#the man should have been tried at the Hauge

[cephalon-sancti]

Hey Emily? You know Sokolov had people kidnapped off the streets to do experiments on with the Rat Plague, right? He wasn't just some funny weirdo uncle, the man deserved to be put in the cage at the Hounds Pits pub. Corvo literally walks in on him denying life-saving treatment to some poor woman he also had in a cage.

At least Piero Joplin was contrite when you caught him peeping on Callista taking a bath.

[merakiaes]

On The Run - Alexander (Grimm)

Pairing: Alexander x reader

Requested: Yes!

Warnings/notes: I changed up the plot a bit, made it a little more romantic than the original request. I haven’t read through it so I don’t really know what I’ve written xD I hope it’s a good read, anyways!

Wordcount: 2374

Summary: Alexander comes to you after barely escaping with his life intact from the mass-shooting during the Council meeting

It was three in the morning on a Saturday when you were awoken from your beauty sleep by a knock on your front door. Normally when something like that happened, it was not a good sign, so you were obviously not about to check it out without protection.

Ignoring the fact that you were only in your night slip, you grabbed your gun from the drawer in  your bedside table, quickly loading it and swinging your legs off the side of the bed. You grabbed your robe off the door handle as you exited your bedroom, slipping it on and tiptoeing into the hallway and down the stairs. All while the person outside kept knocking rapidly on the wooden door.

You held your gun out in front of you as you reached the bottom of the stairs, coming face to face with the frosted glass of your front door. You didn’t want the person on the outside to see you approaching so you kept the lights off as you sneaked forward.

The knocking increased then, causing you to jump slightly. But then the person called out. “(Y/N)! I know you’re in there, open up. It’s urgent!”

You let out a sigh of relief at the familiar British accent, lowering your gun and hurrying over to unlock the door, flicking on the light on your way there. You didn’t even have time register what was happening before Alexander swung the door open at the sound of the lock coming unlocked, pushing past you and reaching over your shoulder to slam the door shut and lock it again.

“Alexander? What’s going on?” You hurried out as you watched him peek into the kitchen and the living room, seemingly looking for something.

When finding nothing, he turned to you. “Turn the lights of.” He was whispering, and you furrowed your eyebrows. You had never seen the man this terrified before.

He was a Pflichttreue and worked for the council, for God’s sake. He was more than capable of handling himself. Whatever it was that left him this shook to the bones, terrified you to bits, too. You shook your head slightly to rid yourself of all the possible scenarios that could have scared him this much and followed his orders, hurrying over to the light switch and turning the lights back off.

It took a minute for your eyes to adjust, but once they did, you found him still looking around in a paranoid manner, eyes wide and chest heaving up and down violently, indicating that he had been running before coming here.

You approached him carefully, flinching slightly when he jumped at the touch of your hand against his arm. You let him process the feeling for a moment before moving closer and taking the bag he was still clutching in his hand, putting it down at your feet.

“What happened? What are you doing here?”

You hadn’t seen Alexander in a long while. You had met him for the first time when he had first come to Portland on a mission to watch over Nick on one of his cases. While Rosalee, Monroe, Hank and Nick had been cautious to be around him, you hadn’t been afraid to tell him off for his poor excuse of an attitude.

Long story short, when he stayed to continue watching over the boy from Nick’s case, by order of his superior on the Council, you had ended up in bed together. You never told Nick about the fact that Alexander stuck around and watched him. It felt wrong not telling him, but it was something about Alexander that made you honor your promise to keep it to yourself.

Alexander himself didn’t know why he would risk his spot at the Council by sleeping with one of the Grimm’s best friends, but he couldn’t stay away from you, much like you didn’t seem to be able to stay away from him.

When the day came that Nick found out that he was still there, when Alexander has come into Rosalee’s spice shop and asked to talk to him, Alexander kept it to himself that you had known that he was there the whole time, thankfully.

God knows Nick would never trust you again if he found out you had been rolling around in the sheets with a potential enemy. Well, not an enemy, maybe. But not a friend, either. Anyhow, secrets were not something that was very accepted in the company you kept.

Then Alexander had gone back to Switzerland, without as much as a goodbye, leaving you alone again. And you were pissed, to say the least. Rosalee, being a girl like yourself, had noticed almost instantly that something was off and so you had no other choice but to tell her.

Luckily, she knew how to keep a secret.

You would’ve thought that you’d be pissed beyond words if he ever showed his face again, but now, seeing the distressed and absolutely mortified expression on his face, you couldn’t bring yourself to feel anything but worry.

