Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The 2016-2017 Football Thread
- Thread starter Apple fanboy
- Start date
-
- Tags
- football
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
Man Utd 1-1 West Ham.
Big result for Bilic, who has been under a lot of pressure. Mourinho will probably want to stay in the "secret room" he watched the match from...
Big result for Bilic, who has been under a lot of pressure. Mourinho will probably want to stay in the "secret room" he watched the match from...
Last edited:
Well honours even then. Mind you we get another chance later this week.
Hm: So, we see Mr Mourinho with yet another touch line ban - his third in a year and his second in a matter of a few months.
This is not how he would have assume that his stewardship of Manchester United would have panned out - especially in his first year. Methinks, that Mr Mourinho may well have passed his sell by date, in truth.
Secondly, the biggest story (by far) to come from the football world in the UK this week did not take place on the pitch, - any pitch, anywhere - but came about as a result of the incredibly brave, extraordinarily courageous, and seriously gutsy decision by the immensely impressive Andy Woodward to waive his anonymity and speak openly about the horrific sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the utterly depraved, (but - and this is key to understanding why it was allowed to continue - extremely talented), coach Barry Bennell.
This one will run and run. Watching older - comfortably off - directors respond with a glib, shrugged negative - spitting "No" - when asked whether they knew - or had suspected - anything - in a tone entirely lacking the stunned horror one would expect from anyone responding to such revelations, suggests that there is a lot more to emerge from this sordid and profoundly unedifying tale.
This is not how he would have assume that his stewardship of Manchester United would have panned out - especially in his first year. Methinks, that Mr Mourinho may well have passed his sell by date, in truth.
Secondly, the biggest story (by far) to come from the football world in the UK this week did not take place on the pitch, - any pitch, anywhere - but came about as a result of the incredibly brave, extraordinarily courageous, and seriously gutsy decision by the immensely impressive Andy Woodward to waive his anonymity and speak openly about the horrific sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of the utterly depraved, (but - and this is key to understanding why it was allowed to continue - extremely talented), coach Barry Bennell.
This one will run and run. Watching older - comfortably off - directors respond with a glib, shrugged negative - spitting "No" - when asked whether they knew - or had suspected - anything - in a tone entirely lacking the stunned horror one would expect from anyone responding to such revelations, suggests that there is a lot more to emerge from this sordid and profoundly unedifying tale.
Last edited:
The sexual abuse issues the Guardian has exposed could be the biggest off-the-field football story of 2017. Given the number of victims out there, if they continue to follow Woodward's courageous lead and come forth the effects could be enormous. While it seems likely (to my cynical eye) that few of the people who, through neglect, allowed these pedophiles to continue to prey on young people will be properly punished, it will at least shine a harsh light on failings in the system and hopefully lead to reforms that better protect young players.
Man Utd have the best paid squad in world football, and one of the most expensive to boot. Mourinho has built his reputation on quick results, yet he has done a worse job than David Moyes with an arguably stronger squad and far more money...there's no wriggling out of this one for Jose unless he starts winning lots of games soon. Winning the Europa League is probably going to be his most likely route to the Champions League.
EDIT: Well, Coutinho is out for six weeks with "ankle ligament damage". Arguably Liverpool's best player, that's a big blow for Klopp, and it means they will need Lallana and Sturridge fit as soon as possible. On the upside, Liverpool do not rely on any one or two players to score the goals, but it does mean the rest have to step up that much more. Origi in particular will have to be relied on to produce more of the quality he showed against Sunderland.
Man Utd have the best paid squad in world football, and one of the most expensive to boot. Mourinho has built his reputation on quick results, yet he has done a worse job than David Moyes with an arguably stronger squad and far more money...there's no wriggling out of this one for Jose unless he starts winning lots of games soon. Winning the Europa League is probably going to be his most likely route to the Champions League.
EDIT: Well, Coutinho is out for six weeks with "ankle ligament damage". Arguably Liverpool's best player, that's a big blow for Klopp, and it means they will need Lallana and Sturridge fit as soon as possible. On the upside, Liverpool do not rely on any one or two players to score the goals, but it does mean the rest have to step up that much more. Origi in particular will have to be relied on to produce more of the quality he showed against Sunderland.
Last edited:
Absolutely spot on and very well expressed.
With almost bottomless resources, Mr Mourinho has yet to craft a team, - a team with a team spirit and a serious sense of collective identity - rather than a collection of exceedingly expensive - and yes, talented, but rather underwhelming and underperforming - individuals.
