Listening to @victor_font about his view of the situation of #FCBarcelona

"I feel at the same time happy, sad, disappointed, very worried" thinking about the club

League win & Xavi success is the good news (Xavi was his proposal as a head coach during elections)

"This club is… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… "The club has got wage payments of €650m, €30 more than the highest spent by previous chairman Bartomeu"

"The club has operational loses of €1000 million"

Consequences of the departure of Casemiro for both, #RealMadrid and #ManchesterUnited

What was his real influence at Madrid? How would he fit at United?

He has been part of a trio of midfielders that reinforced his value but also help him hide his weaknesses (thread) He felt more comfortable defending near his box and was crucial covering his teammates and recovering with excellent timing. When he had the ball, lacking in powerful runs or dribbling ability, slow turning, he never complicated himself. Ball 2 Modric or Kroos was the solution

I love starting a football argument 🤣

One coming up...

Titled... Lisandro Martínez (that's him in the photo one game that kept Haaland very very very quiet) Firstly, u should know that details of his height have been, well, incorrect. He is not 5'9, but 5'10, the SAME as Azpilicueta, Koundé, Puyol & Bobby Moore. Incidentally, Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or at 5.8… (1/4)

Back from hols. Anything happening? 😁

Let´s deal with Barcelona (THREAD). Starting with the feeling that there is a lot of jealousy for how they are trying to get out of a deep hole. Is everything they are doing right? No. Are they doing what they are suppose to? Mostly yes Laporta is repeating the Virtuous Circle that brought so much success in his first era. All or nothing. Then he also blamed the past to explain big decisions. Now, ignoring that a pandemic had closed the money box for two years, has found in Bartomeu the perfect villain

📍 And we’re here. At the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

Shall we go inside the stadium?

#UEFASupercup @CBSSportsGolazo 🏟 We’re in the stadium!

Do you want to know where I’ll be watching the game from… 👀

#UEFASupercup @CBSSportsGolazo

Few thoughts about yesterday #ChampionsLeague games

⚽ #LFC were clearly superior for most of the game and only an emotional push after Darwin goal (2-1 to Lpool just after HT) gave fans the impression a draw was possible ⚽ 5 subs have got two clear consequences: big clubs will win more, they have more depth, and role of the manager diminishes. First 3 #LFC (Jota, Firmino, Henderson) were easy choices. There is less inclination to work with what you have on pitch and more to bring good players on

📍Lisbon, Portugal

I have arrived at one of tonight’s #UCL venues for @CBSSportsGolazo

Here are some of my thoughts ahead of the game! #BENLIV 👇 Have you ever wondered how I get to my spot pitch side? Well…now you know!😊

Featuring @VigilOscar doing his thing for @CBSSportsGolazo 🎥

#UCL #BENLIV

You might have heard many times that a manager is a bit of a solitary profession. With huge games coming up, this is what they have to do

- feel the opposite than everyone else (if they are tense, they ought to look calm, and so on)

(LITTLE THREAD) - turn feelings around. Those three in the photo have been trying to convince players that they have to enjoy pressure, when the opposite is the natural way

- they have to trust the process, even when the demand around them is of big changes, specially after defeats

Bori Fati, Ansu Fati, has got an extraordinary story. He only met his son when the youngster was six.

Bori, former player of quality, moved to Spain and Portugal to earn enough to send money to their family -his wife asked him to take that step (thread) It was really hard but managed to get few jobs, including driving a mayor around who looked after him (and many other emigrants). His name, Sanchez Gordillo.

Bori settled enough to bring the family over. When they landed from Guinea-Bissau, he could only say hi and go to work!

The press conference of Joan Laporta starts. Lots of questions that need answering, but first he will try to put some context to the departure of Leo Messi “I am here to explain the situation about Messi… I need to say first, sadly we have such a bad financial past that means the wages are 110pc of the income. That means we have no flexibility… Situation is worse that we were told and what we had calculated based on official data”

This is what @Spurs_ES get with @11BryanGil (little thread)

One of the most promising/talented youngsters in the hardest thing in football: 1v1s. He has learnt to choose when to do it, but Nuno will encourage him to do it often. Not only he is good driving with the ball... he can beat you in small spaces and when stopped. His pace and quick mind helps. Brave he is, but his game doesn't stop there

He has learnt to make calculated runs into the box when the ball comes from the other side and at Eibar he has added goals to his game

