Diego21

Well, this is what we have. I think we can be happy. When Woltemade or Wissa adapt, we'll have a very, very competitive XI to beat anyone. We have a good depth, although Ramsey and Willock seem like very similar players to me, and I would have let one go to sign a more physical player.

I love Frattesi. He's a player very similar to Tonali, in my opinion. But he can also play in the pivot when Bruno is out. If we sign him, I think it should definitely be the end of Willock's time at the club.

In the worst case, it'll be 21, not counting Miley and Hall, because you can always list him as an under-21 player and he won't count toward your record. So it would still be 23.

The rule says you can register 25 players. Of those 25, 8 must be trained in England, and of those 8, 4 must be trained in our academy. If we can't fill a quota... The roster will be reduced. Let's do the math. I'll put an (E) for players trained in England and an (N) for players trained at the club. To be considered an academy player, they must have been at the club for a minimum of three years between the ages of 15 and 21, so Miley definitely counts. Maybe Gillespie could count (he left at just 18), and I don't think Alex Murphy is worth it for us because of his time on loan at Bolton. So, if we include Gillespie as a third-choice goalkeeper, we can register 23 players, and if he doesn't count, we'll have to settle for 22. 1. Ramsdale (E) 2. Pope (E) 3. Gillespie (E) (N) 4. Ruddy (E) 5. Botman 6. Thiaw 7. Schar 8. Burn (E) 9. Lascelles (E) 10. Hall (E) 11. Livramento (E) 12. Trippier (E) 13. Kratfh 14. Bruno 15. Tonali 16. Joelinton 17. Ramsey (E) 18. Willock (E) 19. Miley (E) (N) 20. Gordon (E) 21. Barnes (E) 22. Elanga (E) 23. Murphy (E) 24. Osula (E) 25. Isak (or Woltemade) 26. Alex Murphy (E) 27. Ashby (E) If we can add 23 players... Out one GK, Ashby, Alex Murphy and maybe Krafth. If we can add 22 players, out the same more Osula.

Al Hilal has had a problem with its foreign players and can't register Mitrovic, Renan Lodi, or Marcos Leonardo. Honestly, I would try to get Mitrovic for free so he could be Woltemade's backup. Mitro never worked out well here, but we know he loved the club, that he gave his all... and that he was very good at Fulham. He knows the Premier League, and we don't know how long it will take the German to adapt. The other option, Marcos Leonardo, was a player who was rumored a couple of years ago, but ended up at Benfica. I think it would be a good idea to try to get him on loan with an option to buy because he's a different striker than Woltemade. He's fast, he's elusive, and he's fighting for a place in Brazil for the World Cup. He can't stay there if they don't register him.

Since this is also my concern (because it directly affects Atlético de Madrid), whenever I've commented on this on my Twitter profile, the Bilbao Black Cats have been bombarding me with messages, and I can confirm that they're like a sect.

Starting this year, I'm a high school History teacher (until now, I'd been a Spanish teacher). I think this is what I'll tell my students in my first class.

Athletic Club (of Bilbao) was founded in 1898 by Basque people who created a small neighborhood sports club. In 1903, several Basque students from that club went to study in Madrid and settled there. Since they wanted to have the same club and be able to play sports in Madrid, they founded a branch of Athletic Club (in Madrid). At the time, there was no league, and only friendly matches were played. Both teams wore blue and white because one of the Basque men had Irish family ties to Blackburn Rovers, and he obtained several shirts for both clubs. In 1909, Juan Elorduy, a member of Athletic Club Madrid, went to London for vacation and was asked to buy 50 Blackburn Rovers uniforms to refurbish the two branches. It's not entirely clear what happened, but the man couldn't buy them (it's said he was partying too long and forgot about it). Elorduy arrived in Southampton, from where his ship was departing for Spain, and found the entire city decorated in the city's characteristic red and white because at that time it was bidding to be the port from which the Titanic would depart. Since the streets and everything else were covered in red and white flags, Elorduy thought it would be better to go with 50 red and white shirts than with nothing, and bought 50 uniforms: 25 for the Madrid headquarters and 25 for the Bilbao headquarters. In 1921, the two headquarters would separate, giving rise to Athletic Club and Atlético de Madrid. That's the true story that everyone has always known. I still can't find much basis for the Black Cats theories.

And this remains a theory without much foundation. The true, more accurate, and better documented story says that Athletic Bilbao wears red because the shirts they bought were Southampton's, not Sunderland's.

There are good or bad relationship with Athletic Club?

ˈvɔl.təˌmaː.də

Two against Spanish teams and both are at home. I Can't have less luck

I haven't seen much of Woltemade, but at the beginning of the transfer window, he was linked with Atleti, and I had to discuss him a bit with players who follow the Bundesliga, and everyone told me he's a great player. He's very good with his feet and at creating plays, something he could be very similar to Isak in.

