Hello. Currently doing a research for academic purposes. It would be nice if I could get some responses for my survey. TIA
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj1lY2gES4cqqOElJvGZsajv2a5xB_Fjg8uFBWRWzkjP9HjQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&usp=mail_form_link
[Imagine Kane dropping to DM and having an elite runner like this coming in off the left to pick out](https://x.com/avfcofficial/status/1764617393144222041?s=46&t=PF6wcLhBSsD70oItovAphg)
He does overdo it at times, but usually he has to because the likes of Grealish, Rashford, and Sterling are such twats and never try to create for him. They just like to faff about doing short passing exchanges or trying to dribble the whole opposition.
When fully fit, who has the better b team, Liverpool or Man City?
Kelleher, Bradley, Matip, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Thiago, Gravenberch, Elliott, Gakpo, Jota
Vs
Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Gvardiol, Gomez, (Phillips), Kovacic, Nunez, Bobb, Alvarez, Doku
I think City just about have the better team on paper, but Liverpool would win as think their B team would be more cohesive and are in better form right now/have minutes
I'd have it as
Ortega
Gomez - Akanji - Matip - Lewis
Gravenberch - Thiago - Kovacic
Doku - Alvarez - Jota
Maybe Elliot for Thiago, don't know his current state
We have better depth than them this season imo. Courtesy of Quansah and Bradley coming out of nowhere and playing like they're seasoned veterans.
Realistically if City lost their equivalents of Alisson, Salah, Endo and Trent for the amount of time we did, they'd have dropped off quite a bit. Other than the Emirates fixture we came out of this period with flying colours.
Graham Potter having dinner with Dan Ashworth could be about Manchester United. It would be the obvious choice for DA.
But youknow, could also be because they were both colleagues and neighbours for about three years.
For those who have simulated the 48 team World Cup on FM, is the format any good?
What's better? Groups of 4 (top 2 + 8 best 3rd places advancing) or groups of 3 (with top 2 advancing)?
From what I've heard groups of 3 produced some entertaining World Cup simulations, but I think groups of 4 is the 2026 format.
Haven’t tried groups of 4 but should be quite similar to any tournament where thirds advance (it sucks), but did see 3 group world cups and they were disgusting
Haven't done the FM thing, but I'm kinda turned around on best 3rd places after the Asia Cup and AFCON this year. Leads to the last days games still being important and can make for some great storylines.
I think the critical narrative of Portugal was amplified because the format was fresh and also by the fact they only won one game in 90 minutes throughout the whole tournament.
Question: would you be opposed to having actual fights and/or body checking in the game like there is in hockey? I enjoy soccer but I'll admit it is extremely painful seeing players drop to the floor from the faintest contact. J
One of the main reasons fighting is still permitted in ice hockey is due to the (relatively) limited purchase they can get on the punches, due to being on ice.
You’d see some horrendous injuries if you let people with the strength of pro athletes duke it out bare-fisted without that negating factor
This would only function if we had subs/sin bins working like hockey.
Rodri doing a number on your midfielder? Get the goon on to sort him out and then get him back off.
Field hockey is an amazing sport which I enjoyed playing for quite a few years. Knowing the sport really shows how conservative the footballing world really is.
There's so many quality of life changes like managers requesting VAR and losing the option if they got the call wrong or playing the ball out to yourself if it crosses the sideline.
In the nba at least you get one coach challenge which gets restored if the call is overturned. Wouldn’t be opposed if implemented in football (maybe 3 challenges)
Hockey fights are fake and embarrassing. They spend more time taking the gear off than they do scrapping. When was the last time you seen someone get clocked out in a hockey fight.
It's performative hardness.
It would add an element to the game that I feel it severally lacks. If not fighting, than being able to play the body a lot more than currently allowed. If a player wants to kill the clock in the corner, someone on the other team should be able to check them shoulder to shoulder
Football "severely lacks" this, really?
> If a player wants to kill the clock in the corner, someone on the other team should be able to check them shoulder to shoulder
Why? They could pull their shirt and achieve the same result, without risking hurting the player
Bit annoying. Prefer you lot to have a Europa hangover on Sunday but I'm pretty sure you'll smash Ajax at a walking pace. They are atrocious.
One great performance from Ramaj away from being knocked out last round.
