#the fact that he scored 2 headers!!
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the number 9
#world cup#wc22#south korea nt#cho gue sung#worldcupedit#football#footballedit#world cup 2022#gue sung cho#wc#wc 22#my gif#sportsedit#sports#as that last gifset did so well i though i would make more :)#the fact that he scored 2 headers!!
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—MY DEAREST FRIEND AND ENEMY. (2/5)
pairing: ona batlle x fem!reader
synopsis: you and ona become much closer, but in the wrong way; an offer on the horizon threatens to tear you apart.
word count: 3.7k
warnings: description of collision in football
PART I, PART III, PART IV, PART V
Sports Illustrated: USWNT International Y/N Y/L/N Scores in First Game Back From Injury
“Y/N Y/L/N will not stop scoring.
The Man City star returns to action with a stunning header in a home game against Everton since picking up an injury this summer in the CONCACAF final against Canada. Though the U.S. emerged victorious thanks to Alex Morgan’s penalty kick, Y/L/N was forced off in the 68th minute with a torn hamstring. She was expected to be sidelined for 3 months.
[…]”
You skimmed through the article, waiting for your coffee to brew. It has been an arduous few months as you focused on rehabilitation. You were supposed to be match-fit at the start of the season, but the physios determined you needed at least a few more weeks before you could play. Your thigh still felt a bit tight every time you stretched them. Nonetheless, you were back to playing, that was all that mattered.
It was early November, and the winds were picking up in Manchester, and yet you were warm.
“Morning,” you said, smiling at the figure waddling into the living room.
Bratwurst was wagging his tail by her side, no doubt looking for more food as if you hadn’t fed him half an hour ago.
“Good morning,” Ona said, rubbing her eyes.
“Coffee?” You nodded towards the machine.
“No, I have to get to training. Thanks, though.”
“In my shirt?” You smirked at looked down at her top. Sure enough, it was the old T-shirt you lent her after you were done last night.
“Hah hah.” She mocked you, but then took off the shirt, leaving her top half completely bare, and threw it at your face. “Obviously not.”
You let your eyes travel freely, as she went back into your room and returned wearing the clothes she came in last night.
“Looks like you’re back to being your insufferable self.” She walked to where you sat, putting on her necklace. “Can’t even go on social media without seeing people praising your goal.”
“All in a day’s work,” you said, grinning.
Ona rolled her eyes and put on her shoes. “I’m glad you’re back, but I won’t go easy on you.”
You stood up and pecked her lips.
“I never asked you to,” you leaned closer, ducking your face into her neck. “Maybe when we’re alone.”
She snickered quietly and patted your cheek. “Try not to miss me too much. Bye-bye, Bratwurst.”
The pup sat by the door as he watched her close it behind her. Ever since she started spending time at your apartment, it felt like he liked her more, always following her around and snuggling with her as she gave him pets.
Ona had been coming over since the kiss at the end of last season with the premise of meaningless sex. You both had an arrangement, and you were committed to keeping to it. You were surprised when she suggested it, thinking her not to be the type, but Ona continues to surprise you.
You had only meant to meet up over dinner to talk about what happened, but the night ended with her hands tangled in your hair and your legs tangled in her sheets. The ups and downs these past few months never deterred you from seeing each other. In fact, Spain losing out in the Euros prompted her to come over and forget about it for a night. In a way, you both had each other.
Your teammates at Man City were especially amused whenever you’d forget to cover up and come to practice with marks on your neck.
“Who’s the unlucky gal this time, Y/N?”
“Have you been busy while you were injured?”
Every time, you would just shake your head with a grin because you’d never kiss and tell. Also, because Leila and Laia would flip out if they knew you’d been screwing their teammate on the national team.
Your arrangement worked for a while, both of you still too young and too committed to football to think about anything else. While a lot of your colleagues would disagree, it was the excuse you told yourself to fully admit that what you felt for Ona was beyond just carnal desires.
You were treading on dangerous waters, your feelings bubbling to the surface every time you saw the girl. It was much more challenging to keep them under wraps, especially when you had to play against her every couple of months. From what people knew about you two, you were rivals, and that was your relationship. Rumors of a romance surfaced too, amongst younger fans, but it was the result of baseless shipping. If only they knew.
Ona wasn’t an incredibly affectionate person, not by a mile. The only times you would catch her lowering her guard by the tiniest of margins were when she was tired, maybe then she’d let you cuddle her after sex. But you remembered when Spain was knocked out of the Euros way too soon, and she was crying on the phone to you. You had just won the CONCACAF with the US across the Atlantic, and yet all you wanted was to hold her.
And so that was what you did. Two days later, after you were dismissed from your international duties, you flew back to Manchester and waited for her. Ona liked to be the little spoon whenever she was sad, and you were very happy to oblige. If she was feeling generous, she would even thank you for it. As much as you wanted to, you never teased her about it, because you knew what you had was fragile, and a slight mention of it could topple everything to the ground.
That was how it was with your Spanish beauty.
“Wooooooow . . . You’ve got a handful,” said your teammate, Chloe, as she stood in your kitchen, eating your chips.
“Yup,” you pressed your lips thinly, grabbing some seasoning from the cupboard. “That’s my life right now.”
You proceeded to tell Chloe everything one day, omitting a few saucy details, of course.
“Have you tried talking to her about it?”
“That’s the thing, though. There’s nothing to talk about. I can’t just walk up to her and demand something that wasn’t part of the arrangement to begin with.”
“I know, but it’s clearly affecting you. You like her, don’t you?”
“No.” A few seconds of silence followed, and Chloe was looking at you with a glare. “Okay, I think she’s cute, like, really cute.”
“I think you should talk to her, Y/N,” Chloe said. “Worst case scenario, you lot stop whatever you’re doing with each other behind all of our backs. Best case scenario, you date her.”
You smirked, but nothing no usual quippy or smug remark came out. “I should try,” you spoke quietly.
Chloe nodded expectantly and continued eating her chips, now. “I can’t believe it. You tricked all of us! It was Batlle all this time!”
“I didn’t think you’d come tonight,” you whispered quietly into the room, sitting by the edge of your bed.
Ona was under the covers, on her phone. “Why? ‘Cause we played against each other?”
You nodded bashfully.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” she set her phone down. “Or did you not want me to come?”
“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?” You said, gesturing at the clothes strewn on the floor.
You let her study you for a moment, finding the ruffled sheets much more interesting instead.
“What’s wrong?” She said.
“Nothing.”
“You’re too quiet.” Her voice was low and calming. She reached out and caressed your hand. You wanted to bury your face in her neck and be done with the conversation instead.
“I was just wondering . . . would you like to come over a bit earlier from now on?”
Your question made her look at you with a puzzled expression. “Have I been staying too late?”
“No, no. I mean—you can stay as late as you want, but come a bit earlier. I can cook for us, and then we can just sit and . . . talk.”
You fumbled with your fingers, your eyes drifting up to her, seeing the realization dawn on her. She exhaled. “Okay, that sounds nice . . . but as friends, right?”
“Um . . . no?”
“Y/N,” Ona breathed. Her silence was killing you. Finally, she looked up. “That wasn’t our arrangement, and I’d like for it to stay as we’ve agreed. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Yeah,” you lied, caressing her arm and flashing a smile. “It’s for the best.”
She nodded but watched you closely. “Come here,” she whispered.
You obliged, letting her pull you into her embrace. A searing kiss followed, leaving you to straddle her bare waist.
A short gasp left your lips. “Fuck me, Ona.” You pleaded quietly, hoping she’d fuck you until you forget the conversation ever happened. But you also hoped she’d go slow and make love to you, proving that she’d finally reciprocated your feelings.
You’ve decided that you wanted both. Maybe then, you’d finally get what you wanted.
You didn’t know that Ona was scared to let you in too, so she settled for sleeping with you.
You had been an obsession of hers for three years, a game she played besides having to focus on the actual game she was paid to play. But now, here she was—sleeping with someone who could possibly be her mortal enemy. She didn’t know when, but suddenly, she couldn’t bring herself to see you harmed.
She wanted you, but that was the selfish part of her speaking.
In the morning, you had expected her to be there, but your bedside was empty.
Ona moved through her days like a ghost. She didn’t expect it to be this hard three years ago when she first set foot in Manchester. She didn’t expect a forward to make her life this hard, or that she would fall in love with you. Every minute she spent tangled up in bed with you were minutes where nothing else outside that bedroom mattered, and it scared her.
It scared her that only you could make her feel that way, that something she had spent so hard working towards for herself, you did so easily for her.
She thinks of the nights after the Euros when she practically stayed over all day, and how you took care of her. She thinks of the cheeky winks you would send her way whenever she played against you, and the not-so-innocent brushes that you sneak in whenever she defended you. She think of your face when she shut you down, and how quickly your walls came back up.
She thinks of you the entire time she was on the Zoom call with her agent.
“You need to decide soon, Ona,” her agent had told her. “Barcelona doesn’t wait for anyone.”
It was a no-brainer, but she thinks of you all the time.
The referee blew the whistle and the 90 minutes were over. You collapsed on your knees as the Etihad erupted into cheers. Man City had reached the semifinals of the Women’s Champions League for the first time ever in the history of the women’s club. You would be playing Wolfsburg next, but you couldn’t care less about that right then. You just wanted to celebrate with your teammates.
You wished that you could celebrate with Ona too.
You sent her a text much later in the night, but she didn’t respond. Thinking it to be too late for her to come over, you went to bed, soaking in your victory.
But then, she didn’t respond the next day, then the day after that. A week later, she still hadn’t responded. Then the first leg of the semifinal came, and City drew 2-2 to Wolfsburg. You had given her space to deal with whatever she didn’t want you to know and knew double-texting made you look desperate, but you have had enough of the silence.
A vote of confidence would have been nice Sent 4:29pm
Nothing.
You weren’t going to put your life on hold for her. You wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.
The week of the return leg, you had almost forgotten all about Ona from the amount of training you were doing.
