#they also had strikers but again. haven’t finished the original game

[mc-blizzle]

A GameStop employee tried to talk me into buying the collectors P5R. It took all 4 of my friends to talk me out of it. I haven’t even finished playing the original game yet.

#persona 5 #persona 5 royal #gamestop #I like persona a very normal amount. #I named a skeleton after goro #persona series #p5r #they also had strikers but again. haven’t finished the original game #persona

[vizowrites]

That’s One Hell of a Resume

{Set during the Harvest Moon Festival competitions}

~*~

To  Blitzø’s great surprise, the Harvest Moon Festival was actually turning out to not be a fuck fest invite after all.

He honestly hadn’t been sure when the games initially kicked off.  The horde of imps that had come to compete for the title of “the roughest, toughest, bastard in Wrath” had a proclivity for violence that could easily--and not inaccurately--be described as a passion.  Then of course there was Stolas, watching him thirstily from atop his fancy seat underneath his fancy tent, cooing and cheering out “Blitzyyyyy!!'' at every opportunity he got to speak.  Yet the honored owl prince somehow still managed to keep his pants on throughout each and every event--and even more impressively managed to keep his degrading sweet talk void of any sexual obscenities.  He hadn’t even been able to manage that much on a day trip to a theme park with his daughter.  Yet somehow...this wasn’t even the best part of the festival to  Blitzø.  It was up there to be sure, but it wasn’t the toppiest top.  The “dom of the disco”**, if you will.  

No, the BEST part of the festival--and the thing that kept the imp grinning from ear to ear throughout the entire competition--was that this honkytonk battle royale was shaping up to be the perfect opportunity to show off and be recognized for just how much of a boss-ass bitch Blitz actually was: 2nd to absolutely fucking none.

Well...maybe with ONE slight exception.

“I gotta say, you just keep on impressin’ me every chance you get,” that one slight exception said with a smirk, the tip of his tail flicking forward into a small curl.  “No wonder your killin’ biz is so successful.  You do every kill single-handed there, Boss Man?” The two were standing off on the sidelines together during one of the many interims inbetween contests, where the first round winners had already secured their victories and now were stuck watching the remaining shitty losers battle it out to find out which of them would end up being the absolute shittiest loser.  It was taking a stupidly long-ass time, a hell of a lot longer than  Blitzø would’ve normally had the patience for, but with his present company leaning up against the bleacher stands like that.....there were definitely worse ways he could be spending his down time right now.

“Nah,” he answered with a small flick of his wrist, gesturing vaguely in the general direction of where he’d last seen Moxxie getting his ass kicked and Millie sitting in the stands watching it happen.  “I know he’s not doing a great job of showing it right now--” he said just as Moxxie got elbow dropped by a shark “--but Moxxie’s not completely useless.  He did get me shot on a job once while he was in the middle of being a little bitch, but as soon as he finally found his balls again, he got things back under control pretty fast.  And Millie’s just a straight up badass.  If her parents had allowed her to play in the games, you’d have gotten your ass handed to you three rounds ago.”

“That so?” Striker’s lips drew back into a slight smirk, just enough for the light to catch on the very tip of his fanged gold tooth.  “Because I seem to remember a certain someone else bein’ the one to get themselves all roped up in a hogtie about three rounds ago.”  

“I have no idea what you’re talking about but it sounds like complete bullshit.”

“That’s kinda what I was thinkin’ myself to be honest after that first relay run--” Those snake-like eyes raked in every inch of Blitz’s annoyed face, feeling the corners of his own pleasantly sting as his grin spread even wider. “Right up ‘til I saw some o’that nice red color risin’ up in their face--”

“IT’S HOT--THERE ARE FUCKING VOLCANOES NEARBY OKAY!!” Blitz realized, very quickly, just how loud and defensive those words sounded, but he also realized just as quickly that there wasn’t anything he could do to take them back now.  Instead, he straightened himself up, cleared his throat, pretended that there wasn’t some of ‘that nice red color’ in his face now, and said in what he thought was a much more nonchalant voice, “Anyway, I’m starving, and since these last few dipshits are taking forever to get their asses kicked, I’m gonna go find something deep-fried to shove down my throat.  Catch you at the awards ceremony or whatever the fuck they do around here to finish themselves off.”

The I.M.P. Head made it a grand total of two steps before the unmistakable crunch of boots sounded behind him, followed by a faint scoff of a laugh and the distinct rattling of a tail as Striker joined him at his side.  

“There’s a whole row of food stands back there behind the stage,” he said with a nod, meeting  Blitzø’s stride and starting to veer them off in that direction.  “And now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind grabbin’ a bite.  Besides--I feel like I might owe you one for bringin’ up such a tender subject.”

The unrepentant but non-malicious smirk he sent Blitz’s way wasn’t at all softened by the wink that accompanied it, but it somehow brought a slight smile to the smaller imp’s lips all the same.

“You got fucking lucky and that was it,” Blitz insisted with a sharp flick of his tail, not having the faintest fucking clue why he was smiling about this in the first place but subconscioiusly hoping that swatting at Striker would be distracting enough that the taller imp wouldn’t notice.  “And besides, I could’ve gotten out of it if I had really wanted to.”

“Oh, so you wanted to be all tied up like that?”  The grin that spread across Striker’s face was even wider than the first, his razor sharp teeth now on full display. “Well now, if that’s what you were wantin’ you could’ve just asked.  I’d’ve been happy to oblige right from the start.” 

“Ha! Like I’d ever make it that easy for you,”  Blitzø retorted with a challenging grin, his eyes dancing with a truly impish gleam of delight as he and Striker rounded the stage together, his earlier thoughts of the food shacks that waited beyond almost entirely forgotten as they were overtaken by memories of their constant back-and-forth scuffle throughout the festival. “You beating me fair and square is one thing--even though you still totally just got really fucking lucky and also it definitely never even happened in the first place.  But if you were actually going to beat me...you better believe it’s not gonna happen without a fight.  I don’t just bow out like some sloppy bitch who can’t figure out where they put their car keys and has to take the walk of shame back to their shitty apartment at 4 in the morning.  If you wanna come out on top over me, you better fucking work for it.”  

The black tip of his pointed tail flicked up to poke Striker once in the center of his chest, punctuating the word ‘work’ perfectly. 

Striker’s tail, on the other hand, began to rattle.

“Yeah?” he said, his earlier easy tone starting to become weighted with something softer, but deeper.  Neither he nor  Blitzø made any indication that they were aware that he was guiding them both right on past the front of the stand that they had originally been headed toward, and instead had them disappearing into the shadows behind it. “You’re okay with not coming out on top so long as whoever does earns their place there?”

“I mean...”  Blitzø trailed off a bit as he casually leaned up against the back of the stand, folding his arms over his chest as he eyed Striker with that lingering gleam in his own gaze. “You have been able to keep up with me in all the other games...so I guess it might be possible for you to get the upper hand on me for at least one of them.”  

“Just me?”  The rattling sound intensified. 

“Well there sure as fuck wasn’t anyone else who was able to keep up,”  Blitzø rolled his eyes in annoyed exasperation at just how much everyone else truly sucked in comparison to the two of them, before he slowly looked back up at Striker--and realized that the snake-like imp was suddenly a lot closer than he’d been before.  Much closer.  

“...Striker?”

“Yeah, Blitz?”

“Please tell me we’re not actually talking about the fucking games anymore.”

A short, soft laugh was the initial answer, followed by that still rattling tail coiling around Blitz’s slender waist as Striker propped himself up on one arm against the structure behind them, his hand splayed just to the side of the crimson imp’s right cheek.  

“I haven’t been talkin’ about the games since you got me with your tail, Darlin’,” he whispered, his hooded eyes narrowing to glowing slits of pale gold as he leaned in almost close enough to touch.  “But I don’t know if there ain’t somethin’ to be said about that “fuckin’” part yet...”

Blitz’s words came back to him then, ringing in his head as clear as when he first said them: 

“...Well if you promise this isn’t some fuck fest invite...”

“.....You gonna work for it, Cowboy?” 

“Yessir, Boss Man.” 

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

“So...lemme get this straight--”  Blitzø finally shifted his weight, easing it off of Striker and rolling to rest his back on whatever podunk concession stand they’d spent the last ten minutes fucking up against.  “--You tie me for first place in the games, you ride around on the most majestic fucking horse I’ve ever seen, you take down a hell hog with a single stab while completely and mercilessly humiliating one of my employees in front of his in-laws at the same fucking time, and you called me “Sir” when we first met?  AND you’re a great fuck??”

The quirked eyebrow and smug gold-toothed grin he got in reply said more than words ever could, especially when accompanied by the satisfied rattling of that long, spiked tail.

“That’s one hell of a resume you’ve got there.”  Blitzø didn’t even realize his own face had split into a grin until he saw it reflected in Striker’s eyes, hypnotized by the sheer reckless abandon he felt ignited between them.  “Want to join I.M.P.?”  

Striker couldn’t help but laugh, reaching up to adjust the brim of his hat from where Blitz’s tail had nearly knocked it off, his unwavering gaze sparking into an infernal glow.

“Tell you what,” he said, his tone a warm rumble of amusement meeting temptation.  “You and I head on back to the stage, revel in our well-deserved glory, and--once we’re satisfied it’s been rubbed into the faces of those sorry ass losers enough--I’ll head on back up to the farm and have a little talk with Miss Mildred’s folks about finishin’ things up around here for the season.  Maybe see if they can find another set of hands to join ‘em for the next one if mine are gonna be occupied with--” His hand found its way down to Blito’s face, the sharp claw-like nail of his thumb pressing under the shorter imp’s chin to tilt it up towards his own. “--other things.”

“Believe me, Cowboy,”  Blitzø’s eyes were burning, twin embers of eagerness that ran so deep he could feel the heat of it vibrating through to his very core--and his vocal chords.  “You’re not going to find a more hands-on job than the one you’re gonna get if you come and work for me.  ESPECIALLY in that order.” 

Striker’s tail snaked its way up and along past Blitz’s hip, the pointed tip flicking over his chest as it’s rattle joined in the chorus of that deep, heated purring.  

“Don’t mind if I hold you to that, Sir.”

“Oh fuck me--”

And Striker did. Again.

~*~

Random Notes: 

**My counterpart to the phrase “the belle of the ball”--”the dom of the disco”.  I think I’m way funnier than I actually am. :D

ANYWAY tho I really hope y’all like it!!  This is the first fanfic I’ve posted anywhere publicly in a hot minute so I hope it’s not a bad kickoff to something I’m hoping to really get back into!!  I have plans to post the full fic of this--with the non-censored sex scene to my AO3 oohlala--so if that’s something you’d like to see, feel free to lemme know here and I can get right on that!!  Otherwise have a great day, thanks for reading, and if anyone wants to hit me up for some lovely BlitzStrike talks, I’m always open to messages!!

Thanks again Lovelies!! <3

#BlitzStrike #Striker x Blitzo #Blitzo x Striker #Helluva Boss fanfiction #Helluva Boss #vizowrites

[nationaldoyoungday]

hi!! 💗 i really love your aus 💘 and i was wondering if you have any text au recs?

uwu hi??? thank you i’m glad you like them!! and yes i DO have recs, i have so many omg i just want to spread the love!! underneath the cut are some (a lot) of my favorites thank you so much for asking this 💖💞💝💘💕✨

complicated by @daisyong

19/19 (completed) / jaemin x reader - where both jaemin and y/n are idols and everything is more complicated.

↳ LISTEN. this is so cute i tear up thinking about it. it’s so FLUFFY idk it’s just really good if you wanna feel soft about jaemin

chlorine dreams by @dahyunmingyu

15/15 (completed) / jaehyun x reader - there’s been a long standing rivalry at your school between the basketball team and the swim team. the swim team has been undefeated for 4 years, whereas the basketball team hasn’t won a game in 3. every year the basketball team ends up with all of the funding for the athletics department whereas half of the school doesn’t even know the swim team exists. with a bet that jaehyun wouldn’t even be able to finish a swim practice, y/n threatens the existence of both of their teams

↳ this is such an original idea and um i’m weak for swimmer!nct and it’s just really good pls read it

three’s a crowd by @qiankulture

14/14 (completed) / yuta x reader, ten x reader - y/n and yuta are a dance duo who are often assumed to be dating by fans because of their intimate pieces and how they act around each other. everything is all fine and dandy until a certain model comes into the picture.

↳ i read this before i started this account i think? and just it’s really good words can’t describe how much i like it :(

what is love? by @qiankulture

13/13 (completed) / donghyuck x reader - when haechan pulls a prank on unsuspecting y/n, she isn’t too happy. she does her best to avoid him at all costs. but it seems the universe has other plans because everywhere she looks, haechan is there.

↳ hnnng this was so cute that i hate it? the way that donghyuck tries to tell her that he’s his soulmate? my heart. anyways it’s so good! pls my heart can’t handle it

love bot by @dreamloveclub

7/7 (completed) / mark x reader - mark lee was never good with words — except when it came to talking about you. hidden behind the sanctuary of anonymity, he uses the Love Bot to express his feelings about you.

↳ if you read only one thing on this list PLEASE read this omg!! ellie is a genius and this is quite possibly the cutest thing i’ve ever read in my life? it’s such a good idea and she didn’t get enough love for it :(

love bug by @dreamloveclub

4/? (discontinued) / jeno x reader - two computer science majors and self-proclaimed amateur hackers unknowingly race against each other to find out who their secret admirers are. true love is but a click away.

