#Premier League amazing goal

[martynrandles]

Elegance personified Iliman Ndiaye's goal against Tottenham Hotspur

What a goal, what a player! We've all been waiting years for a baller like this. Took me back to the good old days... Hands off he's not for sale! Build the entire team around him. Keep on doing what you do best Iliman! I can't stop watching this goal. NSNO personified right here! COYB NSNO UTFT

[mowu-moment]

only so much one goalie can do

[mawwiii]

He ate and left no crumbs may the form continue✨✨

11th clean sheet this season, most of any keeper in the league ✨

[hunterrrs]

Evgeni Malkin said he's always felt slightly overlooked.

One of the premier centers of his generation, the 37-year-old has played his NHL career as the second center on the Pittsburgh Penguins behind longtime teammate Sidney Crosby. He was the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NHL Draft. Alex Ovechkin, possibly the only Russia-born player more statistically accomplished, went No. 1 to the Washington Capitals.

Malkin doesn't mind. Actually, it's just the way he likes it.

"I'm not the kind of guy that wants media around me. I like to be quiet a little bit," Malkin said. "I want to just play the game. Probably, people want, like, my private life a little bit more. But I'm, like, a little bit closed.

"Maybe my English is not good before, not talk too much with media. Again, this is kind of myself. I'm OK with that because I know I'm a good player."

Numbers do talk, though. In his 18th season, Malkin is third in Penguins history with 1,261 points, 485 goals and 776 assists, trailing Mario Lemieux (1,723 points; 690 goals, 1,033 assists) and Crosby (1,540 points; 571 goals, 969 assists).

Ovechkin reached out after Malkin eclipsed Fedorov.

"He's a star in the League," Ovechkin said. "I think he's a tremendous player. He knows how to win. He knows how to play. It's not a surprise he has so many points, so many goals and assists."

"People are talking about Ovi a lot. They talk about (Connor) McDavid. They talk about (Nathan) MacKinnon," Letang said. "You don't hear Geno's name a lot. What he's been able to do in this league for that long and at this age still, being the goal scorer that he is, it's just special.

"I think it's always been (that way), except maybe the year he won the Hart and everything. I think it's always been a little bit like that. He's not seen to his true color."

Without Malkin, Crosby said his NHL career would have been more difficult. That pair, along with Letang, has won the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017). They qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons together before missing them last season.

"There are nights where you don't feel great or have your best," Crosby said. "You're watching Geno do his thing out there. That's happened a lot. I think we've pushed each other over the years, but he's a guy that has always stepped up when he needs to. I think that's just the competitive nature in him.

"I think the consistency is the biggest thing. You don't have that kind of consistency without being as competitive as he is. He's been amazing for a lot of years. The stats show it."

"I think the biggest thing for me that I admire about Geno is how competitive he is," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "Just his competitive spirit is off the charts. His will to win, his want to win, and his will and want to score and produce offense. I don't think anyone likes scoring goals more than 'G.' You can see it in his raw emotion when he scores.

"Sometimes, I don't think Geno gets the credit that he deserves in the hockey world for the body of work that he's put together in this league and how talented he is. He's without a doubt one of the greatest players of all-time."

love a good geno lovefest

[stitchkiss]

jamie’s performance and adversity during the man city game was inspiring and amazing to see bc character growth BUT i have yet to see anyone show appreciation for van damme!!!! this man saved every single fucking goal like that’s INSANE. saving goal after goal against one of the best teams in the premier league like it’s nothing!! he’s so cool n brave for wearing that terrifying mask. i just love him sm

[ladymarycrawley]

Man of the match part 1 - John Stones

Requested by a lovely anon, hope you like it even though its hasn't been proofread 🙈

Tag list: @masonxomount @prideofpd @johnstonesfc @stonesyy

(Gif credit to @johnstonesyy )

John has been in terrific shape lately: starting most games and scoring even two goals! He was happy and you were even happier.

Last big game in chronological order was the one against Arsenal, which was important to decide who would have gotten closer to the final result, winning the Premier League title.

Since you managed to leave your baby girl with his parents for a couple of days, you could make it to the Etihad, to cheer on him from the stands.

The most emotional moment of the night was when you saw him exploding with joy the moment the referee validated his goal. As a natural consequence, your heart burst with joy too, jumping in your spot as the chant "Johnny Johnny Stones" resonated through the stadium. 

