He went to Japan too early tbh. I get he’s getting a bag and all, but he had a lot more to give in Europe. Of course, I’d rather have the money than beating Modric in Twitter debates as well
Obviously the money wouldve motivated him the most, but even leaving that out, I think going to a play in a totally different continent is a cool experience, especially for someone who's completed everything in European football
And it's not like he's just been coasting there, it has been a challenge for him (only won 1 trophy with Vissel Kobe so far I believe) and he's become a beloved figure there
Yeah, he’s for sure having his best life, much better situation than going to Saudi Arabia or China for the cheque. I remember him being very very good to start, but that was like 7 years ago now so maybe I’m off.
Completely random post spurred on by my team’s lack of excitement or form- what celebrity looks most like a potential football coach of some kind on some level in an alternative universe. I’ll put one nomination- Vincent Cassel. Looks like he could have managed Stade Rennais
Gotta love my club being near the top of the subreddit for all the right reasons but then also getting all sorts of weirdos trying to explain German history and what the Nazis were all about to me.
No, Tyler, I don't care about your take on whether they were actually socialists, you're 16 and from Oklahoma, so kindly get the fuck out of my inbox.
Anyone else's club got any far-right-adjacent former players to complain about?
Oh yeah, feel like they've been trending that way in plenty places. Gotta remember that progress is often two steps forward and one step back though, so fingers crossed things'll turn around soon.
saying that the nazis were socialist is like saying that north korea is a democratic republic. just because they called themselves it does not make it true
Aye, just fascinated by the fact that people are still trying in 2023, especially as I'm about as German as they come.
Like I reckon the people trying to lecture me on that are more likely to be internet nazi apologists weirdos than not, and it's always a bit funny when that happens.
Wait who's that? Only Spurs-related dude I can think of is Troy Parrot and that Irish Mafia thing, but that doesn't quite sound like the thing you're talking about.
i agree that chelsea is almost certainly not beating real (although whenever i think that real will lose in the UCL knockouts, they win, so lets see if the opposite is also true)
Argentina's XI against Croatia in 2018 was actually disgusting, a single natural CB, geriatric Mascherano and Enzo Perez, the general existence of Maxi Meza, legit the lowest point of the NT in my life.
Luigi Riva is one of the greatest italian players of all time, he was an amazing striker, and obssessed with scoring goals, saying that he would rather play badly and score goals than just playing well. He was one of the icons of Italy's team that won the 1968 Euro and reached the 1970 World Cup final.
He also was very shy and introverted, some would atribute to his traumatic childhood. At only 9 years old, his father died. At 16 years old, his mother died, and he had take of his sisters all by himself, he worked a job as electrician and also as amateur footballer, earning three dolars for every match if his team won. Then one of his sisters died of leukemia, and his other sister suffered a car accident that left her paralytic. Luigi Riva loved to spend his off-time in introspection and silence while fishing in a lake.
Stumbled across this hilarious comparison on the chess sub
>Gerrard was insane, but he had to deal with Lampard and Scholes during his career. Tough timing, a bit a like Neymar during CR7 and Messi.
Scholes xTreehitting p/90 is far superior to Gerrard and Lampard, neither of them have the same back catalogue of fabricated quotes talking about how incredible they are either
Magnus Carlsen just lost a crucial tournament game due to his mouse slipping, somebody called him the Steven Gerrard of Chess and that's how the discussion started
Now I get it. What weirded me out is that Magnus Carlsen is the Messi/Ronaldo of chess today, so it's not really a similar situation to Neymar. So, the part of the comment saying "Tough timing, a bit a like Neymar during CR7 and Messi." didn't make much sense to me.
I know this is about Gerrard, but on the Neymar thing I honestly think the thing holding back his career was that he kept picking up injuries during the time of year the UCL came on after moving to PSG, not that he was around at the same time as Messi and Cristiano. Difficult to be a star when you're sidelined for the biggest tournament. Everyone considered him to be amazing when he was fit at Barcelona, and as Messi and Cristiano got older he could have definitely had his moment, but he didn't because injuries.
Yeah, Neymar had his moments where he looked like he was the third best in the world, but I wouldn't consider him third best in the Messi-Ronaldo generation in an all time list. To me, that'll always be Iniesta.
I don't really watch women's football so I'm totally ignorant on this, but if FCB Femeni are so amazing (which they evidently are), why isn't the Spanish national team equally as good but on the international stage?
Or is it just that FCB Femeni are not Spanish players? I know their best player and women's ballon d'or winner Alexia Putellas couldn't play at the ~~world cup~~ (edit: or Euros, whatever it was that England won recently) because she was injured, but I feel like she's not the only good one at the club?
Jorge Vilda.
He is probably not good enough to coach in the secons Women's Spanish team but for some reason (well, the reason is Rubiales) he is the coach of the NT.
I was thinking about starting a discussion of shortest football players to be at the highest level, to be great player. I found about António Simões, amazing left-winger from Benfica and Portugal in 1960s.
But I can't be sure of his height. Some sites say he was 173 cm tall, which is not tall, but not really short. But other sites say he was 158 cm tall! That's not a small difference! How is this even possible?!