↳ i didn’t think anything after love bot could be so good but this? it proved me wrong djdjdhdh it’s just as good and as always they are both dumb pls read it

puppy love by @dreammutual

13/13 (completed) / renjun x reader - renjun accidentally likes a picture on y/n’s instagram from almost 2 years ago and, foolery ensues when their mutual friends try to get them together.

↳ this made me spill all my uwus its so cute and funny omg please! i’ve said this already but i really love this (i really love everything on this list djdjdj)

not me, not you by @dyngdo

22/22 (completed) / doyoung x reader - in which a rivalry since grade school never died. y/n has always hated doyoung, and he’s always hated her, or at least that’s what they claim. but when y/n and doyoung have been framed for a crime they didn’t commit, the two have to work together to find out the truth. but amidst all the chaos, they can’t figure out what that bubbling feeling inside their chest is.

↳ as i said before, i am weak for doyoung so uh! surprise another doyoung au djdjdj but whenever this gets updated my heart? i have so much love for this fic

destined by @godrics

22/22 (completed) / donghyuck x reader - the red string of fate exists, and only few families are able to see the string, and these few families can actually cut strings and knot other people’s strings in to alter the soulmate laws. your family have been able to see the red string of fate since the beginning of time, and you are no exception. when you come back to korea after spending your summer in america, you had not expected your best friend to have a boyfriend that wasn’t their soulmate. and you did not expect their boyfriend to be your soulmate. despite this, you want your best friend to be happy, and if that means not spending the rest of your life with your soulmate and being happy yourself, then so be it.

↳ i also believe i read this before making this account? but anyways i love soulmate aus and i have a thing for the red string of fate it’s my favorite!! but this was so realistic (as realistic as a soulmate au can be LMAO) and it was really good!!!

my first and last by @godrics

20/20 (completed) / jaemin x reader - in which na jaemin finally gets the chance he’s been waiting for.

↳ again jaemin fluff? here please just read it. words can’t describe how cute this was!!

fan by @markleeh

25/25 (completed) / jaemin x reader - in which idol!jaemin finds a cellphone number of a nctzen.

↳ hhhhh this was so funny? renjun is such a savage djdjdj i’m always crying when i read this i wish my friends were this funny

how can i love you? by @markleeh

18/18 (completed) / jeno x reader - in which y/n just wants to know how youtuber!jeno looks so fine and how he likes his eggs in the morning.

↳ this was so cute too uwu everything on this list was cute tbh but this was the cutest (i want to know how jeno likes his eggs in the morning too)

not my type by @nakajeno

25/25 (completed) / yuta x reader - y/n doesn’t fall in love, neither does yuta – instead, they make others fall in love with them.

↳ yeah anyways yuta needs more appreciation and love and this fic really. hit me in the feels anyways read this or :/ it was so good jdjdjdjd i’m saying that about everything but? it’s true!

home sweet home by @dreamboynana

22/22 (completed) / renjun x reader - maybe falling in love with teen model huang renjun was a bad idea….but then again when did you ever think things through?

↳ rei is such a good writer omg!! renjun as a model hell yes!! anyways this has the perfect amount of fluff and angst and if you don’t read it you’re a coward it deserves all the love in the world

need to know by @solecitojun

20/? (in progress) / yukhei x reader, taeyong x reader - friendships are all meant to be based on honesty, yet there are many things being hidden in yours. in which your bestfriend has to figure out his feelings, and college is sending everyone on a spiral.

↳ ok listen. so i read a few aus before i started this account but um. this was the very first au and i’m telling you. i hate it so much but i love it more ughghgh i hate angst but um this really is trying to get me to love it!! yukhei deserves more but i mean don’t we all?

too late by @solecitojun

3/? (in progress) / doyoung x reader - same upbringing, same neighborhood, same lifestyle ; but what he thinks is two different worlds. they’re both from the underground scence, one fighter and another a musician. years are left uncovered. could it be too late for him, or for you?

↳ doyoung. that’s all i have to say djdjdj. no but seriously your au ideas are so good and this one is no exception i love it :(

sunrise by @wereseoyoung

15/15 (completed) / johnny x reader - no. moon y/n is not in love with one of the university night time radio hosts. it’s just a crush! … kinda… but he’s not interested! … probably.

↳ if you hear me screaming about something? it’s this fic? listen there aren’t like. any johnny aus out there but this one makes up for it because its SO GOOD?? this is literally all i’m ever going to talk about for the rest of my life unfollow me if you haven’t read this djdjdjd i love it so much :(((

starstruck by @wereseoyoung

1/? (in progress) / yuta x reader - can you believe that every tuesday practice the yuta nakamoto — smu alumni and now striker of one of korea’s biggest soccer clubs — will come down to help assist with practices? y/n doesn’t really care though. her job is to be the manager. not be impressed by some soccer star. but maybe sometimes he’s kinda cool.

↳ anyways can’t believe you are a genius and really have an au planned out for every member? i wish i was as organized and talented as you!!! this hasn’t even really started and i’m already in love save me :(

black and blue by @1nomins

10/10 (completed) / jaemin x reader, jeno x reader - everywhere a soulmate touches leaves flowers, and everywhere someone else you’ve fallen in love with touches leaves bruises. you’re happy to suffer.

↳ spence did you know i hate you because of this. not really but i love everything you write and it’s always angsty and i always end up hurting afterwards but its worth it :(

10 step love by @1nomins

12/12 (completed) / jeno x reader - or, alternatively, lee jeno’s (and huang renjun’s) 10 step foolproof program to getting the girl.

↳ can’t believe you wrote something so fluffy? anyways this is like my guilty pleasure and i love the playlist for it!! with the frank sinatra songs sjdjdjdj

1-800-loveline by @1nomins

15/15 (completed) / jeno x reader - you never imagined that finding a phone number in a school library book could lead to anything. you were oh-so-wrong.

↳ loveline? yeah i hate it. only read this if you feel like hurting yourself! i’m kidding, it’s so good but so sad but worth it in the end, as it is with anything spence writes

#r #anon #answered #i just want to spread the love #and everyone on this list deserves love #:( #i spent like two hours making this but uh! #worth it my dudes

[miximax-hell]

There have been people, some truly wonderful souls, who have followed my blog during my long period of absence. For that, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don’t deserve that kindness. With that out of the way, hello! Once again, it’s been so long... And that’s exactly we won’t delve in the past now. Let’s get right to it!

Today’s miximax is one that can barely be recognised at all unless you’re specifically told who the vessel and aura are. So, just in case my handwriting is THAT awful, we’ll be talking about Sakuma’s miximax today! For him, I’ve chosen a wonderful character that is, quite literally, part of the history of videogames as a whole. After the news about a new Smash coming soon, the promise of Metroid Prime 4 for Switch, and the very successful (AND SPANISH) remake of Metroid II, it feels like a great time to bring Samus Aran into the battle! The coolest intergalactic bounty hunter there ever was makes for a very simple-looking miximax, but it was still quite tough to draw because of RUST. Ah well. No one to blame but myself.

Anyway, I think this deserves a proper explanation, so let’s see why these two make for a fantastic combo! For more on that, please check under the cut. As usual.

Well, you’ve made it this far, so let’s delve a little in the past now. ww Just yesterday, I finally finished writing my graduation thesis!! That means I’m finally free... for a little while. Just enough to enjoy half a month of debauchery AND SPEND TIME WITH MY GIRLFRIEND, WHOM I MISS VERY MUCH. Oh, and my internship ended about two and a half weeks ago, too. While I am free in that sense as well, I can’t say I’m a scriptwriter and game designer right now, which kinda sucks. But they might still hire me...! And I’m ruminating some exciting ideas of my own. I highly doubt the company I worked for will be interested in them, but, well, it’s worth a shot. And good practice, in any case. So, yeah! I hope you’ve all been well!

Anyway, let’s get right to it. A single paragraph of my life struggles was enough. ww

This is still a fairly small blog with less than 100 followers. And it will always be because of how niche it is. ww Not only that, but most of said (active) followers aren’t even friends of mine, but the aforementioned kind souls who, somehow, grace me with their presence here. That means that, for example, if I were to go on Twitter to talk about my projects for this blog (as I’ve done a couple of times in the past), only one or two of my friends would give a crap about it. And that’s assuming they see those specific tweets at all! Otherwise, the reactions I get are non-existent unless I’m specifically mentioning someone. And even that is far from being failproof. So, whenever I want to share my ideas with someone, develop them through conversation or brainstorm, there’s only one person I can rely on: my lovely girlfriend. She’s patient and super supportive of my work. Bless her soul. I’m so in love with her.

Anyway, thanks to how much I’ve ranted to her about SakuSamus, I’ve already typed down most of what needs to be said about why I think these two work so well together. I can also get away with mostly copying and pasting what I already told her over Skype and simply adjusting it a bit to make it more readable as a blog post and adding some extra details. ww So, let’s get to it!

Coming up with proper combinations for this blog can sometimes be a chore and require a lot of overthinking. However, as the wonderful @miyukiko​ would say, great ideas suddenly come to you sometimes. This had a bit of both. I'll try to skip the uninteresting bits of the creative process, but this is the important part.

Now that we've seen Sakuma in Ares and he's obviously won a lot of... prominence, if you may put it that way, it felt like a good time to take a closer look at him. Sakuma is a forward, and a pretty talented one, at that. When he becomes captain in the Ares timeline, though, his team comes to rely on him on a much deeper level too. Or so it seems, at least. To top it off, his descriptions in the original games say that he helps Kidou and acts as a strategist that coordinates the team. That’s pretty much the base we can build upon.

As a forward, he seems pretty thorough and tries to stay cool and calm, since that's the kind of soccer they play at Teikoku. And, from what we've seen in Ares, as a captain, he worries so much about his team's well-being and about being a good leader for them. You know, the usual "Am I fit to be captain?" thing that IE loves so much. ww

But there's a lot of bad stuff about Sakuma, too.

For one, despite his cool act, when he loses it, he loses it good. We all know how he reacted when he was part of Shin Teikoku and how extremely mad he would get with Kageyama, for example. Also, when he does lose it (and, arguably, even when he’s still somewhat sane), he's very self-destructive.

I think that's somehow linked to his fears: he simply doesn't want to be left alone. He panics when Kidou leaves Teikoku and, again, loses it completely. When his insanity reaches that kind of point, nothing else seems to matter, so he goes all out even if it can cost him his life. Or his legs, at least.

Related to that, and this is much more relevant in terms of sheer gameplay, he is extremely dependent of others.

He's supposed to be some super cool ace striker, but absolutely all of his shots are combo hissatsus no matter what timeline or age you’re looking at. Koutei Penguin 2gou and 3gou, Twin Boost, Death Zone, Deep Jungle... They all need 2-3 people, and, usually, Kidou's involved.

So, tough as it is to say, if Sakuma isn't by Kidou's side, he's subpar. And if he's all alone, he's basically worthless. And to add insult to injury:

He usually depends on people who aren't even forwards to score goals.

He is turned into a defender as an adult because, as I said, he's subpar as a forward if he's alone.

That makes Sakuma a very interesting case: in a universe that is all about the power you get from of your teammates, what he lacks is individuality. ...Especially when you consider that his only motivation to play soccer seems to be to play with Kidou. www

As he is, he's the absolute definition of support character. Pretty sad, if you ask me. (Oh. And many of his in-game hissatsus are very dirty and the referee complains more often than not about them. That counts too. ww)

So, here comes the difficult question: who can give Sakuma the strength, the individuality and, partially, the safety that he needs to be relevant without killing himself? After thinking about it for quite a long time, I felt like he could really use the power of Samus Aran.

(Not to go all BuzzFeed on you guys, but the answer would’ve surprised you if I hadn’t said it from the very beginning. ww)

On a technical level, Samus is strong af. Not only has she survived to and successfully finished every mission she's embarked on (as far as I’m aware), but she's pretty much exterminated full races, DESTROYED PLANETS and killed the same evil pterodactyl alien... thing that wants her dead like 11 times by now.

And what's more: she's done all of this completely alone. (Except maybe for Other M. I haven’t played that game yet, but it looked like there were more people, idk) All in all, she's a beast. But that's not all, of course. There are many heroes who go and do their thing alone. It could've easily been Lara Croft too, for example--at least in the original games.

Sakuma, as I said, seems to be driven by a will to be with Kidou and is very much dependent of other people. And when things go wrong and he loses it, he is... spiteful, to say the least. And I don’t know if you guys were aware of this, but Samus is 120% salt. I read a post about the hatred between Ridley and Samus that when Ridley was announced for Smash and all, but I sadly can’t find it right now. If any of you guys know that post, please let me know and I’ll add the link here because it was SO GOOD.

According to my limited knowledge on the Metroid Series, Samus fights three main things: metroids (you never saw that one coming, I'm sure), space pirates, and Ridley (who is the leader of the space pirates, but is not a space pirate because I, too, would listen to my Evil Pterodactyl Lord if he were to give me orders).

Long story short, the space pirates and Ridley killed Samus’s parents. She was adopted by people from a civilization called the Chozo, but the space pirates killed the Chozo too. And when Samus found a baby metroid that saw her as its mother, the space pirates and Ridley kidnapped the metroid and it eventually died because of them.

Samus doesn't fight for the greater good. Samus fights because she's fucking pissed.

