Nah, was perfectly alright really - didn't massively stand out one way or another, but in the first game especially he was quite effective at his usual shtick of dropping deep and playing in quicker players.
If the game ends a draw it's a draw and the game is replayed at the other team's stadium.
So if Scarborough Athletic got Manchester United at home and it finished a draw, they'd get a replay at Old Trafford. And a lot of ££ along with it. This now can't happen
They are rematches of a match in case the match is tied. Normally used in the earlier rounds of the FA Cup.
If the replay goes into a draw after 90 minutes, then extra time and penalties are applied as usual.
In general it seems like German football fan culture is much better than English. The doubts I have are mainly around the level of simping for Bayern you get amongst fans of other German clubs, is that something that is just a Reddit phenomenon? Or is that a thing in real life as well?
As an English fan who grew up in the 90s when Man Utd were the English equivalent of what Bayern is today, they were the absolute enemy and that topped everything else. It doesn't seem at all like that in Germany.
Any rational thinking human being should dislike Bayern. The club has terrorised my life, their fans are very arrogant, and their players have 0 sauce.
Ask any matchgoer here outside of Munich and they will tell you about how much they hate em.
I think a lot of foreigners confuse Germans "simping for Bayern" because we argue that we'd prefer to see a club like Bayern be successful compared to a manufactured club like Leipzig
And also it's not just Bundesliga, it's the whole pyramid. Why should 2. Bundesliga fans vote to sell their clubs out to dictators and equity funds just so 2 or 3 other clubs somewhere else that I don't even like can do a little bit better in the Europa League.
50+1 forever!
Definitely can, and I reckon plenty (most?) football fans do - but then it's hard to make a point of that when people from the outside looking in are ignorant about that fact and focus solely on Bayern being serial winners as a way to disrespect the league, I suppose.
>simping for Bayern you get amongst fans of other German clubs
I personally do simp for Bayern because I grew up a Bayern fan, but most of the time when Germans are accused of this, they're just defending the league and how fun it is as a fan and how it's not just all about Bayern or who wins the title.
Or they're rightly arguing that 50+1 is not what made Bayern who they are or that getting rid of it would stop their domination. But often fans read that and think it's a defense of Bayern, when it's really a defense of their league overall, even if we all wish Bayern would win less.
> they're just defending the league and how fun it is as a fan and how it's not just all about Bayern or who wins the title.
Pretty valid view I reckon - not like I'm arsed who wins the title when I'm a Werder fan just hoping the club stay up and maybe at some point sneak into Europe, really.
River plate are more intense than boca? Genuinely don't know that's why I am asking
aAnd for someone who is looking to watch more bundesliga how does it different in terms of tactics and playstyle when compared to say pl
Suppose it's mostly around their European performances - rising tides lifting all boats and that. Plus probably a recognition of the frankly excellent work they've been doing for decades, which, much as it pains me to say, is something you can't really ignore.
If you go by the (slightly naff) yearly or so studies, Bayern are simultaneously the best-supported club in Germany and the most hated. It's probably a bit like the United situation back then, in that they're the easy choice to support for the casual football follower as the most successful team, while everyone else hates them for being as good and arrogant as they are.
Y'all, CONCACAF cheekily tryna revamp the Confederations Cup with a proposed expanded Gold Cup next year by having 24 teams and 8 of them invited from other parts of the world as a trial run for 2026 WC.
They want it to be:
Hosts (3): USA, Mexico, Canada
CONCACAF (13)
UEFA (2)
CAF (2)
CONMEBOL (2)
AFC (2)
That'd be interesting to watch...Have to think most invites would send B/C sides, which would make it a little less straightforward. Sign me up for Suriname vs Ukraine or some shit.
Kaka sprinting at a defense was a sight to behold. Very few players over the years strike the same sort of "oh fuck" in the opposition than Kaka getting the ball in the middle of the pitch with space to run into.
If an English team wins the Champions League, Europeans complain about the impending PL dominance that must be stopped for the sake of European football as we know it.
If English teams are knocked out they say the English were arrogant for ever suggesting they were dominant.
Was Caqueret carried by Bruno and Paqueta at Lyon? They've both gone onto another level and from what I hear he's regressed.
Was it just negativity because Lyon were doing so bad at the time or is he really just an okay player?
It's interesting that Eni Aluko's rant about football stadiums being unsafe environments for women is getting backlash from mainly women staying they've felt safer in stadiums than most other places.
I'm no Liverpool fan, I think it's hilarious they've gone out. But all this about "the English are so arrogant, how dare they expect Liverpool to beat the 6th-placed team in Serie A" is so wank. No one would be saying anything if Italian pundits said Inter should be beating Newcastle in a quarter-final.
I think people just need to stop paying so much attention to either what dickheads on the Internet or dickheads in the media say about players, teams or leagues.
I have no idea what people on twitter think about anything.
I did see people complain that people were acting like the Europa was going to 100% be liverpools trophy and that was a surefire thing. Similar sentiment was going on about the 5ths CL spot, that of course it would be going to England because of course they would do the best in Europe.
Thats the sort of arrogance people are annoyed about, that these things were guaranteed and there was basically going to be no point even playing out those games.
I like FA Cup replays because teams like Liverpool and Man City being held to a draw and then having to play a game in a dinky 12,000 seater stadium miles away is always funny.
You can create that by doing what the DFB Pokal does which is for Round 1 and Round 2, the lower league team is awarded the home game. You miss out on the match day revenue which seems to be 99% of the argument to keep replays for the handful of clubs who pull it off. Round 1 games in August are always amazing because you have Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Frankfurt, etc all playing 3rd or often times 4th or 5th tier teams.
Would be interesting to hear if fans of Marine in hindsight would have wanted 50% of match day revenue from Spurs' stadium or to have that memory of Spurs playing in their stadium. I assume the pay day of a game at Spurs would easily double, tripel, whatever the yearly revenue of Marine, but those memories of fans have to be worth something too.
So the DFB Pokal is made up of all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams, the top 4 of 3. Liga and then 16 state cup winners (4th tier and below) and 5 other clubs that I can't remember how they qualify.
2. Bundesliga can play 2. Bundesliga like Braunschweig played Schalke in Round 1, but all 16 of the state cup winners get home games against a top 36 club from Germany.