You only wanted that game to finish as soon as possible so you could wrap him in your embrace and tell him how proud he made you.

After the game he celebrated with his teammates and recorded some social content for City's Instagram, the only thing you could do was waiting patiently in the room where the footballers' families would usually wait for their beloved ones once the games were over.

You were chatting with Sasha when John finally made his appearance together with Rúben.

"Here's the man of the match!" Sasha cried as we all made a round of applause to compliment him on his brilliant performance. He blushed and thanked everyone before connecting his eyes with yours: the only thing that mattered were your own congratulations, how proud you were of him.

You smiled, opening your arms to him as he he hugged you with so much strength he lifted your figure from the ground. 

"You were amazing, babe" You whispered in his ear, trying to keep your pda as discreet as possible as none of you liked to make a show.

Shivers ran down your bodies as he planted a small kiss in the crook of your neck.

"Thanks. Shall we go home?"

You nodded as he put back on your feet.

You waved everyone goodnight before entering his car.

"I can finally scream about the excellence of my man of the match" You exclaimed in a high pitched voice that made him giggle. You placed your right hand on his cheek to kiss his giggly lips as your thumb gently caressed his cheekbone.

"You were so so good and when the ref said the goal was in, that was crazy!"

He loved hesring you so enthusiastic about the game, talking about it with so much passion. 

"Yeah, that's was crazy" Both his hands were on the steering wheel, being busy backing out of the parking lot before he could place his hands on your thigh.

"Glad you could come to the game"

You smiled and squeezed his hand, brushing your thumb against his skin 

"We have the whoooole night to ourselves to celebrate" You hitted wiggling your eyebrows. 

"Mh?"

"Bub's at your mum, remember?"

"Ohh well" He smirked, moving his hand further down your thigh. "You were looking forward to this, don't you naughty girl?"

You sighed, looking out of the window. "Well, if you prefer go home, eat a snack and going to bed it's fine for me"

He moved his head to the side to glare at you.

"What? You won't get away with it so easily…you still owe me that lingerie set you teased me with thr other day"

"Not my fault your daughter woke up crying suddenly!"

"Blame it on a child? You're so mean"

You laughed out loud and batted his hand away.

"Stop it or won't see that set not even tonight"

"And threatening your man? You're such a bad girl"

"Oh you have no idea how bad I can be" It was your turn to smirk and he bit on his lower lip squeezing your thigh.

As you closed the front door of your home behind you, meaning you were now in the safest space possible to show each other all your love, you started kissing your way down his neck, gently nipping at his skin.

John hissed as he firmly held your body close to his. His grip was tight on your bum as you slowly moved further south, unbuttoning his shirt while doing so.

He tugged on your hair to bring you back to your height.

"Go put that set on now" He ordered you huskily.

Needless to say all your clothes were scattered all over the floor as the passion got the best of you and you couldn’t spend not even one minute more apart from each other.

-

In the morning John was the most similar thing to an angel you could ever think of: his head on the pillow bordered by his perfect curls tickling his forehead made him look like a cherub. His sleeping features made you fall in love with him even more, if that was something humanly possible. 

You couldn’t resist the temptation to move his curls away from his forehead and kiss it.

He moaned and stirred his body, throwing his arm around your waist to keep you closer to him.

"Good morning"

He groaned, not wanting to keep his eyes open.

"We haven't used that set, not even this time" You giggled, pressing your lips against his cheek.

"Someone was too busy asking me for more"

"But there was also someone begging to fuck me if I remember correctly"

John slapped your butt before taking you over his body to cuddle you.

"We have to go take Iris in a couple of hours"

"I miss her running around the house screaming daddyyyyy"

You giggled and kissed his lips.

"Now she'll hug you and won't let go of you for the rest of the day, you know that?"

"I can do that, you'll have to be the one to deal with your jealousy"

"Now you're the mean one" You pouted, making him giggle as he kissed you back.

"But we still have a couple of hours…do you wanna see the set?"

[kierantierney3]

Since England lost the final can you please do part 2 of "lovers", thank you in advance :)

Hi thank you for your request!!! I enjoyed making part 1 and was hoping to get to write a part 2.

Disclaimer i’m not english i’m scottish that tells you everything you need to know about who i wanted to win the final.

