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allwaswell16 · 8 months

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A One Direction fic rec of fics that involve football (soccer) as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

⚽ Learning to Breathe by youcomecrash

(E, 110k, uni) He’s playing football at one of the top universities in England and he should love everything about his life right now, but instead he’s moving backwards

⚽ Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by @1diamondinthesun

(NR, 84k, high school) the American high school AU loosely inspired by She's All That.

⚽ Bring Your Body Baby (I Could Bring You Fame) by @theboyfriendstagram

(E, 84k, famous/not famous) A self-indulgent AU that takes place over the summer of 2015. 18 year old Harry hates pining after people he can't have, and 23 year old footballer Louis loves flirting with people even though it never means anything.

⚽ Way in the World by flowsque / @mortediunfiore

(M, 74k, both players) the one where Harry has a knee injury and an embarrassing crush on Manchester United's pretty number ten.

⚽ Caught In Your Gravity by @lululawrence

(NR, 62k, Ted Lasso au) an AU inspired by a 30 second trailer of Ted Lasso that doesn't actually have much in common with the show at all.

⚽ so grab your passport and my hand by @infinitelymint

(M, 32k, strangers to lovers) The one in which Louis plays football and Harry sings a lot, and somehow that means they're meant to be. They'll figure it out soon enough.

⚽ Higher, Further, Faster by hazzahtomlinson / @itsnotreal

(E, 31k, uni) the one where Harry decides to go to college regardless of what his team warns him about and has to face the consequences, some of which aren’t so terrible after all.

⚽ Dive (series) by @allwaswell16

(E, 21k, famous/famous) Newly retired football star, Louis Tomlinson has left Manchester for Malibu. Along the way, he finds music, friendship, and love in the form of his pop star neighbour and the very fit movie star hiding out next door.

⚽ Hold My Breath by @zarah5

(M, 19k, injury) It's possible — possible — that his three-week ban from the football pitch makes Louis just a tad antsy. Surely it's not so bad that it warrants punishment in the form of his friends signing him up for a yoga class?

⚽ time slows down whenever you're around by wildestdreams / @thelavendrhaze

(E, 14k, flower shop) Louis plays "soccer" and falls for the wrong boy and Harry works in a flower shop and falls for Louis — again.

⚽ burn this flame by rainbowninja167 / @rainbowtitania

(E, 13k, famous/famous) When Harry gets invited to play in a celebrity charity match with Louis Tomlinson, Manchester United's star player, he's determined to impress him with brilliant football skills. The only flaw in Harry's otherwise foolproof plan? He has absolutely no football skills, brilliant or otherwise.

⚽ Come In and Change My Life by lightswoodmagic / @lightwoodsmagic

(E, 12k, neighbors) Harry and Louis become friends when Harry looks after Louis' cat during away games, until one night at a party changes everything between them. It's just a shame Louis' going to be away for the FIFA World Cup for three months.

⚽ Want you more than a melody by @softfonds

(E, 12k, mpreg) It's 2016, and Harry's life couldn't be better. His band is about to release their third studio album, he's dating the hottest football star on the planet, and tour is going to start the following year.

⚽ Just One Touch by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom

(E, 11k, Dr Harry) When footballer Louis Tomlinson needs to get match fit in a hurry, team doctor and best mate Niall Horan prescribes an unusual form of treatment.

⚽ Down the Field by @creamcoffeelou

(M, 9k, coach Louis) Louis, a pro football player of Chelsea, is forced to retire after a severe injury to his foot.

⚽ every day and tomorrow night by @justanothershadeofblue

(E, 8k, high school) Harry stares. The new boy is beautiful, there’s no other word for him.

⚽ Eat Your Vegetables by @bananaheathen

(M, 8k, famous/not famous) In which Louis is a celebrity footballer and Harry is the new team nutritionist.

⚽ Glass Heart by @musketrois

(G, 7k, coming out) “26-year-old West Ham footballer Louis Tomlinson was seen getting acquainted with 24-year-old pop sensation Harry Styles and others. Although it is not unordinary for these two professions to be social, we can’t wait to see what this budding relationship will bring to London’s social scene.” -Celebrity Blurb 25 March, 2017

⚽ Down To Be a Distraction by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(E, 6k, famous/famous) The English national team is on the brink of winning the UEFA final and it all hinges on a penalty kick from team captain and national hero Louis Tomlinson, who was forcibly outed in the press right before the tournament.

⚽ Game Changer by @neondiamond

(E, 6k, mpreg) A couple months before playing in his first long-awaited World Cup, Louis finds out he’s pregnant. Harry’s there for the ride.

⚽ The Air From My Lungs by Kikiberoski16 / @larrysballetslippers

(E, 5k, uni) Harry doesn't like to take showers in public for reasons he isn't willing to share, until Louis, the hot football captain, rocks his whole world.

⚽ the stars are coming home by lsforever / @kingonafiftymetreroad

(G, 5k, established relationship) After three years together and nearly a full year of marriage, Harry has finally been permitted to sit in for one of the team’s practices.

⚽ every night with us (is like a dream) by moon_rose25 / @darkinfinity

(T, 2k, established relationship) A look into the life of a professional football player dating a physical therapist.

⚽ 2,870 Miles by @sadaveniren

(G, 1k, mpreg) Harry hated the BT Sports commentators, but considering he couldn’t fly to Baku while eight months pregnant this was all he had if he wanted to watch his husband in the Europa League final.

—Rare Pairs—

⚽ love and kickin'!verse by camiii

(E, 140k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) the fic where Nick has no interest in football but is dragged to a football match, Louis is the Arsenal player that catches his attention, and maybe there are some redeeming qualities to the game after all.

⚽ Devoted by @nouies

(E, 5k, Louis/Alisson Becker) A collection of drabbles about Louis’ life as the housewife of a professional football player.

#ficrec #1dficvillage #trackinghappily #trackinghome #tracksintheam #hltracks

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footiehoemcfc · 1 year

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A sip, and you score

Hello :), this is my first John fic, ngl I'm nervous bc its my first time writing for him. Anyway, if you have any ideas or request you can send them to me I will gladly do them :). My master list is pinned in my blog if you want to check it out. Fluff, smut, tw none, 2.8k words.

To say this season for John has been amazing is an understatement. He was selected for the England world cup squad, he is now challenging for the title again, UCL semis again, the FA cup final and having played in different positions and out of his comfort zone so well. You were very excited for him and so proud of all the hard work he has done, seeing it payoff is amazing.

You and John started dating during Covid year. It was a very weird way to start a relationship, to quarantine with someone you had met for just 2 months. In a way, it was the best thing that could’ve happened to both of you. You had someone to spend a lot of time with, at times where it could become quite boring. You got to know him more than anyone and discover that actually, you two were perfect for each other. When you two first started dating, he was struggling to get into the team. It sucked seeing him sad and upset but seeing the progress he has made from that time to now; it just amazes you.

You were currently cuddled up to him, his arms around your waist and his chest pressed to your back. It was early in the morning and you knew his alarm would be annoying you at any second. Today was a big day, they were playing against Arsenal at home. John had told you he was not nervous but excited for this game. You on the other hand, you were very nervous because you know how south a game can go.

You don’t know why, but you woke up with a very different feeling this morning than the feeling you had last night about the game. You felt in your gut they would win, and John having scored already and played amazingly you had a feeling he could score again. You didn’t want to jinx it, but you also wanted to let him know how sure you were and how confident you felt in him.

You got up from bed carefully to not wake your sleeping boyfriend so he could enjoy 5 more minutes of sleep. You went straight to the kitchen to make yourself and John a cup of tea. You noticed the time, it was 8:55 am. You noticed how many tea bags were left, 5. You noticed you had unread messaged from last night, 5. You remembered a scene from the movie you binged with John last night, Focus. How they made someone choose the exact player they wanted him to choose to win a bet by making the man see the number 5 the whole day and subconsciously pick 55. All of these 5’s was giving you even more of a better feeling. You were always a big believer in intuition and going with your gut.

You were thinking about all of this while making tea and jumped a little when you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist. “Morning my love” John said kissing your cheek. “Hi baby”, you stopped doing what you were doing, turned around and hugged him. Once you pulled away, John went outside so your dog could go potty and to take the trash out.