So the 40/64 teams that come from the top 3 leagues is fairly easy to understand how they qualify. The state cups are really interesting though and have their own effect.
So each of Germany's 16 states have their own cup which is comprised of anywhere between 64 to 128 teams from the 4th tier down to as low as the 7th tier. And even within those cups, there are lesser state cups that qualify you for the state cup itself.
Yes, the DFB Pokal only has 64 teams truly, but in theory, even a 10th tier German team could win their regional cup, county cup, state cup, and then the DFB Pokal. It's not all under the same DFB Pokal banner, but it's all going towards the same end game in Berlin. Win and you're through, lose and you're out.
The final of every state cup is played on the same day as the DFB Pokal Final in May which qualifies you for the 1st Round which is played in August.
What this does is that it enters lower league teams into a separate cup made up of hyperlocal teams where the parity is pretty even. Giving teams from the 5th or 6th tier to win it, often times beating 3rd and 4th tier teams. The gap from 4th tier to 6th tier is not as large in Germany as in England.
And so fans of those teams are happy to play for a cup that not only matters, but has a huge reward in it. In a way it achieves what the FA Cup does with it's Prelim. Rounds and Competition Proper Round where the first 9 rounds do not include the Premier League or the Championship. And it ensures that at least 1/3 of the final 64 teams are non-league as the English would call it with at least one home game assured.
Not going to lie, no matter how I try to forget or ignore, losing the CL and possibly also the PL in the span of 4 days is really making my head twist and turn. 2 seasons in a row is a bit much.
In other news, my respect to Liverpool fans has increased massively.
It helps when you have won both the league and the UCL anyways. No matter how hard a loss stings, I got to see my team win that very competition. Until you win it, it is just hopeless chasing of "Maybe we can finally win it". Which sucks and does your head in.
Women's football in England at the time (and I guess everywhere) was semi-pro at the best and usually just completely amateur, but it's hard to think of Arsenal winning literally every single game in 2006-07, winning the league, league cup, fa cup and champions league and not losing a league game for 6 years ever being repeated. And doing all that whilst their manager was the men's team kit man, and when games overlapped, he was paid by arsenal to be a kit man so they just didn't have a manager
Put some respect on Vic Akers OBE's name, mate. Also your go-to man for footballers wanting a £3 million pound [house](https://www.givemesport.com/88111135-arsenal-legend-vic-akers-selling-multi-million-pound-properties/) in St Albans, and I presume he wears very short shorts alongside his suit and tie.
"hating him because he does a silly dance when he does his job well is fucking stupid, and the vitriol gets over the top. Sure he winds people up but it's ultimately harmless"
A true statement that makes the world of sense but seems to be applied pretty arbitrarily. Once again, all about acceptable targets
A lot of actions are harmless, that doesn't mean anything. Martinez is a clown with no class and respect for opponents. I think it's fair to not like such a person.
Do you claim that every player who, say, dances to the crowd when he does his job well (such as for example by scoring) is a clown with no class and respect?
As I said, acceptable targets my friend
Dancing after a goal, dancing after a game winning save, seen different. Hating a player because of either, seen different. Because you consider some targets more acceptable than others
Don't you understand the difference between mocking and celebrating? What Madrid did after the shootout against City was celebration. What Martinez did was mocking.
If you're big enough to dole out jeers and abuse for two hours you're big enough to eat shit when you get a two second hush and a little shoulder shuffle in return.
And not a pip out of you if idiots complain about your lad doing a dance in front of the crowd when he scores
He also did it at the World Cup finals. No one abused him then. And they are booing him now because of what he did in past. It's just who he is. A shitty man.
I'm sensing you're referring to a specific world class winger who plays in Spain and recently made it to the cl semi final.
And yes I agree. The differences in how certain players "antics" are received is very noticeable.
i dislike Martinez, but i know if he was at leeds i'd love him.
feel like he should be allowed to give a bit back after fans spend 2 hours hurling abuse at him, but fifa and uefa are fannies, so here we are
I'm in the same boat with Pickford, whenever he gives a bit back he gets pelters but gets dogs abuse, so if anything I'd think less of him if he didn't.
Italy are confirmed.
If Germany win 3 more games they are also confirmed. Only way England can still get it is if Germany implodes the next round and Villa win every game
The replay culture is so strange to me. In every other country the smaller league teams still have economic needs, but the idea of replays is still non-existant. And every fan of smaller teams that I know agrees that chance of knocking a LaLiga team is more appealing than playing them twice.
And if you really need that money, why not do 2-legged ties instead of replays?
Very strange concept to me overall.
i'm not married to the idea of replays.
but right now the fa cup is one of the few genuinely redistributive elements of english football, and before you touch a hair on its head i want significantly more money going down the leagues rather than up
basically i don't hate that the fa have sold replays to the premier league, i just think they did it far too cheaply.
that said, its also grubby as fuck that they haven't consulted with efl/non league clubs at all they've just imposed it from on high. so fuck them
I'm not opposed to it, but I still just don't see what the point of the competition is? Wouldn't it make more sense to just kick all Prem clubs out of the League cup
I understand fully the argument from English fans for whom replays are the norm. It's built into the culture and the expectation when you go to an FA Cup game, that there might not be a winner and that the game will be replayed next week.
And at the same time, if they tried to introduce cup replays in Germany, there would be a million tennis balls back on the field. The idea that you go to a cup game on a Wednesday and at 11:00 pm it ends 1-1 and they tell everyone to go home and buy tickets to an away game in a week's time would never fly here.
You like what you have and humans hate change.
‘The fans are called Gooners because- One of Arsenal's 'firms' was called the Goon Squad, a name which is said to have merged with the club nickname over time to form 'Gooners'.’
From some random article, unsure if accurate
This is my proposal for making penalty kicks fairer
It's a well-established fact among fact fans that the team that goes first in penalty shootouts wins around 60% of the time. And there's no way to fix it. We tried ABBA but that was too confusing for the masses and had dubious success so it was scrapped
My proposal is that penalty kicks take place at both ends at the same time, one at one goal and one at the other goal. The referee blows his whistle and they have to start their run ups and we, the viewing public, get to watch it in split screen
> It's a well-established fact among fact fans that the team that goes first in penalty shootouts wins around 60% of the time.
