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The 2016-2017 Football Thread
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I take 'some' solice in the fact we got beat by the winners, and even then it had to go to penalties
On to next season...
On to next season...
Best of luck with next season when I hope you'll manage to land that elusive promotion spot.
It'll be nice to see two comparatively fresh faces in Brighton and Huddersfield Town in the top flight next season.
Wenger supposedly signed a new two year deal, so he'll be around a while longer yet. While I do respect his historical achievements, Arsenal really appears past due for a new direction.
Wenger supposedly signed a new two year deal, so he'll be around a while longer yet. While I do respect his historical achievements, Arsenal really appears past due for a new direction.
The first half of the Champion's League Final (between Juventus and Real Madrid) was excellent; as for the second half, the less said, the better.
I dislike intensely Cristiano Ronaldo the man, but have to salute the fact that he is an outstanding and outrageously gifted player, always seemingly effortlessly capable of producing something special during a "big game".
However, Juve's goal was a thing of beauty.
As much as I dislike pretty much all of Real's squad. I though lt all 5 goals were things of beauty.
Can't bring myself to watch MLS tonight.
B
Real won the match with a pair of deflected goals long before they ran the score up. Crispy celebrated his ultimately irrelevant third goal as if he cured cancer or achieved world peace with it. (yes, I know about the record - but it's been years since I gave a damn about Ronaldo breaking some record or other).
Mandzucic's goal was too notch, the best of the evening.
A shameful dive by Sergio Ramos to get Cuadrado sent off.
Real were the better team but I am tired of their hysterics - who are these alleged 'doubters' they keep having to prove wrong by winning cup matches they are heavily favored to win anyway? Does anyone really doubt Real's ability to win football matches? Ronaldo is the most selfish player in the universe. He truly thinks this is all about him. Yawn.
Not that I feel sorry for Juve, a team that wins the league every year these days. It would have been nice to see Buffon win it (a class act and gentleman - quite the contrast to Crispy and his Me ME MEEEE!!! antics)
There are only 5-6 teams that have any realistic chance of winning the champions league, and the semis/final have gotten a bit boring.
Mandzucic's goal was too notch, the best of the evening.
A shameful dive by Sergio Ramos to get Cuadrado sent off.
Real were the better team but I am tired of their hysterics - who are these alleged 'doubters' they keep having to prove wrong by winning cup matches they are heavily favored to win anyway? Does anyone really doubt Real's ability to win football matches? Ronaldo is the most selfish player in the universe. He truly thinks this is all about him. Yawn.
Not that I feel sorry for Juve, a team that wins the league every year these days. It would have been nice to see Buffon win it (a class act and gentleman - quite the contrast to Crispy and his Me ME MEEEE!!! antics)
There are only 5-6 teams that have any realistic chance of winning the champions league, and the semis/final have gotten a bit boring.
Agree with your remarks on both Buffon - a genuine gentleman, and it would have been nice to see him collect a winner's medal, the one honour to have eluded him in a hugely impressive career - and Ronaldo, whom I detest, mainly for the reasons that you ave suggested.
And on the match.
Actually, we had stopped watching it once it went to 3-1, and it was clear that Juve were getting upset and thus running the risk of receiving a red card sooner or later.
Juventus though, hardly a sympathetic character, bunch of cheats....
[doublepost=1496576229][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1496576229][/doublepost]
Juventus though, hardly a sympathetic character, bunch of cheats....
[doublepost=1496576229][/doublepost]
Indeed.
My brother and I concurred on this very point last night; not defending Juventus and their dodgy ethics, (and dodgier finances), it is just that Real Madrid are a lot less likeable than even Juventus, and CR - a gifted and exceptionally talented, but extremely narcissistic, footballer and a profoundly unpleasant human being - does not in any way serve to redress that.
There's no rule that says good players have to be likeable, and Christiano is a perfect demonstration of that. He's the second most self-absorbed person in the world, made only marginally tolerable due to the fact that he's also the second best player to have ever set foot on a football pitch.
And yes, Juve are terrible cheats. I wasn't expecting them to win.
The highlight of the match for me was Ronaldo's hilariously unsuccessful attempt at a bicycle kick shortly after Mandzukic's goal. He really can't stand it when anyone else in the world does something impressive, and has to try to one-up them immediately.
And yes, Juve are terrible cheats. I wasn't expecting them to win.
The highlight of the match for me was Ronaldo's hilariously unsuccessful attempt at a bicycle kick shortly after Mandzukic's goal. He really can't stand it when anyone else in the world does something impressive, and has to try to one-up them immediately.
Charitable donations aren't really a good indicator of personal integrity or character. If anything they can be self-serving. That said i respect his efforts since they do make some impact regardless of underlying reasons.
I've nothing against Ronaldo as a member of society, and I applaud his charitable contributions.
My criticisms of him are purely professional. I don't think he's a terrible person like Mourinho or a crook like Blatter - but he is the most selfish, narcissistic player on the pitch and in the media I think I've ever seen. He makes Ibrahimovic look positively humble by comparison. I expect most players to be confident people (it comes with the job), but his extreme need for adulation and attention is tiring.
First of all I think it was a highly enjoyable finale! - not too tactical and quite some nice goals. Of course everybody wanted Buffon to win it but over all I have to say that a midfield of Kroos and Modric is just plain phenomenal and they were the better team.