Alexander didn’t answer for a good minute, just looking behind you at the frosted glass as if expecting someone to come after him, before he finally sat down on the stairs behind him. You followed his lead, crouching down in front of him and grabbing his hands.

“They’re gone.” He said finally, his voice merely a whisper.

You frowned, moving your hand from his to grip his arm, thumb caressing the soft fabric of his trench coat gently. “Who’s gone?”

For the first time since his arrival, he finally turned to look at you. “The council. They’re all dead. I was the only one to get away. I don’t know how, but I-“ He paused, inspecting your face. “We were having a meeting in The Hauge, about Schwarzkralle. We were just taking a vote on how to handle it when he- one of the members opened fire and killed everyone. He was a part of Black Claw. Rosalee Calvert called me right before the meeting and told me about the shop owners being killed, I called her before I left Switzerland to tell her what happened. She won’t be getting any help from the Council now that they’re gone. I have to go to the spice shop.”

His voice was hushed, as if he was afraid that someone was listening in, and when hearing what he was telling you, you were understanding of his unwavering suspicion. You tried to process the information you had just been told, when he suddenly stood up.

“I have to see the Grimm.” He told you, moving to go past you and towards the front door.

You hurried to your feet, taking a hold of his coat to pull him back. Pressing your back to the front door to block his way, you shook your head with a slight glare. “No way.” You protested, pushing on his chest. “As if I’d let you go out there in the middle of the night when you’ve just had to escape for your life. It’s three in the morning, Nick is asleep. Rosalee is at home, and you need to lay low at least for the night. You’ll stay here, I’ll call and leave a message for Nick to let him know that you’re here and I’ll go with you to the shop in the morning.”

He stared you down, eyes hard and face holding the same stern expression as always. The one that made you want to punch him and kiss him all at the same time. After a minute’s worth of a staring contest, he tensed his jaw before finally softening his expression and taking a step back. “Fine.” He begrudgingly agreed, allowing you to push off the door.

You gave him a look, mentally telling him to drop the attitude. There wasn’t any Council business anymore, and you were not about to let him treat you like one of his assignments, no matter how scarred he may have been from the recent events.

After giving you another look, he bent down to pick up his duffel at the floor, starting to move toward the living room. “I’ll take the couch.” He grumbled.

You smacked your tongue, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the stairs before he could enter the living room. “I have no doubt in my mind that you can protect yourself, but if this Schwarzkralle thing is really getting this serious, we’re safer in numbers.” You sighed, pulling a hand through your hair as you dragged him with you up the stairs. “Besides, it’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before.” You grumbled, your sour mood slowly catching up to you as the news of the Council incident had sunken in.

It wasn’t that you didn’t care, but you had always been a bit more natural and chill with catastrophes than others, figuring it wouldn’t do the situation any good by panicking and losing your shit; it was always a better idea to handle chaos when you were ready and collected instead of heading into it head first without any clue of what you were actually doing.

Alexander was a bit of a person of his own when it came to things like that. While he did like to be prepared, he also wanted things to go quickly. In any other situation, he probably wouldn’t even have bothered to find a safe house before heading to Nick and/or Rosalee. But he knew you were right this time. This wasn’t something him or any of you would be able to handle in the middle of the night when the fire was still burning hot, so to speak.

As you entered your bedroom, you let go of Alexander’s arms and walked over to your windows, turning off the lamp and closing the curtains to avoid anyone from peeking inside. You heard Alexander drop his bag behind you, followed by the sound of ruffling as he probably removed his jacket.

Turning around, you caught him sitting down on the side of the unmade bed, his coat hanging on a chair behind the door. You left the windows and walked back to said door, pushing it closed quietly before going over to sit on your own side on the bed.

You didn’t bother unloading your gun, just putting it on the surface of your nightstand should the situation call for it. Alexander’s head perked to the side slightly as you sat down and removed your robe before starting to adjust the duvet.

He didn’t move. Figuring he wasn’t in the mood to talk right then, you did the only thing you could and crawled over, untying his tie from behind him before proceeding to unbutton his button-up. As you carelessly threw the pieces of clothing to the very chair his coat was resting on, he looked over his shoulder and threw you a disapproving look.

You rolled your eyes, inching backwards on the bed to take the spot where you had previously been sleeping soundly. “We have more important matters on our hands than not wrinkling a shirt right now, and to handle them you need to get some sleep. The guy who killed all the Council members is without a doubt after you, and he’s most definitely bringing friends, but they won’t be here in at least a day and it’ll probably take them another day to figure out where exactly you’re staying, so you should take advantage of that time and get some shut eye. You did just witness a mass-shooting and flee a country, after all.” You told him sternly, all while trying to make yourself comfortable where you sat.