I read the initial harrowing and heartbreaking interview with the formidably courageous, very impressive (and exceptionally articulate) Andy Woodward, and it was clear immediately that this is an explosive story and the there is far more to come.
Actually, my sense is that it will be every bit as bad - if not worse - than what happened with the BBC when the truth about the appalling Jimmy Savile eventually broke. Too many of the same raw ingredients are present - promising & talented kids, naive, eager, passionate about the game, terrified of losing what seems - on the outside - to have been a gilt-edged opportunity of actually making good on their promise - terrified also of letting their parents down, made complicit in their own complete degradation as the price for access to a talented coach's skill, as he kindled their shame, pride, ambition, all at once.
And, as with all such cases there will have been a brave few who questioned things, while many more were actively, or passively, complicit, because the rewards of not challenging or questioning the system - by all accounts, Barry Bennell was an extraordinarily good coach - were too great.
And the almost banal cliché of the this Pied Piper, who tempted those starstruck kids with an Aladdin's cave of a house, with slot machines, sweets, football kit (an an excellent quality), - a sort of Willy Wonka Dream world for football mad and talented kids - and then proceeded to use his access to them, and to the world they longed to break into - to systematically abuse them, sexually and psychologically - is a terrifying tale of abuse of power and trust.
Worse, there are the cautionary tales - Jason Dunford in the Guardian last Friday (Nov 25) - of what happened to the kids who refused to ago along with this: Dunford, a very talented youngster fought off Bennell's advances, and paid the price in the shredding of opportunities and the traducing of his reputation (with other coaches) which must have destroyed any future he had as a footballer.
No - to my mind, although it has broken late in the year, this is the biggest story to come out of football in the UK this year. Bigger - by far - than Leicester's fairytale season which ended last summer.
Last edited:
Terrible news from Brazil, where a plane crash has claimed the lives of 75 of the 81 passengers and crew. Among the victims were most of the first team squad of Chapecoense, who have been dubbed "Brazil's Leicester". The team had been traveling to a Copa Sudamericana match in Colombia when the plane went down after reporting an "electrical fault", though some details are still sketchy. The passenger list included at least 21 journalists as as well as Chapecoense coaching staff.
Rescuers reached the plane relatively quickly despite the remote location of the crash site. Three Chapecoense players, two crewmembers and a journalist survived the crash and are in hospital. Based on pictures I have seen of the wreckage, it seems a miracle that anyone survived.
In terms of fatalities, it is far worse than the infamous Munich and Superga football air disasters. Horribly tragic.
Rescuers reached the plane relatively quickly despite the remote location of the crash site. Three Chapecoense players, two crewmembers and a journalist survived the crash and are in hospital. Based on pictures I have seen of the wreckage, it seems a miracle that anyone survived.
In terms of fatalities, it is far worse than the infamous Munich and Superga football air disasters. Horribly tragic.
Last edited:
Very tragic indeed! I follow Centeral and South American football, it where I first learned about football in the early 70s.
Getting back to the pitch, Liverpool with a fairly routine 2-0 cup win over Leeds. Origi earned his keep in a shuffled squad against a less-shuffled Leeds, with 17 year-old Ben Woodburn's strike making him the youngest Liverpool player ever to score a goal in the process.
EDIT: Toronto will face Seattle in the MLS Cup Final. I dislike both teams; I can't root for Toronto, but I'd love to see Seattle fail. Plus, it would be amusing to see a Canadian team win the cup this year. Still, Toronto....meh.
Also, Liverpool and Man Utd avoid each other in the league cup semifinal draw...very convenient for the suits and money-men. There is a good chance they will meet in the final, where Jose will unashamedly park the bus as he always does in important knockout matches.
EDIT: Toronto will face Seattle in the MLS Cup Final. I dislike both teams; I can't root for Toronto, but I'd love to see Seattle fail. Plus, it would be amusing to see a Canadian team win the cup this year. Still, Toronto....meh.
Also, Liverpool and Man Utd avoid each other in the league cup semifinal draw...very convenient for the suits and money-men. There is a good chance they will meet in the final, where Jose will unashamedly park the bus as he always does in important knockout matches.
Last edited:
A brilliant win by us, Arsenal, yesterday. And, what a hat trick by Sanchez. Talk about a cheeky chip goal, too.
Albeit, I do feel we rely on Sanchez too much and at times he tries too hard, and thus loses the ball due to this. We need another driven player like him. Well, we do have Le Coq, he's like that too, driven and has a desire to win a determination that some other players are lacking.
Regardless, a brilliant win; keeping us within touching distance...
