The Footie Thread

[nickjdavis]

This morning is the first time I’ve really paid any close attention to the new Champion’s and Europa League formats, and I have to say I’m not in favour.

The first thing which really struck me is the application of goal difference. Given that GD is very likely to impact on which teams finish in the top eight places, and which then occupy the playoff spots from nine to twenty four, it hardly seems like a level playing field if every team is playing different opponents within the same league.

Just citing Dinamo Zagreb as the obvious example, if they continue to be the whipping boys throughout the league stage, then those who don’t play them are at a clear and obvious disadvantage.

No, sorry. Not for me. Bring back the old group stage.

Just had a look at Zagreb....they were placed in pot 3 of the draw along with Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV, Red Bull Salzburg, Lille, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys and Celtic. Just looking at the results of these other pot 3 teams...

PSV.....lost 3-1 away at Juventus (pot 2)
Young Boys... lost 0-3 at home to Villa (pot 4)
Zagreb...lost 9-2 away to Bayern (pot 1)
Lille...lost 0-2 away at Sporting (also pot 3)
Salzburg...lost 0-3 away at Sparta Prague (pot 4)
Celtic...won 5-0 home to Bratislava (pot 4)
Feyenoord...lost 0-4 home to Leverkusen (pot 2)
Red Star...lost 1-2 home to Benfica (pot 2)

So EVERY pot 3 team lost their matches with the exception of Celtic and Sporting

Looking at Pot 4 teams who don't feature above...

Monaco...won 2-1 home to Barcelona (pot 1)
Bologna...drew 0-0 home to Shakhtar Donetsk (pot 2)
Girona...lost 1-0 away at PSG (pot 1)
Stuttgart...lost 3-1 away to Real Madrid (pot 1)
Brest...won 2-1 home to Sturm Graz (also pot 4)

It is clear that pots 3 and 4 contain teams of wildly differing abilities, some of which are only in those pots because they have little recent European history and have a low "co-efficient. Any one of the pot 1/2 teams that have to play teams like Villa, Lisbon, Monaco, Lille, dare I say it even Celtic (especially away) are going to find it much tougher than playing Young Boys, Bologna, Brest etc.

Will be interesting to see how things look after 3 or 4 rounds of matches to see if there are any genuine whipping boys out there and whether there is an advantage in playing any particular teams.

UEFA are trying to mimic the Swiss format played commonly in Chess, which requires a new draw to be done after each round of matches, where players are matched against other players who currently have a similar record in the competition. Unfortunately, due to the logistics around scheduling football matches, this is simply not feasible....so UEFA have made their best fudge of the format.....in what is effectively the first step to a European Super League.

 

[Aztecs27]

As a fellow keeper I tend to disagree. I think the VAR break helped as Raya clearly got instructions on which way to go a nd so that definitely helped. The ball could have gone anywhere including back for a tap in and while the player had to wait for the ball to come down he hit the header down and into a corner which made it harder to get across to. Certainly one of the best saves from a penalty where reaction times are reduced given the proximity of the ball and striker. Still think the Montgomery save one of the best I've seen, especially in an era where arguably keepers weren't as well trained especially on recovery from a first save. All opinions of course

No he didn't - he hit it into the middle of the goal. It was barely a stretch for Raya - he just needed to make sure he got his hand behind it with enough strength to knock it clear of the goal mouth. If the ball had been hit to the corner, he'd have struggled to get near it (and had he saved it in that instance, it would have been much more impressive)

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I must be one of the only ones who wasn't super impressed by it (and I've only ever played in goal haha).

Penalty was rubbish (nowhere near the corner and an easy save for Raya after he picked the right side) and any top tier keeper would be getting up quickly anticipating the follow up. The header wasn't all that venomous, so although, yes, getting a strong hand to it was impressive (given his body angle), it was far from "one of the best saves of all time" which is how Savage was describing it

Great save? Yes, but one a lot of top level keepers would expect to make as they would be working on drills for quick recovery after rebounding shots all week in training.

It was a decent save but that’s it - poor penalty but decent reaction to the follow up

TNT going on as if he is the best in world - he isn’t even the best in the Prem

 

[Red devil]

Schmeichel used to do saves like that week in and week out. Best keeper I've seen.

 

[Aztecs27]

Schmeichel used to do saves like that week in and week out. Best keeper I've seen.

Certainly one of the best we've had in the Prem.

Gianluigi Buffon's the GOAT, however.