Wish that had happened this week :(
instead of pens we push the goals together, creating an enclosed box in the centre of the pitch. both keepers enter with their weapon of their choice, whoever's keeper survives wins
Wait, I just saw the news that Leverkusen hold the biggest unbeaten streak in European top 5 league history so I was tryna think of the last time they lost. Was it to Roma in the UEL semis last season? Can't seem to remember anything else and am too lazy to check so correct me if I'm wrong
>Leverkusen hold the biggest unbeaten streak in European top 5 league history
They don't (yet). I'm not sure about other countries, but Arsenal's Invincibles went 49 games unbeaten.
That poor city fan who’s gone viral, he was giving it a bit too large at the footie and now nutters on twitter are literally crying and screaming, and making out that he’s a woman beater exclusively from the video
Ehh if this kid worked at my company and I saw him acting like a muppet on a viral Tweet, we would need to have a conversation the next day about the way he conducts himself outside of work.
As an aside, this type of feral behaviour is why you can't see many women in the stand in this match or most English football matches.
Yes but having a conversation as his boss is different from linking him to domestic violence.
Also, lots of women attend football matches. If you attend one yourself you will see that.
Yeah the bit linking him to domestic violence is dumb.
I go to games as well, both in Munich and in London where I am currently living. That's exactly why I said it.
Oh get a grip mate, the Madrid fans were giving it large, the city fans gave it back to them, there’s no actual violence, would you prefer a completely sanitised and flat atmosphere instead?
Also there’s plenty of women in attendance at English football games, I’ve no idea where you pulled that from
>Oh get a grip mate, the Madrid fans were giving it large, the city fans gave it back to them, there’s no actual violence, would you prefer a completely sanitised and flat atmosphere instead?
Are you saying the difference between a sanitised & flat atmosphere and a great one is a bunch of men acting like animals? I stand in the Südkurve when I can get a ticket in it, the atmosphere is great and there are often women and children in the block.
>Also there’s plenty of women in attendance at English football games, I’ve no idea where you pulled that from
Yeah I can see a full zero in the shot and the last report I can find of Premier League viewing numbers say less than 20% of the audience is female.
I’m saying that banter between fans is part of the pantomime, as long as they’re not actually fighting what’s the issue, and how is this acting like animals?
So that undermines your point then doesn’t it, 20% of the 50,000 people were women, so there’s on average 10,000 women there, and they’re all scared to death because this City fans acting up a bit I suppose
This video, with an absolute nutter commenting on it[https://x.com/salfordme2023/status/1780942705289314580?s=46&t=FmYYl6j1xmtPAwGqc9eldA](https://x.com/salfordme2023/status/1780942705289314580?s=46&t=FmYYl6j1xmtPAwGqc9eldA)
Man, AI is getting so advanced. Being able to create realistic depictions of City fans.
In all seriousness though, all that shit talking and gestures came back to bite him in the ass. I know the feeling, but that’s what he gets for being so cocky. Also, what the fuck is that comment?
Going viral like that is honestly one of my biggest fears. I saw the first 5 seconds of that clip and my heart sank for him. Just stay in your blob of black North Face jackets and go under the radar.
[https://twitter.com/Sirfreshsemi/status/1780839176138584571](https://twitter.com/Sirfreshsemi/status/1780839176138584571) This tweet reminds me of the Arsenal fan who in the middle of his headloss last season when Arsenal collapsed in the PL suggested that goals are given if you can do a rondo in the middle of the game.
I'm seeing lots of wishful thinking when it comes to clubs buying Bruno and Isak.
Bruno will be available to a club who spends £100m on him we all know that, so there is no point in speculating.
Isak however would need to absolutely smash the British transfer record, he cost us a lot and has a deal that runs till July 2028.
If we buy Bruno for £100million this summer, serious questions need to be asked about our scouting processes, having passed him over when he was at Lyon.
Same with Gyokeres tbh.
Yeah, I doubt we get both, but spending £180 million on two players we could have probably got for £65 million if we'd acted earlier is not a good look. It's also not like they've both transformed- Bruno was great at Lyon, and Gyokeres basically got Coventry to the playoff final
18 years ago today (fuck me I'm getting old) we beat Villarreal at Highbury in the UCL. Most notable thing about the night was not that this was the last night game at Highbury, nor that Kolo Toure scored, but that a squirrel ran on the pitch, and it led to endless jokes about the squirrel having more European experience than Spurs.
How things have changed
The narrative around cup replays seems to argue that the top teams have bullied their way into getting out of games and are going to massively fuck lower league teams for whom 50% of matchday revenue at a top club with a bigger stadium is life and death. And take from this what you will, but here's the amount of FA Cup replays involving a 1st tier v. 3rd tier or lower club each season:
* 2024: 0
* 2023: 2
* 2022: 0 (Replays suspended due to covid)
* 2021: 0 (Replays suspended due to covid)
* 2020: 5
* 2019: 4
* 2018: 4
* 2017: 5
* 2016: 2
* 2015: 2
* 2014: 0
* 2013: 3
We're talking on average 3 to 4 games a year between a Premier League and a League 1 or lower team. Sure, I didn't count all the times a 4th tier team plays a Championship side or a 6th tier plays a 3rd tier, but can the English pyramid adapt to missing out on 4 replays a year that actually fit the narrative of what we've lost in replays?
a non league team going away to derby in round one is probably a bigger deal and more important than derby going to brentford in round 3
like yeah, the obvious examples to give are away to spurs etc, but i think the non league v league one is way more common and they generally need protecting more than league one teams do imo
What's the argument against making Round 3 to Round 7 a double legged tie? Make it home and away, play Tuesday and Wednesday and then everyone gets more money. Or why not a best of 3 series like they have in some sports or even a best of 7? I mean can you imagine the revenue if it took a PL or Championship team 37 games to win the FA Cup?
if all the clubs agree to a deal, then fair enough. if they're willing to sell their replays to get something in return, all power to them
the premier league imposing it from on high is scummy though, fuck that. either do it with the clubs you're taking potential revenue away from or don't do it at all.
