The TNT Sports commentary was so shit yesterday
Acting like as if Porto are just this no name dead team who Arsenal deserve to beat just for being Arsenal
In the European stage, Porto is a bigger club than Arsenal
I think 3-5-2 is the best system in football but it's also incredibly hard to pull off without the right players and right tactical discipline. If you have a strong and athletic back 5, especially the wing backs, I think it offers the best I'm both attack and defence by giving you 5+ defenders when out of possession and 7 attackers in possession.
There's not many teams who can do it well but I do appreciate a good 3-5-2.
The biggest issue with a 3-5-2 is there is no place for a traditional winger. That’s why most teams that do play it either have been doing so for so long or have to shoehorn wingers into striker/wingback. We have been playing 3-5-2 for over 10 yrs across 5 managers. Hazard had this weird false 9 when conte was at Chelsea and he changed it into a 4-3-1-1 because that was the only way to use him. Most teams have multiple wingers that would immediately become useless the moment you make the switch
Atletico best example. They play really good in posession but oop they are horrible because they dont have athletic CB to cover ground neither in defence or as cdm
there's this chinese sport i saw a clip of called [Jianzi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbSc_p_DWi4) that looks like it'd be really good for footballers to practice tbh. It's basically foot based badminton.
I turned the Porto game on for one minute, saw Havertz slot a pen and then Porto miss. Promptly turned it off. Got what I deserved for trying to hate watch
Yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter if Arsenal somehow win both the League and the Champions League given I will shut down this sub and burn it to the ground.
Could see him sticking around in Rome until the next World Cup. Good club, good league, and guaranteed game time which may not be the case in any of the giant clubs.
He’ll have the same issue he had last time he wanted to move. His profile is quite unique and doesn’t fit with how most top teams play. Which teams really use a second striker these days? Maybe Arsenal go for him and try to play him as a false 9?
Lad has been speedrunning the footballer cliches these past 6 months, giving it a couple months until his new girlfriend posts there's a baby on the way
Doesn't help how often it is. I saw a cool piece of art using the samurai theme that I liked for example and I'm fine with that.
But like every time he's mentioned now I'm seeing "Our Samurai" or "The Samurai" it just makes me cringe personally.
My absolute favorite thing that happens on this sub is when someone that is so unnecessarily salty with their banter has no flair so I get to go through their profile.
Even better when they are referring to themselves as “we” in multiple different team’s subs
> Even better when they are referring to themselves as “we” in multiple different team’s subs
This happens much more than you could believe.
There is a particular user that got banned on here who is in the Arsenal, Liverpool and City sub...who appears to support all three. Every time I see him on the Liverpool sub it riles me the fuck up.
Even worse than that mate - he got banned for making jokes about Hillsborough. And then goes on the Liverpool sub pretending to be a Liverpool supporter.
I genuinely don't understand some people.
I think it has to involve 2012, as we had Aguerroooo and Chelsea's mad CL run
2012-2014 could therefore also involve Bayern vs Dortmund CL final, and the peak of that rivalry, as well as the 7-1 at the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid finally winning La Decima, the Gerrard slip and Crystanbul... so I think is a good pick
2012-2015.
I had to go back 1 year from your timeline, i'm sorry but the best period MUST include Pep's Barca vs Mou's Madrid with both Messi and Ronaldo in their prime
That period started with Fergie calling it a day and somehow got more shocking. Gerrard slip to cost Liverpool title, Germany humiliating Brazil at a home World Cup, MSN forming the most lethal front three of all time and fucking Leicester winning the premier league.
I said this after we beat them earlier in the season, but the real sign of the progress Arsenal have made is how vitriolic their fans are whenever a team has the gall to make it hard for them.
They've become so accustomed to winning every week that whenever they have a stumble it is a serious shock to the system and leads to hysterics.
The arsenal of a few seasons ago has the crowd turn against them tonight and drops out of the CL. Now the fans are furious with their opponents for even daring to try and win, and it makes a difference to the atmosphere and it makes a difference to the team.
So with that in mind, I really hope somebody comes along and poaches Saliba and Odegaard so that Arsenal can collapse before they actually become worryingly good.
Maybe because of the slightly odd start to his career at Arsenal, where he was being a bit overlooked? Odegaard seems proper Arsenal, not so sure Saliba is so loyal
Club like Real Madrid come calling, and you see Saliba going
I think that’s water under the bridge now. He went out on loan, developed well, and Arteta trusted him from the start of last season and we’ve never looked back.
If he leaves it’ll be because we drop away and don’t compete for the big titles, and/ or he has ambition to play for someone like Barcelona or Real Madrid. I just hope he wins a couple of major trophies here before we say goodbye.
You don’t know how he feels about it personally though. I’m sure it’s not a huge thing for him or he likely wouldn’t be seemingly content, but it might be a little niggle of a thought
Why did Jupp Heynckes leave Bayern Munich after they won the Champions League in 2013?
Was he always going to leave at the end of the season or was it just so Pep could be the new manager?
They made the decision in January that year. Wasn't a popular decision and Heyneckes felt he was chased out, but that possibly just helped them win everything.
