The Association Football Thread

[Fall]

So Messi stays after all, but unless we do spectacularly well... It's probably for the last season. Bittersweet news really.

[Ben.Daly]

Originally Posted by Fall

So Messi stays after all, but unless we do spectacularly well... It's probably for the last season. Bittersweet news really.

What would you consider a 'spectacular' season that would warrant him staying?

If it's anything short of a Champions League trophy I think he's gone, domestic trophies are all well and good but he's already won plenty of La Liga's and Copa del rey's with Barcelona.

I wish Barcelona the best to give Messi a proper send off, but given the state of the club even outside of Messi's situation I can't see it ending with Champions League glory, but good luck!

[Fall]

Originally Posted by Ben.Daly

What would you consider a 'spectacular' season that would warrant him staying?

If it's anything short of a Champions League trophy I think he's gone, domestic trophies are all well and good but he's already won plenty of La Liga's and Copa del rey's with Barcelona.

I wish Barcelona the best to give Messi a proper send off, but given the state of the club even outside of Messi's situation I can't see it ending with Champions League glory, but good luck!

Another treble season, probably. And even then he might leave, because leaving on a high is better than leaving after a defeat like with Bayern. We'll have to see how it plays out

[Ben.Daly]

Originally Posted by Fall

Another treble season, probably. And even then he might leave, because leaving on a high is better than leaving after a defeat like with Bayern. We'll have to see how it plays out

That's a good point, however the season ends there's a way to have his leaving make sense.

If it ends well, he leaves on a high note and (better) terms. If it ends poorly, then there'd probably be no reason to stay, and it would be best to just end the saga.

[Alex Rien]

Edit:

[Ben.Daly]

This goal scored a few weeks ago is absolutely hilarious, had to post it here

https://streamable.com/lppfjb

[Ben.Daly]

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/bart...lona-president

Well, looks like this saga has come to an end, for now.

Will be interesting to see how this changes the moral and energy of the team on the pitch. I might only watch 1 or 2 Barca games as it's too much of a task to lose significant sleep watching teams I don't really support, but none the less I suppose results may just speak for themselves.

[Ben.Daly]

Slightly odd timing I think but they've done it.

Pochettino is being lined up as the likely replacement, in fact he may've already been appointed by the time you're reading this.

[Ben.Daly]

Well out of nowhere, Arsenal have signed Australian International and #1 Goalkeeper Mat Ryan.

For now he's just gonna be our backup, but it's fantastic to have a some Australian representation in the team!


Now, I don't want to get too carried away, but I recently posted this in another thread...

Alizée has been making quite a few appearances in my dreams recently, though usually only brief, not-noteworthy or difficult to remember

However the appearance she had whilst I was asleep last night was quite clear and I thought I would share it here.

In the dream, I get up in the morning and have a check of the usual social media and websites. On one of the websites, think it might've been Discord, I see that everyone's talking about a newly released photoshoot of her. Whether it was an old photoshoot that had been recently recovered, or a brand new one I'm not sure, though considering the timeline of things it would make more sense to be an older photoshoot that either a website or photographer decided to release to the public.

I then go over here to AlizeeAmerica to see the pictures and the context behind them. She was wearing a blue dress, reminded me of the blue JPVA dress except I believe it had a more casual/comfortable look. She also had her hair in a ponytail. I can only recall the image of one of the photos. I'm pretty sure it was Alizee from the early 2000s, but to be honest it could've been from any time since then as well, I'm not too sure on that one.

From what I recall, the photo was taken at the beach, though not the beaches of Corsica. Instead I was told the pictures were taken in Brighton, I assume the Brighton on the south coast of England as I believe the town is situated on a beach, though I think there are a lot of places in the world called Brighton including one place in my own state, so it could have been elsewhere. That fact was a bit weird, but I suppose the idea of Alizee having a photoshoot in a place called Brighton while on tour isn't too crazy.

And that's about all I can recall. I thought this would be a good one to share as all the others are too vague or nonsensical.

And more specifically this part:

Instead I was told the pictures were taken in Brighton, I assume the Brighton on the south coast of England as I believe the town is situated on a beach.....That fact was a bit weird

And sure enough that's where we've signed Mat Ryan from, Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Was it a sign


Anyway, here he is in the Arsenal gear!

[Elise]

A football thread! What's happened since March? Well we have made it 7 wins from 7 under Dragan Skočić, meaning we finished top of Group C in the second round of AFC qualification for 2022. The draw for the next round will be on 1 July, matches to start in September. It's been a long and stressful time but I'm pretty positive we'll see Team Melli qualify for the third consecutive time.