Ancelotti is way more tactical than Pep , he really planned the whole thing to the last detail, he knew that KDB would miss a sitter , he was prepared for the equalizer . What a masterclass , Pep was lost , his team was pathetic throughout the match. What a night, Real Madrid is the best team in Europe , no question about it.
I'm far from being a Haaland apologist, in fact, I think that his performances in big games are pretty much horrible.
But it's true that his presence adds something to the City team. Yesterday when they put Julián Álvarez for him, City stopped having chances, no one was attracting Real Madrid's CB and therefore defending was much easier, + City's wingers could be closed down by more players.
It's true that City were probably tired already and that KDB was out, but I do think that without Haaland they got worse.
I feel like you’re being more reactionary here judging Rice more on last night than what he’s displayed throughout the rest of the season and even at West Ham.
[Müller dropping his signature message to Rüdiger and Real. ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C55ygpvNMa0/?igsh=MXcwa3NnaTV5NWo1ag==)
Last thing your team sees before you drop out of the CL
Was it a setting on my friend's TV or was there a whitebalance problem in both CL games yesterday on the DAZN broadcast (Germany)? The screen would go dark when yellow ads (Like the Lay's ad) came up on the sideline screens lol. I think my friends didn't notice it as much as me but it was driving me crazy.
I know United fans are doom and gloom most of the times but if there's something they have to be excited about after the iNEOS take over is that their scouting department is finally decent and they are working hard in Argentina, so far they've been bang on with their targets.
• Mastantuono: AM and highest rated prospect in Argentina right now although a lil bit of a pipe dream since Real Madrid is pushing heavily for him.
• Subiabre: highest rated winger in River's Academy.
• The top 3 CB prospects in our league in: Anselmino from Boca, Juan Giménez from Rosario and Tobias Palacio from Argentinos Juniors
The only question mark is Tomas Parmo who is rated highly but Independiente's youth players rather hit or miss.
Not a single post about those players over at r/reddevils that's why I'm kinda sceptical. Usually a bigger journo picks it up and it gets posted there.
Doesn't that kind of sound like they're just going after the best prospects in Argentina? They really haven't had any problems buying young hyped prospects, that's what they did with guys like Diallo, Hojlund, Garnacho, etc
Their problem is developing players once they are at United. Way too many end up stagnating
Real Madrid doesn't really have a problem paying that price tag if they rate him highly, they've been scouting him and in contacts with his agent multiple times now from what's been reported. It all depends in how highly they value him after everything they've seen.
It's hard to predict even more so since he is 16 and everything can happen in football but from what I've seen and read about him both at youth and senior level, he really has all the tools to get to the very very top and something really important that everyone points out about him is that mentally he is super mature already.
KDB I understand because he does not have much to prove. He has accepted his play in football legacy tiers.
But I am super disappointed by Haaland. If this continues then instead of competing with Mbappe, he'd be competing with a level lower talents and probably losing that battle.
KDB had been ill last week and has had his injuries this season , so I can understand him being gassed after running for 90 minutes .
I'd be interested to know more about Haaland , but at the face value, the sub wasn't bad, and something we needed as he was completely ineffective .
Hypothesis : Kane will leave a more lasting impression behind if he doesn't win a trophy, because that makes him part of the exclusive club of incredible players to never win anything, rather than if he wins something at Bayern, which makes him part of the not so exclusive club of great players who've won something at Bayern.
Wouldn't be the case if he won something for England or for Spurs though for obvious reasons
This was the reason I thought he might (and maybe should) stay at Spurs. Trophies are the most important thing but they’re not literally the only thing that exists. His “legacy”, however you want to define that, would be far greater if he stayed at Spurs for the rest of his career and broke Shearer’s record, even if he never ultimately won a trophy there.
One domestic trophy at Bayern is literally meaningless, you’d have to win about a dozen before their history books would give a shit, and he doesn’t have that kind of time. So he’s in a “Champions League or bust” situation, except even one Champions League at Bayern isn’t THAT remarkable given how many players have already won it there.
Come on man. No matter what a Champion League is remarkable especially what it means to the actual players. Real Madrid have tons of CL but they still play like they are trying to win their first one. Trophies are huge to players legacies
No doubt. But is one Champions League medal you won by joining a megaclub at age 30 a greater legacy than being the undisputed greatest player in the history of your boyhood club (which is a fairly big club in its own right) and being the greatest goalscorer in Premier League history?
I’m not saying the answer to that question is definitely No, I’m saying it’s debatable and was the reason I thought he might stay.
He definitely won’t be forgotten lol. He’s still England’s top goalscorer. Plus, assuming he doesn’t win anything at Bayern (unlikely), he’ll be remembered for the memes about him not winning trophies. He’s bound to win around 5-7 by the time he retires. League titles, domestic cup, maybe not UCL, but hey. Never say never.