John came back in and sat in the stool from the kitchen bar looking at his phone. You finished up the tea and placed his mug in front of him. “Are you excited about today?” you asked taking a sip from your tea. He placed his phone on the table and looked back at you, “Yea, I feel like it’s going to be a good game honestly”. “I have a good feeling too” “How? You said you were nervous last night” he says laughing. You laughed as well, you were scared but all these signs gave you a good feeling. Before John could take the first sip of his tea, you wanted to tell him it was different today. “I made a different tea today and… a sip of it means your scoring today so” you said playfully and proudly. “Is that so? You are making like a magic tea for me then?” he asked smiling. “Yea, I woke up with a good feeling today” “alright then” he takes a sip from his mug and smiles. He takes another one and soon enough he finishes his tea. “I guess I’m scoring a goal today then” he says smirking and you laugh. “If you do actually score, I want a bit of credit” you say as he comes closer to you. He grabs your face gently and kisses you. “You will get more than that”, you smirk when he says this knowing exactly what he means.

John went back to his room to shower and leave to the training center before the game. Meanwhile you started doing work stuff to be free in the evening since you were attending the game. “Okay my love I’m off” John appears in your little office like space to kiss you goodbye. “Bye baby”, you both hug each other tightly like you do before every single game. He kisses you lovingly, “good luck yea? I know you are going to be so great today” you said smiling against his lips. He kisses you one more time before he has to leave.

As excited as you were, you always had that thought in the back of your head of “what if they actually lose?” but you distracted yourself with work stuff, house chores and organizing your stuff around the house.

It was near 6 pm and you started getting ready to go to the stadium. His family would all be there today, as well as some of the other teammates girlfriends which you have gotten very close with. Once you were satisfied with your makeup and outfit, you headed to your car. The whole ride to the stadium was filled with John’s playlist and it kind of made your nervousness go away, at least for a little bit.

You were the first one in the box and you could see the staff arranging a banner they would display and the players warming up on the pitch. Before every game you would text John a quick message consisting of I love you and Good luck. This time, it included something else. “Already at the stadium! I love you and good luck! Score that goal for me please ;)”.

Everyone else arrived to the box, you greeted his mom, dad, sister and Sasha who was in the box next to you. “I need them to win otherwise Jack gets so moody and it’s annoying” you laughed at Sashas’s joke. You were in between John’s sister and Sasha watching the game. The atmosphere was amazing, the stadium was bouncing. Everyone knew how important this game would be in order to win the title this season.

The ref blew the whistle and not even 10 minutes in, Kevin scored the opener causing the whole stadium to roar. The game was looking good. You were holding either Sasha’s hand or fidgeting with your bracelets from the anxiety you had. Just before half time, they gained a free kick. You knew John loves his header goals, so you were excited to see if it would be a goal from him. Kevin made a really good pass and John was able to put it in the net. You all stood up once the ball went in, screamed but not even for a second. The goal was ruled as offside. “For fuck’s sake man” you said sitting down and covering your face. “They need to probably check it, damn that looked like a great goal” John’s sister told you. “Yea they are checking look” Sasha says pointing to the screen. “I really need him to score otherwise I will look like an idiot and disappoint him” you said while biting down on your nails, “what? What do you mean?” Sasha asked chuckling. “Oh god, I woke up today with a good feeling he would score and I told him, I was very confident and now if he doesn’t I will feel dumb” you said almost laughing know realizing it was just dumb coincidence all the signs you saw. “Oh my god look!” Sasha says pointing to the screen. The green line. It was a goal. You fucking called. “Yes!! I called it! Oh my god!”. Once the referee gave the goal, the whole stadium and all the players started celebrating and singing John’s song. You were so happy for him, and you saw he blew you kiss from the pitch after celebrating.

The whole second half, city were playing amazingly with Kevin scoring another goal and Erling in the last minutes scoring one as well. You were so happy for the team, but you were even happier for John. You knew how much it meant to him the fans singing his name and making them proud.

While you waited for John in the player’s lounge, you caught up with his family and some of the other wives and girlfriends. You still felt a lot of adrenaline form the game but the only thing you wanted to do right now was to hug and kiss John and say, “I told you so”.

You saw your tall boyfriend enter the room and greet his parents first. They hugged him and congratulated him on the win and the goal. Once he saw you, he couldn’t help but just laugh to himself knowing exactly what you were about to say. He hugged you tight and kissed your temple. “I might more of your magic tea for the rest of the season” he whispered in your ear. You just laughed, pulled away just enough to see his face and give him a kiss. “I told you” you said smiling against his lips and he just chuckled. Once he talked to his parents and sister a bit more, they informed him he had to do some post-match interview. “I won’t be long yea, let me know when you get home yea?” he kisses your temple and leaves to the media room. You said your goodbyes to everyone and arrived safe at home.

You made something quick to eat before John arrived so you could both just go to bed peacefully. Once you were done eating and cleaning up in the kitchen, you went upstairs to your bedroom and started getting ready for bed. You changed into your little shorts and a just a training bra. You pulled out your face wash, moisturizer, eye cream and oils to do your skin care. While you were washing your face, you heard the front door open meaning John was already home. “Babe?” John called out for you, “In the bathroom” you yelled out.

You felt his two strong arms wrap around your waist while you were just applying moisturizer on your face. He gave started kissing your cheek, your shoulder and neck. Once he reached your sweet spot, you didn’t even realize you had stopped moving and just enjoying his kisses. “You said you wanted me to give you credit right” John whispered in your neck. You closed your eyes while his hand started touching your stomach, waist and finally comping up and cupping your breasts. “John” you moaned out, you turned around and immediately kissed him. It was a rough but loving kiss. His hand on your waist, your hands grabbing his neck and pulling on his hair. He lifted you up and you wrapped your legs around his torso. He carried you to bed, laid you down and kept making out with him in the process. He was on top of you kissing you, but he stood up and removed his hoodie and his joggers. He came back down and started kissing your lips again. Your hands roamed all over his toned body.

After just kissing and making out for a little bit, you wanted to make him feel good after the game today. You tried to push him so you could be on top, but he stopped you “I thought I had to give you credit” he said smiling against your lips. “Yea, but I want to make you feel good”. He agreed and you were now on top of him. He was laying down while you were sitting on his lap. You stared slowly removing your bra so your breasts could be free. Once you threw your bra to the other side of the room, John came back up to you and nuzzled his face in between your breasts kissing them causing you to moan. Your hand pulling his hair, him gripping your hips, you rolling them so you could feel his bulge in your core. “Take this off” he said pulling your shorts down. You took your mini shorts off and now were completely naked straddling him.

“Lay down babe” you whispered in his ear. He laid back down, you stood up and started removing his boxers. One off, you took him in the palm of your hand and started stroking him making him close his eyes and moan at your touch. You started slowly and after a minute, you place your mouth on him. He grabbed your hair, making you go up and down. As much as you loved how John always wanted to make you feel good, feel his face in between your legs, you loved making him feel good and making him cum. You didn’t want to finish just yet. You wanted to do it at the same time as him.

“Baby, if you keep going I’m gonna cum” John says in between moans. You were on your knees bobbing your head up and down when he said this. You started coming back up to his face slowly, kissing all over his abs and torso, his chest, neck and finally his lips. You lined up your wet core with his cock and sank down in it. Once he was fully in you, it felt so good. You had your eyes closed, moaning while he watched and loved the view. This was his favorite position, you riding his cock. You started bouncing up and down, your breasts as well and John started moaning at the sight of you. “Oh my god John”, it felt so good.

“I’m close” he started moaning, his hand firm gripping your hips helping you bounce on his cock. “Me too baby” you moaned out. You felt his hands leave your hips and grab your breasts. You lowered your hand down to your clit to feel your orgasm even more, turning John on more. He came up to you, now face to face to kiss you. He removed your hand from your clit and replaced them with his. You were both panting and moaning in each other’s mouth. “I’m cuming John” “Me too my love” “Cum with me baby”, it didn’t take long for both of you to see stars and cum at the same time.

