#centreback

[sillysaliba]

he is so bbg coded

him in this kit plsssss 😋😋😫😫

---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ---ʚɞ--

[treblewinners]

ALERT ALERT

[outsideratheart]

[live-laugh-loverpool]

he could never hurt a fly guys. hes too cute.

Ali (in his first season at Liverpool): AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T COME HERE RIGHT NOW-

The centreback union: AWWWW~

[whitehartlane]

LUKA’S SCORED AGAIN 😭

[lansplaining]

[have a weird little TGCF women’s football AU snippet with an audience of one not counting me]

There’s this picture of Xie Lian in a sports bra. It’s-- for lack of a better word-- iconic. 

It’s an image of fucking triumph: Xie Lian on her knees, her shirt torn off in a blaze of glorious joy, and underneath she’s just got on a black sports bra. Also, she’s just won the World Cup. 

When Mu Qing looks at that picture now-- she doesn’t like seek it out, what the fuck, no, it’s just sort of an iconic image that’s everywhere-- when she looks at that picture now, this image that’s become an emblem of a beginning for women in the sport, Mu Qing can’t help but see an ending instead. 

Anyway, she prints out the picture and gets to training early to pin it inside Feng Xin’s locker. Feng Xin absolutely loses it at her, they both get sentenced to warm-up laps for arguing in the locker room, and Feng Xin ‘accidentally’ throws the ball into Mu Qing’s face three times. And what is Mu Qing supposed to do, not confront her about it? 

“Who’s going to get you your precious clean sheets if you break my face?” she demands. “You’re so petty, I’d never try to hurt you.” 

“Oh, as if,” Feng Xin snorts, slamming her locker door shut. Mu Qing can’t help but notice that the picture of Xie Lian has been carefully folded up and placed on the inner shelf, next to her gloves. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. It was an accident.”

“Then your aim’s getting pretty poor, maybe someone should say something to the manager,” Mu Qing sneers. 

“That is fucking your go-to, isn’t it?” Feng Xin snaps, the anger suddenly changing tone. “Just go find someone and tattle, like a fucking child, that’s you.” 

“Don’t you--” Mu Qing’s phone buzzes loudly against the metal bench, startling her out of her momentum. They both turn instinctively to look. Mu Qing rolls her eyes and snatches up the phone. “Eyes off, snoop.” 

“Fuck you,” Feng Xin says, but most of the heat has ebbed. She slings her bag over her shoulder and starts to go. Mu Qing rolls her eyes again, for good measure, and slides open the notification out of habit. 

She freezes. 

“Feng Xin.”

“Fuck you,” says Feng Xin again, not turning. “You can insult me tomorrow.”

“No. Stop. I’m serious.” 

Feng Xin stops, and turns at once. “What?” 

Mu Qing holds out her phone, silent. Feng Xin narrows her eyes suspiciously, but she does stride forward and snatch it, a little too roughly, out of Mu Qing’s hand. Then she, too, goes very still. 

It’s just a news notification from one of the woso websites. Mu Qing probably would have just dismissed it without reading it if she hadn’t been trying to visibly ignore Feng Xin. But she didn’t, and so there it is, a headline of a tiny article: NEW SIGNINGS FOR EXPANSION TEAMS: FLOWER CITY FC SIGNS RETIRED STRIKER XIE LIAN.

Now, Mu Qing thinks, feeling a little dizzy-- now that picture feels like an omen. 

[littlechillis]

💌 Send this to the twelve nicest people you know or who seem to have a good heart and if you get five back you must be pretty awesome. 💌

ICE ICE BABYYYYYY 🥺‼️💞💞💗💗 ILY YOU'RE SO SWEEEETT

[kellehim]

BIG VIRGGGGG

[paulo-gazzaniga]

ngl i am rooting for the pavard hattrick, just because it'd be funny

[savechivasfemenil]

there is hope

[ugartecoco]

gonna be a slabby start to 2023

[woso-dreamzzz]

Sisters

Irene Paredes x Teen!Reader

Summary: You and your sister's wife

"You know," You say, voice thick and rough with sleep," My sister will get annoyed if she catches you sleeping in my bed."

"Lucía sent me to get you."

"And you're doing that by getting in bed with me?"

You flutter your eyes open, rolling over until your face to face with your sister in law.

Irene looks down at you, a smile on her face as she reaches out to pinch your cheek.