But, unlike Sakuma, she uses that rage against the right people and in the right way: she is still salty as hell, but she stays cool, kicks ass, makes everyone go boom, and she's out. She does what Sakuma does, but better. Even when she's pissed. Oh, and she does things the way they should be done: with legal permission, without turning evil and stuff. And she's super respected and feared because of it, which is precisely what a captain and a forward should be like, respectively.

And the icing on the cake?

In IE3, when Sakuma has levelled up enough, he learns how to use Space Penguin. also, Samus has a visor thing that can replace Sakuma's patch and that sounded cool to me

Anyway, that would be the gist of it! As I said earlier, I’m not the biggest Metroid connoisseur in the world: I’ve only beaten Fusion and Zero Mission, and I’m currently playing Prime and Return of Samus. As such, excuse me if some other game I haven’t played debunks all I’ve said, but I haven’t found any traces of such a thing. ww

However, despite my few experiences with Metroid games, Samus is a character I love and have very fond memories of. This series represent what I love the most about the video game genre: that sense of continuous and hard-earned improvement that only comes from experiences that are constantly giving you new abilities (and even new looks) to reflect your progress. It’s similar to RPGs, a genre I love as well, but RPGs reward you more for personal progress and dedication, such as grinding for levels, and not (usually) so much for just pushing forward and defeating bosses.

Last (and least), for those who have made it this far, here’s a little something you might be interested in knowing: I’ve been inactive here, but I’m still constantly trying hard to come up with interesting ideas for miximaxes! And I think I have found some cool stuff for both Kidou and Shishido, so feel free to tell me on which of those you’d like me to work on next. They’re both very challenging to draw and fiddle with, but I’m always happy to shift my priorities in any way you guys want me to. ww

#Inazuma ELeven #Sakuma Jirou #Inazuma Japan #settei #info #miximax #mixi max #reasons behind the miximax #Inazuma Eleven Go #Inazuma Eleven Ares #Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin

[mhsn033]

Premier League: How do Liverpool compare to best teams?

Which personnel is the suitable of the Premier League generation?

Liverpool ran away with their first high-flight title in 30 years, nonetheless how attain they compare with the suitable Premier League teams?

BBC Sport has drawn up a shortlist of 10 title-winning sides and we’re wanting to know where you suspect Jurgen Klopp’s 2019-20 personnel tainted.

Are they higher than the Arsenal “Invincibles”, Jose Mourinho’s first Chelsea personnel, Manchester United’s Treble winners or Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City story-breakers?

Vote for the personnel you suspect is the suitable on the backside of this internet page.

Arsenal

1997-98

Other essential squad participants: Keown, Grimandi, Platt, Anelka

“First and fundamental, I believed: ‘What does this Frenchman know about football?'” said Arsenal captain Tony Adams, unimpressed on the appointment of manager Arsene Wenger from Japanese facet Grampus Eight.

However the Frenchman silenced critics in his first fleshy season in payment.

The Premier League looked misplaced in February when the Gunners had been 12 sides adrift of reigning champions Manchester United, nonetheless an ideal tiring-season payment that integrated 10 straight victories noticed the trophy head to Highbury.

Having pipped United to the title by a single point and with Wenger now the vital international manager to eradicate the English high-flight title, Arsenal went on to total a home double that season, beating Newcastle in the FA Cup final.

The personnel turned into packed with leaders – including Adams, Steve Bould and David Seaman – and also sprinkled with the magic of Dutch duo Marc Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp. Midfielders Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit went on to eradicate the World Cup with France that summer season.

2003-04

Other essential squad participants: Cygan, Edu, Parlour, Reyes

The Invincibles – wins: 26, attracts: 12, defeats: 0.

Wenger’s Arsenal grew to turn into the vital English facet to head the fleshy league season unbeaten since Preston in 1888-89, to instruct their second title in three years.

They prolonged their excellent lope to a high-flight story 49 video games, sooner than being beaten 2-0 at Dilapidated Trafford by competitors Manchester United the following season.

Vieira and Bergkamp remained from the 1997-98 personnel, with German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann between the sticks, Sol Campbell marshalling the defence and the most effective-wanting Thierry Henry leading up front.

Slight did Arsenal supporters suspect then that 16 years later they haven’t got seen their personnel uncover the Premier League trophy yet again.

Chelsea

2004-05

Other essential squad participants: Johnson, Smertin, Tiago, Kezman

“I even have high players and I’m sorry, we have now a high manager. Please attain no longer name me smug because what I direct is factual. I’m European champion, I’m no longer one out of the bottle. I feel I’m a definite one.”

Portuguese manager Mourinho indubitably made an entrance to English football when appointed as Chelsea boss the summer season after guiding the unfancied Porto to Champions League glory.

Bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Mourinho constructed a Blues machine that gained the title from holders Arsenal by 12 sides. They conceded a miserly 15 goals in 38 video games and kept 25 clear sheets – both records that composed stand.

Chelsea misplaced merely one game all campaign – in opposition to Manchester City in October – and picked up their first high-flight title for 50 years. They went on to protect their crown the following season.

Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira, who both adopted Mourinho from Porto, formed phase of the almost impenetrable defence alongside captain John Terry, whereas retaining midfielder Claude Makelele allowed Frank Lampard the liberty to push ahead and ranking 13 league goals that season.

2009-10

Other essential squad participants: Alex, Zhirkov, Essien, Deco, Joe Cole, Kalou, Sturridge

One other Chelsea manager, another title in his first season and the FA Cup too – nonetheless all in very different circumstances.

While Mourinho’s mantra turned into to slash a aim and aid it tight on the aid (12 of their wins in 2004-05 had been by a single aim), Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti’s philosophy turned into per attacking football and blowing away opponents.

Chelsea ended the campaign with 103 goals, a story on the time, and a aim distinction of 71 to contain high sooner than Manchester United – by merely a single point.

Terry, Lampard, Drogba and goalkeeper Petr Cech featured heavily as soon as yet again, with the likes of Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka providing the attacking expertise.

Manchester United

1993-94

Other essential squad participants: Sharpe, Robson, McClair

The shock signing of Eric Cantona for £1.2m from Leeds throughout the 1992-93 season turned into the catalyst for Manchester United’s first title triumph in 26 years.

Helped by the French mastermind, the Red Devils done high in the inaugural Premier League season and made it aid-to-aid titles the following campaign.

Cantona scored 18 league goals and turned into named the Legit Footballers’ Association Participant of the Yr, with United going on to instruct their first home double by thrashing Chelsea 4-0 in the FA Cup final. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men can have made it a home treble nonetheless had been beaten 3-1 by Aston Villa in the League Cup final.

That dressing room turned into no longer for the faint hearted, fleshy of trusty personalities including Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel, Steve Bruce, Paul Ince and Cantona.

1998-99

Other essential squad participants: Berg, Brown, P. Neville, Butt, Blomqvist, Sheringham, Solskjaer

“Champions of Europe, champions of England, winners of the FA Cup – every little thing their hearts favor.” Clive Tyldesley’s commentary throughout Manchester United’s final-gasp eradicate over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final summed up the season completely.

United grew to turn into the vital – and completely – English personnel to eradicate all three trophies in the a linked campaign, and their Premier League triumph turned into the vital of three in a row.

Strikers Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke combined in a ambitious partnership to win 53 goals that season, whereas summer season signing Jaap Stam turned into a rock in front of Schmeichel in the Danish keeper’s final season at Dilapidated Trafford.

However they had huge power in depth too, with Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer readily available off the bench, both scoring the all-vital tiring goals in the eradicate over Bayern. Jesper Blomqvist and Nicky Butt began that game in instruct of the suspended Keane and Paul Scholes.

2007-08

Other essential squad participants: O’Shea, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Anderson, Nani, Park, Saha

Legendary manager Ferguson’s longevity lay no longer completely in his unmatched self-belief, nonetheless also in his capability to make a different of winning sides. The 2007-08 squad turned into his third generation of title winners.

But again, it turned into the originate of three straight Premier League victories, and so as well they triumphed in the 2008 Champions League final in opposition to Chelsea in Moscow.

Well-known person ahead Cristiano Ronaldo scored 42 goals that season, 31 in the league, and gained the vital of his 5 Ballons d’Or – nonetheless he might maybe no longer have finished it without the red meat up of hardworking forwards Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

The orderly Rio Ferdinand and rugged Nemanja Vidic complemented every different completely in central defence, whereas Michael Carrick kept the personnel ticking in the center of the park alongside membership stalwarts Scholes and Giggs.

Leicester City

2015-16

Other essential squad participants: Schlupp, King, Ulloa

Undoubtedly one of sport’s finest fairytales?

Leicester had been looking at relegation for quite loads of the old season, nonetheless a lope of seven victories in their final 9 video games noticed them contain the campaign in 14th instruct, six sides determined of the descend zone.

Despite galvanising the personnel for his or her revival, Nigel Pearson turned into sacked as manager and loads of scoffed on the appointment of Italian Claudio Ranieri.

However Leicester and Ranieri had been the ones laughing in May merely as they secured the title in amazing trend, 10 sides determined of second-positioned Arsenal.

Jamie Vardy netted 24 goals throughout the season to eradicate the Premier League Participant of the Yr award, whereas Riyad Mahrez’s aesthetic form noticed him capture up the PFA Avid gamers’ Participant of the Yr award.

Manchester City

2017-18

Other squad participants: Danilo, Stones, Gundogan, Toure, Bernardo Silva, Jesus

Manchester City offered maybe the most iconic Premier League moment when Sergio Aguero netted an hurt-time winner on the closing day in opposition to QPR to present the membership their first title in 44 years on the tip of the 2011-12 campaign.

For the explanation that flip of the final decade, City have gained four titles – extra than any different facet – and their eradicate in 2017-18 turned into the most dominant performance in the historical previous of the competitors.

Guardiola’s men grew to turn into the vital personnel to attain 100 sides and claimed quite about a different records too, including:

Most wins: 32

Most consecutive wins: 18

Most away wins: 16

Most goals: 106, surpassing Ancelotti’s Chelsea

Wonderful aim distinction: 79, beating another of Ancelotti’s records

Wonderful sides margin to second instruct: 19

The undoubted well-known person of the facet turned into passmaster Kevin de Bruyne. Aguero led the line up front for quite loads of the campaign, whereas Ederson introduced a new dimension to goalkeeping with his range of passing.

Liverpool

2019-20

Other essential squad participants: Adrian, Lovren, Matip, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Origi

Thirty years, that’s how long Liverpool had to serve to instruct their 19th high-flight title.

Klopp delivered the Champions League the old season and agonisingly came runners-up to Manchester City by a single point in the league.

However the Reds at final ended three decades of hurt by claiming the Premier League title for the vital time. In doing so with seven video games to spare, it turned into the earliest point in the season a personnel that finished the feat.

Marshalled in defence by mammoth centre-aid Virgil van Dijk and expert goalkeeper Alisson, the vaunted front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino had been allowed to flourish at different dwell of the pitch.

The truth they sealed the title so early can have price them in their pursuit of a host of records they had been heading in the suitable path to break.

They misplaced two and drew one of their final seven video games, so fell wanting breaking the Premier League sides story (100, held by Manchester City) and, after finishing 18 sides determined of second-positioned City, can no longer claim to have the finest title-winning margin. Their final tally of 99 sides is, though, the second-top most likely in Premier League historical previous.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3ferkW4 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

[ask-the-phan-site]

Phan Cam: A Superior Suspicion

>Shujin Academy. First day back after Summer Break.

>Homeroom.

Welcome back, class. I hope you all had a nice summer.

>The class agreed.

Becky: Today, I would like to start class with a question. Now, look at this kanji.

Becky: Now most of you already know, this means “shark”. Here, we pounce this kanji as “sam-eh”. But when written in romaji, it’s spelled as a completely different word from the English language. Does anyone know what that word is?

>She looks around... Finally, some raised their hand.

Becky: You?

>...

This word is “same”. As in things that are alike.

Becky: Correct! However...

You being here makes it feel like the same old days when you were under probation.

Joker: ...

Becky: I know, I know, it feels natural being here since you’ve been coming here for a year. Never mind, just as long as you behave yourself, I’ll just tell them that your old school is having some trouble and sent you here to finish your studies. Anyway, yes, in English it would look like “same”, which is pronounce with the silent e at the end making the a say its name. If you ever get confused about shark and same sounding the same, if you pardon that, have a look at this.

Becky: Just imagine that this is the dorsal fin of a shark sticking out of the water. And those lines at the bottom are its back fins. Okay, now, for the remainder of the lesson, write a full page essay on what you did over the summer.

>Luckily, my level of Knowledge should help me make something up so I won’t have to add all the Phantom Thief activities. Except for the Dream Festival and the End of Summer since those things actually happened.

>The courtyard at lunchtime.

I can’t believe it. We just had the greatest summer of our lives and now it’s over.

Well, you have to admit, this summer was unforgettable. Especially you turning into an alien.

Skull: And made a new friend on the way.

And encountered a dangerous cult. With a third rate hacker.

Sounds like something I should have seen.

Skull: I’m sure you’ll see Overflow soon.

By the way, Sakamoto kun, how was New York?

Skull: It wasn’t exactly how we expected.

Joker: Why? What happened?