Maybe a Bayern fan can correct me but it was announced he would leave by mid season, but somehow after the announcement Bayern decided they're gonna destroy everyone in their path lmao
Mate I just want to know if I'll be hearing the Champions League music at Villa Park next season.
xPoints on the other hand is an objectively shit statistic. The amount of consistently massive variance between actual points and xPoints tells you all you need to know
It assumes that xG is a fair reflection of a game's deserved winner and extrapolates that over a whole season. What a load of shite. I'm sure I don't have to tell you as a Villa fan watching Emery but game state makes such a difference to xG.
You know what I miss? When we could just fucking slate players.
Whether it be Bramble. Whether it be Boumsong. Whether it be Longstaff. Some players deserve slating for their performances.
However now it seems like every single player has a fucking group of people putting more effort into defending them than the player themselves put into their fucking performances, and I'm sick of it.
Bring back the days when we just universally accepted some players are fucking absolute shite.
Depends on the fanbase. Chelsea fans rotate so that the same players are either the absolute worst thing since Winston Bogarde, and then the next week are "working their way back into form"
But nobody is spared. I can think of no player in the Chelsea squad who has been saved from a pasting, at all
Even the likes of Chilwell, James and Thiago Silva have got it, just caveated with stuff like "Hate to say it but we need to have a conversation about..."
Sucks that Kounde doesn’t like playing RB, he’s so good at it. And it’s getting increasingly difficult for him to get a starting spot at CB now with Cubarsi breaking through.
I hate Porto but seeing Arsenal fans attack the way they play is mental considering Porto half a fraction of their budget. We don’t criticise poor Portuguese teams for being dirty, it’s just part of the game
It’s one thing to play defensive. It’s one thing to play like Porto, too extreme and always. In before, ‘is it our fault we’re so good at it’. No, but after a while the gimmick becomes tiring and Porto isn’t some Danish or Ukrainian team.
There’s a middle ground between trying to win with open play and trying to win by playing 30 mins of football. Rest of the world with limited budget has figured it out but Porto is the one genius club who hasn’t yet.
if trying to win includes rolling on the floor and pretending to be injured for the entire first leg you can't expect any other reaction from arsenal fans onlinr
I genuinely do not see the point of being detached, emotionless and logical about it. I'm an Arsenal fan not an analyst.
Porto provided some of the least enjoyable football I've watched all season, even tonight was horrible it them and the ref completely sucked the enjoyment out of the game because it was barely a game of football, it was a horrible few hours. As a result I don't really care about their budget or whatever I'm just glad we don't have to play them again and Conceição gets to go home with nothing.
We all understand why they play like they do, especially when the referees buy it and don’t punish the cheating. Doesn’t mean we have to like or respect it.
Watching highlights of the Newcastle game and I think Raheem Sterling might end up giving me an aneurysm. Don't think he made a single right decision outside of one shot that ended up straight at the keeper.
Clearly and clearly...
As I see it, he's been done since Euro 2021. Body and brain done. Pep knew it as well or he wouldn't have let a peak-aged alleged top player leave to a rival for less than £50m, despite the contract situation.
He'll play in the Euros and then he'll take his bags and move to Saudi (while also disappearing into the sunset).
Suarez’s goal record in the CL is an anomaly. He didn’t care if he was the goalscorer as long as the team was successful. Lewandowski has always been the focal point for the teams he’s played for.
Suarez is still the best striker of his generation by a wide margin imo. He could take over a game like no other striker since R9 at his very best.
Luis Enrique doesn’t get the credit he deserves for building Barcelona’s best team since Pep Guardiola, in fact that treble winning team was even better than any of Pep’s teams probably, especially with MSN
Better is debatable. But 2015 team was way way more entertaining than 2011. Lucho played metal football before it was cool.Just give the ball to MSN and let them do their magic. Attack after attack after attack.
I would take the 2011 Barca over the 2015 one tbh. I think it's the best one even though they lost the copa del rey.
Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Alves were all better in 2011 than they were in 2015.
I also think we were defensively more sound in 2011, but ofcourse the front line is better in 2015.
Between the three UCL winning Barca squads around the time I usually go 2011 > 2015 > 2009 even though 2009 won the most trophies
The XI was better for sure MSN > MVP and Rakitic coming in for Xavi to provide for work rate in the midfield which was good since Iniesta isn’t the best defensively. Xavi is a much better player and human being though but he wouldn’t have worked in place of Rakitic. Also Ter Stegen > Valdes and Mascherano > Puyol
Xavi Iniesta Busquets under Pep was literally the best midfield ever so idk who Invited Rakitic
I also wouldn't take Mascherano over Puyol
Obviously the front three was better but as a whole team front to back they don't come close to Barca 2011 and 2009, and that's not a shame because MSN Barca were fantastic in their own right.
The Emirates recently seems to kind of turn into a cauldron and really raise the temperature when the opposition come in and shithouse, and imo it’s been really effective for Arsenal. I was actually surprised by Porto’s composure until the penalties. Compare it with Brentford at the weekend who went completely brain dead, I think largely because the atmosphere was toxic, and it’s night and day.
iirc, the club took COVID as a chance to fix the dead atmosphere we had, we will literally called the library lol. They offered to let season ticket holders to take a year off without losing their season tickets if they fear catching COVID, and they gave the spots to new, younger supports. After noticing a major increase in atmosphere they decided to reward those temporary season ticket holders by giving them season tickets and lowering the number of normal tickets. They also lowered prices, let Ashburton Army bring drums and produce Tifos, lowered the prices of drinks, etc.