Some think that Rafa Benitez belongs to another time. Really? Let’s see the evidence. A biased but researched thread:

At Chelsea, he left them third and Europa League winners (one of the 13 titles won in his career!!!) At Napoli he won 2 titles to a Juve that used to win everything. Plus a semis of the Europa League. He signed Albiol, Reina, Koulibaly, Jorginho, Higuaín, Callejón... last season the club called him four time to take over the side again

Florentino Perez in @elchiringuitotv about the #Superleague

“The biggest clubs in England, Spain and Italy have to give a solution to the bad financial situation of the game... we reached the conclusion that doing a Superleague instead of Champions... ... we could get back some of the money we lost because of the pandemic. We have to raise more money organising more competitive games”

Another intense and fulfilling week

📸 Went to Paris for CBS @UCLonCBSSports to cover #PSGBayern 🎙️ Did a new #Euroleaguespod for @5liveSport

📽️ Filmed some more in #Bondy for the documentary for @UCLonCBSSports

A thread with my latest piece for @sport on Messi and his #Barcelona future. (1/15)

You can check out the whole article in Spanish right here: sport.es/es/noticias/op… The minutes go ticking by as we wait to hear the announcement of a renewal offer for Leo Messi. Certain sections of the media are announcing that he has the club proposal in his hands although the reality is very different. (2/15)

Hilo Messi

Jorge Messi tiene previsto viajar a BCN miérc, juev o viern. Barto le pidió quedar. Idea del presidente es renovarle 2 años con cláusula del 10 de junio para irse libre si quiere… la temporada que viene cuando Barto ya no está. Messi cree no ser ya jugador del FCB Cuando LaLiga dice que “no efectuará el trámite de visado previo de baja federativa al jugador si no ha abonado previamente el importe de dicha cláusula” se refiere, imagino, a un traspaso dentro de LaLiga. La FIFA puede tramitar pase temporal para jugar en cualquier otra liga

Vamos un ‘pequeño’ HILO del tema Messi

Messi no se ha hecho el test PCR esta mañana con la plantilla. Como dijo en su comunicación del 25 de agosto, ya no es jugador del Barcelona. No irá a entrenar mañana. Cree legalmente que tiene la razón, que es un jugador libre ahora mismo Messi no cree estar en guerra con el club, de hecho lleva dos días esperando la respuesta del club. Se está comportando siguiendo las directrices del contracto que firmó con el Barcelona. Pero quiere una salida amistosa

Un hilo con el tema Messi y FC Barcelona

Messi insiste en querer salir de la mejor manera posible. El Barcelona no le pone en venta a día de hoy (o puede irse por el precio de su cláusula, €700m). NO HAY CAMBIO DE ESTRATEGIA de parte de Messi (luego lo explico) 24 horas tras la petición de Messi de reunirse para pactar una salida, el club no ha dado respuesta ninguna. Solo se reunirían para renovar su contrato, dicen, no para una salida.

Messi no quiere marchar de mala manera por respeto al club, a la afición. ¿Y el burofax? Voy...

First things first. Messi not only wants to leave, he is thinking where he should go next. He doesn't see himself at FCB anymore. This is it. He has never been more determined. This is not a negotiation or a power battle (THREAD) Him and the family are ready to try a new club, something that up till now, and despite previous conversations, never considered necessary.
Beyond who rang whom between Pep and Messi, or if there was a call (conflicting reports) what is clear is that despite...

Let me give you few thoughts on the last few hours at #FCB and what happened with Mauricio Pochettino

1. Barcelona had been looking for a new manager for months. I already told you the spoke to Thierry Henry, but also Javier Mascherano, ‘Muñeco’ Gallardo, Allegri. And Pochettino 2. Eric Abidal was very impressed with Pochettino and was backed/admired by not only Ramon Planes (Eric’s right hand man) and president, as he knows Poche well, but other top directors too

The announcement of Ancelotti becoming manager of @Everton will happen very soon.

This was his week: after being sacked last week by Napoli, Ancelotti travelled to Rome with his wife Mariann Barrena, born in Canada or Spanish parents. Mariann went to Vancouver to spend the Christmas holidays and Carlo stayed behind to watch games and join her later. His ideal plan was to take it easy till the summer.

After Emery (and others) said no to #EFC and due to his availability, he was approached with...