“Okay, ladies. Gather around,” said Chris, the assistant coach. “This will be our last practice session before the Champions League game. We’re gonna do some passing to start with, then a set-piece practice, and we’ll close off with a 5v5 scrimmage. That sound good?”
You were starting to feel more confident than jittery. Your movements were sure and steady, so were your finishes. Big games never deterred you, but it was the added fact of Ona not responding to your text that caused you to check your phone every time you were able to.
“No phones, Y/N,” Chris said, and raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, Coach. Just checking news from family,” you lied. He extended his hand anyway, and you begrudgingly handed your phone over.
“I can’t have you distracted, Y/N. The match is tomorrow.”
“I know, I know. I’ve been good, though, haven’t I?” You grinned, taking a swig of water.
Practice ended later than scheduled, but you didn’t mind. You needed the extra preparation, and you were glad to have done that with your teammates. Chris finally gave you your phone back, like a naughty student, and you quickly checked your messages. Still nothing. It wasn’t like this was the biggest game of your life or anything.
Going to the news, flipping through articles upon articles on politics, your eyes landed on one about sports.
The Busby Babe: Ona Batlle Set For Barcelona Return
“Manchester United and Spain star right back Ona Batlle is reportedly on the verge of completing a move back to Catalonia, rejoining Barcelona Femeni at the end of her contract with the Red Devils.
[…]”
The match of your life started. You were on the left wing as you always were, playing inverted so Laia would be running the flank. You scored one, but Wolfsburg got one back towards the end of the first half.
“Make those runs, ladies. If you see them coming at you, call out to your teammates. Use the third man to break free of the defense.” Gareth pointed at the board, showing hypothetical scenarios that the team could exploit for an opening.
“Hey,” Chloe sat next to you, her forehead glistening. “You alright?”
You uttered a small ‘yeah’ and closed your hand over her sweat-clad one over your knee. You couldn’t be distracted. You owed it to Chloe and everyone else on this team.
You were slamming your fist on the door, but you didn’t care. Your jaw clenched as you swayed on your feet waiting for her to open up.
“What the fuck, Y/N?!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” You stepped into her apartment.
Her face went pale. “How did you know?”
You let out a laugh. “You’re pathetic. You’re a coward for not even saying a single word.”
The ball was sent over long from deep aiming towards you. You called for Filippa for a one-two, but once you dribbled, you were tackled inside the box. You put your hand up at the referee but huffed in disbelief when she only shook her head and granted a corner.
Slapping your hand on the grass, you sprung up with a grunt. It must have looked like you were throwing a tantrum, but you couldn’t care less, you wanted to win.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“So you were just not gonna say anything at all?! You owe me that much to—”
“I don’t owe you anything, Y/N.” She snapped. She had never snapped at you before, not while off the pitch. “You know what we have is just sex. That’s all we ever had and that’s all we will ever have.”
Tears formed in your eyes. You felt like a kid again, being scolded and taken for granted. “Please, don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry, Y/N, but this isn’t some fantasyland,” Ona said firmly. “I told you what I wanted, and I thought you agreed.”
There was a period of struggle over the ball soon after, mostly in midfield. You were growing increasingly frustrated as passes continued being cut off just before they reached the attacking third.
“Come on, guys! Let’s finish this!” You called out to your teammates in an attempt to hype them up before a throw-in.
Your irritation mounted, but you told yourself to quickly snap out of it. I need to stay calm, my team needs me. It proved quite difficult when Lena Oberdorf slithered up from behind to mark you. She dug an elbow into your back to keep you at bay, and when you moved, she moved. So you pushed back, much harder than you anticipated. It set her off. Good, stay off me.
Soon, you heard the ref’s hurried whistle, as Lena shoved you back. “The fuck are you pushing for?!” Your opponent seethed, getting all up in your face to challenge you.
You were feeling bold, so you smirked at her. “Come closer, see what I’ll do. Or do you just want a piece of this, huh?”
It wasn’t your best quality, you admitted it, but you liked it when you set off an opponent. You didn’t care when Lena was hurling insults at you in German as she was being led away. What mattered was that you had gotten in her head, and it would be much easier to break her defense from now on. The referee blew her whistle again, and a few teammates of yours attempted to separate you from Lena.
“Sei ruhig, Mann. Bleib’ da drüben.” Be quiet, man. Stay over there. Waving at her dismissively, you saw the way her eyes looked like they would pop out of her sockets in fury, knowing she didn’t expect you to know German. You couldn’t help but feel a sick sense of satisfaction.
“Last warning, Y/L/N.” The referee warned before continuing the match.
There would always be one player that completely drove the opposition crazy, and you would gladly be that asshole, so your teammates wouldn’t have to. You wanted to win.
“You kissed me first. I thought . . .”
“Please, don’t make this any harder than it already is,” Ona said quietly.
“I thought we had something, Ona,” you tried to steady your voice. You knew you sounded pathetic, but you never believed Ona could betray you in such a way.
She only pressed her lips thin. “We don’t. The only thing we have is our arrangement and however you feel about me on the pitch.”
Bunny scored in the 75th minute, and that would be the last goal for City in this match. The game went to extra time, and you could feel your teammates getting tired and sloppy in possession. You were tired too, but you wanted to keep fighting, anything to keep the thought of Ona out of your head.
You were so focused on the ball that you didn’t see a defender coming up beside you, her body colliding with yours in an attempt to redirect the ball. You fell to the ground with a thud, the stinging impact beginning to spread across your back. You felt the wind getting knocked out of you, your vision beginning to fade until all you could see were the lights atop the stadium, until those faded too.
The next thing you knew, you were on your side. Then the uncomfortable pain in your gut started to become more apparent, and you felt like you couldn’t breathe anymore. You gasped for air, just as a couple of your teammates knelt beside you.
“Y/N, can you hear me? Medic!” You heard a voice almost like Demi’s call out.
You didn’t know who knocked into you, you didn’t care anymore, because you had the overwhelming urge to throw up whilst still struggling to breathe.
“Can’t . . . breathe,” you wheezed out, tears starting to fill your eyes. You wanted to go home.
One of the medics shone a flashlight in your eyes. “Pupils are PEARL,” she said. “Okay, I need you to try and take deep breaths for me, alright, darling?”
You drew a shaky breath. There was a wheezing noise, in and out. In and out. The more you did, the easier it got. Your head was dizzy when you stood up, just as you heard applause ringing throughout the stadium.
Chloe appeared in front of you and offered her arm while a medic took your other as you walked toward the sideline.
“You’re alright, love,” she flashed you a warm smile and wiped away the stray tear that lingered on your cheek.
It was much too unfortunate, because you still had a lot more to give, but you were done for the night. Gareth knew it too, so he sent Hempo in to take your place.
You finally let the tears fall freely when the final whistle came.
“When do you leave?”
“In two weeks.”
A scornful laugh escaped you that you didn’t even bother to hide. “You didn’t even have the decency to tell me, not as your booty call, but as your friend.”
But you were kidding yourself. You knew Ona and you were never friends, never quite lovers either. Only two people floating around in a sexual limbo who were too scared to admit to themselves what was right in front of them. Now she was leaving, and you would never get the chance.
It didn’t matter anymore, any of it. You had a Champions League semifinal to play.
ESPN: Wolfsburg Grabs Victory in Extra Time to Reach Women’s Champions League Final
“[…]”
a/n: it was so heartwarming to see the support for jenni and the players :’) it’s abt fuckin time man let’s hope this continues until rubiales and vilda’s resignation
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Safe
[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 1 + Beyond] [Mal’s Orphanage]
[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 2 AU]
Pairings: Mal Volari x Daenarya (F!OC)
Book: Blades of Light and Shadow 2
Word Count: 600
Rating/Warnings: General; brief non-graphic mentions of cuts and bruises
A/N: Art in header is by @wisejazz. You can see the full image here.
Synopsis: Mal contemplates life as he watches over Daenarya.
His thumb brushed over her knuckles as he held her in his arms. He still couldn't believe she was there—back with him. He had dreamt of this moment so many nights. His arms ached at the loss of her. What he wouldn't have done or given to have a moment like this.
Now, she was back in the Realm of Light; and yet, he could see the traces of shadows that still haunted her. The cuts and bruises still told of the struggle to escape and the challenges endured. The blood had dried, leaving scaps to heal and bruises once purple began to yellow.
She hadn't spoken much of her time over there. She didn't remember much. It was still fresh and yet, she didn't have time to heal from its toll before being called forward toward the next adventure.
"The next adventure," he thought to himself. His lips pulled at the thought. The next adventure.
The next quest.
The next score.
The next town.
The next conquest.
That had been his life.
That had been the path he chose. Never stopping. Never getting too close to know anyone. Connections were a weakness.
The past lurked just beyond the corner, waiting to pull him back. He wouldn't let it so he kept pushing forward, never stopping, instead chasing whatever the future held. That's what he wanted—what he had always wanted—or so he thought.
He should be thrilled to be on the move, leaving White Tower behind, but he wasn't. His heart had always been in the adventure, but now, it was split.
He drew her closer as a whisper slipped from her lips, the threat of nightmares looming. "It's okay," he whispered, brushing the loose strands of hair from her face. "I'm right here. I've got you, Kit."
He spoke soft reassurances to her until she quieted down, her body relaxing in his embrace, safe from all harm.
The others would be back from scouting ahead soon and he'd have to wake her, but not yet.
The soft breeze whistling through the meadow brought thoughts of the children's laughter. He wondered how they were. He didn't think leaving them would be so hard. The look on their faces when he broke the news to them. Some were brave, happy that he'd be off saving the realm again now that he had Daenarya back. Some worried that without him, they'd be back on the streets. He shook his head. It did no good to worry. They were safe. He left them with his sister and Vivi. They were perfectly safe. In fact, with his sister, they would probably be full of sweets far more often than they should. They might not want him to come back.