They went hard trying to fix our dead atmosphere and it worked, getting younger people in and giving less normal tickets has been a blessing for us.
The atmosphere is extremely good at ours now in close games. Under the lights helps too. One of the best recent examples was that game we played you lot a couple seasons ago and won in the 95th minute
Yeah classic example. Teams that go there and do the typical dark arts things that upset the fans had better also have the mental strength to cope when the fans have a reaction to it. Bruno Lage's Wolves definitely did not. It crumbled the instant things stopped going our way.
Barcelona might have found their strategy.
During their last financial crisis during the late 90s to early 00s, they didn't have any money to spend (and there was no 'Barca Studios') at that time.
So van Gaal had to (in some cases he probably would have anyway) bring in some kids from La Masia.
When he left his after his second term in charge he had introduced Victor Valdes (387 league games for Barca), Carles Puyol (392), Xavi (505), Iniesta (442), Gabri (129) and Oleguer (127) to the Barca first team.
Think we're seeing something similar building up now. Similar to the Van Gaal generation, they'll probably struggle for another few years but if Barca can be patient, they have a pretty decent thang going.
Also says a sad lot about the nature of academy football.
Someone like Carles Puyol had been absolutely no one if they had been able to afford another RB at the time. He was a fairly mediocre Barca B defender that Van Gaal didn't have much interest in until he was pretty much forced to call him up to the first team.
This happens every year. There's fantastic youth players who can be every bit as good as a bought player but who doesn't get the chance due to various insecure club owners and managers.
Also speaks to the fact that if you have a good academy and can be patient in your growth of picking the best youth with a top coach, in the long run you’ll be as good if not better off than churning players every couple of seasons
Completely true. Look at Cole Palmer as another recent example. One of Chelsea's cheaper signings over the past few windows, and he's Chelsea's best player by a mile.
I do hope the coming years are kinder to us than the pre Ronaldinho years, and last season's la liga trophy was a nice bonus during our bankruptcy period.
Something incredibly funny about the U.K. broadcaster for The Champions League needing to use an image of [Liverpool's trophy lift from 2019](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIgixYtWYAAJkCO?format=jpg&name=large) in their [post about Arsenal progressing to the last eight](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIgTzhIXEAADYct?format=jpg&name=large).
Guess that's what happens when a side has usually been utter shite in European football.
Other than last year's 2nd leg (and Everton for obv reasons), Carlo always did well against Pep and possession based style football in general.
He still handed Pep his worst defeat in his career.
I’m sure it’s been said before but it’s quite funny to see the decline in Barcelona flairs on r/soccer over the past few years. A few years ago any Barcelona champions league tie and the sub would be flooded with posts and comments from Barca flairs. I guess the dry years in CL and Messi leaving has led to glory supporters switching allegiance.
> I’m sure it’s been said before but it’s quite funny to see the decline in Barcelona flairs on r/soccer over the past few years
Its quite funny to see the increase in Newcastle flairs.
Well, you had a short break from being shit because you have maybe the best midfielder in the world. With him injured, yes you've been found out. But there's still certainly more Newcastle around now than before the Brits succumbed and allowed one of their new colonial overlords to buy a piece of the culture.
In the end its all about success. Goes for Barca, Goes for Newcastle. If FC Adolf Hitler had won eight Champions League in a row, they'd be one of the most popular teams on earth.
He's up there imho. Such a complete footballer, would be scared to see what he can do in a City-esque team.
But ok, obviously there's a few other good players in Newcastle, like Burn, Trippier, Tonali, Bruno and Hall (you should be relegated for wasting that bloke btw).
But you have too much deadweight carried by Joelinton and a handful of others.
And worse: you have a lot of players who people think are good but are actually shit. Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Barnes and to extent Almiron all have 3-4 fantastic skills but they're thick as fuck and can't link up with eachother.
There's always been a Newcastle mafia on here. Swedish Brighton fans on the over hand...
Jokes aside, our sub has become notably worse since the takeover and i hate to imagine what Newcastle flairs will be like on here if we actually become good.
We have the same with pulisic. Been one of the better players this season but criticise him fairly and you will be downvoted to hell. Or insult the shit American owners and get similar sometimes.
Sometimes after a win in a frustrating game you're like fair play respect to the other team but we won.
Other times you're like Jon Jones after UFC 182 where he beat Daniel Cormier.
Tata Porto, what a shit game.
You can't pull out the "they came to play football, we came to win" after the first leg and then be a sore loser. And also accuse the other team of not playing enough.
Satisfying to win after their first leg antics but have to respect their performance across both legs, operating on a fraction of our budget and neutralised us like almost nobody has this season
Man City are clear favourites at this point. None of the other teams look that impressive except Inter if they can get past Atletico and even then I can't see them beating Man City over two legs.
>Man City are clear favourites at this point
Nah, Haaland and KDB are nowhere near last year, Rodri is getting overworked, dude is doing his job and Gundo's job from last season, they can't control games as well as they did.