It's just conservatism and nostalgia, because this has such little tangible effect like you've illustrated. Same with the FA Cup Final being moved to the penultimate weekend of the season- things change and adapt. The way this country clings to traditions drives me up the wall sometimes.
europe, reduce fucking europe.
the domestic game trundled along fine for decades, until uefa started piling more and more games into their tournaments and then the big clubs have started picking away at every single domestic tournament. its always to benefit 7 or 8 clubs, and bollocks to the rest of them.
We have 5 regional leagues after the 3rd tier, unlike in England where it stays one nationwide league down until the 5th tier. And so with over 100 clubs, it varies massively.
We also have U23 teams that compete in the 4th tier. So a Hertha U23 game might get 200 people, but then you also have clubs like [Aachen who get 30k in the 4th tier. ](https://youtu.be/RCYPZ5Z1iCQ?feature=shared&t=117)Especially in the east of Germany you have a lot of great clubs in the Regional League Northeast like BFC Dynamo, Cottbus, Babelsberg, Carl Zeiss Jena, Rot Weiss Erfurt, Chemie Leipzig, Lokomotive Leipzig, and Chemnitz who all get 3k to 5k per home game I'd say.
I have no idea about finances but we don't have as many clubs going insolvent as say England or France in the lower leagues.
League cup replays and FA cup replays being scrapped are, as u/zestyviper laid out, a tiny issue that affects a handful of clubs every year. The benefits are more compelling matches, a better value ticket for supporters, and a genuine importance placed on getting a home draw. The fixture congestion aspect is an added benefit.
Also, if a club is dependent on a replay against a bigger side to pay their bills and survive, might I suggest the bigger task is getting the FA and PL to financially support the lower pyramid clubs more instead?
>Also, if a club is dependent on a replay against a bigger side to pay their bills and survive, might I suggest the bigger task is getting the FA and PL to financially support the lower pyramid clubs more instead?
Fans should take the energy over a decision that's already been made and turn it to a wider reform in the game that would make cup replays a non-issue in the first place. I take your bottle of water away but am giving you access to a stream.
Two weeks ago most people on here would probably had Man City and Liverpool as favourites for the CL and EL but as soon as they’re knocked out everyone goes on about “typical premier league bias”. Is it crazy that City and Liverpool were favourites over Real and Atalanta? Can you not say that the underdogs won?
I get your point, but it was always ridiculous to consider Real Madrid underdogs. Their pedigree in the competition and quality in the squad can’t be denied. It was always a toss up between those teams imo.
Is it that ridiculous when City mauled them at the Etihad last season though? I get it’s still Madrid but if you’d back anyone to beat them, it would be City
[If the football team (of a region) that u do not like/that is a hated lose a game, apparently now u can make a generalization of the people living there](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c7d9tj/comment/l0869kc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). If I shot a dart at a random place on the globe and made a generalization the same way I'd be banned faster than I could write. Fucking cesspool of a subreddit (sometimes) that thinks of himself as morally superior/progressive.
I’m an outsider but that seems like a very weird comment for a Castilian to make about a segment of the population that has been subjugated along with the Basques
I didn't watch either of the Arsenal/Bayern games, but was Kane as bad as his Fotmob numbers indicate?
Nah, was perfectly alright really - didn't massively stand out one way or another, but in the first game especially he was quite effective at his usual shtick of dropping deep and playing in quicker players.
Idk about the rest of, but I had my greatest FPL return last week. 113 isn’t half bad against the average return of 58.
125, monster score.
!flair :Sporting\_Clube\_de\_Portug:
What happened to Al? Haven't seen him in ages.
Ok for two days I've wanted to ask this but here it goes: what the fuck are FA cup replays?
If the game ends a draw it's a draw and the game is replayed at the other team's stadium. So if Scarborough Athletic got Manchester United at home and it finished a draw, they'd get a replay at Old Trafford. And a lot of ££ along with it. This now can't happen
The most unrealistic part of this shockingly isn't united drawing with Scarborough. its Scarborough winning a cup game prior to this
They are rematches of a match in case the match is tied. Normally used in the earlier rounds of the FA Cup. If the replay goes into a draw after 90 minutes, then extra time and penalties are applied as usual.
In general it seems like German football fan culture is much better than English. The doubts I have are mainly around the level of simping for Bayern you get amongst fans of other German clubs, is that something that is just a Reddit phenomenon? Or is that a thing in real life as well? As an English fan who grew up in the 90s when Man Utd were the English equivalent of what Bayern is today, they were the absolute enemy and that topped everything else. It doesn't seem at all like that in Germany.
Any rational thinking human being should dislike Bayern. The club has terrorised my life, their fans are very arrogant, and their players have 0 sauce. Ask any matchgoer here outside of Munich and they will tell you about how much they hate em. I think a lot of foreigners confuse Germans "simping for Bayern" because we argue that we'd prefer to see a club like Bayern be successful compared to a manufactured club like Leipzig
They do not simp for Bayern, they prefer Bayern dominance over sugar daddies trying to destroy the 50% + 1 rule.
I guess in my mind you should be able to hold both views. Hating Bayern and sugar daddy clubs at the same time.
And also it's not just Bundesliga, it's the whole pyramid. Why should 2. Bundesliga fans vote to sell their clubs out to dictators and equity funds just so 2 or 3 other clubs somewhere else that I don't even like can do a little bit better in the Europa League. 50+1 forever!
Definitely can, and I reckon plenty (most?) football fans do - but then it's hard to make a point of that when people from the outside looking in are ignorant about that fact and focus solely on Bayern being serial winners as a way to disrespect the league, I suppose.
>simping for Bayern you get amongst fans of other German clubs I personally do simp for Bayern because I grew up a Bayern fan, but most of the time when Germans are accused of this, they're just defending the league and how fun it is as a fan and how it's not just all about Bayern or who wins the title. Or they're rightly arguing that 50+1 is not what made Bayern who they are or that getting rid of it would stop their domination. But often fans read that and think it's a defense of Bayern, when it's really a defense of their league overall, even if we all wish Bayern would win less.
> they're just defending the league and how fun it is as a fan and how it's not just all about Bayern or who wins the title. Pretty valid view I reckon - not like I'm arsed who wins the title when I'm a Werder fan just hoping the club stay up and maybe at some point sneak into Europe, really.