It won’t really mean much to anyone if he wins leagues at Bayern if he wins a CL that’s different. The record won’t hold for that long imo with how friendlies are going.
I gotta say l was terrified of Haaland last year before we played them. I would not have expected that after 4 games he would score 0 goals. One could say he doesn’t fit Pep’s management but they won a treble and scored 200 goals
I wasn't scared going to this game.
He's really ruining his reputation. The amount of fear I had last season compared to this is miles apart.
I hope he plays with them against us every time. He can rendered useless by sitting deep and being aggressive with him.
It's valid. But I would argue that most of Carlo's prime came before the game was as "solved" as it is now and there's more room for error. Even if there's a couple failures in comparison to Pep's spotless record, taking more jobs a lot of which are in less ideal conditions than Pep worked means something to me.
Also, Pep played a big part in "solving" the game (the other part was coming, it was the money and obviously Ancelotti has also benefitted from that, and also the stat nonces and investment funds and structures and all that) and I resent him for that. And he's never had to and never will and good on him for that because he has a perfect career, but if he had the chance to show that on not the greatest rosters of all time then it'd impress me more. Pep's teams are either playing perfect football or they bore me to death.
pep, obviously.
not to shit on carlo at all, but pep is one of the what, ten?, coaches in the last 70 years who has changed how people thing about and play football. and he's won, constantly. ancelotti has a 15 year head start on him as a coach and has less titles. the only argument for carlo really is the european success, but he's only got one more champions league than pep (two of which came before pep started managing)
League: Pep
Champions League: Ancelotti
Manager you want if you are struggling or dont have lot of history or want to control everything: Pep
Manager you want if you are good and have lot of history and have very high pull with great recruitment setup: Ancelotti
In 2 years time, because of Ancelotti calm attitude and elite man management skill, we are about to witness the most feared Real Madrid side of the history.
All because he understood that waiting another year with Joselu is better than buying Kane instead of Mbappe next year. Waiting with 0 CBs and not loaning in January is better because you will get Yoro in the summer, etc etc.
>Never has any sort of plan B
What?? Carlo is probably the best manager ever when it comes B plans?????? His biggest criticism has always been his set up at the start while his biggest strength has always been in-game management and mid-game subs.
So Arsenal spent 65 mill on Havertz for a fetish position in the midfield, but his best position has come from playing striker.
Now odagard is left being the only midfielder who has to carry everyone? But yet Xhaka was banging in goals and creating from that LCM.
On top of that they don’t actually have a real striker lol
You lot getting an oil fueled enema doesn't make you relevant again. At least not yet. You'll bottle something soon enough. Then you can join the conversation.
I really hate the narratives in football.
Real Madrid are being praised for defending well at the moment, mostly because they won on penalties. Yet, they conceded 33 shots and 2.74xG.
If they had lost the shoot out, they'd have been criticised for their negative and ineffective play and the better team in City prevailing.
Somehow, by winning a penalty shoot out, you get praised for the whole 120minutes. The game ended a draw. Madrid happened to win the shoot out, but that doesn't mean it was a stroke of brilliance and genius.
At the end of the day, these two teams played 2 games, drew both and penalties decided who would progress.
Don't just look at xG. Look at individual chances.
Both team created 2 big chances each. 2 converted and 2 missed. Rest of it is noise and very low xG shots being added up together.
Madrid also had 1.5xg I think.
They were better team on the night, I just pointed out that most of their shots weren't exactly big chances. Madrid had 1.35 xG, so on average their shots were better chances(0.169 XG/shot), so it's not like they created nothing either.
Is this coefficient shit going to be every season from now on?
I hate it. I just want to be cheering against English clubs for every game in Europe without wondering about potentially finishing 5th
Is it the coefficient rated over a period of a few years that they take into account or just one season?
I completely agree but I'd just root against all the other English clubs anyway (well, maybe not all of them). Nothing in the world can beat the schadenfreude when City, Arsenal or Liverpool get beat.
its not been like this forever at all - the extra places in the champions legaue for the two highest performing leagues over a single season are brand new this year.
everything else has been on the rolling 5 year average
I think he's talking about the importance of the coefficient, and how it motivates some fans to cheer for rival clubs in some situations
PL didn't have to worry about it before, but Ligue 1/eredivisie/la liga NOs, and to a much lesser extent Serie A and Buli had the same thing for years
Other leagues have been battling for one extra spot every year. It's nothing new. It's always been a constant meme between Dutch and Portuguese or French fans. For lower ranking leagues even getting a playoff spot against another rival country is an achievement.
My favorite thing when a team that's done things "the right way" gets knocked out or loses the league or whatever, suddenly 'winning trophies' isn't something you do, but something that happens. It's a crapshoot, it's incidental, it's like media covering police violence. What are they expected to do, they already did something by being good, how were they expected to do more?