Albeit, I do feel we rely on Sanchez too much and at times he tries too hard, and thus loses the ball due to this. We need another driven player like him. Well, we do have Le Coq, he's like that too, driven and has a desire to win a determination that some other players are lacking.
Regardless, a brilliant win; keeping us within touching distance...
Excellent and convincing win, which was the key point. Very pleased with it.
BOURNEMOUTH! wow. Sorry @Lord Blackadder ...
Apparently, (according to the Guardian report on the match), at a his pre-match press conference on Friday, Mr Klopp had described Bournemouth as "a little village always fighting back, like Asterix and Obelix."
BOURNEMOUTH! wow. Sorry @Lord Blackadder ...
That was a nice come from behind victory!
The papers blame the defense/Karius, but Klopp's system relies as much on pressing as on traditional defending to to keep the opposition from scoring. The result was a combination of factors - a rash of key injuries (Matip, Coutinho and Lallana in particular), dogged play by Bournemouth and errors by Karius, who has yet to be convincing, though he should be given time. Had Klopp been able to put out his first choice squad, this would have finished 5-1 to Liverpool.
Leaking four goals to Bournemouth is an embarrassment. Hopefully the injury situation will improve by next week, with Lallana and Matip back in the fold, and hopefully Karius learns from his mistakes. Congrats to Bournemouth though. They could have been forgiven for giving up at 3-1, but they didn't.
Rather than a striker, perhaps Klopp will look in January for another attacking midfield player similar in style to Coutinho/Firminho/Lallana. Despite Liverpool's relative lack of strikers, more depth in the midfield might be a better place to spend resources.
Liverpool are not ready to win the league, but they still could push Chelsea and Man City all the way. Chelsea suddenly look unstoppable - though we said that about Pep's Man City at the start of the season.
Man Utd with yet another draw, and possibly a ban for Ibrahimovic? Spurs have had a lot of trouble scoring of late, so this 5-1 result is curious -is it the start of offensive improvement, or just a blip?
Leaking four goals to Bournemouth is an embarrassment. Hopefully the injury situation will improve by next week, with Lallana and Matip back in the fold, and hopefully Karius learns from his mistakes. Congrats to Bournemouth though. They could have been forgiven for giving up at 3-1, but they didn't.
Rather than a striker, perhaps Klopp will look in January for another attacking midfield player similar in style to Coutinho/Firminho/Lallana. Despite Liverpool's relative lack of strikers, more depth in the midfield might be a better place to spend resources.
Liverpool are not ready to win the league, but they still could push Chelsea and Man City all the way. Chelsea suddenly look unstoppable - though we said that about Pep's Man City at the start of the season.
Man Utd with yet another draw, and possibly a ban for Ibrahimovic? Spurs have had a lot of trouble scoring of late, so this 5-1 result is curious -is it the start of offensive improvement, or just a blip?
Last edited:
Agreed, and their statistics are very impressive just now, but the excessive reliance on Sanchez could lead them exposed if anything happened to him, through injury or suspension.
The most interesting match of the weekend to my mind was the 'intellectual duel' - at a tactical level - it was almost like a chess game - between two polished and sophisticated managers, Mr Guardiola and Mr Conte.
Obviously, Mr Conte won this competition hands down.
Two further things are clear. The first is that Manchester City cannot continue to spurn decent chances to score - as they did during the first half this week-end past - and hope to be in the reckoning, and secondly, it is equally clear that much of the Chelsea squad - including some who were on the squad at the time, and who had clearly downed tools on Mr Mourinho last year, possibly as a consequence of his disgraceful treatment of Dr Carniero, - are now performing much closer to their full potential, and working under - and fully committed to - someone who as manager, - Mr Conte - who has won their respect.
Last edited:
It remains to be seen how long Chelsea can maintain this level of focus and work rate...they are also currently at about full strength (Terry's absence no longer counts as a major worry), and there is a lot of season left to play. However, it has to be said that Conte has weathered a rocky start and turned the ship around remarkably well at the moment. He can be every bit as ruthless as Mourinho, but at the moment he has got the players motivated.
Liverpool's victory over Chelsea earlier this season is looking increasingly valuable - we took points off them while they were in a funk. The next match will be much tougher.
Last edited:
Yes, I had wondered when they would get exposed in Europe.
Actually, they had been doing very well in Europe until now, and, I can only assume, had made the decision to enjoy the season in Europe, as it is not likely to be repeated anytime soon.
Congrats to Dortmund, who won their CL group despite sharing it with Real Madrid!
And coming back from being two behind on the road.
Also congrats to BVB on setting the record number of goals in group stage!
B
- Status