Masterlist

Face claim: Alessia Russo

Part 1

————-

yourusername

liked by ødegaard.98, ellatoone and 99,882 others

yourusername Special night 3/3 in the group stage. Now onto round of 16. Thank you everyone for the support. Buzzing to score my first goal hopefully more to come.

view all comments

ødegaard.98 So so proud 😍❤️

ødegaard.98 Amazing player

ellatoone ❤️ Mrs Ødegaard

user What a star ⭐️

ødegaard.98

liked by yourusername, declanrice and 291,949 others

ødegaard.98 What a start to the season. Thank you for all the support. See you for the start of the premier league. 🏆

view all comments

yourusername So proud of you i love you. What a player. Deserve all of it. ❤️

user Best team

user This team man!!! can’t wait for the premier league to restart.

yourusername

liked by ødegaard,98, keirawalsh and 101,839 others

yourusername What an unbelievable team. We fought hard and got through. Thanks for the support. See you in the next round. 🦁

view all comments

ødegaard.98 No surprises here. What a player and what a team. 😍

⤷ I love you 😘

user What a unreal player. Big season coming up ⬆️

user We are going to win it 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

yourusername story

yourusername

liked by ødegaard.98, eddienketiah and 128,939 others

yourusername Through to the semi finals. What a performance from everyone. See you guys for the next game. 🦁🤍

view all comments

ødegaard.98 Some player. I miss you but i’m so proud of you. ❤️

user It’s coming home

user Women’s football > men’s football

ødegaard.98

liked by yourusername, bukayosaka87 and 239,920 others

ødegaard.98 Back with 3 points ❤️ Thanks for the support

view all comments

yourusername Sorry you only got me 2 points in my premier league team straight out for someone else. ❤️

bukayosaka87 Captain 👏🏿

user Typical Arsenal nerve racking last minutes with a goal advantage.

yourusername

liked by ødegaard.98, leahwilliamson and 183,894 others

yourusername Off to the world cup finals. What an unbelievable support from everyone. See you soon 🦁🦁

view all comments

ødegaard.98 Amazing! Bring it home.

user Can’t believe it think i was in shock for a good couple hours.

user Final is going to be the most stressful thing ever.

ødegaard.98

liked by declanrice, benwhite and 318,929 others

ødegaard.98 Big win, big team performance from everyone. Proud of them. ❤️

view all comments

user Ref was shocking

user Please please give y/n a massive hug when you finally see her. Deserves so much money, and seemed heartbroken at full time.

user Some player. Can’t believe we got you for £30 million.

yourusername

liked by ødegaard.98, judebellingham and 102,939 others

yourusername Sadly it wasn’t meant to be. We are heartbroken. So proud of everyone we just came up short. Full congratulations to spain they played a good game of football and came out the winners.

Thank you for all the support from everyone around to world. Some amazing 6 weeks that i will never forgot.

Now we rest for the upcoming season ahead. No doubt we will come back stronger again. 🦁🤍

view all comments

ødegaard So proud of you and the team you did everyone amazingly. Football is a cruel sport.

user So proud of you and the girl you did us all proud.

judebellingham 🤍 Rest up well.

user See you for the new season. Rest up it’s a big season ahead.

ødegaard.98 story

Hope that is ok. Got a couple more requests still need to be written. I tend to write the ones that come in first.

[formulalfc]

quansah with the cutest smiley face after winning a game and you just go up and give him a great big hug and smush his cheeks up

it was a big game at anfield, tough with all the injuries and so many games all at once but the lads had managed to get the three points they needed. your boyfriend jarell put in an amazing performance, earning himself man of the match for his defending and the late goal he managed to score, making it his first-ever premier league goal. you wait for him in the tunnel and as soon as you make eye contact you're running over to him and launching yourself into his arms. you have a tight grip on him as he wraps his arms around you too, pressing a kiss into your hair and rocking you both back and forth. you pull away and look up at him, smushing his cheeks together as you tell him how proud you are of him.

inbox is open send me some ramble requests <3

[brightlight-dazzlingeyes]

between the lines | interlude

rúben dias x original female character [+18]

synopsis: isabella is a sports journalist covering the premier league. she has sworn to never get involved with a football player. that is, until she meets a handsome portuguese defender. warnings: incorrect journalism references; timeline of events are not faithful to real life; i have never been to england; mutual pining; romantic comedy;  minors dni.