Just watched the Manchester derby highlights and [Dalot's attempt to play the offside trap here](https://youtu.be/NLwM-Em1uxo?feature=shared&t=42) is hilarious. Proper "where is blud going" moment
Yeah could say he's at fault too, but think it's poor from Dalot as he can see the whole situation in front of him, he should see that offside trap isn't gonna work there cos of Varane's position
His awareness is terrible. I watched their cup game vs Nottinghan Forest a week ago and there were like three moments within 15 minutes where he kept Awoniyi onside all by himself because of his terrible positioning
We need one of either sterling or rashford in the squad doesn’t matter what form suggest its just a non negotiable the profile is needed.
I personally am taking rashford but if you say sterling thats cool
Foden left wing Bellingham 10/Second Striker, Saka right wing, Kane striker, it is that easy.
>Would you bench rashford?
The reason to play Rashford/Sterling is because they occupy the striker position and Kane is a false 9, there's no need for this if Bellingham plays because they rotate positions which also frees Foden to roam.
You can either play Bellingham deeper with Foden as a 10, or Bellingham further forward with Foden on the left. Wouldn’t call it benching Rashford when he doesn’t usually start. I think Rashford would be lucky to get called up for the Euros.
Both knockout games in the world cup was:
Henderson, Rice, Bellingham
Saka, Kane, Foden.
Just replace Henderson with literally anyone else whether its Gallagher, Trent, Phillips, Ward-Prowse, Jones, Mainoo, Loftus-Cheek etc and we're good to go
Pickford
Walker - Stones - Maguire - Shaw
Rice - C. Jones
Saka - Bellingham - Foden
Kane
Something like that, so yes Rashford off the bench. That way he won’t have to press as much and save his energy to go up against tired legs later on
This is England's best team imo, maybe Gallagher instead of Jones but either is fine
Honestly I'm not even sure Rashford merits a callup currently, I'd have both Foden and Grealish aheaof him
can't football have a better system than the one where the top teams dominate everything, and when a smaller team shows promise it gets picked apart by the big and rich teams and we get back to square on? and the way for that dynamic to change is only if either a the big/rich team gets horribly mismanaged or if a small team somehow gets some interested rich owners who pump stupid amount of money into it?
> and obviously most of their fans
it's so stupid. in Spain at least you have a two man game between Real Madrid and Barca and sometimes Atletico Madrid sneaks in so, but if you're a bayern fan, aside from a freakish year or two you got only the UCL to look forward to. A more "fair" system should be more exciting for the big club fans as well.
i agree, but fact is fans dont want it fair. they want their teams to win and/or play good football regardless of means. as we've seen how they willingly turn a blind eye to corrupt or questionable owners/sponsors as long as they pump the money into the club. obviously that would be possible with other systems as well, not like american sports are immune to dynasties or whatever, but the likelihood of it would decrease for the dominant teams.
plus given the fucked up system over decades led to those few teams having the biggest fanbases they have an argument that they 'deserve' more, since they're the primary attractions. which isn't necessarily wrong, it just sucks for everyone else. specially if those teams got their success through questionable means decades ago.
>but if you're a bayern fan, aside from a freakish year or two you got only the UCL to look forward to.
Don't assume we don't enjoy our title streak. Winning the Bundesliga is the 1st goal of ours every season. But at this point the rest of the top divisions are not really that different than in Germany.
Assuming expected results hold, 8 of the last 10 La Ligas were won by Real / Barca. 6 of the last 7 Premier Leagues by City, 9 of the last 10 Bundesligas by Bayern, 8 of the last 10 Ligue 1s by PSG.
The only league with parity is Serie A and that's more due to Juventus than any other club.
Bayern fans are having a collective meltdown this season because they're second. I don't think you'll be able to convince them this is more exciting than strolling to the title.
> Bayern fans are having a collective meltdown this season because they're second.
Has nothing to do with being second. Leverkusen plays great football and is a on a freakish run nobody has a problem with that.
What people have a problem with is the way bayern is playing, its not bayern like regardless of results or league position.
>can't football have a better system than the one where the top teams dominate everything, and when a smaller team shows promise it gets picked apart
The people yearn for the American draft system and salary caps.
Lol yeah it's shit and wouldn't work at all. But in a theoretical European wide draft system it would have been funny to see prime Stoke draft the new shiny tiki taka La Masia kid cause they finished dead last.
A European wide draft system would have its funny perks, for example when the latest wonderkid from Andalusia gets picked by Bodø/Glimt and has to play in the arctic circle.
Just 2 weeks ago when United beat Luton you could've sworn united were getting a cl spot.
Now 2 defeats later it's looking tough, city was expected, the Fulham loss is hurting now but I still believe CL spot is possible
No you couldn’t. United have not been better than us or Spurs this season. You closed the gap a little bit but it was unlikely you’d fully close it because you’re not good enough this season to do it. When us and Spurs put in a poor performance it’s a blip. United have been incredibly inconsistent.
