Football thread

[Stom]

Whatever the result, the treatment of the Liverpool fans there was pretty atrocious.

[Galfon]

Whatever the result, the treatment of the Liverpool fans there was pretty atrocious.

Sport Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Twitter:
“The attempts of intrusion and fraud by thousands of English fans have complicated the work of stewards and police forces but will not tarnish [Real Madrid’s] victory.
"Violence has no place in the stadiums."...exactement, especially by police on children, families and disabled fans.
(They took on the final at short notice, of course possibly expecting PSG with the Messi-oo-ah to be there.... )
Elsewhere, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61628488

[Mellsblue]

A fan’s experience:



Similar stories from Real fans, albeit less serious

[Banquo]

Very decent of Scotland to show solidarity with UKraine.

[Zhivago]

The biggest Welsh football game in my lifetime tomorrow and I'll be watching it at home here surrounded by my wife and her Ukrainian family. My desire for Wales to win will be by no means diminished.

[Galfon]

whoops..
Beeb had originally falsely reported Solihull Moors 2 - 1 victors over Grimsby in the play-off final, for promotion to the Football league
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61628696
Grimsby it actually is...tough on the Moors but they've come a long way from the lower leagues in a short time - maybe next year eh.

[Banquo]

Taffs showing no heart . Well done for hanging in there.

[Mellsblue]

whoops..
Beeb had originally falsely reported Solihull Moors 2 - 1 victors over Grimsby in the play-off final, for promotion to the Football league
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61628696
Grimsby it actually is...tough on the Moors but they've come a long way from the lower leagues in a short time - maybe next year eh.

I was there and the Mighty Mariners definitely won!! Still haven’t seen them lose a final in London.

[Galfon]

I was there and the Mighty Mariners definitely won!! Still haven’t seen them lose a final in London.

An uncle once worked at the Navy dockyard there, and often made the bench for the team in the 70's.
He was a submariner.

[Galfon]

Congratulations to the Eng. Women's team..'The Lionesses' winning the Euros, beating Germany 2-1 at Wembley.
Up against tough opponents but kept going well.
The Dutch coach Sabrina Wiegman has won 2 tournaments now back to back, winning every game. Top work.

[Stom]

OK, so...England football.

WTF is this? Southgate's team is insane. It doesn't play to any strengths. If you're going to play wing backs, pick Rico Henry and play him. Bring other players into the side, give them a chance. This is just awful.

[Galfon]

A very mediocre team losing to a slightly better mediocre team.
GS picking a clutch of players not regular starters for their clubs, and some out of position.Even Capn Kane looks like he'd rather play on his own..
Just 1 game (Mon) before Qatar and the 'kind' WC group ( that's because Eng. are in it..)
Rice, Bellingham and Dier looked up to, and for it., so some positives.

[Stom]

A very mediocre team losing to a slightly better mediocre team.
GS picking a clutch of players not regular starters for their clubs, and some out of position.Even Capn Kane looks like he'd rather play on his own..
Just 1 game (Mon) before Qatar and the 'kind' WC group ( that's because Eng. are in it..)
Rice, Bellingham and Dier looked up to, and for it., so some positives.

I thought Rice was symptomatic of the worst of England, ditto Dier, tbh. There were 4 players who showed anything like what's needed to win matches at international level. And for me to say one of those was Kyle Walker says something...

Walker, Foden, Bellingham, Grealish.

On this showing, I would fill my team with players who play overseas or for Pep/Klopp. And that's it. In time, others might come into it, but the movement and space creation employed by those players was on a different level to any other player on the pitch.

[Galfon]

I thought Rice was symptomatic of the worst of England, ditto Dier, tbh. There were 4 players who showed anything like what's needed to win matches at international level. And for me to say one of those was Kyle Walker says something...

Walker, Foden, Bellingham, Grealish.

On this showing, I would fill my team with players who play overseas or for Pep/Klopp. And that's it. In time, others might come into it, but the movement and space creation employed by those players was on a different level to any other player on the pitch.

There's always a good argument for managers to select 'winners' in the pack..
Think Walker showing his age and/or lack of match fitness, as great an athlete he is - clearly at fault for the goal.Foden fantastic skills and great engine but appeared to get pushed out of it by a physical opponent.Say what you like about Grealish but when he plays, the game moves about 50 yards up the pitch and chances pop up - the 3 things must be related

[Banquo]

fight back from 2 down and Pope stufs up. Southgate will be furious

[Galfon]

fight back from 2 down and Pope stufs up. Southgate will be furious

Also at Maguire similar schoolboy f/ups resulting in the first 2.
Stones will be a big loss if his hammy is gone.
Will be chuffed with spirited response and another top showing by
teenager Bellingham.

[Stom]

In case you need more proof Neymar is a grade a cwnt

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... SApp_Other

[Galfon]

Southgate stays 'till Euros.
Only 18 mnths. away ( in Ger.) and his squad shoild be pretty much the same, Fairy Nuff.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63943512

[Puja]

Southgate stays 'till Euros.
Only 18 mnths. away ( in Ger.) and his squad shoild be pretty much the same, Fairy Nuff.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63943512

I think all the people moaning about "Oh, he never wins anything," have very short memories and unrealistic expectations. Pre-Southgate, the last time England won a knockout game at a tournament was 2006, he's taken the team to a semi, a final, and a quarter final in quick succession, yet here are people complaining that we "failed" to win the final of the Euros and we "failed" to beat an excellent France side and that we need to get Graeme Potter in or some such shit because he'll do *miles* better and win everything as is our desert .