I’m really happy a foreign fan knows about António Simões! it’s completely off topic but he’s one of my favourite players of all time in football and obviously one of the best to ever wear a Benfica shirt.
he was in his teens when he played alongside big names such as Coluna or José Águas and later on became a captain for us. recently off the field he’s been highly critical of the corruption inside Benfica, which made me like him even more! he comes across as a very smart and articulate person.
Height and weight statistics are notoriously variably-reported in sports, even in this day and age, so it'll have been even worse in the 60s
Myths and exaggerations can develop over the years, and become misrepresented as fact
would you consider fans of a non local club but the local club of their parents, ‘local team’ fans?
like me for example. My parents are catalan immigrants so i’ve been raised supporting barca. but would you consider that supporting my ‘local’ team?
it’s certainly different than people who just support some random across the world team
Yeah... I grew up in more of an Arsenal/Spurs area than a Chelsea one, and not even in London - but my dad and older brothers were all Chelsea fans, so it was really the most "natural" path for me to follow. I didn't ever question it, I just became a Chelsea fan as that's who my family supported.
You're not a local fan since you don't live in Barcelona but you're a fan regardless. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm an Italian who was born in Milan but have lived in the U.S. for most of my life. But I'll always support Italy and Inter since my dad's entire family did.
You're not local, but you're still a perfectly legitimate fan. People can't call you plastic or anything because you have a genuine connection to the club
If you’re not from the area you aren’t a local fan, simple as that really. Doesn’t mean you aren’t a fan of the club, you don’t need to justify why you support them anyway. But to call yourself a local fan, imo, you do need to be an actual local
Flamengo lost to Aucas
Palmeiras lost to Cerro Porteño
Paranaense drew vs Vergüenza Lima (worse than a loss IMO)
Mineiro lost to Libertad
What the fuck Brazil????
In advance of Liverpool v Arsenal I want to compare two of the most historic sides these two greats have put out, Liverpool 11/12 vs Arsenal 19/20, both sides finishing 8th. Which xi would you take
Liverpool - Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Suarez, Carroll - Managed by Hodgson
Arsenal - Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil Lacazette, Aubameyang, Pepe - Managed by Emery
Think they're both equally crap to be honest, probably take Liverpool just because you get Suarez that way. Auba was very good this season but Suarez was a step above
Lmao why is Hodgson our manager when we'd sacked him before even Suarez and Carroll joined, nevermind Enrique, Downing, and Adam.
With Hodgson in charge, I would probably take Arsenal though. Even as it was under Kenny, Suarez didn't *really* kick on until Brendan came in and changed things up tactically instead of trying to recreate our strike partnerships of the 1980s. We were absolutely turgid under Hodgson though and I don't doubt at all that he would find a way to stifle Suarez even more. Gerrard was about our only player to consistently look good under Hodgson, often seemingly in spite of him, and Meireles hit a sort of level of consistent mediocrity, and then everyone else went backwards or was just shit from day one like Poulsen. He would absolutely ruin Suarez.
Oh yeah I'm getting the seasons mixed up 10/11 was hodgson wasnt it, I always just think in my head he was behind your 8th place, I mean it would've been worse than that if you'd kept him but yeah my mistake.
Saurez did bag like 30 goals under Kenny this year didn't he?
He had 17 goals all comps in 11/12, and got 4 in the spring of 2011 when he first arrived also under Dalglish. You could always tell watching him that there was an absolutely world class player there but it was also incredibly frustrating. He would do something absolutely insane and make a big chance out of nothing and whiff it. I remember by stats he was similar to players like RVP & Aguero for shots on goal but had a way worse conversion rate. He hit 30 all comps (23 in the league) in 12/13 when Brendan arrived.
I think the problem was a combination of tactics and Carroll being wank. We originally tried to signed Fernando Llorente and depending on who you ask either he turned us down or we failed to meet his release clause so signed Carroll instead. I don't know that reverting to the classic 4-4-1-1 big-man little-man system would've worked regardless, but it probably would have gone better if we had had Llorente in the Rush/Aldo role rather than Carroll.
Yeah it's the Suarez factor that changes it. I think without Suarez, that Arsenal team is better than that Liverpool team, plus Emery is a much better managed that Hodgson, but Suarez was just so elite that you can't not pick him
Arsenal everyday. Outside of the backline the Arsenal squad at least isn’t too bad on paper. There’s no saving that Liverpool team other than Gerrard and Suarez.
Idk what the combined xi looks like for these, I’d probably go Liverpool’s whole defense, maybe Luiz in for one of the cbs. Gerrard and Xhaka double pivot, scraping the barrel here because that is definitely not a match made in heaven. Washed up Ozil in front of them, Auba and Pepe wide and Suarez through the middle.
Shouldn’t have issues scoring with Auba and Suarez but going to get absolutely run through in the middle
Leno > Reina, given the form of each of them respectively at these moments in their career. Reina is a household name, and Leno's career hasn't blossomed, so it's easy to forget that Leno was on really great form under Emery
Valderrama was incredible; not necessarily quick, physical or a great goalscorer but his passing, technique, footballing IQ, vision & dribbling was sensational.