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

Interlude

“I think she wants you to sing to her!” Carlos exasperatedly requests me a lullaby. I’m sitting down on the floor in front of my floor length mirror, trying to do something nice with my hair. I'm getting ready for my first day back at work after a short lived summer break. My brother is on facetime, showing me my niece. “I swear, she was saying ‘tía’ a lot. I think she’s asking for the song.”

It’s August and I just got back to England. Getting drunk on Pinot Noir on as many Spanish islands as my money could afford was a goal I gracefully achieved over the break. Okay, maybe ‘gracefully’ is not the best word to describe my alcohol driven antics. But here I am, all pieces glued together, ready for another season.

This time last year I was a rookie in this League and by the end of the season I was having dinner dates with a Prem superstar.

None of that this time, tough. I've grown a year older since my birthday last week, and that means I’m only focusing on my career. For real this time. No more relapses, no more calls in the middle of the night.

So I sing Lucía a song and then I go to work.

“New year, new me, huh?” I point out as Melissa hugs me, she has a new hair color and is rocking a new makeup style.

“Isabella, it’s August.” Mel doesn't share my enthusiasm. “Also, I hate covering pre-season. I always end up making stupid decisions like going blonde or something.”

“What? You didn’t have fun in the US?” I’m still hugging her when I ask.

“Oh, shut up. Your insta stories didn’t help me either, you know?” Mel puts both hands on my shoulders and looks deep into my eyes. “But you had fun, right? You’re feeling good?”

“Yeah, of course. Feeling good. I feel great.” I nod, mostly to myself. “I feel amazing…” 

She agrees and continues to walk.

“I swear I wish I had forgotten most of these dudes' names.” She bites her lips looking menacingly into the horizon. I giggle, ashamed.

“I share the feeling.”

At lunch Mel ordered Japanese food and I just stared at the package for a full minute before deciding to eat.

“You know you can talk to me, right?” It’s the fourth or sixth time she said that to me, ever since she noticed something was off a couple months ago.

It was a Japanese restaurant but I almost didn’t notice at first, being too focused on something else. He wore a button up shirt and I felt like dying.

I remember saying something like:

“I don’t really like Portuguese food. Too many eggs. You guys put eggs in everything. Egg on the entrance, egg on the fish, for desert? Egg flavored cake. Francesinha is a sandwich with egg on top of it. That’s not where the egg is supposed to go, Rúben.”

And he laughed, he laughed at every joke I said. At the end of the night my jaw was hurting from how I smiled at him and I wondered if he felt the same.

It’s a double-edge sword, this whole falling in love thing. Even being the one saying goodbye, I still hurt like I was dumped by my first boyfriend at 16 all over again.

At first it was easy, everything can be a distraction if you try hard enough. But with time the thing I was trying so hard to hide became bigger and louder in my mind. The sound of the laughter, the clicking of the cutlery.

The realization that I chose this, standing outside of Wembley with a microphone in hand; over whatever that was.

This is fine, I’m great.

“How are you feeling about this season?” I question a random City fan outside the stadium.

“Good, yeah.” The lad shrugs.

“You guys already won everything, do you think the players-” I start, but he stops me.

“Nah, we didn’t win everything. There’s always more to win. We only got 3 out of 4 last season.” When he says that, I realize that around 20 meters away from me, in the distance, is the Manchester City bus. I walk faster.

The sound of wanting gets drowned out by a crowded pub and suddenly it's easier to breathe again and everything really is fine.

“Rice, rice, baby!” It’s Victor’s voice that gets a genuine laugh out of me. “I fucking love Wembley!”

We’re all meeting at the pub after the Community Shield game and the atmosphere is exactly like the first day back to school, but with a lot more beer involved.

“Please don’t tell me you have money on Arsenal winning the league.” Seb is sitting next to me, pointing his green bottle to Victor.

“I do. Yes, go ahead, laugh all you want.” Victor raises his voice, looking offended. “I’m not even being optimistic, mate, it’s just the plain truth.”

The entire table laughs and we almost can't hear when he continues. “They’re stronger this year, guys, hear me out.”

“You’re right to be confident, but personally I’m not putting money on Mikel.” Mel says.

I bite my tongue when they ask my opinion.