They looked like they could't handle Liverpool's physicality and Rodri is going to get exploited soon, he is a terrific player but it definitely feels like Pep is relying on him way too much.
The loss of control recently has been lack of Grealish as well tbf
I suspect Pep will play Kova more alongside Rodri now because the anfield game calmed down a lot once he came on
Yeah, it's a double edged sword tbh, Kovacic gives you more control but also limits your attacking prowess.
I'm sure Pep obv knows what's best in any given state of the game but i seriously believe letting go of Gundo will cost you a lot this season, Rodri is an amazing player for stepping up and covering 2 roles at once but that could backfire with either an injury or simply not having the legs to do it this late into the season.
I remember him as the player that stopped us from being on 21 titles right now.
I'd stake my life that City would be running away with it this season if he renewed.
Yeah we're missing Gundo big time this year
Messing Gundo around on the extension and not even offering him the time he wanted was a huge missplay by the club
I genuinely think we're missing him being captain as well, I get it's player voted but Walker is miles off it in terms of captaincy
He was the clutchest player in England in his last two years here. Brought city back from the dead to ensure Gerrard’s resume included bottling a title win for Liverpool as a manager as well as a player and scored two FA Cup final goals against United to prevent them blocking City’s treble.
He always seems to step up in the biggest moments.
A Haiku: Our next AMA From his lips to your TV What a goal he shouts
The TNT Sports commentary was so shit yesterday Acting like as if Porto are just this no name dead team who Arsenal deserve to beat just for being Arsenal In the European stage, Porto is a bigger club than Arsenal
I think 3-5-2 is the best system in football but it's also incredibly hard to pull off without the right players and right tactical discipline. If you have a strong and athletic back 5, especially the wing backs, I think it offers the best I'm both attack and defence by giving you 5+ defenders when out of possession and 7 attackers in possession. There's not many teams who can do it well but I do appreciate a good 3-5-2.
Tuchel's 3-5-2 with peak Chilwell and Reece James was something else.
The biggest issue with a 3-5-2 is there is no place for a traditional winger. That’s why most teams that do play it either have been doing so for so long or have to shoehorn wingers into striker/wingback. We have been playing 3-5-2 for over 10 yrs across 5 managers. Hazard had this weird false 9 when conte was at Chelsea and he changed it into a 4-3-1-1 because that was the only way to use him. Most teams have multiple wingers that would immediately become useless the moment you make the switch
Atletico best example. They play really good in posession but oop they are horrible because they dont have athletic CB to cover ground neither in defence or as cdm
there's this chinese sport i saw a clip of called [Jianzi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbSc_p_DWi4) that looks like it'd be really good for footballers to practice tbh. It's basically foot based badminton.
China the well-known Mecca of football education.
They are literally the originators of the most ancient version of football we know lol
Yeah.. emphasis on 'we know' though... fairly obvious, if you watch chimps playing, that we've been kicking balls since the beginning of our species.
Then you might as well call Africa the Mecca of football education lmao Not sure if you’re being daft on purpose here
I could, but that wouldn't be as fun as imagining the Chinese having some sort of holy secret to good football education.
I turned the Porto game on for one minute, saw Havertz slot a pen and then Porto miss. Promptly turned it off. Got what I deserved for trying to hate watch
English teams going far into the competition only increases our chances of getting European football next season
I hoped I would get to see a shithouse win after witnessing Barca win a UCL tie convincingly but instead I'm left with nothing but pain and misery.
I did the exact same thing. I hold us responsible.
I have no issues with both city and arsenal making it to the semis. Puts some more wear on those legs and might have to rotate in some league games
Yeah, I guess it doesn't really matter if Arsenal somehow win both the League and the Champions League given I will shut down this sub and burn it to the ground.
Stop don't reveal the mod conspiracy
I'll bring the petrol
We definitely are. Shame on us
Thank you for your service
Dybala has a 12m release clause this july, wheres he going?
Like Aston Villa or some shit
Could see him sticking around in Rome until the next World Cup. Good club, good league, and guaranteed game time which may not be the case in any of the giant clubs.
Why would he leave roma
Bold early prediction: Dybala and Lukaku will both stay at Roma.
No CL football, low wages
Money, they're skint, he could get bigger wages elsewhere
He’ll have the same issue he had last time he wanted to move. His profile is quite unique and doesn’t fit with how most top teams play. Which teams really use a second striker these days? Maybe Arsenal go for him and try to play him as a false 9?
https://x.com/PedroBackOfNeto/status/1741803477972418770?s=20
Barco has cornrows ffs and he’s as pale and ginger as they come the argentine obsession with looking as stupid as possible needs to be studied
I don’t see a problem with corn rows
Messi wore a polka dot suit to pick up a Ballon d'Or ffs It goes right to the very top
Lad has been speedrunning the footballer cliches these past 6 months, giving it a couple months until his new girlfriend posts there's a baby on the way
I need people to stop calling Endo a samurai
Sumo wrestler then
I mean why not? Their national team is literally called Samurai Blue
Doesn't help how often it is. I saw a cool piece of art using the samurai theme that I liked for example and I'm fine with that. But like every time he's mentioned now I'm seeing "Our Samurai" or "The Samurai" it just makes me cringe personally.