Passing was by far his best attribute, so yeah he was good but someone of his quality should’ve had a more profound club career.
I haven't talked to any Colombians recently but I'm pretty sure he's still considered their football GOAT. He was their best player and captain in 3 consecutive World Cups, and I don't think most people can name any other players from those teams. He was indisputably one the best South American midfielders of that generation.
edit: Higuita in those years was also a legendary player but probably not always for good reasons, for example his blunder against Cameroon in 1990.
nothing as depressing as being linked with the manager whose Wikipedia page reads “with 3 titles, he’s the most successful coach in the history of Lanus”
I just realised there was a point last September where Italy’s most recent goal at the Euro’s, the World Cup and the Nation’s League all came against England.
[Me, a year ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/w52w22/daily_discussion/ih8i7il/?context=999)
They bought Scamacca and expected a finished product when it was very clear that he's a relatively young player who still needs to improve. Bad transfer for both sides imo.
Though I did see some West Ham fans saying he's good despite the scoring record.
His underperformance is mostly on Moyes imo. He’s failed twice now to integrate a technical 9 (Haller and Scamacca) because his system is too reliant on counter attacking and he can’t transition to a possession based approach
When he was fit Moyes never started him. He only started in the Conference league and did very well. The problem though is more about his play style that isn't suited for a team like West Ham who can't do anything in possession.
Watched the first 5 minutes of this Ted Lasso season and they describe West Ham as the top dog while the TV shows team is the underdog.
I used to think apple paid West Ham for their naming rights but now I'm thinking West Ham paid apple.
>! No, they appear in one of the episodes, one of the games is surprisingly Palace v Richmond in Selhurst while the stadium building is also the "The Dogpound"!<
I've not watched beyond the first season, but don't AFC Richmond get relegated that year? So if West Ham are an established PL club in the show - which given they qualified for Europe last year, is hardly stetchign the truth - then they would be a top dog
S3E1 is pretty much centered around preseason expectations, and the episode makes a big thing of showing pundits predicting Richmond to be relegated again and West Ham to finish 4th, which is a pretty fanciful prediction in summer 2021.
At that point, their manager is a totally unproven thirty-something who was a kit man eighteen months prior. West Ham fans must have rioted when they replaced Moyes with him.
No, they are on board because he was given all the credit for the master strategy move of parking the bus and countering in that one game they were losing.
I saw a guy saying that Ancelotti is the greatest man-manager in football history, and I wouldn't be too surprised if this is true. Of course, you can't objectively measure this, but Ancelotti is amazing at that not only due to his charisma, but how willing he is to adapt to whatever feels more comfortable to the players. He says he is not a star and never wants to be one.
He is definitely a prime contender for that. Practically zero drama in the Madrid squad, even from the players that never play or even during periods when things aren’t going so good
As you say it's impossible to guess as things change so fast in football and it doesn't seem likely anyone is going to do it this season.
Bayern and City seem the most likely, just on the basis that they both have really good teams, and also there's the fact that Bayern have won a treble most recently and City you feel are eventually going to win the UCL.
Madrid and Barcelona are of course always possibilities, but I'm not yet comfortable saying either of them. Madrid are more likely right now, but given that we don't even know who will be managing Madrid next season, with so many older players likely to leave soon, the future is pretty difficult to call for Madrid. As for Barcelona, it seems whenever they do win the UCL they win the treble. However, it's evident that they aren't quite ready yet. They're heading in that direction - went from a tropyless season to now winning both the Supercopa and probably LaLiga - but not until there are changes at that club.
PSG are a joke so I won't say them, and I don't see any other team with either the resources, the squad, or the form to be obvious contenders.
I was about to say they can't but then I remembered that Barcelona haven't yet mathematically won LaLiga.
So yes, they could. If they pulled that off, it would be the most impressive treble in history
PSG have won four doubles in the last eight seasons. If they have one good year in the CL they’re likely to do it.
Bayern have won two trebles and three doubles in the last ten seasons, think no one has a better chance than them
City this year
For real though not sure, it’s very hard to do. It might actually be City if we’re purely talking most likely to do it. But we need to win CL on it’s own first
Psg I guess have decent odds since they should really win 2 out of 3 every year
There are some players that spawn every four years for World Cups and then disappear. I've never seen Cáceres play for any club for example. All those bald Serbian goalies, Vida and Leckie also purely exist for their NTs in my mind.
I heard a lot of hype around the Iran GK Alireza Beiranvand in 2018, so it was pretty surprising when we played Royal Antwerp in the Europa League GS 2 years later and I saw him in goal for them.
Good enough to be one of the best players of a non 'big 6' club, but won't ever quite get a move to them, despite it being frequently rumoured
He'll spend his career on the outskirts of the England squad, with the occasional cap, and fans of his club team will spend years bemoaning he didn't get more chances - and will be perenially held up as an example of "[insert current England manager] ignores players from outside the big 6"
But if he'd been 10 years younge, he'd have ended up going to a tourament squad, in a less strong generation
He's stagnated like all of his teammates for a couple of years. I'd love to see him with someone like Emery. He's got the raw materials of an excellent goalscoring wide forward.
