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***The Soccer (The Real Football) Thread***


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On 8/14/2020 at 1:52 PM, Panzer Division Marduk said:

Such a tragedy that stadiums in Europe are empty. The world has been denied the utter joy of watching all those Barcelona fans crying their eyes out after what Bayern just did to them.

whenyou fail to address a lack of D for a decade....    you get Semedo and Pique lettig you waltz to the goal.

also Ter stegen is a fraud.

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On 8/8/2020 at 4:34 PM, Irish Jet said:

I doubt they get past Sevilla tbh. That PTSD.

Can I have Tuesday's Euromillions numbers please? 

Okay, 19-20 season is done. Don't care what happens the rest of it. :grin:

 

 And the Scottish FA need to crack down with these teams flouting Covid directives. I'd suggest something along the lines of a 25 point deduction for Aberdeen, and a 50 point deduction for Celtic.

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52 minutes ago, Irish Jet said:

Messi has demanded to leave Barcelona. Refusing to even train and adamant that he’s done.

Unbelievable. Would bet he ends up at PSG or City.

 

His dad bought a house in Milan a few months ago. Don't count Inter out...they're willing to splash the cash. 

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14 hours ago, Panzer Division Marduk said:

MLS Puppet club, they mean.

This is the future of soccer. 

Major conglomerates or sovereign wealth funds creating a network of sporting institutions around the world, and effectively owning players from the womb until death. You have clubs trafficking kids as young as 8 from one club to the next. 

Cost-effective public relations on a worldwide scale.

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9 hours ago, predator_05 said:

This is the future of soccer. 

Major conglomerates or sovereign wealth funds creating a network of sporting institutions around the world, and effectively owning players from the womb until death. You have clubs trafficking kids as young as 8 from one club to the next. 

Cost-effective public relations on a worldwide scale.

Not just kids. Look at the fast one City pulled with Frank Lampard.

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22 hours ago, predator_05 said:

This is the future of soccer. 

Major conglomerates or sovereign wealth funds creating a network of sporting institutions around the world, and effectively owning players from the womb until death. You have clubs trafficking kids as young as 8 from one club to the next. 

Cost-effective public relations on a worldwide scale.

Yup.

This transfer saga is basically UAE vs Qatar.

And as great as Messi is it's not even for footballing reasons that this will be forced through purely for the exposure of having Messi's brand on board. Sportswashing propaganda projects for some of the most vile regimes in the world.

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And I see there's growing speculation that Adidas are trying to get Messi (who has deal with them) to join United (also has a deal with them). 

Of course Ed Woodward will do his best to ensure that this will not happen, as his amazing football senses have told him that Crewe Alexandria have a promising 28 year old midfielder who would be a better fit.

 

Oh, and I forgot, LOL @ Celtic.

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19 minutes ago, Irish Jet said:

Yup.

This transfer saga is basically UAE vs Qatar.

And as great as Messi is it's not even for footballing reasons that this will be forced through purely for the exposure of having Messi's brand on board. Sportswashing propaganda projects for some of the most vile regimes in the world.

 

Its big business looking for the next round of profits. 

I don't think much of the criticism - much of it is shallow. Sports has always been used as a platform to project political ideas and manipulate opinion in favour of regimes. Real Madrid were francisco franco's mouthpiece, for example.

The premier league itself, acts as the UK's primary cultural export or 'soft power'. Its hard to get away from the politics.

 

I'm surprised we haven't had a european super league yet. Surely the champions league in its current form is becoming stale and in need of evolution. 

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Looks like Messi's gone on strike. And in other Barca news, seems they want to cancel Suarez's contract and let him go on a free (Juve want him), but the cannibal racist wants his pound of flesh and the €15 mill he would have made in the final year of the contract.

And Zlatan has to go to Tallaght in the Europa League. The poor, poor b*****d. 

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On 8/28/2020 at 1:54 PM, Irish Jet said:

Yup.

This transfer saga is basically UAE vs Qatar.

And as great as Messi is it's not even for footballing reasons that this will be forced through purely for the exposure of having Messi's brand on board. Sportswashing propaganda projects for some of the most vile regimes in the world.

 

I was thinking about this a little more; if the Premier League allows foreign countries to own clubs, and directly hold a stake in the league's future -- aren't they protecting themselves from the threat of a European super league? 

