I wish dead spin would give us a dead letters/comments specifically for Billy Haisley articles. I have never seen more deserved contempt for his wrting and distain for his homer takes.

Uh... it made total sense. It removed an impetus for CL losers to sell to winners, and thus helped keep talent spread around. It also helped mid-tier teams make deeper runs in the CL because the giants couldn’t just reload with players from teams who were already gone. This is a bad development if you like a bunch of…

I guess the only recourse for smaller clubs still in CL, and Europa League contention is to refuse sale of their stars until the summer window. It’s sad that Billy’s Barcelona will have to wait to see Coutinho in the CL until next season :(

Depends on the odds-maker ( some have RM or City as favorites ), but Barcelona certainly have no right to feel aggrieved about this. The rule exists in the first place to prevent the likes of Barcelona, Real, Bayern and other rich clubs from gutting their CL opposition in January.

Barca is so screwed by this rule that they are...*checks notes*...the favorites to win the tournament.

Better question, would this article ever have been written if Barcelona wasn’t the primary example?

Once again, Billy shows off his Barca love and clearly does not understand the implications of this rule. This is not a “dumb rule.” UEFA is helping the big clubs poach the best talent from the smaller clubs with no repercussions. It is much harder to get a club to sell midseason, smaller teams will have immense…

Poor Barcelona, they’d have to do with Messi, Suarez, Busquets, Pique and Iniesta. Unlike Liverpool, their chances are intact without Coutinho.

Bad rule change. The handful of teams that poach players from other UEFA-competing teams in January should be discouraged from doing so. Bara’s Champions League hopes aren’t “wrecked” by playing with the squad they had on January 1 — they’re still the favorites with a 30% chance to win per 538.

Are you a Barcelona fan?  Are you a Gooner?

Erik Karlsson is a generation player and future Hall of Famer. He is certainly not overrated. He is not the best player in hockey right now, but he can take control of a game like few others can. Did you watch the Playoffs last year?

Can I ask why you say he is the most overrated player in the league? Granted that living in MN I only see Ottawa a few times a year on TV but I watched quite a bit of the playoffs last year and he seems like a pretty solid offensive defenseman that could also shut down some of the other team’s better players.

Today, you became American

Sounds like you’ve got the jist of it.