Skull: Well, at Coney Island, Black Cat stole the prize money from a hot dog eatin' contest... Which Miles won. Pete, as Spider-Man, had to go after her. At the ball game, some moron called Tinkerer tried to sabotage the game so his team would win. Spider-Man managed to stop him, but Aunt May thought he was bad luck and asked us to leave, mostly to check on F.E.A.S.T., which wasn’t so bad because, to our actual luck, Captain America and Captain Marvel were there visitin' the younger homeless there. Next, the Ross Caliban concert was almost canceled because someone kidnapped Ross Caliban. It turns out it was Hammerhead so he could sing at his son’s birthday party. Spider-Man, me, and Akechi saved him, along with a selfie, but we couldn't go back to the concert.

Royal: That sounds like you and Akechi kun had a hard time.

Skull: Well, it wasn’t entirely bad.

Joker: Why?

We made a new friend at camp.

Panther: Really? Who?

We... Can’t really tell ya. But I’m sure we’ll see him again someday.

I’m sure you will.

Royal: I almost forgot, it looks like it’s not just Persona 5: Royal that will be coming out.

Joker: I know about Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.

Panther: First a game where we dance, then a game where we are in another dimensions, both of which we might have little memories of. Though, we definitely remembered the dancing. And now we have an Action RPG?

Oracle: Well look on the bright side...

There’s a chance it won’t be delayed like a certain other action rpg we know.

Royal: Now that’s a mean thing to say about Kingdom Hearts III.

Panther: I wonder if it’ll be like a Kingdom Hearts game. I know I saw the footage, but it’s still a bit hard to believe. A lot of us grew up on that game.

Skull: I’m still pissed about what happened to Sora at the end.

Joker: We’ll see him again soon, Ryuji. If there’s one thing we should know about Sora, he’s not the type to just up and die. He’ll be back, just like he said.

But just to be sure, I’ll have to have a little talk with Tetsuya Nomura... Or that guy from the other cafe.

What do I have a bad feeling on both accounts?

>Time passes and the bell rang to end school for the day.

Joker: Hey Ryuji, wanna train today? I was originally going to do some people watching with Yusuke, but he got chosen for duty today and can’t make it. And Makoto, Haru, and Akechi are busy with their studies.

Skull: Normally I’d say yes, but I got a follow up interview with KUROFUNE today. Maybe tomorrow.

Joker: Ann?

Panther: I’ve got a photo shoot today.

Oracle: And I promised Sojiro I’d help him and Diego at the cafe today.

Royal: And I have gymnastics practice.

Admin: I’m available. I’ve actually been meaning to gather some information about any criminals.

That might be a bit too much. But thanks, I’ll come.

Sweet! Let’s go.

Oracle: Take care of him, Nishima.

>Admin sighs in frustration over what Oracle keeps calling him, but just laughs it off and we head off.

>Akihabara. Me and Admin walked around trying to gather information on potential targets... Nothing. But we did some nice stuff from the capsule machine.

Admin: Guess things are good here for now.

Joker: I’m sure something will come up. The Phansite is still up and I’m sure something will come.

I know. Thanks.

>Admin checks his phone.

Admin: We’ve been walking around for hours, I guess we should eat before going home.

Joker: Alright. But let’s eat at the diner. I’m in no mood for having hot coffee spilt on me or my omelet having too much ketchup.

>We were just about to leave when we heard someone calling... It was Shinya’s mother. She looks worried.

Mrs. Oda: You!

Joker: Me?

Mrs. Oda: Yes, you. You’re the one my son spends time with.

Joker: Yes, I am. Why, what’s wrong?

Mrs. Oda: You haven’t seen him, have you?

Joker: No. Why?

Mrs. Oda: He was suppose to be home from school. I thought he probably went to the arcade like he normally does. We moved above there since they renovated. But he wasn’t there. I even asked his friends. I also though he probably went to the hospital to visit Yuta since his brother or whoever he is to him won the money for the operation. He’s not there either. Which Yuta’s unhappy about.

Joker: What do you mean?

Mrs. Oda: I spoke with Yuta’s mother. They’ve set the date for his operation. It’s very soon. Yuta was hoping to ask Shinya something.

Joker: What?

Mrs. Oda: (shaking her head) She said he would only tell Shinya. But we can’t find him anywhere.

Joker: Have you tried calling him?

Mrs. Oda: I did. It just goes to voicemail. I even tried asking at his school. His teachers said that he left school as the bell rang. No one had seen him since. I’m about ready to call the police.

Joker: Hold on. I have a friend who might be able to help. If that’s okay.

Mrs. Oda: Right now, I’m willing to try anything.

>I take out my phone and contact Oracle.

Futaba, can you help with something?

What’s up?

Shinya Oda is missing. His mother tried contacting him, but now answer. Do you think you can track his phone?

I’ll see what I can do. Good thing I brought my laptop.

>A little later.

Got it! I’m sending you the location now.

Thanks, Futaba.

>With that, I get the location on my phone.

Mrs. Oda: Well?

Joker: It looks like his phone is near Miura Beach. Let’s look there.

Mrs. Oda: Right.

Admin: I’ll stay at the arcade in case he comes back.

Joker: Right. See you.

>With that, we leave.

>In the summer, Miura Beach is crowded with people. But now the summer was coming to an end and autumn fast approaching, there were very few people still here... We really need to remember to come back here next year. Anyway, me and Mrs. Oda arrived.

Joker: Okay, the map says that Shinya’s phone should be right over...

There!

Mrs. Oda: (a bit surprised) Well... I guess... It’s no surprise that a legendary gamer would want legendary ramen.

Joker: Try calling again.

>Mrs. Oda takes out her phone and calls... We hear a ringtone inside the truck. We check inside. We find a backpack with Shinya’s name on it. And near ti... His cap. We look inside the backpack... His phone with at least a dozen messages from his mother.

CRAP!

Mrs. Oda: That’s it, I’m calling the cops.

>Shinya where the hell are you?

>On a hidden ship out at sea, Shinya comes to.

(if you’re wondering why he has his cap on when it was left behind, that’s because this is the only sprite there is of him) Wh- What happened to me? I remember the legendary ramen truck. I knew I had some money and some time, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to stop for a bit. Damn, I should have known it was odd. The legendary truck never stops unless someone catches it. I got in, got some ramen, eat some of it and...

Ugh! I just can’t remember.

>Shinya tries to get up... But he feels something painful on his back.

Shinya: OW! What the...

>He feels his back. It was...

What!? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?

>It was... A shark dorsal fin.

????????: Ah, I see you’re awake at last. I know it was wrong to hijack a legendary ramen truck, but still, for my research.

Shinya: What... What did you do to me?

????????: I merely gave you half of my serum.

>The man then walks into the light.

The rest is right here. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt... Much.

>Shinya tries to back away from the man, but he was too strong and quick and grabbed Shinya and injected him with something. After that, Shinya started writhing in pain.

Mad scientist: Amazing! The legendary gamer, Shinya Oda. You have been playing Gun About for so long, you might actually become skilled with a real gun. And combined with this serum. This... Gene Slammer, I might actually create the perfect being that I, Dr. Anton Sevarius, would put this serum’s original creator, the ‘great’ Dr. Luther Paradigm, to shame. You see, the problem with our creations... Is who we chose for it. We chose random people... But now I’m choosing more carefully.

Shinya: (still in pain) What’s... What’s going to happen to me?

Dr. Sevarius: Rest assure that when the pain is over... You will be beautiful.

Shinya: (now in the greatest pain there is): No... N-

NOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

>With that, Shinya falls.

Dr. Sevarius: Such drama... I love it.

>Suddenly, someone comes in.

I don’t feel right about mutating a kid, but if it means we can make the Pack stronger, we’ll try anything... Can a shark even be part of a pack?

Dr. Sevarius: Normally, a group of sharks is called a frenzy. And that’s why we will be creating this new group of fighters. Our... Pack Frenzy.

Wolf: I see. By the way, Jackle-

Voice from outside: (clearing thought)

Wolf: (groan) Captain Jackle said we’re approaching Fission City. I can’t believe this ship got us here so quickly. Where did you say you got it from again?

Dr. Sevarius: Just something Halcyon Renard won’t miss... Especially where he is now.

>Meanwhile, in a riverside warehouse in New York where the ship is suppose to be...

Well... This can’t be good. Miss Anastasia won’t like this... If she ever comes back from one of her long trips.

Worker: What do you suggest we do, Mr. Vogel?

Mr. Vogel: ... Get me Elisa Maza.

>Back on the ship which is now really close to Fission City, California.

Wolf: I don’t understand. Why come here to Fission City? What about those Street Sharks who live here a lot?

Dr. Sevarius: Think of it this way... No gargoyles.

Wolf: That’s something, I guess.

>Hearing this, after the pain finally stopped, Shinya breaks free of his chains and knocks the two men aside. He runs out of the room and jumps off deck into the water and swims to the city ahead.

Wolf: That can’t be good. I’m going after him.

Dr. Sevarius: Don’t bother. Where will he go? He’s a stranger in a strange land... and sea here.

Wolf: What about the Street Sharks?

Dr. Sevarius: ... Go after him.

>Then, with a loud howl, Wolf changes.

Believe me, I will.

>Fission City. Shinya Oda, once a regular boy who was really good at shooter games, was now roaming in a place he has never been before... But he does know of it.

Shinya: (at his mother’s request, we will not be showing him as a shark/human being, use your imagination) If this place is Fission City... Lena... Damn, if only I had my phone.

>Shinya looked around and spotted a phone booth and goes to it. He finds a phone book. Keep in mind, Shinya is still learning English, so finding what he’s looking for in an American phone book is difficult. But, after a little struggling, he found what was looking for. Lena Mack. Her address was with it.

Shinya: Got it!

>The apartment of young scientist, Lena Mack. Lena Mack was just about to go on her morning run when...

Shinya: (calling from the bushes) Psst!

Who’s there.

>Shinya comes out of his hiding place.

Lena Mack: (surprised) A shark!?

Shinya: Lena onesan*.

Onesan=big sister

Lena Mack: Wait... King bo*? Is... Is that you?

Bo=used for babies or young boys.

Shinya: I could use a little help. Can you take me someplace.

Lena: I know a place.

>In a sewer like lair, Lena introduces Shinya to her friends, Bends... and the Street Sharks.

I don’t believe it! We finally lock up Piranoid for good, then someone comes along and copies him? And does it to a kid? Taking him away from his mother just like that?

I know you’re upset, Jab, but we can fix this. We still have the antidote we used on ourselves once.

I don’t know, you guys. I’ve heard of this Sevarius guy from a friend of mine in New York. If what he says is true, there’s a chance he’s probably expecting us to use the antidote and made it so it wouldn’t work, or worse.

Then what are we suppose to do?

Bends: I suppose telling someone won’t work. This guy might try to do something if we do.

Then we’ll just go after him. We’ll make him pay for what he did.

Streex: He’s got the Pack with him. And they’re probably prepared for us... Makes you wish those gargoyles were here right now. But still, we can’t let this go by. If we want to be sure that if he really made it so the antidote doesn’t work, we need to get it straight from him.

Lena: How do we do that? Convince him to have a change of heart?

Shinya: ... Actually, that’s exactly what should happen.

Lena: You know something?

Shinya: I do. All I need... Is the Internet.

>Ripster takes Shinya to the computer and he begins typing away.

Shinya: Phantom. Aficionado. Website.

Ripster: The Phantom Thieves of Hearts? I guess that might work. If this guy isn’t heartless as people say he is, they might help.

Shinya: No, I can tell he’s definitely heartless... But I think I know a target for them.

Bends: Who?

Shinya: A member of the Pack, Wolf, he sounds like he genuinely didn’t like that Sevarius mutated a kid for his plans. Maybe he’s our ticket.

Jab: (smiling) I actually like the way you think... Kahuna.

Shinya: (puzzled) Kahuna?

Jab: Yeah, gotta call your shark form something. Going by your real name might cause problems. I thought of Kahuna ‘cause you’re the big man where you come from. Plus, you managed to escape from your kidnappers and swim all the way here.

Shinya: Kahuna? ... You know, I actually like that.

Big Slammu: Glad you do

>So, Kahuna, begins making his request... What’s going to happen next.

#phantom thieves cam

[thefootballlife]

Scottish Premiership Preview Part Two

Livingston

There were, last season, three Livingstons. There was Livi One - under Kenny Miller for a cup of coffee, which went about as well as you’d expect a Kenny Miller reign to go. There was Livi Two - under Gary Holt for the first half of the season where they defied expectations, got big results, lifted themselves into the top six and looked like they might stay there.

Then there was Livi Three. The one that won only three of seventeen league games in 2019 adding only 14 points to their total. Pulled out over the whole season, that would have put the club 11th. Given that last season’s bottom side Dundee were worse than your average bottom side, Livi would normally have been staring at automatic relegation with that sort of form.

Gary Holt has reacted to that by being active in the transfer market and has at least benefitted from a positive Betfred Cup group stage. But the transfer business says a lot as to Livi’s chances. Declan Gallagher and Craig Halkett are big losses to the club’s defence with Nicky Devlin the one addition for whom you would be confident would slot in and do well in the Premiership straight away. Aymen Souda has started well up front but Livi are his twelfth club and his two League Cup goals have already matched his best-ever season, which isn’t exactly the most encouraging stat for a striker.

Ultimately, Livi were favourites for relegation last season for good reason and, for the second half of last season, showed exactly why that was the case. This season’s crop are, if anything, weaker on paper that the side they began last season with. Reasons for encouragement are thin on the ground although they should take some heart from the fact that they are not the only side in this boat this season.