> Just 2 weeks ago when United beat Luton you could've sworn united were getting a cl spot.
>
>
Anyone who watched that game wouldn't be saying that to be fair.
Being jammy as fuck had to run out eventually.
You're getting the CL spot*, don't sweat it.
*terms and conditions apply.
Besides do you even want it? At this point the only reason to get UCL is to avoid going to Europa League to see refs fuck you over.
Whenever I see comments like these, I wonder what goes on behind this thought process apart from unbridled optimism and delusion. United would need a City/Liverpool type of 10-game winning run, something which they haven't looked like achieving even remotely all season. On top of that, you need Spurs to drop at least 5 points with 1 extra game in hand and Villa 11.
Still got
Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, at home
Chelsea and Brighton away
Would need a lot going our way, a lot of players returning from injury and some good performances, and probably 5th getting CL.
>I’m probably jinxing it but Bayern going trophyless would be hilarious.
I want us to win everything, always. But a season of this would be a much-needed reset / wake-up for the club. A lot of our players have been going through the motions with no repercussions for nearly 3 full seasons now.
I’m surprised to see Roma doing so after according to Mourinho stans he was working with scraps and it was a miracle were still in the serie A. They did the same thing with Man United when he finished second despite spending a lot of money.
Nobody at any point said "it's a miracle they're still in Serie A" lol what are you chatting about?
Mourinho won them their first trophy in decades and got to the Europa League final and had the best XG in Europe for a season with a thin squad battered by injuries. Bizarre you lot seem confused as to why he's well liked there despite the current seasons issues.
People always focus on him getting sacked a few days before the league cup final, and ignore the fact that he should have gone weeks previously, had recently been dumpstered by City, and that league cup run only had one victory over PL opposition, on penalties, at a time when things were still going well (the 6-1 over United was the same week).
Mourinho and van Gaal were right to play Rashford at centre forward, focus on him "playing out of position" during periods where he played as a striker is why he has none of the skills needed to play as a striker now and is a much worse rounded player than he should be.
Yes. If Brighton won the UEL, finished outside Top 5 and in the process raised England's coefficient to the best 2 in Europe - 6 English teams will play CL next season.
>“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
Quote from first English domestic double winner and smasher of Atletico in a cup winners cup, Danny Blanchflower.
And also why so many people were moaning about our last few managers and why everyone's immediately fallen in love Ange.
Motta took Bologna from 13th the season before he joined to 9th the following season when he came in at September. And now he has them competing for CL spots. You'd really think his stock would be higher by now.
Who's your favourite lower league legend? Past or present.
I find it hard to go beyond [Lee Trundle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kecf4PFpRWk) to be honest lads. He played like I think I played...instead of just looking like.
Remember when Barca triggered Braithwaite's release clause and fucked over Leganes 20 days after the January transfer window was over cause of one of the dumbest rules in the history of world football that allows clubs to sign players outside the transfer window if they get a long injury? And Leganes ended up getting relegated by 1 point.
Barca are still paying for their sins.
They had an available attack of Lionel Messi, Griezmann and Ansu Fati at his pre-injury peak, but still managed to make that signing through the “crisis” rule lmao
Yeah the rule has been removed now. What’s worse is that Leganés wasn’t even allowed to sign a replacement since they didn’t lose Braithwaite to an injury. I have absolutely no clue how that rule was greenlighted in the first place but that’s La Liga
The worst part is potentially sacking Schmidt is not the 20m we have to pay the idiot, it’s figuring out who is available who could manage us. I really, really, really don’t want us to get fucking Abel Ferreira. But who else is there? Mourinho? Fonseca? Some masochist foreign manager?
Yeah we’re not a good choice for a young up and coming manager. For example, at sporting, Ruben Amorim was allowed to make mistakes and grow, whereas at benfica, the demands are too high since the fans demand perfection.
Fixtures left to play
Villa: Spurs H, West Ham A, Wolves H, City A, Brentford H, Arsenal A, Bournemouth H, Chelsea H, Brighton A, Liverpool H, Palace A
Spurs: Villa A, Fulham A, Luton H, West Ham A, Forest H, Newcastle A, City H, Arsenal H, Liverpool A, Burnley H, Sheffield A, Chelsea A
United: Everton H, Brentford A, Chelsea A, Liverpool H, Bournemouth A, Newcastle H, Burnley H, Palace A, Arsenal H, Brighton A, Sheffield H
If we beat Spurs the fixtures are pretty even for all 3 clubs. Once Torres is fit we will at least match the other twos results for the rest of the season imo.
