shen

Did an interview in Danish with Viaplay which was posted yesterday. Transcribed the 2-minute video below. On RVN first impression: "It's been good. He's a talented coach. He has a lot of experience, you feel that clearly. You listen when he speaks, he knows his stuff. Obviously it's never optimal to be hired in the middle of a season. I think every coach would like to have a pre-season with some calmness and a few friendly games without pressure to build up everything. But these are the conditions, and yeah, I'm sure it'll happen eventually with his ideas and get them implemented well. RVN is a big name in football, a proper legend of the game. How is it having such a character in the dressing room, who commands such a big aura? "As I said, you bloody listen to him! He knows what he's talking about. He's experienced standing on the pitch and feel the pressure, feel the buzz et cetera, so it's amazing. I love playing for coaches who've done it all before. I tried it last year with Thiago Motta - it was exactly the same. Amazing leaders and as I said, they have an aura." So you think it's positive to have a leader who's been in your position and played in the big games at big addresses himself? "Yes, I think so. I think it's great." And what noticeable changes do you feel he's made in his time so far? "Well, uh, he's tried to stabilize and settle the defense a bit more, put some positional templates in place, but as I alluded to earlier, it's always difficult when the fixture list is so congested. There are lots of games, few high-intensity training sessions, so yes, in that sense it always takes a bit more time."

Best first half of this season?

At least we can score goals!... Oh...

We have youth keepers better than Ward, I'm sure of that. I'll accept Stolarczyk not being selected, although I'd seriously consider playing unfit Hermansen or Stolarczyk over Ward. We know Iversen isn't the second coming of Christ, but he's a fine shot stopper and has proven this consistently over the past seasons. I can't accept the notion that he's not being considered because of his distribution skills, especially when we are facing as many shots as we have done under Ruud. There is NO excuse not to have an able shot stopper in goal.

The baffling part is how Stolarczyk and Iversen have both proven to be decent stand-ins yet Danny ****ing Ward is still somehow selected over them. It stinks and beggars belief.

So in less than 90 mins of league football, Ward has already shipped 6 goals*. How daft are the coaches and managers that we hire? It's been painfully evident for years and years that this guy is a total fraudster. To think that some genuinely wanted him to replace Schmeichel as well.... *edit: it will be 7 by the time I post this edit.

Yeah, he's on the bench. Which considering where they are in the table, isn't bad at all. Not sure what your point is?

Reds/Red devils? Always found that to be rather silly and confusing anyway.

This has turned into a catastrophic evening if Mads is out for a considerable time.

Excited if we get to see Cartwright tonight. Well done making the bench! Edit: Also, what does Alves need to do get a spot on that bench?

It certainly feels like Serbia doesn't have many friends.

This is inevitable, isnt it?

At that rate Serbia will auto-qualify as they'll be the only team in their group

If Kasper can keep him out of the national team, and Kasper is now only good enough for Celtic, it must mean Hermansen is not PL material. Flawless logic, nothing to see here

Firstly, we have a scouting and recruitment dept. Manager should not have total say in transfers. Secondly, we can do better than Lindelöf. He's rarely stood out in a below par Man Utd team, he'll cost a fortune and he's injury prone.

The Austria and Switzerland groups are probably the most evenly matched, along with whatever group Denmark lands in.

No thank you

Maddison not fighting is a myth I don't get. To me, he often seemed like he tried the hardest out of the whole bunch (along with KDH) during our relegation season. And how Werner has become so bad, I really don't know. From being comfortably Germany's best striker to this is astounding.

It already gained lots of attention under Joao Havelange. I've lost hope such organizations will ever not be corrupt. But the egregiousness and obviousness of doing these practices out in the open, is really galling. They're not even trying to hide it anymore and all the puppet national associations, except Norway, are clapping their hands. No-one is willing to do anything about it because political leaders outside of FIFA are playing along.

William Bøving seems like he's coming along nicely at Sturm Graz. Maybe a replacement for Buonanotte?

If you're going to make these kinds of comparisons, I will just retort with Sammie Szmodics

Shame about Kmag's final race. Unreal first lap and got screwed over by a slow pitstop and Bottas not giving two poops. Feel his old-school style will be missed.

Looks like he and his pals all do snus, as does his son by the looks of his pants. Weird how much it's spread outside Scandinavia this last decade.

Stats and people saying Brighton didn't create big chances - from the highlights, I felt the wasted chances by Pedro and Mitoma first half were definitely big, as was Minteh's goal. In contrast, Vardy's goal felt difficult (hitting a deflected, spinning ball on the volley with his weaker foot), while Justin's header needed a lot of power and good precision to beat the keeper. Not that it matters, but just to say I don't think the stats were a good representation of the game.

Wow, that's random. Had a couple of friends who attended the same show.