A quiet laugh rumbled in his chest as his heart warmed at the thought. He had never hoped to return somewhere so much before, but to return with her at his side to bask in the life they would build. Maybe running wasn't all there was. Maybe staying would be nice for a while.
He couldn't stop the smile illuminating his face at the image of what could be. Not now... but soon. When the realm was safe, then he could rest. But until then, he'd keep her safe from all harm. She had been through enough. They all had, but none like her.
He pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead and held her closer, determined to shield her from the darkness that still lingered. Together, they would protect the Light and the realm. Then, they'd return to the children and finally find some peace.
Just a little drabble for my Blades 2 AU. I hope you enjoy it!
#mal volari#mal volari x mc#daenarya#blades of light and shadow#bolas#choices#playchoices#choices game#fan fiction#lovealexhunt#blades 2#bolas 2#blades of light and shadow 2#mal volari x oc#storyofmychoices#april2024
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liverpool 4-1 brentford analysis
i feel like i start every analysis with this but........our ability to carry on despite everything >>>
like in the past few days, trent, dom AND ali got injured and we had 2 INJURIES in the first half...AND WE WON 4-1
our injury list this szn has been insane. our ideal first choice XI probably hasn't played together in months.
AND WE'RE FIRST. truly incredible and all credit to the boys' mentality and klopp's ability to adjust (lfc medical team, i would like a word...)
kwev (again) stepped up and rose to the occasion
ibou let a few too many players sneak past the line in the first half.....but nothing came of it and the fact that that's my main criticism shows how consistently great he has been throughout the szn.
connor was so good and given what he's been through lately, it's great to see him play so well. ynwa <3
endo, macca and curtis all were good today and they looked good together, which is so crucial given domi's injury. domi and curtis seem to bring out the best in each other, but it's good that this trio is getting more comfortable (even if curtis is injured now)
darwin was so good and i'm gen so proud of his finish for the first goal.
also regarding that goal.....JOTA'S HEADER WAS UNREAL. exquisite, honestly, which is saying something given how much of a treat his goals are.
macca's control for his goal was steller and its great to see midfielders get in on goals
mo salah scoring on his return is just perfect. snow salah is here. it was all classic mo salah as well: running onto a ball, nearly putting a defender on his ass, and muscling his way through it all to neatly slot it away into the corner
big gakkers goal! great work from him to just put the game away and hopefully boost his confidence
great performance from luis in this match as well. an assist and i think he created the most chances? he complimented and enhanced mo, darwin, diogo and cody throughout the game.
also ibou singing w the fans was so cute
overall, very happy with the performance, especially given our injury crisis. BUT PLS NO MORE!!!
luton at home on wednesday, before we have our first shot at silverware!!! YNWA
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Cannonball Express
Two goals from on loan striker, Tommy Cannon, saw North End claim all three points in this Good Friday encounter at Loftus Road. North End were good value for the win albeit against a team that is struggling both on and off the field. The performance was solid from Ryan Lowe`s men and once the second goal was scored I never really thought there was anyway back for QPR against a North End side who have been pretty good this season at keeping what they have and managing games through. North End had the better of the chances in the first half but I thought the game really changed when Josh Onomah replaced Alan Browne just before half time. Onomah looked trimmer and fitter than at any time during his spell at Deepdale and showed some excellent footwork and upper body strength throughout his time on the pitch. After the break it was North End who were the most clinical and two good finishes from Cannon were more than enough to see the game through and leave North End in eight place ahead of the Easter Monday fixtures.
Ryan Lowe make one change from the side that beat Blackpool last weekend with Robbie Brady coming in at left wing back to replace Alvaro Fernandez who dropped down to the bench. It was North End who started the better and looked more comfortable on the ball. There were a few half chances early on but our best effort of the half came when Browne hit the post and the ball rolled clear. Immediately the home side went down the other end and with their best chance of the game Chair knocked the ball past Woodman but wide of the post after the North End keeper had narrowed the angle and made himself big. Storey had a back post header really well saved by the QPR keeper when it looked to be going in. Onomah came on to replace Browne with about five minutes to go to the break in what was a key moment in the game and from that point on North End were always the team most likely to do the damage and so it proved to be after the break.
No further changes for Ryan Lowe at half time as North End looked to push forward against a rather wobbly home defensive unit. Parrott had a shot blocked early in the second half and Johnson, too, had an effort charged down after good work by Onomah. Just before the hour North End took the left when Brady whipped in an excellent right footed cross from the left hand side and there was Tommy Cannon to head North End into the lead much to the delight of the 793 North End fans who had made the journey to West London. Five minutes later the game was as good as done when Parrott put Cannon through beating the offside trap and the striker made it a double on the day as he fired home to seal the deal. QPR tried their hardest to pull one back but North End stayed strong in the latter stages and Cannon could have had his third with a quarter of an hour left but was denied by the home defence. Jubilant scenes at the end on a warm Spring day in Shepherd`s Bush as North End recorded their tenth away victory of the season.
Since losing at Burnley in February North End have won five and drawn four of their ten games claiming nineteen points. It is virtually promotion form and whatever happens this season it is the sort of run that can put you back in the mix. The cold facts are that with just six games to go North End sit just two points from a play off place as fans start to pinch themselves about what just might be possible. There is much still to do and some difficult games to come but IF North End can beat Reading on Easter Monday it could well be five Cup Finals starting with a real tough engagement at the New Den next Saturday. However it is one game at a time and for now the inquest for this season needs to be put firmly on hold and we need to make Deepdale rock for the last three home games. It is still slightly odds against reaching the play offs as we speak but football is a funny old game and goodness knows what we might be looking at on Easter Monday at 5pm.
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QPR 0-2 PRESTON
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WOODMAN 7
STOREY 7 LINDSAY 7 HUGHES 7
POTTS 7 JOHNSON 7 WHITEMAN 8 BROWN 7 BRADY 7
CANNON 8 PARROTT 7
.
Subs:
LEDSON 6
ONOMAH 8
FERNANDEZ 6
WOODBURN 6
.
MOTM: Tommy Cannon
Attendance 14,620
Preston Fans 793 (5.42%)
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VAR Review: Explaining the Guest posting in Liverpool vs. Wolves
In the third round of the FA Cup at Anfield, Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 2-2, but there were two contentious offside calls. This is what took place.
Goal disallowed: Nunes offside on Toti goal
Nunes was deemed to be offside when Toti scored.
What happened: Toti thought he had given Wolves the lead in the 81st minute, but the assistant raised Guest posting for offside.
VAR ruling: Offside is upheld.
VAR evaluation Given that there was no offside in the play immediately prior to Toti's goal, this judgement baffled the majority of spectators. Why then did the flag fly?
Matheus Nunes took a corner to start the play. Hwang Hee-final Chan's offensive touch after the delivery into the box initiates the offside period. The next player to touch the ball was Nunes. When the goal was scored, the assistant raised the flag after delaying it because he believed Nunes was a running back in an offside position.
Hwang's backward header of the ball is unimportant in determining whether it was onside. The phase is not restarted by Thiago's attempted clearance.
However, there were no offside-calibrated cameras that could show where Nunes and the final defender were when Hwang headed the ball. There was only one uncalibrated high tactical camera that captured both players guest posting, and there was insufficient concrete evidence to reverse the on-field ruling.
This wouldn't occur with semi-automated offside technology, where every player is monitored.
Unfortunately for Wolves, not even the pictures that are being circulated on social media provide any proof that Nunes was cooperating—not that the VAR would have had access to them anyhow.
But the incomprehensibility for everyone watching highlights the issues with communication and VAR.
Similar circumstances occurred earlier this season when Gabriel Martinelli's goal for Arsenal against Liverpool had to stand because the VAR was unable to utilise a calibrated camera to determine whether Bukayo Saka was in an offside position.
The worst instance occurred in Serie A in September when a Salernitana defender was playing everyone onside by the corner flag but the VAR was unable to spot him on the available videos. Juventus had an injury-time winner disallowed by the VAR for an offside on a corner procedure. In this case, the VAR improperly intervened in the match to overturn a good judgement guest posting, costing Juve two points.
Possible offside: Salah when scoring
When Cody Gakpo attempted to find Mohamed Salah with a ball over the top in the 52nd minute, Liverpool seized the lead. Salah scored after Toti attempted to clear the ball with a header but failed. But was there really a need for an offside?
VAR ruling: Goal is upheld.
VAR review: It's a contentious choice that gets to the heart of what constitutes a defender's "deliberate guest posting play." Salah is undoubtedly in an offside position, but if the referee determines that Toti's actions were a "deliberate play," Salah will not be penalised or considered to be offside.
In other words, only when a defender has control over where the ball goes can it be considered a "deliberate play." Numerous elements are considered, and an attempted header is viewed more favourably by the defence than a kick. This is due to the fact that heading a ball typically requires less control.
A further indicator that it's not a "planned play" is if the defender must stretch out or jump to head the ball.
Dean made the decision to abstain from interfering with the goal's approval on the field. However, similar situations where a goal is disallowed are probably going to occur.
Offside is a highly debatable concept, thus Wolves can feel themselves quite unlucky to have also given up this guest posting goal.
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“The Search”
Season 2, episode 28 - 8th May 1965
[id: Vicki stands in front of a light which casts a shadow across the wall behind her. A bank of computers whirs next to her, and behind her is the door to the armoury. She grins and says “Revolution.” /end id]
I enjoy how revolution is almost seen as an inevitability in this story, both within the narrative, but also in the sense that when this story is making fun of generic sci-fi Doctor Who, the revolution of one group of aliens against another is just naturally a part of it, of course. But of course, this show has never ever been political at all.
Fun: 4/5, it’s fun, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s a reason that last episode was the source of both my header and my icon for this blog, it’s just filled with great moments and gags that you often don’t get in this show to that level.
Production: 3/5
Pacing: 4/5, making this plot into a three-parter with a prologue episode really works wonders, as even when only two characters are the ones driving any of the story forwards, it doesn’t outstay its welcome and become tedious, as the plotlines make their way towards their respective conclusions relatively swiftly. In part, this is also to make sure the thematic resolution and the final tension can play out next episode, but we’re not there yet.
