Julius

Honestly, I’m at a bit of a loss. I feel like he returned to England to win the Champions League with an English club (this would make him the first person to win the Champions League with three different teams, and from three different leagues), but I can’t see him sticking around here just for the sake of pining for that record. He’s already damaged his reputation substantially in my eyes since his return to England four years ago. With Italian football on the rise again, I could see him returning to Inter. It’s the only club he’s previously managed that I still feel has an affinity for him, but he’s a serial winner that wants to win different trophies in different countries; would he really be happy with a return to Inter, after leaving on such a high note eight years ago? I wouldn’t want him back, to be honest. He went about selling (and then buying) some of our best first-team players, and ostracised a number of players who have then gone on to success elsewhere. Much more importantly for me, though, is that he left us for Manchester United, a team we have been rivals with time and again since Mourinho’s first stint at Chelsea. That and, well, I don’t think that there can be much arguing about him having lost his spark to some degree — I think he’s best off taking a sabbatical to figure out his next move, because his last three appointments - Madrid, Chelsea, and United - are bleeding together because of the overlap in a more negative, counter-attacking style of play, and because of how he has fallen out with fans and owners alike a lot in the last eight years. I also expect Abramovich to give Sarri a minimum of two years to adjust, with the goal for the season ahead likely just being to secure Champions League football for next season. He’s one of the few managers in the world that has his team play in a Guardiola-esque way, and Abramovich has wanted beautiful football in that style at the Bridge for years, so I will be surprised if he leaves us at the end of the season, so long as we qualify for the Champions League. Then I would expect substantial investments ahead of what could be a trophy laden season for us next season if it all comes together if things do work out with Sarri. I just want Roman to be patient for once, and not pull the trigger early this time around. I think PSG is a possibility if Tuchel fails (though Neymar has been receptive to his extreme ideas already, so I’m not too sure), but I still think that Mourinho will need a substantial break before his next move. He needs to figure out his game plan if he’s going to take over as manager for the most heavy investors in Europe of the last few seasons, because nobody wants to see a team with such embarrassing riches and talented players playing back-to-the-wall football. I really do think that he needs a break to recapture his spark. It worked wonders for Guardiola when he had a sabbatical; sure, he didn’t win the Champions League with Bayern, but he broke a lot of records and brought through some youngsters with great potential. There’s just not much left to like about the attitude or playing style of the current Mourinho, and I feel like we’ve been seeing his ugly side more so than his happy side ever since he left Inter.

Official gameplay video:

Hopefully seeing cutscenes for trivial things like the S.S. Anne arriving is a good sign for next year’s game. Still really on the fence regarding Let’s Go, if I’m being honest.

Haven’t seen anyone mention the Limited Edition bundle for the game yet? It will include the game (obviously), a Nintendo GameCube Controller Super Smash Bros. edition, and a Nintendo GameCube Controller adapter. It will release on December 7th along with the standard edition of the game. I was out yesterday, so missed the livestream, but caught up with the Easy Allies reactions video. Kyle’s laughing had me in tears, especially the Banana Gun praise be to Sakurai, loved when they revealed the numbers with tongues in their cheeks

IGN have handled this extremely well, considering other negative setbacks that they’ve had in recent years. I was certainly in the group that wasn’t a fan of Filip on NVC (he didn’t add much at all to the conversation, had poor knowledge when it came to Nintendo, wasn’t as charismatic as some other panelists, etc.; I’d love for Peer or Zach to lead it now, they were great during the transition period after Jose left), and though what he did is obviously wrong, I do feel sorry for his partner and his child, seeing as they made the expensive move to San Francisco with him. He might go back to his YouTube channel, but his potential career in any type of journalism has gone up in flames, and then some. He’ll be blacklisted by the industry for the rest of his working life for this. I have to agree with @Hero-of-Time that gaming journalism, and specifically reviews, isn’t in such a great place. I’m not the biggest fan of Colin Moriarty, but he does make some great points. The way I see it, there are just waaaaaaay too many fish in the pond at this point thanks to YouTube, and it just isn’t balanced. IGN have had some of the worst reviews that I’ve ever watched or read put out in recent years, yet they’re guaranteed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of views every time that they upload a review. Some of the best reviews that I’ve seen recently have been from much smaller entities than IGN, but their quality and content is through the roof (places like Easy Allies, Gamespot’s YT channel gets pretty low viewing numbers for reviews, Super Bunnyhop, and some other, much more obscure channels). I was listening to EZA’s Frame Trap the other day, and Ben Moore brought up how he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about music, because his lack of knowledge on the matter limits him to buzzwords and generic phrases like “the music perfectly matches the emotion of the game at certain times”, and so he doesn’t feel like it adds anything substantial or worthwhile to the review. It’s funny, because this is exactly how I feel about the majority of reviews I read/watch by larger gaming journalism outlets these days: there’s a whole lot of buzzwords, and the review is probably over a thousand words long, but they’re saying a whole lot of nothing about the game.

