The Footie Thread

[Swango1980]

This post I don’t understand at all.
Barca had a team that dominated football under Pep. They did it with a team that had a core from their famous Academy.
Relate that to Utd, they dominated football esp in the prem league with a team that “ you cant win anything with kids”. Basically from there academy. To say Barca at times were boring then surely Utd were, and I don’t for one minute think they were. Yes at times they were outstanding but I lost count the amount of times I prayed as a City fan we could keep the score down to a respectable level. Am Sure fans of other clubs felt the same. World class club teams will never play to a high standard every week as they are playing 2-3 games a week. So rotation is paramount. City played with 7 academy players in the win over Brentford.

You only don't understand it because you have a different opinion, and you struggle to grasp the idea that people can think differently on the same things.

I perfectly understand why anybody would feel that Pep football is brilliant to watch. I'm not here to prove their own thoughts wrong. It is how they feel. Yet you cannot understand why I feel the way I feel, and so have to continue to challenge it. I've already explained in decent detail why I feel the way I do.

I love football, I get really excited about watching football. Most in this thread love football. Yet, other people in the world despise football. Just like I despise rugby, yet others love it. Rugby, American Football, Ice Hockey, etc bore me to death. But, I'm perfectly happy that others feel the complete opposite, for logical reasons. Once I accept that different people can have directly opposing views on the same thing, for perfectly logical reasons, then I no longer have to struggle my way through life being confused as to why others don't feel the same way as me.

As I said before. No point in me comparing to Man Utd of the past. I'm a Man Utd fan, if my team is winning, I'll be happy. I'm in no position to judge how entertaining Utd were, all I know is that I was entertained. I've no doubt you are entertained and happy when City are dominating. It is for others to judge how much they enjoy watching a top side as a neutral.

 

[Swango1980]

Of course it is exciting. I watched it and enjoyed it.
Which brings me to an idea, may not be new, but in light of the awful pitta patta crap around the defenders penalty area which we see now, may I ask what chaps think of changing the way the winners of the Premier league, and others ,are decided.

Simply , Forget points. - the side which scores most goals in a season wins the league.
If a tie, then goal difference.

What do you think?

I had the exact same thought a couple of days ago. Slightly different, in that Tables are decided by goal difference, then number of goals if a tie.

I'm sure it would have some positive outcomes. But perhaps negatives as well, given the tension teams have when a win can become a draw and a draw can become a loss. There is a lot of stress on getting the points, or losing the points. Whereas if it was goal difference, then you may well get to a stage where it a single goal doesn't really have a huge difference. You could win 1-0 or lose 1-0, it only has a 2 goal swing, and you might be well behind or well ahead anyway. Whereas there can be much more stress fighting for the points. Also, if goal difference and a team has a lead over another team, when they play each other the leading team may just massively park the bus, knowing that they can withstand a narrow loss, just don't get hammered.

 

[PaulMdj]

Yeah he had a great attitude and loved to attack

The 4-3 was one of the best games I have seen

Wasn’t a very succesful manager though and his England record is one of the lowest win ratios for permanent managers.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Wasn’t a very succesful manager though and his England record is one of the lowest win ratios for permanent managers.

For all his desire to attack I think Keegan ultimately was tactically inept at the highest level. He knew how to create and score goals but team cohesion and getting wins when they mattered weren’t his forte. Hoddle was tactically a good manager played decent football just shame he went a bit weird

 

[PaulMdj]

For all his desire to attack I think Keegan ultimately was tactically inept at the highest level. He knew how to create and score goals but team cohesion and getting wins when they mattered weren’t his forte. Hoddle was tactically a good manager played decent football just shame he went a bit weird

Totally agree, should of stuck with Big Sam and his 100% success rate.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Totally agree, should of stuck with Big Sam and his 100% success rate.

England’s most successful ever manager nobody will ever boast that win rate except big Sam

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Wasn’t a very succesful manager though and his England record is one of the lowest win ratios for permanent managers.

He wasn’t successful but he played a brand of football that his clubs fans loved to watch

 

[PaulMdj]

He wasn’t successful but he played a brand of football that his clubs fans loved to watch

I think the passage of time, his passion, a few seasons at N’Castle and him being an ex-Lpool legend has got you a bit starry eyed.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Man City style, building from the goalie etc, is to my mind boring. But that isn’t too much of a problem, to me.
Because they did it with some success,( it has to be said, ) it doesn’t mean that they would have been unsuccessful if they had played differently.
The fact is they had(have) good players.