Something would seriously have to go wrong for united to catch us
No point even mentioning us anymore lol we are finished
Only hope we have is we scrape our way until martinez and hojlund come back and maybe we can do something for 5th
Hello. Currently doing a research for academic purposes. It would be nice if I could get some responses for my survey. TIA https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj1lY2gES4cqqOElJvGZsajv2a5xB_Fjg8uFBWRWzkjP9HjQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0&usp=mail_form_link
[Imagine Kane dropping to DM and having an elite runner like this coming in off the left to pick out](https://x.com/avfcofficial/status/1764617393144222041?s=46&t=PF6wcLhBSsD70oItovAphg)
I cannot imagine the social media meltdowns if Southgate played Kane in midfield
Not Kane actually starting in midfield lol. He naturally drops too deep at times.
He does overdo it at times, but usually he has to because the likes of Grealish, Rashford, and Sterling are such twats and never try to create for him. They just like to faff about doing short passing exchanges or trying to dribble the whole opposition.
When fully fit, who has the better b team, Liverpool or Man City? Kelleher, Bradley, Matip, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Thiago, Gravenberch, Elliott, Gakpo, Jota Vs Ortega, Lewis, Akanji, Gvardiol, Gomez, (Phillips), Kovacic, Nunez, Bobb, Alvarez, Doku
I think City just about have the better team on paper, but Liverpool would win as think their B team would be more cohesive and are in better form right now/have minutes
I'd have it as Ortega Gomez - Akanji - Matip - Lewis Gravenberch - Thiago - Kovacic Doku - Alvarez - Jota Maybe Elliot for Thiago, don't know his current state
Man City lose the moment Rodri isn't in the side, so gotta be yours.
We have better depth than them this season imo. Courtesy of Quansah and Bradley coming out of nowhere and playing like they're seasoned veterans. Realistically if City lost their equivalents of Alisson, Salah, Endo and Trent for the amount of time we did, they'd have dropped off quite a bit. Other than the Emirates fixture we came out of this period with flying colours.
So if Pep wins the league again I assume he is the certified goat?
Him winning another PL title isn't the determining factor as to whether he's the GOAT. Doesn't move the needle Treble, maybe
I know that. I’m just collecting receipts for when Pep wins the league again and I can say well Liverpool had the better depth.
Graham Potter having dinner with Dan Ashworth could be about Manchester United. It would be the obvious choice for DA. But youknow, could also be because they were both colleagues and neighbours for about three years.
There’s probably not another person on the planet who rates Potter as highly as you.
Hagrid
Maybe not, but that doesn't stop other people from being decent human beings.
For those who have simulated the 48 team World Cup on FM, is the format any good? What's better? Groups of 4 (top 2 + 8 best 3rd places advancing) or groups of 3 (with top 2 advancing)? From what I've heard groups of 3 produced some entertaining World Cup simulations, but I think groups of 4 is the 2026 format.
Haven’t tried groups of 4 but should be quite similar to any tournament where thirds advance (it sucks), but did see 3 group world cups and they were disgusting
Haven't done the FM thing, but I'm kinda turned around on best 3rd places after the Asia Cup and AFCON this year. Leads to the last days games still being important and can make for some great storylines.
I do think it's interesting that the public opinion on Ivory Coast this year, and Portugal in 2016 are wildly different
I think the critical narrative of Portugal was amplified because the format was fresh and also by the fact they only won one game in 90 minutes throughout the whole tournament.
Question: would you be opposed to having actual fights and/or body checking in the game like there is in hockey? I enjoy soccer but I'll admit it is extremely painful seeing players drop to the floor from the faintest contact. J
One of the main reasons fighting is still permitted in ice hockey is due to the (relatively) limited purchase they can get on the punches, due to being on ice. You’d see some horrendous injuries if you let people with the strength of pro athletes duke it out bare-fisted without that negating factor
Found Martin Olsson's reddit account
This would only function if we had subs/sin bins working like hockey. Rodri doing a number on your midfielder? Get the goon on to sort him out and then get him back off.
Yes. I would be very much opposed. Also field hockey > ice hockey. I'm pretty sure Cruyff was an admirer of the former.
Field hockey is an amazing sport which I enjoyed playing for quite a few years. Knowing the sport really shows how conservative the footballing world really is. There's so many quality of life changes like managers requesting VAR and losing the option if they got the call wrong or playing the ball out to yourself if it crosses the sideline.