Character Writing & Use: 2/5, Dr Who is out of action for the whole episode because presumably Hartnell was on holiday again, and Barbara is also relegated to stumbling around corridors for almost the entirety of the rest of the story after the party splits up in this episode. Vicki and Ian do all of the plot work and while their parts of the story are interesting, it doesn’t make up for the fact that Barbara has absolutely nothing to do.
Depth: 5/5, Ian and Vicki present the two main options for stopping a fate dictated for you by the ruling classes. Ian’s individualistic approach is to strike out on his own and demand to be taken to the top of the chain, which results in him discovering the details of what will happen to him, and while he manages to momentarily save Dr Who next episode, this doesn’t make a difference overall. This gets contrasted with Vicki, who works alongside the rebels, arming them for their revolution and encouraging them to take a stand together and fight for all of their futures. This also works on the metafiction level that this story also leans into, as Ian’s fear and anxiety leads him to fall back into the tropes that he has always emulated, in the same way that Dr Who laughing in the face of authority, normally the thing which saves him from trouble and endears him to the audience, resulting in his capture and absence from this episode.
Not Ageing Horribly: 4/5
Overall Score - 21/30
#doctor who#dw#dw review#this story fucking slaps and i genuinely don't understand the hate#first doctor#ian chesterton#barbara wright#vicki pallister#ngl i might write up my thoughts on the themes of this serial into more of a long form essay type thing. if i can be bothered.#adding it to the list of dr who things to write essays about at least#season 2#21-25
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Thierry Henry, King of the English Premier League
Thierry Henry, King of the English Premier League
a former French football coach Position: Striker.
Arsenal's highest scorers and the second-highest scorers in the history of the French national football team, he led Arsenal to an undefeated PL title in 2003–04, France's 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and Barcelona's 2008–09 treble. He is also the most scoring champion in PL history. So the nickname is 'King of EPL'.
He has won the Premier League's top scorer several times and joined the 20-20 club due to his breakthrough, spatial penetration, and subsequent goal determination, which combines tremendously fast speed and power. In particular, the right-footed kick on the side in the right space of the goal post called "Henri Zone" has made numerous goals with luxury shots, which is considered the highest level of the time.
He was famous for his soft and accurate shots, creating a one-on-one situation with as much penetration as David Villa, and the kick that bloomed in the corner at a timing that the goalkeeper did not expect was excellent.
The free kick was also very good. However, his ability to hold out with his body or to fight in the air was not good. Considering that he was 188cm tall and weighed in the mid to late 80kg range, it is quite surprising. Henry has 174 Premier League goals, only six of which are header goals.
In fact, Henry had many patterns of standing on the side rather than holding out at the center and pushing in to the center using tremendous speed. However, the reason why he scored fewer header goals was because Arsenal and Barcelona, which he belonged to, had extremely few air balls, and in fact, he scored quite a few header goals in the national team, and these goals showed good header skills and long stay time.
However, France was not just Arsenal, not a team that needed air combat capabilities like England, and even if necessary, Trezeguera had the strongest air combat capability as a partner at the time.
Compared to Michael Owen's rotting partners with Rooney, Raul, and Ronaldo, even with good crosses such as Beckham, Figo, and Gerrard, it is hard to call it a weakness.
In the national team, he had relatively little influence compared to his status at the club. There was a side where Zidane and his movements overlapped, and France was organized with Zidane-oriented tactics, not him, until the World Cup in Germany, the last World Cup in his heyday.
And he had a considerable talent for playmaking, perhaps because of the influence of Berkamp, or because the technique was great from the beginning. Arsenal's ability to play 4-4-2 from the days of Berkamp & Henry to the days of Persie & Adebayor was largely due to the presence of a versatile striker, who was also the starting point.
Proving that is the combination with left and right wingers. When Pires or Jungberry pulled Agro, Henry penetrated the space and scored, or the situation of the role came out. It was Arsenal in the past that played as the prototype of a second-line winger who is currently 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. And at the heart of it was Henry and Berkamp.
For your information, in the past, Berkamp was in charge of this role alone. Ian Wright and Anelka are also players in the EPL top class, but they were strong in scoring with active penetration rather than coordinating the game itself like Henry. In fact, Berkamp once said that he liked Anelka because he was more straight than Henry as his partner.
Henry's 20–20 record for the 02/03 season remains 20 assists even after the EPL assist rule was revised, making it even more remarkable in that it was all assists from open play. As he started playing soccer on the side, he developed a mindset that he should not be greedy, and it is even more thrilling to record assists than when scoring. However, for this reason, there was criticism that he was looking for a teammate in the scoring chance even though he was a striker. 안전놀이터
If it's a weakness, it was quite frequent to blow good chances with girl shots. He preferred a shot that was exquisitely wound with a far post in the "Anri Zone" position, and these technical shots are difficult, so even if the impact of the kick is a little bad, the shot is likely to go out strangely. Therefore, there were often cases where they made a cool chance and rolled over to the keeper or went to the front and hugged him.
Among the existing strikers, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski show similarities. If Aubameyang resembles explosive speed and spatial penetration, Lewandowski has a lot of similarities in overall play style and ability to score at various points. In the winger position, Son Heung-min shows a similar appearance.
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【IEARN BOT】 The five best goalkeepers in the history of the World Cup
A good goalkeeper is equal to half of the team. It is said that the weak team makes a good goalkeeper. In fact, the strong team also makes a good goalkeeper. Generally, the strong team makes a good goalkeeper. The lowest performance in the World Cup is also in the finals.A good goalkeeper of a strong team has fewer chances of winning than a goalkeeper of a weak team, but if they don't make a noise, they are already a blockbuster. That save at the critical moment may be the turning point for the team to enter the final or win the championship.Looking at the history of goalkeepers in world football, there are only a few people who can make magical performances in the quadrennial World Cup and lead the team to the final. Let's take stock of the five best goalkeepers in the history of the World Cup
The first person in the history of goalkeepers and the first person in the history of World Cup goalkeepers: Soviet Lev Yasin
The Soviet Lev Yasin will always rank first in any media ranking of goalkeepers. Many young fans may even say that this was a long time ago. After all, it was the same era as the group of people in Distifano, but you have to know that Yasin is a Soviet. In that era, when the Soviet Union and Europe and the United States had a fierce ideological conflict, almost every competitive event that the Soviet Union participated in was more or less mixed with some politics outside of sports. In it, Lev Yasin's ability to be recognized by both sides in that era is enough to explain everything. The super goalkeeper is enough.Lev Yasin has played more than 480 games in his career. Known as the Octopus, he is also the first player in the history of world football to win the Golden Globe Award as a goalkeeper. The world's best goalkeeper award is also called the Yasin Award, which is named after him.Lev Yasin participated in 4 World Cups and led the Soviet team to the fourth place in the World Cup in the 1966 World Cup. This was the Soviet Union's best result in the World Cup.
The second person in the history of goalkeepers and the second person in the history of World Cup goalkeepers: Dinozov
If you say Bailey.Maradona is the top two figures in the history of world football and the World Cup, and Lev Yasin and Dinozov are definitely the top two goalkeepers in the history of world football and the World Cup.Lev Yasin still participated in the World Cup with the team as a substitute when he was over 40 in the 1970 World Cup, and Dinozov was over 40 as the team's main goalkeeper and captain. He led the team to the 1982 World Cup in Spain and won the final championship. He also won the title of the best goalkeeper in the World Cup and became the oldest player in the history of the World Cup.Dinozov has participated in four World Cups and has saved more than 400 penalties in his career. At present, the longest continuous non-conceding record in international competitions in world football is Dinozov's 1,145 minutes without conceding a goal. It is estimated that this record will be difficult to break in the future.
The third person in the history of the World Cup goalkeeper: Buffon
The number one goalkeeper in the 21st century is the recognition of Buffon. Although Buffon lacks a European Cup and Champions League compared to other super goalkeepers of the same period, it does not affect Buffon's weight. Buffon became famous as a teenager. His career has experienced four eras in the 1990s, 00s, 10s, and 20s. At present, Buffon has not retired and is playing in Parma. The latest news is that Buffon has renewed his contract with Parma until 2024.Buffon participated in 5 World Cups from 1998 to 14. Among them, he won the final championship as the main goalkeeper in the 2006 World Cup. This World Cup was also Buffon's first World Cup. Buffon only conceded 2 goals in 7 games. One goal was scored by his teammate Oolong in the group stage, and the other goal was a lucky spoon penalty in the final. Zidane scored a must-score header from close range in the final. Buffon vacated the air and made a single palm save. After being saved, Zidane approached Buffon incredulously and said two swear words to him. .Buffon's performance is completely fine to be the first goalkeeper in World Cup history.
The fourth person in the history of the World Cup goalkeeper: Tafarel
Some people say that Romario took the most credit for Brazil's victory in 1994. After all, he won the best player of the World Cup that year and also won the World Footballer of the year.In fact, Tafarel's performance did not lose to Romario at all. It is essential to know that Tafarel can win the final and play in the penalty shoot-out.Tafarel, who is only 182 tall, is very powerful in his own right to play as the main player of the Brazilian national team, and he is also the main goalkeeper of the three World Cups in Brazil from 1990 to 1998.In the 1994 World Cup, Tafarel conceded only one goal in the three group stage matches. In the four matches that entered the knockout stage, except for the 3-2 defeat of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, he conceded two goals.In the penalty shoot-out in the final, Massaro's penalty was saved. With Baggio's penalty, Brazil finally won.In 1994, Brazil's explosive point in the frontcourt was Romario, and in the backcourt, except for the captain Dunga, there was the insurmountable Tafarel on the goal line.
The fifth person in the history of the World Cup goalkeeper: Kahn
What do you think of the ranking of the best goalkeepers in the history of the World Cup?If you want to know more about the latest information about the World Cup, you can download the IEARN BOT to view it.