You squawk at her, swatting her hand away with a little yelp. "Stop it! You're so mean!"

"And you slept past your alarm," Irene reminds you," You need to stop doing that."

"Who are you? My mum?"

Irene grins. "I mean, technically-"

You groan, pulling a pillow over your eyes to block her out.

With your parents failing health and your own dedications at La Masia, they had signed their rights away and transferred your custody to your sister, Lucía.

Irene had put her own name on the paperwork too - something about it running smoother if it was clear it would be a couple taking care of you and not just Lucía.

You feel a poke on your shoulder and you swat blindly at Irene.

"Leave me alone," You say," Why can't you just let me sleep?"

"Because we have training," She replies, continuing to poke you," And you take ages to get ready. You're worse than Mateo."

"Mateo's practically a baby," You say," If he takes long to get ready then it's Lucía's fault."

"What's your excuse then?"

You sit up, shrugging. "It's Lucía's fault. She got me ready as a kid too. She's the reason I take so long."

"Go and get dressed, hermana," Irene says with an eye roll," I'm leaving in ten so if you're not ready by then I'm leaving without you."

"No you won't!" You yell after her.

You don't think she will but you still rush to change just in case.

Irene's stood at the door when you get downstairs, throwing her keys up and down while Lucía bustles around the kitchen with Mateo.

"Kiss your sister goodbye," Irene teases as you scoop up your bag and approach.

You groan. "You're so annoying."

"I don't hear you telling your sister how much you love her."

You make sure to drag your feet all the way over to Lucía, pressing a kiss to her cheek before doing the same with little Mateo.

"Be good at practice," Lucía reminds you," And if Irene gets on your nerves, tell me and I'll keep her in line."

You grin against Lucía's shoulder. "She's not all bad."

"Don't tell her that. She's already got a big head. Don't make it get bigger."

"I'll try."

"Let's go," Irene says, getting a bit impatient and you pull away from your sister.

"You're the one that made me say goodbye."

"Oh? So it's my fault?"

You pretend to think. "Yes. Yes it is."

Irene rolls her eyes fondly as an arm is thrown over your shoulder. "Love you Lucía, love you, Mateo! I promise I won't kill your sister!"

The car ride is an easy one, familiar.

You'd signed your first professional contract with Barcelona in the summer, rising through the ranks of La Masia before taking your place as one of the new centrebacks Barcelona signed for the new season.

"You nervous?" Irene's eyes are on the road as she speaks.

You rolls your eyes and scoff," No."

It's a complete lie and you think Irene knows that because one hand leaves the gearbox to gently rub your shoulder.

It's a little annoying how good she is at doing it while she's driving.

"You're going to do great," She soothes, the same voice she uses when Lucía is anxious and Mateo is crying," It's going to go so well for you. Everyone's friendly and no one is going to make fun of you."

You stare out the window. "You don't know that."

"Tell me if they do." She's gone serious now, pulling into a line of traffic and turning to look at you. "I know you like to solve things yourself but I'm serious. If anyone says anything or they make you uncomfortable, you come and get me."

"I know, Irene," You reply," You've been saying that kind of stuff for years."

She grins at you. "Just making sure you remember. No one is going to be mean to you but just in case."

"You're not going to hover, are you? Because I'll tell Lucía. She says you need to stop that."

"Lucía's not the boss of me."

You both exchange looks before bursting into laughter.

"Yes, she is."

Irene rolls her eyes. "Fine. I won't hover if you tell me if someone's making you uncomfortable. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Good." She looks back the queue in front of her. "Now what do you want from the drive through?

You frown. "Lucía said last night we weren't allowed to get breakfast from the drive through."

Irene winks. "I won't tell if you won't."

[whitehartlane]

cuti using the smoke as a cover to crunch tackle someone like batman

[lucawrites11]

the lionesses biggest problems against france and my solutions

keira walsh unable to lose her marker

the lack of a left footed centreback

poor defending of corners especially from hampton

terrible substitutions

a lack of speed and players in the box

a lack of creativity in line-ups making us completely predictable

okay, let's look at these problems in depth:

sarina loves a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 looking something like this:

however this line-up has multiple problems. the first is that it's predictable, it is a slight modification of the same line-up with the same people that has been used since the euros except it no longer has the same level of success because the opposition has figured out it's weaknesses.

the first major risk is the reliance of Keira Walsh. Germany had figured this out by the Euros Final. as one of the best holding midfielder in the world, she's absolutely crucial in terms of the passes she provides forward and her ball recovery but if you just put one player on her all game (in France's case it was Kenza Dali) you can mark her out and remove England's ball recovery ability and ensure that they struggle to get the ball forward.