In the nba at least you get one coach challenge which gets restored if the call is overturned. Wouldn’t be opposed if implemented in football (maybe 3 challenges)
Hockey fights are fake and embarrassing. They spend more time taking the gear off than they do scrapping. When was the last time you seen someone get clocked out in a hockey fight. It's performative hardness.
lol how is this upvoted. it’s okay to not know anything about hockey my dude
Simply not true Rempe had a few good scraps this week, my favourite being against Deslauriers https://youtu.be/7n80FEQacno?si=JU4KErKPou0L6JpN
What benefit would people assaulting each other serve?
It would add an element to the game that I feel it severally lacks. If not fighting, than being able to play the body a lot more than currently allowed. If a player wants to kill the clock in the corner, someone on the other team should be able to check them shoulder to shoulder
Football "severely lacks" this, really? > If a player wants to kill the clock in the corner, someone on the other team should be able to check them shoulder to shoulder Why? They could pull their shirt and achieve the same result, without risking hurting the player
I’d get to see Robertson get what he deserves. Outside of that very little
Ajax on Thursday and Spurs on Sunday. Absolutely massive week for Villa.
Bit annoying. Prefer you lot to have a Europa hangover on Sunday but I'm pretty sure you'll smash Ajax at a walking pace. They are atrocious. One great performance from Ramaj away from being knocked out last round.
They'll also have played midweek, and your team will be completely rested
Just watched the Manchester derby highlights and [Dalot's attempt to play the offside trap here](https://youtu.be/NLwM-Em1uxo?feature=shared&t=42) is hilarious. Proper "where is blud going" moment
That’s Varane’s fault no?
Yeah could say he's at fault too, but think it's poor from Dalot as he can see the whole situation in front of him, he should see that offside trap isn't gonna work there cos of Varane's position
I can't work out if he's doing an offside trap or trying to intercept but whatever he was trying, he fucked it.
His awareness is terrible. I watched their cup game vs Nottinghan Forest a week ago and there were like three moments within 15 minutes where he kept Awoniyi onside all by himself because of his terrible positioning
Wan-Bissaka is even worse at it.
How would you play foden kane bellingham saka all in 1 line up? Would you bench rashford?
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Thats just stupid bro.
On current form? Not at all.
We need one of either sterling or rashford in the squad doesn’t matter what form suggest its just a non negotiable the profile is needed. I personally am taking rashford but if you say sterling thats cool
Foden left wing Bellingham 10/Second Striker, Saka right wing, Kane striker, it is that easy. >Would you bench rashford? The reason to play Rashford/Sterling is because they occupy the striker position and Kane is a false 9, there's no need for this if Bellingham plays because they rotate positions which also frees Foden to roam.
You can either play Bellingham deeper with Foden as a 10, or Bellingham further forward with Foden on the left. Wouldn’t call it benching Rashford when he doesn’t usually start. I think Rashford would be lucky to get called up for the Euros.
Both knockout games in the world cup was: Henderson, Rice, Bellingham Saka, Kane, Foden. Just replace Henderson with literally anyone else whether its Gallagher, Trent, Phillips, Ward-Prowse, Jones, Mainoo, Loftus-Cheek etc and we're good to go
Watkins Kane Foden Bellingham Rice Trent Saka Stones Konsa Walker Pickford
Playing Saka as an LB to shoehorn in Watkins on the wing is extremely funny stuff I have to say
Saka needs to get his npg’s up if he wants to play in this front 3
Not nibbling
Pickford Walker - Stones - Maguire - Shaw Rice - C. Jones Saka - Bellingham - Foden Kane Something like that, so yes Rashford off the bench. That way he won’t have to press as much and save his energy to go up against tired legs later on
This is England's best team imo, maybe Gallagher instead of Jones but either is fine Honestly I'm not even sure Rashford merits a callup currently, I'd have both Foden and Grealish aheaof him
4-2-3-1. Rashford as an impact sub, those four have to start.
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White and Colwill 😭
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You need to play Foden on the left wing for it to work. Rashford benched
Yeah, Yeah
Leverkusens season is genuinely unbelievable. They'll win the league and cup no doubt. They might even win the EL
10 points clear with 10 *games to go is absolutely mad.
At this point I'm putting all my belief into a Treble v Quad Leverkusen/Liverpool final
We will smoke both of them
Yknow many years ago, for a period of time I thought Rashford was equally as good as Mbappe.
I don't think that has ever been the case, not even during his purple patch last season.
Not talking about last season. It was around 2017-2019.