Watch the event guess the outcome, and the 1,000,000 USDT prize pool is all in the IEARN BOT.
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Omg I'm so glad that Anon brought up the last international games. Because after it lots of people kept claiming he was one of the worst players during this international window but imo he was actually one of best that time. He played three of the four games :
- The first game against croatia he was very solid even if he probably played a little bit too safe at times but after the game all people could talk about was the penalty conceded that people did somewhat blame on clauss (the guy who fouled the croatian player) for but somehow still also and mostly blamed it on Pavard because if he hadn't kept some players onside prior to this there would have been no penalty (never mind the fact that 1) he wasn't the only one covering the offside 2) these comedians who wouldn't stop talking about the offside and how it was actually worse than the foul wouldn't give a flying fuck about the offside if the roles were reversed and it was Clauss who'd kept players onside and Pavard who fouled someone but since Clauss is their bloody faves... no diss on him because I have nothing against him it's just that as usual it's all about blaming the same guy 🙄)
- The second game against austria he did great and was literally one of the best player on the pitch. Yet rare were the people who admitted it. The rest either kept their mouth shut or, in the worst showcasing of bad faith ever, claimed he'd had at best a mid game and at worse a bad one lmao (the truth is that imo they were mad Deschamps decided to trust Pavard over their faves at right back)
- the third one he only played the second half and, while it was definitely not as good as his other two games, it also wasn't the catastrophe some people described. They just say that because of a header he messed up once on and who didn't even end up costing the team.
So yeah overall he'd had a good showing in june imo but the most common take was that he'd been awful. And of course guess in what game did people tweet more about him ? The last game one of course because as soon as he misses something it's thousands of tweets shading him but when he does good it's like suddenly they can't type.
For the barca game : i've read an article that said that post game Nagelsmann said he'd been feeling dizzy so this + the fact he was apparently hurt in his leg as well is why he came off. People keep claiming it's Dembele who hurt him just because of some footage where one Bayern player falls but that wasn't even him it was Sabitzer. It's pretty obvious it's actually the Alonso stuff that hurt him. Btw i've seen someone imply he'd faked injured and bailed because he didn't wanna be exposed or whatever. I'm so done with some people.
i'm gonna be completely honest, i haven't watched much of those games because i was in college by the time they were playing 😭 but it's so interesting to read this to know what happened! anon if you're french maybe there's something you could tell me that i ask myself: is benji actually loved or hated there? because he scored that goal against us lmao and he pretty much became a hero from what i saw. has that perception changed? it's so weird to see how people's opinion (especially on twitter lol) can change overnight. and that last bit... 😶😶😶
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Milan 1 Atalanta 1
Hard earned point vs a team that has been difficult for Milan in recent times and yet it felt like Milan left points out there to be had
MAIGNAN 7 Giving Magic Mike a solid 7 here because although he was barely challenged he was up to the task. The goal scored was on track to be saved without a deflection off Kalulu's knee
CALABRIA 6.5 Good game but didn't give much going forward. I'll get into this below
KALULU 6 The 6 comes from two wide open headers that he completely eff'd up. At the minimum each header should've been on target. Need these goals vs other teams fighting for European spots
TOMORI 7 Solid game and whereas Kalulu was the better of the pair vs Udinese, Tomori was the rock back there vs Atalanta. While its always a joint effort with Kalulu and Tomori back there Tomori pretty much rendered Duvan Zapata's impact to a big nothingburger
THEO 6.5 Not a bad game but also not a good game. Need more from him going forward since that's how he can most effectively influence a game
BENNACER 8.5 MOTM Fantastic game from Bennacer and that's even without the equalizer. But the equalizer...oh boy. What a rocket. Beautiful touch to bring it back and set up his left foot. Messias should be asking him for lessons first thing Monday morning
TONALI 6.5 First game of the season and wasn't quite to 2021-22 form. Not worried, he'll be fine
MESSIAS 6 Nothing of note except an excellent opportunity to lay it on a platter for Tonali in the first half and instead tried to first-time it from a tight angle and missed the target. And Tonali would have strolled in too. Big missed opportunity in the end with the game finishing 1-1
DIAZ 6 Had a couple of nice touches and dribbles early then nothing. I'll dive into this below as well
LEÃO 6 Not his best game and in fact may I even say he's very much pulling a non-springtime Rebić? He hasn't done much of anything in 2 games. Yes, should have earned a red card on Hateboer's reckless challenge but aside from that...nada
REBIĆ 6 Gave plenty of effort and had some of the Rebić-don't-get-a-red-for-f**ks-sake moments as well. Overall just wasn't much of an impact
subs
DE KETELAERE 6 Came in for a mostly invisible Brahim and after a couple of really nice touches within the first few minutes upon entering...meh
GIROUD 6 Another forward player not really impacting the game and unable to free up space for others
ORIGI 6 Almost had a really nice goal in the box that was flicked away at the very last minute. Other than that?...I'm not really sure what his position was in this game. Came in for Leão but don't remember one touch on the left side/LW area of the pitch
SAELEMAEKERS 6 Good effort as usual but Milan's little Rudy just wasn't able to do much out there
FLORENZI NA Kind of an odd sub. Didn't do or play enough to warrant a rating
coaching
PIOLI 5 Yes, a 5. I think he got it wrong today. Which happens and isn't bad in and of itself but then he didn't really respond well or make impactful adjustments
THOUGHTS
As I wrapped up the ratings above and reviewed it looking for typos I noticed I gave out A LOT of 6's. I sat on this all day but I'm confident in the ratings. This was not due out of laziness or frustration but more of what I actually felt like most of the team played like and deserved. All that being said, I went even lower for Pioli and you all know I love me some Pioli (#IPIT!)
We can't be sure what a coach's tactics are heading into the game since none of us are there during the week of preparation, we can only infer based on post-game data. Tactically, it certainly appears Pioli just flat out got it wrong vs Atalanta. Let's look at what I think happened.
AVG POSITION
First, looking at on average where the starters were on the pitch vs Atalanta compared to vs Udinese:
Fig. 1: Average Starter Field Position
We can see in Figure 1 Maignan, Kalulu, and Tomori are in virtually in the same position, unsurprisingly. Even the two DMs are roughly in the same spot in each game. Calabria and Messias? Check. Leão was a little further up vs Atalanta than Udinese but not drastically so but worth maybe peeking at below. So that leaves these last three - Theo, Diaz, and Rebic - all three are in pretty different parts of the pitch and this tells me that Atalanta was doing something different than Udinese on defense. Looking at the positions of Atalanta and Udinese, both running a back 3, we can see Atalanta was setting up somewhat higher up the pitch as a group than Udinese but were also more compact. This was a more defensive approach whereas Udinese was more willing to open-it-up and try to run with Milan.
So how did this manifest during the game? Sure, average position can be helpful but it's even more helpful when paired with a heat map.
FRONTLINE v BACKLINE
The heatmap below is looking at Milan's attacking players vs the opponent's defensive players to help flesh out how the player positioning was evolving throughout each game.
Fig. 2: Milan attacking players v opponent's primary defensive players
Versus Udinese, Pioli's game plan appears to have been to overload their right as he anticipated Udinese wanting to take away Leão. This bores out in the bottom heatmap, in Figure 2 above, as Leão is pretty much hugging the touchline and there's a corresponding heat presence from Udinese in his area (his average position slightly further back vs Udinese than vs Atalanta in Figure 1 supports this as well). There are also hot spots for both Milan and Udinese on Milan's right side of the pitch, also supporting this tactic as Milan crowded that side and Udinese ran bodies over to try and cover.
In the game vs Atalanta, Milan was getting funneled to the middle of the pitch and not able to get very wide throughout the game. How did this happen? Based on average field positions vs Atalanta in Figure 1 and heatmaps for both Milan's attackers and Atalanta's defenders in Figure 2, it appears Atalanta sat towards the upper middle of the pitch as Milan brought the ball over the half-way line, made Milan go wide, backed up to about the top of their own box, forcing the ball back to the middle about half way between the half-way line and the 18yd box, and then made Milan try to get wide, then back to the middle, rinse, repeat. Basically a lot of meaningless possession for Milan.
Finally, we can see from both Figures 1 & 2 but mostly from Figure 2 is the very light presence of any Milan attacking player inside the 18yd box, specifically in the middle of the 18yd box, based on the Milan player heatmap in both games. We do not see a similar heatmap by Udinese's defenders but do see one vs Atalanta. Why? Namely, Rebić and because he is not a traditional #9 he does not spend much time in the 18yd box jostling against CBs the way Giroud or Zlatan (when he wants) would. Additionally, the opponent heatmaps above are only for defenders but that does not mean the heatmaps represent their movement relative to only against the Milan attackers. Because Udinese was willing to play a more open game, when the ball went wide (mostly on the right side) and Udinese ran bodies out to try and cover, they left the middle of the 18yd box exposed for Milan players to make runs. This is why Rebić's second goal, Diaz's put back, and Calabria's penalty all happened close to and in the middle of the 6yd box.
This was not what happened vs Atalanta though and Atalanta appeared to have planned for this, which is why they essentially made Milan play one-touch from the middle to the touchlines and back, all in front of the 18yd box, knowing they wouldn't have to worry about Milan's CF sticking around in the box causing problems.
So, how did this manifest in attacking the goal? Let's look.
SHOTS ATTEMPTED
So far we've tracked how Milan attempted to get into beneficial situations to score goals, since that's really the name of the game. We know the score lines from each game but let's see how effective Milan was in that effort, which we can begin to see in Figure 3.
