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The 2016-2017 Football Thread
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Draw with Sunderland for West Ham is a poor result; for Sunderland, anything that is not a defeat is good, but, at this stage, a draw is not enough, they need to be doing much more.
Agreed. But unless they can win a string of games and other results go their way, I can't see any survival.
Oh, I think they are on the way down - I can't see any way that they might pull off an improbable escape this year. And victories seem to be well beyond them.
Yesterday's Guardian put it rather well when one of their football writers remarked that "Sunderland's chances (of survival) are not so much slim as skeletal".
Finally, Liverpool manage to beat a Tony Pulis team away from home. The match was every bit as ugly as I expected, but Liverpool have now beaten two no-nonsense British-managed mid-table teams in a row, using foreign fancy-Dan players and a foreign fancy-Dan manager.
EDIT: Man Utd keep the top four race tight, and by beating Chelsea prove (if more proof was needed) that Mou's Man Utd have generally been far less than the sum of their horrifically expensive parts this season.
I always assume the Man Utd will win trophies and finish in the top four, since that is apparently their birthright, and that means Liverpool and Man City cannot afford to lose or draw another match this season. With Big Sam coming to visit next week, followed by Watford, Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough, it's going to be an ugly slog for Klopp.
The Manchester derby on the 27th may settle the matter in any case.
EDIT: Man Utd keep the top four race tight, and by beating Chelsea prove (if more proof was needed) that Mou's Man Utd have generally been far less than the sum of their horrifically expensive parts this season.
I always assume the Man Utd will win trophies and finish in the top four, since that is apparently their birthright, and that means Liverpool and Man City cannot afford to lose or draw another match this season. With Big Sam coming to visit next week, followed by Watford, Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough, it's going to be an ugly slog for Klopp.
The Manchester derby on the 27th may settle the matter in any case.
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I'm sure. Makes the rest of the season a bit more meaningful as to the title as well.
Columbus 2-1 Toronto this past Saturday as Columbus' strong start to the season continues. Ola Kamara and sometime Iraq international Justim Meram continue to be reasonably productive in front of goal, with four goals each.
EDIT: Pochettino puts the boot in against Chelsea, effectively calling them a plastic club. Mind Games.
EDIT: Pochettino puts the boot in against Chelsea, effectively calling them a plastic club. Mind Games.
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Yes, I spotted that - mind games, indeed.
And an unsettling night when this Arsenal supporter could not begin to feel comfortable against Middlesbrough until the final whistle had been blown.
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I felt the same way against West Brom. Then again, Pulis has had Liverpool's number over the years so there was some history there.
Man Utd still have to play Man City, Arsenal, and Spurs away, not to mention European commitments. Arsenal also have to play Man City and Spurs, so it should be tight.
Spurs will almost certainly finish second, so it's a four-way race for 3rd and 4th between Liverpool, Arsenal, and the Manchester gang.
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Maybe his better half told him to get out from under her feet. Or he could have been itching for a fresh challenge.
More to the point, doing something you love - and are recognised and rewarded for doing - is the best way to keep active, fit and healthy - both mentally & physically as you age.
Real Madrid with a completely undeserved win over Bayern and they go through in the Champions League. Bayern dug themselves a hole from the first leg, but come on....
Both of the Spanish giants have benefited so often from terrible refereeing in the CL that I'm sick to death of them and hope neither wins the competition. Yeah, we know you're great. We also know that plenty of key goals have been offside or the result of diving.
Hoping that one of Monaco, Atleti, Dortmund or Leicester win it. Even serial cheaters Juventus winning it would be less irritating to me than Barca or Real.
Both of the Spanish giants have benefited so often from terrible refereeing in the CL that I'm sick to death of them and hope neither wins the competition. Yeah, we know you're great. We also know that plenty of key goals have been offside or the result of diving.
Hoping that one of Monaco, Atleti, Dortmund or Leicester win it. Even serial cheaters Juventus winning it would be less irritating to me than Barca or Real.
Disagree
Bayern should have realistically conceded about 12-15goals in both legs combined so it was mainly due Real's utter incompetence that they stayed alive for that long. There were bad calls from the ref for both teams (albeit Real sure benefitted a bit more). All in all: after seeing both matches it would have been best if none of both teams proceeded because they both played utterly ridiculous - and the ref made sure he fitted in.
But four things that made happy
1)Bayern is out! out! out! Bonus points for failing even earlier than under Pep who got ridiculed by them - and after installing Ancelotti (who I have no problem with) who let the Bayern play underwhelming almost the entire season because he "gets his teams on point when the crucial matches begin" (as opposed to Pep). Karma.
2)Ronaldo is past his prime, that is obvious but he's one of the best in football history and it's a pleasure to see especially him kicking Bayern out after they ridiculed him over years and years.
3) Real in that condition didn't look like they'll win the CL this time - with Barca equally struggling this finale could get really interesting.
4) Bayern is OUT!
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Disagree
The only thing better than seeing your team win is to see a team you dislike lose.
Agreed that Bayern were a bit disappointing.
Agreed. I'm tired of both of them. Especially the current Real side - Ronaldo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos - amazingly talented players but hysterical, arrogant, and often cynical or dirty. In a word - spoiled.
EDIT: Also, the Real fans manage to sink to an even lower level, whistling Ronaldo whenever he is at anything below his best. Talk about entitlement. Real fans are always enraged unless they are winning, at which point they become merely discontent that their victory wasn't crushing enough. They need a big dose of humility, but given how their club is entrenched in money and political influence it will never happen.
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Juve throw a very Italian wet blanket over a phenomenally talented but disjointed Barca side who are now out of CL.
Never put yourself in a position where you are in a second leg knockout match 3-0 down against a good Serie A team...0-0 is inevitable.
Dortmund are out - Monaco were the better team, but Dortmund got screwed by EUEFA's terrible handling of the tie in the wake of the bombing.
I don't rate Monaco to win the CL, but I can see Atleti or Juve potentially beating a Real team who are excellent but have weaknesses.
Never put yourself in a position where you are in a second leg knockout match 3-0 down against a good Serie A team...0-0 is inevitable.
Dortmund are out - Monaco were the better team, but Dortmund got screwed by EUEFA's terrible handling of the tie in the wake of the bombing.
I don't rate Monaco to win the CL, but I can see Atleti or Juve potentially beating a Real team who are excellent but have weaknesses.
Depends how you swing the stats...
His team mate Mbappe has scored a goal for every 71.2 minutes played in the CL this season, compared with Falcao's goal every 97.2 minutes
Leading scorer Messi has a goal every 73.6 minutes
Not saying he's finished, far from it, but he's not the player he was either, but then again he's 31 now
His team mate Mbappe has scored a goal for every 71.2 minutes played in the CL this season, compared with Falcao's goal every 97.2 minutes
Leading scorer Messi has a goal every 73.6 minutes
Not saying he's finished, far from it, but he's not the player he was either, but then again he's 31 now
Falcao massively underperformed in the PL, so I am not surprised he is looking much better now.
Sometimes a move just doesn't work out for a player. Iago Aspas was a flop at Liverpool - he seemed to work hard but for one reason or another he just never clicked. Now he's back at Celta Vigo and has scored over 20 goals this season. I think in the right context he could have been a success in England - just not in Brendan Rogers' Liverpool.
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Sometimes -as was the case with Aspas - a player's preferred role is already being performed by another player (in his case, Suarez and Coutinho); if you play a number 10 as a number 9, they will be less effective.
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