Straddling him, both of you just hugged riding out your high. He kissed your neck and chest lovingly. You pulled away to see his face and give him a kiss. He moved your strands of hair out of your face so he could see you properly. Your face was flushed and a bit sweaty like him. “I fucking love fucking you” John whispered against your mouth making you smile. “I love fucking you too” you replied chuckling. “Was that enough credit for the goal or do you need more?” “Mmmm maybe in the morning I can get more credit”, both of you laughed.

Once you got cleaned up, you were too tired from the activities that took place. John made sure the front door was locked and all the lights were turned off. Once he returned back into the room, he laid down in bed and pulled you as close as possible to him. Your nose was bumping his, his hand around your waist and your hands on his chest and cupping his face. “I didn’t tell you before but, you played really good today. I love seeing you play so good because I know it means you are in a good place” he just smiled at what you said and kissed your nose. “Well I wouldn’t be in a good place if it wasn’t for you, you know?”, “what do you mean” you were confused now. “Ever since we’ve been together, I feel like you’ve been the one person in my life who has cared about me, like how I actually feel outside of football. You’re always at the games supporting me even if I don’t play, you’re the only person I want to see after a loss. I know I haven’t really said it but I’m very grateful for all of that” His comment made you smile and blush a little. You were happy that he appreciated you being a supportive girlfriend. “Well I just want to make sure you’re happy you know? I hated seeing you upset when you didn’t play or didn’t get called up. I’m really proud of how far you’ve come” “Thank you babe”. He kissed you, “I love you, more than anything” “Me too John, more than anything”.

#john stones #John Stones x reader #John Stones fan fiction #John Stones imagine #footballer x reader #John Stones fluff #John Stones smutt

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firstdegreefangirl · 8 months

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It's All About You, Jamie

He shouldn’t have looked.

Jamie knew he shouldn’t have looked.

Whatever papers spilled out of the folder when he accidentally kicked it off of Roy’s coffee table, he shouldn’t have looked at them. They’re Roy’s not his; he was just trying to use his toes to scratch his itchy calf.

But he did look.

And looking got him to here: sitting on the living room carpet, staring at Roy's contract renewal for AFC Richmond.

Roy’s contract renewal, promising him a bonus worth close to a third of Jamie’s annual salary, if they make it back to the FA Cup finals. Double that, if they win.

Of course.

It makes sense that Roy would make extra money if he coaches a winning team. And it makes sense that Roy would want them to win, so he can make the extra money.

Which means that he needs Jamie in top shape.

Jamie stares at the paper in his hand, and the last few months sharpen into perfect clarity.

I could train you. But only if you fucking mean it.

You’re not on fucking holiday from training.

Whistle.

Not the week for your Mister Fucking Humble, great teammate bullshit.

Wanna grab a beer later?

All the progress they’d made – the progress Jamie thought they’d made, anyway – was this why? Did Roy just take an investment in him as … an investment?

It makes sense.

Roy started training him so he’d be a better player. So they’ll win.

Roy tracked him down in Manchester so he’d be at his mental best. So they’ll win.

Roy invited him for a beer so he’d only have one. So they’ll win.

Roy let Jamie move into his house so he could keep an eye on his schedule. So they’ll win.

Roy cooks his meals so he’ll stay on his meal plan. So they’’ll win.

Roy kisses him and … it’s so Jamie won’t go out and find someone else. So they’ll win.

All of it, every single thing that’s happened between him and Roy, Roy’s done it so they’ll win.

And Jamie?

Jamie fell in love.

Read the rest on ao3 here!

#royjamie #ted lasso #roy kent #jamie tartt #roy x jamie #whumptober #whumptober 2023 #no. 2 #fic #katie writes #kw23

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wosowrites · 1 year

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Not So Champs (Sam Kerr x Reader)

Warnings: None

A/N: from a request and it’s not my best work so i’m sorry 😭 it’s also a bit short. short but sweet.

Prompt: Reader plays for manchester united and goes to watch her girlfriend, Sam, play vs arsenal in the conti cup final. But when Chelsea loose, reader has to comfort Sam.

The final whistle blew, breaking your heart in half. You watched your girlfriend, Sam Kerr, crouch to the ground, her head hanging low. You pushed your way to the front row, earning looks from people around you. But luckily, they were nice enough not to ask you for anything. Arsenal was celebrating their conti cup win, jumping around, screaming, and the rest of the stadium was giddy, it having been a home game for the gunners. You were sitting with the Chelsea fans who were all looking sad, but we’re still singing and holding up signs, supporting their blues. Chelsea came around, clapping to their fans. All the players had tears in their eyes.

Sam spotted you relatively quickly, smiling at you and walking up to where you were standing. "I’m so proud of you baby." You told her, leaning over the railing and holding her face between your hands. Sam didn’t say anything, not knowing what to answer. She was too sad. Instead, she kisses you, her hand on your back. You were wearing a number 20 chelsea jersey, repping your amazing girlfriend. "I don’t know how we lost. We just eliminated them from the FA," she said sadly, pulling away. "There’s nothing you can do anymore. It’s okay. It happens. Second sucks, I know how it feels, but you could have lost 20-0 and I would have told you how amazing you were." You told her. She hugged you again, fans were now taking pictures and videos, but you couldn’t have cared less.

"Come down here. The team wants to see you." Sam whined. "That security guard looks mean, babe. If I go on the field he’ll body check me or something." You said, nodding towards a bearded security guard. Sam laughed, her first smile since the lost. "If he tries anything McCabe will handle it. You’ll want to congratule her." Sam said.

It was true, Katie and you played for ireland together, and you were quite close. But your girlfriend came first.

"Im here for you, Sam. Just for you." You told her, kissing her forehead. "But yes I will go on the field and I probably should congratulate McCard." You teased.

You started climbing over the railing, giggling as the security guard eyed you. "She’s with me." Sam told him who nodded sternly.

You made it onto the pitch, Sam guiding you down with her hands on your hips. She slung her arm over you and ran with you, joining the Chelsea girls. You hugged Magda, who you knew well and knew would feel like crap as the captain. You hugged and said a few things to Jessie Fleming, Niahm Charles, and Guro Reiten.

"Im gonna say GG to Katie," you told Sam, who’s look of defeat had taken over her face again. "I love you." You told her, you knew she would need comforting today, and tomorrow.

You jogged over to Katie who was sipping champagne. "Katie! Hey!" You said to her. "Y/n!" She yelled, smiling wildly. You were grateful to her for not jumping into your arms, or offering you champagne. Katie was a down to earth person, and she was smart. She knew you were rooting for Chelsea. "Good game, you make Ireland proud every day." You told her, giving her a small hug and a pat on the back. "Says you goalscorer! 12 goals in 16 games for Man United!" Katie said. "Not enough though. I’m not signing with them again." You told her sadly. You loved manchester, but you wanted more for yourself. "Good for you. You deserve to win big comps." Katie said.

You smiled at her, but quickly excused yourself to get back to the blues.

You watched from the sideline as Chelsea got their second place medal, and then hung around to see Arsenal lift the trophy. You stayed beside Sam the whole time, holding her when she needed it, kissing her wether she wanted it or not. When the Gunners cheers filled the stadium as Leah Williamson lifted the cup, and as champagne was sprayed on the field, you held Sams head in the crook of your neck, wanting to protect her from the world.

Something Sam did not know, was that Emma had offered you a contract, and she wanted you badly. She was up to anything to get you. So, she offered you a ride back to Cobham, where Sams car was. You had taken a taxi to get here and it had taken a while. And it was expensive, but anything for your girl.

You accepted Emma’s offer, taking advantage of it without telling her that you had already decided to accept the three year offer she was suggesting. You climbed into the bus and sat with Sam, who fell asleep on you immediately. The whole bus was silent, and you matched their energy. Knowing exactly how it felt to loose like this, and knowing it was not your spot to lift up the team right now.

Sam woke up when the bus arrived at Cobham, so did most of the players. You all poured out of the bus, and then into separate cars. You drove, knowing Sam needed a moment.

"Sammy," you said. Sam turned to look at you. "I have something to tell you. And I think it’ll make you happy." You told her, keeping your eyes on the road. "I love you baby, but i don’t think anything will make me happy right now." Sam said. "I’m moving to Chelsea. I’m not resigning with Manchester. Emma’s offered me a starting position, a higher pay check. It’s a three year contract and it’s a great offer." You told her.

Sam was silent for a moment before rolling down the window, and breaking out into a scream. "FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!!" She yelled.