Puja

[Stom]

Southgate stays 'till Euros.
Only 18 mnths. away ( in Ger.) and his squad shoild be pretty much the same, Fairy Nuff.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63943512

I think all the people moaning about "Oh, he never wins anything," have very short memories and unrealistic expectations. Pre-Southgate, the last time England won a knockout game at a tournament was 2006, he's taken the team to a semi, a final, and a quarter final in quick succession, yet here are people complaining that we "failed" to win the final of the Euros and we "failed" to beat an excellent France side and that we need to get Graeme Potter in or some such shit because he'll do *miles* better and win everything as is our desert .

Puja

TBF, we've still never beaten a team ranked higher than us under him...

There's this concept of high-floor, low ceiling vs low-floor, high-ceiling. England under Southgate are generally the former, which means we're going to get far in tournaments, as whenever we come up against better teams, we don't have the capability to break them down.

Now that's not to say that Southgate has done a bad job, just that we need to step up another level. Look at the difference in this France team. It's largely the same, but a couple of changes have made them a much more effective attacking threat, while maintaining their defensive discipline and shape.

Now, sure, Southgate doesn't have Dembele to bring in, but he does have Jack Grealish.

My problem when watching England is that a few players stick out like sore thumbs. Stones, Walker, Bellingham, Grealish, Foden, and Sterling all move the ball effectively, then instantly take up positions to create a passing option that can result in a go-forward ball. They have the ability to play one touch, vary the pace, and drift into half-spaces. When you compare the way they move with and without the ball to someone like, for instance Rice, it's night and day.

Now, the thing is, I think Rice moves really well. He carries the ball well, and knows when to release it. He's a very adept player, but he's just not had that high-level coaching the City players - and Bellingham at Dortmund, seemingly - have had.

On the other hand, Henderson is someone I really like as an enabler. He does his role wonderfully, and it has Klopp's fingerprints all over. Those players can complement each other, but we rarely see them all on the pitch at the same time. Watching the space that Grealish creates whenever he's on the pitch, you just wonder what could be if he played more minutes. I understand the need for both pace on the wings and a midfield three, but I'd still find a way to fit him in.

So, yeah, it feels like Southgate hasn't shown the ability to take the next step, and it's not because the players aren't up to it: this England squad is the best England squad in history. Sure, it's not got the depth of France, but it's got more depth in key positions than Italy, Spain, Portugal...

[Galfon]

RIP Pele.
Massive influence on football, sport and his country.
Can't really compare (like Best) with today's prancers and dancers
due to changes in conditioning, rules, pitches, balls etc but unusually seemed like a genuinely good guy.

[Puja]

Anyone watching the women's World Cup? Just watched the highlights of us demolishing China and just wanted someone to appreciate the first touch for Lauren Hemp's goal (to go 3-0 up). Just a thing of absolute beauty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/66279164

Puja

[Galfon]

China as Asian champs looked poor.
2 goals and 3 assists for Reece James's little sis., some clever play.Japan look excellent and some of the African players look like they'll take some knocking off the ball.
Like the menfolk, Eng. look a reasonable bet to reach the latter stages.

[Puja]

Bizarre tournament so far, with the USA the latest fancied team to tumble out early - losing to Sweden on the basis of some ridiculous saves from the Swedish keeper and then somehow losing on penalties from a position of only needing to score to win twice, and then losing to a penalty that was half saved, but just crept over the line before the keeper scrambled it away. Highlights on the BBC are worth a watch.

England will never have a better chance to win the World Cup than this, although I'd imagine that's also what the USA were thinking this morning.

Puja

[cashead]

The USA getting knocked out early is one of the least surprising things at this tournament, TBH. Going in, yeah, they'd have been early favourites, but red flags would've been popping up right away in their opening fixture against Vietnam, when they made some hard work out of beating a fairly unfancied side. Their defence was cromulent enough, but it's like they completely forgot how to score goals. Like, how many times did we see the likes of Sophia Smith take the ball into the corner and end up doing fuck all with it, because there was no one for her to cross the ball to in the box? It's basic-ass shit. Compare that to Japan, who were lethal against Spain in their final pool match. 3 shots on goal in the first half, 3 goals. Fucking brilliant.

As for the whinge over the penalties, it's like, goddamn, Naeher, how long have you been doing this shit? It's not over until the ball is dead, and you fucking know this.

All in all, they really had a vibe of a team that was sick of each other's shit, full of players too long in the tooth (how many of the squad are pushing 30? And frankly, by athlete standards, Rapinoe is practically fucking Methuselah) who really didn't deliver - Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, I'm looking in your direction.

If the Swedes hadn't sent them packing, it would've been the Japanese - who continue to be overlooked and underrated by the press down here. Anyone not taking them seriously after the way they completely dismantled Spain either has no idea what the fuck they're talking about, is a complete fucking dipshit, or is out of their fucking gourds.