Another weakness is that if Sarina choses to start Greenwood, as she did yesterday, there is no defender with a good left foot and that leaves the defence vulnerable and also limits the connection that Hemp can have with her full-back down the left. Furthermore, without Lauren James, Ella Toone doesn't provide the same speed running in behind in the 10 role and that switch with Russo to allow Russo to overload the midfield and start goal scoring play. It was something that she did multiple times against France but Toone didn't make her way into the box like James and there is no finishing. English is struggling without that out and out striker, and Lauren James compensated for that gap. Without James, speed in the frontline is also lost, leaving Hemp the fastest forward player and no one chasing after her to get into the box with her.

Also loosing Earps meant that Hampton was shaky and thrown off coming on and she has never been as strong at set piece defending. Khiara may be a better option to defend set pieces where France are deadly but that's too much pressure for a debut game almost. I would like to see Khiara get her first England cap in the next Ireland match to allow be more of an option for Sarina as competition for Earps and Hampton. Sarina also failed in terms of not making a subsitution until the seventieth minute and bringing on experience where England clearly needed more speed and fresh legs. Leaving Jess Naz, Grace Clinton and Jess Park's speed on the bench was criminal.

what's the solution?

in my opinion, sarina has to use an entirely new line-up that does a few things:

either takes Walsh off the pitch or uses a midifeld overload that allows her more freedom

brings more speed into the attacking line

places a winger or ten behind Russo with the ability to get into the box

makes space for a left-footed centreback

there are a few options:

3-4-3

this is my least favourite option. it solves the keira walsh problem by taking her off the pitch but that leaves stanway as the sole holding midfielder. furthermore, it gives space for a left footed centreback in alex greenwood but it means bronze is pushed into the midfield which she can play effectively and would allow for speed in the attack but can leave a defensive hole on the wings. also without a clear left midfielder (carter could maybe play where i've place clinton and if she does, clinton should replace kirby). however clinton has speed to get into the box and as does kirby. this is also tiring for the midfield however england does have the midfield depth to bring on in park.

4-4-2 (diamond)

4-4-2 is on the left and the diamond option is on the right

both are strong choices for this england side and i think that hemp can also play up front next to russo with mead on the right with bronze and clinton or stanway on the left. two centre-forwards in russo and mead/hemp allows the centrebacks to be occupied and for a high press which can interfere with the french attempt to play out from the back that they love. clinton allows has the pace to run in behind when russo or mead manage to steal the ball allowing for a quick counter attack. four in the midfield can also overload the three that the french place in the there and challenge their ability to mark keira walsh out of the game. furthermore, a strong press in russo and hemp/mead allows the midfield be bypassed because the four doesn't always provide a full overload. two upfront can also compensate for when russo drops into the midfield and to hold up the ball, this also allows for the full overload with five in the midfield to pull markers off keira. with a strong left back in greenwood who can play centreback, williamson can also drop into the midfield for an overload. a four at the back with the left-footed defender allows for a deep block if the ball is lost, something that is likely to happen if france play in the midfield again.

3-5-2

this is my favourite line-up

the five in the midfield allows for a complete overload that can release walsh and give her the freedom to pass forward. furthermore, there is the left-footed centreback in greenwood. bronze and hemp playing as wing-backs also allows for a deep block when they drop back and they are both fast at getting both back and forward on the defense and attack which can be the main weakness of this line-up however bronze and hemp can play well as wing-backs. furthermore, bronze, hemp and clinton can overload the final third to support the high press of russo and mead that ensures players in the box and speed on a break to that can work quickly to throw off a french defense and a build up of play from the back

i think this will solve a lot of england's problems going forward and back and release keira walsh in the midfield as well as throwing france off with a new line-up that they wouldn't be expecting

i would also like to see jess park and aggie beever-jones up front to provide support as a striker for alessia russo or speed in behind replacing grace clinton

[ikram1909]

https://x.com/evtpe/status/1849387724408852503 baby centreback with toddler centreback

Ronald is not a toddler!!

[bayernista]

italy's centrebacks doing the defending AND attacking