“I’m being a hundred percent professional this year, no betting, no guessing, just straight analyzing.” The table booed me and I raised my hands in the air, in surrender. “Hey, I didn’t even want to be here. I wish I was in Australia right now.”

“Don't remind me!” Mel sighs and lightly slaps me. “We’re literally the only women not covering the World Cup right now.”

“No whining! Come on, let’s toast.” Seb raises his bottle once again, but this time we all follow. “To a busy and long season!”

And we all repeat: “To a busy and long season!”

[beingliverpool]

IT's AMAZING on TOP!! YNWA!!

Liverpool marched to the top of the Premier League table as two goals from Luis Diaz and one stunning curled effort from Darwin Nunez saw the Reds defeat Bournemouth 3-0 on Saturday.

[judethswrld]

But did you notice how Jude was pretty much the only player getting praised 24/7 before the euros? English media wants him to be the face of football so bad, forgetting that he’s only 20yo and at this point he’s too overhyped, which leads to criticism when he’s not at all living up to the hype.. Bench him and let others carry this team for the next couple of matches. JMO.

well no actually that’s not what happen

jude was getting EXTREMELY hype before the euros bc he went to the biggest club at 20 years old and had amazing performances helping them secure laliga and the champions league which is unbelievable. that’s why he was getting so much hype. people thought he was gonna join and be benched due to the club having so many midfielders but the total opposite happened

u saying the english media want him to be the face of football so bad it’s sooo funny to me bc the english media don’t even? like him? LIKE THEY DON’T 😭

english media only wants to prop their english players who play in the premier league bc that’s what matters to them. they really don’t fw jude like that if u didn’t notice. the way they set him up with their post and articles is so nasty so it’s crazy how u would say that. whole bunch of english fans don’t even like jude for rejecting their league so how would the english media like him 😭 they only care about phil foden

and yea i’ll say sometimes he gets overhyped but that’s not even his fault is it?? u can’t blame him for how the media treats him

and saying bench him the next game like he didn’t score the first match and won which is the ONLY reason why england qualified

yea it seems like yall forget jude’s goal against serbia is the only reason why they made it into the RO16….

[coachtfd]

I think it would be a mistake to write Rasmus off as a flop. If we sign a striker in the summer, I’m fine with the idea of sending him out on loan and I know exactly where I’d send him: Nottingham Forest. He’ll keep getting Premier League experience, which is the level we want him developing at. They’re looking good to qualify for a European competition next season, which is better than what we can offer at the moment. 😂 And they suit his playing style perfectly: he’s an old school target striker, like Haaland.

He’s not going to beat 5 guys to score goals like Ruud would. He’s not going to come deep to lay off amazing linkup passes like Kane. He’s going to be in good shooting positions in and around the box and if you find him often enough during a game he will typically bury those chances. Chris Wood is the same kind of player and we’ve seen how well he’s doing there. Worst case scenario, we decide to sell him since we need the money and he’ll have raised his value. Best case, it shows Amorim how to get the best out of him. He comes back confident and ready to keep banging them in for us. 🧐

[sportsthoughts]

Sorry if I missed this lore drop previously, but how'd you get into the Pens? I love your gifs and positivity that you bring to the lb!

Buckle up anon. I thought about one line answering this but I enjoy the phrase 'lore drop' so much I think you deserve the deep dive. It'll take a while to get to the pens but you asked for lore so...

I have been sportsthoughts on tumblr since 2015 ish - maybe slightly earlier - and this has always been a sportsblr/sports rpf-y type blog in various iterations.

This blog was originally used for liveblogging UK Premier League and La Liga football matches. I have always been a huge football fan (my childhood team is Arsenal - north London forever ❤️ etc etc) and when I moved away to university at 18 none of my new friends were into sports and I really missed watching games with my family.

Finding other likeminded fans online who were also watching games and liveblogging them was such a beautiful experience and I have amazing memories of 2015-2018ish when I was a very active football blog, spent a lot of the time in the Arsenal/FC Barcelona communities here and had some beautiful trips to Barca.

I do have a sideblog where I still dabble in that space but in truth I very rarely liveblog football anymore because nowadays it's returned to being something I watch with friends and family so I'm not on my phone during games.