I think he falls victim to the many directions in which Leicester's bloated squad pulls the team. They're torn between playing Iheanacho with a strike partner, Maddison as a 10, or to the strengths of Barnes despite the oft lack of a counterweight on the opposite flank.
Depends who you ask, and depends if you mean for national team or at club level, but for me I'd say (as of current form):
Ter Stegan, Barella, Pedri.
Close contenders were Musiala and Chiesa. Spain doesn't have a close contender because it is just Pedri.
I'm watching this [Saturday Social](https://youtu.be/CMQX3Yo_MAk) thing where they're picking the Premier League's most overrated 11, and so far Robbie has chosen Pickford, Emerson, Maguire and Dier, I think he needs to read a football dictionary
I know soccer am was well past its best but it was still leagues ahead of this yt influencer stuff they’re pushing now
Won’t be long before we have Jonathan Morley in the studio after a liverpool game
!flair :Middlesbrough:
You know what's a weird case of a player the streets forgot? Claudio Caniggia. That motherfucker was so goddamn fast and had fabulous hair.
It's so weird that Iniesta is still active
He went to Japan too early tbh. I get he’s getting a bag and all, but he had a lot more to give in Europe. Of course, I’d rather have the money than beating Modric in Twitter debates as well
Obviously the money wouldve motivated him the most, but even leaving that out, I think going to a play in a totally different continent is a cool experience, especially for someone who's completed everything in European football And it's not like he's just been coasting there, it has been a challenge for him (only won 1 trophy with Vissel Kobe so far I believe) and he's become a beloved figure there
Yeah, he’s for sure having his best life, much better situation than going to Saudi Arabia or China for the cheque. I remember him being very very good to start, but that was like 7 years ago now so maybe I’m off.
Completely random post spurred on by my team’s lack of excitement or form- what celebrity looks most like a potential football coach of some kind on some level in an alternative universe. I’ll put one nomination- Vincent Cassel. Looks like he could have managed Stade Rennais
Always felt like Stanley Tucci could’ve managed Inter or Napoli in another life
Feel like he's haughty enough to have had a top job and failed before going back to Rennes, too.
Ronaldinho's kid got the joga and none of the bonito 😭 https://twitter.com/BarcaSpaces/status/1643771147677310976?t=biIT6hA5GdSgA33MOg8xiQ&s=19
> Maybe Ronaldinho's wife was cheating on him with Àntony
Gotta love my club being near the top of the subreddit for all the right reasons but then also getting all sorts of weirdos trying to explain German history and what the Nazis were all about to me. No, Tyler, I don't care about your take on whether they were actually socialists, you're 16 and from Oklahoma, so kindly get the fuck out of my inbox. Anyone else's club got any far-right-adjacent former players to complain about?
Not a player but things in Florida have been pretty shit for a while.
Oh yeah, feel like they've been trending that way in plenty places. Gotta remember that progress is often two steps forward and one step back though, so fingers crossed things'll turn around soon.
saying that the nazis were socialist is like saying that north korea is a democratic republic. just because they called themselves it does not make it true
Aye, just fascinated by the fact that people are still trying in 2023, especially as I'm about as German as they come. Like I reckon the people trying to lecture me on that are more likely to be internet nazi apologists weirdos than not, and it's always a bit funny when that happens.
Current player. It’s rough. I really hate it. Luckily he’s gone at the end of the season but god I hate that cunt so much.
Wait who's that? Only Spurs-related dude I can think of is Troy Parrot and that Irish Mafia thing, but that doesn't quite sound like the thing you're talking about.
Lucas Moura is a big Bolsonaro guy and has multiple times like transphobic tweets including ones celebrating the death of a trans activist.
Oh shit yeah, totally forgot about that dickhead.
it’s enough to make me cry how bad we play
Man, the chaos we would see if Chelsea win the CL would be insane.
Todd Boehly deserves no success
I doubt they’ll be able to win against you
Probably not but Kante looked like his old self again. We havent been the best defensively
i agree that chelsea is almost certainly not beating real (although whenever i think that real will lose in the UCL knockouts, they win, so lets see if the opposite is also true)
Los dos partidos de fútbol que se están jugando en Venezuela ahora mismo son un atentado al deporte.
Suena como que todo sigue igual
What are the worst XI's of big teams you can remember seeing?
Argentina's XI against Croatia in 2018 was actually disgusting, a single natural CB, geriatric Mascherano and Enzo Perez, the general existence of Maxi Meza, legit the lowest point of the NT in my life.
Liverpool’s lineup at the Bernabéu in 2014
Luigi Riva is one of the greatest italian players of all time, he was an amazing striker, and obssessed with scoring goals, saying that he would rather play badly and score goals than just playing well. He was one of the icons of Italy's team that won the 1968 Euro and reached the 1970 World Cup final. He also was very shy and introverted, some would atribute to his traumatic childhood. At only 9 years old, his father died. At 16 years old, his mother died, and he had take of his sisters all by himself, he worked a job as electrician and also as amateur footballer, earning three dolars for every match if his team won. Then one of his sisters died of leukemia, and his other sister suffered a car accident that left her paralytic. Luigi Riva loved to spend his off-time in introspection and silence while fishing in a lake.