Any european super league would threaten the Premier league's world-wide dominance. I'm certain that spanish, german and italian leagues have no reservations about merging their top clubs into one european super league.

Television broadcasting and streaming revenue would be far greater, and the spectacle of top clubs playing each other every week would make the Premier league appear second rate. 

The premier league is trying to prevent this by effectively giving other countries a say in european football's future. If they're forced to debate the existence of the champions league, they can count on getting reliable support from elsewhere. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ed Woodward: "Let's see, this guy is tough, never makes a mistake, great vision, nobody can get past him, I can see him slotting in like he was always there. Yep, this is the guy I want for the team. Expensive, but he's worth the money."
Ole:: "Oh, you're buying a new defender? Great, we need a few of those."
Woodward: "Don't be stupid. I was talking about the new recruit for the security team for my house, that's more important."

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Woodward and the Glazers legitimately need to be thrown into a bear pit. F*cking parasite scum. 

Grealish and Sancho were two of the most obvious signings in history, especially with our new Brexit FC look. Will pay £80m for Harry f*cking Maguire - the fridge with legs - but wont shell out a little more for genuine world class talent. F*cking disgrace.

But hey at least we got Edinson Cavani, who is a phenomenal signing. In 2010. Doesn't scream of desperation at all when you sign a free agent four hours from the f*cking deadline.

Remember when Ed told us he pulled out of the Dybala deal because he thought he was a mercenary? And our sheep fans just ate it all up? Wasn't at all obvious that the whole thing was a façade to get Inter to pay up for Lukaku and improve that sweet net spend. We literally hired a propagandist to spin his bullsh*t. 

I actually feel bad for Telles, who is a quality player but not suited whatsoever to this team. Far more suited to Wolves, Spurs or Chelsea who have legit #9 to work with. 

Shambles of a club from the top down. Actually sort of delighted for Jose who was the only f*cking guy who had the balls to call out the board for what they were. They couldn't give a sh*t about the product on the pitch.

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11 hours ago, Irish Jet said:

Woodward and the Glazers legitimately need to be thrown into a bear pit. F*cking parasite scum. 

Grealish and Sancho were two of the most obvious signings in history, especially with our new Brexit FC look. Will pay £80m for Harry f*cking Maguire - the fridge with legs - but wont shell out a little more for genuine world class talent. F*cking disgrace.

But hey at least we got Edinson Cavani, who is a phenomenal signing. In 2010. Doesn't scream of desperation at all when you sign a free agent four hours from the f*cking deadline.

Remember when Ed told us he pulled out of the Dybala deal because he thought he was a mercenary? And our sheep fans just ate it all up? Wasn't at all obvious that the whole thing was a façade to get Inter to pay up for Lukaku and improve that sweet net spend. We literally hired a propagandist to spin his bullsh*t. 

I actually feel bad for Telles, who is a quality player but not suited whatsoever to this team. Far more suited to Wolves, Spurs or Chelsea who have legit #9 to work with. 

Shambles of a club from the top down. Actually sort of delighted for Jose who was the only f*cking guy who had the balls to call out the board for what they were. They couldn't give a sh*t about the product on the pitch.

I've seen a household appliance with legs in the Premier League, and he can run rings around Maguire. 

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Maguire should be called The Supertanker. He's big, expensive, slow as f**k, and when he needs to change direction he takes half an hour (and a couple of miles) to turn around.

 

Of course the Glazers don't give two s**ts, The club is there simply to suck hundreds and hundreds of millions out of, just to pay for their malls in the US and the f**king Buccaneers. The fact that they leeched money out of Old Trafford (which is falling apart because they won't pay for adequate maintenance) to sign Tom f**king Brady is just the icing on the f**king cake. And since Woodward was the one who did all the work to help them take over the club, there's no way they'll get rid of him..,. after all, he's still doing all these vital deals like signing up firms to be Official Fertiliser Supplier of Manchester United, or Official Dog Food of Manchester United. Who actually cares about the onfield product when Cheap'N'Crash-A-Lot Air are the Official Indonesian Airline of Manchester United?

As for Cavani, so much for learning from the lessons of Sanchez or the Failcow. But then he'll sell a bunch of jerseys in China... Though hopefully he'll have enough of a grudge against PSG that he puts the Snake into the advertising hoardings Ashley Young style.

