The Football Thread 2011/12

[Shadow]

Football is weird now. Certainly when it comes to the Champions League. I don't want to decry the achievements of Man City and Chelsea but surely their fans must feel a bit empty considering the way they've won their titles. They've almost proved that money is all that matters, so what does that say about any team in the world? As long as you can invest in the recognised and best players in the world with the near infinite wealth of owners then you probably should win major trophies all the time.
Financial fair play rules can't come soon enough for me.

Chelsea less so, they were a Champions League team before Abromavich showed up, Terry and Lampard were there before they got rich. Certainly Roman has afforded them a lot of top players, but even without his money they may still have had players like Drogba, he wasn't out of their league when they signed him.

[Preezy]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

[Ginga]

Ginga, just for me, could you sum up in one sentence exactly why Chelsea didn't deserve to win the Champions League.

They spent hundreds of millions over a decade to bring in the best talent money could afford then parked the bus as they relied on missed penalties and Lady Luck to take them through despite being entirely outplayed by the opposition.

[Mafro]

Fast forward to next season, the same people congratulating Chelsea for winning with that style of play getting pissed off at Stoke for doing the same against their team.

[Ginga]

So you know when people were jumping down my throat for saying Ginga often talked a load of old cobblers?

Hmm.

Englishmen on GRcade Football Thread think Scotsman is wrong when he criticises English team winning.

Finally, vindication for DML.

[Chocolate Jim]

Almost all bookies have suspended betting on the next Liverpool manager: http://www.oddschecker.com/football/foo ... nt-manager

Announcement incoming?

Twitter is saying its AVB

[Psychic]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

I'm talking in general Preezy, like the way the away leg against Barcelona was reported for instance. What do you think of it?

[Pancake]

Fast forward to next season, the same people congratulating Chelsea for winning with that style of play getting pissed off at Stoke for doing the same against their team.

Why do Stoke always get mentioned? Nothing wrong with Stoke!

[PaperMacheMario]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

This.

[Chocolate Jim]

Ginga, just for me, could you sum up in one sentence exactly why Chelsea didn't deserve to win the Champions League.

They spent hundreds of millions over a decade to bring in the best talent money could afford then parked the bus as they relied on missed penalties and Lady Luck to take them through despite being entirely outplayed by the opposition.

Thats football in a nutshell though ... don't like it ... don't watch it! dealwithitbro.gif

[DML]

So you know when people were jumping down my throat for saying Ginga often talked a load of old cobblers?

Hmm.

Englishmen on GRcade Football Thread think Scotsman is wrong when he criticises English team winning.

Finally, vindication for DML.

It started on Chelsea and slowly morphed into England....

Basically what has happened right here is what I call the 'La Masia bollocks'.

[Denster]

Football is weird now. Certainly when it comes to the Champions League. I don't want to decry the achievements of Man City and Chelsea but surely their fans must feel a bit empty considering the way they've won their titles. They've almost proved that money is all that matters, so what does that say about any team in the world? As long as you can invest in the recognised and best players in the world with the near infinite wealth of owners then you probably should win major trophies all the time.
Financial fair play rules can't come soon enough for me.

Complete and utter tripe. Luckily attention is elsewhere at the moment.

I'd be interested to know why you think that is tripe.

Because plenty of clubs have money. Barca, Madrid, Bayern have plenty of cash and have spent plenty. Madrid in particular with no European cup success to show for it.

Chelsea have won the CL but finished below finacially poorer teams in the premier league this season.
You still have to build a team, blending it's qualities yakes skill and judgement and is never achieved by money alone. To decry their achievement you'd have to decry all the other teams who have won it or won the league.

[PaperMacheMario]

So you know when people were jumping down my throat for saying Ginga often talked a load of old cobblers?

Hmm.

Englishmen on GRcade Football Thread think knows Scotsman is wrong when he criticises English team winning.

Finally, vindication for DML.

Fixed.

[Denster]

Fast forward to next season, the same people congratulating Chelsea for winning with that style of play getting pissed off at Stoke for doing the same against their team.

Yep - i'm always moaning about stoke. Even this season when we drew with them - oh wait, no i congratulated them and even said they deserved to win.

[Preezy]

Ginga, just for me, could you sum up in one sentence exactly why Chelsea didn't deserve to win the Champions League.

They spent hundreds of millions over a decade to bring in the best talent money could afford then parked the bus as they relied on missed penalties and Lady Luck to take them through despite being entirely outplayed by the opposition.