It took you by suprise, leaving you silent for a bit. But soon enough, you rolled down your window and copied Sam. "FUCK YEAH!!! IM MOVING TO CHELSEA!!!!" You screamed out the window. "WOOH!!!" "WOOOH!!!!!"

#chelsea fcw #woso fic #woso imagine #woso x reader #jessie fleming #woso #arsenal fcw #katie mccabe #leah williamson #sam kerr #conti cup

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28dayslater · 2 months

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seeing your posts has convinced me to get into spurs do you have advice on where to start

First off let me apologise for doing this to you but you know what if today's diabolical ordeal was what convinced you... you are clearly the right kind of nutcase for Tottenham.

Watch some games!! Maybe not the next one as we'll be getting battered but after that. Doesn't matter if you're not a football fan I wasn't and now look at me. We are um... not really firing on all cylinders right now LOL but when it's good it's soooooo good.

Players!! So many nice sweet boys we've got SONNY he's our captain he's the best man to ever live you would probably already die for him without even really knowing him. We've got AN ARRAY OF SLIGHTLY CRAP ATTACKERS we've got SEXY DEFENDERS we've got FUTURE BALLON D'OR WINNER PAPE SARR I would recommend watching some of the youtube/social media content spurs put out bc you really get a sense of their personalities and the friendships between them which is very cute <3 this recent one where they play darts with professional darts players healed me

The women's team!! We've got a fresh new dad manager and we're doing so well this season, got some great players in and we'll be playing in the FA cup semi final tomorrow, and I will be THERE!!

The torment....... we are the laughing stock of the football world we win fuck all we make a pig's ear out of absolutely everything we've never seen a chance to succeed we didn't bottle in the worst possible way and the joke is ALWAYS on us. You have to have a certain level of mental resilience. I work in the construction industry in London you have no idea how many strays I catch from the assna/West Ham blokes at work, it is unbelievable. BUT it means when we DO manage the tiniest hard fought victory against all odds it's a million times sweeter bc we earned it!!!!

The most important thing about being a spurs fan is you have to get really mad whenever we pass the ball backwards for any reason even if it makes sense for the players to do or is clearly necessary.

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abubblingcandle · 5 months

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Hi! I loved your answer about the league stuff, but the "homegrown" player thing is still confusing for me. Any way you could break that down a bit more?

Always happy to help!

So the Homegrown Player Rule was brought in (i believe in 2015? but might be wrong there) to try and encourage Premier League and Championship clubs to stop just buying the best talent from abroad and instead invest in their academies to produce English talent with the aim of England winning the 2022 World Cup (and we all know how well that went!).

The main point is that clubs can only have 17 of their 25 man squads as NOT homegrown players. Therefore there are 8 spots on each premier league team that can ONLY be filled by home-grown players.

However, clubs argued that it stops them investing academy space in anyone that is not English even if those children might be living in England anyway. So it got stupid phrasing which I will break down:

A "Home-Grown Player" means a player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21)

1 - Irrespective of nationality or age: So this means that a player of any nationality can be classed as a "home-grown player" if they tick all the boxes in the description. And that in the season they are selected for the squad it doesn't matter how old they are. So for example you could have a 40 year old Dutch player on your squad but as long as they tick all the boxes, still be classed as "home-grown"

2 - has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales: all clubs in the Premier League, EFL (English Football League) and National Leagues (amateur football) have to be affiliated with the FA to compete. This rule is basically saying that the player has to have been a member of an official professional or amateur team to qualify. This includes academies.

3 - a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months: measuring time for football is difficult as seasons run at different times and youth players might just be at the academy and playing in youth set ups so can't really measure it by football season. But put simply, the player has to be in the English Football system for three years and that doesn't have to all be in one go. So for example if the player goes off to Greece on loan for a year but is in the English system for a couple of years either side, then that's still fine

4 - before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21): relatively self explanitory apart from it means that if a player turns 21 in February then he can still count the rest of the season as one of those 3 years.

So a simplified way to put it is: if a player has been a member of an English or Welsh academy or official football team for three years before the end of the season he turns 21, then he counts as a homegrown player and can fill one of those 8 slots in the squad list :)

(Which in a fair few cases defeats the point as it just encourages people to snipe talent at age 15 instead and train them up ... but that's a separate problem)

Hope that helps!

#candle talks football #ask box is always open!

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pensat-i-fet · 1 year

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The best assistant (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**Very shocking, I know. But the gorgeous coat and my lovely anons inspired me to write a little imagine once again ❤️ short but sweet this time. Enjoy!**

Word count: 798

Masterlist

Wattpad

It was the FA cup weekend again, and you had been sent to the Etihad to cover the City-Chelsea match for the BBC. You always loved the cup because instead of just doing post-match interviews, you also got to be on presenter duty.

Being in Manchester also meant you got to see your boyfriend Rúben after the match. And probably before and during since he was injured and wouldn't be with the rest of the squad during warm-ups.

The bad thing about today was that you forgot to check the weather forecast. Again.

So here you were in Manchester wearing a not thick enough jacket. Very cute jacket but…it was not going to keep you warm at all.

You kept on jumping, trying not to look too ridiculous, and rubbing your arms to warm yourself up a bit. The last thing you needed was chattering teeth while speaking on TV.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Rúben signing autographs and taking photos with some fans. When he was done, he spotted you and moved to where you were standing after noticing you still weren’t on air.

“Hi”, he said, hugging you and kissing your cheek.

“Hi. Done attending your adoring fans?”

“No, don’t worry. I still have time for you”.

You rolled your eyes when another shiver made you hug yourself. It really was cold today.

When you looked up at Rúben, you saw him frowning.

“Why do you never wear something weather appropriate?”, he said, shaking his head.

“I didn’t realise it was going to be so cold. But it’s fine. We’ll be indoors during the match. It’s just a couple of minutes of suffering”.

“I could ask the team for a coat for you or something”, he suggested.

“I can’t wear any team’s clothes. But maybe I could hide inside your coat. Why is it so big?”

“Oversize coats are trendy!”

“Whatever you say. Now go, we need to start working”.

With another kiss, he left to join the team on the bench. And you, somehow, managed to do the pre-match presenting without turning blue.

It was an easy win for City. And you were happy to be able to go to the press area to do the post-match interviews. The heating was on and very much appreciated by your cold body. When you got back inside after half-time, your hands were so cold it almost hurt to move your fingers. Thankfully one of your colleagues had a spare pair of gloves, so at least that was sorted.

After your interviews, it was time to wait for one of your colleagues to interview the Chelsea players before you could do the final bit of presenting. You thought about staying inside the tunnel for as long as you could and it was there you found Rúben again.

“What are you doing here?”, you asked, curious. You expected him to be in the dressing room celebrating with his teammates.

“Making sure you’re still alive”.

“Well, barely”, you finally admitted.

Rúben then opened his coat and brought you closer to him so you could also be covered by it.

“See? I told you it was too big”, you joked, but also hugged him tighter, enjoying the warmth of the coat and of his body.

“I need to buy them two sizes bigger for all the times when you forget to bring one”.

“Maybe I should hire you as my assistant”.

“I would be the best assistant”, he said, proudly.

“I have no doubts about that”.

But then it was time for you two to separate and for you to finish work.

“Take the coat”, said Rúben while you were walking back to the pitch.

"It's just five minutes. I'll be fine and I don’t want you to get cold".

"If it's just five minutes, I'll be fine too", he shrugged, moving away from the camera.

Rúben took off the coat and put it on your shoulders, leaving quickly when he saw the looks he was getting from the tv crew.

You then realised how big it actually was. I mean, if it looked oversize on him…but managed to make it look decent by rolling the sleeves up a bit and using the hair clip you always carried with you, for when you had to put your hair up, on the back to make it look smaller.

“Thank you very much for joining us today and we’ll see you tomorrow for the Oxford-Arsenal tie. Until then, take care”.

“Perfect”, said the producer. “Now we go to the pub to let the beers warm us up a bit, right?”

“You go have fun, guys”, you said. “I have to return this coat”.

“Right. We all know what that’s code for”, laughed one of your cameramen, winking at you.