It’s unclear whether or not it will be in place for next year’s Oscars, but the Academy has just announced that a new category for “outstanding achievement in popular film” is on its way, in an attempt to give films which are more popular with the public but less popular with critics a more realistic shot at winning an award. Not too sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it’ll probably drive up their viewing audience numbers, and I think it makes the Oscars much more accessible to a casual audience; on the other hand, it also reminds me of the creation of the “best animated film” category, which felt like a genuine attempt by the Academy to discredit critically-acclaimed animated films when compared to their live-action counterparts (and which is poorly decided anyway, clearly). The Fox purchase will have gone through by then anyways, and seeing as that will mean that the majority of blockbusters are all under one Mickey Mouse emblazoned banner, I’m struggling to see how this category won’t be a monopoly.

To be fair, Pogba has been a mercurial, Zidane-esque player from the start, and drifting in and out of games is exactly what mercurial players do. He’s one of those midfielders that plays best when they can run all over the pitch and not be tied down to a specific role (i.e. a holding midfielder alongside Matic). I agree that Mourinho definitely doesn’t play to his strengths, and it doesn’t help that he’s made taking a dig at his own players his style of management. His man management and the feeling that he was a member of the team is exactly why he was so successful at Chelsea (the first time around) and at Inter, and I think that it’s because he’s attempted to take a step back from that happy figure and become a more controlling figure in the changing room that he’s developed a much more negative attitude (and, ergo, a much more negative style of play has been seen on the pitch since he left Inter). I’ve heard similar things, and that Mourinho’s negativity during pre-season is just a ploy to get out of the club. At the same time, this is the man that would love to get one over on Guardiola, so I could see him sticking around. I’m also just not that sure where he could go — maybe he’d return to Inter?

He really is, but it’s becoming clear after how he was being shopped around in January, and now this transfer window, that Pogba isn’t at all interested in sticking around at United. Raiola at the end of the day is Pogba’s agent, and he needs Pogba a lot more than Pogba needs him, so I very much doubt that he was shopping Pogba around without his permission. From what I’ve read there was little credibility to Barça’s offer, but even if there was some truth to it, I would just think that they’re trying to stay in-line with FFP and get rid of the deadweight in their team, as opposed to pulling an Arsenal-Suarez type of thing. Kovacic having his medical now. I think we’ll be saving our other business (probably another look at our defence and striking options) next summer. Still a bit light on numbers considering how many games we might just end up playing this year, and options are always needed when trying to implement a new, high-intensity system of play. But otherwise, happy with our business this summer if Jorginho, Kepa and Kovacic is to be it, even if we did leave it to the last second.

DQVIII’s Hero’s Trodain Bandana and Togs are coming to the game, as well as a recipe book, “Trodain’s Top Trends”. These items will be free for all players.

Worth mentioning that this is how Neymar forced through his move to PSG last summer. Kepa is going to be an excellent signing for us. Sarri has apparently spent the last month or so studying replacements for Courtois, and has just spent the last ten days alone watching footage of Kepa, apparently even describing him as the “perfect modern goalkeeper”. It’s very important to remember that a very specific type of goalkeeper is needed for the type of game that he and Pep go for. Apparently Pepe Reina put in a good word for Kepa to move to the Premier League with Chelsea and Sarri too, putting one final shift in for his former manager. Elsewhere for us, there are still talks of us wanting Fekir, and Kovacic’s loan move - despite recent rumours suggesting otherwise - will include a buyout clause, and the deal is reportedly on the verge of completion. I still feel that our squad requires much more depth, but hopefully this is enough for now to help Sarri to qualify for the Champions League next season, which I assume would push us to add that much-needed depth to the squad. Modric still wants to leave Madrid for Inter - who wouldn’t after both the manager and star player have left? - so I have to wonder what Madrid will do in the event that both of their Croatian midfield maestros leave the club. Bayern’s Jeremy Boateng has notably turned down Mourinho’s advances. And, last but not least, Pogba and Raiola are reportedly attempting to force a move through to Barça, but United’s stance remains the same at this point. Not much time for PL clubs left now. Should be a fun 24 hours or so

Kovacic going to be loaned out for a year to Chelsea, according to Marca. Not the most reliable of sources, but Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic would be an excellent three-man midfield. UPDATE: a more reliable source is saying that a Kovacic deal is close, and we’re also in for Fekir at around £50m. Seems like we’ve only just realised that the transfer window is still open...