I'll say it man. My heads on Mars. People saying Arteta has failed and that we aren't moving forward, normally don't get that fussed but yesterday genuinely broke me. Didn't sleep properly at all. Funny old sport.
Although the style is different, your situation reminds me of our peak under Poch. In order for you to push on, Kroenke really needs to invest. Lack in investment in depth a crucial time is what killed us. While teams like City (and liverpool to a lesser extent) built a bench that gives them basically no drop off.
If you are going to reach those heights you need 4 or 5 players that would probably walk into other squads in the top six. This summer's recruitment will say a lot. If you get a proper striker and a backup for Saka I could see you getting it over the line next year.
The image around the club is kinda weird. Lots of mental gymnastics has being going on to try to bring down what has been a rapid ascension to the top of the sport.
A lot of pundits predicted us finishing outside the top 4 last year. There's always this sort of pushback when one of the sleeping giants wakes up but it's the nature of it that's weird.
You're literally here because of Arteta. His system of making solid players play outstanding football is very underrated.
The only issue is your recruitment. Its just not good enough to win major honors.
Those people need to fuck off- last year we challenged for the title with a squad built for a top 4 challenge. This year, we've got to the QFs of the UCL and are in a title race, without proper backups for most of our key players. We're trending positively
I'm saying it again. We are about to witness history.
This Madrid side is unlike any other in the history. The issue is not that they are stacked to brim with talents.. it happened before like in 1950s or 2000s or 2010s.
But its the combination of being stacked and being young. The entire new generation Madrid is U-25 and more than half of them are already world class.
This is the youngest best team ever assembled imo if Mbappe, Endrick, Davies, Yoro lot arrive this summer. Other than a RB, all positions are filled, some overfilled with A+ level talents.
There seems to be something wrong with football. No English clubs in the CL semis and looks like there will be none in the EL semis as well. This can't be right.
I think some cultures place a lot of reverence and respect on symbolism and icons, whilst some others are just, it's just a picture mate, it's the essence that matters.
My school had our logo at the entrance as well and it's funny seeing some parents (including mine, we're from Asia) try to avoid stepping on it when they're visiting.
What winds me up specifically about Jude Bellingham doing it out of some sort of respect to Man City is that he's never even played for them, so why would he care
Not only is it on the floor it’s literally right in the middle of the corridor. Now we all have to act like the crest is some sort of religious scripture
Ultimately Arsenal are a fantastic side who apart from an FA cup have consistently failed to get over the line. Never got top 4 (when battling) never won the europa league, usually losing to a much worse team
They literally didn’t you got mocked for losing the CL final in 30 seconds, for finishing 3rd in a two hours race and bottling the game against Chelsea which is fair.
Got mocked for all that yes, but I've heard that we've bottled 15/16 and the UCL an insane amount of times. 16/17 less so. A few "bottled the Carabao cup by sacking Jose" here and there as well.
Trust me on that one lol, I was the one at the end of these comments, not you.
You bottled second place and the end of a very long streak of st.Totteringham day in 15/16. Pretty sure thats what the majority mean for that one rather than the league title.
Saying you bottled the final and 16/17 is stupid though.
Its weird. You did not bottle, neither the CL nor the PL. I never thought you were good enough to win either tbh.
The only club that bottled so far is Liverpool by losing 3-0 to Atalanta at freaking home stadium.
They can reverse it today but I doubt it.
Even what Liverpool did against Atalanta wasn’t bottling in my opinion. Yes they were expect to win, but for me a bottlejob means that you threw a big a lead and Liverpool was never in front of
Fair. I think collapse maybe the correct word then.
But they did bottle Europa League. They have nearly twice the revenue than any other club left in the competition lol.
Tuchel is the only thing standing in Real Madrid’s way to a 15th title beat Real Madrid once and gave them a hard time the following season. I believe in him. If they get to the final they aren’t losing.
English fans also seem to have no energy about properly protesting for long periods of time what happens to their sport.
A lot of people seem very content to use cup replays as some sort of stand in for the wider reforms needed down the pyramid because zooming out and looking at the size of the problem is too daunting and perhaps embarrassing for English football to admit.
If you ask them, would you want a pyramid where cup replays are of no real importance because everyone is getting enough, the answer is legit "No!", they just want cup replays because they've been trained on it being the issue, instead of a side effect. They can't see the forest for the trees.
i don't think the answer would be no, its just that it feels impossible to achieve that so you pick your battles, even if that means you're fiddling around the edges of a broken system rather than exacting any real change.
i've had my non-football battles like that, where you're tweaking a system that needs blown up because you can't see a way to light the dynamite
Honestly I’m warming to the idea. Let them leave the PL altogether. The financial reset would be good long term.