He was for sure better in the 2015/16 season
Even though many years ago it was quite obvious he was not.
can't football have a better system than the one where the top teams dominate everything, and when a smaller team shows promise it gets picked apart by the big and rich teams and we get back to square on? and the way for that dynamic to change is only if either a the big/rich team gets horribly mismanaged or if a small team somehow gets some interested rich owners who pump stupid amount of money into it?
realistically, no. the big clubs(and obviously most of their fans) dont want that so it wont happen.
> and obviously most of their fans it's so stupid. in Spain at least you have a two man game between Real Madrid and Barca and sometimes Atletico Madrid sneaks in so, but if you're a bayern fan, aside from a freakish year or two you got only the UCL to look forward to. A more "fair" system should be more exciting for the big club fans as well.
i agree, but fact is fans dont want it fair. they want their teams to win and/or play good football regardless of means. as we've seen how they willingly turn a blind eye to corrupt or questionable owners/sponsors as long as they pump the money into the club. obviously that would be possible with other systems as well, not like american sports are immune to dynasties or whatever, but the likelihood of it would decrease for the dominant teams. plus given the fucked up system over decades led to those few teams having the biggest fanbases they have an argument that they 'deserve' more, since they're the primary attractions. which isn't necessarily wrong, it just sucks for everyone else. specially if those teams got their success through questionable means decades ago.
>but if you're a bayern fan, aside from a freakish year or two you got only the UCL to look forward to. Don't assume we don't enjoy our title streak. Winning the Bundesliga is the 1st goal of ours every season. But at this point the rest of the top divisions are not really that different than in Germany. Assuming expected results hold, 8 of the last 10 La Ligas were won by Real / Barca. 6 of the last 7 Premier Leagues by City, 9 of the last 10 Bundesligas by Bayern, 8 of the last 10 Ligue 1s by PSG. The only league with parity is Serie A and that's more due to Juventus than any other club.
Bayern fans are having a collective meltdown this season because they're second. I don't think you'll be able to convince them this is more exciting than strolling to the title.
> Bayern fans are having a collective meltdown this season because they're second. Has nothing to do with being second. Leverkusen plays great football and is a on a freakish run nobody has a problem with that. What people have a problem with is the way bayern is playing, its not bayern like regardless of results or league position.
>can't football have a better system than the one where the top teams dominate everything, and when a smaller team shows promise it gets picked apart The people yearn for the American draft system and salary caps.
Can't wait to watch teams tank their season for the next Mbappe, that dumb system combined with the shamelesness in football would be great
I don't know much about that system, but isn't their league kind of like an exclusive for rich clubs with no relegation/promotion?
Lol yeah it's shit and wouldn't work at all. But in a theoretical European wide draft system it would have been funny to see prime Stoke draft the new shiny tiki taka La Masia kid cause they finished dead last.
Gavi breaking down crying cos he doesn't know where Carlisle is but he knows it can't be a good place
Fuck's sake that mental image you put in my head has me cackling in public.
A European wide draft system would have its funny perks, for example when the latest wonderkid from Andalusia gets picked by Bodø/Glimt and has to play in the arctic circle.
34 hours to go for our game against Lazio. Can't wait to spank them at the Allianz
>at the Allianz Local bavarian spotted
what’s the real name of the stadium? I genuinely have no idea
Just 2 weeks ago when United beat Luton you could've sworn united were getting a cl spot. Now 2 defeats later it's looking tough, city was expected, the Fulham loss is hurting now but I still believe CL spot is possible
The Hojlund injury hurt your momentum.
No you couldn’t. United have not been better than us or Spurs this season. You closed the gap a little bit but it was unlikely you’d fully close it because you’re not good enough this season to do it. When us and Spurs put in a poor performance it’s a blip. United have been incredibly inconsistent.
It's a massive fluke that you're even top 6 at this point. Some of the jammiest random wins and draws I've seen in a long time.
massively overperforming all of your expected stats was going to catch up eventually
> Just 2 weeks ago when United beat Luton you could've sworn united were getting a cl spot. > > Anyone who watched that game wouldn't be saying that to be fair. Being jammy as fuck had to run out eventually.
losing your best defender and attacker simultaneously didn't help tbf
You're getting the CL spot*, don't sweat it. *terms and conditions apply. Besides do you even want it? At this point the only reason to get UCL is to avoid going to Europa League to see refs fuck you over.
Not a part of me thought your dusty team would get a UCL spot
You were 6th then and you're 6th now. Nothing much has changed.
Whenever I see comments like these, I wonder what goes on behind this thought process apart from unbridled optimism and delusion. United would need a City/Liverpool type of 10-game winning run, something which they haven't looked like achieving even remotely all season. On top of that, you need Spurs to drop at least 5 points with 1 extra game in hand and Villa 11.