You could tell by the way Alexander was tilting his head slightly in your direction that he was listening, and by the way he was clenching his jaw, he was probably processing your words. A few seconds later, he started moving, quietly inching out of his dress pants before scooting backwards on the bed, joining your side and helping you adjust the duvet so that you were both covered by it.

There wasn’t much more to be said in that moment. You knew you should wait until you had gathered the rest of your little team of misfits before you talked about the Council and the killings that had been going on in Portland and all over the world, and before you and Alexander would be able to talk out your personal issues, you would have to get that over with.

He turned his back to you as he slept, and you slept facing his back. Some time during the rest of the night, your hand had found itself into his, but neither one of you mentioned it as you woke up and rushed to the spice shop where you had already called ahead for everyone to meet.

Needless to say, you had a very non-fun time explaining to the others why Alexander had shown up at your house of all the places, but when you had stated that you all hade more important matters at your hands, they had let it go.

Alexander had tried to get you to go back home when they started laying out a plan, but you would be damned if you let him run around alone when he had a prize to his head and was wanted by only God knows how many wesen and men.

When he was still a part of the Council, you may not have had any say in what he did with his life. But now the Council crap was no more, and you wouldn’t let him out of your sight once until you were sure the threat was eliminated. And you most definitely wouldn’t let him boss you around like he would with his power as a Council-member.

Now, he was just a Pflichttreue and a very sought-for man; just like the rest of you. This meaning, you now held equal amount of power to make decisions, and everyone knew that (Y/N)(Y/L/N) was not one to let other people make decisions for her. Especially not him.

You were in this together now. And there was no way you were backing down.

[iamcmims]

SUPERNATURAL: Olivia Parker: The Fight.

Words count: 2K

A/N: This chapter is shorter than the others and it’s normal, as, in the order of the show, this chapter should be “Bugs” but as we all know, bugs sucked, so I decided to write more about Olivia and her storyline and the plot around her. It’s short because I don’t want to say too much, it’s a transition chapter that will lead to many more questions and answers and events. Hope you like it! :)

Feedback is always highly appreciated! If you want to be tagged, just ask me!

Taglist: @ohsoevilsoul

Warning: Not much. 

Previous Parts: Pilot — Wendigo — Dead in The Water — Phantom Traveler — Bloody Mary — Skin — Hook Man

Next Part: Home

On a wood table was a map of hills, mountains, and a kingdom called Khogalla. Around this table was Ethelbert Verken, The War Council. Wilfred Haug, The War Minister. Amphios Luort, The Magus. Levy, the Queen's Thief. Mataris Delnalte, Admiralty. And Queen Olivia.          "Are we sure the book is on this mountain?" asks Levy. "No, we are not." Olivia looks at her thief, "but it is worth trying. Besides, there aren't many mountains left. We've been searching for Tenebris Aurea for ten years now. Knihn Hill, Melt Rise, and The Enchanted Heights are the three last ones." The Queen looks at her men. "I acknowledge your loyalty, your efforts, and your help. But if we find it, we can stop the Aurea War. We all lost enough people during all of those battles. It's time to stop it."          The Magus straightens himself, "How much time is this going to take? Your Majesty, with all due respect, this is useless, we should be fighting instead of searching for a book that might not even exist!" Olivia stands up straight and faces her Magus. "Amphios, should I remind you your position in this kingdom?" The Magus looks down, understanding he took a step too far. "We've been searching for 'this book' for ten years. One more year of searching is better than fifteen years of war. The Naiads don't exist anymore. We cannot afford to lose other creatures."          Olivia looks at Levy, "I want you to go to Aisolon. See where they are in the war. I want to know everything. And if you can, take something to slow them." Levy nods, bows, and leaves the room. Olivia looks at the rest of the men, "Meeting adjourned." They all bowed and left the room. Olivia sat back on her throne, thinking about the war, her people dying, the kingdom slowly falling.

She left the meeting room and went to her private part of the kingdom. One of her servants enters her apartment not so long after. Olivia was staring at the landscape with her window open. "Alewyn.", "Yes, Your Majesty." Olivia turns around and faces her servant, "I don't want to be disturb. No matter the reason." Alewyn nods, bows and closes the door behind her.          Olivia looks once again outside, "Archangel Gabriel, if you hear me, please show me the path to Tenebris Aurea. Help me stop this useless war."