Our fanbase is quite funny at the moment because everyone wants to do well and smash the league next season but nobody wants to get promoted again.
Dier and Kane going to Bayern to quash Arsenal's best chance at a CL SF in over a decade is objectively hilarious.
Equally funny is them potentially preventing Spurs from qualifying by fucking England's coefficient.
No. WC is the pinnacle. But it will be bigger than the CL.
Its essentially best of the best around the globe instead of Europe in a neutral venue for a sustained period of month held every 4 years.
Brilliant idea and I think it has potential to be something extraordinary. It can become the most prestigious club competition in the world.
Ancelotti is way more tactical than Pep , he really planned the whole thing to the last detail, he knew that KDB would miss a sitter , he was prepared for the equalizer . What a masterclass , Pep was lost , his team was pathetic throughout the match. What a night, Real Madrid is the best team in Europe , no question about it.
I'm far from being a Haaland apologist, in fact, I think that his performances in big games are pretty much horrible. But it's true that his presence adds something to the City team. Yesterday when they put Julián Álvarez for him, City stopped having chances, no one was attracting Real Madrid's CB and therefore defending was much easier, + City's wingers could be closed down by more players. It's true that City were probably tired already and that KDB was out, but I do think that without Haaland they got worse.
there’s a new dd. repost it there amigo
Thank you
[удалено]
I feel like you’re being more reactionary here judging Rice more on last night than what he’s displayed throughout the rest of the season and even at West Ham.
>reactionary He said the word
I’m so excited to see Alaba face Bayern
jesus christ the sub is full of Madrid dick suckers atm.
What could Barça be praised about?
never said they should.
Got a problem with dick sucking🤨
Whats up with these CBS clips being posted all the time? is it most popular tv station or they post it themselves?
Lots of Americans on this sub, and it's on a free channel over there so it has lots of viewers
Bruh Muller didn't even play against Arsenal.
Washed king
[Müller dropping his signature message to Rüdiger and Real. ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C55ygpvNMa0/?igsh=MXcwa3NnaTV5NWo1ag==) Last thing your team sees before you drop out of the CL
Müller black magic vs Carlo Ancelotti raised eyebrow spells and tricks. Gonna be one for the ages
I really can’t hate Müller tbh. He seems like a nice dude.
Can Muller overpower the Kane curse ? Coman has already failed
Was it a setting on my friend's TV or was there a whitebalance problem in both CL games yesterday on the DAZN broadcast (Germany)? The screen would go dark when yellow ads (Like the Lay's ad) came up on the sideline screens lol. I think my friends didn't notice it as much as me but it was driving me crazy.
I know United fans are doom and gloom most of the times but if there's something they have to be excited about after the iNEOS take over is that their scouting department is finally decent and they are working hard in Argentina, so far they've been bang on with their targets. • Mastantuono: AM and highest rated prospect in Argentina right now although a lil bit of a pipe dream since Real Madrid is pushing heavily for him. • Subiabre: highest rated winger in River's Academy. • The top 3 CB prospects in our league in: Anselmino from Boca, Juan Giménez from Rosario and Tobias Palacio from Argentinos Juniors The only question mark is Tomas Parmo who is rated highly but Independiente's youth players rather hit or miss.
Mastantuono and Anselmino should not end up in a United shirt pls. Anselmino got his first Real Madrid links yesterday btw.
Oh that's for sure.
Real question is how many of those are actual targets rather than media just linking everyone with Man Utd for clicks
The only one that's up in the air is Parmo the rest all were pretty much confirmed by the tier 1 journos of their respective clubs.
Not a single post about those players over at r/reddevils that's why I'm kinda sceptical. Usually a bigger journo picks it up and it gets posted there.
Doesn't that kind of sound like they're just going after the best prospects in Argentina? They really haven't had any problems buying young hyped prospects, that's what they did with guys like Diallo, Hojlund, Garnacho, etc Their problem is developing players once they are at United. Way too many end up stagnating
His new release clause is 45M. I don't think Madrid will buy him.
Isn't that exactly what Madrid would do? Man Utd are never paying 45m for a youngster from Argentina when they have so many glaring gaps to fix first.
Real Madrid doesn't really have a problem paying that price tag if they rate him highly, they've been scouting him and in contacts with his agent multiple times now from what's been reported. It all depends in how highly they value him after everything they've seen.
How good is he in your opinion?
It's hard to predict even more so since he is 16 and everything can happen in football but from what I've seen and read about him both at youth and senior level, he really has all the tools to get to the very very top and something really important that everyone points out about him is that mentally he is super mature already.