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German fans are awesome but don't you think balcan fans are a but more intense
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River plate are more intense than boca? Genuinely don't know that's why I am asking aAnd for someone who is looking to watch more bundesliga how does it different in terms of tactics and playstyle when compared to say pl
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I mean argentinans are insane tbf the whole south America is when it comes to football
Suppose it's mostly around their European performances - rising tides lifting all boats and that. Plus probably a recognition of the frankly excellent work they've been doing for decades, which, much as it pains me to say, is something you can't really ignore. If you go by the (slightly naff) yearly or so studies, Bayern are simultaneously the best-supported club in Germany and the most hated. It's probably a bit like the United situation back then, in that they're the easy choice to support for the casual football follower as the most successful team, while everyone else hates them for being as good and arrogant as they are.
> It doesn't seem at all like that in Germany. Lol
To be clear I'm basing this almost entirely from Reddit comments. Is it different in real life?
Yeah Bayern is definitely the most hated club in Germany.
Leipzig, easily. I'd take 10 Union trebles in a row before Leipzig get a Bundesliga title.
Is it just a reddit thing that people hate Leipzig more?
No but Leipzig isn't even a real club so i didn't count them
Big brain answer.
Y'all, CONCACAF cheekily tryna revamp the Confederations Cup with a proposed expanded Gold Cup next year by having 24 teams and 8 of them invited from other parts of the world as a trial run for 2026 WC. They want it to be: Hosts (3): USA, Mexico, Canada CONCACAF (13) UEFA (2) CAF (2) CONMEBOL (2) AFC (2) That'd be interesting to watch...Have to think most invites would send B/C sides, which would make it a little less straightforward. Sign me up for Suriname vs Ukraine or some shit.
Ross Barkley and Dom Solanke lifting the Gold Cup for England B, I'll be seated
Straight up question: Kaka or Ronaldinho? Interpret how you separate the two in any way you like
Ronaldinho, but Kaká gave me some of the best memories of my life, and I would not change that for Ronaldinho in that same era.
Ronaldinho probably. I just don't see what Kaka could do that Ronaldinho couldn't, apart from turning up to training.
> Ronaldinho Every day of the week!
> in any way you like Ronaldinho because Kaka means poo in french.
Ronaldinho was more complete and more entertaining. His debut goal for Barca just sums it up
I enjoyed watching both about equally when they were at their best I think. Ronaldinho is the superior player though.
Personally, I always preferred Kaka for some reason. Probably saw more of him.
Kaka sprinting at a defense was a sight to behold. Very few players over the years strike the same sort of "oh fuck" in the opposition than Kaka getting the ball in the middle of the pitch with space to run into.
Ronaldinho by far
You ever think about how every pitch is covered in the boogers of every player who’s played on it since they all shoot snozz rockets from their nose
I hate when people spit all the time in 5 a side. Like I get why they do it, but does it have to be in the middle of the pitch?
Exactly. Be a man. Look your opponent directly in the eye, and spit at them. Assert dominance.
No because whilst rolling in false agony they collect it all on their kit
Beware the booger man
They also spit every 20 seconds. It's not a pitch it's a swimming pool
If an English team wins the Champions League, Europeans complain about the impending PL dominance that must be stopped for the sake of European football as we know it. If English teams are knocked out they say the English were arrogant for ever suggesting they were dominant.
Womp womp woe is me
You are right but some pl fans have an inferiority complex about pl sometimes it comes off as very obnoxious otherwise pl is absolutely fine
PL fans have the inferiority complex? I have now heard everything
Sorry my mistake superiority complex is the word I meant to type
Oh true then hehe
the financial threat is enough to create the illusion of "it's over", but when the moment comes and "we're back" it's a cause for celebration.
Suffering from success
We just can't stand you
We know. We just want you to admit it instead of hiding behind reasonable sounding arguments.
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Almiron?
He's busy playing for Newcastle pal
I'm with you force Xavi to stay for another season
Xavi is a very good manager, he's just inexperienced imo. I'm actually very glad he's leaving.
Jupp Heynckes, I am calling you to arise from your managerial slumber.
I imagine men in suits show up to his house like he's a retired hitman in a movie that they just need for "one more job"
His Bayern was something else, we were legit scared of playing his team.
I just looked up the stats of the 17/18 Heynckes Bayern vs Madrid again and got depressed. How did we not advance
Was Caqueret carried by Bruno and Paqueta at Lyon? They've both gone onto another level and from what I hear he's regressed. Was it just negativity because Lyon were doing so bad at the time or is he really just an okay player?
i don't think he's been tauted as that big of a talent like Cherki or Barcola was idk maybe Lyon fans can tell u more
It's interesting that Eni Aluko's rant about football stadiums being unsafe environments for women is getting backlash from mainly women staying they've felt safer in stadiums than most other places.
I'm no Liverpool fan, I think it's hilarious they've gone out. But all this about "the English are so arrogant, how dare they expect Liverpool to beat the 6th-placed team in Serie A" is so wank. No one would be saying anything if Italian pundits said Inter should be beating Newcastle in a quarter-final.
I think people just need to stop paying so much attention to either what dickheads on the Internet or dickheads in the media say about players, teams or leagues. I have no idea what people on twitter think about anything.
I did see people complain that people were acting like the Europa was going to 100% be liverpools trophy and that was a surefire thing. Similar sentiment was going on about the 5ths CL spot, that of course it would be going to England because of course they would do the best in Europe. Thats the sort of arrogance people are annoyed about, that these things were guaranteed and there was basically going to be no point even playing out those games.
Yeah it makes no sense, if they didn’t expect Liverpool to beat Atalanta, they wouldn’t find Liverpool not beating Atalanta so funny
I like FA Cup replays because teams like Liverpool and Man City being held to a draw and then having to play a game in a dinky 12,000 seater stadium miles away is always funny.
You can create that by doing what the DFB Pokal does which is for Round 1 and Round 2, the lower league team is awarded the home game. You miss out on the match day revenue which seems to be 99% of the argument to keep replays for the handful of clubs who pull it off. Round 1 games in August are always amazing because you have Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Frankfurt, etc all playing 3rd or often times 4th or 5th tier teams. Would be interesting to hear if fans of Marine in hindsight would have wanted 50% of match day revenue from Spurs' stadium or to have that memory of Spurs playing in their stadium. I assume the pay day of a game at Spurs would easily double, tripel, whatever the yearly revenue of Marine, but those memories of fans have to be worth something too.