"Levy, what makes you think she will come back?", "The Rose. The echo of her voice made a rose grow back on a dead ground. There is still hope, she's awake and remembers Khogalla and me. I can bring her soul back.", "What if it doesn't work? What if Profeta wins?", "The prophecy stays the same, no matter what, it didn't change, each day I look at it, each day it remains.", "Well, Prince of Theif, I hope you're right.", "I found another pearl yesterday, there is only three left, I can do this, but Profeta is getting closer to me." The man in front of Levy raises his eyebrow, "you want me to distract her, don't you?", "It's the only way.", "Fine.", "For Khogalla.", "For Queen Olivia." Levy smiles and leaves the garden. He walks past the rose, he looks at it and smiles.

Tenebris Aurea.          It was once said that the Archangel Gabriel forged some of his power into a rock for it to become a sacred magic book. This book then took hundreds of years to create itself, to have the story of the world inside of it. This book contains the past, the present, the future, and the alternative. When kingdoms heard about this it, they fought, creating the biggest war of magic. The Aurea War destroyed three hundred nations, killed millions of people, but only one queen found the book, one of the strongest.          Her name was written in every angels' eyelids, brains, and in the holy book. A legend says that when Gabriel forged Tenebris Aurea, he forged her name under the rock. They were then linked until the queen died. The link they had was what helped her find the book, making her kingdom one of the most powerful, beautiful, and most extensive of them all. When she brought the book back, her enemies who already feared her did even more. She was a powerful queen, her powers were infinite, controlling the earth, capable of things that no one was willing to imagine.          She then put Tenebris Aurea in a room where the book was protected from everyone that meant harm to her, the kingdom and everything that the book was defending. In this room, the book was adding to itself everything that was happening, adding every creature that came to life, every historical moment. Tenebris Aurea was becoming the largest, and the most substantial book of all time.          Whenever someone with evil intentions was getting closer to the books, they would not be able to read its content; if they touched it, they would turn into a stone pillar and remain this way indefinitely. The queen would put the stones in front of the kingdom to fear evil, and to prove to anyone how important and powerful this book forged by an Archangel was.

The Slayer Of Hell.          There are thousands of legends for The Slayer Of Hell, the people that don't know what it is would tell you it is a demon, a knight of hell. In contrary, The Slayer Of Hell is the sword that was made from the Archangel Lucifer's blood and the fire of his anger and the powers of his brother Michael. It is also said that Tenebris Aurea was a part of the creation of the sword, imprinting a spell to protect itself, the kingdom and the righteous one. The Slayer Of Hell could kill anything, Gods, Angels, Archangels, Creatures, Human. No matter what it was fighting against, it was able to kill it.           When the queen had the sword in her hands, the fire of hell burned bright, ready to fight. No one made the sword burn brighter, making people say that she was the righteous one the Archangels and the kingdom was talking about. Though the sword could not protect itself like Tenebris Aurea from the evil, he was only at its full power in the Queen's hands or Lucifer's.          This information led to a fight that left the magic world shaken; the fight took place in the neutral kingdom, Khogalla. The Kingdom that was created by Angels and Demons. Both of the Queen and Lucifer were at their full powers, making it dangerous for anyone near them.          This fight marked the end of an era, the end of a reign, the end of power. The end of Queen Olivia, the righteous one.

The well of power          Far from the kingdom, Khogalla was staying the legendary well of power. It was retired from everything, the magic protection it created itself, stopped the mere humans from being able to attain it. No evil could attain it either unless it was a higher power than the well. Moreover, this could only be Hermes, Lucifer, and his knight, Asmodeus. Behind trees was a profound will of clear blue water, some would say that there was so end to its water, neither to its power. If humans ever did found their way to the well and found themselves drinking the water, they would end up with powers, powers that they would not be able to control, activating the Angel alarm. Every magical creature had an obligation to find and kill the human before the powers took control of them and destroyed the world.

The book of Alathea          The book of Alathea was a grimoire that was only telling the truth. Its pages were blank, but everytime someone would open it, they would reveal the truth about them and their actions. No matter who would touch it would end up with the answers to their questions with the truth and only the truth.          Many tried to use its power for their own profit, they tried to twist its values, but all failed and died trying.          When someone would ask too many questions at the same time or questions that should not be asked, the grimoire would shut itself and never let the same hands open it again.

The hand of the spirit of the Future          The hand of the spirit of the Future is a skeleton hand, inside the hand was a purple and black crystal ball that was revealing the future. It was not only showing one future but five of them. One of them was the final one, and the four others were the alternatives. The results that ended with each fate was unknown, leaving the free will to any being that was touching the crystal ball. Though it's neutral and powerful, it can never be used for evil, and can only serve the sole purpose of truth.