Here's where the pens come in - sort of. I've scrolled back through my AO3 bookmarks and can see in 2015 I also got into sports RPF for the first time. There are some incredible football RPF fics out there (let me know if you'd like some recs!). Somehow - probably through raiding people's bookmarks - in early 2015 I ended up reading a Sid/Geno fic called And Never Been Kissed and I was absolutely hooked. At the time of reading this I had:

1. Never watched a game of hockey in my life (side note, I don't think I can understate how little hockey coverage there is in the UK. Even the most ardent sports fan would probably not be able to name a single NHL player or team. Not even Sid! Not even Gretzky!)

2. I had no idea, nor any desire to look up who these people actually were. It was just like reading really well written original fiction.

For the next 7 years I thoroughly enjoyed hockey RPF and created (in my mind) entire personalities and appearances for Sid and Geno, along with all the other 'characters I came across regularly in hockey fic. Sid, I got pretty close to the mark. Geno, not so much. One day I will try and find some reference pictures for what I thought they looked like because it’s quite hilarious. When I re-read fics I love from during that time I laugh because I remember my Sid and Geno and how different they were from reality.

So, hockey was sort of in my life from 2015 but exclusively in the form of fics. I would scroll through the actual hockey bits of works because I didn’t understand the rules and why every single fic was an AU where professional sports people were allowed to fight each other mid game.

At this point I’d left university, and because I no longer liveblogged football games, I found I really missed sports fandom. Another sport I grew up watching and loving was Formula 1 so when lockdown hit in March 2020 I started liveblogging F1 races to pass the time (and still do sometimes - now over on @vroomlive). I loved/still love F1blr, but it didn't quite fill my fandom itch because:

1. We joke about it, but F1 is a deeply unserious sport run by a dire organisation (Liberty Media). They change the rules every week and it's managed badly to the point of being comical. There have been a few major cock ups over the years (including the 2021 championship literally being taken away from the rightful winner and given to someone else. To put this in hockey terms: imagine a completely valid goal being overruled in the last 5 minutes of the Stanley Cup final and then the ref deciding to give the other team a 5 on 3 powerplay Just Because) all of this is quite disheartening for long term fans - and has resulted in quite a fractured and angsty fandom.

2. There are only about 20 F1 races a year - so it's just not a sport that's on regularly. I love sports, and I want to watch sports all the time - so a sport that only gave me content every third weekend or so just wasn't really enough for me.

At this point, when I was feeling rather sports fandom bankrupt, the wonderful work of Sid/Geno writers and the influence of the tumblr dashboard converged. I worked this out by scouring my AO3 bookmarks - in April 2021 I read a Sid/Geno fic called Game Plan that I fell head over heels for. I’m still not quite sure what about this fic grasped me so deeply but I started reading a lot more hockey RPF.

Around the same time an F1 blog I followed started posting about Mat Barzal All. The. Time. I had no interest in this man and did not know he was a hockey player but over the course of about a year I became vaguely exposed to hockey content on Tumblr through that blog, and at some point in early 2022, saw Sid on my dash for the first time. I don’t remember the exact post but I remember seeing the name, doing a double take and thinking oh Shit! That’s Sidney Crosby from fanfiction! I was flabbergasted because in my mind Sid was in his early 20s tops, so seeing this early thirties, bearded, fat bottomed man on my dash and realising that that was Sid was such a shock. 

My hockey lurker era lasted from mid 2022 to early 2023 and I spent a lot of time, um, lurking. That sounds so creepy. I suppose I had never thought about actively joining a fandom before because my fandom engagement (one direction > football > f1) had all happened really organically so actually choosing to join a space as an adult was quite an interesting process.

By summer of 2023 my husband’s job changed again meaning he works away from home most weeknights and suddenly my late nights were extremely free because I’d hang out with friends and then go home at 10/11 to an empty house which I hated. I really found myself wanting to make fandom friends and have an at home hobby I could do late at night before going to bed so taking on a sport that happened 12am-2am (timezones!) seemed like a good fit. 

Alongside this on a totally separate track was my longstanding interest in fandom - most of my professional work/research is pretty standard psychotherapy stuff but I’ve done a little bit of work over the last few years looking at sex therapy (not as sexy as it sounds) and I have a real interest in the role that fandom and especially shipping/fic plays in shaping and expressing sexuality. It’s a bit of a back burner research topic for now but I suppose over the years researching fic and expressions of sexuality via fandom and shipping has just made me fall in love with fandom itself a little bit.