Motherwell

Stephen Robinson had a marvellous first full season at Motherwell with multiple cup finals. Last season began with some growing pains, however, and it took until after the split for Robinson to find a side that gelled. The key to that was, of course, David Turnbull, subject to a move to Celtic that was off again and on again more than a light-switch before eventually being off for good after a medical threw up a knee issue that will have Turnbull out for a currently undetermined period.

Motherwell start this season, though, in relatively fine fettle. The side hasn’t had much in the way of departures and they will be optimistic that Turnbull’s injury will have him back in relatively short order - certainly sooner than the six months originally diagnosed. Even if not, Motherwell’s recruitment has been the aggressive recruitment of a side that’s well aware there’s going to be a fair whack of money coming their way for Turnbull sooner or later. So far, it’s paid dividends with a relatively tricky Betfred Cup group negotiated in style - four wins out of four and multiple new signings getting on the scoresheet.

The defence seems to be working with Liam Donnelly becoming a goal machine, Christian Ilic playing every game so far and Declan Gallagher fitting in well also. In midfield, Turnbull is currently not there but the side still has ability in there - Liam Polworth is an experienced replacement who will look to thrive now he has left Inverness and few will need reminded of Allan Campbell’s potential. Casper Sloth has come in and not played much of a role yet but is another promising addition. In attack, Sherwin Seedorf has impressed, as has English non-league get Jermaine Hylton. Youth product James Scott has scored three in the League Cup, including a double against Morton to suggest that he could be another impressive addition to the already formidable recent history of Motherwell’s youth system.

Had Motherwell’s first half of the season matched their second, the club would have been 15 points better off and aiming for Europe. That is even in consideration of a slight drop off in energy levels post-split. If this side can pick up where they left off and if this side can adequately replace Turnbull for the next 3-4 months (in assumption he is able to be back for at least some of the festive season, there is no reason why Europe can’t be a reasonable target for them. Given the likely drop off of Kilmarnock, the top six is definitely achievable for them. If anything, it’d be a bit disappointing were Well not to be targeting that sort of position in the league. They seem to have the defence, they have a remarkably settled team, they come in on the back of arguably the most impressive Betfred Cup group campaign of any Premiership side and they open with a perfect chance to get points on the board against Livi. 

The only surprise this season would be for Motherwell to not be the league’s surprise package.

Rangers

Rangers are going to finish second again.

Not much of a prediction, I know, but it has to be stated. They are economically well ahead of ten sides in the league and well behind the other one. Even though Rangers managed to actually beat Celtic last season - twice - the gap between the two is not smaller one bit as, ultimately, the two performances put in by Celtic that led to those wins were about the most lethargic performances one could imagine the team putting in. Quite simply, Rangers got the points but never in a ding-dong battle between the two.

That said, Rangers are far better prepared this season to deal with that sort of thing than they were 12 months ago. Last season was very much a qualified success - nothing in the way of silverware but plenty in the way of making Scottish football a duopoly. Other sides haven't shown anything this summer to suggest that that state of duopoly is going to change much. The Rangers are stronger than the ten teams below them argument is bolstered by the addition of Filip Helander and, in particular, Joe Aribo, who has hit the ground running. Add to that the composure of Glen Kamara in midfield and you have a very solid unit. Kamara screens the defence and is able to hold the ball and control the tempo of games and has made the team far more stable.

Stability is something Rangers have long lacked and it remains to be seen whether the element of the side Gerrard tinkered with most last year - central defence - will be afforded any this season. Last season's uneforced shift from Goldson-Katic to fit Joe Worrall into the side backfired and, with the addition of Helander and Edmundson as options at the back, it remains to be seen whether Gerrard can firstly find the right combination at the back and then, secondly, to resist the temptation to mess with it when it doesn't need messing with.

Rangers' target this season is relatively simple - 85 points. Get to that and there will have been a title race that will have gone all the way. It's not about bridging the gap but narrowing it and making marginal gains. Cup success relies, of course, on luck and shouldn't be relied upon but a final appearance (at least) would be a fair expectation.

Obviously, this all depends on there not being anything too odd happening down Ibrox way. Mike Ashley may have something to say about that, as may clubs sniffing around Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier. Rangers fans are unlikely to want to hear it, but there's a fair chance that the Rangers team as presented right now will be that wee bit stronger than the team they are left with at the end of the transfer window, particularly should there not be the same progression in Europe as there was last season.

In short, this season may feel like much of a muchness. Slight progress domestically, but only slight.

Ross County

Four League Cup games down and four wins including a pleasant win over St Johnstone, who they will likely be direct rivals against for part of this league season are the definition of a decent pre-season for a side coming up to the Premiership.

There’s plenty to hold against this County side - they weren’t exactly the most impressive winners of the Championship nor have there been massive upheavals to the playing staff. Even those players coming in are the likes of Joe Chalmers, Jack Ruddy and Blair Spittal, neither of whom exactly set the Championship alight when they featured in it. Is this simply a good Championship side planted in a division above where it should be?

To give County the benefit of the doubt, they have a hungry side that have a point to prove. Billy McKay flopped last time he was in the Premiership, Ross Stewart and Josh Mullin missed out on chances to play in the Premiership last season, Blair Spittal played in fits and starts only and Iain Vigurs and Ross Draper both enter this season knowing it could be their last shot at the Premiership. Simon Power has fitted in well since joining on loan but key signing is the chaos factor of Lee Erwin, returned from his Iranian adventure, bringing with him the key to unlocking defences as well as potentially the nuclear codes.

The side is, on paper, clearly not the worst in the league. Given the standard of some of the teams around the bottom of the Premiership, if County hit the ground running, they should be one of the best sides in the bottom six. That’s less an endorsement of County and more an appreciation that the bottom six sides this season all look pretty bad. Their first three games include home games against Hamilton and Livi and those will be the measure of this side - if they can get six points from them then expectations beyond merely just survival should be entertained.

St Johnstone

Every year, Tommy Wright publicly bemoans his budget then gets a little bit more budget then pulls off another massive achievement in keeping St Johnstone competitive. 

This year, Wright has had his little moan and has seemed to get precisely sod all. As such, what argument can you make for a side that has lost Tony Watt (29 apps last term), Blair Alston (21 and 4 goals), Joe Shaughnessy (33 and 3 goals) and have brought in the total sum of one back up goalkeeper and a loanee from the Estonian league?

The Betfred Cup showed what argument you can make - none. A home loss to Ross County isn’t encouraging given County will be around them in the league table this term. Losing fair and square to Montrose and Forfar isn’t just unencouraging, it’s downright worrying. They have an ageing cohort - Liam Craig turns 33 this year, Ricky Foster 34, Danny Swanson 33, Murray Davidson 32.

How far St Johnstone could fall, however, is difficult to say. If nothing else, they will still be well organised and should not be prone to the calamitous defending one often sees from struggling sides.

Where their inspiration comes from in attack, however, is much more difficult to determine. Michael O’Halloran will be the attacking spearhead but was not productive last season and, even prior to that, was only ever streaky. Chris Kane is, well, Chris Kane and isn’t going to progress further than what we have already seen from him and David McMillan appears a project that just hasn’t worked. Feeding them are Swanson and Wotherspoon, both also very streaky in their performances. The rest is solidity and little more.

St Johnstone scored only 38 times last season, conceding 48. An assessment of the side as is now can only see that for column dropping a little and the against column rising a little. It spells trouble.

St Mirren

A year ago, St Mirren entered their return to the Premiership with acrimony behind the scenes, dumping Alan Stubbs very early into the season and bringing in Oran Kearney. Given that they stayed up last season having had that false start, St Mirren have obviously decided that it would be a good idea to try that tactic again with Oran Kearney departing at the end of June and Jim Goodwin coming in.

Whatever happens, Jim Goodwin will be afforded time given that he rightly has legendary status at the club. His time at Alloa showed he knows his stuff, getting them promoted to the Championship and then keeping them up in amongst an extremely heated relegation battle pulling off some impressive results. But he will need to perform more miracles this season to keep St Mirren competitive. Their Betfred Cup campaign was diabolical, winning only once and losing on penalties to East Kilbride and Albion Rovers along with a home loss to Dunfermline in which they were 3-0 down at half time.

Kearney’s side that stayed up was not an especially good one and was massively bolstered by loan signings. Goodwin has shown he can use the loan market well from Alloa, where he brought in Jake Hastie and Dario Zanatta to good effect last season, but they key problem is that Goodwin has had a month less to work on this sort of thing than any other manager in the Premiership. His signings so far have been Tony Andreu, who did nothing to convince last season at Hamilton that he is still capable at this level, and Oan Djorkaeff, whose claim to fame is that he once resided in Youri Djorkaeff’s testes having not made it at multiple French clubs.

Quite simply, St Mirren have a crap team that has had far less time to work on not being crap than other sides and that has had a crap Betfred Cup campaign. Oran Kearney didn’t work miracles by any means, but the difference he made with January signings is the only reason St Mirren finished 11th and not 12th last season. The bare bones of the squad minus those loans and short term deals consistently performed worse than a Dundee side that is one of the worst sides in the recent history of the top flight and there is no question that, on paper, this St Mirren side right now looks quite a bit worse than that Dundee side.

Jim Goodwin deserved the chance at a higher level than Alloa, but there’s not a more challenging task he could have taken on than this St Mirren side who look destined for relegation.

[freebestbettingtips]

Premier League: Wolves 0-2 Liverpool

New Post has been published on https://bestfreebettingtips.com/premier-league-wolves-0-2-liverpool/

Premier League: Wolves 0-2 Liverpool

Artwork by @chapulana.

Wolves put in a valiant performance against Liverpool, however, Jurgen Klopp’s side were simply superior all over the pitch and were good value for their 2-0 win. Some would argue that Matt Doherty should’ve been awarded a penalty not long before the interval. Others would say it would’ve been harsh.

Irrespective of decisions that were or weren’t given, there’s at least something that we can all agree on. Virgil van Dijk is a monster. Adama Traore is the fastest player in world football, according to FIFA, yet VVD managed the Spaniard expertly.

In this tactical analysis, we’ll look at the battle between the aforementioned pairing, Liverpool’s two goals and who knows, maybe something else as a Christmas treat. We shall see.

Team news

Before moving on to the game itself, we shall look at the two starting lineups.

As you can see from above, Moutinho played between the lines, essentially in Gibbs-White’s position while Saiss partnered Neves in the centre of midfield. With the absence of Jota, Adama Traore was selected up top.

It’ll be interesting to see what Nuno does for the game against Fulham as the pairing of Jimenez and Traore wasn’t that successful.

Klopp made a couple of changes as Milner came in for Clyne and Henderson replaced Wijnaldum. Mo Salah continued as a central striker and to say he was effective would be a huge understatement.

As the above ratings show, Liverpool had three players rated above eight. Alisson, VVD and Salah. That pretty much sums the game up, those three were a class above and ultimately made the difference.  

The art of defending

Traore had a couple of half-chances before Salah put Liverpool in front. VVD marshalled Traore magnificently and rather than diving in, he kept him out wide. Have a look.

Rather than looking at the chance that came about from a poor Fabinho pass, we’ll view the one which should have been right up Traore’s alley to do some damage.

One on one, you’d back Traore.

Jimenez does well to bring Traore into the game and because Lovren has pressurised the Mexican, it leaves Traore in a direct duel versus van Dijk. All that needs to be done here is Traore to knock it beyond the Dutchman and then he gets on his bike.

That’s not exactly how it pans out…

Marvellous defending.

VVD goes with Traore. For some reason, Adama opts against trying the old ‘knock and run’ so VVD just goes with him all the way. What I’ve done with the two red lines is signified where Traore could’ve gone. If he knocks it out wide he would have had to wait for the supporting cast to arrive and the counter would be dead in the water.

Alternatively, if he burst inside, you’d guess that one of two things would happen. 1) van Dijk would bring him down, get sent off and the game would open up completely. 2) van Dijk wouldn’t risk the tackle which would leave Traore in a foot race with Lovren and there’s only one winner there. Hindsight is wonderful. In the end, Traore did precisely what VVD wanted him to do.

Take your shot

Traore fires wide.

VVD ushers Adama Traore down the side and practically invites him to shoot. Alisson is a top class keeper and it would take a very, very good effort from there to beat the Brazilian.

Unfortunately for Wolves, the effort is dragged wide of the far post. Many defenders in VVD’s position would’ve dived in and Traore would’ve been through on goal.

We’ll revisit VVD later on when we look at his goal, beforehand, let’s see his performance in numbers.

Credit: SofaScore.

Just the 91% success rate when it comes to his passing. He also won every duel. Staggering, sensational, superb. I could use adjectives to describe his performance until the cows come home, although I guess that’s not why you came here.

Slick movement or sloppiness?

Liverpool took the lead in the 19th minute, which means that Wolves have now conceded 10 of their 21 goals in the middle third of the first half.

In fact, if you look bigger than that, Wolves have shipped 16 of their 21 in the middle third of both halves. 15-30 mins and 60-75 mins, in case you haven’t quite followed that. Now, we shall analyse how Liverpool broke the deadlock.

Salah scores after being assisted by Fabinho.

The white arrows denote the approximate finishing positions of both Mo Salah and Fabinho. So, just how do they both end up there and most importantly how do they end up there unescorted?

Salah (circled) begins to drift inside.

A quick interchange with Mane and Fabinho is in far too much room after Boly is too slow to respond. Mane’s intelligence to move out wide opens the gap for Fabinho to play in. It’ll be clearer below.