Olivia searched the whole day about Khogalla but found nothing. She was frustrated, maybe this was just a dream. It felt so real, and Levy, this little guy, felt too real to be just a dream. The ease and trust she had in him during her dream were too strong, too pure to be just a dream. Sam and Dean noticed how preoccupied she was, not even trying to participate in any of the conversations, always thinking and being far away. Dean sits on her bed in front of her. "Alright, what's going on?" Not even paying attention to Dean, Olivia keeps looking at her computer screen. "Olivia?" Dean raises his eyebrows, he closes the screen of the computer. Olivia looks at him, "what the hell, Dean?", "What's going on with you?", "What do you mean? You're the one who closed my computer without any reason!", "I have my reasons!", "Oh, yeah? What are those?", "You seem so far away, what's going on? You've been on your computer the whole day.", "Nothing. Just doing searches for anything and everything. Something is going on, so I want to be prepared.", "You're sure?" Olivia nods, praying that Dean would buy her lie. "Fine." She smiles and breathes, only then realizing she was holding her breath. "Now, can I go back to my searches?", "Yes, you can.", "Thanks, sir." Dean rolls his eyes and gets up. "You're a pain in the ass.", "Shut up."          Sam is outside reading a newspaper article. A minute later, Dean comes laughing and waving a wad of cash in the air. "You know, we could get day jobs once in a while.", "Hunting's our day job, Sam. And the pay is crap.", "Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean.", "Well, let's see honest." Dean holds out one hand. "Fun and easy." He holds out the other, and gestures that 'fun and easy' outweighs 'honest.' "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do.", "Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked.", "Yeah, says you.", "Hey what's going on with Olivia?", "I don't know, she seems preoccupied lately.", "Yeah, she's always on her computer, or searching something.", "I wonder what she is searching."

"Father.", "What can I do for you?", "I've been doing researches lately about something, but I can't find anything in books or online.", "What is it?", "Do you know what Khogalla means?", "It's been a while since I've heard this name. Khogalla is a magic kingdom. "So it's true." The Father frowns. "I had a dream about it, about the kingdom being overpowered by evil.", "This can't be right. The Archangel Gabriel created this kingdom. How come do you have dreams about it?", "There is this man, Levy. He says that he's trying to bring me back.", "What's your name?", "Olivia Parker, why?" The father touches his cross, "Good Lord.", "What's going on?", "So the prophecy is true. You're the prodigy." A flashback of the demon that took her came back. * "Why would I kill the prodigy? You can't stop the hands of time." * "Father, what is going on?", "Come with me.", "Where are we going?", "We're going to bring you back to your kingdom, Your Majesty.", "My what now?"

"Olivia, we're home!" Dean opens the door to the motel room and sees no one. "Where is she?" Sam shrugs, "maybe she went for a walk." Dean let it slide, Sam was probably right.          After three hours, though, Sam and Dean started to worry. Dean hangs up his phone, "damn it! Straight to voicemail.", "Okay, well, I can't trace her.", "How's that possible!?", "She maybe shut her phone before leaving the motel, the last time it emitted a signal was here, four hours ago.", "Son of a bitch!"

"Father, this can't be right. I'm no queen.", "Oh, but you are. You're the one that stopped the biggest Magic War, the Aurea War. Your name is imprinted in every Angel's eyelids. You're the righteous one that they chose to protect our world and the magic world.", "Why me? I mean I don't remember any of it.", "Your brain doesn't, but your soul does. Your soul was born in Khogalla. No matter which body you're in, your soul belongs to and in Khogalla. You're one of the most powerful beings.", "What do you know about Profeta?", "Nothing, sadly. It's the first time I hear about her.", "Will you help me?", "Of course, but what for?", "Khogalla was built on a pure and blessed ground, it's now overpowered by evil, flowers, creatures, everything is dead. But Levy thinks there is a chance, a chance to save it. Will you help me?", "It'd be my honor, Queen Olivia."

Levy walks into the garden once more and sees more flowers. His eyes widen. The man of earlier walks behind him and smiles. "That's why I called you, Prince. I guess you were right, she's coming back." Levy smiles and looks at the flowers. "Our queen is coming back home."

[fossadeileonixv]

Udinese 1 Milan 1

I miss when you used to sport the vest....

I put Udinese first because because this felt like a loss. 

* I saw the first 10 minutes and then the whole second half. So bear with me.

Here we go...