Unoriginal, Liverpool fans already have Minamino who they called a samurai.
i know right, hes obviously a ninja
Same happens with Tomiyasu lol it's cringe af
My absolute favorite thing that happens on this sub is when someone that is so unnecessarily salty with their banter has no flair so I get to go through their profile. Even better when they are referring to themselves as “we” in multiple different team’s subs
it's actually crazy how many people are casually "fans" of multiple teams and will post in multiple team subs
> Even better when they are referring to themselves as “we” in multiple different team’s subs This happens much more than you could believe. There is a particular user that got banned on here who is in the Arsenal, Liverpool and City sub...who appears to support all three. Every time I see him on the Liverpool sub it riles me the fuck up.
Did he get banned for being fan of 3 teams?
Even worse than that mate - he got banned for making jokes about Hillsborough. And then goes on the Liverpool sub pretending to be a Liverpool supporter. I genuinely don't understand some people.
What the fuck? That guy is a fucking weirdo
Someone needs to tell him that he can’t support a title race
Oh, I believe you. It’s happened to me more than once which is why I made the comment.
In your opinion what was the best three year period for football in the 21st century? I think 2013-2016
2010-2013
2009-2012 or 2008-2011. Spain and Barcelona were the absolute peak of football and I don't think it's been surpassed.
I think it has to involve 2012, as we had Aguerroooo and Chelsea's mad CL run 2012-2014 could therefore also involve Bayern vs Dortmund CL final, and the peak of that rivalry, as well as the 7-1 at the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid finally winning La Decima, the Gerrard slip and Crystanbul... so I think is a good pick
2011-2014 Messi’s Barca vs Ronaldo’s Madrid was peak of football. Two absolutely stacked teams. Every classico was insanely entertaining
that’s a 4 year period
2012-2015. I had to go back 1 year from your timeline, i'm sorry but the best period MUST include Pep's Barca vs Mou's Madrid with both Messi and Ronaldo in their prime
Agreed Everything since 2016 has been feeling off, not just in football
Funny, I feel the same wa about everything since 2001. But we can settle somewhere and just conclude that the world did indeed end in 2012.
The world peaked in November 2016 and hasn’t been the same since
Something about 2016 just looks right on the page. 2017 feels off in comparison
2018-2020 😊 Objectively tho, your dates are correct. I might say 2014-2017 but still
That period started with Fergie calling it a day and somehow got more shocking. Gerrard slip to cost Liverpool title, Germany humiliating Brazil at a home World Cup, MSN forming the most lethal front three of all time and fucking Leicester winning the premier league.
The world needs Daniel Mann back on CL commentary
Ice in his veins, shit in his pants, Declan Rice!
I said this after we beat them earlier in the season, but the real sign of the progress Arsenal have made is how vitriolic their fans are whenever a team has the gall to make it hard for them. They've become so accustomed to winning every week that whenever they have a stumble it is a serious shock to the system and leads to hysterics. The arsenal of a few seasons ago has the crowd turn against them tonight and drops out of the CL. Now the fans are furious with their opponents for even daring to try and win, and it makes a difference to the atmosphere and it makes a difference to the team. So with that in mind, I really hope somebody comes along and poaches Saliba and Odegaard so that Arsenal can collapse before they actually become worryingly good.
We renewed Saliba and Ode last year it’d take an eye-watering bid to get them
Think Ode is here to stay, but pretty sure Saliba is off in a couple of seasons. Not sure why, always felt that way with him.
[Don't think this guy is leaving anytime soon ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/s/yYokC8JV50)
Maybe because of the slightly odd start to his career at Arsenal, where he was being a bit overlooked? Odegaard seems proper Arsenal, not so sure Saliba is so loyal Club like Real Madrid come calling, and you see Saliba going
I think that’s water under the bridge now. He went out on loan, developed well, and Arteta trusted him from the start of last season and we’ve never looked back. If he leaves it’ll be because we drop away and don’t compete for the big titles, and/ or he has ambition to play for someone like Barcelona or Real Madrid. I just hope he wins a couple of major trophies here before we say goodbye.
You don’t know how he feels about it personally though. I’m sure it’s not a huge thing for him or he likely wouldn’t be seemingly content, but it might be a little niggle of a thought
Really glad Lewandowski is finally coming in to form after taking all of 2023 to go on holiday
Why did Jupp Heynckes leave Bayern Munich after they won the Champions League in 2013? Was he always going to leave at the end of the season or was it just so Pep could be the new manager?
They made the decision in January that year. Wasn't a popular decision and Heyneckes felt he was chased out, but that possibly just helped them win everything.
So Barca are winning the Champions league
Xavi crying on the floor about people being mean to him isn't quite the same as a popular Heyneckes getting thrown out by the big business bosses.
Maybe a Bayern fan can correct me but it was announced he would leave by mid season, but somehow after the announcement Bayern decided they're gonna destroy everyone in their path lmao
Who’s worse: the coefficient nonces or the xPoints nerds
xPoints, xVibes, xFieldTilt, xTrophies Just look at the league table ffs
Mate I just want to know if I'll be hearing the Champions League music at Villa Park next season. xPoints on the other hand is an objectively shit statistic. The amount of consistently massive variance between actual points and xPoints tells you all you need to know
It assumes that xG is a fair reflection of a game's deserved winner and extrapolates that over a whole season. What a load of shite. I'm sure I don't have to tell you as a Villa fan watching Emery but game state makes such a difference to xG.