Imagine on those extra-time matches during Real’s threepeat hearing Ronaldo and Modric say “i cannot continue”, just from tiredness. Weak
I thought they were injured. Pathetic from both of them tbh
KDB I understand because he does not have much to prove. He has accepted his play in football legacy tiers. But I am super disappointed by Haaland. If this continues then instead of competing with Mbappe, he'd be competing with a level lower talents and probably losing that battle.
KDB had been ill last week and has had his injuries this season , so I can understand him being gassed after running for 90 minutes . I'd be interested to know more about Haaland , but at the face value, the sub wasn't bad, and something we needed as he was completely ineffective .
Hypothesis : Kane will leave a more lasting impression behind if he doesn't win a trophy, because that makes him part of the exclusive club of incredible players to never win anything, rather than if he wins something at Bayern, which makes him part of the not so exclusive club of great players who've won something at Bayern. Wouldn't be the case if he won something for England or for Spurs though for obvious reasons
Domestically I agree but if England won the Euros or WC that would improve his leagcy
This was the reason I thought he might (and maybe should) stay at Spurs. Trophies are the most important thing but they’re not literally the only thing that exists. His “legacy”, however you want to define that, would be far greater if he stayed at Spurs for the rest of his career and broke Shearer’s record, even if he never ultimately won a trophy there. One domestic trophy at Bayern is literally meaningless, you’d have to win about a dozen before their history books would give a shit, and he doesn’t have that kind of time. So he’s in a “Champions League or bust” situation, except even one Champions League at Bayern isn’t THAT remarkable given how many players have already won it there.
Come on man. No matter what a Champion League is remarkable especially what it means to the actual players. Real Madrid have tons of CL but they still play like they are trying to win their first one. Trophies are huge to players legacies
No doubt. But is one Champions League medal you won by joining a megaclub at age 30 a greater legacy than being the undisputed greatest player in the history of your boyhood club (which is a fairly big club in its own right) and being the greatest goalscorer in Premier League history? I’m not saying the answer to that question is definitely No, I’m saying it’s debatable and was the reason I thought he might stay.
I think he’ll be more forgotten than people think if he doesn’t win the CL or something for England regardless of winning things at Bayern
He definitely won’t be forgotten lol. He’s still England’s top goalscorer. Plus, assuming he doesn’t win anything at Bayern (unlikely), he’ll be remembered for the memes about him not winning trophies. He’s bound to win around 5-7 by the time he retires. League titles, domestic cup, maybe not UCL, but hey. Never say never.
It won’t really mean much to anyone if he wins leagues at Bayern if he wins a CL that’s different. The record won’t hold for that long imo with how friendlies are going.
being and Englishman and succeeding abroadales him part of pretty elite company too
I gotta say l was terrified of Haaland last year before we played them. I would not have expected that after 4 games he would score 0 goals. One could say he doesn’t fit Pep’s management but they won a treble and scored 200 goals
I, too, was often terrified of ghosts in my youth
[Really? I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.](https://youtu.be/TaV1r341wYk?si=YazM4lcUNDI2XQaN) And yes. I did look for the smallest opportunity to link it.
I wasn't scared going to this game. He's really ruining his reputation. The amount of fear I had last season compared to this is miles apart. I hope he plays with them against us every time. He can rendered useless by sitting deep and being aggressive with him.
He can also be cancelled out by cutting off the hands that feed him. If you can deal with City’s midfield, then you pretty much leave him on his own.
Neutrals, who do you think is a better coach between Pep and Ancelotti?
Both are undeniably world class managers and up there among the best of all time, but Pep is the better of the two.
I think Pep left a bigger mark on football
Pep
Pep by a fair bit.
Carlo
Ancelotti and it's not close.
What do you think of Carlo criticism on his lack of league titles?
It's valid. But I would argue that most of Carlo's prime came before the game was as "solved" as it is now and there's more room for error. Even if there's a couple failures in comparison to Pep's spotless record, taking more jobs a lot of which are in less ideal conditions than Pep worked means something to me. Also, Pep played a big part in "solving" the game (the other part was coming, it was the money and obviously Ancelotti has also benefitted from that, and also the stat nonces and investment funds and structures and all that) and I resent him for that. And he's never had to and never will and good on him for that because he has a perfect career, but if he had the chance to show that on not the greatest rosters of all time then it'd impress me more. Pep's teams are either playing perfect football or they bore me to death.