Starters

It’s not often that DONNARUMMA 6 has a moment where he freezes but he did today. Right after the opening goal Donna should have been off his line like a rocket to punch that ball way. He wasn’t and he didn’t. He just stood there. 

I like KALULU 7. Good move to give him the start today. No clue why he came off. 

I love me some KJAER 6.5 but this was the perfect time to give him a day off. A faster guy to play a higher line because Udinese plays so deep would have been the way to go. Credits to my boy Joe Bacc on that one. 

EDIT: It wasn’t Joe. It was our boy Haf. Hail!

R13 5.5 ..... where to start.... hung out Kjaer to dry on more than one occasion. Beaten for the header on the goal. Still sitting far too deep even against a team with no interest in possessing the ball. Starting to remind me of DeSciglio after the own goal/pass back to Lopez. Wake up dude.....

THEO 6 I remember when I was a kid I played rec league basketball with a kid named Matt. Left handed. Super fast. Never looked where he was going. Would dribble down the left side of the floor, race to the baseline and usually either go out of bounds or turn the ball over. That’s Theo. Look around dude. You have teammates. 

KESSIE 8 MOTM Played well. Buried the PK. Nuff said. If he’s not on your Serie A team of the year don’t speak to me. 

TONALI 7 Played well from what I saw. Awaiting injury news.

REBIC 6.5 Should have been the perfect game for him. Big physical team that plays to contact. Seemed to drift in and out but wouldn’t say he was poor. Watched Theo dribble past him and give the ball away at least 5 times. Put in the work right up until the final cross that led to the handball. 

DIAZ 5.5 Before this game i was saying this was his kind of game. Need a guy that can find space against a team with 11 guys behind the ball? This is your man! I was wrong. He was crap again. Reminded me of when Giampaolo tried Suso in the hole in a 4312. Overwhelmed. Lost. I could swear his pockets were even full of quarters. Having a backup to Hakan has become our biggest shortcoming.  

CASTILLEJO 6 Attacks still die at his feet. Other than that he’s fine. 

LEAO 5 FOTM I’m tired of watching him find new positions to not give a shit about playing. Come back when you want to play. Or not. Basically the worst guy possible to play against a team that just sits. There’s no way he’s getting on a cross with 15 guys that skipped leg day packed in the box. Honestly can’t believe he played the full game. 

Subs

MEITE 6 Probably his best game at Milan. Was all over the place but put in good work in all those places. If he could mix in the random banger he’d be Kucka. 

HAUGE 5 Ok folks. He’s just not ready. Maybe a lona next year? maybe he should have been bought and left at glimt for a year? Not only is he not ready but it’s clear no one trusts him. No one is looking to pass to him. 13 touches in 30+ minutes. 

CALABRIA 6 Put on out of desperation more than anything else. Still had a couple tasty rips that ultimately got blocked. 

SAELEMAEKERS 6 This is 2 good games in a row for him. I have an irrational love for the man. Sorry. 

Coach

PIOLI 5.5 Whatever he was doing right with his lineups and subs last summer and into the fall has completely escaped him. Today’s lineup had several major flaws in it and by the end of the game the formation was a mess. He had 4 wingers out there, no playmaker and absolutely no ideas whatsoever. I can’t even begin to tell you how that group on at the end was supposed to manufacture a goal. Dumb luck doesn’t make it a success. 

However...  I do like that in the last couple games the roles in the double pivot have been more defined. Frank as DM/Holding Mid/Death Star. Tonali as the more freelance of the two I like as well. Bennacer as the freelancer? Yup. Meite? I’m not sure exactly how he fits yet. He’s very raw. Maybe they see a discount Kessie in him? He’s getting better but I still see him as a better fit if the long range goal is 433. At 26 he is what he is. Stay tuned. 

Now if we could only get the CB duo to look so defined and competent.

RAMBLINGS

- Where was Mandzukic? Isn’t this the kind of street fight we brought him in for? 

- We knew Udinese would be hell to play and we were right. Two root canals later and we were lucky to escape with a draw. What else did we expect? The fun part is that away to Verona on Sunday might be worse. 

- 6 points ahead of Roma in 5th with 13 to play. 

FORZA

Lisi

PS: 

[wendyhermansongeller]

New This Week: Marilyn Manson, Liam Gallagher, Dhani Harrison, and more

Searching for something to listen to this weekend? Yahoo Music has you covered with a rundown of some of this week’s biggest and buzzing releases, including Marilyn Manson, Liam Gallagher, Dhani Harrison, and more. Check back every Friday for a fresh list of albums to help fuel your weekend playlists.