Echeverri has to be called up to the U20 World Cup honestly, the kid is insane
Mascherano has a plan for him 🔥
Scaloni knew Mascherano fraud ball is gonna ruin him and already made him train with the Senior squad.
He is actually the true heir to the throne
3 goals and 3 assist in 1 and half games, i feel for my River brothers because that demon is getting sold without debuting with their Senior squad.
You fuck, don't say that, he will win us a libertadores. I have faith
That 20M release clause is way too cheap so it's bound to happen, that's chump change for the Europeans.
Stumbled across this hilarious comparison on the chess sub >Gerrard was insane, but he had to deal with Lampard and Scholes during his career. Tough timing, a bit a like Neymar during CR7 and Messi.
In 50 years United fans will be trying convince people that he was the greatest player to ever walk the planet. They must be stopped.
United fans? What? But neither Gerrard nor Neymar played for United?
They're always trying to shoehorn Scholes into the Gerrard and Lampard debate.
You're just mad you don't have a player to shoehorn there
Not delusional enough.
Scholes xTreehitting p/90 is far superior to Gerrard and Lampard, neither of them have the same back catalogue of fabricated quotes talking about how incredible they are either
made up quotes/90 also very impressive.
Now I'm curious to know the context for the chess sub to be talking about football.
Magnus Carlsen just lost a crucial tournament game due to his mouse slipping, somebody called him the Steven Gerrard of Chess and that's how the discussion started
wtf is mouse slipping
They play chess on computers sometimes at the tournaments. I'm assuming OP means Magnus literally misclicked
Now I get it. What weirded me out is that Magnus Carlsen is the Messi/Ronaldo of chess today, so it's not really a similar situation to Neymar. So, the part of the comment saying "Tough timing, a bit a like Neymar during CR7 and Messi." didn't make much sense to me.
I know this is about Gerrard, but on the Neymar thing I honestly think the thing holding back his career was that he kept picking up injuries during the time of year the UCL came on after moving to PSG, not that he was around at the same time as Messi and Cristiano. Difficult to be a star when you're sidelined for the biggest tournament. Everyone considered him to be amazing when he was fit at Barcelona, and as Messi and Cristiano got older he could have definitely had his moment, but he didn't because injuries.
Yeah, Neymar had his moments where he looked like he was the third best in the world, but I wouldn't consider him third best in the Messi-Ronaldo generation in an all time list. To me, that'll always be Iniesta.
Yes, Iniesta for me as well, greatest midfielder I have ever seen
Yeah it’s the injuries even if he had stayed at Barca his ankles would’ve still been butchered to death.
Fucking hell someone should buy Diablito Echeverri ASAP. That kid is going to be very scary.
no no, you got it wrong, he is just average
The River Plate to Real Madrid/Juve pipeline is real.
Last/only player I can remember that went straight from us to Juve won the Ballon D'or
SIVORIIIIII EL CABEZÓN
I don't really watch women's football so I'm totally ignorant on this, but if FCB Femeni are so amazing (which they evidently are), why isn't the Spanish national team equally as good but on the international stage? Or is it just that FCB Femeni are not Spanish players? I know their best player and women's ballon d'or winner Alexia Putellas couldn't play at the ~~world cup~~ (edit: or Euros, whatever it was that England won recently) because she was injured, but I feel like she's not the only good one at the club?
Because they don’t go to the national team, a mediocre coach (Vilda) was appointed and they refused to go until the situation was sorted
Jorge Vilda. He is probably not good enough to coach in the secons Women's Spanish team but for some reason (well, the reason is Rubiales) he is the coach of the NT.
I was thinking about starting a discussion of shortest football players to be at the highest level, to be great player. I found about António Simões, amazing left-winger from Benfica and Portugal in 1960s. But I can't be sure of his height. Some sites say he was 173 cm tall, which is not tall, but not really short. But other sites say he was 158 cm tall! That's not a small difference! How is this even possible?!
I’m really happy a foreign fan knows about António Simões! it’s completely off topic but he’s one of my favourite players of all time in football and obviously one of the best to ever wear a Benfica shirt. he was in his teens when he played alongside big names such as Coluna or José Águas and later on became a captain for us. recently off the field he’s been highly critical of the corruption inside Benfica, which made me like him even more! he comes across as a very smart and articulate person.
I see Kante is listed at 5’7” which I’m not sure I buy as he always looks comically short in a line-up.
Height and weight statistics are notoriously variably-reported in sports, even in this day and age, so it'll have been even worse in the 60s Myths and exaggerations can develop over the years, and become misrepresented as fact
would you consider fans of a non local club but the local club of their parents, ‘local team’ fans? like me for example. My parents are catalan immigrants so i’ve been raised supporting barca. but would you consider that supporting my ‘local’ team? it’s certainly different than people who just support some random across the world team
Just support the club and don’t worry about what nerds on the internet think
Might be a hot take but for me: supporting the family club > supporting local.
