The Footie Thread

[Swango1980]

The confusion of the CL:

Newcastle lie 12th in the PL. They comfortably beat PSG in qualifying, who are top of Ligue 1 and spanked Chelsea last night. They were within seconds of a well deserved win over Barcelona, currently top of La Liga, 4 points clear of Real Madrid who spanked Man City last night .

I'm not sure I'm any wiser about who is the best out there. Perhaps Bayern should win this year and we can all just sit back and agree on them being the best team

Football is "confusing" in general. Wolves beat Liverpool and Villa, and draw with Arsenal in PL. Macclesfield beat Palace in the FA Cup.

Man City seem to be a bit hit and miss. One game they can be amazing, then they take a big dip. They started well against Madrid, then conceded some quick fire brilliant goals, and just seemed stunned after that. Chelsea are just Chelsea, whether they win 5-2 or lose 5-2, neither result is a surprise. That being said, I didn't watch the game, but many have said that is a game they could easily have got a result, but everything just went perfect for PSG in front of goal.

But I'm with you on last point, I suspect Bayern are the best team in Europe. They seem to be a team that doesn't get too emotional in big games, which can work either way. They just seem calm and collected, and go about their business very effeciently (now that I said that, they'll probably lose at home to Atalanta 6-0)

 

[Arthur Wedge]

The confusion of the CL:

Newcastle lie 12th in the PL. They comfortably beat PSG in qualifying, who are top of Ligue 1 and spanked Chelsea last night. They were within seconds of a well deserved win over Barcelona, currently top of La Liga, 4 points clear of Real Madrid who spanked Man City last night .

I'm not sure I'm any wiser about who is the best out there. Perhaps Bayern should win this year and we can all just sit back and agree on them being the best team

Standard CL and KO football

Some teams like Real Madrid always seem to step in the CL

It’s also a little bit easier to get into the KO these days

Man City - that was your normal head scratching choices from Pep with his selection

Chelsea - PSG are still one of the best in Europe

Spurs - well they are poor

The other 3 games are close

Edit - but Bayern do appear to be the stand out but they do every year until the KO they get beaten

 

[Swango1980]

I think it goes to show the whilst the EPL might not be the best league that it's been hyped up to be it's easily the most competitive. PSG, Barca, Real and Bayern probably have no more than 6-8 really competitive games a season, the rest are against sides they'd expect to beat 99 times out of 100. In the EPL the depth is considerably stronger and there aren't really any proper whipping teams bar Spurs. If you dropped Newcastle into the German league they'd probably be 2/3rd at worst most seasons. If you stuck Bayern (for example) into the EPL they'd find life a lot tougher IMO.

I never get that argument too much, and sometimes wonder does is stem simply from the fact that we watch the PL every week, and have seen lower table sides get results against top sides from time to time? OK, Bayern are well beyond everyone in their league, but possibly also better than all European sides. Barcelona and Real Madrid have lost a similar amount of games as City and Arsenal have.

I know a few of the top English sides have done well in European Competitions in recent years, but so have the best Spanish and German sides. I used to always think that other European nations, like Spain, did much better in the Europa League than English sides, which indicated more depth in their league possible.

If you asked a Spanish fan of La Liga about the PL, they may well say the same thing. They may think the likes of Sunderland, Fulham, Bournemouth, Brentford, etc would struggle in La Liga (they may never have heard of those sides).

 

[Orikoru]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2031838789916565591

That was Le Tissier-esque. Saw all three goals online last night and they were all class to be fair. One of the better hat-tricks I've ever seen.

 

[Aztecs27]

Ha ha. A Barcelona fan with limited English turned up at St James Park to watch the game with a valid ticket. His only problem, his sat nav took him to St James Park Exeter. Good job they were at home yesterday. Staff sorted him a ticket so at least he got to see a game.

In fairness - they do one of the best steak pasties I've ever had at a football ground. And the Bovril is reasonably priced.

 

[Billysboots]

In fairness - they do one of the best steak pasties I've ever had at a football ground. And the Bovril is reasonably priced.

Don’t ever go to Port Vale on a wet Wednesday.

I went there many moons ago with a mate who was a Sheffield United fan. Worst game of football and my half time pie was fresh air and gravy. No meat to be seen.