Northern Ireland making it through but the Republic of Ireland missing out would be glorious. Imagine the faces of all those NI Catholics that jumped ship.
I mean if you had a choice of potential opponent at a tournament, would you rather Turkey or Netherlands? I reckon both the Czech Republic and Iceland would prefer for The Netherlands to miss out, and will probably make sure they do...
Do we? I'd say we talk far more about our history in the slave trade than the Turks, or Arabs or North Africans do. Given our Eurocentric view of world history you'd think we practically invented slavery or something.
It's not that they've paid this much for him, they've had success investing a lot in young players, it's that they've done it so late. It reeks of panic buying.
It helps them primarily when they're in a bidding war with their European equivalents, a war they should win easily. There's only going to be a handful of clubs in Europe that can offer more than the top four in England.
You can claim macro aesthetic and weather, but culture and food? Na. London has an unparalleled culture and cuisine scene outside of New York City. I know Parisians will get mad at me for saying that, but while they have mastered the art of fine dining, you can literally find any kind of world...