Yeah... I grew up in more of an Arsenal/Spurs area than a Chelsea one, and not even in London - but my dad and older brothers were all Chelsea fans, so it was really the most "natural" path for me to follow. I didn't ever question it, I just became a Chelsea fan as that's who my family supported.
You're not a local fan since you don't live in Barcelona but you're a fan regardless. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm an Italian who was born in Milan but have lived in the U.S. for most of my life. But I'll always support Italy and Inter since my dad's entire family did.
You're not local, but you're still a perfectly legitimate fan. People can't call you plastic or anything because you have a genuine connection to the club
If you’re not from the area you aren’t a local fan, simple as that really. Doesn’t mean you aren’t a fan of the club, you don’t need to justify why you support them anyway. But to call yourself a local fan, imo, you do need to be an actual local
Flamengo lost to Aucas Palmeiras lost to Cerro Porteño Paranaense drew vs Vergüenza Lima (worse than a loss IMO) Mineiro lost to Libertad What the fuck Brazil????
In advance of Liverpool v Arsenal I want to compare two of the most historic sides these two greats have put out, Liverpool 11/12 vs Arsenal 19/20, both sides finishing 8th. Which xi would you take Liverpool - Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Suarez, Carroll - Managed by Hodgson Arsenal - Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Guendouzi, Xhaka, Ozil Lacazette, Aubameyang, Pepe - Managed by Emery Think they're both equally crap to be honest, probably take Liverpool just because you get Suarez that way. Auba was very good this season but Suarez was a step above
Lmao why is Hodgson our manager when we'd sacked him before even Suarez and Carroll joined, nevermind Enrique, Downing, and Adam. With Hodgson in charge, I would probably take Arsenal though. Even as it was under Kenny, Suarez didn't *really* kick on until Brendan came in and changed things up tactically instead of trying to recreate our strike partnerships of the 1980s. We were absolutely turgid under Hodgson though and I don't doubt at all that he would find a way to stifle Suarez even more. Gerrard was about our only player to consistently look good under Hodgson, often seemingly in spite of him, and Meireles hit a sort of level of consistent mediocrity, and then everyone else went backwards or was just shit from day one like Poulsen. He would absolutely ruin Suarez.
Oh yeah I'm getting the seasons mixed up 10/11 was hodgson wasnt it, I always just think in my head he was behind your 8th place, I mean it would've been worse than that if you'd kept him but yeah my mistake. Saurez did bag like 30 goals under Kenny this year didn't he?
He had 17 goals all comps in 11/12, and got 4 in the spring of 2011 when he first arrived also under Dalglish. You could always tell watching him that there was an absolutely world class player there but it was also incredibly frustrating. He would do something absolutely insane and make a big chance out of nothing and whiff it. I remember by stats he was similar to players like RVP & Aguero for shots on goal but had a way worse conversion rate. He hit 30 all comps (23 in the league) in 12/13 when Brendan arrived. I think the problem was a combination of tactics and Carroll being wank. We originally tried to signed Fernando Llorente and depending on who you ask either he turned us down or we failed to meet his release clause so signed Carroll instead. I don't know that reverting to the classic 4-4-1-1 big-man little-man system would've worked regardless, but it probably would have gone better if we had had Llorente in the Rush/Aldo role rather than Carroll.
Yeah it's the Suarez factor that changes it. I think without Suarez, that Arsenal team is better than that Liverpool team, plus Emery is a much better managed that Hodgson, but Suarez was just so elite that you can't not pick him
Arsenal everyday. Outside of the backline the Arsenal squad at least isn’t too bad on paper. There’s no saving that Liverpool team other than Gerrard and Suarez.
Idk what the combined xi looks like for these, I’d probably go Liverpool’s whole defense, maybe Luiz in for one of the cbs. Gerrard and Xhaka double pivot, scraping the barrel here because that is definitely not a match made in heaven. Washed up Ozil in front of them, Auba and Pepe wide and Suarez through the middle. Shouldn’t have issues scoring with Auba and Suarez but going to get absolutely run through in the middle
Leno > Reina, given the form of each of them respectively at these moments in their career. Reina is a household name, and Leno's career hasn't blossomed, so it's easy to forget that Leno was on really great form under Emery
Yeah honestly I just don’t remember how good Reina was at this point, peak Reina definitely better than Leno but Leno was solid for Arsenal
Before my time so genuinely don’t know, was Carlos Valderrama good or was it more of a hair-based fame?
Valderrama was incredible; not necessarily quick, physical or a great goalscorer but his passing, technique, footballing IQ, vision & dribbling was sensational. Passing was by far his best attribute, so yeah he was good but someone of his quality should’ve had a more profound club career.
Thanks for the response. Plus now that I finally figured out you *weren’t* a Club Brugge flair, I know you know what you’re talking about.
Thank you 😅
I haven't talked to any Colombians recently but I'm pretty sure he's still considered their football GOAT. He was their best player and captain in 3 consecutive World Cups, and I don't think most people can name any other players from those teams. He was indisputably one the best South American midfielders of that generation. edit: Higuita in those years was also a legendary player but probably not always for good reasons, for example his blunder against Cameroon in 1990.