#ruben dias #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias one shot #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias fanfic #ruben dias fanfiction #ruben dias fluff #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer x reader #footballer fanfiction #foootballer fanfic #footballer fluff #ruben dias au #footballer au

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basicallyblank · 9 months

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Champions League qualifiers round 1- defeat to Paris FC

Very disapointing result yesterday, and not a result a lot of us expected, probably not a result Jonas expected since he didn't plan for a penalty shootout.

We had it all wrong yesterday, in my opinion. Our line up was wrong, should've started Russo and McCabe, we could've put the game to bed and not have to fight tooth and nail to get it to penalties. From the start, something i kept noticing was that we looked disjointed and that there was a communication issue, especially from the backline. Obviously we've brought new players in, this is the first time they're playing matches together, so they might not work good together straight away, but we just looked lost.

2 goals in 60 seconds...is embarrassing. Manu looked lost in goal and I feel like she wasn't 100% yesterday, I want to see Sabs move more to our no.1 goalkeeper as i doubt Manu is staying next season, Manu has been lacking for some time, she's still a good gk, but she is making more mistakes that are costing us. We conceded again basically right after the restart from the first goal, a misplaced pass from Lia, when we got to 2 down i started having Birmingham City flashbacks.

Last season when Leah tore her ACL, I knew our backline was gonna be worrying, but for the rest of last season we still had Rafa to help us, now we have no Leah and no Rafa. Noelle was poor, her scuffed pass in the first half had me sat in disbelief, Lotte was also poor, people seem to be up in arms when people criticise her, obviously some people tow the line where it steps into abusive language, that no player deserves, but there is no problem criticising a player that was poor. She makes mistakes every game that leave us scrambling trying to get the ball back because we're now being heavily counter pressed. I just hope we sort it out because I dont know how long I'll last if I have to watch that defensive line up again, our best option is a back 3 until Leah is back.

Alessia is looking really promising, she got 2 goals for us and managed to keep us in the game, obviously her penalty miss was sad, but she's the reason we got to penalties in the first place, and you can blame Jonas lack of preparation for penalties, at least she offered to step up. When he put Jen up front, I cant lie, I was ready to see a resignation letter, but Jen always shows up in the big games when we need her, eg Wolfsburg. Frida also poor today, I think after seeing the game she played during the 120 minutes, she shouldn't have stepped up, she missed chance after chance and we're meant to think she'd be able to convert from the spot after having such a poor game ? hmm.

Obviously no Champions League is going to be heavily disapointing, Codina won it last season and now she's already out. On the bright side, it means less games, no awkward midweek games when we have an important league game coming up ect. We have no excuses not to win the league, and if we dont, we have to start asking questions, we didn't get the Champions League, our players have less games, why are we not winning ? The last time we didn't get Champions League was in 18/19 season, and we won the league. We need to win trophies this season, we dont have the pull of Champions League to convince players to come to Arsenal, what pull are we gonna have to get world class players if we cant win the FA Cup, Conti Cup, the WSL ? What pull are we gonna have to convince players who are already here to STAY, if we cant win anything ?

We don't have Champions League this season, its done, we cant do anything about it, we cant get it back. We're an english giant, we dominated the WSL for years until other teams caught up, we dont have the pressure of champions league this season, so full focus on the league, and everything that comes with it. UTA

#arsenal #arsenal women #arsenal wfc #katie mccabe #alessia russo #lia walti #leah williamson #beth mead #woso #round up

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nicolesainz · 5 months

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Within the limits (Ben Chilwell x Jenson Button x OC) Chapter 6

Author’s note: First chapter of 2024!! Happy new year babes! So, unfortunately, the updates on the story won’t be very regular given it’s exam season and school is sucking the life out of me, but I will try my best to update as regularly as possible!

Warnings: fluff, angst

next chapter

“I am so on the Messi hype train. Can’t imagine how buzzed I was when France started missing the penalties at the World Cup.”

“I thought you’d be more of a Ronaldo girl, given you live in Manchester.”

“My parents house is in London. That’s where I grew up. I moved to Manchester in 2022.”

“So, here’s a question for you. Where does the name ‘Chelsea’ come from? When Mase told me I was shocked.”

“So, my dad is a massive fan of the club. Always attending the games whether that’s Premier League, FA cup, Carabao cup, Champions league games, name it. He has pictures of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba on his office walls and replicas of signed shirts.”

“And then you were born, giving your father the perfect opportunity to name you Chelsea.”

“Exactly.”

“The name really suits you. Royal blue vibes. Which leads me to my next question, which club do you support?”

The drive to Manchester was one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever had, with Ben on the line, talking about our lives and getting to know each other. I feel like it would’ve been better if we were face to face but things have their time.

He was so keen on getting to know me better and I was too. I’ve been a fan of his for so many years, something I haven’t admitted yet, and learning more things about his life brings a smile to my face.

“A professional never reveals their favorite team. I have to remain unbiased, impartial and fair to every team.”

“But now you’re not being fair! Come on, it’s just the two of us. I swear I won’t tell a soul.”

“Look, here’s a deal. If you score a goal at the next match that I will happen to commentate on, I will tell you my favorite club. Deal?”

“Fine, you win. A goal for the club it is. You have a deal.” I can hear him groaning annoyed at the offer I made.

Sometimes life is not jolly for footballers either.

“It was lovely talking to you Benjamin. I have to go now unfortunately, just arrived home and I need to prepare my notes for Manchester’s next game.”

“Oh yes, I fully understand. I enjoyed our conversation and getting to know you better. Talk to you later, blue.” I smile at the nickname ‘blue’. It’s not the usual ‘chels’ but I very much like it.

When I open the door I instantly kick off my shoes and drop on the couch as if I am a human slushee. Every inch of my body hurts. And my heart as well. How can Jenson say such nasty things in front of my face?

Does he think I’m a slut? After all we’ve confessed to each other? Do these ‘I love you’s mean nothing to him?

———————————————————————————-

“In two games we play against each other, come on let me score a goal!”

“I love you and I appreciate your effort but no. We’ve been on a massive losing strike and I should be the one asking you to let me score a goal.”

“What if we both score? Game ends up 1-1, shared points?”

“Score all the goals you want against Palace all you want tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll be tuned in.”

“You can’t imagine how happy I was while we were talking. It felt good chatting again with a girl that was genuinely interested in getting to know me and not simply looking to fuck me.”

Being a footballer at the highest level, an England international and presumably one of the most handsome players in the league, can earn you the attention of many women. It’s just shame that most want to be with you simply for publicity reasons.

Chelsea was asking me questions that none of my previous girlfriends had ever bothered to ask me. What was my life in high school like? My favorite position to play in as a child? Favorite memory with friends from high school or teammates? I was stunned and touched by how much she was focused on detail.

“Chelsea is a good one. I’ll just warn you to be careful around the loverboy she’s with. Seems like a feisty one.”

“I wanna be her friend first and foremost. I want to get to know her and get close to her. It’ll be good to add another person to my inner circle and have a laugh with.”

Mason stops talking abruptly, I hear him opening his front door and quietly walking outside. He takes his keys with him and I am assuming he is afraid that something is going on.

"Everything okay mate?" I ask from the other line of the phone but Mason hushes at me really quickly.

"I can hear yelling from Chelsea's apartment. I can see two cars parked in front of her house, but I can't tell who is the person standing in front of her door."

"Is she alright? Is it her father?" worry rushes through me and my heartbeat is rising extremely fast.

"It looks like Jenson. Wait, I will call you back, I'm going here to help her get rid of him."

----------------------------------------------------------------

"I need to be alone right now Jense, what can't you understand?" It's incredible how I am literally begging for a few days of sanity.

"I can't live on the other side of England, knowing that my girlfriend is angry at me." The word 'girlfriend' almost made me throw up.

"I am not your girlfriend. You never asked me to be. You were the one who suggested we didn't put a label in our relationship and me being a classic idiot, I agreed" It should have been a warning sign that Jenson was not taking me as seriously as I thought.

"I thought that by saying 'I love you' to each other, this meant that our relationship was serious enough that we didn't have to labelize it."

"The moment you finally realise what I am to you, instead of just assuming, give me a call Jenson." I try to shut the door at his face but he holds it open with his arm. Fuck him.

