Surely De Gea will be first choice for Spain?

You would think so if politics doesn't get in the way..

It would be almost self sabotage if he was not.

if Casillas is in the squad, then he will play IMO. Del Bosque's unwavering loyalty to him, no matter how dreadful he has become, is at once admirable and bewildering

Is he still national captain?

You have either the best or second best goalkeeper (depending on people's viewpoint) in De Gea, and you are not going to play him?

That would be madness in the extreme.

Doesn't Del Bosque have some sort of a blind spot where Casillas is involved? I would imagine most people would have De Gea in there without question. Seems madness to have Casillas especially since he hardly covered himself in glory at the last World Cup.

I believe so


it's not even about De Gea really. if Casillas was still anywhere near his best, then I'd have no problem with him still playing. but he's been an utter liability for at least three years now, and Del Bosque just sticks by him no matter what.

Surely this is a huge issue in Spain, as if we had this issue over here, it sure would be.
There is just no justifiable reason to not play De Gea, and I am not just saying that because of his Man Utd connections, he is a top level goalkeeper.

If he is only going there as back up, he might as well not go, as that would be an insult to him.

Considering the grief the likes of Rooney and Milner get here after being selected after only having fairly average seasons (I fully admit I haven't seen Milner as much so I may be doing him a dis-service here), I shudder to think what the reaction here would be if a situation like this occurred. Then again, there's an argument to be had as to whether OUR number one should be the number one with the likes of Forster waiting in the wings.

Thing is, Del Bosque isn't a coach along the lines of say, a McLaren or a Warnock. The man has won titles. BIG titles. He clearly is a very good coach. Which makes it more astounding that he continues to play a keeper who is clearly a) past his best and b) not as good as his number one rival for the position.

The only thing I can imagine that swings things in Casillas favour would be the back four are more settled with him being there. Not being a close follower of Spain though this is just a guess. I know Pique and Ramos have been there for a while. Not sure about the rest.

Milner's been one of Liverpool's best players this season. 7 goals and 14 assists this season in the Premier League and Europa League, including penalties (always a plus), and there's still a final to go. But despite the season he's had people are already complaining about his inclusion in the England squad.

I get your point and agree with you, just wanted to point that out.

Apologies for waking this thread up from its pre-season slumber, but thought as things are happening in European Domestic Football it was time for it to be back.

The main news being that it looks like Laurent Blanc may be leaving PSG. His agent all but confirmed it on French Radio.

Unai Emery (who resigned as Sevilla Manager last week) is apparently the favourite for the job should Blanc leave.

For a while now it seems Al-Khelaifi has been looking to move on from Blanc. With the Mourinho rumours at the end of last season and Al-Khelaifi's recent comments, it looks like they've agreed to go their different ways.

Although Blanc won the domestic treble last season (including the league by a mile) it's the Champions League PSG want and Quarter Finals just aren't satisfactory.

As for Emery he absolutely deserves a top job. Taking Sevilla to three Europa Leagues in a row and doing a good job in La Liga despite their best players always being picked up, Be good to see him get a chance with one of the bigger clubs in Europe.

Although saying that I do hope Ligue 1 has a better title race next seasom. It was interesting watching multiple teams battle for the Champions League places but it would better if they could give PSG more of a challenge for the title.

And hopefully Marseille will be much improved too. Was a shame to see a half empty Velodrome every home game for them.

Marcelo Bielsa has resigned as Lazio boss. After two days.

Suggestions that the newly-vacant Argentina job may be the reason.

Trying to outdo himself at Marseille there!

Nice to see he's a man of his word.

Another person to have left their job seems to be Sammer at Bayern, he seems to have stepped down as their Director of Football.

Seems to be true.

Be interesting to see who replaces him there in that role.

Awesome

I would love to know why it took PSG so long to make the decision. They must of decided this week's ago and not sure why they didn't do the deed at the end of the season.

I didn't read the whole article but the headline I saw seemed to suggest it was down to health problems.

Yes, it's true. Sammer had a mini bleed on his brain or some kind of mini stroke and hasn't really appeared in public (or at Bayern) since. The club tried to persuade him to stay, even offering him a lengthy sabbatical, but he decided to resign and concentrate on his private life.

No one is replacing him for now. His roles have been divided up between several people.

Many thanks for the update and further in on Sammer, that is very sad and unfortunate for him, I wish him well, I loved Wat hang him in Euro 96, so he will always have a special place in my affections.

One of the best players I've ever seen! Could have been an all time great if his career wasn't cut short by injury.

It was my first time actually seeing a player play the sweeper role live, and boy was I impressed!

I wonder if we will ever see a sweeper system back in fashion again??