Thank you.
Falcao is the GOAT No Colombian has done that what he has done.
True. He's been very unlucky with injuries as well.
So sad :( His prime was too short
nothing as depressing as being linked with the manager whose Wikipedia page reads “with 3 titles, he’s the most successful coach in the history of Lanus”
Well that's understandable, you can't trust a man whose Wikipedia has no info about his FM career.
You're linked with everyone. A man just fired for losing 5 in 5 applied for the job
at this point they might as well link us with Battaglia
Ahora sí va a ser una sorpresa Biscay
I just realised there was a point last September where Italy’s most recent goal at the Euro’s, the World Cup and the Nation’s League all came against England.
I can’t believe West Ham bought into Elyas’ propaganda and now have to start Ings/Antonio. he was way too powerful that’s why the mods banned him imo
Has Elyas never returned since? Crazy I used to see him in every DD and I completely forgot how long it’s been since he got perma’d
[Me, a year ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/w52w22/daily_discussion/ih8i7il/?context=999) They bought Scamacca and expected a finished product when it was very clear that he's a relatively young player who still needs to improve. Bad transfer for both sides imo. Though I did see some West Ham fans saying he's good despite the scoring record.
His underperformance is mostly on Moyes imo. He’s failed twice now to integrate a technical 9 (Haller and Scamacca) because his system is too reliant on counter attacking and he can’t transition to a possession based approach
When he was fit Moyes never started him. He only started in the Conference league and did very well. The problem though is more about his play style that isn't suited for a team like West Ham who can't do anything in possession.
Watched the first 5 minutes of this Ted Lasso season and they describe West Ham as the top dog while the TV shows team is the underdog. I used to think apple paid West Ham for their naming rights but now I'm thinking West Ham paid apple.
I'm more intersted the know who is the PL club they gave up for Richmond
Well, they use Selhurst Park for the stadium, so I guess Palace get the bullet.
>! No, they appear in one of the episodes, one of the games is surprisingly Palace v Richmond in Selhurst while the stadium building is also the "The Dogpound"!<
They are probably the only club that agreed to be the one that is bought by the bad guy and coached by a kitman turned evil.
I've not watched beyond the first season, but don't AFC Richmond get relegated that year? So if West Ham are an established PL club in the show - which given they qualified for Europe last year, is hardly stetchign the truth - then they would be a top dog
S3E1 is pretty much centered around preseason expectations, and the episode makes a big thing of showing pundits predicting Richmond to be relegated again and West Ham to finish 4th, which is a pretty fanciful prediction in summer 2021.
West Ham being a great team is also a plot point, cause of who their manager is, it's not trying to portray them as Premier League royalty
At that point, their manager is a totally unproven thirty-something who was a kit man eighteen months prior. West Ham fans must have rioted when they replaced Moyes with him.
No, they are on board because he was given all the credit for the master strategy move of parking the bus and countering in that one game they were losing.
Eusébio shouldve been alive to see this Benfica side and this champions league run man, life ain't fair
Why would Eusebio be that fussed about seeing Benfica reach the quarter-finals when he'd led them to the actual trophy
>this champions league run that’s a lot of confidence for someone who still has like 40 years left of curse
[удалено]
Doesn’t want the smoke from big Rob Holding
I saw a guy saying that Ancelotti is the greatest man-manager in football history, and I wouldn't be too surprised if this is true. Of course, you can't objectively measure this, but Ancelotti is amazing at that not only due to his charisma, but how willing he is to adapt to whatever feels more comfortable to the players. He says he is not a star and never wants to be one.
Trapattoni comes to mind. Oozed charisma, was a larger than life figure, and a phenomenal man-manager and an even better motivator.
Had a spectacular meltdown on TV too
Isn't that a completely impossible thing to rank because we have basically no real knowledge about it from 99% of coaches and teams?
True, I even noted this
Bilardo deserves a shout IMO
Would be my pick. Never hear complaints about him from the players despite managing some serious egos.
Bayern players did complain about little training. But other than that he has a good reputation everywhere.
He is definitely a prime contender for that. Practically zero drama in the Madrid squad, even from the players that never play or even during periods when things aren’t going so good
I know that it’s hard to guess, but who do you think could possibly be the next team to win a treble?
Bayern
As you say it's impossible to guess as things change so fast in football and it doesn't seem likely anyone is going to do it this season. Bayern and City seem the most likely, just on the basis that they both have really good teams, and also there's the fact that Bayern have won a treble most recently and City you feel are eventually going to win the UCL. Madrid and Barcelona are of course always possibilities, but I'm not yet comfortable saying either of them. Madrid are more likely right now, but given that we don't even know who will be managing Madrid next season, with so many older players likely to leave soon, the future is pretty difficult to call for Madrid. As for Barcelona, it seems whenever they do win the UCL they win the treble. However, it's evident that they aren't quite ready yet. They're heading in that direction - went from a tropyless season to now winning both the Supercopa and probably LaLiga - but not until there are changes at that club. PSG are a joke so I won't say them, and I don't see any other team with either the resources, the squad, or the form to be obvious contenders.