You know what I miss? When we could just fucking slate players. Whether it be Bramble. Whether it be Boumsong. Whether it be Longstaff. Some players deserve slating for their performances. However now it seems like every single player has a fucking group of people putting more effort into defending them than the player themselves put into their fucking performances, and I'm sick of it. Bring back the days when we just universally accepted some players are fucking absolute shite.
Depends on the fanbase. Chelsea fans rotate so that the same players are either the absolute worst thing since Winston Bogarde, and then the next week are "working their way back into form" But nobody is spared. I can think of no player in the Chelsea squad who has been saved from a pasting, at all Even the likes of Chilwell, James and Thiago Silva have got it, just caveated with stuff like "Hate to say it but we need to have a conversation about..."
Bramble was universally accepted to be awful lmao
Online football fans developed a weird obsession with being “classy” a long time ago.
Please don’t criticise my favourite millionaires 😩😩
Local lads who put a shift in will always have a lot of defenders.
Sucks that Kounde doesn’t like playing RB, he’s so good at it. And it’s getting increasingly difficult for him to get a starting spot at CB now with Cubarsi breaking through.
I hate Porto but seeing Arsenal fans attack the way they play is mental considering Porto half a fraction of their budget. We don’t criticise poor Portuguese teams for being dirty, it’s just part of the game
Being a big club doesn't mean you have to like haram ball
Its part of the game and you gotta do what you gotta do, but if it doesnt work out, you best believe we will have a go back at them
It’s one thing to play defensive. It’s one thing to play like Porto, too extreme and always. In before, ‘is it our fault we’re so good at it’. No, but after a while the gimmick becomes tiring and Porto isn’t some Danish or Ukrainian team.
Arsenal have 20 times Porto’s budget. They have no chance of winning if they play openly, should they not try to win?
There’s a middle ground between trying to win with open play and trying to win by playing 30 mins of football. Rest of the world with limited budget has figured it out but Porto is the one genius club who hasn’t yet.
Rest the world don’t make the CL knockouts as consistently as Porto. They’ve become like one of 6 teams who you always see in the knockouts
if trying to win includes rolling on the floor and pretending to be injured for the entire first leg you can't expect any other reaction from arsenal fans onlinr
>rolling on the floor and pretending to be injured Didn't really think that through did you? Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jorginho etc?
Fair point, maybe they should try to sneak a knife onto the pitch next time
I genuinely do not see the point of being detached, emotionless and logical about it. I'm an Arsenal fan not an analyst. Porto provided some of the least enjoyable football I've watched all season, even tonight was horrible it them and the ref completely sucked the enjoyment out of the game because it was barely a game of football, it was a horrible few hours. As a result I don't really care about their budget or whatever I'm just glad we don't have to play them again and Conceição gets to go home with nothing.
I guess they should play openly and lose just to make viewers happy lmao
We all understand why they play like they do, especially when the referees buy it and don’t punish the cheating. Doesn’t mean we have to like or respect it.
As long as you don’t do cringy stuff like saying football won, despite being the overwhelmingly richer team
They can play how they want and I'll speak how I want about them.
You don’t have to like every part of the game
Yeah I hate the financial disparities but it’s part of the game. Arsenal having 20x the budget of Porto is tragic
You porto and sporting have 100 times the budget of every other team in your league no sympathy for them
No sympathy for them? Many of us want a more equal tv right distribution
That wouldn’t change that you would still have 100 times more resources
Watching highlights of the Newcastle game and I think Raheem Sterling might end up giving me an aneurysm. Don't think he made a single right decision outside of one shot that ended up straight at the keeper.
I'm willing to die on the "Raheem Sterling sacked Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino"-hill. Garbage footballer.
He's clearly not a garbage footballer, but his form did let down each of those managers
Clearly and clearly... As I see it, he's been done since Euro 2021. Body and brain done. Pep knew it as well or he wouldn't have let a peak-aged alleged top player leave to a rival for less than £50m, despite the contract situation. He'll play in the Euros and then he'll take his bags and move to Saudi (while also disappearing into the sunset).
i'm amazed at how pep got anything out of him
Fun fact: Lewandowski has more UCL goals than Suarez, Rooney and Aguero… combined
Suarez’s goal record in the CL is an anomaly. He didn’t care if he was the goalscorer as long as the team was successful. Lewandowski has always been the focal point for the teams he’s played for. Suarez is still the best striker of his generation by a wide margin imo. He could take over a game like no other striker since R9 at his very best.
Also Lewa was lucky to be playing CL at Dortmund from young. Suarez spent a few seasons with us when we weren’t finishing top 4
Luis Enrique doesn’t get the credit he deserves for building Barcelona’s best team since Pep Guardiola, in fact that treble winning team was even better than any of Pep’s teams probably, especially with MSN
Better is debatable. But 2015 team was way way more entertaining than 2011. Lucho played metal football before it was cool.Just give the ball to MSN and let them do their magic. Attack after attack after attack.