"You have to be joking? Right? Come on Chels, don't act like a five year old." The moment those words left his mouth, I could have easily shed a river of tears but I had to show him that I wasn't as vulnerable as the current situation made me be.

Asking him to take me seriously is me acting like a kid? By that, he simply proves my point.

In the heat of the moment, before I could answer, Mason showed up, holding two bottles of wine, empty. I was kind of weird out by what he was trying to do. But I didn't question him.

"Hey, I am so sorry to interrupt, but you had promised to give me some of your cousin's wine. Guests are waiting." Mason said in a shyly manner, trying not to catch Jenson's attention too much.

"Oh yes, sorry, they are in my celery, let me bring them." I say, thankfully with the assistance of Mason and him using a very convincing lie.

"I will call you tomorrow Chelsea. You better pick up." Jenson's voice was extremely stern and all I did was nod to him. Not even a 'goodbye'. A simple head movement.

Jenson shut the door behind him and Mason let out a sigh of relief. He placed the bottles on the table and pulled out his phone to text someone, who ended up being Ben himself.

"Are you okay? The moment I heard screaming, I thought something was going on and we both got worried." My heart melted at the thought of two footballers and possible best mates of mine worrying about loud noises.

"Wait, who is we? Do you actually have guests?"

"No. I was on the phone with Ben when the yelling started. I told him about it and he got so worried that he was about to tell me to call the police."

Ben barely knows me 48 hours and yet he acts like the boyfriend Jenson isn't. Cares about me from distance and needs a double check from his friend.

"Thank you guys for everything. I don't know how to repay you. You saved a possible self invitation of Jenson at my house."

"It was nothing, Chels. We are friends. That's what we do. No need to repay us."

"Sure? If you need anything just tell me."

"Well, now that I am thinking about it, would you like to attend with me Chelsea vs Crystal Palace? Unless you're on the commentary box during the game."

"I won't be. Because the next day I will be commentating on United vs Fulham."

"Is that a yes then?"

"Definitely a yes!"

#ben chilwell x reader #jenson button x reader #ben chilwell #jenson button #formula 1 #football

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georgia-stanway · 9 months

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but the girls deserves the win though... I mean it the world cup the biggest tournament in the sport and all the spanish girls deserved the win so maybe we shouldn't give power to the coach by calling the women's win harmful

The spanish players absolutely deserve the win but vilda isn't going to get sacked now is he? The players who boycotted the world cup are going to get even more backlash and likely won't play for spain again for the foreseeable future unless they go crawling back to be abused again. It's not giving him power to say the win is harmful, the win had given him power for him to keep abusing the players without consequences and it tells every fa that the players wellbeing don't matter if you win.

None of this is the fault of the spanish players and if vilda does get sacked (particularly if the spanish fa release a statement saying that they were wrong) then the win is more positive for women's football and as devastated as i am the best team won and I'd even be a little glad if it got vilda sacked. But you cannot just remove vilda and act like he doesn't exist even if the team did succeed in spite of him not because of him he will get credit for it. The Spanish fa isn't going to suddenly change their tune. I wish the only thing that mattered was the performance on the pitch but it isn't

#wwc #wwc23 #espwnt #spain wnt

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rainingmbappe · 1 year

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To everyone saying haaland deserves the Ballon d'Or and not messi

We all know the astronomical pressure Argentina had to win the World Cup. Shouldn't we prioritize circumstances and narrative over stats? Haaland can win the premiere league, lift that champions league, take the fa cup home, and end his season with 55 goals. That STILL does not beat the narrative of Messi living under Maradona's shadow his entire career. FINALLY, after a glorious career, winning the World Cup and sealing his place in the history of football, I think, takes the cake.

If there ever was a Ballon d'Or winning season for a player, this season for haaland couldn't be more of a perfect example. As compared to that, we're talking about the best World Cup campaign of our generation. One that is going to embed itself as a very prominent one in the entire history of football!! Haaland is here to stay, and we all know that. The robot isn't going to stop, and I think that applies for the next season. I mean, imagine Haaland doing what he's doing now from the VERY beginning of the season. The point is, haaland WILL get that Ballon d'Or sooner or later. But we're talking about Messi and his legacy. I think that triumphs any day.

#say what you wabt to say #but if messi doesn't win it then its blasphemy at its best #thats coming from a person who adores haaland and his tap in goals #and thats exactly the reason why i think messi deserves it #if haaland didnt have majority of tap in goals then the argument would still stand #messi has just done way too much for mr tap in to win #messi #erling haaland #lionel messi #man city #manchester city

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bsaka7 · 1 year

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Fabio Vieira: Arsenal's 'reguila' (full text under the cut)

When Fabio Vieira’s name is mentioned on home soil, there is a particular Portuguese word that surfaces to describe him: ‘reguila’.

“Reguila is a term that we use for players who decide things by themselves,” says Tiago Moreira, who coached Vieira for Porto’s under-10s, and is now assistant coach for their under-19s and B teams.

“A reguila is a player that makes the difference by his own personality and confidence, without paying much attention to the coach — not in a bad way.”

“It’s quite a Portuguese word,” says Miguel Lopes, who Vieira played for with Porto Under-14s. “These things are in you and I’m sure he still has this ‘reguila’, which is that guy who has something so sharp. It seems that he’s not aware but his radar is always on. In the moment you need something out of the box, he can figure it out. ‘Reguila’ we mostly use with kids, not so much with adults.”

That quality has been clear in Vieira since he stepped foot in north London last summer, and could be essential now he is back in Portugal to face Sporting in Lisbon tonight in the Europa League’s round of 16.

The 22-year-old impressed in his group-stage runouts in this competition before the World Cup break and scored an instinctive long-range effort on his first Premier League start against Brentford. He made a crucial contribution to breaking down Wolves’ deep block in November, assisted twice against Oxford United in the FA Cup and made a telling impact against Aston Villa in the league last month.

‘Reguila’ also has a more literal meaning to describe somebody with a cheeky or mischievous personality. Vieira’s presence on both ends of the ‘reguila’ spectrum has been there from a very young age.

That’s what made him stand out at Porto in a footballing sense.

“I was thinking about how I could make a challenge to make his talent explode. It was a challenge for a reguila,” Moreira recalls about one training session during Vieira’s under-10s season.

“My idea was to make a tournament with three teams in the middle of training. I picked two captains and they chose their team-mates. The only rule was, ‘You cannot choose Fabio’, and I didn’t explain why to Fabio — but did in the end.

“The two captains chose the best players of the group, so the players who weren’t chosen were supposedly the less capable of the group plus Fabio. I was looking at him in the middle of the choosing process and he started to realise what I wanted to do. I reached Fabio at the end of the choosing process and told him, ‘Now I want to see if you’re capable of winning the tournament or not’. He said ‘Yeah. I got it, Coach’.

“Can you imagine what happened? He won the tournament. That’s the best way to describe Fabio as a personality and a player.”

Vieira’s cheekier side has also been on display since joining Arsenal. His insistence on why Londoners don’t pronounce the ‘t’ in words like ‘what’ or ‘water’ is a recent glimpse into that personality those at Porto know all too well.

“He was a cheeky kid. At Porto, with all the structure there, he didn’t have much margin for manoeuvre, but we still noticed that side of his personality,” Humberto Costa, who coached Vieira in Porto’s under-11s and under-12s, tells The Athletic.

“He was good friends with Joao Mario, who is now Porto’s right-back. They often roomed together during trips abroad. Sometimes the team captain would inform me that Fabio had eaten Joao Mario’s snacks. Joao Mario is a laid-back character, quite reserved, so he didn’t want to come to me directly and complain about Fabio. But the information reached me.”

These traits went hand-in-hand whenever Vieira was on a pitch during his youth.

Despite joining Porto’s academy at eight, there was an individuality in his play that stuck out. From when he arrived as a dribbling left-winger under Moreira, throughout his academy days winning national and European youth championships, through to the point he broke into the first team.

“He looked like a street kid who had grown up playing outdoors. That clearly had a profound effect on him,” Costa adds.

“When you play out in the street, your games aren’t subject to a lot of rules. That really foments creativity in people. His whole body had a relationship with the ball. He moved in a different way from the other players.