 

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On 10/6/2020 at 12:48 PM, Panzer Division Marduk said:

I've seen a household appliance with legs in the Premier League, and he can run rings around Maguire. 

EKQA2qeXYAEMBcO?format=jpg&name=360x360

Maguire should be called The Supertanker. He's big, expensive, slow as f**k, and when he needs to change direction he takes half an hour (and a couple of miles) to turn around.

 

Of course the Glazers don't give two s**ts, The club is there simply to suck hundreds and hundreds of millions out of, just to pay for their malls in the US and the f**king Buccaneers. The fact that they leeched money out of Old Trafford (which is falling apart because they won't pay for adequate maintenance) to sign Tom f**king Brady is just the icing on the f**king cake. And since Woodward was the one who did all the work to help them take over the club, there's no way they'll get rid of him..,. after all, he's still doing all these vital deals like signing up firms to be Official Fertiliser Supplier of Manchester United, or Official Dog Food of Manchester United. Who actually cares about the onfield product when Cheap'N'Crash-A-Lot Air are the Official Indonesian Airline of Manchester United?

As for Cavani, so much for learning from the lessons of Sanchez or the Failcow. But then he'll sell a bunch of jerseys in China... Though hopefully he'll have enough of a grudge against PSG that he puts the Snake into the advertising hoardings Ashley Young style.

 

A few years ago the Buccaneers fans were giving out about how the Glazers were only interested in United. Now they seem delighted with them. Funny how it all works out. Some United fans even got hoodwinked by their little spending spree a few years ago when they're not putting a penny of their own money into the club. Woodward is the highest paid executive in the league I believe despite the disastrous results on the pitch. It shows they don't care, the priority isn't the football and hasn't been for a long time. It's only important so far as it effects the brand.

It's depressing but it isn't changing any time soon. The only way they're going is if it's an oil state buying, which is even more soul destroying. Look at City - Just got suspended on Twitter because it turns out most of their followers are bots. Sums that club up. Plastic in every sense. 

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23 minutes ago, Irish Jet said:

A few years ago the Buccaneers fans were giving out about how the Glazers were only interested in United. Now they seem delighted with them. Funny how it all works out. Some United fans even got hoodwinked by their little spending spree a few years ago when they're not putting a penny of their own money into the club. Woodward is the highest paid executive in the league I believe despite the disastrous results on the pitch. It shows they don't care, the priority isn't the football and hasn't been for a long time. It's only important so far as it effects the brand.

It's depressing but it isn't changing any time soon. The only way they're going is if it's an oil state buying, which is even more soul destroying. Look at City - Just got suspended on Twitter because it turns out most of their followers are bots. Sums that club up. Plastic in every sense. 

It's not individual clubs. Premier league football is completely plastic. Has been for a long time. There's no limit to their greed. 

 

Well...that is...until....other european countries start a European super-league, and reduce the Premier league into what the Brits would call...'a mickey mouse gong'. 

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1 hour ago, predator_05 said:

It's not individual clubs. Premier league football is completely plastic. Has been for a long time. There's no limit to their greed. 

 

Well...that is...until....other european countries start a European super-league, and reduce the Premier league into what the Brits would call...'a mickey mouse gong'. 

United, Liverpool and a couple of the others would be amongst the founders of that superleague. The original threat to form a European superleague years ago was why that crappy Champions League format was designed, to create more games for more of the bigger teams, and screw the actual champions of the smaller leagues.

1 hour ago, Irish Jet said:

A few years ago the Buccaneers fans were giving out about how the Glazers were only interested in United. Now they seem delighted with them. Funny how it all works out. Some United fans even got hoodwinked by their little spending spree a few years ago when they're not putting a penny of their own money into the club. Woodward is the highest paid executive in the league I believe despite the disastrous results on the pitch. It shows they don't care, the priority isn't the football and hasn't been for a long time. It's only important so far as it effects the brand.

 

All about the brand. Nothing about the on field product.

 

1 hour ago, Irish Jet said:

 Look at City - Just got suspended on Twitter because it turns out most of their followers are bots. Sums that club up. Plastic in every sense. 

They paid a couple of million for internet bots, 'cos City are a massive club.

