Football Daily | Atlético Madrid and the hoovering up of unwanted Premier League talent
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Julián Álvarez has won the World Cup, Copa América (twice), the Copa Libertadores, Big Cup, two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup. Just about the only thing he hasn’t won is a Big Sports Day gold medal after France sent Argentina home from Paris after a serious grudge match. At 24, Álvarez’s palmarès (yes, palmarès!) surely makes him a top, top player. And yet, he’s not quite good enough for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. If City fans had a boo-boy target last season, it was the all-conquering Argentinian who wasn’t quite so all-conquering. He never quite fitted the gordian patterns painted on Guardiola’s wipe-clean tactics board.
I have a picture of it on my phone that I look at every day. I have a picture of me with both winners’ medals around my neck and another with my whole family and the Bundesliga trophy” – Nathan Tella gets his chat on with Ed Aarons about his journey from being a loanee at Burnley to winning the league and cup double with Bayer Leverkusen.
With reference to Peter Shearer’s roundabout way to get to Craven Cottage from Arsenal (Football Daily letters passim), I believe he would find the Piccadilly line to Earls Court, District line to Putney Bridge and a walk up the Thames toe-path a touch quicker and would remove the likelihood of a snarl up on the 220 route down the Fulham Palace Road. Also a stroll up the Thames would be far more scenic, and the extra estimated seven minutes walking would not be a bother for someone who could run it. However, good luck getting to Motspur Park for training” – Neil Baynham.
Pre-season summer tours of faraway countries? I highly doubt that Premier League clubs are after lessons learned (yesterday’s Football Daily). They just want £€$$on$ earned” – Peter Oh.
The Brighton high-up who called Pascal Gross the club’s ‘greatest Premier League signing in terms of his contribution on the pitch’ (Football Daily letters passim), was probably a regular at the Witch Inn in Lindfield. He knew that if Albion had not acquired Gerry Ryan in the days when the second division was actually called the Second Division, in 1978, his local would not in turn have acquired a hugely popular landlord once his playing days were over” – David Carr.
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