They spent hundreds of millions over a decade to bring in the best talent money could afford

So this means Bayern deserve to win more? This is more important than Bayern taking their own chances and being more tactically astute?

then parked the bus

With the players they were missing, did you actually expect them to dominate a Bayern team in their own stadium? Does defending not count as much as attacking? Surely Bayern should have known how Chelsea were going to play, and would have been good enough to break them down? As you have repeatedly stated, Chelsea weren't awesome in defence, so if Bayern couldn't beat an average Chelsea back line then why should they be more deserving of the trophy?

they relied on missed penalties and Lady Luck to take them through

Cech saved the penalties through his composure and skill, and sure, all teams lean on luck sometimes. That doesn't make them undeserving.

despite being entirely outplayed by the opposition.

and yet they won the game

[Preezy]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

I'm talking in general Preezy, like the way the away leg against Barcelona was reported for instance. What do you think of it?

Well, considering the players they had missing, they were bound to play defensively. They didn't lose so they are probably justified in their tactics. Same with the 2nd Barca game, losing Terry early on meant they were always going to try and hit Barca on the break if they got a chance to.

[Blue Eyes]

Football is weird now. Certainly when it comes to the Champions League. I don't want to decry the achievements of Man City and Chelsea but surely their fans must feel a bit empty considering the way they've won their titles. They've almost proved that money is all that matters, so what does that say about any team in the world? As long as you can invest in the recognised and best players in the world with the near infinite wealth of owners then you probably should win major trophies all the time.
Financial fair play rules can't come soon enough for me.

Complete and utter tripe. Luckily attention is elsewhere at the moment.

I'd be interested to know why you think that is tripe.

Because plenty of clubs have money. Barca, Madrid, Bayern have plenty of cash and have spent plenty. Madrid in particular with no European cup success to show for it.

Chelsea have won the CL but finished below finacially poorer teams in the premier league this season.
You still have to build a team, blending it's qualities yakes skill and judgement and is never achieved by money alone. To decry their achievement you'd have to decry all the other teams who have won it or won the league.

To be fair I did say I didn't want to decry the achievements of these title winners. I'm just saying that the way teams like Chelsea and Man City have clawed their way into this position is tawdry. It could only be a matter of time before they won a major trophy and started a legacy. Not the same as Man Utd. I'm just looking forward to the introduction of a rule that ensures a level playing field.

[Psychic]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

I'm talking in general Preezy, like the way the away leg against Barcelona was reported for instance. What do you think of it?

Well, considering the players they had missing, they were bound to play defensively. They didn't lose so they are probably justified in their tactics. Same with the 2nd Barca game, losing Terry early on meant they were always going to try and hit Barca on the break if they got a chance to.

That's not what I was asking though. I appreciate a team in that situation is more likely to attempt a defensive style which is not a problem for me, the onus is on the other team to break them down. My question was about whether you thought Chelseas plan worked, so what do you think?

[Preezy]

Regardless of the talk about whether Chelsea deserve it or not, I'm surprised so many are willing to paint their victory as an all-time great backs to the wall performance and lesson in defensive prowess.

Don't include me in that. I just don't think Bayern deserved to win after wasting so many golden chances to kill Chelsea off.

I'm talking in general Preezy, like the way the away leg against Barcelona was reported for instance. What do you think of it?

Well, considering the players they had missing, they were bound to play defensively. They didn't lose so they are probably justified in their tactics. Same with the 2nd Barca game, losing Terry early on meant they were always going to try and hit Barca on the break if they got a chance to.

That's not what I was asking though. I appreciate a team in that situation is more likely to attempt a defensive style which is not a problem for me, the onus is on the other team to break them down. My question was about whether you thought Chelseas plan worked, so what do you think?

Clearly it worked, they won. It wasn't the best defensive display I've ever seen, but they did enough against a woefully profligate Bayern.

[Zellery]

I thought Ginga seemed very reserved after the final whistle and found it very odd. Didn't last long I see.

Also, how is Gandalf a mod? At some point somebody actually made a decision and determined that he was a good choice. Absolutely baffling.

Anyway, congratulations to Chelsea, somehow they've finally won the big one and I was pleased at the end that they did manage it. Happy for Lamps, Drogba, Torres, Luiz, Mata, Cech and Cahill.

Commiserations to Spurs.