In all seriousness though, Morata, Benzema, and Khedira are all entering their final contractual year, no? How many of them do you think will still be around next year? There's a lot of discussion on twitter this morning about Morata...his stats are absurd. DO NOT LET THAT MAN GO.
(unless it's to Liverpool)
I think Khedira leaves and I think we keep Morata and Benzema around another year, especially because Jese (who was dominating at a point) is out for up to 7 months. I think once Jese comes back, if he's the same, we sell Morata. Benzema has thrived in the BBC lineup this year, and it will be hard for Uncle Flo to sell him and break that up. My thought is that Benzema wants to stay at the Bernabeu and he signs some sort of extension early next year.
Not a lot of mystery left for Sunday.
Liverpool highly likely to crush Newcastle, but hard to imagine ManCity not getting at least a point at home.
A minor drama re 6th place and Europa League. Seems both ManU and Spurs might prefer to decline, but can they afford to tank too obviously? Will be interested to see who plays for ManU and Spurs on Sunday.
Am I correct that EPL gets 3 spots in next year's EL - 5th and 6th plus Hull City?
Sunderland amazing.
If it weren't for Tony Pulis' exploits at Palace, Sunderland's resolve would surely get more press. It is an impressive, impressive run to finish the season (and to safety). I'll miss Norwich though...there's not enough yellow in the league.
Maybe Stu Downing and Andy Carroll can win Liverpool some silverware next weekend, eh?! #theresyournarrative!
Unfortunately for our man on Sunderland, Altidore, their resurgence correlated with his quasi-permanent benching. He got on the last 2 games and played decently, but missed a sitter yesterday. I'll be interested to see where he ends up next year, but I'm not sure the Premiere League is for him.
For those of you keeping track of who could be making the leap to the Premiership next season, the Championship 3rd place playoff is now down to QPR and Derby County. For QPR, a win will return them to the top flight after being relegated last season to the Championship. For Derby County, it will be the first time back in the top flight since that terrible 2007-08 season that saw them relegated with the lowest point total in Premiership history (1 win; 11 points).
One of them will be joining Leicester City and Burnley in facing the big boys next season. The loser will welcome Norwich City, Fulham and Cardiff City to the Championship.
I'd watch it, if it were anywhere on US TV. But so far, I can't find it. Fox national network has Athletico-RM that aft (Sat May 24), but the 10 am EDT Championship playoff at Wembley doesn't seem to be on US TV. Surprises me, as I've occasionally seen a Championship game. But can't find it on FS 1, FS 2, beIn, NBCSN, ESPN group, GOL TV. Nada.
Help?
Wait. Maybe you could get to Wembley, Skype it to me. Probably tough for you to catch a flight to Lisbon in time for the start of the CL final. You could do like that guy in the Heineken commercial. It would be close to impossible, but I'd appreciate the effort. Or, just skip Lisbon and head to Madrid. That's doable, right? The fiesta will last all night in Madrid, anyway. Piece of cake.
The final is supposed to be on beIN Sports. They've been the ones carrying the Championship playoffs (saw both legs of QPR-Wigan). And as for Lisbon or Madrid, I checked it out to see if I could go on points. Sadly, I don't have enough to make the trip and with no job and the World Cup approaching, my bank account is in the red. It will be fun to watch on TV though!
BeIN is the worst at scheduling ever. Anything more than 3 days from now is not set in stone. Last year they carried all 3 Football League Playoff Finals live, so I would assume they would do the same this year. It is not like they have much other inventory after this weekend.
As a supporter of a club who finished in the top half of the Championship with some lingering promotions hopes for next season, should I be pulling for QPR?
On the flip side, the Manchester City title means that our little modern era league winners club is still exclusive.
They are THE worst. They announced all week that they would do whiparound coverage of the 3 La Liga matches that everyone was hoping to see. On Sunday, they just went with the Atletico match and the Barca match on the 2 channels they have, canceling any whiparound coverage. They're notorious for changing schedules at the last minute without notification.
There's still time to say, No, Cesc. Don't do it.
Is this thread for all football?
the timing of this might work out well for NYFC, if I choose to support them... (they need to have their own stadium though. I have no interest in watching soccer in Yankee Stadium).