 

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17 hours ago, Panzer Division Marduk said:

United, Liverpool and a couple of the others would be amongst the founders of that superleague. The original threat to form a European superleague years ago was why that crappy Champions League format was designed, to create more games for more of the bigger teams, and screw the actual champions of the smaller leagues.

All about the brand. Nothing about the on field product.

 

They paid a couple of million for internet bots, 'cos City are a massive club.

 

The top 4 English clubs are fine with it, and if it actually happens, then it would be the Premier League's loss. The premier league has desperately tried to get in bed with all kinds of foreign entities - benefactors and broadcasters - specifically to avoid this scenario. They want to protect their position as the most watched football competition in the world, and they need to keep Liverpool, man city, man utd, etc. in England for as long as possible. 

The prospect of a super league is becoming more and more realistic. Clubs don't want to 'bail out' the poorer teams in inferior tiers: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12091684/premier-league-may-be-reluctant-to-bail-out-efl-clubs

and many of those rich clubs - across all major European countries - don't need match day revenue. They make more than enough from TV rights and sponsorship deals. They're unaffected by this pandemic. 

Football - as soulless as it currently is - works just fine for the top clubs. They'll rake in the money, destroy local competition and create captive audiences. Think of how many more 'viewers' Man utd could capture if people weren't watching the championship or league one clubs?!! 

It's pure greed, but that's exactly how these clubs are thinking. And the Premier league will keep them on-side for as long as possible, to the detriment of english football. A few years from now.....after more than half the clubs in england are either bankrupt or 'bought out', we'll see the creation of a european super league. That's my prediction. 

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On 10/8/2020 at 1:03 PM, predator_05 said:

The top 4 English clubs are fine with it, and if it actually happens, then it would be the Premier League's loss. The premier league has desperately tried to get in bed with all kinds of foreign entities - benefactors and broadcasters - specifically to avoid this scenario. They want to protect their position as the most watched football competition in the world, and they need to keep Liverpool, man city, man utd, etc. in England for as long as possible. 

The prospect of a super league is becoming more and more realistic. Clubs don't want to 'bail out' the poorer teams in inferior tiers: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12091684/premier-league-may-be-reluctant-to-bail-out-efl-clubs

and many of those rich clubs - across all major European countries - don't need match day revenue. They make more than enough from TV rights and sponsorship deals. They're unaffected by this pandemic. 

Football - as soulless as it currently is - works just fine for the top clubs. They'll rake in the money, destroy local competition and create captive audiences. Think of how many more 'viewers' Man utd could capture if people weren't watching the championship or league one clubs?!! 

It's pure greed, but that's exactly how these clubs are thinking. And the Premier league will keep them on-side for as long as possible, to the detriment of english football. A few years from now.....after more than half the clubs in england are either bankrupt or 'bought out', we'll see the creation of a european super league. That's my prediction. 

Spot on, look at the furore over Project Big Picture. I would find it funny as hell, if the other 14 teams (for that is what is required for things to pass) started making policy decisions to deliberately f**k over United and Liverpool just to get back at the Glazers and FSG.

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On 10/16/2020 at 10:24 PM, Panzer Division Marduk said:

Spot on, look at the furore over Project Big Picture. I would find it funny as hell, if the other 14 teams (for that is what is required for things to pass) started making policy decisions to deliberately f**k over United and Liverpool just to get back at the Glazers and FSG.

 

The big clubs have anticipated this, and we're starting to see some movement...

Quote

Except, perhaps, this time it REALLY is serious.

The suggestion of a £4.6billion financing package and income of hundreds of millions per club would make even the most cynical observer raise an eyebrow.

Factor in the reality that Europe’s biggest clubs are almost unanimous in their desire to open the financial floodgates in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis, and the appeal becomes all the greater.

 

Could be nothing more than a warning shot...but who knows. 

I wouldn't be opposed to a European super league. Traditional club football is boring as **** now. 

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2 hours ago, predator_05 said:

 

The big clubs have anticipated this, and we're starting to see some movement...

 

Could be nothing more than a warning shot...but who knows. 

I wouldn't be opposed to a European super league. Traditional club football is boring as **** now. 