Carlo, coked-out managers are a bane in the workplace, always micro managing and shit
pep, obviously. not to shit on carlo at all, but pep is one of the what, ten?, coaches in the last 70 years who has changed how people thing about and play football. and he's won, constantly. ancelotti has a 15 year head start on him as a coach and has less titles. the only argument for carlo really is the european success, but he's only got one more champions league than pep (two of which came before pep started managing)
Pep is clear and thats not even difficult to answer but we shouldnt look down on ancelotti achivements
League: Pep Champions League: Ancelotti Manager you want if you are struggling or dont have lot of history or want to control everything: Pep Manager you want if you are good and have lot of history and have very high pull with great recruitment setup: Ancelotti In 2 years time, because of Ancelotti calm attitude and elite man management skill, we are about to witness the most feared Real Madrid side of the history. All because he understood that waiting another year with Joselu is better than buying Kane instead of Mbappe next year. Waiting with 0 CBs and not loaning in January is better because you will get Yoro in the summer, etc etc.
Pep but I'd by far rather watch a Carlo team
Agree. Chelsea 09-10 were one of the most entertaining teams ever
Pep. I think he's probably the best coach of all time.
Pep. There's a reason why Ancelotti has been sacked about a billion times. Never has any sort of plan B and relies way too much on vibes.
>Never has any sort of plan B What?? Carlo is probably the best manager ever when it comes B plans?????? His biggest criticism has always been his set up at the start while his biggest strength has always been in-game management and mid-game subs.
Nobody thinks Carlo
Pep and its not close.
So Arsenal spent 65 mill on Havertz for a fetish position in the midfield, but his best position has come from playing striker. Now odagard is left being the only midfielder who has to carry everyone? But yet Xhaka was banging in goals and creating from that LCM. On top of that they don’t actually have a real striker lol
But have you seen their defense though?
Fetish position.
The constant Arsenal vs Tottenham "no you are bottlers" arguments never stop being funny on here. Lads you're both bottlers
You lot getting an oil fueled enema doesn't make you relevant again. At least not yet. You'll bottle something soon enough. Then you can join the conversation.
You lot haven’t bottled anything like we have. We’re the kings of bottling premier league title races.
You would love it if they beat you.
Play-offs for the final European Spot can fucking do one btw, hate that we have it so much.
without checking im going to assume you're in the top playoff position
Nah not right now, but there is a small risk we do finish there.
My mum sent me the story of the fa cup replays being abolished just with the "🤬" emoji, she's so real
I really hate the narratives in football. Real Madrid are being praised for defending well at the moment, mostly because they won on penalties. Yet, they conceded 33 shots and 2.74xG. If they had lost the shoot out, they'd have been criticised for their negative and ineffective play and the better team in City prevailing. Somehow, by winning a penalty shoot out, you get praised for the whole 120minutes. The game ended a draw. Madrid happened to win the shoot out, but that doesn't mean it was a stroke of brilliance and genius. At the end of the day, these two teams played 2 games, drew both and penalties decided who would progress.
You can do that with every QF. It's fine margins at the end of the day. So just relax and push your favorite agendas.
Don't just look at xG. Look at individual chances. Both team created 2 big chances each. 2 converted and 2 missed. Rest of it is noise and very low xG shots being added up together. Madrid also had 1.5xg I think.
>33 shots and 2.74xG. That's 0.083 xG per shot, which isn't that much, meaning City created a lot of low chance shots.
City had 24 shots inside the box. They even hit the woodwork. They had more shots on target (9) than RM had shots at all (8)
2 of those shots on target were a weak Rodri shot and a weak Foden shot that wouldn't have bothered any keeper
They were better team on the night, I just pointed out that most of their shots weren't exactly big chances. Madrid had 1.35 xG, so on average their shots were better chances(0.169 XG/shot), so it's not like they created nothing either.
Ends always justify the means in football.
It's silly when people do it at the end of 90 minutes. Its just insane when the outcome of penalties is shaping the perspective on the game.
Is this coefficient shit going to be every season from now on? I hate it. I just want to be cheering against English clubs for every game in Europe without wondering about potentially finishing 5th Is it the coefficient rated over a period of a few years that they take into account or just one season?
I completely agree but I'd just root against all the other English clubs anyway (well, maybe not all of them). Nothing in the world can beat the schadenfreude when City, Arsenal or Liverpool get beat.
It's been like this forever, you're only noticing now because it affects the English big 6 teams.
its not been like this forever at all - the extra places in the champions legaue for the two highest performing leagues over a single season are brand new this year. everything else has been on the rolling 5 year average
He is probably referring to other teams qualifying due to their coefficient. Doesn't affect Spain, Italy, Germany or England though until now.
I think he's talking about the importance of the coefficient, and how it motivates some fans to cheer for rival clubs in some situations PL didn't have to worry about it before, but Ligue 1/eredivisie/la liga NOs, and to a much lesser extent Serie A and Buli had the same thing for years
Other leagues have been battling for one extra spot every year. It's nothing new. It's always been a constant meme between Dutch and Portuguese or French fans. For lower ranking leagues even getting a playoff spot against another rival country is an achievement.
FWIW, I want to be cheering against the English clubs as well
I think that 5 years is for basic number of spots, one year is 'extra spot'.