Fabinho runs passed a static Boly.

Boly’s lack of awareness is sloppy. If you watch the goal back, Neves even signals to the Frenchman that Fabinho is coming his way. Mane’s deft pass is picked up by Fabinho who tees up Salah wonderfully.

One touch to finish.

Salah, who sneaks around the back, still has over a yard on Conor Coady which gives him all the room he needs to put the Reds one-nil up. Coady either doesn’t get told that Salah is coming or, like Boly, he’s too slow at reacting. Sloppiness on one part, slick movement on the other.

Wolves had spells, but nothing overly convincing

Credit: SofaScore.

Come the end of the first half, the only side that would’ve been relieved to hear the sound of Craig Pawson’s whistle was Liverpool. Wolves’ wing-backs were causing Liverpool all sorts of problems as Jimenez and Traore were pulling out wide to allow space for Jonny and Doherty to move more centrally. Jonny had an effort saved as did his teammate on the other wing, Doherty.

Between the time Liverpool took the lead and halftime, Wolves peppered Alisson’s goal with five attempts. They only managed six more for the rest of the game.

Klopp regrouped at the interval and Wolves’ wing-backs were completely restricted and when van Dijk made it two that was the game done and dusted. What we shall do now is look at how the ex-Southampton man did just that.

Too much room – again!

Last season, Salah was involved in a goal every 68 (rounded up) minutes. So, why Wolves would leave him on his own on the edge of the area is a mystery. It’s not even like they didn’t have enough bodies back to mark him. Have a little look.

The two circles are key.

Circle number one, near side, shows two Wolves players marking space. Yes, you could argue that the Liverpool player coming inside should be picked up by one Wolves player. Either way, that still leaves a spare player on Nuno’s side.

Then, look at the circle of Mo Salah. Why is a player of his quality being left on his own? Rather unsurprisingly, Salah has enough time to put the ball into the box.

Fine margins once again.

Bennett, who was marking van Dijk when the original ball from Robertson came in, gave the Dutchman some room as he pulled off to the edge of the area before Salah got the ball.

In my opinion, that was the right thing to do as if Bennett had gone with him, he would’ve been out of position. Inadvertently, van Dijk then has the run on Bennett, Salah plays the perfect ball and that’s it. van Dijk runs between Coady and Bennett and finishes first time.

A deserved three points

Credit: Infogol.

While Wolves may have had the second-best chance of the game through Morgan Gibbs-White (0.48), Liverpool had four chances better than Wolves second-best chance. What does this tell us?

Firstly, Liverpool were perhaps slightly wasteful after finishing 0.44 goals below their expected xG. Secondly, Liverpool were immense defensively, namely van Dijk, as we’ve already touched on.

Nuno will know that even though Liverpool were the better side, there were a number of crucial aspects which affected the Molineux side’s performance after the break.

Final thoughts

Wolves can take heart from their performance against Liverpool and if Fosun’s aims of domination are to be realised, that’s the benchmark that needs to be aimed for. Liverpool, on the other hand, remain unbeaten and after City’s loss at home to Palace, they’re on the front foot as the new year approaches.

Wolves have a doubleheader in London next on the agenda, Fulham on Boxing Day followed by Spurs a couple of days later. Klopp’s side host Newcastle before Arsenal visit Anfield. Then, there’s the big game against City in the new year.

If Wolves can beat Fulham, they’ll move to back to seventh before anybody else plays on the same day. That’ll certainly make it a very Merry Christmas indeed.

Until the next time.

If you love tactical analysis, then you’ll love the digital magazines from totalfootballanalysis.com – a guaranteed 100+ pages of pure tactical analysis covering topics from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and many, many more. Get your copy of the FIRST of two December issues for just £4.99 here or preorder the SECOND of the December issues with an annual membership right here.

[365footballorg-blog]

These two are in, but who else makes Garth Crooks&#039; team of the week?

Premier League champions Manchester City put six past Huddersfield, Brighton recorded another famous victory over Manchester United, and Chelsea edged a five-goal thriller at home to London rivals Arsenal.

Elsewhere, Harry Kane ended his August goal drought as Tottenham beat Fulham, and Everton’s summer signing Richarlison scored again in their win over Southampton.

Bournemouth and Watford continued their winning starts against West Ham and Burnley respectively, while Leicester bounced back from an opening-day defeat to beat Wolves, and Cardiff earned a first point of the campaign against Newcastle.

But who did enough to make my team of the week? Read my selections and then pick your own XI.

<!–

Goalkeeper – Jordan Pickford

<!–

Jordan Pickford: What a save it was by Jordan Pickford to deny Southampton striker Danny Ings. The Everton goalkeeper struggled to hold an initial shot from Cedric Soares, though it didn’t seem too hot to handle, but reacted brilliantly.

Afterwards, Saints boss Mark Hughes insisted the England keeper should have been sent off for his involvement in a 50-50 contest, which he won, though I can’t remember Hughes ever pulling out of such a tackle in his long, illustrious career.

I don’t know why he would expect Pickford to either. Poor show, Mark. Poor show.

Defenders – Shane Duffy, Steve Cook, Benjamin Mendy

<!–

Shane Duffy: Last week, Brighton manager Chris Hughton was issuing verbal warnings to his players following their defeat at Watford. This week, the manager was full of praise for them. At the heart of Brighton’s victory over Manchester United was centre-back Shane Duffy.

The defender was outstanding, particularly having lost his accomplice Lewis Dunk through injury. Conversely, I don’t think I’ve seen Eric Bailly or Victor Lindelof play as badly in central defence as I did against the Seagulls.

How can Manchester United look so poor in such important positions at this stage of the season? It’s frightening.

Steve Cook: Loyalty and continuity seem to be the name of the game for Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, which is why it is perfectly understandable he has stuck with Steve Cook – a Bournemouth player since their days in League One.

The centre-back’s presence terrified West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna into using strong-arm tactics and, yet, he still could not stop the Cherries defender from getting his head to the ball and planting the winning goal.

I think it’s back to the drawing board for West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Benjamin Mendy: It is no coincidence that Benjamin Mendy’s return to first-team action with Manchester City is having a direct effect on Sergio Aguero’s scoring powers.

The full-back has a clear ability to get into advanced positions using his pace and power, while Aguero is benefiting from Mendy’s pinpoint crosses because they are delivered early.

There is nothing worse than a full-back who takes three touches to get control of the ball when one should be enough.

Midfielders – Gylfi Sigurdsson, David Silva, James Maddison, Marcos Alonso

<!–

Gylfi Sigurdsson: Gylfi Sigurdsson didn’t set the world alight for Everton under Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce last season, after a big-money move to Goodison. However, this season – under Marco Silva – he might.

The Iceland international was outstanding against Southampton and, for me, the best player on the park. The position just behind the striker seems to bring the best out of Sigurdsson and, on this occasion, Everton as well.

I just hope Everton fans treat Silva better than they treated Allardyce.

David Silva: After watching Manchester City demolish Huddersfield at Etihad Stadium, orchestrated by David Silva, it left me in little doubt that back-to-back Premier League titles is seriously on.

Having seen Manchester United’s shambolic performance at Brighton, I think Liverpool are the only team who can stop City.

United boss Jose Mourinho can say Manchester City’s fly-on-the-wall documentary lacks class but City seem to ooze class with every move, and the classiest of them all is David Silva.

James Maddison: I didn’t see a lot of James Maddison in the Championship but I was impressed with his performance against Manchester United in the opening game of the season.

The midfielder seemed to get his reward a week later against Wolves with his first Premier League goal, though I was a bit perturbed by Jamie Vardy’s challenge on Matt Doherty.

Leicester manager Claude Puel claimed his centre-forward’s challenge, which resulted in Vardy receiving his marching orders, was merely over-enthusiastic. Please! Scoring a goal and waving your shirt over your head is over-enthusiastic. Going into a tackle at breakneck speed and making contact just below the opponent’s knee is reckless.

Marcos Alonso: This is a very different Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri than it was under Antonio Conte. For a start, the Blues played parts of the game as though they had forgotten how to defend.

It’s not that long ago that Chelsea had the best defensive record in the league and, with better finishing from Arsenal, the Gunners could have gone on to win this London derby.

Fortunately for Chelsea, Marcos Alonso was on hand to apply the finishing touch to a very entertaining football match. Last week, against Manchester City, I said Arsenal would do well to finish in the top six. This performance against Chelsea was much improved. In fact, they deserved a draw. But I’ve not changed my position.

Forwards – Callum Wilson, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane

<!–

Callum Wilson: Callum Wilson has scored on five separate occasions against West Ham and, after his latest performance against the Hammers, I can see why. The way he breezed past Fabian Balbuena and Pablo Zabaleta was scary from a Hammers perspective.

Pellegrini was so surprised, as he was disappointed, that West Ham fans left the stadium with 10 minutes to play. He does have a point. An awful lot can happen on a football field in 10 minutes – especially if the fans play their part.

That said, this was a rocky Hammers horror show.

Sergio Aguero: The Buenos Aires assassin is at it again. Sergio Aguero was at his deadly best against a Huddersfield side who looked outgunned, outclassed and left for dead in a 6-1 drubbing.

It also looks like the often combustible relationship between manager Pep Guardiola and the Argentina international is back to its best.

Aguero left the pitch to a standing ovation after scoring his 13th hat-trick for City. As he left the pitch, Guardiola sealed Aguero’s performance with a kiss. It doesn’t get better than that.

Harry Kane: So, Harry Kane has laid the August ghost to rest. Finally, Spurs fans do not need to bother themselves anymore with this utterly useless statistic.

To be brutally honest, Kane should have had a hat-trick but the goal he did score was so unbelievably glorious I didn’t care about the ones he missed.

Spurs are looking good again and that’s all that matters right now. Imagine what it will be like when the new stadium is ready.

Now it’s your turn

You’ve seen my picks this week. But who would you go for?

Pick your Team of the Week

Pick your XI from our list and share with your friends.

Select formationConfirm team

The Crooks of the matter…

Raheem Sterling’s excellent finish against Arsenal last week opened up an interesting debate.

The Manchester City star was greeted throughout the match with boos and jeers, a feature that has followed the young man’s career since his audacious departure from Liverpool, and it prompted my dear friend and BBC colleague Ian Wright to ask the question ‘why?’

I’ve met Raheem and interviewed him on a number of occasions for Football Focus and, I must say, I haven’t met many young men who have impressed me quite as much.

Apart from his polite demeanour and welcoming smile, he possesses the same steeliness I saw in Cristiano Ronaldo as an 18-year-old.

<!–

Both men have been subjected to extraordinary abuse from fans over the years, and much of that vitriol has been fuelled by many factors. I remember in 1998 when Diego Simeone did just enough to provoke David Beckham to react and get sent off against Argentina. England went out of the World Cup because of their inability to take penalties – and not because the captain was sent off. Beckham, nevertheless, carried the can.

The abuse that followed the Manchester United star was outrageous. Similar punishment was meted out during John Terry’s long and distinguished career at Chelsea. The point is that football fans, as long as I can remember, have always harboured a figure of hate. Someone to scream and shout at and others to love and to hate. It’s what defines us.

I was prompted by how love can so quickly turn to hate in football when I recently met Sol Campbell. I had the pleasure of sharing a few moments with this soccer giant at Stamford Bridge, shortly before Chelsea took on Arsenal. Without doubt one of the best defenders this country has produced, he was subjected to the most awful abuse by Spurs fans when he left for Arsenal in the summer of 2001.

I remember Sol being bemused by the sheer intensity of their venom – however the period was best described by a Tottenham fan when he said: “We hate him so much because we loved him so much.”

<!–

And that is the point. Hate, in football, can so often be wrapped up in secret admiration of a player or a team.

What Sterling should do is take the abuse he is receiving as an enormous compliment.

Firstly, it won’t last and, secondly, only the very best players – with the odd exception – ever receive such attention.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BBC Sport – Football

These two are in, but who else makes Garth Crooks' team of the week? was originally published on 365 Football

#Crooks&039 #else #Garth #makes #team #These #week

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

Our experts rate the World Cup contenders

New Post has been published on https://usnewsaggregator.com/u-s/our-experts-rate-the-world-cup-contenders/

Our experts rate the World Cup contenders

The draw has been made and the 32 nations now know who they will be facing in the group stage next summer. 

Russia, England and France were handed favourable draws. Portugal will face Spain in Group B, and Argentina drew one of the tougher first-round groups by being paired with Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria.

The 2018 tournament takes place in 12 stadiums across Russia between June 14 and July 15. Our experts from the top contenders rate their chances of success in Russia.

Thirty-two teams will battle it out for the World Cup trophy in Russia next summer…

ARGENTINA

Ariel Cukierkorn (Football writer, Argentina)

What does Argentina expect?

Argentina are currently and exclusively depending on Lionel Messi’s brilliance. The coach, Jorge Sampaoli, is a long way from having really made his mark on the team, as he did with Chile and then Sevilla in La Liga, and the result on the field is usually chaotic and unbalanced. While the coach is always doing tests with players and positions, Messi is the only certainty to give Argentina some sort of weapon. The main problem is that the team have no fluency or coherent tactical plan. Despite having sorted out the painful qualification process, alarms are still ringing.

Can they win it?

You never know in a World Cup, but this time Argentina go to Russia surely in the second group of candidates. The old guard of stars (Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain) are nearing the end for Argentina, while the next generation (Mauro Icardi, Ever Banega, among others) are not yet the answer. 