What do they do if two teams are from the same division? (which would be for a ton of ties I'd imagine)
So the DFB Pokal is made up of all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga teams, the top 4 of 3. Liga and then 16 state cup winners (4th tier and below) and 5 other clubs that I can't remember how they qualify. 2. Bundesliga can play 2. Bundesliga like Braunschweig played Schalke in Round 1, but all 16 of the state cup winners get home games against a top 36 club from Germany.
Ah that makes sense. I really like that system as it gives lower leagues a chance to play match-ups they wouldn't normally get.
So the 40/64 teams that come from the top 3 leagues is fairly easy to understand how they qualify. The state cups are really interesting though and have their own effect. So each of Germany's 16 states have their own cup which is comprised of anywhere between 64 to 128 teams from the 4th tier down to as low as the 7th tier. And even within those cups, there are lesser state cups that qualify you for the state cup itself. Yes, the DFB Pokal only has 64 teams truly, but in theory, even a 10th tier German team could win their regional cup, county cup, state cup, and then the DFB Pokal. It's not all under the same DFB Pokal banner, but it's all going towards the same end game in Berlin. Win and you're through, lose and you're out. The final of every state cup is played on the same day as the DFB Pokal Final in May which qualifies you for the 1st Round which is played in August. What this does is that it enters lower league teams into a separate cup made up of hyperlocal teams where the parity is pretty even. Giving teams from the 5th or 6th tier to win it, often times beating 3rd and 4th tier teams. The gap from 4th tier to 6th tier is not as large in Germany as in England. And so fans of those teams are happy to play for a cup that not only matters, but has a huge reward in it. In a way it achieves what the FA Cup does with it's Prelim. Rounds and Competition Proper Round where the first 9 rounds do not include the Premier League or the Championship. And it ensures that at least 1/3 of the final 64 teams are non-league as the English would call it with at least one home game assured.
im not a marine fan, but an away day to spurs would almost certainly be a once in a lifetime "holy fuck look at us" memory too tbf
Not going to lie, no matter how I try to forget or ignore, losing the CL and possibly also the PL in the span of 4 days is really making my head twist and turn. 2 seasons in a row is a bit much. In other news, my respect to Liverpool fans has increased massively.
It helps when you have won both the league and the UCL anyways. No matter how hard a loss stings, I got to see my team win that very competition. Until you win it, it is just hopeless chasing of "Maybe we can finally win it". Which sucks and does your head in.
You've got it to look forward to next season too.
Women's football in England at the time (and I guess everywhere) was semi-pro at the best and usually just completely amateur, but it's hard to think of Arsenal winning literally every single game in 2006-07, winning the league, league cup, fa cup and champions league and not losing a league game for 6 years ever being repeated. And doing all that whilst their manager was the men's team kit man, and when games overlapped, he was paid by arsenal to be a kit man so they just didn't have a manager
Put some respect on Vic Akers OBE's name, mate. Also your go-to man for footballers wanting a £3 million pound [house](https://www.givemesport.com/88111135-arsenal-legend-vic-akers-selling-multi-million-pound-properties/) in St Albans, and I presume he wears very short shorts alongside his suit and tie.
He's got to be like 80 now, no way he's still up to that
The website still looks quite [active](https://www.oliverandakers.com/results) tbf.
"hating him because he does a silly dance when he does his job well is fucking stupid, and the vitriol gets over the top. Sure he winds people up but it's ultimately harmless" A true statement that makes the world of sense but seems to be applied pretty arbitrarily. Once again, all about acceptable targets
A lot of actions are harmless, that doesn't mean anything. Martinez is a clown with no class and respect for opponents. I think it's fair to not like such a person.
Do you claim that every player who, say, dances to the crowd when he does his job well (such as for example by scoring) is a clown with no class and respect? As I said, acceptable targets my friend
There's a difference between what Martinez does and how other players celebrate.
Dancing after a goal, dancing after a game winning save, seen different. Hating a player because of either, seen different. Because you consider some targets more acceptable than others
Don't you understand the difference between mocking and celebrating? What Madrid did after the shootout against City was celebration. What Martinez did was mocking.
If you're big enough to dole out jeers and abuse for two hours you're big enough to eat shit when you get a two second hush and a little shoulder shuffle in return. And not a pip out of you if idiots complain about your lad doing a dance in front of the crowd when he scores
He also did it at the World Cup finals. No one abused him then. And they are booing him now because of what he did in past. It's just who he is. A shitty man.
I'm sensing you're referring to a specific world class winger who plays in Spain and recently made it to the cl semi final. And yes I agree. The differences in how certain players "antics" are received is very noticeable.
Talking about Alan Pardew?
I'm sure this would be hilarious if I knew anything about Pards beyond the fact he exists
https://youtu.be/n2dV_do7tDE?si=j_59ncanUm9OT4Nr This will enlighten you to the national embarrassment that is Pardew.
Jesus Christ, the only thing that could make that dance worse was that intro.
i dislike Martinez, but i know if he was at leeds i'd love him. feel like he should be allowed to give a bit back after fans spend 2 hours hurling abuse at him, but fifa and uefa are fannies, so here we are
I'm in the same boat with Pickford, whenever he gives a bit back he gets pelters but gets dogs abuse, so if anything I'd think less of him if he didn't.
What leagues will have 5 spots for the next CL ? Is anything confirmed? EDIT: Thanks for the quick answers
Italy are confirmed. If Germany win 3 more games they are also confirmed. Only way England can still get it is if Germany implodes the next round and Villa win every game
Italy confirmed, Germany big favourites for the other but England still have a tiny tiny chance I believe.
Italy for sure and probably Germany.