Marilyn Manson: Heaven Upside Down (Hell Etc./Loma Vista Recordings). If there is one thing to say about Manson, it is that he is consistent, which is something that he may not consider to be a compliment. However, on his latest album, the shock-rocker continues his legacy seamlessly as that of a bombastic, in-your-face entity. Whether this is surprising or not (it probably should not be) is entirely up to you.

Liam Gallagher: As You Were (Warner). Gallagher is spending much of his time in interviews talking about his desire to reform Oasis. Until then, his solo debut is likely the closest thing you’ll get, at least until the next set from his estranged brother Noel drops (it’s scheduled for next month).

Dhani Harrison: IN///PARALLEL (BMG Rights Management). The debut album for the son of George Harrison — he’s been involved with various musical projects, but this is his first under his own name — is a brooding, absorbing project that serves to solidify his own voice aside from his famous lineage.

The Darkness: Pinewood Smile (Cooking Vinyl). Justin Hawkins and his merry men are back to rock everyone’s world. Lead single “All the Pretty Girls” ushered in what turns out to be a rollicking good time, filled with power chords, falsetto vocals, and a few dog barks and howls for good measure. Rufus Taylor, son of Queen’s Roger Taylor, is the band’s new drummer.

Gwen Stefani: You Make it Feel Like Christmas (Interscope). It’s been 20 years since Stefani covered the Vandals’ “Oi to the World” with her band No Doubt. Here, she takes her first solo turn at holiday music, curating a collection of Christmas classics such as “Santa Baby,” “Jingle Bells,” etc. Adding a touch of romance, she debuts with beau Blake Shelton on the title track.

Fantasia: Christmas After Midnight (Concord). The vocalist decided to release her first Christmas album in honor of her grandparents (one of her grandmothers was born on Christmas Day). She puts her pipes to such holiday favorites as “This Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” a duet with CeeLo Green.

Carla Bruni: French Touch (Verve). The Italian-French singer-songwriter and former French first lady offers up an English-language collection of cover songs; highlights include a guest appearance from Willie Nelson and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.”

Richard Thompson: Acoustic Rarities (Beeswing). As the title suggests, the British folk-rock icon serves up a selection of acoustic renderings of classic songs from his catalog.

Jerrod Niemann: This Ride (Curb). On his fourth major album and first for Curb Records, Niemann continues to flex his remarkable ability to experiment with the boundaries of country. Guests Lee Brice and Diamond Rio pop in to lend a hand.

Benjamin Clementine: I Tell a Fly (Virgin). Clementine won the UK’s Mercury Music Prize in 2015 and has been attracting more than a fly’s worth of attention since. His sophomore album is stylistically scattered, taking listeners on a theatrical, occasionally somewhat disturbing, sonic trip.

The Church: Man Woman Life Death Infinity (Unorthodox Recordings). This marks the 26th album from the beloved Australian alt-rock band; their second with a rejuvenated line-up featuring Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Tim Powles, and Ian Haug. Kilbey notes that this is a water-themed album, detailing his fascination with rain, rivers, and the sea.

Cults: Offering (Sinderlyn). The New York duo return with their first full-length effort since 2013’s Static. During their break, they returned to working their day jobs, but haven’t lost a step. Madeline Follin sounds as sweet as ever on the title track.

Alabama: American Christmas (BMG Rights Management). Christmas doesn’t get a whole lot more American than it does on this disc from the country stalwarts. The tracklist includes a variety of lighthearted secular holiday compositions, plus several tried-and-true holier classics such as “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger.”

Kelela: Take Me Apart (Warp). The singer’s debut album explores all nooks and crannies of soul/R&B, bringing things together with an avant-garde thread and an emotional intensity. This is a sharp, well-crafted, and well-thought-out debut.

Ane Brun: Leave Me Breathless (Balloon Ranger). The album features an impressive range of covers from artists including Foreigner, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Elvis Presley, the Righteous Brothers, Mariah Carey, Nick Cave, Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell, Sade, Mariah Carey, and more.

Jeremy Camp: The Answer (Stolen Pride/Sparrow). Camp continues his journey as one of the strongest and most successful artists in contemporary Christian music. This album focuses on the concept of Jesus being the answer to everything, and the stories of those who have found light out of darkness.

The Rasmus: Dark Matters (Playground Music). Finnish rockers the Rasmus have been around since 1994, and have been on hiatus for a few years now. Their return to the studio is a catchy triumph sure to please old fans — and likely make a few new ones, as well.