Who should we look out for?

Messi and perhaps Di Maria if he is inspired — and not injured. In the last qualifying and friendly games, three from the domestic league (Enzo Perez, Cristian Pavon and Marcos Acuna, now at Sporting Lisbon), looked good. 

Lionel Messi secured Argentina’s place in Russia by scoring a hat-trick in key win over Ecuador

BELGIUM

Kristof Terreur (Football correspondent for HLN newspaper)

What does Belgium expect?

Some fans think Belgium will bottle it, others have high expectations after an unbeaten qualification. In Brazil, a young squad reached the quarterfinals. Now, with more experience on board, they should get to the semis.

Still there are tactical concerns: under Roberto Martínez we still haven’t found a rock-solid organisation at the back. 

Can they win it? 

We have top quality in the squad — Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku, Radja Nainggolan (Roma) and Dries Mertens (Napoli). However, the squad is still unbalanced, with too much quality in the same positions. Another issue: are there enough leaders who can carry the team?

Who should we look out for?

Romelu Lukaku, our top scorer, Eden Hazard, our creative spark, Dries Mertens and right-back Thomas Meunier stood out. 

Are you looking forward to facing England?

We’re happy. It’s a fixture we are already looking forward to: England vs the continental England. Many connections.

Belgium have talent in abundance going forward but there are concerns about the defence

BRAZIL

Paulo Freitas (Brazilian football expert)

What does Brazil expect?

Despite the fiasco in 2014, the team are expected to fight for the title again as a lot of progress has been made since Tite became the manager. Brazil had no trouble qualifying for the World Cup, so expectations are high, and more worryingly, so is the hype. Brazil only lost one game under Tite and many fans expect this form to continue until the World Cup.

Can they win it?

Brazil have one of the three strongest squads on paper, along with France  and Germany, so winning the title is possible. The team are solid and feel confident. The goalkeeper and the midfield are the main reasons for concern, but neither have disappointed since Tite came. Alisson is the main goalkeeper and is trusted by Tite and goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel. Ederson is less known in Brazil as he left the country very early, so it has taken him much longer to earn his place in the squad.

Who should we look out for?

The squad for 2018 includes many who are stars at their clubs, such as Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho. During the qualifiers they learned how to play as a team without relying too much on any single player. The defence is very solid and the team are more compact than previous Brazil formations.

Brazil have one of the three strongest squads along with France and Germany

FRANCE

Julien Laurens (Football correspondent, Le Parisien)

What doe France expect?

Noel Le Graet, the president of the French FA, has set the semi-finals as the minimum objective for Didier Deschamps and his players. However, after reaching the quarter-finals last time (beaten 1-0 by Germany) and losing the Euro 2016 final against Portugal, everyone in France, including the head coach and the players, expect more.

Can France win?

Of course. This World Cup comes at the right time for the Paul Pogba generation. There is the experience of older players (Hugo Lloris, Laurent Koscielny, Blaise Matuidi and Olivier Giroud) and the insouciance and incredible talent of the younger ones in Kylian Mbappe (PSG),  Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona) Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Anthony Martial and Adrien Rabiot (PSG).

Who should we look out for?

This is going to be Mbappe’s first senior international competition. He has taken Europe by storm in 2017 first with Monaco and now with PSG and is ready to do the the same with the world. He is the biggest talent to emerge since Lionel Messi.

France can boast the likes of Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele

GERMANY

Raphael Honigstein (German football writer)

What does Germany expect?

The coach Joachim Low was supremely relaxed before and after the draw in Moscow — and why shouldn’t he be? The prospect of first-game opponents Mexico, on paper the strongest group rivals, would be a lot more troubling if Germany’s B team hadn’t destroyed them 4-1 at the Confederations Cup.

Can Germany win?

They can. The Nationalmannschaft might not quite boast the attacking talent of  the French nor the fluidity of Spain, but the depth of talent at Low’s disposal has only become greater since edging out Argentina 1-0 in the 2014 final in Rio de Janeiro. Finding the best starting XI from this embarrassment of riches will be his greatest challenge.

Who should we look out for?

In Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Germany have a clever, pacy striker the likes of which they have been missing in recent years. Manchester City’s Leroy Sane, a beneficiary of Pep Guardiola’s finishing school, is also tipped to have a huge impact while Toni Kroos always impresses.

Timo Werner (right) has been in excellent form for Germany and could star at the tournament

SPAIN

Guillem Balague (co-author with Mauricio Pochettino of Brave New World)

What does Spain expect?

It is time to enjoy ourselves again. Fans want the team to compete while also respecting the style that made us World Cup winners. Nobody will demand the title, but we do not see many other nations with so much talent and the harmony that manager Julen Lopetegui has installed in the group

Can Spain win?

Of course Spain can win. But for that to happen,  we will need to be strong defensively, effective up front and we will need to be lucky in certain moments — perhaps even have one or two refereeing mistakes in our favour. Look at the 2010 world champions in South Africa. That team enjoyed a bit of all of the above.

Who should we look out for?

Real Madrid’s Isco has become a leader of the team, but he is playing so much for the Spanish champions that we hope he is not burnt out by the summer. The presence of David Silva, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Alvaro Morata and Gerard Pique mean there is a big group of players who will be competing for domestic and European titles this season, so rest will be important. There is a balance to a side full of midfielders who now score goals. That is our strength again.

Original Article:

Click here

[junker-town]

NWSL’s playoff teams are nearly set 2 weeks early

Every team had reason to hope, but this season went wrong quickly for most of them.

April. It seems like so long ago now. Then, as this, the NWSL’s fifth season kicked off, everything felt possible. First, it was that this league, the third try at such a thing, was still here, and still had all its teams intact. And that alone felt like some impossible accomplishment, a defiant nod to those leagues past and the seemingly unbreakable three-year barrier finally, fully, smashed.

For the teams, too, there was that same sense of hope. The perpetually basement-dwelling Breakers, now reinvigorated and firmly on the road to rebuilding, with Rose Lavelle and Morgan Andrews and bunch more young talent steering the ship towards, finally, something better in Boston. Houston, always hopeful, and always falling short, now coming into a season with the league’s hottest goalscorer in Kealia Ohai and the prospect of Carli Lloyd’s return on the horizon. Kansas City, after a disappointing season, getting Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux back, and both, like the team they play for, out to prove they could still do this thing. The Flash, with a new name and a move south to North Carolina, now taking the field as the Courage to make a statement that last season’s run to the title was more than a fluke.

Up and down the table, every team had at least one of these things they could cling to. The why this year would be different and better and surely the one where they’d be lifting that trophy in early October, or, at the very least, a shiny plate in late September. A first playoff game, a repeat, a best-ever season, just finally not being the worst. All of it beyond possible. In April, it was certain.

And now. Now it is mid-September. The season’s penultimate games will (mostly) be played this weekend. Two of the playoff spots are already claimed. The Shield and the remaining two, too, will likely be worked out by Sunday night.

That’s four teams — North Carolina, Portland, and barring something crazy this weekend, Chicago and Orlando — still with a chance to make April’s possibilities a reality in October. But because math and playoff formats and the soccer gods are cruel, that’s also six teams for which those hopes and dreams are already dead or nearly there.

Boston, for whatever Lavelle and Andrews and the return of Abby Smith brought in the early part of the season, will again spend the winter wondering where it all went wrong. Heading into this weekend, Boston is at the bottom of the table. Even if the Breakers win their final two games, the best they can do is climb into ninth. So much of the hope the Breakers had — and Boston did look good, or at least better, in the early part of the season — came from Lavelle. The rookie midfielder looked like the missing piece Boston needed, and with her, results started to come. After losing to Kansas City on opening day, the Breakers won two straight.

Take that sentence in for a minute, because it’s one that didn’t get repeated for the rest of the season. Even the first part, “the Breakers won,” occurred just once more before disappearing from our collective vocabulary, like floppy disks and putting e’s at the end of town and old in a situation that isn’t a gift shop in Colonial Williamsburg. In mid-June, with the Breakers already starting to struggle, Lavelle suffered a hamstring injury. And so went Boston’s season. The Breakers come into Saturday’s game having last visited the win column on July 1st, which is ten games and 900 minutes of disappointment ago.

Speaking of disappointment, perhaps no team had a more spectacular fall than the Spirit. With two games to play, Washington is only three points ahead of Boston, and in what is somehow simultaneously a strange act of mercy and torture, they play each other this weekend, leaving even that small bit of hope precariously close to being erased.

Washington, and this now seems almost as ridiculous a sentence as the one about Boston winning two straight, came within seconds of winning the NWSL championship a season ago. And maybe then, with that Lynn Williams extra time stoppage time goal, is when it all started to fall apart.

Washington lost Ali Krieger and Diana Matheson, two of the three players remaining from the original 2013 Spirit team, as well as Crystal Dunn and Christine Nairn, in the offseason. Krieger, Matheson and Nairn were all traded, and Dunn opted to spend this season playing for Chelsea in England. Joanna Lohman tore her ACL in the first game of the season. And the Spirit did little to replace any of them. Eventually, Mallory Pugh did end up in Washington, but you can’t just put up one wall and call it a building. Now, the best the Spirit can do is an eighth place finish.

Houston, more like Boston than Washington, saw its early season hopes dashed by injury and then the same kind of general malaise that seems to overtake the team midway through every season. Ohai finished 2016 as one the league’s most in-form strikers, something that earned her a call from Jill Ellis last fall and then carried over into the start of this season. Houston knocked off Chicago on opening day, with Ohai and Rachel Daly both scoring for the Dash, Lydia Williams keeping the clean sheet and Janine Van Wyk impressing in her NWSL debut.

But however fine Houston looked — and it was then without Lloyd, who was still in England with Manchester City, and Morgan Brian, who was recovering from injury — turned out to be short lived. Eventually, Ohai started to cool down before an ACL injury ultimately ended her season. In May and June, Houston dropped six straight, parting ways with head coach Randy Waldrum along the way. Waldrum’s departure did provide a temporary spark — the Dash put together a six game unbeaten run in July — but then things started to go badly again. Houston’s won just once more, 3-1 in Boston, and that was back on August 16th.

Rounding out the bottom four, Kansas City heads into this weekend in seventh, a return playoffs that seemed so possible back in April now long out of reach. Kansas City’s season went bad almost as quickly as it looked like it wouldn’t, with the Blues getting a big boost — and a 2-0 opening day win — from the returns of Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux, who’d both missed the 2016 season due to pregnancy. Leroux and A-Rod both scored in their return, and it looked like FCKC was finally on its way back to being the team that won two consecutive NWSL titles not that long ago. And then A-Rod tore her ACL and Leroux started to struggle, both with form and a lack of service.

Kansas City is still one of the league’s better teams defensively, with Becky Sauerbrunn still a mainstay in the back line and rookie Christina Gibbons a true bright spot. But FCKC is also one of the league’s lowest scoring teams, and in a season where we’ve seen tons of high-scoring games, the Blues could never quite catch up. There were a few good results — wins over Portland and Chicago in August — but the inability to put together more than a win or two in a row, and ending up on the wrong end of a lot of one-goal games now means another season of the Blues missing the playoffs.

One of the biggest wins — and highest scoring games — the Blues were a part of this season came three weeks ago in New Jersey, when FCKC knocked off Sky Blue 4-1. And really, it isn’t that surprising. Sky Blue has, by a pretty huge margin, allowed more goals than any other team in the league. Rookie goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan has been very good, but defensively, Sky Blue has been a mess all season, saved only — and repeatedly — by Sam Kerr and some serious late game magic. Christie Rampone’s departure, due to both injury and probably whatever behind the scenes turmoil sent head coach Christie Holly packing, left an already shaky and young back line looking completely lost.

Like in Kansas City, there were some bright spots in New Jersey. Kerr, currently tied for the league’s single season scoring record with 16 goals, established herself as one of the NWSL’s best and most dangerous players. Maya Hayes has started to become a more consistent starter and contributor after years of service mostly as a second half sub. And Sky Blue games were, finally, mercifully, really fun to watch, with more dramatic and improbable late-game comebacks than any of us deserve in one season. But as fun as it was to watch Kerr put in three goals in last ten minutes of games week after week, it’s also a pretty terrible strategy for a successful season and one that ultimately caught up to Sky Blue. They’ll host North Carolina on Sunday, and though Kerr’s still got a pretty good chance at both the Golden Boot and breaking Kim Little’s scoring record, it’s probably small consolation for a season that still seemed hopeful even a month ago.

There is one team that still has some hope, and that’s Seattle. The Reign, currently in fifth, haven’t officially joined the eliminated, though they’ll need a win against FCKC on Sunday, or a little help from some other teams, to stay alive.

In some cases, it’s easy to point to where and how and why it all went wrong. How seasons that shouldn’t have been this bad turned terrible. Injury or bad trades or just not doing enough. Digging too deep a hole too early, or too late. Whatever it was for each team, with two games to go, they’ve all now ended up in the same place. There isn’t much that’s hopeful now. Except maybe that however far away last April feels, the next one’s only seven months away.

