win again. Probably next year too. Probably the next.

2 - Arsenal lose the league by 3-6 pts.

3 - Chelsea. I have faith in Poch and they damn well have the talent

4 - Newcastle. I like their roster and I do really like Isak up front.

5 - Man U. Not happy about putting them above Liverpool but it is what it is.

6 - Liverpool. Damn we really botched up the transfer window this year but I think Wataru (H)Endo will surprise people but an injury or two sinks us. Our roster has been so mismanaged.

1) City - Until proven otherwise, they're the best team on the planet with the best goal scorer on the planet. KDB is a big loss and they don't have Gundogan anymore either.

2) Arsenal - Have closed the gap the most of everyone, but they've already lost 2 starters to knee injuries. If they can stay healthy, I think they can push City all the way.

3) Liverpool - I think they do better than last year, but they are only an injury or 2 away from disaster.

4) Chelsea - Feels like they've broken every FFP rule there could possibly be and I hope they get struck down for it. There feels like there is too much talent for them to fail, but I'm not sure who is going to score goals for them. 100m Mudryk hasn't really found his way yet and Nkunku is out long term with a knee injury. Its a lot of pressure on their midfield and Jackson to find a way.

5) Newcastle United - Have a solid team in place and I think Isak has a big year. I do think they'll have some significant issues dealing with the extra games for CL. Still don't quite have the depth for it and the league form may suffer.

6) Man United - They were absolutely dominated this past week by a team I think is going to get relegated. Luckily they had a ref bail them out.

7) Tottenham - No longer have a talisman player like Bale or Kane to carry them in the league. I don't think Son is that guy and damn sure don't think Richarlison is.

texagbeliever said:

---

and the pressure will start to mount.

---

I see what you did there. Well done.