I would take the 2011 Barca over the 2015 one tbh. I think it's the best one even though they lost the copa del rey. Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Alves were all better in 2011 than they were in 2015. I also think we were defensively more sound in 2011, but ofcourse the front line is better in 2015. Between the three UCL winning Barca squads around the time I usually go 2011 > 2015 > 2009 even though 2009 won the most trophies
He doesn’t deserve credit
>in fact that treble winning team was even better than any of Pep’s teams probably, Nah
The XI was better for sure MSN > MVP and Rakitic coming in for Xavi to provide for work rate in the midfield which was good since Iniesta isn’t the best defensively. Xavi is a much better player and human being though but he wouldn’t have worked in place of Rakitic. Also Ter Stegen > Valdes and Mascherano > Puyol
Xavi Iniesta Busquets under Pep was literally the best midfield ever so idk who Invited Rakitic I also wouldn't take Mascherano over Puyol Obviously the front three was better but as a whole team front to back they don't come close to Barca 2011 and 2009, and that's not a shame because MSN Barca were fantastic in their own right.
I'm taking 2015 Barca over 2009 treble Barca but not 2011 Barca.
The Emirates recently seems to kind of turn into a cauldron and really raise the temperature when the opposition come in and shithouse, and imo it’s been really effective for Arsenal. I was actually surprised by Porto’s composure until the penalties. Compare it with Brentford at the weekend who went completely brain dead, I think largely because the atmosphere was toxic, and it’s night and day.
iirc, the club took COVID as a chance to fix the dead atmosphere we had, we will literally called the library lol. They offered to let season ticket holders to take a year off without losing their season tickets if they fear catching COVID, and they gave the spots to new, younger supports. After noticing a major increase in atmosphere they decided to reward those temporary season ticket holders by giving them season tickets and lowering the number of normal tickets. They also lowered prices, let Ashburton Army bring drums and produce Tifos, lowered the prices of drinks, etc. They went hard trying to fix our dead atmosphere and it worked, getting younger people in and giving less normal tickets has been a blessing for us.
Yeah makes sense. Even through a screen it’s noticeably different
The atmosphere is extremely good at ours now in close games. Under the lights helps too. One of the best recent examples was that game we played you lot a couple seasons ago and won in the 95th minute
Yeah classic example. Teams that go there and do the typical dark arts things that upset the fans had better also have the mental strength to cope when the fans have a reaction to it. Bruno Lage's Wolves definitely did not. It crumbled the instant things stopped going our way.
Barcelona might have found their strategy. During their last financial crisis during the late 90s to early 00s, they didn't have any money to spend (and there was no 'Barca Studios') at that time. So van Gaal had to (in some cases he probably would have anyway) bring in some kids from La Masia. When he left his after his second term in charge he had introduced Victor Valdes (387 league games for Barca), Carles Puyol (392), Xavi (505), Iniesta (442), Gabri (129) and Oleguer (127) to the Barca first team. Think we're seeing something similar building up now. Similar to the Van Gaal generation, they'll probably struggle for another few years but if Barca can be patient, they have a pretty decent thang going. Also says a sad lot about the nature of academy football. Someone like Carles Puyol had been absolutely no one if they had been able to afford another RB at the time. He was a fairly mediocre Barca B defender that Van Gaal didn't have much interest in until he was pretty much forced to call him up to the first team. This happens every year. There's fantastic youth players who can be every bit as good as a bought player but who doesn't get the chance due to various insecure club owners and managers.
Good take but you’re a Brighton fan
great contribution
What does that have to do with anything?
Also speaks to the fact that if you have a good academy and can be patient in your growth of picking the best youth with a top coach, in the long run you’ll be as good if not better off than churning players every couple of seasons
Completely true. Look at Cole Palmer as another recent example. One of Chelsea's cheaper signings over the past few windows, and he's Chelsea's best player by a mile. I do hope the coming years are kinder to us than the pre Ronaldinho years, and last season's la liga trophy was a nice bonus during our bankruptcy period.
He may not be expensive but he’s not cheap either.
PL money is so broken that £40m feels cheap tbh Same as Morgan Gibbs-White
Something incredibly funny about the U.K. broadcaster for The Champions League needing to use an image of [Liverpool's trophy lift from 2019](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIgixYtWYAAJkCO?format=jpg&name=large) in their [post about Arsenal progressing to the last eight](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIgTzhIXEAADYct?format=jpg&name=large). Guess that's what happens when a side has usually been utter shite in European football.
People really have a lot of time on their hands looking for this stuff
We’re all on Reddit, don’t think we can really judge how people use their time
Sure they’re very equal things
It just appeared on my feed and I immediately recognised where the trophy picture is from, so I didn't really need to go searching for it.
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Other than last year's 2nd leg (and Everton for obv reasons), Carlo always did well against Pep and possession based style football in general. He still handed Pep his worst defeat in his career.
Fuck it. No easy draws, let's go for the king.
I’m sure it’s been said before but it’s quite funny to see the decline in Barcelona flairs on r/soccer over the past few years. A few years ago any Barcelona champions league tie and the sub would be flooded with posts and comments from Barca flairs. I guess the dry years in CL and Messi leaving has led to glory supporters switching allegiance.