All times Eastern

Saturday

Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC, 3:30 PM, Orlando City Stadium (Lifetime)

Washington Spirit vs. Boston Breakers, 7:00 PM, Maryland SoccerPlex (go90)

Houston Dash vs. Chicago Red Stars, 8:30 PM, BBVA Compass Stadium (go90)

Sunday

Sky Blue FC vs. North Carolina Courage, 6:00 PM, Yurcak Field (go90)

Seattle Reign FC vs. FC Kansas City, 9:00 PM, Memorial Stadium (go90)

[365footballorg-blog]

Celtic 4-0 Rangers: Graeme Murty laments &#039;passive&#039; Scottish Cup semi-final display

Rangers boss Graeme Murty admitted he was at a loss to explain his side’s limp Scottish Cup exit as Celtic eased into the final with a 4-0 victory.

Murty’s men were swept aside as they fell 2-0 down by half-time before Ross McCrorie’s red card five minutes after the interval all but ended their hopes.

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos had three chances to grab a consolation, but Craig Gordon denied him each time.

“We were just passive; I don’t know why,” Murty said.

“I asked them to get into a shape and a structure in order to go and press. But when it comes to one against one, you have to actually get up closer to your opponent than we did in the first period.

Match report from Hampden [1]

Scottish Cup semi-final as it happened[2]

Title focus will drive Celtic – Rodgers [3]

“We didn’t put them under enough pressure; we allowed them to play far too easily. All four goals were easily avoidable through just basic, good defending.

“Then in the second half, we gave them a penalty and a sending-off which makes their job far, far easier.

<!–

“We had really good opportunities to claw something back from the game and we haven’t managed to do it. I said we had to be clinical in both boxes but we didn’t manage that at all.

“Craig [Gordon] made a couple of good saves but we should be scoring at least one. We were not worthy of getting anything from the game.”

Title focus will lift Celtic – Rodgers[4]

Report: Celtic 4-0 Rangers[5]

Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday, back in the starting line-up, vented his frustration at being removed five minutes before the interval, replaced by Josh Windass.

“I wouldn’t have been happy,” Murty said. “I completely understand his frustration.

“I was reacting to the situation in the game. We wanted to get a different shape to the team, and Josh fitted that bill.

“Andy is frustrated. But if you deal with people in an emotional state, you get an emotional response. I will speak to him in the week, we will have a chat and move forward from there.”

Rangers’ final five Premiership games Sun 22 April: Hearts (home) Sun 29 April: Celtic (away) Sat 5 May: Kilmarnock (home) Tue 8 May: Aberdeen (away) Sun 13 May: Hibernian (away)

Murty admitted there was anger and frustration – “all the kinds of emotion you would expect from a changing room that has just gone through that”.

But he urged his players to use that emotion to ensure a positive response next Sunday against Hearts, as Rangers – second in the Premiership on goal difference from Aberdeen – begin their final run-in of five matches, including facing Celtic again on 29 April.

“There should be disappointment and frustration and anger there,” Murty said. “It is about making sure they turn that into positives and energy to power you through to the end of the season, rather than allowing it to be disruptive.

‘There are big games ahead for us’

“The players need to respond for themselves. It isn’t just Celtic we have got to play. There are big games ahead of us and we need to make sure we get a response between now and the end of the season, if we want to finish as we should.”

Murty, who refused to discuss his hopes of retaining his post beyond the end of the campaign, also apologised to Rangers supporters and asked them “for their patience and to keep believing”.

“But it is no good to keep asking for it,” he added. “We have to put a performance in that is worthy of their support.

“It has been brilliant the whole time I have been at the club. But we didn’t do enough for them to want to stay in the stadium today.”

References

^ Match report from Hampden (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Scottish Cup semi-final as it happened (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Title focus will drive Celtic – Rodgers (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Title focus will lift Celtic – Rodgers (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Report: Celtic 4-0 Rangers (www.bbc.co.uk)

BBC Sport – Scottish

Celtic 4-0 Rangers: Graeme Murty laments 'passive' Scottish Cup semi-final display was originally published on 365 Football

#&039passive&039 #Celtic #display #Graeme #laments #Murty #Rangers #Scottish #semifinal

[365footballorg-blog]

The top five matches in Der Klassiker history

With another blockbuster clash between FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund almost upon us, we take a look at the five greatest Der Klassiker matches.

5. Dortmund 4-4 Bayern – 1982/83

If you were a Bundesliga fan in the 80s, you probably haven’t forgotten this classic clash.

The first half saw Dieter Hoeneß open the scoring for the visitors early on, only for Marcel Raducanu to level things with a free-kick.

In the second half, Bayern retook the lead through Udo Horsmann, but Dortmund again had the answer in the form of Raducanu.

Klaus Augenthaler then put Bayern in front for a third time, prompting three minutes of absolute madness.

Manfred Burgsmüller equalised for Dortmund, shortly before Erdal Keser produced a superb solo effort to put them in front on 81 minutes. Seconds later, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had the final say. The striker turned CEO pounced on a defensive error to score the game’s eighth goal and ensure it finished all square.

4. Dortmund 1-0 Bayern – 2011/12

How does a game that featured only one goal become a classic? Just ask Jurgen Klopp.

The Liverpool boss was in charge of Dortmund at the time, and his “heavy metal” approach to football had turned the side into formidable foes.

Having won the 2010/11 Bundesliga title, they stood on the brink of repeating the feat the following season, leading Bayern by three points with five games to go. They desperately needed to hold their great rivals at bay in this match, however, and Klopp’s men did not disappoint.

Relying on none other than current Bayern star Robert Lewandowski, Dortmund scored the decisive goal in the 77th minute after the Pole cheekily deflected an edge-of-the-box-effort from Kevin Großkreutz with his heel.

There was more drama to come, however, when Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller brought down Arjen Robben in the box with four minutes to go.

But Weidenfeller made good on his mistake and saved the penalty. Dortmund won the match, and clinched their second successive Bundesliga crown shortly after.

3. Bayern 2-1 Dortmund – 2014/15

Bayern were always formidable under Pep Guardiola, as this match illustrates all too clearly.

Behind on the scoreboard after Marco Reus opened the scoring for Dortmund by heading in a cross from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half.

Weidenfeller was equal to almost everything Bayern threw at him, but the Bavarians eventually found the breakthrough via the boot of Lewandowski, who had already made the switch to his current home.

A draw looked the likely outcome but all Bayern’s good work was undone when Neven Subotic pulled Franck Ribery inside the box.

Up stepped Robben, who made no mistake from the spot to consign Dortmund to a defeat that saw them finish the matchday in the relegation zone.

Incredibly, they would soon find themselves bottom of the table, and only a titanic effort from Klopp’s men in the new year helped avert a relegation disaster. They ended up finishing a respectable seventh in the standings, and also reached the DFB Cup final.

It turned out to be Klopp’s last hurrah for Dortmund, however, as he resigned to take up a new challenge in the Premier League with Liverpool.

2. Dortmund 5-2 Bayern – DFB Cup Final, 2011/12

We’ve already discussed the thriller that helped decide the Bundesliga title in 2012, but just a week after the league ended, both teams took to the field at Berlin’s Olympiastadion for a winner-take-all rematch.

Dortmund were eyeing the chance to capture their first ever domestic double, but even they could hardly imagine how emphatic their victory would turn out to be.

Shinji Kagawa opened the scoring in the third minute before Robben equalised from the penalty spot.

Mats Hummels then struck as Dortmund retook the lead, and that man Lewandowski was on hand to make it 3-1 at half-time after nutmegging Neuer with a close-range shot.

Bayern needed a response, but they were about to find themselves on the receiving end of a resounding and punishing defeat, masterminded by that man Lewandowski.

The deadly striker made it 4-1 with 30 minutes to go, and even though Ribery reduced the deficit with an impressive solo effort, Lewandowski headed past Neuer to score a hat-trick and make it 5-2 at the final whistle.

1. Bayern 2-1 Dortmund – UEFA Champions League Final, 2012/13

It is a testament to the strength of the Bundesliga – and German football in general – that the 2012/13 Champions League final turned into yet another Der Klassiker.

The season had already seen a dominant Bayern side – led by current boss Jupp Heynckes – finish 25 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, but the ultimate prize lay in wait at Wembley Stadium.

The two sides had eliminated Real Madrid and Barcelona in the semi-finals, setting the stage for the first ever all-German continental final.

What followed was a tense and electric affair which only saw the deadlock broken on the hour mark when Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for Bayern.

But just eight minutes later Klopp’s men were given a lifeline when Bayern conceded a penalty, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to step up and equalise from the spot.

The match seemed destined for extra time when Robben suddenly powered into Dortmund’s box and beat Weidenfeller to secure a famous victory.

A few days later, Bayern secured a historic treble with a win over Stuttgart in the DFB Cup final.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

FOX Sports Asia – Feed

The top five matches in Der Klassiker history was originally published on 365 Football

#Five #history #Klassiker #matches

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

Switzerland qualify for the World Cup

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/switzerland-qualify-for-the-world-cup/

Switzerland qualify for the World Cup

Northern Ireland came within inches of a goal in injury time but Jonny Evans’ header was cleared off the line

Northern Ireland’s hopes of making the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986 ended as Switzerland won their play-off 1-0 on aggregate after Sunday’s stalemate in Basel.

The tie was decided by Ricardo Rodriguez’s controversial penalty in Belfast as Michael O’Neill’s team failed in their bid to reach back-to-back major tournaments for the first time.

Northern Ireland came within inches of forcing extra time in injury time at the end of the tie, only for West Brom defender Jonny Evans to see his header hacked off the line by Rodriguez.

Both sides wasted chances to score in a nervy contest at a rain-soaked St Jakob-Park, with Switzerland striker Haris Seferovic particularly guilty following a string of missed attempts.

O’Neill’s team failed to register a shot on target at Windsor Park in the first leg, but this was a far more adventurous display and, after several near misses from Chris Brunt in the first half, they were almost rewarded late on – only for Evans to be denied.

The result secures Switzerland a place in Russia – their fourth consecutive World Cup – and means Northern Ireland’s hopes of a fourth finals appearance are over.

A tie defined by a refereeing controversy

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said he has never seen a worse decision in a game he has been involved in

Northern Ireland’s increased attacking intent in Basel came from their need to score to cancel out the Rodriguez penalty in the first leg, given for handball by Corry Evans when the ball clearly struck the midfielder on the back.

That decision angered O’Neill and his players and the manager asked them to channel that ill-feeling to ensure it was not a moment they lived to regret.

They did that with an energetic and determined performance.

But against a Swiss side who had only lost at St Jakob-Park to England in 17 matches spanning 16 years, they were always up against it and, in truth, might have been out of the tie much earlier had Seferovic been more composed in front of goal.

“We’ve gone out to a really poor decision in the first leg,” said O’Neill. “We tried to keep the dream alive and we were pushing for it.

“The referee was very poor in the first leg – got the red card [decision not to send off Fabian Schar for a late tackle on Stuart Dallas] wrong and the penalty wrong. It’s a very sore way to lose. We deserved extra time.

“There’s a devastated group of players in there but I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

What now for O’Neill?

Michael O’Neill ‘heartbroken’ after Northern Ireland miss out on World Cup

After a slow start to his Northern Ireland reign, O’Neill defied the odds to guide his side to the last 16 of Euro 2016.

The 48-year-old signed a four-year contract that same year but, following this latest setback, the team could suffer another blow as their manager has been heavily linked with other jobs.

He has been discussed as a contender for the vacant Scotland and Sunderland posts, and offers are likely to come his way with his stock so high.

It could also have been a final Northern Ireland bow for several players, including veteran defenders Aaron Hughes and Gareth McAuley.

Hughes made his 109th international appearance in Basel, making him the most-capped defender from the home nations.

“I said to the players that they’ve got decisions to make on their futures,” said O’Neill. “But I’ve told them not to rush any decisions.

“They should discuss that with Aaron Hughes, who retired five years ago but was here tonight. This isn’t the time to think about that.”

Asked about his own future, O’Neill told Sky Sports: “I haven’t given it any thought. I don’t think it’s a reasonable question.”

Man of the match – Michael McGovern (Northern Ireland)

Michael McGovern kept Northern Ireland in the tie with a string of fine saves

McGovern performed heroics in the Euro 2016 defeat by Germany and the Norwich keeper was again in top form to deny Switzerland.

He blocked Steven Zuber’s fierce strike with his legs early in the game and finished by keeping out an angled drive from Breel Embolo.

The stats you need to know

Switzerland have reached their fourth World Cup in a row. The finals in Russia next summer will be the first time they have featured in four straight tournaments since between 1934 and 1954.

Despite finishing goalless, there were nine shots on target in this game compared with just two in the first leg in Belfast.

Including the play-off games played so far, only Denmark’s Christian Eriksen (38) has created more chances in this European qualifying campaign than Switzerland winger Xherdan Shaqiri (34).

This was the first time Switzerland failed to win a competitive home game since September 2014, when they lost 0-2 against England.

What they said

Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis: ‘There are a lot of emotions in the dressing room and everyone is gutted. We didn’t let the decision in the first leg affect us and we gave it everything.

“No-one outside our country gave us a hope. We caused them a lot of problems and if we’d got the goal it would have been very difficult for them to recover mentally. Unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Skipper Steven Davis proud of NI spirit in Switzerland

Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans: “We can be proud that we gave everything. We showed why we were in the play-offs.

“When it’s so late in the game you’re seeing five different balls coming across the box but their lad was in the right place at the right time to clear my effort off the line.

“Sometimes in football things like that penalty decision in the first leg can happen. We are experienced enough to know refereeing decisions can go against you and in the second leg we did ourselves proud.”

World Cup play-off: We gave everything in Basel draw – NI’s Evans

Original Article:

Click here