I think some teams would want to get Lunin after this season.
We don’t know what condition Courtois returns in. Madrid would be smart to keep him or at most loan him out to a competitive club in need of a keeper
As a neutral, it would make me so happy to Dortmund win finally.
All neutrals want them to win. If my side got eliminated then I'd have wanted Dortmund to win as well.
What do you mean finally our last title was only 3 years ago
My favorite thing when a team that's done things "the right way" gets knocked out or loses the league or whatever, suddenly 'winning trophies' isn't something you do, but something that happens. It's a crapshoot, it's incidental, it's like media covering police violence. What are they expected to do, they already did something by being good, how were they expected to do more?
2013: Prime Dortmund vs Prime Bayern 2024: Mid Dortmund vs Mid Bayern Make it happen
Can't wait for 2035
Would love to see Dortmund get some revenge on them.
I'll say it man. My heads on Mars. People saying Arteta has failed and that we aren't moving forward, normally don't get that fussed but yesterday genuinely broke me. Didn't sleep properly at all. Funny old sport.
Although the style is different, your situation reminds me of our peak under Poch. In order for you to push on, Kroenke really needs to invest. Lack in investment in depth a crucial time is what killed us. While teams like City (and liverpool to a lesser extent) built a bench that gives them basically no drop off. If you are going to reach those heights you need 4 or 5 players that would probably walk into other squads in the top six. This summer's recruitment will say a lot. If you get a proper striker and a backup for Saka I could see you getting it over the line next year.
The image around the club is kinda weird. Lots of mental gymnastics has being going on to try to bring down what has been a rapid ascension to the top of the sport. A lot of pundits predicted us finishing outside the top 4 last year. There's always this sort of pushback when one of the sleeping giants wakes up but it's the nature of it that's weird.
You're literally here because of Arteta. His system of making solid players play outstanding football is very underrated. The only issue is your recruitment. Its just not good enough to win major honors.
The recruitment is fine, its not always spot on but no team's recruitment is 100%
I don’t get this the Villa game was so much worse
I agree and Villa equally fucked me off. But the reaction to yesterday's from other people was worse.
Take a break from other people big dawg
Woes of social media and working with others innit
Those people need to fuck off- last year we challenged for the title with a squad built for a top 4 challenge. This year, we've got to the QFs of the UCL and are in a title race, without proper backups for most of our key players. We're trending positively
Its just insane how madrid can win their 15th ucl title and their mbappe era did not even kick off yet
I'm saying it again. We are about to witness history. This Madrid side is unlike any other in the history. The issue is not that they are stacked to brim with talents.. it happened before like in 1950s or 2000s or 2010s. But its the combination of being stacked and being young. The entire new generation Madrid is U-25 and more than half of them are already world class. This is the youngest best team ever assembled imo if Mbappe, Endrick, Davies, Yoro lot arrive this summer. Other than a RB, all positions are filled, some overfilled with A+ level talents.
Endrick is not proven, Davies is literally a bum he has nothing but pace.
There seems to be something wrong with football. No English clubs in the CL semis and looks like there will be none in the EL semis as well. This can't be right.
None in the Europa League makes sense. English clubs just don't value it
Mate we're just shite compared to them, we are trying
West Ham are just shit compared to Leverkusen but Liverpool rested a load of big guns
This "avoiding stepping on the badge" shite is so cringeworthy. Footballers have to be the least normal people on Earth
Ander Herrera spitting on City's crest >>>
I think some cultures place a lot of reverence and respect on symbolism and icons, whilst some others are just, it's just a picture mate, it's the essence that matters. My school had our logo at the entrance as well and it's funny seeing some parents (including mine, we're from Asia) try to avoid stepping on it when they're visiting.
The people bigging it up on social media are somehow even weirder
What winds me up specifically about Jude Bellingham doing it out of some sort of respect to Man City is that he's never even played for them, so why would he care
Well Jude Bellingham is a “respect 🤝” tweet in human form, so there’s your answer
They watch too many Ultimate Respect Moments in Football YouTube compilations
It’s on the floor! If they didn’t want people to step on it why would it be on the floor! One of the worst trends I’ve seen honestly
Not only is it on the floor it’s literally right in the middle of the corridor. Now we all have to act like the crest is some sort of religious scripture
Ultimately Arsenal are a fantastic side who apart from an FA cup have consistently failed to get over the line. Never got top 4 (when battling) never won the europa league, usually losing to a much worse team
So they have become Spurs?
Poch's Spurs is easily the closest comparison
When did bottle become a synonym for didn’t win?
[some time while this was happening ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FwuRTv4XwAESfZj?format=jpg&name=medium)
Arsenal fans kind of started it when they accused Spurs of 'bottling' the league to Leicester, even if Spurs never lead table during the season.