Yeah, and the big thing is, FIFA seem to be in favour of it. Which is a big boost to the legitimacy of this plan. I can't see UEFA getting on board without one hell of a fight-they won't want anything jeopardizing the CL - especially as they're scheduling another revamp in 2024. Probably at the expense of smaller nations as per usual. And then there's is UEFA Europa Conference League starting next year, for the minnows.

Traditional club might be boring to you, but I'd sooner watch United vs Leeds over United vs Madrid/Bayern etc. I think it was better in the old days, where you only played the other European powers occasionally, it made those nights more like a real event, whereas it's getting to be mundane. Outside the CWC and first CL winning finals, my favourite United game in Europe was the 3-0 over Maradona's Barca in 84.

Speaking of United in Europe, very good result and performance from them tonight. Maguire being hurt was a blessing. I wonder if someone can sneak him back to Greece when he's not looking?

And rumours coming out of Arsenal that Ozil was left out of their PL squad on Kroenke's orders, because he doesn't want to piss off that Chinese money.

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14 hours ago, Panzer Division Marduk said:

Yeah, and the big thing is, FIFA seem to be in favour of it. Which is a big boost to the legitimacy of this plan. I can't see UEFA getting on board without one hell of a fight-they won't want anything jeopardizing the CL - especially as they're scheduling another revamp in 2024. Probably at the expense of smaller nations as per usual. And then there's is UEFA Europa Conference League starting next year, for the minnows.

Traditional club might be boring to you, but I'd sooner watch United vs Leeds over United vs Madrid/Bayern etc. I think it was better in the old days, where you only played the other European powers occasionally, it made those nights more like a real event, whereas it's getting to be mundane. Outside the CWC and first CL winning finals, my favourite United game in Europe was the 3-0 over Maradona's Barca in 84.

Speaking of United in Europe, very good result and performance from them tonight. Maguire being hurt was a blessing. I wonder if someone can sneak him back to Greece when he's not looking?

And rumours coming out of Arsenal that Ozil was left out of their PL squad on Kroenke's orders, because he doesn't want to piss off that Chinese money.

 

I get what you're saying, less is more. But <rich PL club> vs <poor PL club> is more often than not, a complete mismatch. When i first started watching football, in the early 2000s, teams like Man Utd and Arsenal had to work harder to win matches, the football may not have been as 'technically' good, but it was fast-paced, end to end, with many moments of individual skill. You had more characters. The quality of goals was superior, as was the atmosphere and the 'optics' - it looked very attractive compared to today's game, which feels like a video game simulation. Look at the footage from those days, it feels like a different sport: 

 

 

The tiki-taka nonsense has sucked the individuality out of the game, now you have a bunch of juiced up robots playing mundane short-range passing patterns, refusing to take risks and looking to finish goals the same way. Then you have under-achieving talents becoming huge stars before accomplishing anything, like Pogba. Yes, i know he won a world cup, but the standard of his weekly performances are not worth his price tag. And he doesn't give a ****. Social media has removed all the 'intrigue' and exposed these guys as the 'knobheads' they truly are.

The game, in its current form, has grown stale. Maybe a change would make it interesting again. 

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Couldn't agree more about tiki taka crap. Loved watching United in the days when you had the likes of Kanchelskis, Sharpe and Giggs just bombing down the wings, and the thing about the Fergie teams, they were lethal on the counter attack. These days, it's all patient build up waiting and waiting. It's like they're trying to bore the defence to sleep or something. And that's just about everyone. I remember the goal against Brighton at the end of last season and thinking "Holy s**t, when was the last time United scored a goal like that?"

Does football get any better than this? Really? And the second goal.

And as for getting rid of Pogba, he should never have been brought back. Shame we can't clone King Eric and unleash him again.

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Pretty stalemate game for Chelsea at the weekend ...Maguire the fridge was all over Azi and should of been a penalty.

Still buzzing over the Gers win against Standard Liege and the tic a few weeks back.

Just found out about this thread and glad that it's not all MLS, I'll definitely be chiming in and providing a bit of patter and banter!giphy.gif?cid=349c9dd7guxskbx2quqyf3g78om0hwwmxgamyftl20nn579f&rid=giphy.gifgiphy.gif?cid=349c9dd7vrgq7j2j9k0w5yyent8dkn78fh2pad0h59koxit2&rid=giphy.gif

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