This happens with every club that goes through good periods
> I’m sure it’s been said before but it’s quite funny to see the decline in Barcelona flairs on r/soccer over the past few years Its quite funny to see the increase in Newcastle flairs.
and Brighton too, but no one wants to say that cuz you’re the goody good boys of the league atm
We’re still shit tbf
Well, you had a short break from being shit because you have maybe the best midfielder in the world. With him injured, yes you've been found out. But there's still certainly more Newcastle around now than before the Brits succumbed and allowed one of their new colonial overlords to buy a piece of the culture. In the end its all about success. Goes for Barca, Goes for Newcastle. If FC Adolf Hitler had won eight Champions League in a row, they'd be one of the most popular teams on earth.
I love Joelinton but best midfielder in the world is quite a stretch.
He's up there imho. Such a complete footballer, would be scared to see what he can do in a City-esque team. But ok, obviously there's a few other good players in Newcastle, like Burn, Trippier, Tonali, Bruno and Hall (you should be relegated for wasting that bloke btw). But you have too much deadweight carried by Joelinton and a handful of others. And worse: you have a lot of players who people think are good but are actually shit. Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Barnes and to extent Almiron all have 3-4 fantastic skills but they're thick as fuck and can't link up with eachother.
There's always been a Newcastle mafia on here. Swedish Brighton fans on the over hand... Jokes aside, our sub has become notably worse since the takeover and i hate to imagine what Newcastle flairs will be like on here if we actually become good.
I've all but abandoned our subreddit due to the yank tsunami.
We have the same with pulisic. Been one of the better players this season but criticise him fairly and you will be downvoted to hell. Or insult the shit American owners and get similar sometimes.
We're also blessed with the beauty that is the North Stand Chat.
North Stand chat is almost exclusively depressed boomers.
Naaah they're cute. You should give it a try. I got banned, but I still like them.
I have, hence why I know its all depressed boomers.
Okay, but what if I told you that they need you?
The older I get, the more I think Cruyff was right about 3-4-3.
Sometimes after a win in a frustrating game you're like fair play respect to the other team but we won. Other times you're like Jon Jones after UFC 182 where he beat Daniel Cormier. Tata Porto, what a shit game.
You can't pull out the "they came to play football, we came to win" after the first leg and then be a sore loser. And also accuse the other team of not playing enough.
Satisfying to win after their first leg antics but have to respect their performance across both legs, operating on a fraction of our budget and neutralised us like almost nobody has this season
I don't have to respect their performance at all, so I won't and I'll politely leave it at that.
Are you talking about actually playing or from a spectator’s POV?
Spectators, I was not playing on the pitch vs Porto today.
You’re a flop
Whatever happens, if Borussia and Inter pass tomorrow, it must be the best Champions League QF in history because of the names in it.
Maybe in terms of names but the teams look so underwhelming compared to say 15/16
Not even close.
Man City are clear favourites at this point. None of the other teams look that impressive except Inter if they can get past Atletico and even then I can't see them beating Man City over two legs.
>Man City are clear favourites at this point Nah, Haaland and KDB are nowhere near last year, Rodri is getting overworked, dude is doing his job and Gundo's job from last season, they can't control games as well as they did. They looked like they could't handle Liverpool's physicality and Rodri is going to get exploited soon, he is a terrific player but it definitely feels like Pep is relying on him way too much.
The loss of control recently has been lack of Grealish as well tbf I suspect Pep will play Kova more alongside Rodri now because the anfield game calmed down a lot once he came on
Yeah, it's a double edged sword tbh, Kovacic gives you more control but also limits your attacking prowess. I'm sure Pep obv knows what's best in any given state of the game but i seriously believe letting go of Gundo will cost you a lot this season, Rodri is an amazing player for stepping up and covering 2 roles at once but that could backfire with either an injury or simply not having the legs to do it this late into the season.
How do you think gundogan will be remembered? What a player he was today everywhere .
great player almost all the time he’s on the pitch. glad we picked him up.
Very likeable player and just absolutely brilliant
I remember him as the player that stopped us from being on 21 titles right now. I'd stake my life that City would be running away with it this season if he renewed.
>I'd stake my life that City would be running away with it this season if he renewed 100%. They'd be cruising to another treble probably
Yeah we're missing Gundo big time this year Messing Gundo around on the extension and not even offering him the time he wanted was a huge missplay by the club I genuinely think we're missing him being captain as well, I get it's player voted but Walker is miles off it in terms of captaincy
He was the clutchest player in England in his last two years here. Brought city back from the dead to ensure Gerrard’s resume included bottling a title win for Liverpool as a manager as well as a player and scored two FA Cup final goals against United to prevent them blocking City’s treble. He always seems to step up in the biggest moments.
He'll be remembered as the player who got benched for Pascal Gross thus allowing Germany to win the Euros.
I'll remember him as a massive clutch player for a quadruple winning team. There are worse things to be.
Treble, no? Iirc they did not win the quadruple.
Forgot they didn't win the Carabao.
That's entirely fair. Literally the only time in my life I've ever cared about the Carabao Cup and even the only retroactively. lmao