Rumours with similar levels of credibility state that we’re also after Oblak, Pickford and Arrizabalaga, so it would seem that we’ve got our hands in a lot of different pots right now in an attempt to resolve this. Courtois’ manner is completely unprofessional, but is it really that surprising, given his history? He went AWOL to force a move through to Chelsea in the first place (which included his consequent loan to Atlético), and forced Čech out of the squad by delivering an ultimatum for first team football. Also read earlier about Willian’s falling out with Conte, which, according to his words, had nothing to do with Conte being a bit of a, uh, “character”; it had to do with Willian not understanding why he would be substituted in games in Conte’s second season, which shouldn’t be surprising given how shallow our team was last season. Why he didn’t just ask Conte about this I don’t know...Willian’s coming off as a bit of a petulant child in light of this. Like I said in the build-up to last season: WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY ZERO DEPTH. Sarri’s style of play is just as intense as Conte’s (at least in his first season with us), and, besides Jorginho, we haven’t added any players that both suit the system of play that we’re now going for and could slot into the first team. All for youth giving us depth, but our starting XI is a bit of a hot mess right now. I’m in agreement with @Kav about certain players of ours not suiting a back four, and with Sarri taking a backseat on our transfer business (officially being our “head coach” as opposed to a typical “first team manager”), it seems that our transfers team hasn’t taken the initiative to even go about trying to sign players that would actually be more suited to a back four. I’m somewhat perturbed going into the last few days of the transfer window at how little business we’ve done this summer, and I’m very pessimistic about our chances of obtaining silverware by the end of the season (heck, I’m not even confident about our ability to secure a Champions League place) because of our lack of squad depth. I just hope that in the event that we end up with no trophies that Sarri is given time and patience by the board, in a similar fashion to how Guardiola was treated but City after his first trophyless season there.

Seems like IGN’s NVC host, Filip, could be in a lot of trouble for plagiarising in his recent Dead Cells review.

Actually, four weeks after the US — incidentally, it releases today. However, we were originally supposed to get it a week earlier than them; it supposedly got delayed due to the World Cup. It’s what also delayed the Incredibles 2 for us. Us getting Marvel and Lucasfilm movies later than them is the exception as opposed to the rule, but I agree: getting the films on home media two to four weeks after them is a strange trade-off. Probably has something to do with us being a smaller territory, so they focus on a domestic (US) release first, or something along those lines.

Yeah, it kind of blows. Same story for the Star Wars films too, we always get them a few weeks after the US on home media On the upside, we typically get the Marvel films anywhere from a day to a whole week earlier than them, and we’ve been getting Star Wars films a day earlier, too. So I suppose it’s a calculated trade-off?

The film was released seven and a half months ago in cinemas, and nearly four months ago on home media. I don’t think we need spoiler tags for The Last Jedi in a thread about its sequel I think you’re taking “the end of the Skywalker Saga” a bit too literally. It just means that, from here on in the canon timeline, a Skywalker likely won’t be the character that a story is centred around (or at least not directly having a say in the fate of the galaxy). That’s not to say that they can’t return in some capacity or another. Plus, you forgot Ben J.J.’s Twitter has gone public for the first time, and we get our first look at Episode IX with it. I see Finn sporting some new clothes and longer hair, Chewie, and I’d guess Rey (or potentially Poe?) in what is probably the Falcon.

Filming begins today for the beginning of the “end of the Skywalker Saga”! I enjoyed TLJ for the most part, but I can also see where some people are coming from with their complaints about the film. My biggest worry for IX is that I just don’t know how they can close out this trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga as a whole, in 150 minutes or less, in a way which can leave us truly satisfied.

Apparently Inter are interested in Modrić, and apparently Modrić is interested in a move to Inter. They've already pieced together a stellar team for their return to the Champions League, but this would be huge for them. They also got Vrsaljko on loan from Atlético. Looks like they’re trying to reunite the Croatian national team... The deal for Higuain to move to AC Milan on loan from Juve, and for a swap deal between the teams for Bonucci to move to Juve for Caldara, is nearly complete. It looks like a much better move for Milan than Juve, at least at face value. Glad to see Serie A taking huge strides this summer, they’ve got a real bit between their teeth and are making some audacious moves; can’t wait for the new season to begin!