Fig. 3: Shots Attempted
Milan:
Matchday 1:
Total Shots (on target): 14 (5)
Shots Inside/Outside box: 9/5
Matchday 2:
Total Shots (on target): 18 (7)
Shots Inside/Outside box: 9/9
Udinese:
Matchday 1:
Total Shots (on target): 9 (4)
Shots Inside/Outside box: 5/4
Atalanta:
Matchday 2:
Total Shots (on target): 11 (2)
Shots Inside/Outside box: 5/6
We can see Lisi's favorite stat, shots outside the box, shot...up vs Atalanta (from 5 to 9 outside the box shots between MD1 and MD2), which is often a sign of the inability to breakdown a more packed-in defense. What Atalanta did was make Milan play footsy and not play football. By betting on Rebić starting and not hanging around inside the 18yd box, Assperini (*high five's myself*) was able to minimize risk and try to eek out a victory. It's not too surprising then that when Giroud entered the game that Milan's equalizer came not too long after from inside the box on a nice strike from Bennacer.
Pioli's inabiility to force Atalanta to acquiesce to Milan's preferred game plan, or to make halftime changes up front and bring in Giroud, seemed to indicate Pioli didn't fully grasp what the right move was at the half and putting in Giroud for Rebić was more of a reflex/common substitution. One could argue that Pioli was just simply waiting to do his usual 60th minute substitution but if you know the issue then why wait about 15 game minutes to make the change?
SUMMARY...KINDA
So why have I gone down this path, looking at what happened between the first two games? Mostly, it's to illustrate that sometimes coaches get it wrong, even Scudetto-winning coaches. Pioli and Milan will be fine. But the other reason was the rather immediate cries about benching Brahim and starting CDK at CAM.
I looked at both Brahim and CDK's movement and touches from the first two games and it's not fair to use CDK's appearance in MD1 since he came in rather late (71st min) vs MD2 (58th min), plus Milan was already up 4-2 at that point. But CDK did get over 30min of gametime down 0-1 to Atalanta and would have been encouraged to get forward and help get the equalizing and hopefully go-ahead goals. Below are the heatmaps and number of touches for Brahim and CDK in Figure 4:
Figure 4: Brahim vs CDK
As you can see in Figure 4 Brahim and CDK both occupied roughly the same areas on the pitch, both having roughly the same number of touches per minute, 0.43 tpm for Brahim vs 0.47 for CDK, and neither registered a shot on goal. Basically, Milan's woes vs Atalanta didn't hinge on Brahim OR Charles De Ketelaere. Whoever was in there was a wash this game.
SUMMARY...LIKE FOR REALS
I guess what I'm asking anyone reading this is to, well, be less lazy. It's lazy to essentially be like...Milan struggled? Blame Brahim or the RW...Milan can't score? Blame Brahim or the RW. Brahim isn't good enough...Brahim is too small...and probably my favorites, Brahim gets knocked off the ball and/or falls to the ground too easily. Umm, it's football. Soccer. Fútbol. What f**king sport are you watching? All the players go to the ground too easily. I put this draw on Pioli and that's ok. He's not perfect.
Yes, CAM still needs to produce more and yes this includes Brahim. But this position is not the liability RW is and has been. If no one comes in at RW, and since you probably wouldn't want Brahim out there, get CDK out wide and see what happens but see what happens after a run of games. Brahim at CAM and CDK at RW isn't worse than Brahim and Messias/Saelemaekers or CDK and Messias/Saelemaekers. In fact, for me, I'd say it's probably much better. Pioli needs to find a way to get most of his best players on the pitch for the most amount of time for as many games as possible and as often as possible.
So next game whether it's Brahim, CDK, Leão, Rebić, whoever may be struggling or if the whole team is, maybe it's not them, maybe it's something else. Just think about it for second, just one, which is more than what most football fans do.
If you're down here still reading, thank you and please share your thoughts on the game, any of these data points or analyses, as these are not all encompassing and I for sure don't know everything (as my wife will gladly attest to).
Forza Milan
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Liverpool maintained the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City as they survived an early scare to come from behind and win at Aston Villa.
Jurgen Klopp's side suffered a shock after only three minutes when Douglas Luiz bundled home after Liverpool keeper Alisson failed to hold his header.
Liverpool were on terms within three minutes when Joel Matip scored following a goalmouth scramble and the sides then exchanged chances before Sadio Mane put the visitors ahead with a superb angled header from Luis Diaz's cross in the 65th minute.
The win means Liverpool now lie second only on goal difference before City's visit to Wolves on Wednesday.
Former Liverpool striker Danny Ings wasted opportunities to equalise and inflict a blow to his old club's hopes of winning a historic quadruple - although the Reds did suffer an injury setback when influential midfielder Fabinho went off in the first half with a hamstring problem that must make him doubtful for Saturday's FA Cup final against Chelsea.
'Mane shows again why he is indispensable'
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Liverpool pass stern Villa test
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made five changes from the side that drew with Spurs at Anfield on Saturday, resting tired legs and freshening things up with Saturday's Wembley showpiece in mind.
It was a ploy that worked in the end, although Liverpool were set back on their heels when they were punished for a slow start as Villa went ahead.
Liverpool showed their character and the threat they carry to reply instantly and, while this was not a particularly assured performance, the only thing that matters at this stage is the final result, and this was a case of job done.
The injury to Fabinho will be a serious worry to Klopp with FA Cup and Champions League finals on the horizon but he will hope the Brazilian's swift removal in the first half will limit the damage.
Once again January signing Diaz was a key figure, a danger all night and the provider of the cross that brought Mane's decisive header. The Colombian's signing has proved to be a masterstroke.
Now the scenery switches to Molineux on Wednesday, where leaders City face Wolves, who still have European aspirations of their own.
Pep Guardiola's side still have that advantage on goal difference but Liverpool's win at least ensures they stay right on Manchester City's shoulders as the season reaches its climax.
Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool: Klopp says victory over Villa is 'massive'
Gerrard with work to do
Aston Villa will finish the season in a comfortable mid-table position but so much of this term has been about manager Steven Gerrard discovering what he has at his disposal then laying the groundwork for next season.
He has talent in the shape of Emiliano Buendia but big decisions remain about whether he will strengthen in defence - where captain Tyrone Mings still looks suspect - and on the possibility of a permanent deal for his former Liverpool colleague Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian, on loan from Barcelona, only showed his ability in flashes here and it was clear the Villa fans felt more of a surge of hope when he was replaced by Buendia.
Gerrard certainly has something to work with but a lot needs to be done and he is a driven personality who will not want to cruise along in mid-table.
Villa, and Ings in particular, had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of some uncharacteristic uncertainty in the visitors' defence, with keeper Alisson fortunate to get away with one or two moments of poor judgement - although he then made a crucial save from the striker when he broke clear with a chance to equalise.
The end of the season will be the end of Gerrard's fact-finding mission and the serious reconstruction will begin at Villa Park.
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Ice Dreams - Chapter 1
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | ...
Lukanette Figure Skating AU? Lukanette Figure Skating AU.
I’ve been planning this for more than one year already ( @mamanabeille knows ) but Freya’s recent art for me fueled me to finish the first 2 chapters (out of more than 60...)
Header art is traditional art drawn by me about one year ago - Full pic HERE.
Summary
Despite being very talented and loving to skate, Marinette is determined to quit Figure Skating after the lack of decent results and the great amount of stress and pressure on her shoulders.
On the other hand, Juleka and Luka are average skaters in pairs category who, after years of hard work, have finally started showing some good results. But suddenly, Juleka is forced to retire, leaving Luka at the verge of retirement because of his need for a partner.
Can Juleka convince Luka and Marinette to give figure skating a second chance? Can they form a bond strong enough to reach the top and accomplish their dreams? Could something more than partnership spark between them?
AO3
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CHAPTER 1: Marinette
Figure skating can appeal to people for many reasons: the competitive part, the artistry, the music arrangements, the performances…
For Marinette figure skating was everything- her whole life.
When she was happy, she would love to skate. When she was sad, skating never failed to cheer her up. She was athletic, flexible and talented, gifted by both technique and artistry, as well as tenacity to work hard and never give up. Skating was an irreplaceable part of her life.
WAS.
In past tense.
Because even when it’s pleasant to watch the beautiful programs the skaters have to offer, there’s something that never changes during competitions: the scores are what really matter. Fail one element and you're screwed. Keep the program perfect but with minimum difficulty, you're off the podium. Do perfect in practice but fail in front of the judges: it's over.
This was Marinette's case.
Recently, consistency always failed her in competitions, and it had been a letdown to see how the past seasons had been going blank for her, without any outstanding accomplishment, despite her being on top almost all of her childhood. Her effort, and full potential didn’t show off on her competition results.
Marinette's parents and her coach, Miss Bustier, associated her disappointing results to her mentor’s and grandmother’s passing. But Marinette was well aware that the main reason behind her failures wasn't only how much she missed her granny; the real cause had a girl’s name: Lila Rossi.
It had already been 2 years since Lila joined her training classes under Miss Bustier's teachings. And everything had gone downhill after that.
It's not that she hadn't already been enduring bullying from Chloe Bourgeois, but Lila's bullying was at a whole different level.
The pressure, the expectations, the stress, the bullying, the injuries and damaged property, the struggle her parents went through to pay for her classes and competitions, how she had to sew her own dresses because she didn’t have the money to buy them, how she almost had no friends left... Everything piled up for years and made her finally crumble. Her skating consistency was affected and led only to constant failure.
In the end, she was exhausted, and no matter how much she loved ice skating, she reached her limit. She surpassed her limit.
Lila Rossi had won.
For two weeks now, since her last failure at a National Competition, Marinette had been skipping her skating classes. Coach Bustier was always exceptionally kind to her, and had been considerate (in her own way) this time as well, suggesting she take a few days to rest and get back again when she felt confident again.
But Marinette didn't intend to return under her coaching. Instead, she had set her mind to resign from her classes and, probably, even quit figure skating too.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
The most talented skater of the decade was seriously considering quitting skating for good. And it made her sad, but she couldn’t see any other way out of the spiral of failures she was caught in. No one was there to get her out of the dark hole she was buried in.
She certainly didn’t expect a second chance in figure skating.