I think we should be very happy with the team and the boys for last night's game. Even with Gordon. In another positiion, due to extra motivation, he was late to that ball and got a red card, but he was the best player in the first half. I'm eager for us to sign a real striker and see him play on the left. (Howe should give him a slap on the wrist, though.) Bad luck. Nothing more. Gravenberch's shot wasn't that great, but a tiny deflection off Schar made it impossible. We were superior throughout the first half and were superior with 10 players for over 50 minutes. Bruno was fantastic, leading the team like a true captain, although he has to know how and when to protest. Unfortunately, the referee didn't dare send Konaté off. I don't know what it was like in the stadium, but the television showed a more spectacular atmosphere than ever in the stadium. There are very good reasons to believe.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I've had the opportunity to be very close to how negotiations work in the world of football, and I don't think I'll ever take the side of either the player or the club, because things tend to be very complicated and it becomes a game of interests, leaving the sentimentality for us, the fans. What I can say is that practically no player is going to lose money on transfers when they're at the top. Whether it's Shearer, Isak, or... I don't know. Here in Spain, the media, which is quite sympathetic to Real Madrid, keeps whitewashing the fact that he's earning less than at PSG, when the reality is that I think they paid him 120 million in his signing bonus alone. I know that Atleti's owners played many dirty tricks on captains like Gabi, Koke, Saúl, and Rodri... If they're Atlético fans and ended up leaving... what's a player who doesn't feel the club belongs to him not going to do? In the end, if you feel you're not being treated well or undervalued... You decide to leave. Let's not be hypocritical. Just as we as a club have the right to want to keep Isak... Can't all those bad players we've fired year after year because they weren't good enough for our club, or whom we've told to find a future, think the same? You already know that I don't want Isak to play here again, because the way he's handled it hasn't been appropriate. Personally, if he's still here on September 1st, I'll support him, but I won't see him the same way. But I also know that the world is very, very murky, and that the good guys aren't that good, nor the bad guys that bad.

Do you like Wissa? I don't think I've ever seen him play, but his numbers and career don't inspire confidence in me.

Samu Omorodion, Nico Jackson, Openda, Moise Kean, Boniface, Hojlund, Vlahovic, Wissa, Kolo Mouani and Mitrovic. I think those are the forwards on the market right now who could leave for a good offer and could more or less give us a good performance as starters. I don't like them all, but that's more or less what we have. (In fact, I hope that if Wissa comes, he won't be the starter.)

Wissa is coming.

The first time I did a road duathlon I was also lapped and it wasn't Yee

I was referring more to the long distance triathlon. Blummenfelt has no rival there, but Iden and Stones have also emerged in recent years. Blummenfelt is the only triathlete I've seen capable of winning an Ironman and then making the Olympic-distance podium without any training. That guy is crazy. Spain hasn't even appeared in the Top 10 since the good guys retired a few years ago. Generally, at the Olympic distance, it's usually between Great Britain and France. For both men and women.

Norwegians, in general, are going to dominate sports. They're kings in triathlon, and in athletics, they've made incredible improvements and possess unique talents. That said, I don't like Sorloth at all. I think he's a good substitute and nothing more. The first time I saw him play live in a stadium (Trabzospor, where he had the best year of his life), I swear I thought that guy couldn't be a professional. (Remember Luuk de Jong? Same feeling). He's never been a starter for any team he's played for. Not at Groningen, not at Crystal Palace, not at Leipzig... He only did so last year at Villarreal and that year in Turkey. He played two years with Isak at Real Sociedad (sometimes as a substitute, sometimes as a starter) and managed to become the player with the most clear missed scoring chances in all of Europe. The numbers at Villarreal (he was the top scorer) are a bit misleading because he scored 24 goals, but he scored 4 against Real Madrid in the final game of the year (Real Madrid had nothing left to play for; the substitutes came on and they didn't force their chances because they were playing in the UCL final in a few days) and 5 against Granada, a team that earned 20 points in La Liga and was relegated in February. At Atleti, last year, something similar happened to him. He was generally a substitute and did very well in that role. But when he started, he was absolute garbage. In the end, he scored 20 goals, but he made up for those numbers with two specific games at the end of the season. One against Real Sociedad, who saw both of their starting defenders injured and was playing with a youth player and a discarded player that day (and you have to look at the goals, they're four gifts), and three against Girona on the final matchday, with nothing left to play for either team. (However, I think the other 13 goals he scored were very valuable.) If you tell me Sorloth is Wilson's replacement, I'd say OK. If you tell me he's the starting 9 we need, I'd say I'd sign Shola first.

Two Newcastle players in the XI of the Year. Congrats, Sels and Wood.

So much the better. Let him spend all the time in the world in the stands until some club gives us 140-150 million.

Royal Decree 1006 says that players must have a release price and be able to unilaterally terminate their contract, either through a release clause or a price set by a court. (But this is also what the European Court has ruled in all the cases in which it has intervened. Workers have the right to a release price, and it cannot be abusive [Last year, FIFA even used the word "exslave" in its ruling on the Lass Diarra case].) Almost all teams and players have clauses in Spain, but they are not mandatory. For example, Athletic Club doesn't have them (I believe only Nico Williams managed to get one if a top-flight team wanted to sign him).

No, Ewerk. In Spain, there's no requirement for a release clause either. What I wanted to point out yesterday is that Isak has a value based on the money he makes, the money he earns, his position at the club, his age, his performance, etc., etc., etc. (Isak and all athletes in the world, and even any normal working person like us). If Isak goes to court with an offer from Liverpool of £100 million (for example) and claims that somehow the club isn't allowing him to leave and that he's being "kidnapped" (not the real word, but I struggle to express it) because the club either won't let him leave or lets him leave at an exorbitant price, that scenario could perfectly exist even if there are no release clauses. (Or Isak could simply break his contract, sign for Liverpool, and over the years, a court could rule that Liverpool has to pay us whatever the amount. That's what happened with the players who left Sporting Portugal when the fans attacked them (Podence, Rui Patricio, Gelson Martins...), it happened with Lass Diarra, etc., etc., etc.). It's very difficult for that to happen because justice is slow (years), but some cases have occurred all over the world (not just in Spain). Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that FIFA's regulations were incorrect when they referred to abusive prices and forced them to change some parameters. I'm not saying this will happen, but I was saying that if Isak becomes a really, really stupid person, I would take him to the extreme and I wouldn't mind if it happened if it meant missing many months in the stands during the best sporting moment of his life.