No, what frustrates me is that most teams copied and now play the same tactics.
And they are dangerous tactics. Proven to me each week when I see loss of possession in and around the box resulting in goals.
Take any match you watch where a team does this build from the goalie passing to the back , who passes it back or sideways ,to another who does the same etc etc.
And even making passes to teammates who are clearly being pressed.
Make a note of the percentage of times such play gets the ball successfully out of their own half, as opposed to how many times they are forced to have someone clear it long, anyway.
Then make a note how many times their loss of possession becomes dangerous because it’s near the goal, and finally ,how many times a goal does result from an error in and around their own penalty area.
I’ve done that on several games. The stats should be frightening to the manager.

I maintain that with clearances to the centre circle distance, the attacking side will get possession around 50 % of the time. So build your attack from there, safely.
Your goal is protected, your distance and time to maintain your possession is much less, and your chance to score is as good as any other build up.

And it’s more entertaining.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I think the passage of time, his passion, a few seasons at N’Castle and him being an ex-Lpool legend has got you a bit starry eyed.

Sorry I’m not sure your point

Did the Newcastle not enjoy his brand of football then

 

[PaulMdj]

Sorry I’m not sure your point

Did the Newcastle not enjoy his brand of football then

Which tenure? His 1st or 2nd at NCastle, what you actually posted was “He wasn’t successful but he played a brand of football that his clubs fans loved to watch”

I’ve never heard Fulham or City fans talk about the brand of football played under him.

His passion was 2nd to none, but when discussing his managerial career most people remember his outburst and the 4-3 defeat to LPool not his brand of football.

 

[Tashyboy]

In one of the best films of all time, Top Gun, the character Goose said the following of Iceman:

“He flies ice-cold, no mistakes. Wears you down. You get bored, frustrated, do something stupid, and he's got you.”

For me, that also sums up Man City under Pep. No doubt they’re amazing. No doubt they’re successful. No doubt there have been countless moments of beautiful football.

But in all honesty, on the occasions I have watched them, there have been many long periods of time where they are playing a million passes around the middle third and edge of the opponents box and I have been craving a recently painted wall to watch instead.

Just my opinion, naturellement.

Did you think that when you parked the bus a couple of years ago, then got a late equaliser, and so very nearly got a winner. if memory serves me right Forest fans were buzzing after that result. After that game both City and Forest players got their heads together in their own dressing rooms. City said another result like that and we lose the title. We won it. Forest said we can do it against City, let’s do it against other teams. You avoided relegation
There is a lot of talk of City knocking the ball around in the final third. But what is the alternative when teams park the bus week after week. I would be genuinely interested

 

[Tashyboy]

You don’t half miss the mark sometimes with your posts Tashy. It’s of the 90s with their kids played aggressive attacking football with wingers bombing on and different variety of strikers bagging goals from inside and outside the box. They also had a solid defensive unit and world class keeper. The football they played was very different from Barcas Tiki Taka. Comparing the styles is like comparing apples and oranges yeah they’re both fruit but they are also very different in flavour.

Utd under Fergie were far from boring and scored hatfuls in open play. Pep’s Barca whilst exceptional with one or 2 stand outs were not the same style as your referencing at all.

But the point was both teams were massively successful. One of the greatest players ever to grace the game ( Messi) played in a boring Tiki taka team. And yet one of Citys best displays was a 6-1 victory at Old Trafford. Hardly Boring.
Sometimes you have to agree to disagree.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

But the point was both teams were massively successful. One of the greatest players ever to grace the game ( Messi) played in a boring Tiki taka team. And yet one of Citys best displays was a 6-1 victory at Old Trafford. Hardly Boring.
Sometimes you have to agree to disagree.

Your point was irrelevant when you tried to compare the styles of football purely because of playing youngsters!

Messi is a legend but Barca were still boring imo and to others. City win 6-1 congratulations they’re still a boring team to watch, Arsenal are boring in fact a lot of top teams are these days because tiki taka is simply dull!!

As neutral I’d rather watch 2 bang average teams going at each other in a high scoring game than watch any of the top teams bore others into submission. By default I watch a lot of Arsenal games as the boy likes them so it gives us something to talk about and watch together. I’ve tried in vain to get him to follow the exciting mighty Royals but it’s a fight I’ve lost.