_________________________________
During the days she didn't go to her classes, Marinette always spent her time at the Miraculous Ice Skate Rink, where her 'grandfather', Master Wang Fu worked as a manager, taking care of the installation and the opening and shutting down hours, along with the material to rent and the tickets for open to public times. Being her mother’s uncle, she had been babysat by him and his wife since she was a little kid. It was, in fact, Marianne Lenoir, was the one who taught Marinette the skating basics and the one who made her start practicing and love figure skating since she was 3 years old.
Marinette loved her grandparents a lot, and the passing of Miss Lenoir still pained her everyday. After her tragic loss, they became even closer, especially when Master Fu gave Marinette his late wife's earrings as a memento - he knew she would have given them to her at some point, since she loved the dark-haired girl a lot. And with no children on their own, Marinette was the closest they had to a daughter or granddaughter. Marinette had promised to treasure the earrings. They had a ladybug’s design engraved on them, only visible when light illuminated themfrom a certain angle. They were very mysterious and unique, and Marinette had loved them since her eyes had fallen on them. After becoming their owner, not even once she took them off. She felt the luck on her side as long as she wore them.
Except, that wasn’t the case anymore.
Marinette had her own theory of how Lila might have corrupted them when she touched them once, since all her luck was now gone from her side from that moment onwards.
On the ice, Marinette skated a little. But when she attempted to jump, a memory of her last competition crossed her mind and she fell down. Instead of standing up like always, she stayed seated on the floor, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Marinette! Are you ok? Did you get hurt?" asked Fu, worried. Rushing (as much as his old legs allowed him to) to aid her.
"Master-! I- I-... I can't skate anymore!" She broke down to cry even harder.
"That's not true, Marinette. You're just feeling discouraged now because of your recent results in competition. It's normal to feel like that. It will be ok"
"No Master… It's not just competitions… It's everything… Lila, Chloe, my coach, my parents, my friends…and I miss Granny Marianne so much... I'll never be able to follow her steps now… I should just be realistic and give up..."
"Don't say that, dear. You have luck on your side. Like a ladybug. Lady Chance. You are talented enough to overcome this. I’m sure Marianne would be proud of you, even if you don't follow her steps. And you know? There's no need to compete if you don't feel like doing it. Many people just skate for fun or minor competitions. I’m sure the future has good things prepared for you. You just need to keep moving and you’ll find the right path to follow. And whatever you choose to do, we'll be proud of you. The doors to this ice rink are open for you to come whenever you want to"
That's right. She could skate without competitions. She could focus on something else and have skating as a hobby. Maybe she could make a living out of a figure skating outfit designer…
It was settled. She was quitting. And she was telling her parents tonight.
"Thank you, Master. I know what I want to do now" she answered, giving him a heartfelt hug. Fu smiled at her and patted her back a little, happy to see her smile was back on her face and how his granddaughter's tears had finally stopped.
___________________________
Marinette was very nervous when she arrived home. She tried to sneak to her room without being noticed, but her mother had been waiting for her, with a deeply worried expression on her face. Marinette gulped. 'She has probably found out I've been skipping my classes' she thought, but her mother's mind was focused on something else- more serious. Something the girl didn’t expect or could have imagined.
“Marinette. Calm down and listen to me. Are you still friends with Juleka?”
Marinette blinked: that was not the question she expected. She sighed before answering, confused about her mother’s unusual distress.
“Yes, mom. It’s been a long while since we’ve last seen or talked to each other, but she is my friend”. She paused for a second. “Why do you ask? You’re scaring me...”
Sabine Cheng took a deep breath before answering “Marinette… Juleka is at the hospital”.
Marinette’s mother’s grip on her shoulders wasn’t strong enough to keep the girl from jumping in shock, neither stopped her from panicking a second later.
“What!? What happened to her!? Is she ok!?”
“Calm down, Marinette. She’s ok. She just fainted. She…” Sabine paused, hesitating, before continuing with the explanation. “She’s been diagnosed with an eating disorder”
Marinette felt a rush of mixed feelings forming inside of her: but between sadness and worrisome, anger was the first emotion to come out of her body.
“No…! No way! I’m sure it’s all Chloé’s fault! She used to make mean comments about her body since we were little. Her ideas must have grown bigger in Juleka’s mind! Just because she was taller and larger than many of us…! And now Juleka is…! Juleka is…!”
The spiral of emotions she was feeling ended up falling in the form of tears, again, in a crying whimper. Sabine, worried for her daughter, cupped her cheek and let her cry until she calmed down a little. It was not easy for her to wait patiently to ask her what she had really wanted to know after she had heard about Juleka’s condition, but she knew the girl needed to let it out, even if it hurt her to see her daughter crying like that. It almost felt like there was something more behind the salty water spilling from her eyes, but she remained silent until her sobbing sounds ended, being engulfed by the silence of the living room. When the wait finally was over, Sabine Cheng spoke again, looking straight to her eyes.
“Marinette, I need to ask you something. And please, be honest with me" Marinette gulped and nervously nodded. "Are you eating properly? You’re not throwing it out, aren’t you? I know you’ve always been thin, but I can’t help it but worry about you… You know how common eating disorders are in figure skating… And with what happened to Juleka and how discouraged you look recently…”
Marinette tensed at her mother’s question, more offended than shocked. “Of course not, maman! I’m properly eating what you put on my plate! I would never waste what it takes you so much work. I’m grateful I always have freshly baked bread on my plate”
Marinette’s mother relaxed at her daughter's answer, hugging her.
“Good. That’s good. I’m so glad. So relieved. Thank you, Marinette”. She spoke again after breaking the hug. “I think you should pay Juleka a visit. Here’s the room number and the hospital address. You should be there for her”
“Thank you for telling me, maman. I’ll visit her tomorrow morning”, the girl said, grabbing the paper with Juleka’s hospital contact from her mother’s hand.
“Good girl. I’m proud of you”
“Thank you, maman…” the twin-tailed girl managed to answer, feeling both happy and nauseous for the trust in her mother’s eyes. The thought of seeing disappointment on her parents' face terrified her.
‘No… I definitely can’t tell my parents yet…’ she thought.
_______________________
When Marinette arrived at Juleka's hospital room, she wasn't alone. The door was partially opened and she saw a blue-haired boy standing beside her. As soon as she knocked on the door, the boy noticed her and approached, with an interrogative and sad expression on his face. He was handsome despite his sad expression, Marinette thought, distracted for a second.
"I- I'm- Juleka...?" She managed to say, and the boy just nodded.
“Juleka, you have a visitor. I’ll let you two talk privately" he said, turning his head to the girl in the bed. "Thank you for coming,” he solemnly told Marinette before leaving the room.
“Thank you” she said when getting inside, without looking at him.
It had been a while since Marinette had talked to Juleka. It had been more difficult to keep in touch after she switched to pairs skating some years ago, even if they still exchanged messages and hung out together sometimes.
“Juleka, how are you? I heard you fainted and…” Her feet moved slowly towards her friend as she greeted her, but she gasped when she saw her figure: she couldn't be healthy looking the way she did.
“Marinette. Thanks for coming” Juleka weakly smiled.
“Juleka, look at you! You look so skinny! You have to eat! You shouldn’t listen to what people or magazines say, it’s dangerous! You need to be healthy.”
“I am healthy" she assured her, but Marinette's worried eyes made her admit her problem. "But… you’re right. There’s no need for me to keep throwing out my food. I’m retiring from figure skating”
"What?" Marinette gasped, and Juleka reaffirmed her words with a nod. “Oh no, Juleka! I know you loved it… I’m so sorry for you…” The baker's daughter sympathized.
“It’s Ok, Marinette. Thank you… I’m actually more worried about my brother. We were a team and now his dream is crushed because of me… He can’t compete without a partner and… I’ve wasted everything…”
“Oh, Juleka…”, she warmly hugged her friend.
Not wanting to talk more about her eating disorder, Juleka asked Marinette a question.
“What about you, Marinette? How are things going? Are you getting closer to your dream? You were always first place no matter what! I bet you’ve been improving and setting even higher scores by now. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could even land a triple axel!”
“I can land it, actually! It’s just… for some reason I can’t seem to land any of my jumps lately during competitions… I keep failing over and over… and then there’s Chloé and Lila… You know… I’m thinking of quitting…” she said in a sigh.
“Oh no, Marinette! You can’t quit! You are the most skilled and talented skater I’ve ever seen. Your scores as a child were in another league! You are bound to make history in figure skating, I know you do. You can’t quit!”
“It’s not a matter of skill anymore, Juleka… It’s a matter of results and wasted effort. I just… I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep my parents overworking to pay for my skating classes with me failing every single jump in competition. I can’t look at their disappointed looks every time I fail their expectations. And Lila’s bullying only keeps escalating while my coach never believes anything I say… I’m not motivated anymore. I don’t have the strength to keep trying...”
Marinette looked devastated as she spoke. Quitting figure skating couldn't make her happy. Juleka knew she would be feeling even worse than herself. She didn't like to see her friend like that.
“Are you sure, Marinette? Because I think it’s a waste. You could win an Olympic gold medal if you aimed for it. It’s just… so frustrating…”
“Juleka…”
After a long silence, Juleka set her determination and faced a surprised Marinette with a serious look on her eyes.
“No. Marinette, I can’t let you quit like that! Look at me. I’ve been forced to quit because of my condition. I wanted to keep skating! I didn’t want to stop! And yet… you say you want to quit. My brother says he wants to quit. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? You have no consideration for me or for yourselves!" She yelled and then paused to take a deep breath. "Marinette, look at my face and tell me again you want to quit! Can you do it?”
“I-... I want to… " Marinette paused, unable to lie. "I want to keep skating!" She finally admitted. "But I can’t anymore, Juleka! I’ve tried to endure it, I’ve tried so hard! And yet… Nothing! It’s just useless. What’s the point when I’m starting to feel that skating is not fun anymore?”
“Oh no, Marinette, you can’t say that! You can’t give up your dream so easily. Who was that skater you admired? Your grandmother? Miss Lenoir? You dreamed of being like her someday! Graceful, elegant yet strong; sliding on the ice like if you were an angel coming from heaven, announcing salvation to all the graceful public crying tears of joy at your beautiful movements. I know you can do it, Marinette. You just need something or someone to…" Juleka paused for a moment. "Wait, I… I have an idea. Why don’t you try pairs skating for a while?”
