Roiling football blather

[baboon2004]

As someone who supports their success, Im glad Liverpool lost vs Watford - they badly needed a proper wakeup call. No way theyll win the CL without some serious inprovement

No bollocks about unbeaten seasons to worry about now. They might still do 100 points tho

 

[william kent]

Anyone catch Madrid-Barca?

 

[IdleRich]

Nah, I read the report. Seems like Barca were on top for the first half but couldn't make it count, Real got more into the second half and scored two scrappy (deflected/mishit) goals. Everyone is moaning about Griezmann and saying that Messi looked uninterested. Lowest quality for years blah blah blah

 

[william kent]

I think Barca still haven't adequately replaced Pedro and Alves tbh. They've struggled for width for years now yet leave every winger they sign on the bench before eventually selling them on. They need some proper wide men opening up space for Messi in the middle and what they've got are two more big name attackers who like to play through the middle, a near-permanently injured winger and a seventeen year old... Their board and transfer policy are an absolute joke.

 

[IdleRich]

I certainly wouldn't be able to name a Barca wide-player at the moment... over recent years it's not been the most important part of how they play, but if you don't have some phenomenal way to get through the middle then maybe you had best consider going round.

 

[william kent]

over recent years it's not been the most important part of how they play,

Yeah, which is partly why they've been so poor against top opposition. There's nobody stretching the play and pulling the defenders around, so Messi, Suarez and Griezmann end up trying to play in tiny pockets of space in front of the defense and repeatedly running into a wall.

If you go back and look at the 2010/2011 side with Villa and Pedro either side of Messi, one of them would often stay wide so the defenders had to keep looking over their shoulder and could never really settle, get compact and focus on Messi. Look at where Villa comes from for this goal from the 5-0 against Madrid.

8:28

 

[IdleRich]

Yeah fair point - who was the last winger they bought?

 

[william kent]

In fact, if you look at every goal from that match, there's almost always someone out wide, even if they aren't directly involved in the goal. Nowadays it's like if Pedro, Villa and Messi were all in the middle doing the job of Xavi, Messi and Iniesta.

 

[william kent]

Yeah fair point - who was the last winger they bought?

Braithwaite can play there, but the last two were Malcolm and Perez and they sold Malcolm and loaned out Perez.

 

[IdleRich]

Again makes sense, obviously you can have a role in a goal, or just in the game, even if you're not on the ball, pulling the defence out of shape, keeping them off-balance etc

 

[baboon2004]

This is odd. Bayern and Hoffenheim just stopped playing and started passing the ball amongst themselves.

I don't even understand this after reading the story. The reason everyone hates the hoffenheim owner is not that his father was involved in kristellnacht (as wikipedia alleges), but something else?

 

[william kent]

Yeah, I don't really understand it either. Admittedly I haven't spent much time looking into it, but still.

 

[william kent]

This is really grim. Apparently a bunch of security guards working at Old Trafford racially abused and beat up a teenager who worked there.

 

[baboon2004]

Horrific and unsurprising, the account includes almost every racist cliche in the book. Racism is emboldened in seeing itself reflected at the very top of society.

 

[baboon2004]

Something is going to happen soon with Mourinho, isn't it. I just can't see him settling for a top ten finish with zero cup action and a thrashing in Leipzig. Will be interesting too if someone like Son or Alli jumps ship, realising that after 2016 and 2019, this Spurs vintage may have had their best shots at a major trophy already. Kane to Man U is being mooted apparently, which would really surprise me - thought he'd go abroad to make the most of his talent, rather than to a rival for fourth place.

 

[william kent]

That incident with the "journalist" was really awkward.

 

[IdleRich]

Dortmund defending on that first goal was a really special new kind...

 

[william kent]

 

[entertainment]

that was so satisfying after having listened to the english commentators all game contorting every situation into a praise of Liverpool's overpowering intensity and the preeminence of english, real man football.

 

[IdleRich]

that was so satisfying after having listened to the english commentators all game contorting every situation into a praise of Liverpool's overpowering intensity and the preeminence of english, real man football.

Well yeah... but with much possession and so many chances and shots they'd be right ninety percent of the time. Freak result from the gameplay really. Normally a team that dominant doesn't suddenly concede two goals in the five minutes after finally going ahead from the first two chances the opposition has.
I do think Liverpool could conceivably be suffering from the same problem that has stymied PSG etc in recent years ie a lack of competition in the league. Both the league in general and Luverpool in Europe look much weaker this time around. I don't really see City going the whole way.