“I’ll give you an example: if I asked the boys to do a drill and then asked Fabio to explain it to his team-mates, he might not have been able to do it. He didn’t always find it easy to express himself with words. Fine. But if I just said, ‘Start playing, let’s go’, Fabio would be organising things in no time at all, just with the way he played. He would quickly understand what everyone needed to do.”

This theme ran through Vieira’s time at Porto. Though a lack of physicality may have contributed to him not being called up to represent Portugal until under-18s level, the technical ability and attitude were always there — it was just a matter of nurturing those qualities.

“Fabio was really a character,” Lopes says. “I remember one game against Rio Ave. At that time, Porto always competed in older leagues. Fabio would be an under-11 playing against under-13s, or under-14s playing against under-15s.

“That season there was a rough game because contrary to the rest of Portugal, there is always really bad weather in Rio Ave (a short drive north of Porto along the coast). It’s by the sea so there’s a lot of wind, it’s cold and it’s always hard to play there. Sometimes you think, ‘If we have this very skinny player, it’s not the day for him’, but Fabio was having a good season.

“The game was still 0-0 because it was so hard to attack with the ball always in the air with strong winds. At the very end, he forced a penalty because he was trying to sprint against the wind and at the last minute he realised the defender was going to arrive first. So he just gave a small touch to the ball and the guy went through him. It was like a 60kg (132lb) guy against a 30kg guy so he went flying two or three metres! We almost said, ‘He killed him!’.

“We looked at Fabio, he was still on the floor and he looked at us and smiled realising, ‘Oh, I got the penalty’. He took it, scored and we won 1-0. This was Fabio. Those things were only possible with Fabio.”

By the time Moreira reunited with the midfielder in Porto’s under-19s, the challenges were different. Into his final year as a youth player, Vieira was playing for his future. Moreira could feel that but it brought the best out of Vieira and the squad as he went on to score the opening goal in their UEFA Youth League final win over Chelsea in 2018-19.

“Everyone felt the pressure — it’s impossible not to — but the way we acted with that pressure; it’s different from person to person, but he was not hiding in that game,” Moreira adds.

“He was assuming the responsibility of being on that pitch and his role in the team, and that’s Fabio. In the most important game of our lives, not just his.

“It’s impossible not to be emotional with that kind of game. The club had never been to the final. It’s a final against Chelsea and it’s the biggest competition worldwide for that age. It’s the fuel they need to have to play at the highest level possible. Even us coaches jumped like little kids.”

Arsenal got a glimpse of how emotional Vieira’s celebrations can be in that 4-2 comeback at Villa Park last month. He fell to his knees, arms aloft, the second he played in Gabriel Martinelli for the fourth goal after opposition goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had gone up for a corner to try to snatch an equaliser.

That match was the first real flash of Vieira and Martinelli’s on-pitch relationship. Manager Mikel Arteta teased the idea of the pair playing closer together after beating Everton a week ago, and trialled Vieira as a left-sided No 8 with Martinelli outside him against Bournemouth on Saturday, but the visitors scoring after nine seconds and Leandro Trossard going off injured on 22 minutes threw any gameplan the Spaniard had out the window.

“He’s a great guy, everyone can see our relationship (is good). He’s a great guy and I love him,” Martinelli said when replacing Vieira for press conference duties before this first leg against Sporting due to the Portugal Under-21 international’s sore throat.

Vieira and Martinelli on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States last summer (Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arteta later explained “Fabio is OK” when asked about his fitness, which could provide another opportunity to trial him in an area where he has previously flourished.

“Porto’s youth teams always play 4-3-3. Fabio played in the same position he did against Bournemouth at the weekend: the left ‘interior’ (left of midfield three),” Costa says.

“Why? Fabio is very good at receiving the ball between the lines, surrounded by opponents, because he’s so good technically. His first touch is great. And I also wanted him close to the goal, because he has a really good shot on him. Really, really good.”

Moreira adds: “He brought the opposition net closer to everyone, and he still has that. When you see Fabio and see him to the side and backwards, that’s not Fabio. In Fabio’s best moments, he puts his team-mates in front of goal. He has ‘goal’ on his body — by scoring, by assisting, by whatever.”

Arteta joked that the first thing he did when the last-16 draw was made was quiz Vieira about Sporting.

All being well, Vieira will get his chance against them today, and the characteristics that have defined him for more than half his life could be a key factor in Arsenal balancing this competition with an increasingly draining Premier League title bid.

He is a player Arteta was instantly excited by because of his ability to decide matches in the final third, after all.

#Sorry this one needed the whole thing not just screenshots... The stories!!!#Fabio Vieira #Footieposting #Tongue... Ah!

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live-laugh-loverpool · 1 year

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Hey! It's Ruby again. Sorry for asking for fanfic requests all the time. But I really wanted a nice distraction. Things are not cool around here.

Remember your previous fanfic, in celebration of Taki's birthday? There's a silly little flirtation (which maybe shouldn't even be called that) between Virg and Ali, and I wanted to ask for a good fanfic between them.

With Virgil out injured and simple Ali being slaughtered by fake fans for every mistake he makes, maybe a hurt/comfort story would do wonders for all of us. You can wait until the end of today's game, or do it now. It doesn't really matter to me.

I wish you the best!

Hey Ruby! No need to feel sorry abour asking for fanfics--it's what my inbox is for, after all. I started to write something more angsty, but then I got this :/ Welcome to my mind

Tag: @millythegoat, @alissonbecksfan234, @moomin279, @rubybecker-rb2, @rist-mlts

The Secret Garden

Klopp may have needed glasses for more than twenty years, but he wasn’t blind. He could see the change in his players. One point from nine available was not how he’d planned to start 2023, and he couldn’t even blame the wind or rain or snow for it.

He’d seen how below-standards Van Dijk had been for nearly the whole season. Klopp had tried new tactics to make the workload easier on Van Dijk and kept playing him so as to not diminish his self-confidence. It seemed that a spell on the sidelines was Van Dijk's fate, though, as an injury brought a premature end to arguably his worst showing of the season.

The only reason that Liverpool hadn’t conceded more goals was Alisson’s impeccable performances in goal, again and again. While Klopp couldn’t have been more proud of the Brazilian, he also knew that excellent form had to end, no matter how hard one tried to keep it up. And unfortunately, Alisson ended up making not just one, but two needless errors in the very next game.

Needless to say, neither Van Dijk or Alisson were pleased with their situations. And that was why, after an abject Brighton performance that left Klopp closer to the wheel than ever before, he decided to do something he rarely did—go back on his word.

“I’ve decided that you deserve a rest today, Ali,” Klopp told Alisson in private. He would give the mass team lineup later, but for somebody like Alisson, who’d performed almost perfectly the whole season, he felt it was only fair that he should know beforehands. “You’ve played many good games for us and Brazil and now it’s time you took a short break.”

Alisson, while sensitive, was intelligent enough to think about why he could be benched. “It’s those mistakes, isn’t it?”

Klopp shook his head—he’d seen this conversation coming. “You’ve played nearly every game of the whole season. I will admit I was disappointed at those mistakes Ali, but you improved vs. Brighton, even though we lost. Caoimhin needs playing time as well, and I decided that today we should let him get some minutes.”

“Okay.” Alisson nodded, although he sounded disappointed. And…was that a stifled yawn Klopp heard?

Klopp decided to brush it off—they were away from home with an important match to play and try to redeem themselves in. He didn’t mention that he’d heard a similar-sounding yawn from the closet Van Dijk had been hiding in before they’d left.

Klopp let out a huge sigh of relief as the final whistle blew. Elliott’s rocket of a goal had sent Liverpool to the fourth round of the FA cup—but that didn’t mean they could relax. They still had Chelsea up ahead of them, and then there was the rest of the season.

As had been his custom since becoming manager, Klopp hugged each and every one of his players. While the action stemmed from sincere affection, it was also a convenient way to perform the headcount.

He found everyone but Van Dijk and Alisson. Alarm bells rang in his head as he realized he hadn’t seen the pair since halftime.

Klopp spotted Firmino chatting with Diaz and Elliott, all of them wearing a broad grin. The Brazilian was friends with both Alisson and Van Dijk, so he’d probably know where the two were.

“Hey, you three!” Klopp called from the other side of the room. “Have you seen Ali or Virg anywhere?”

Diaz and Elliott shook their heads at the same time. “Nope, haven’t seen them.”