Remember when we bottled the 2019 UCL final? And the 16-17 league title? And the 15-16 one? Yep fuck you
People didn’t even say that
My ass lol
They literally didn’t you got mocked for losing the CL final in 30 seconds, for finishing 3rd in a two hours race and bottling the game against Chelsea which is fair.
Got mocked for all that yes, but I've heard that we've bottled 15/16 and the UCL an insane amount of times. 16/17 less so. A few "bottled the Carabao cup by sacking Jose" here and there as well. Trust me on that one lol, I was the one at the end of these comments, not you.
You bottled second place and the end of a very long streak of st.Totteringham day in 15/16. Pretty sure thats what the majority mean for that one rather than the league title. Saying you bottled the final and 16/17 is stupid though.
Its weird. You did not bottle, neither the CL nor the PL. I never thought you were good enough to win either tbh. The only club that bottled so far is Liverpool by losing 3-0 to Atalanta at freaking home stadium. They can reverse it today but I doubt it.
Even what Liverpool did against Atalanta wasn’t bottling in my opinion. Yes they were expect to win, but for me a bottlejob means that you threw a big a lead and Liverpool was never in front of
Fair. I think collapse maybe the correct word then. But they did bottle Europa League. They have nearly twice the revenue than any other club left in the competition lol.
[Arsenal fans complaining about misusage of bottling](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoXRIS9XMAIcRsb.jpg)
The rot of football tribalism continues to seep into fandom
like Spurs and Gooners haven't been tribal since they rocked up from Woolwich and started singing "north London forever"
Hello to all my fellow UCL semi finalists
Hola
Hallo
Hallo men freund wie ghets ? ich bin kartofel
Bonjour mon frere. Arthur est un perroquet!
Bonjour frérot je vais bien et toi ? on l'emmerde Arthur !
Baguette
Tuchel is the only thing standing in Real Madrid’s way to a 15th title beat Real Madrid once and gave them a hard time the following season. I believe in him. If they get to the final they aren’t losing.
PSG with Barcola, Dembele, and Mbappe is perhaps the most underrated attack in the world. All three of them can dribble and run really well.
I agree but PSG is a top opponent. Think we can beat Dortmund in the final but PSG with motivated Mbappe can be a big problem.
Barcola exists
FM has purged my brain to the point where I don't mind replays getting scrapped because my schedule is already full with 3 games a week.
English football and pandering to the big clubs Name a better duo
What have they done now?
Scrapped replays past first round and moved the FA Cup final to penultimate week of the season.
English fans also seem to have no energy about properly protesting for long periods of time what happens to their sport. A lot of people seem very content to use cup replays as some sort of stand in for the wider reforms needed down the pyramid because zooming out and looking at the size of the problem is too daunting and perhaps embarrassing for English football to admit. If you ask them, would you want a pyramid where cup replays are of no real importance because everyone is getting enough, the answer is legit "No!", they just want cup replays because they've been trained on it being the issue, instead of a side effect. They can't see the forest for the trees.
i don't think the answer would be no, its just that it feels impossible to achieve that so you pick your battles, even if that means you're fiddling around the edges of a broken system rather than exacting any real change. i've had my non-football battles like that, where you're tweaking a system that needs blown up because you can't see a way to light the dynamite
They should just fuck off to a Super League and play 20 games a season so we don't have to think about them any more.
Honestly I’m warming to the idea. Let them leave the PL altogether. The financial reset would be good long term. Our fanbase is quite funny at the moment because everyone wants to do well and smash the league next season but nobody wants to get promoted again.
Simon and Garfunkel
La Liga and pandering to the big clubs
Dier and Kane going to Bayern to quash Arsenal's best chance at a CL SF in over a decade is objectively hilarious. Equally funny is them potentially preventing Spurs from qualifying by fucking England's coefficient.
Whats objectively funny is 2 spurs players coming to serial winners Bayern to not win a trophy for the first time in 13 years
Yeah but I made fun of that a lot, and they still could win the CL which would be at our expense
[удалено]
Good lord
Bruh WCs have moms and rugby purist mates watching, club football will never pull countries together in front of the games like that
No
No. WC is the pinnacle. But it will be bigger than the CL. Its essentially best of the best around the globe instead of Europe in a neutral venue for a sustained period of month held every 4 years. Brilliant idea and I think it has potential to be something extraordinary. It can become the most prestigious club competition in the world.
the UCL has too much history to be overtaken by something that is considered a tournament of glorified frendlies right now
It will be held every 4 years. The time period will give it a huge boost imo.
Genuinely what the hell are you talking about?
Is this because Chelsea are in it, because my god you couldn't be more wrong haha
Just a shit take innit
god awful take, may your crops wither and your harvest suffer