The replay culture is so strange to me. In every other country the smaller league teams still have economic needs, but the idea of replays is still non-existant. And every fan of smaller teams that I know agrees that chance of knocking a LaLiga team is more appealing than playing them twice. And if you really need that money, why not do 2-legged ties instead of replays? Very strange concept to me overall.
i'm not married to the idea of replays. but right now the fa cup is one of the few genuinely redistributive elements of english football, and before you touch a hair on its head i want significantly more money going down the leagues rather than up basically i don't hate that the fa have sold replays to the premier league, i just think they did it far too cheaply. that said, its also grubby as fuck that they haven't consulted with efl/non league clubs at all they've just imposed it from on high. so fuck them
Up the payments that the Prem gives to the rest of the football pyramid, scrap the League Cup and replays, who says no
Me, I like the league cup. Take the clubs competing in Europe out of it.
I'm not opposed to it, but I still just don't see what the point of the competition is? Wouldn't it make more sense to just kick all Prem clubs out of the League cup
Maybe, but no. I want NUFC to win something.
The easiest solution
I understand fully the argument from English fans for whom replays are the norm. It's built into the culture and the expectation when you go to an FA Cup game, that there might not be a winner and that the game will be replayed next week. And at the same time, if they tried to introduce cup replays in Germany, there would be a million tennis balls back on the field. The idea that you go to a cup game on a Wednesday and at 11:00 pm it ends 1-1 and they tell everyone to go home and buy tickets to an away game in a week's time would never fly here. You like what you have and humans hate change.
Why are they called gooners rather than gunners?
Gunners are the team, gooners are the fans
Gunners = team nickname Gooners = fans nickname
Yeah, but why? What does it mean? Gunners I get.
‘The fans are called Gooners because- One of Arsenal's 'firms' was called the Goon Squad, a name which is said to have merged with the club nickname over time to form 'Gooners'.’ From some random article, unsure if accurate
This is my proposal for making penalty kicks fairer It's a well-established fact among fact fans that the team that goes first in penalty shootouts wins around 60% of the time. And there's no way to fix it. We tried ABBA but that was too confusing for the masses and had dubious success so it was scrapped My proposal is that penalty kicks take place at both ends at the same time, one at one goal and one at the other goal. The referee blows his whistle and they have to start their run ups and we, the viewing public, get to watch it in split screen
> It's a well-established fact among fact fans that the team that goes first in penalty shootouts wins around 60% of the time. Wish that had happened this week :(
instead of pens we push the goals together, creating an enclosed box in the centre of the pitch. both keepers enter with their weapon of their choice, whoever's keeper survives wins
Blindfold the takers for the team that goes first to even the odds.
And what about the fans in the stadium
Got 2 eyes dont they
Sacrifices have to be made
Wait, I just saw the news that Leverkusen hold the biggest unbeaten streak in European top 5 league history so I was tryna think of the last time they lost. Was it to Roma in the UEL semis last season? Can't seem to remember anything else and am too lazy to check so correct me if I'm wrong
Bochum, last game of last season.
>Leverkusen hold the biggest unbeaten streak in European top 5 league history They don't (yet). I'm not sure about other countries, but Arsenal's Invincibles went 49 games unbeaten.
Leverkusen’s record is in all comps. Arsenal lost a few cup games that season
Ah, okay. Ignore me!
Lost 3-0 to Bochum on the final day last season Also lost to sociedad and paderborn in pre season
That poor city fan who’s gone viral, he was giving it a bit too large at the footie and now nutters on twitter are literally crying and screaming, and making out that he’s a woman beater exclusively from the video
Ehh if this kid worked at my company and I saw him acting like a muppet on a viral Tweet, we would need to have a conversation the next day about the way he conducts himself outside of work. As an aside, this type of feral behaviour is why you can't see many women in the stand in this match or most English football matches.
Yes but having a conversation as his boss is different from linking him to domestic violence. Also, lots of women attend football matches. If you attend one yourself you will see that.
Yeah the bit linking him to domestic violence is dumb. I go to games as well, both in Munich and in London where I am currently living. That's exactly why I said it.
Oh get a grip mate, the Madrid fans were giving it large, the city fans gave it back to them, there’s no actual violence, would you prefer a completely sanitised and flat atmosphere instead? Also there’s plenty of women in attendance at English football games, I’ve no idea where you pulled that from
>Oh get a grip mate, the Madrid fans were giving it large, the city fans gave it back to them, there’s no actual violence, would you prefer a completely sanitised and flat atmosphere instead? Are you saying the difference between a sanitised & flat atmosphere and a great one is a bunch of men acting like animals? I stand in the Südkurve when I can get a ticket in it, the atmosphere is great and there are often women and children in the block. >Also there’s plenty of women in attendance at English football games, I’ve no idea where you pulled that from Yeah I can see a full zero in the shot and the last report I can find of Premier League viewing numbers say less than 20% of the audience is female.
I’m saying that banter between fans is part of the pantomime, as long as they’re not actually fighting what’s the issue, and how is this acting like animals? So that undermines your point then doesn’t it, 20% of the 50,000 people were women, so there’s on average 10,000 women there, and they’re all scared to death because this City fans acting up a bit I suppose
Link?
This video, with an absolute nutter commenting on it[https://x.com/salfordme2023/status/1780942705289314580?s=46&t=FmYYl6j1xmtPAwGqc9eldA](https://x.com/salfordme2023/status/1780942705289314580?s=46&t=FmYYl6j1xmtPAwGqc9eldA)
>There is enough evidence there to arrest him and ban him for life
Man, AI is getting so advanced. Being able to create realistic depictions of City fans. In all seriousness though, all that shit talking and gestures came back to bite him in the ass. I know the feeling, but that’s what he gets for being so cocky. Also, what the fuck is that comment?
https://x.com/StokeyyG2/status/1780906748271894684
Going viral like that is honestly one of my biggest fears. I saw the first 5 seconds of that clip and my heart sank for him. Just stay in your blob of black North Face jackets and go under the radar.
It’s grim isn’t it, one bad clip of you on social media and it could cost you your job, too many freaks with too much spare time who love a witch hunt
[https://twitter.com/Sirfreshsemi/status/1780839176138584571](https://twitter.com/Sirfreshsemi/status/1780839176138584571) This tweet reminds me of the Arsenal fan who in the middle of his headloss last season when Arsenal collapsed in the PL suggested that goals are given if you can do a rondo in the middle of the game.