Plus having lurked around the edges of hockeyblr for a while I was just like, yeah, I really want in on this, this seems like an awesome community. The reason why I chose the pens was pretty straightforward - I felt like I knew Sid and Geno and after exploring the real life hockey, I, like most of us, was quite struck by who Sid is as a person and was just completely enchanted. Another side note - hilariously, when my husband first saw a picture of Sid last year he immediately said “Oh, he looks like me!” - do with that information what you wish. 

I really eagerly awaited the start of the 2023 season and without sounding too soppy, had already fallen in love with you guys before I ever watched a live hockey game. Every fandom has its difficult corners (pensblr included!) but I can honestly say - especially after the chaos of spending my teenage years knee deep in 1D fandom and my early and mid twenties in various parts of sportsblr - being part of this space has been the most lovely, fun, friendly, lighthearted, positive and beautiful fandom experience I’ve ever had. I feel like it’s the goldilocks zone of all the previous fandoms I’ve been in and I love it.

So yeah! That is the extremely long winded answer to your question, anon. I hope this is the ‘lore drop’ you were looking for lol

TLDR: I stumbled my way through sportsblr until I accidentally ended up here and I’m never leaving.

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Manchester United 4-0 Everton

I like Erik Ten Hag, but Ruben Amorim feels different gravy...

Two goals in the first half and two goals in the second gave Manchester United a convincing 4-0 win over relegation-threatened Everton.

A deep corner from Bruno Fernandes to Rashford seemed like a set piece routine worked on, and his effort was deflected by the overrated Jarrad Branthwaite to put United in the lead after 34 minutes.

Four minutes before half time and an amazing bit of pressing from Amad Diallo in the RWB position unleashed United's counter-attack, with Bruno Fernandes taking over and squaring the ball for Joshua Zirkzee to bag a much needed goal to boost his confidence.

Straight after the break and a bit of Zirkzee magic saw an acute pass cut through Everton and find Amad in acres of space on the right wing, with Marcus Rashford nearby to make is a 2 on 2 and Bruno following up with what seemed like the entire Everton team. A well-timed pass foward and a smart finish at near post past Jordan Pickford made it 3-0, and United were really beginning to purr.

Diallo AGAIN with the pressing in the 64th minute unleashed a 2v1 against Everton, with Zirkzee free to the side for another square ball and an easy side-foot home to make it 2 goals for Marcus, 2 for Zirkzee, and 2 assists for both Bruno and Amad. Tidy.

We should temper expectations and the reality here: it was only Everton, and a team like United should be slapping teams like this about. HOWEVER, how often have we done that in recent years? We had some games like that under Ole, but not Ten Hag. The Barnsley cup win was our first one under Erik that was a 4+ goal margin. Today we just did that in Amorim's second Premier League game lmao.

United were clinical in front of goal, they seem to be enjoying their football (yes we enjoy winning but a draw with Ipswich and a narrow win vs Bodo/Glimt?), and it's clicking.

We'll likely come back down to earth on Wednesday away versus Arsenal, because they're a fluid team and a tall, strong side. We've been weak in duels, so if we're not careful we'll get turned over, but that's why it's important to enjoy the good days. Marcus and Zirkzee scoring is massive (Rashy now has more EPL goals than Hazard), Amad and Bruno assisting and showing their class, ever-reliable showings from Mazraoui and De Ligt... it was by no means perfect but this is a new manager with fresh ideas for a team seemingly devoid of ideas and confidence. This is a very good result.

If we're to show the bad... Mainoo finding fitness and Casemiro diving into tackles, with Dalot LWB... it's not an ideal midfield. But it's versus Everton. It's perfectly capable of doing the job.

Again, we see the above but United were better second half than the first. The manager's ideas and instructions clearly get understood and taken onboard after the teamtalks. This is crucial to our improvement, and to the speed of us fully evolving.

Yellow cards in the game for both Lissandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo mean they will both be unavailable for the midweek game at the Emirates against Arsenal.

That game will be available on Amazon Prime Video (or Peacock) and is an 8:15pm kickoff.