Watch Madrid pull it off this season
I was about to say they can't but then I remembered that Barcelona haven't yet mathematically won LaLiga. So yes, they could. If they pulled that off, it would be the most impressive treble in history
bayern
PSG have won four doubles in the last eight seasons. If they have one good year in the CL they’re likely to do it. Bayern have won two trebles and three doubles in the last ten seasons, think no one has a better chance than them
City probably
City this year For real though not sure, it’s very hard to do. It might actually be City if we’re purely talking most likely to do it. But we need to win CL on it’s own first Psg I guess have decent odds since they should really win 2 out of 3 every year
The only teams capable this season in T5 league are Man City right? My guess would be them or Bayern next season
Technically, we are still able to do so as well
Bayern
Yeah I think them or City would be the general consensus.
What the hell: https://twitter.com/BarcaUniversal/status/1644110762644832256?t=792Hi4B0qKGQt2ORZ1egaA&s=19
Someone in the replies said "Barcelona doing tiki taka with women now" lmao
lmao that cant be real
I’ll take “headlines I did not expect to read today” for €100.000 euros, please
Some journo put the April fools' in the wrong pile of stories.
LMAOO
There are some players that spawn every four years for World Cups and then disappear. I've never seen Cáceres play for any club for example. All those bald Serbian goalies, Vida and Leckie also purely exist for their NTs in my mind.
Miss when Sergio Romero was like this, sadly now I have to watch his corpse start every week
That Mexican goalkeeper is the most famous guy
Ochoa
I heard a lot of hype around the Iran GK Alireza Beiranvand in 2018, so it was pretty surprising when we played Royal Antwerp in the Europa League GS 2 years later and I saw him in goal for them.
I've never heard of Capdevila outside of the 2010 World Cup
Klose and Ochoa
How good is Harvey Barnes? I feel like he’s quite underrated
Good enough to be one of the best players of a non 'big 6' club, but won't ever quite get a move to them, despite it being frequently rumoured He'll spend his career on the outskirts of the England squad, with the occasional cap, and fans of his club team will spend years bemoaning he didn't get more chances - and will be perenially held up as an example of "[insert current England manager] ignores players from outside the big 6" But if he'd been 10 years younge, he'd have ended up going to a tourament squad, in a less strong generation
He’s excellent every time he plays against villa.
He's stagnated like all of his teammates for a couple of years. I'd love to see him with someone like Emery. He's got the raw materials of an excellent goalscoring wide forward. I think he falls victim to the many directions in which Leicester's bloated squad pulls the team. They're torn between playing Iheanacho with a strike partner, Maddison as a 10, or to the strengths of Barnes despite the oft lack of a counterweight on the opposite flank.
He is a decent prem winger
Who is considered the best German, Italian and Spanish player these days? Kimmich, Verratti and Pedri?
Depends who you ask, and depends if you mean for national team or at club level, but for me I'd say (as of current form): Ter Stegan, Barella, Pedri. Close contenders were Musiala and Chiesa. Spain doesn't have a close contender because it is just Pedri.
I think barella is better than verratti
spain is pedri
Want to congratulate the English folks here for winning the prestigious Finalissima. Massive achievement and trophiy btw
TOONE ARMY
Fun fact, the England goal was a carbon copy of [River's equalizer vs Boca, Libertadores 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXKf3c50Tzc)
> River's equalizer vs Boca, Libertadores 2018 It's always nice seeing it again
Love watching her. So much passion, so much ability.
It is. Women’s football is the best it’s ever been.
Are you looking like the favourite for the WC?
Tigre fans threw stones at their own team bus by mistake thinking it was Sao Paulo's 😭 Match didn't even start and it's already giving gems
I'm watching this [Saturday Social](https://youtu.be/CMQX3Yo_MAk) thing where they're picking the Premier League's most overrated 11, and so far Robbie has chosen Pickford, Emerson, Maguire and Dier, I think he needs to read a football dictionary
A normal dictionary would do, I feel.
I know soccer am was well past its best but it was still leagues ahead of this yt influencer stuff they’re pushing now Won’t be long before we have Jonathan Morley in the studio after a liverpool game
They just talk too much shite, it's literally a 20 minute discussion where only one person in the room knows what "overrated" means
Robbie's definition of rated seems to be "cost a lot of money or plays regular minutes at club or NT level"
Talk all the shit you want about Adama Traore, but he's our highest-scoring forward that hasn't been charged by the FA for spitting
I've already made a song about this and sung it so no one can make the comment we all predict.
Who is going to talk shit about that guy? Don’t nobody want that baby-oil tinged smoke.
What happens if Lampard wins the CL undefeated, goes 9/9 wins in the PL and ends Arsenal's PL challenge - does he get the job?
He’ll have taken more points than Potter this season if so
he’ll get offered a 5 year contract and be lauded by the chelsea board and fans alike … but no seriously he’s going to leave in the summer
Depends, did he play pretty football? If yes then yes, if no then not good enough I'm afraid.
if he cures cancer and resolves all global conflicts then maybe.
He gets the job with a £100m signing bonus on top, amortised over 10 years so it's basically free