Klopp turned his attention towards Firmino, silently searching for any answer the forward might have had. Firmino’s eyes widened, gaze wildly darting here and there.

“They’re…they’re fine, no need to worry,” Firmino rambled, tripping and stumbling over his words. He grabbed a package from the table, hurrying away from Klopp. “I’ll just take these toffees to them.”

With a sidelong glance, Klopp spotted Milner’s scowl towards Firmino. Firmino figuratively zipped his lips shut, and Milner resumed his conversation with Henderson without a hitch.

Something was definitely up, and Klopp was hellbent on figuring out what.

The day before, Klopp didn’t know what had told him to pack a black tracksuit and knitted hat for the match, compared to his usual gray tracksuit and hat. He quietly praised himself for his sense of premonition—who’d have known that he’d be stalking his own No. 9 less than an hour after the game?

For once, Klopp let his German espionage instincts take over as he snuck around, sticking as close to the walls as he could. Firmino had taken an unusually shadowy path throughout Molineux, staying away from the lights and reporters, so it was easy for Klopp to follow the Brazilian to wherever he was going. All he needed to do was stay quiet and not trip over anything.

What am I going to find? Klopp couldn’t help but wonder as he inched through a very narrow alleyway. What if I find something amazing, like a sanctuary full of all the answers to any footballing problem? Or the answers to any problem in life—wouldn’t that be cool? Maybe I’ll regret following Bobby. What if he leads me to another secret nightclub like the ones Kostas has? Or a secret FIFA hideout? That could be good—now I can give them a piece of my mind and a piece of my baseball bat. I could even add a few excerpts from the Oxford Dictionary of Sweary Insults, as some food for thought.

Finally, Firmino stopped walking. He stood in front of a door, glancing both ways before knocking.

“Password?” a Dutch voice whispered just loud enough for Klopp to hear.

Firmino leaned closer to the door, whispering into the keyhole. “Jonge man, moço.”

Klopp’s eyes widened upon hearing the password. Jonge man was similar enough to Junge mann in German. Young man…and I remember Ali saying moço when talking to Kairo. That’s Dutch and Portuguese, and doesn’t Bobby know both languages? I wonder… And before logic could tell him to stay put, he was already through the door, following Firmino again.

The room, surprisingly well-lit for something so hidden, was almost like an indoor botanical garden. It had rows and rows of flowers, well-trimmed topiaries, and even a couple of stone fountains dotted here and there, flowing with sparkling water.

It wasn’t hard for Klopp to hide among all those plants. He alternated between creeping under bushes and posing behind crazily-balanced topiaries, careful not to lose his balance. Thankfully, his clumsiness only manifested in tripping behind a ballerina-shaped topiary—hey, arabesques were hard—and a sneeze, which was well muffled as he was behind the largest fountain. Firmino kept going on, and so did the garden.

How big is this room? Klopp wondered, passing yet another rosebush. I’ve never seen such a huge indoor garden. What could Bobby be doing?

Firmino stopped near a patch of hydrangeas and roses, tapping his foot five times on the ground. He hung the toffees on a thorny branch, and Klopp caught sight of a gloved hand taking them from the branch and flashing a thumbs-up. On the wrist, there were the initials AB.

AB is Alisson Becker!

Now Klopp knew for sure that at least Alisson was there. His Geminian curiosity just had to know what the Brazilian was up to. So after three minutes once Firmino completely left the room, Klopp stepped out from the sunflower patch, parting the rose bushes and peering inside.

The opened but full bag of toffees on the floor wasn’t the only thing that caught his eye.

Leaning against a pot of hydrangeas was Van Dijk, fast asleep with his usual man bun untied. Alisson was out like a light as well, one hand tangled in Van Dijk's curls. The goalkeeper’s head rested in Van Dijk's lap, and his oversized jacket covered the two of them.

Klopp wondered what the pair had been up to before they’d fallen asleep. He decided not to ask, adjusting Van Dijk's head so that he was leaning against a more stable bush. Almost instinctively, Alisson shifted so that he was in the same position as before, except his hand was now draped on the Dutchman’s shoulder.

“You two gave me a scare,” Klopp whispered as they shifted again. “And you’re sleeping so peacefully in the meantime. I’m so jealous—I’ve not gotten a good night’s sleep in weeks.”

With that, Klopp prepared to leave the two in peace. He’d seen Firmino take a different route outside, and he hoped that it would be shorter, so Van Dijk and Alisson would be able to find the rest of the team when they woke up. But he couldn’t leave yet—he had to take a few photos of the two.

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unitedbydevils · 8 months

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A dressing room leakier than Old Trafford's roof: why fans must ignore the nonsense

Another day of drama for Manchester United. Another day of ridiculous media coverage because guess which club has the biggest news pull.. that's right, it's the (temporarily not so) mighty reds.

Unity is needed to fix our poor form, but I think an inquisition is needed to root out the leakers because it's boring. Years of shit being passed out from Carrington like it's a paper note in a classroom. Grow up.

Does Erik Ten Hag have favourites? Perhaps. Does this mean you should down tools? Absolutely not. The attitude here forgets several things:

You are an asset in of yourself. If you give up, other teams notice. This will lessen your value for a sale.

It also reduces your personal growth as a player. 6 months of not trying might have been the period where you level up your skill set and playstyle.

Football is a game of small margins. Anything less than your best could be the difference between a salvaged point and a painful defeat.

The rumoured leakers are obvious: Sancho, Maguire, McTominay, and maybe Donny Van de Beek (I doubt this last one). Henderson was also rumoured to be leaking before, as was Eric Bailly. Disgruntled players are the obvious suspects, and normally it's correct.

Roy Keane, seen here on Sky Sports, has the right take: players are failing to take responsibility for their poor performances, and are giving up too easily. Could ETH make better subs or quicker tactical changes? Sure. But it's his second season, having finished 3rd, won the League Cup, and reached the FA Cup final, all with Weghorst up front for crying out loud. Give the man a chance, believe in his plans. We can't keep cycling through managers. United will just be a graveyard for talent and a money pit.

The latest 'leak' or drama is about David De Gea's departure. People have short memories. He was a good goalkeeper, and kept United alive for many shitty seasons, but his last few years saw his shot stopping - the star attribute - fall off in terms of stats and success. This is an issue. Onana is a solid replacement for the keeping metrics, but with great feet to help play out from the back.

Our current form isn't derived from Onana playing badly. It's derived from an injured Varane showing the gulf of skill between him and Lindelof, and how important Varane is to getting the best out of Lissandro Martinez. Hence the need for Kim Min Jae in the summer.

Beyond that, Eriksen starting games at 31 with a heart condition. What the fuck. Casemiro looks overweight and slow and needs to be eased in to the season. Last year he played more games in the season than he EVER did at Madrid. Ever. They're playing though because Mount, Amrabat, Mainoo are all injured. All three would be playing if they were fit. They might all feature tomorrow versus Burnley, and they'll make a huge difference going forward.

The media is to blame as much as the players though. The Daily Mail published an article about Onana dropping his car keys. How is that journalism? The same goes for Samuel Luckhurst, seen above. There's a lot of stirring the pot to cause drama, to generate clicks.

The reality is that people shouldn't be taking the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) seriously because they're clickbait these days. The death of local/regional news; clamouring for clicks and views rather than offering actual substance and building loyalty and respect.

United are in a rough spot, and perhaps this poor start means we fail to make the top 4 this season, but if - in the grand scheme of things - Ten Hag gets United playing the way he wants to then so be it. I want us fixed, and I'm willing to back this manager to get it done. If everyone was pulling the same way, trying, and it just wasn't working then fair dos, Erik might not be the man, but no. He hasn't had his preferred first XI. He hasn't had players properly trying. He's had issues with leaks, player insubordination, scandals off the field, and the takeover farse.

There are better managers, but I guarantee they cannot be arsed with United and the Glazers. Lets get behind Ten Hag, back his authority, lose the dregs and crybabies, and see what we can achieve with a committed squad of battlers and ballers. Up the reds.

#manchester united #man u #man united #man utd #manchester reds #erik ten hag #casemiro #christian eriksen #samuel luckhurst #daily mail #andre onana #roy keane #jadon sancho #harry maguire

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