[soggycheeseuwu]

The year is 2017, times are about to get vulnerable, Gerrard has left, Coutinho's about to leave, shaky team altogether but Klopp has something in mind. In comes a young 25 years old lad from rome, Salah he is. The guy scored and assisted 10+ goals in his last season for roma. A promising youngster and a decent striker. Can he fit in the PL? You bet he can.

Mo, I remember watching you in the first season, doing what debutants do, running from the wings, dribbling exquisitely, megging and shaming defenders. Then you win the record breaking Golden boot in your first season and reach the UCL final (hard luck that time) I've started to like you now.

Then comes the season where you play when the team is at its best. You're the man now you're becoming the next big thing. Klopp has put his faith in you. You're ready for the next big thing.

2019, you're the man now. Coutinho has left. New transfers are in. You are the official face of Liverpool now. You have a place in my heart now. You absolutely nailed that season. You are the real intimidating force in the PL. The greatest thing about you this season is that you've grown now, you're mature, you've learned how to carry the team. You are the playmaker, the finisher. You've earned the role and you fulfilled it. Congratulations you're the best in PL now.

2020, You win the premier league, bringing back what's been missing from the club for the past 30 years. You're an English champion, a European champion, and a WORLD champion.

I'll just skip the 2020/21 season. "OnE SeAsOn WoNdEr" is the only word coming from critics who have been dead since forever. Anyways, you saved football by thrashing the trash of Manchester right out of the title race.

21/22 you've bounced back better than ever. You've started to show that Liverpool is because of you. You're the one man. You're scoring week in week out. There are speculations about you leaving us but I know it's not happening anytime soon. Another golden boot in the bags.

22/23 you are incredible, the team not so much. You're amazing, the team is not. You have done everything for the team. You've worked so hard. You've changed your positions putting interests of Liverpool ahead of yours, and yet the team fails to deliver.

23/24 This probably is the last season with Klopp. You've scored so much you've assisted so much. You are the only player to score 10+ goals and assists in the league five times, ending up in the same category as the likes of Henry. You've been amazing this season. I've loved you more than ever. You literally singlehandedly carried the team to top 4. That's one job done. You've won the Carabao cup, that's the second job done.

[cryingforcrocodiles]

now that united's season is over i'm going to be rating how dick hardening some of matches were. thanks for sticking around. here's my season journey through slideshows n reaction memes bascially. this is the first 9.

this is a lot words so i expect no one to read these. this slide are poor quality but atp ... just enjoy the experience. vibe twin jst vibe

the first prem match of the season. united loves disappointment as per usual so i feel like... most of us were like "ha okay this is a disgrace but wow i knew it this would happen deep down." but not this bad holy shit. but [gestures to picture] i think own goals are amazing when we're not the own getting goaled so i had a little fun with this one. also "Erik ten Hag is the first Manchester United manager to lose his first Premier League game in charge since Louis van Gaal in August 2014 against Swansea City." is an amazing way to sum up the season in a whole. breaking real records...

i had to sedate myself. and the kits were ugly.

🔥🔥🔥🔥 NO LINEUP BC WE DOMINATED AND DON'T HAVE TO DEMEAN OURSELVES. 🔥🔥🔥🔥 ARENT WE THE BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD??? SANCHO ON THE SCORESHEET 🔥🔥🔥 NO ONE CAN BEAT US (UNLESS YOU'RE OUTSIDE THE BIG SIX) 🔥🔥🔥.

not much to say about this one tbh. j-ward is going to hell. not for anything he did this match but i'm just letting yk. 3 points! onechester united.

sancho said "these niggas are so boring" and finally snuck a goal. thank you sancho i live and breathe you. onechester united x2

THREECHESTER UNITED. saka gives arsenal hope but rashy crushes it. rashford brace 💖 ... all rashford fcers were having the time of their life (I WAS SO FUCKING HAPPY!!). rashford had 3 goals at this point. 3 points.

i like watching penalties even if its against me. adrenaline Mhm. but otherwise whatever it's the groupstage n first one. so. i didn't rlly care. spanish teams beat and own our ass so. another day! moving on.

i meant to put FC in there but i forgot. so it's just "the sancho" except "the sancho fc" well. yes sancho goals make the planet go round and round. that's why the world stopped after fulham match.

4 bc the goals were nice ig. but getting hattricked by a norwegian and the devil himself was enough to get some tears out of me. you'd get teary jerky too. also streak ended but 🔥🔥🔥 manchester is still red