Re: Ronaldo, don't think the 3:1 wasn't important (??) and the fact that scepticalscribe and her fellows switched off directly after it is further proof
- not sure why he shouldn't celebrate it and as far as I noticed he was celebrating the other goals as well. Come to think of it: it's amazing how he adapted his playstyle to his decreased speed and physical power this season. He was crucially invoveld into the build up for both of his goals (pre-assists) and just 1-2 years ago I'm quite sure he wouldn't have passed the ball to begin with. Ego aside: he was a tank this CL season against the very best teams around.
And once again I have to lift my hat to Zizou which I was really really wrong about once he hit the big stage as a manager.
Re: Ronaldo, don't think the 3:1 wasn't important (??) and the fact that scepticalscribe and her fellows switched off directly after it is further proof
- not sure why he shouldn't celebrate it and as far as I noticed he was celebrating the other goals as well. Come to think of it: it's amazing how he adapted his playstyle to his decreased speed and physical power this season. He was crucially invoveld into the build up for both of his goals (pre-assists) and just 1-2 years ago I'm quite sure he wouldn't have passed the ball to begin with. Ego aside: he was a tank this CL season against the very best teams around.And once again I have to lift my hat to Zizou which I was really really wrong about once he hit the big stage as a manager.
First of all I think it was a highly enjoyable finale! - not too tactical and quite some nice goals. Of course everybody wanted Buffon to win it but over all I have to say that a midfield of Kroos and Modric is just plain phenomenal and they were the better team.
Re: Ronaldo, don't think the 3:1 wasn't important (??) and the fact that scepticalscribe and her fellows switched off directly after it is further proof
And once again I have to lift my hat to Zizou which I was really really wrong about once he hit the big stage as a manager.
i didn't care if Buffon won or not.
There are other players in the world who are much worse than CR7.
He wants the ball.
If you root for Real Madrid you should want him to have the ball too!
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Funny thing is that I don't root for Real and am way more affine to Barcelona than Madrid. regardless the hairstyles and media pomp = I rate Ramos as the best central defender and quite possibly the player with the biggest will power (pity he makes those nasty things on a regular basis) and I also rate Marcelo as the best left back (pity he makes those nasty things on a regular basis) and Kroos and Modric is just godly and the perfect symbiosis (not sure why Casemiro is there though..). And Ronaldo is still among the very best strikers there are, period.
Now imagine those were all players that are as likable (over the distance of passive media consumption) as...say Buffon.
Not sure that I'm not somewhat relieved that they make it so darn easy to not like 'em..lol
Without intending to denigrate Zidane's managerial achievements just for the sake of being negative, I also think that this Real Madrid side is the perfect demonstration of the modern elite football team - it is effectively managerless and unmanageable. The only figurehead that can hold the players' respect is an ex-player of seemingly equal status to themselves, but he is merely the chief cheerleader - tactical philosophies or "systems" are jettisoned in favor of simply letting a collection of the most expensive possible talent express themselves. The manager operates through persuasion and diplomacy rather than through absolute authority. It is the ultimate outcome of the Bosman era.
Kroos and Modric were arguably the bedrock of the final performance. Pretty much any decent striker could have scored on Juve with those two opening up defenses and creating chances.
Ramos has an incredible knack for scoring goals at key moments in big matches, and he is clearly and outstandingly talented player. But he is also one of the dirtiest and hotheaded players you'll ever see. One wonders if both sides are merely different manifestations of the same combination of huge talent and an intense, passionate personality.
There are also cool-headed players at real (Modric and Kroos both fit the bill), but when I think of Real Madrid, I think of players who are both incredibly talented but also hotheaded, cynical and dirty - players who, at the climax of a match look just as much for a chance to kick someone or dive as to demonstrate their talent in more legal ways. Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos - even Ronaldo, though he is less a diver than he was in his Man Utd days.
Real Madrid are a microcosm of elite football in both its good (supreme athleticism and entertainment, narrative, passion, showmanship) and bad (financially doped to death, dodgy recruitment practices, bending all the rules to keep themselves rich and perennially winning, spoiled players who usually get the rub of the green and cry like babies when they don't, run by a combination of ambitious hucksters providing bread and circuses to the braying mob) sides.
Kroos and Modric were arguably the bedrock of the final performance. Pretty much any decent striker could have scored on Juve with those two opening up defenses and creating chances.
Ramos has an incredible knack for scoring goals at key moments in big matches, and he is clearly and outstandingly talented player. But he is also one of the dirtiest and hotheaded players you'll ever see. One wonders if both sides are merely different manifestations of the same combination of huge talent and an intense, passionate personality.
There are also cool-headed players at real (Modric and Kroos both fit the bill), but when I think of Real Madrid, I think of players who are both incredibly talented but also hotheaded, cynical and dirty - players who, at the climax of a match look just as much for a chance to kick someone or dive as to demonstrate their talent in more legal ways. Marcelo, Pepe, Ramos - even Ronaldo, though he is less a diver than he was in his Man Utd days.
Real Madrid are a microcosm of elite football in both its good (supreme athleticism and entertainment, narrative, passion, showmanship) and bad (financially doped to death, dodgy recruitment practices, bending all the rules to keep themselves rich and perennially winning, spoiled players who usually get the rub of the green and cry like babies when they don't, run by a combination of ambitious hucksters providing bread and circuses to the braying mob) sides.
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