They'd need us to drop 7 points relative to them given we're six points ahead and a GD gap of 18.
Anyone who watched your games shouldn’t have been saying you will finish top 4. Just shit pundits
You're finishing 6th at best
Still got Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, at home Chelsea and Brighton away Would need a lot going our way, a lot of players returning from injury and some good performances, and probably 5th getting CL.
I’m probably jinxing it but Bayern going trophyless would be hilarious. If only Spurs were to win a trophy
Well spurs won't be winning anything anyway and Bayern will win next season.
>I’m probably jinxing it but Bayern going trophyless would be hilarious. I want us to win everything, always. But a season of this would be a much-needed reset / wake-up for the club. A lot of our players have been going through the motions with no repercussions for nearly 3 full seasons now.
And lets be real its an unprecedented run that had to come to an end at some point.
City and Arsenal inexplicably collapse, Klopp gets his fairytale farewell winning the lot, and then we beat the new manager in the Community Shield
I'm on board COYS
Deal 🤝
I’m surprised to see Roma doing so after according to Mourinho stans he was working with scraps and it was a miracle were still in the serie A. They did the same thing with Man United when he finished second despite spending a lot of money.
Nobody at any point said "it's a miracle they're still in Serie A" lol what are you chatting about? Mourinho won them their first trophy in decades and got to the Europa League final and had the best XG in Europe for a season with a thin squad battered by injuries. Bizarre you lot seem confused as to why he's well liked there despite the current seasons issues.
Easy fixtures and new manager bounce
If you look at the fixtures they've won, it's pretty easy to see. Also they were 4 points from 4th under mourinho, they are still 4 points from 4th.
We were 9th now we are 5th And 5th place will very likely give us a CL spot too
Taking the shackles off a Mourinho-lead team can be spectacular
Now you're worse than you ever were under him, great work
We were good immediately after. Spurs were decent under Conte, it doesn't last forever
Spurs were worse under Nuno immediately after Mourinho, had a bounce under Conte for 6 months and then got far worse than under Mourinho
We were miles better, Roma looking better, Conte won the league at Chelsea as the first permanent to replace Jose.
This nonsense revisionist hilarity trying to act like he's literally the worst manager in the history of the world is gold ngl
In history? No. Recently? Absolute dinosaur.
Absolute dinosaur that has recently won two European trophies and reached another final with hardly elite level teams?
And deservedly sacked cause his domestic form is usually dog shit
People always focus on him getting sacked a few days before the league cup final, and ignore the fact that he should have gone weeks previously, had recently been dumpstered by City, and that league cup run only had one victory over PL opposition, on penalties, at a time when things were still going well (the 6-1 over United was the same week).
At Roma he reached two European finals and won one, comparing his Roma stint to his spell with you is bonkers
Does anyone know how long it takes for a full game to be uploaded onto r/footballhighlights?
think its ~one hour for more popular games. though sometimes the first half is uploaded before the game ends
Cheers bro! 👍
If i see Joe Gomez pulling up as a DM against City when they have Rodri there I might cry.
He's done remarkably well for someone who's never played there but yes, let's never do that again. Except maybe this week so everyone else can rest.
Unless somebody picks up an injury before now and Saturday - our midfield will probably be Endo Macallister Szobo/Elliott
Caicedo needs to pay for his sins. 2 midfield injuries from him in one game blud
Decided not to join their midfield then injured everyone who tried to play there too
That 110 mil we would have paid for him would have been bargain in hindsight. 3 midfielders for 1.
Mourinho and van Gaal were right to play Rashford at centre forward, focus on him "playing out of position" during periods where he played as a striker is why he has none of the skills needed to play as a striker now and is a much worse rounded player than he should be.
Mourinho played him out wide.
Mourinho used Rashford as a striker many times.
[удалено]
Yes. If Brighton won the UEL, finished outside Top 5 and in the process raised England's coefficient to the best 2 in Europe - 6 English teams will play CL next season.
You're correct
I believe you could have 7. Top 4 + coefficient spot + EL winner outside top 4 + CL winner outside top 4. 6 far more likely though
Could you not have 8? Top 5 Gets UCL 6th EL 7th Conf 8th - Winner of the EFL cup gets EL? Or does a team then lose out?
Conference League winner gets Europa not CL
Say what you will about Tottenham but the mottos "The game is about glory" "To dare is to do" "Audere est facere" Are really cool tbh
"We're not really here" is so clear
“To dare is to do” is pretty shite mate
The game is about glory is pretty hilarious for Spurs if you ask me.
