shen

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.

Depends how you look at it. He's performing well, for sure, but he's also in the spotlight a lot. And just because he is performing well, it's a bold claim to say he's "the best". E.g. Many of the top keepers don't get to showcase their shot-stopping that much because their teams don't allow as many (good) shots as our team does. But I don't watch near enough football to be able to judge who's the best out there. I hope Hermansen becomes as good as his potential promises - I'm a supporter of both teams he plays for after all.

You got Netherlands confused with Belgium there.

Nice post! Re: Daka, based on the performance on Tuesday, that's a bit harsh. If he plays like that, then he'll be a very able deputy. His inconsistency is his biggest weakness, but if can be a threat on the counter, then he can become a real asset. Re: Hermansen, I think that's a bit blue-tinted there... He needs to seriously bulk up and have better upper body strength. The chaos that ensued from him not catching the ball at the end of the first half and the embarrassing punch into his own goal are evidence of this. He's good with the ball and has been great at stopping shots this season, but we've also seen a few areas that need work (i.e. getting caught in no man's land against Wood) - especially if he's to be branded "best in the world".

Kasper is still in goal for Denmark because he keeps making big saves and is a natural leader on and off the pitch. It's the last bit which I think is the main reason he's still first choice. It's also the biggest question mark over Hermansen at this point. He's a growing presence in both squads and his recent comments on wanting to properly challenge for the first team spot in 2025 tells me he is very ambitious and can grow into another leader. The Danish NT have been notoriously slow in replacing their starting goalkeeper for most of my life (P Kjær to P Schmeichel, P Schmeichel to T Sørensen, T Sørensen to K Schmeichel*) so it's almlst culturally embedded that there has to be a sharp decline in performances before the replacement takes over. *there was a short transition period with S Andersen/A Lindegaard before Kasper took over the reins.