Marinette was taken aback at her friend's suggestion.
“What? What are you talking about? I told you I want to… to quit…”
“No. Listen to me. You just need to try it out. You try, and I won’t oppose you quitting if you decide to do so after you’ve tried it out.”
“What’s the deal…?”, Marinette said, unconvinced.
“I want you to take my place. I want you and my brother to help each other recover your motivation, your goals, your dreams. We just got a decent score for international competitions and I… I messed up. He did his best and improved a lot. He could score high, to the top maybe, with the right partner… and I think you’re a better fit partner than I could ever be” she said in a weak sigh.
“But- I don’t even know your brother. And I’ve never done pair skating before! And most importantly- there’s no way I could fill in your place! Nobody can! I'm sure you’re important for your brother, and he doesn’t even know me! He won’t want me to pair with him anyway” Marinette protested.
“That’s my part. I’ll convince him to give you a chance. So I need you to give pairs skating a chance, too. You both still have a second chance in figure skating. And I bet you can reach the top in a few years'', Juleka smiled. Her eyes showed conviction in her words, but Marinette had doubts.
“Are you sure he-?” she started, but Juleka cut her, knowing how the question ended.
“I’m sure. Just give it a try. For me. For our friendship. I want you to skate on my behalf. Please... I’m begging you, Marinette. Just one week. One more chance. I’m sure you won’t regret it. No, I promise you won’t”
“Ok, Juleka… I’ll do it. Just one try. No more. I’m quitting if I can’t keep it up. Or if your brother doesn’t like me…”
“He’ll like you. He just needs to meet you.” she smiled in reassurance and Marinette hugged her.
Marinette, noticing the time, broke the hug and spoke again. "I have to go now, but I’ll come again next week. Get well soon, please”
“Thank you, Marinette. For coming and for accepting my selfish request. I’ll send you a message later.”
“Of course, you are still my dear friend, Juleka. Get well soon, ok?”
“I’ll try… Thank you for coming”, she answered, waving her goodbye. ‘Now I need to convince Luka…' she thought, eyeing her friend crossing through the door.
#my fic#fic: ice dreams#lukanette figure skating AU#airip4#lukanette fic#endgame lukanette#my art#I can't believe I'm already posting this#it's been sooo long#Blame Freya for rushing me XD#lukanette#Pro LukaMari
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Name: Paddington Bear
Debut: A Bear Called Paddington
Hello everyone! I am sure you may have seen the title and image of this post and thought, “oh, what sillies will that sillyblog get into this time?” while rolling your eyes and clicking your tongue sarcastically, and I am sorry to disappoint you, but this post was only partially motivated by silliness, and partially motivated by the fact that I Simply Like Paddington! I picked this image for the header because I thought he looked very polite in it. He is just sitting down!
You might be wondering what is so great about Paddington. I think that is a silly question to ask because it should be immediately obvious just looking at him but I will answer it in good faith anyway! Paddington is a little bear with a red hat and a duffel coat, who comes from deepest, darkest Peru. He is very polite and loves marmalade sandwiches, and he gets into an awful lot of hijinks!
Paddington made his debut all the way back in 1958, with Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington, and needless to say he’s since become an icon of British literature. Even if British patriotism as a whole is Very Bad, to me there is something very lovely about this little bear, a refugee from another country, becoming a national treasure. Maybe I am just a sap. Don’t tease me!
We’re fast forwarding in time here because I don’t have time to cover 56 years of Paddington history. If you’ve thought about Paddington in the past decade or so it’s probably because of this: 2014′s Paddington movie, which was notable for being Very Okay! I mean, I liked it a decent amount I guess? Still, it was a great live action design for him. I don’t usually like realistic versions of cartoon characters, but he just looks so... nice. Gentle. Warm.
But Paddington 2 is where it’s at! You might also know it as “The Film That Got a 100% Score On Rotten Tomatoes”. Look! It’s still there!
Based on this information, you might assume that Paddington 2 is the best movie ever made. It is! You’d be correct to assume that. Moving on!
Did you know there’s a 2019 Paddington series airing on Nick Jr.? I didn’t, until I started looking up pictures for this post! Look at it though! What a cute style! This is a very good Paddington really good amazsing.
I would also like to give a shout-out to Paddington’s Aunt Lucy. She is a sweet old lady bear and I love her also to bits. I had a computer game when I was very young where you played as Paddington travelling the world in order to meet up with his aunt, and it was not very good and I always hated the level where you had to douse for coins in Paris. I don’t remember what it was called though.
Was there a point to this post? A joke perhaps? I guess not. Sometimes you just need to talk about the things that make you happy. Paddington makes me happy! I hope he makes you happy too, even if you don’t particularly care about him. He is always trying his very best! :-)
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Evans above it`s the third win in a row for North End.
Ched Evans career with North End has hardly been one littered with goals, in fact it is thirty five games ago since the Welshman netted for the Lilywhites. However, just like London Buses, when one comes along it is usually followed by another and such was the case in this game as North End made it three wins in six days with a 2-1 victory at Reading. It was a game that produced precious little in the first half, doing very little to enhance either teams reputation in front of the SKY Cameras. After the break, however, things livened up and North End took the lead early in the second half with a flicked on header from Evans. Twenty minutes later the Royals were level when Joao converted a harshly awarded penalty against Brady to set the match up for a grand finale. It was North End who claimed the win when Evans did all the work and fired home with ten minutes to go sending the travelling fans into raptures and North End into the play off spots however temporarily.
Ryan Lowe made two changes to the side that beat Swansea City on Tuesday evening with Ryan Ledson coming in for the injured Ben Whiteman and Daniel Johnson replacing the rested Ali McCann in the centre of the Park. To be honest the first half was a dull affair with Reading having a couple of barely half chances in the first half an hour without ever troubling Woodman in the North End goal. Potts had the best chance of the half with just over thirty minutes gone but he just couldn`t get on the end of Brady's fantastic cross and the chance had gone. In fact Brady almost gave North End the lead right on the stroke of half time when he cut in from the left and fired a shot on target only to be parried by the Reading keeper at the foot of his near post.
No changes for North End at the break but we came out with more energy to get the ball moving forward quicker. Riis had a chance very early in the half but in the fifty first minute North End took the lead when Brady sent over a fabulous cross from the right wing and Evans rose first to flick the ball into the far corner of the net. A rare goal from Evans but certainly one worth waiting for. Reading then started to push forward and introduced star striker Joao into the proceedings. It was Joao who leveled for Reading from the penalty spot after Brady was adjudged to have fouled Yiadom in what looked like a soft penalty to me. No doubt that the game could have gone either way at this point but it was the travellers from Lancashire who made sure the points were coming back up the M40 when Evans made himself a goal with ten minutes to go and smashed the ball into the corner to, once again, send the travelling fans bananas. To be fair we never looked in danger after the goal in spite of the six minutes added and saw the rest of the game out cleverly and. comfortably.
So North End sit fifth in the division, temporarily, but will likely fall after Saturday`s full times are in. Nevertheless it has been an excellent week on the pitch for Ryan Lowe and the boys and they deserve every credit for taking the nine points on offer in the last three games. We may not be everybody`s cup of tea by the way we play but we have now started scoring goals again and with the defence playing exceptionally well it always gives us a chance. I thought the back three were very good again against Reading and the midfield once again held the positions and covered well. No prizes for guessing the man of the match though as Ched Evans finally gets the accolades for some of the real hard yards he has put in for North End this season which are not always noticed by the North End faithful. Just one more game now before the World Cup break, at home to Millwall next Saturday. and if we can take three points there then all bets are back on for this being a decent first full season under Ryan Lowe.
.
READING 1-2 PRESTON
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WOODMAN 7
STOREY 7 LINDSAY 8 HUGHES 7
LEDSON 6
POTTS 7 BROWNE 7 JOHNSON 6 BRADY 7
RIIS 6 EVANS 8
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Subs:-
McCANN 7
MAGUIRE 6
WOODBURN 6
.
MOTM: Ched Evans
Attendance 11,177
Preston Fans 507 (4.54%).
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Dunno why I bothered going on tiktok. Whenever we lose or draw it’s always this player fault or that players fault.
Let’s not talk about the fact ronaldo was purposely offside for his header. Bruno was the only one to get even close to scoring with hitting the woodwork and his freekick in extra time being saved. Phil Jones and DDG was the only ones in the squad I saw that wanted it.
Greenwood’s off the ball attitude fucking stinks but people don’t call it out because he can score. Too many time yesterday I saw someone play the ball to him and he wasn’t paying attention so wolves ended up with it.
I don’t even want to know what the fucks up with rashford. The guy plays amazingly whilst injured but he has surgery and suddenly can’t play ball to save his life.
Jadon didn’t flop yesterday because the wolves defender made a fucking fantastic interception to stop his shot.
We clearly need a proper DM Scott is alright but if you want him to be the consistent you need a consistent next to him, Fred had good games then plays shit for months. Matic can’t even play more than 2 games he looked FUCKED last night.
When ole said he left the club in better shape he thought the players would actually start doing their job. Apparently training until dark and actually pressing is impacting them, well here the solution fuck everyone off that doesn’t want to play - pogba I’m looking at you - anyone that cannot keep the stamina to press needs to not play but spend every second in the gym working on it and maybe just maybe we shouldn’t be relying on two people over 30 to be our strikers ffs. Greenwood is not a winger as shown by the fact he doesn’t get back and help his rb. We brought sancho to be our rw and where do we play him…. LW!
I’m seriously fucking sick of idiots who clearly no nothing commenting - Goldburg I’m looking at you - on the team and the fact they all called for Ole to be sacked. Maybe now your twats can see it wasn’t Ole. The players have no fucking passion and they simply just don’t care
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تَعا !🌝