Yeah, PlayStation’s sales numbers are just outright crazy: take away the Vita, and all of their console platforms have sold in excess of 80 million units. As far as I know, from reading up on gaming’s past, there hasn’t been a period where more than three home console platform manufacturers have had sustained success at the top of the market. I’m curious as to which of PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo would step down, then, in the event that another major platform (Apple or Google, I guess?) managed to squeeze their way into the top, because I think very strong arguments could be made for all three of them sticking around.

But as you say, him being “absolutely terrible in the prequels” wasn’t just down to him. Lucas has always been pretty dreadful when it comes to dialogue (as Harrison put it: “George, you can type this s***, but you can’t say it!”), and I do think that it’s worth considering that there is a generation which grew up on the prequel films and The Clone Wars. Being part of that generation myself, I accept all of the flaws with the prequel trilogy, but I still find things to enjoy in them, in almost the exact same way that both you and I can accept the flaws with The Last Jedi but still find enjoyment in it. I’m not talking about making him a protagonist, just a cameo as a Force ghost. I think that it’s important to remember than Ben idolised and adored his grandfather - specifically Vader and Anakin’s Dark Side - which is why I feel that if Ben is going to continue down either path, input from his grandfather himself could strengthen his resolve. Heck, I think that we could see both Vader and Anakin, which is something that they were toying around with in pre-production for TFA (from The Art of The Force Awakens): I think that it’s important to remember that, like it or not, the Skywalker Saga (that is what I’m referring to specifically when I say “Saga”; Episodes I - IX) is about Anakin (perhaps retroactively, sure). The prequel trilogy was about his fall; the original trilogy was about his redemption; and the sequel trilogy is about his legacy: the ongoing struggle between the Light and the Dark Side of the Force. Well, tell that to Lucasfilm. It could simply be marketing speech, but for all intents and purposes, they are referring to this as “the final installment of the Skywalker Saga”. They referred to IX not once but twice in that way in their press release regarding casting for the film the other day. George Lucas only ever outlined three trilogies of three films for the purposes of telling the Skywalker story, so, even if we get an Episode X, I do think that this will be the end of the Skywalkers being involved with the galaxy’s fate in such a direct way. How that could happen is, of course, up in the air (something would have to happen to Ben, surely), but it’s something to keep in mind. And sure, I agree that it’ll feel like the end of the sequel trilogy more so than, say, and Avengers: Infinity War enormous climax. However, we’ve not seen any species return from either the PT or OT on a large and noteworthy scale, besides those directly involved in the story (Chewie, Nien Nunb, Ackbar, Yoda, etc.), so even just seeing some old races return would be more than enough. However, as the end of the Skywalker Saga, I do think that Anakin will make an appearance (you’re part of a minority that don’t want to see him, I think, because I’ve seen plenty of others, even those whom outright hate the prequels, get onboard with the idea), and so too could Obi-Wan. Both (Anakin as Anakin or Vader) have been seen or mentioned in some capacity in every single one of the films in the Skywalker Saga, and that even continued through to Rogue One (I haven’t seen Solo yet, so I can’t comment on that film). Sure, I can see that. I disagree, however, that giving IX room to breathe was the reason for not delaying Solo. For one, Mary Poppins Returns, which was always going to be the bigger film for Disney, comes out at Christmas. I would imagine that they also want all eyes on the MCU at this stage: Ant-Man and The Wasp came out this month in the US, Captain Marvel comes out in March, and Avengers 4 comes out in May. Beyond that, though, I think that it might actually come down to wanting more time to market IX: TFA had a 13 month marketing campaign, TLJ had a 7 month marketing campaign, and Solo only had a three and a half month marketing campaign (from the time of the first teaser/teaser trailer to release). They could very easily get away with one trailer for Avengers 4, whereas they’d have needed a lot more time to focus on IX with how VIII ended anyways - we’re likely to get a substantial time jump, and we’re not exactly sure about what we could be in for. On top of that, they need to get people back onboard for IX after the massive backlash to VIII, so they got quite lucky there. Furthermore, ILM are already inundated with a number of difficult projects, as ever (Thanos looked superb in IW), and if J.J. does have plans to do something big in terms of visual effects with this film (especially seeing as it won’t be Snoke, someone they already have models for) it gives them more time to perfect it. There were a number of times in RO and TLJ, much more than with TFA, that I just found that the use of CG just didn’t look as good as it could have, and perhaps a little hurried. Giving those guys in post- more time is only ever a good thing.