Sharon Needles: Battle Axe (Producer Entertainment Group). RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Needles charges along on her third full-length album with a full-steam progression toward dance music and a take-no-B.S. approach. As she herself says, “it is my most aggressive project yet.”

[fossadeileonixv]

WTF - Milan-Juve Ramblings

Anyone else need a day off yesterday?

Let’s take a look at what happened, back to front.

A harsh scoreline for Donnarumma. I can’t think of anything he did wrong. It was just a game where he wasn’t able to come up with any spectacular saves. Is there any fault in that? Not really. 

I’m having a hard time understand all the Romagnoli hate after this game. The first goal he covers his guy in Dybala. The second maybe he could have closed down more. Maybe? The last goal.... can anyone tell me where Theo is? 

Speaking of Theo..... what the hell man. What the hell??? He was beyond lazy all day long giving Chiesa way too much space again and again. Maybe he didn’t have much help, but that’s no reason to get abused like that. It was like we were playing on 10 men. Funny thing is as bad as the first 2 goals are can anyone tell me where he is on the last one? I don’t even see him in the screen for 10 solid seconds. Not only was he the FOTM this was probably the worst performance by any Milan player in any game all season. This after having 14 days off.

Kjaer and Dalot were wonderful. I remember one nice cross from Cronaldo  late but otherwise virtually nothing came from Juve’s left side. Kudos to both.

The midfield..... 

Maybe not the game for 4231? More on that later.

There was confusion. Lot’s of confusion. Especially early on. Calabria kept flowing to his right, as a RB is wont to do, and it meant the whole formation kept sagging that way. I mean.... Ronaldo is over there I get it. Problem?  That left Dybala and Chiesa, 2 great one on one players, with lots of one on one chances in loads of space. Not good. It was like we had 7 guys on one side of the pitch and only 4 on the other. Juve took advantage of that all game long. Kessie tried but he must have felt quite lonely. 

If Theo was FOTM then Hauge was vice FOTM. Horrible. As I’ve discussed on here again and again in the 4231 we play the wingers have to work and run. They just have to. He didn’t. It’s not an excuse for Theo playing like crap but at the same time Hauge should have been far better. Hard to tell whether he’s just out of form, out of shape or in over his head. Does that all make Hauge FOTM? Maybe!

Hakan was great. Same with Leao. I lump them together because both have been accused of being lazy/disinterested in the past. That wasn’t the case today. Both were all over the pitch making plays and setting players up for chances. Those chances just usually went wanting. Co-MOTM.

Casti did the work but just couldn’t bury his finishes. I thought he did a great job tracking and working to help cover as much space as possible with Calabria being in a new spot.

Pioli was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Before the game I was all for the formation he started with. It made since not only positionally but because we also had subs available at each spot. If you start Diaz in the AM spot and Hakan in midfield you would have had no subs. No bueno.

In retrospect.... maybe 4231 was not the way to go? Again like I said before 4231 requires wingers that work. Your 2 best, Rebic and Saele were out. Casti is fine but there’s a reason he’s a backup. Hauge has proven he can give you 30 good minutes at best. Diaz? You can’t put him out wide for 90 minutes. Maybe a more conservative 433 with more cover would have been better? But then you are not only moving guys into different positions but you are also throwing a new formation at them. 

Ugh. 

I think he did the best he could but Juve was just way too good. There’s nowhere to hide against them. Especially when they could bring on the subs that they could. 

QUICK THOUGHTS

- Theo’s 2 worst games have come in big games against Inter and Juve. That sucks. In neither of those games did he have Rebic in front of him. At this point his importance to how we want to play can’t be ignored. Especially in big games.

- Chiesa was phenomenal. That’s as close to a perfect 10 as you can get. Only thing he did ‘wrong’ was hit the post once. Otherwise it’s a hat trick and he gets an 11. I was quietly hoping Pirlo would do something dumb like put him on the left with Ronaldo and started Kulusevski on the right. That would have made our lives so much easier. Didn’t happen. 

- It’s in a game like this where you need players to ‘do a job’ in different spots. It’s exactly the kind of game where the limitations of Diaz come up. Besides playing in the hole as a vice-Hakan type I’m not sure what else he offers. In a back and forth game like this where tons of ground needs to be covered he’s sort of useless.

- We are in first place, 7 points from 4th and after these back to back Torino games only have 4 games in a month. It’s time to get rested and recharged before the second half flurry of games. Keep in mind we still haven’t hit the halfway point of the Serie A season.

Cheers

Lisi

PS: Play as many kids as possible and fall out of the Coppa Italia. Please.

PPS: I change my mind. Hauge gets FOTM. 

#IMIT