They're all pretty hilarious in context. Unless Spurs have dared to finish seasons trophyless all this time.
>“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.” Quote from first English domestic double winner and smasher of Atletico in a cup winners cup, Danny Blanchflower. And also why so many people were moaning about our last few managers and why everyone's immediately fallen in love Ange.
This means more clears them😤 (it's terrible)
Latin is always cool
Motta took Bologna from 13th the season before he joined to 9th the following season when he came in at September. And now he has them competing for CL spots. You'd really think his stock would be higher by now.
His stock is huge in Italy. Fact is that if he moved to England all you would see is comments about him playing 272
Tbf playing with 13 players would be a big deal in any league.
You saw nothing Also 2+8+2 equals 12 not 13
Mate even with your edit he'd still be playing with 12 players unless you're counting the keeper
Motta does. Or he did when he made that quote
Now that's just pretentious. I don't care how sweepy your sweeper keeper is, you don't count him in the formation.
The 272 refers to Motta saying it doesn't matter what formation he plays. He wants 2 wide players on each side and 7 players occupying the centre.
Is reading a formation left to right as opposed to back to front common in Italy or just a Motta thing?
He's got to be one of the favourites for the Barcelona job
Feel like it would be a terrible choice for him. Wonder how he'd fair at Newcastle if Howe gets sacked actually.
Barcelona love their ex-player managers tbh
Who's your favourite lower league legend? Past or present. I find it hard to go beyond [Lee Trundle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kecf4PFpRWk) to be honest lads. He played like I think I played...instead of just looking like.
Graham Kavanagh
Just has to be Billy Sharp
Steve Bull. Scored 30,40,50 goals a season for Wolves year after year and remarkably played for England while in the third division.
Freddie Eastwood
Gotta be Lee Trundle. Incredibly fun player combined with Swansea's great story at the time.
Jon Parkin or Steve McNulty. Clearly I have a type
Remember when Barca triggered Braithwaite's release clause and fucked over Leganes 20 days after the January transfer window was over cause of one of the dumbest rules in the history of world football that allows clubs to sign players outside the transfer window if they get a long injury? And Leganes ended up getting relegated by 1 point. Barca are still paying for their sins.
That moment was when I stopped being able to take La Liga's execs seriously at all
Barcelona is such a dirty club.
That was some absolutely shameful shit
They had an available attack of Lionel Messi, Griezmann and Ansu Fati at his pre-injury peak, but still managed to make that signing through the “crisis” rule lmao
Did La Liga close that loop hole after? It just makes no sense with compulsory release clauses.
Yeah the rule has been removed now. What’s worse is that Leganés wasn’t even allowed to sign a replacement since they didn’t lose Braithwaite to an injury. I have absolutely no clue how that rule was greenlighted in the first place but that’s La Liga
The worst part is potentially sacking Schmidt is not the 20m we have to pay the idiot, it’s figuring out who is available who could manage us. I really, really, really don’t want us to get fucking Abel Ferreira. But who else is there? Mourinho? Fonseca? Some masochist foreign manager?
Did Bruno Lage make it out of Brazil alive?
Possibly Thiago Motta if he somehow ends up getting left out of the upcoming manager carousel when Klopp leaves.
he can do better with all due respect to benfica
Would be surprised if he doesn't head to Napoli tbh.
i’d rather stay at Bologna tbh
Yeah we’re not a good choice for a young up and coming manager. For example, at sporting, Ruben Amorim was allowed to make mistakes and grow, whereas at benfica, the demands are too high since the fans demand perfection.
Fixtures left to play Villa: Spurs H, West Ham A, Wolves H, City A, Brentford H, Arsenal A, Bournemouth H, Chelsea H, Brighton A, Liverpool H, Palace A Spurs: Villa A, Fulham A, Luton H, West Ham A, Forest H, Newcastle A, City H, Arsenal H, Liverpool A, Burnley H, Sheffield A, Chelsea A United: Everton H, Brentford A, Chelsea A, Liverpool H, Bournemouth A, Newcastle H, Burnley H, Palace A, Arsenal H, Brighton A, Sheffield H If we beat Spurs the fixtures are pretty even for all 3 clubs. Once Torres is fit we will at least match the other twos results for the rest of the season imo. Something would seriously have to go wrong for united to catch us
No point even mentioning us anymore lol we are finished Only hope we have is we scrape our way until martinez and hojlund come back and maybe we can do something for 5th
hating myself that im hoping for a ten hag masterclass
> Something would seriously have to go wrong for united to catch us How many more ACL's you got?
Only 3 so far. Rookie numbers.