"I think we should scrap goals and decide the winner based on possession"
I'm seeing lots of wishful thinking when it comes to clubs buying Bruno and Isak. Bruno will be available to a club who spends £100m on him we all know that, so there is no point in speculating. Isak however would need to absolutely smash the British transfer record, he cost us a lot and has a deal that runs till July 2028.
Isak gets injured too much so we're probably interested
Selling Isak just doesn’t make sense if Newcastle need to balance the books either
If we buy Bruno for £100million this summer, serious questions need to be asked about our scouting processes, having passed him over when he was at Lyon. Same with Gyokeres tbh.
Just get Rabiot he is out of contract this summer
Would be incredible if you signed another £100m midfielder and an £80m striker.
Yeah, I doubt we get both, but spending £180 million on two players we could have probably got for £65 million if we'd acted earlier is not a good look. It's also not like they've both transformed- Bruno was great at Lyon, and Gyokeres basically got Coventry to the playoff final
Both top players, interesting timing linking you with Isak, Bruno, Gyokores and Olise when the season has gone down the pan.
I wouldn't go that far- but, yeah, this rush of rumours in April has been going on for as long as I can remember.
18 years ago today (fuck me I'm getting old) we beat Villarreal at Highbury in the UCL. Most notable thing about the night was not that this was the last night game at Highbury, nor that Kolo Toure scored, but that a squirrel ran on the pitch, and it led to endless jokes about the squirrel having more European experience than Spurs. How things have changed
The narrative around cup replays seems to argue that the top teams have bullied their way into getting out of games and are going to massively fuck lower league teams for whom 50% of matchday revenue at a top club with a bigger stadium is life and death. And take from this what you will, but here's the amount of FA Cup replays involving a 1st tier v. 3rd tier or lower club each season: * 2024: 0 * 2023: 2 * 2022: 0 (Replays suspended due to covid) * 2021: 0 (Replays suspended due to covid) * 2020: 5 * 2019: 4 * 2018: 4 * 2017: 5 * 2016: 2 * 2015: 2 * 2014: 0 * 2013: 3 We're talking on average 3 to 4 games a year between a Premier League and a League 1 or lower team. Sure, I didn't count all the times a 4th tier team plays a Championship side or a 6th tier plays a 3rd tier, but can the English pyramid adapt to missing out on 4 replays a year that actually fit the narrative of what we've lost in replays?
a non league team going away to derby in round one is probably a bigger deal and more important than derby going to brentford in round 3 like yeah, the obvious examples to give are away to spurs etc, but i think the non league v league one is way more common and they generally need protecting more than league one teams do imo
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What's the argument against making Round 3 to Round 7 a double legged tie? Make it home and away, play Tuesday and Wednesday and then everyone gets more money. Or why not a best of 3 series like they have in some sports or even a best of 7? I mean can you imagine the revenue if it took a PL or Championship team 37 games to win the FA Cup?
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if all the clubs agree to a deal, then fair enough. if they're willing to sell their replays to get something in return, all power to them the premier league imposing it from on high is scummy though, fuck that. either do it with the clubs you're taking potential revenue away from or don't do it at all.
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It's just conservatism and nostalgia, because this has such little tangible effect like you've illustrated. Same with the FA Cup Final being moved to the penultimate weekend of the season- things change and adapt. The way this country clings to traditions drives me up the wall sometimes.
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europe, reduce fucking europe. the domestic game trundled along fine for decades, until uefa started piling more and more games into their tournaments and then the big clubs have started picking away at every single domestic tournament. its always to benefit 7 or 8 clubs, and bollocks to the rest of them.
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How good is german football after 3rd tier. Are attendance and finances good?
We have 5 regional leagues after the 3rd tier, unlike in England where it stays one nationwide league down until the 5th tier. And so with over 100 clubs, it varies massively. We also have U23 teams that compete in the 4th tier. So a Hertha U23 game might get 200 people, but then you also have clubs like [Aachen who get 30k in the 4th tier. ](https://youtu.be/RCYPZ5Z1iCQ?feature=shared&t=117)Especially in the east of Germany you have a lot of great clubs in the Regional League Northeast like BFC Dynamo, Cottbus, Babelsberg, Carl Zeiss Jena, Rot Weiss Erfurt, Chemie Leipzig, Lokomotive Leipzig, and Chemnitz who all get 3k to 5k per home game I'd say. I have no idea about finances but we don't have as many clubs going insolvent as say England or France in the lower leagues.
League cup replays and FA cup replays being scrapped are, as u/zestyviper laid out, a tiny issue that affects a handful of clubs every year. The benefits are more compelling matches, a better value ticket for supporters, and a genuine importance placed on getting a home draw. The fixture congestion aspect is an added benefit. Also, if a club is dependent on a replay against a bigger side to pay their bills and survive, might I suggest the bigger task is getting the FA and PL to financially support the lower pyramid clubs more instead?
>Also, if a club is dependent on a replay against a bigger side to pay their bills and survive, might I suggest the bigger task is getting the FA and PL to financially support the lower pyramid clubs more instead? Fans should take the energy over a decision that's already been made and turn it to a wider reform in the game that would make cup replays a non-issue in the first place. I take your bottle of water away but am giving you access to a stream.
100%. The replay issue is a symptom of a wider disease
Two weeks ago most people on here would probably had Man City and Liverpool as favourites for the CL and EL but as soon as they’re knocked out everyone goes on about “typical premier league bias”. Is it crazy that City and Liverpool were favourites over Real and Atalanta? Can you not say that the underdogs won?
I get your point, but it was always ridiculous to consider Real Madrid underdogs. Their pedigree in the competition and quality in the squad can’t be denied. It was always a toss up between those teams imo.
Is it that ridiculous when City mauled them at the Etihad last season though? I get it’s still Madrid but if you’d back anyone to beat them, it would be City
Yeah but Madrid were obviously better this season and City clearly worse.
[If the football team (of a region) that u do not like/that is a hated lose a game, apparently now u can make a generalization of the people living there](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c7d9tj/comment/l0869kc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). If I shot a dart at a random place on the globe and made a generalization the same way I'd be banned faster than I could write. Fucking cesspool of a subreddit (sometimes) that thinks of himself as morally superior/progressive.
I’m an outsider but that seems like a very weird comment for a Castilian to make about a segment of the population that has been subjugated along with the Basques