Jaspa

Algeria just scored an 85th minute screamer to go 1up against Netherlands in Rotterdam. Marhrezesque, but wasn't him. Warm up game. Crowd seems fairly split.

Had SSN on briefly for a moment. Rob Dorset tailing the England squad in sunny Miami… non-stop moaning, complained that the sprinklers were on while the players were out and that it was effecting his cameras/him, said that it’s unlike Tuchel not to have it right because he’s a perfectionist. Then starts going on about how the players need to take training easy because of previous tournaments where players got injured, dropped the old “metatarsal, Rooney, Beckham”, in there. Then he started going on about the pitches and that because viral videos are going around from the Senegal warm-up game vs. USA where the former were testing the bounce of the ball(in a stadia not even hosting a competitive game btw), that all grass fields in the North American continent were in question and that the lack of responsiveness was something they’re looking out for. Clueless, negative, entitled nonsense. Sounds like “our” media are baying for controversy and blame before we’ve even got the whole squad together.

Regarding Liverpool having this good season, bad season, rock & roll football to cold wave football pattern. Reminds me of this wild article from COVID times when they were also intermittently blowing hot & cold. https://backpagefootball.com/why-liverpool-wont-win-the-premier-league-this-season/126313/ Putting hearts under such pressure season after season, at the pace of the Premier League, is a tragedy waiting to happen. Privately players and coaches I’ve interviewed say that it’s not just muscle or bone injuries that have been increasing. Getting someone to go fully on the record is almost impossible as the omerta around football is as bad as that as in cycling or tennis. Whataboutery Bayern Munich and their “Healing Hans”, Juventus and their “system”, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Real Madrid and on and on. Yes, they’re also as clean as Peppa Pig’s boots after a day of muddy puddle jumping. Leipzig have an East German doping criminal in charge of their sports medicine. But don’t worry, he’s also worked with US athletes who have never tested positive. Staying in Germany, Hans Muller Wohlfahrt and his injections have helped everyone from Bono (yes, U2’s Bono), Usain Bolt, Paula Radcliffe and a number of other dodgy characters across a range of sports. He was only recently binned for the second time from Bayern Munich, but his legacy lives on. He’d been kicked out before by Pep Guardiola who brought in his own gurus. Juventus have a Sassi and no touch control from Italian Anti-Doping. Cristiano Ronaldo still cannot explain his change in physique which began in Spain and has been maintained admirably in Italy. But what these clubs have in common, generally moreso than England, is less competitive leagues, a slower style of play and longstanding doping cultures. The UK has the longstanding doping culture but a more competitive and fast paced tournament. Jan Molby, Matt Le Tissier and other skilled players strolling around the field have no place in England anymore, however equally skilled, but well muscled and high-stamina players do. Whataboutery is a fair comment, however it’s comparing different beasts. Why Liverpool will not win the league this season Jurgen Klopp is no dummy. He knows that after the exertions of two seasons chasing the holy grail, lockdown included, this season will be one for cups aspirations. Pep Lijnders did enough to prove his methods and be brought back to the Liverpool fold. But even with Dutch know-how, he has learned from cycling expertise that they now need to cycle off. Push more and you risk healthy young men suffering from cardiac arrest. I’ve gone into this before and nothing has changed. Would Liverpool fans have called a halt to super-dosing on caffeine and other substances if it meant their beloved club didn’t end 30 years of chasing the dragon? Would they hell! The response each time I asked a fan was – well, they know what they’re doing or that it was the player’s choice. Like the vast majority of football journalists, they don’t particularly care. Liverpool cannot win this season because physically, scientifically and morally they cannot. They cannot overdose again on caffeine because of the side-effects. They cannot keep up the pace with other substances and painkillers because the amounts needed to win the league would cause a slew of injuries. And as much as the American owners would like to win the title once again, players are valuable assets to them and they don’t need Mo, Roberto and company to break down and lose their resale value. According to a source close to the club, of 35 players 22 are asthmatic – 63% of the squad, over five times higher than the 12% UK average. With so many sickly players and COVID-19 threatening these at risk players, it’s already dangerous. To keep the players at the max for an entire season, on numerous fronts, substances to enhance and support performance are needed. The players have been flat out for two seasons and their bodies cannot take much more. When the joke shop of US Anti-Doping can explain how dangerous overuse of PEDs (legal) can be for the meatiest of heads, Jurgen, Pep and the wiseguys in Anfield know when to lift their foot off the pedal. In concluding the academic article, I pointed out that no Liverpool players have failed tests. I am not alleging any wrongdoing on their part. Nor am I intimating that they’re all on the juice. I’ve simply studied the support systems, those involved and what’s needed to achieve what they have achieved. It’s impossible to do three seasons in a row without players collapsing from cardiovascular issues or physical or mental collapse. So now is a good time to back them not winning the Premier League this season.

Luis Suarez has played his final World Cup match. Out of the Uruguay squad with an injury.

Quite the career drop-off. He's gone from regular League wins, international competitions to going into his late 20's, falling out of favour with Guardiola, getting paid to essentially retire with Chelsea and now is completely out of relevance. Paid very very well of course, but it's alot of change to adapt to. Absolutely no excuse for drug driving though, that is exceptionally stupid. Refused the roadside test too apparently so also trying to wriggle out of it. Plenty of ways to enjoy your life with the money he has without doing stupid stuff and putting others in danger.

My work/daily is a GW-M5610U square G-Shock. I just wanted something bang for buck mechanical to call on for smarter occasions. That's about the limit of my arsedness on watches. Unless it's an investment purchase, it's very much a mean to an end. I just know you can tighten mechanical watches up and that this is a half decent movement so thought making it more accurate & useful would make me want to wear it more. G-Shock just works. It's solar so never have to charge it, it receives a signal which resets its time every single day. It has a stopwatch, a timer, a light. Literally just a tool..... but it's not formal or showy. The fact this mechanical one loses so much time now I cba wearing it or tinkering, but know a pro watchmaker would probably want half the value of it just to hone it down to a 20 second +/- daily.

Either winning was shit tbf. Don't like how PSG get to move games around in their own League to prioritise European games and their fans are rancid. Whistles in the stands the exact same tone as the refs, that needs to be cut out but they've been at it for years, seem to get a free pass just to be feral. at Arse anal anyway.

PSG fans and their ref's whistles in the stands, they've been at that shit for years. The amount of things they get away with, megaphones, flares, ref whistles. Rancid. They were awful for it last season too.

Bought a San Martin off AliExpress last year as a beater. 9015 Miyota mechanism, I'm having a very difficult time regulating it to keep it losing minutes a day. It was -/+30 seconds a day before I tried to tinker it myself, but after multiple goes it's running 4 or so minutes a day fast, can't get a grip of it. Point of it was a nice cheap mech I could bash about and don't fancy paying loads to get it sorted. Nice looking thing though - SN0150

Patson Barcola

Was just gonna say. Is he actually all that? Stats this season fairly average for a table topping team aswell.

Love that Nuge still has his scampering run that he does. John Brooks ref too. Rumours correct then, he is a Leicester fan.

Curaçao up 1-0 @Hampden