PSG ne sera pas sur cette chose - It's the Champions League 2017-2018 thread

Klaasen, Siggurdson and Rooney was a bizarre combination of signings when they desperately needed a striker. They're so fucking slow too

Arsenal game delayed as 20,000 ticketless Cologne fans trying to get in apparently

They marched up the centre of London today, causing some little mayhem apparently.

Koln fans fighting with stewards inside Emirates stadium. Group arrived in home end and fought their way into away section. pic.twitter.com/7RC17WZyz2

— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) September 14, 2017

Oh my word! 😱

That was worth the wait!

Jhon Córdoba puts FC Köln ahead with a 45-yard strike! 👏 pic.twitter.com/R9wzfo1eoe

— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) September 14, 2017

Lloris;
Trippier, Alderweireld, Sánchez, Davies;
Winks, Dier
Aurier, Sissoko, Son;
Kane.

idk how busy Boy Waterman is going to be tonight,

This is very much like watching England.

Kane hattrick.

In light of some of the grandiose claims that have been made this week I feel like we need a 'How good is Harry Kane really?' thread soon. How is he perceived/rated in other countries right now?

Pretty good? He severely lacks charisma tho. Not needed to be a great player, but it might put a dent into how he is rated. One of the best out there these days, surely.

Fucking Ronaldo

Ronaldo just got his second, almost took the net off. 3-1 real.

Lol he is wonderful what are you on about

Hate him with all my guts, would disown kids who'd support him, and I like BVB etc

People I've spoken to about Spurs outside the UK have seemed more excited about Alli than Kane, though that was before this season started.

^^ that's me, too. But with the important addition of "before this season".

City only at 2-0 but they've played Shaktar senseless. Great, flowing stuff.

Most endearing thing about Kane is his uncanny ability to look bang average while secretly being the best striker in Europe (ronaldo doesn't count imo)

Ronaldo DEF doesn't count ;)

Studge and Salah missing sitters to win this for Liverpool

Thank fuck I didn't watch Liverpool tonight

To paraphrase Windsor yes, the thing with Kane is he's far more functional than beautiful, but he's really fucking functional

He just seems to have this laser focused drive to keep improving that you just don't see in even the most talented English players very often.

he's like a talented scott parker

Haha otm.

If he'd had a man-bun like Bale he'd be worth twice as much. Strange days indeed.

No charisma, scores lots of goals - not exactly unprecedented for English centre forwards, tbh.

Not reliant on white referees ignoring thuggery tbf

If he'd had a man-bun like Bale he'd be worth twice as much

Already worth more than anyone could feasibly pay, even in today's market.

English player premium x preposterously prolific striker x only 24 years old x not being a total fuckin diva to try and work with x the Daniel Levy factor

Maybe if several oil-rich states decide to club together it could be done, but until Kane forces the issue I think he's probably as close to unbuyable as any players get in 2017

Ie. Not Rooney.

xp

@Windsor, no player is unbuyable. He'll not sell as many shirts as Neymar, even though he arguably is better. But he's way duller, and I bet he voted for Brexit - or worse, didn't vote at all. 200m transfer to West Ham in 2021 is on the cards.

He'd be perfect for Real Madrid, replacing Benzema, as much as I hate to admit it.

Kane isn't good enough for a top club

Now fuck off

Have you seen Benzema the last year and a half? Not even I could be worse. Kane would flourish there.

Closer to a more versatile Lineker than a Shearer or Rooney

I hope the space-time continuum won't allow it, hate Madrid with all my heart, but he'd be perfect there.

Needs three chances to score, doesn't create enough for team mates

Sissoko. Sissoko makes this team tick. You want sissoko.

"not Rooney" is a remarkably complete description of Kane tbh

I'll point you to my Patreon shortly, I expect no less than to get filthy rich off of that description.

multiple xposts to LBI

Brexit thing seems a little bit ad hom? he comes off like a thoroughly cosmopolitan young gentleman whenever he's interviewed. also presumably unfazed by the idea of low-wage European labour coming over to undercut him and take his job after the way the Janssen thing went

anyway, i didn't actually say he was unbuyable, i said he was as close as you're gonna get in modern football. given the new paradigm ushered in by the Mbappe/Dembele deals (150m is about what it costs now to buy a player who might turn out to be the best in the world in 5 years, all being well), Harry Kane is easily worth a new transfer record (this'll be Levy's bargaining position at least) and unlike with the whole Neymar/Barca thing, there's nothing in his contract forcing Spurs to sell.

Sissoko man sissoko

No ad hom, merely ILF challops tbh. The lad's alright probably. I was being cocky.

On the transfer thing: the tendency seems to be that clubs - eager to sign the next hot star - splash out more for not nearly/unproven players like Mbappé or Dembele. The dream is always bigger than reality. Ie. the promise of "potentially the greatest player ever" seems to be worth more than great players who are still young yet have proven themselves (ie. Kane). Ofcourse Kane is worth more than Mbappé. Way more. But I wouldn't bet on it if it actually plays out that way.

Lol Deems

Kane is....English dzeko? English huntelaar?

Competency unquestionable and consistency beyond hot-streak at this stage but rarely shows anything that would have a trainee thinking "I'll never be at that level"

Where does he live? Is he married? Pretty sure he doesn't have a Colleen hidden in his basement.

Dzeko and Huntelaar otm. He's the English Inzaghi, for now. Until Madrid pick him up and the earth proves to be flat etc

xp Besides bagging hattricks in the champs league obvs

Would be interested to know where people think alli's ceiling is

Allis ceiling is below what he was rated at during our late season run last season imho

Alli seems tricky. He's got the skills rough diamond like, but the flipping the finger and other shenanigans (stamping on someone's ankle, for one), idk. More talent than Kane obv, but maybe not boring and level-headed enough to make it in this world.

Not sure that it is necessarily obvious that alli is more talented than Kane? joke about kane's low-key demeanour all you like, his performance against Dortmund the other day was astonishing. Not seen the goals from tonight yet

Alli makes bad decisions and has had a few stinking games lately where his base level of technique was amateur

At his best he looks the type/level of player that Kane doesn't, highlights reel, creative, supernatural creative/imaginative stuff.

Not a complaint to bemoan his wide variance of performance within this range, his level of consistency and end product since his late teens has been staggering.

But I think Kane could stay at spurs his whole career and prove that the past three years are no blip. I'm getting a feeling that Alli could regress either in situ or after a huge transfer, and I don't think poch has him under control despite public approval of his bite or w/e

dele is spiky and flash, all perma-frown & elbows, struggling to be perfect with his one good foot. kane has jettisoned his ego in the name of efficiency. the part of the brain normally used for charm has instead been dedicated to neatly side-footing the ball into the bottom corner. he's the perfect poch striker: inexorable rather than devastating; adapts to the game rather than bends it to his will; too steady & reliable to stop improving. he seems much more likely to stay for the long term than dele, and I'm not sure he's the rare english player that wants to play abroad. they work very well together in the league, and it'll be interested to see if they can do it in europe if spurs start to better control games.

Maybe if several oil-rich states decide to club together it could be done, but until Kane forces the issue I think he's probably as close to unbuyable as any players get in 2017

don't see that at all. if someone bid 150m or 200m he'd be gone in a week.