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Soccer/football thread 2022
- Thread starter Priller
- Start date
I scared the dog apparently. All good now.
Priller
Well-known member
Shoulda finished 4-2. Salah fully has the yips now, needs an easy tap-in to get his head straight. Or to start playing centrally so he's less predictable. Either way, was nice to see a City match where Liverpool was unequivocally the better side, despite some late drama. Whatever happens, this is one of the most fun seasons I can remember. Thiago was talking recently about how fun it is to play when every single game has huge stakes, and I have to respect that. Having won the Coca-Cola, I mean Carling, I mean Capital One, I mean Carabao Cup, the pressure is lessened somewhat as the silverware has been added to already.
As for ManU, there seems to be some sort of opposing polarity where they can't get Ronaldo and Fernandes to both play well, despite their shared nationality. Just another example of how the squad has been built with incredibly talented players but zero thought about how they will integrate together. It's also an example of the same Ronaldo trap that Juventus fell into: he scores lots of goals (especially in bunches) yet inexplicably makes your team less resilient and more prone to collapse when it matters. ManU whines and cries and throws their arms up and stomps their feet more this year than I've ever seen them do, which seems like Ronaldo's 'leadership' to me.
Still, Arsenal and Tottenham are stumbling over each other to avoid that last CL spot, so there's still the possibility that ManU squeaks in there. A win squeaked over the worst team in the league isn't a massive mountain climbed, but you can only beat the team in front of you.
Oh, and shame on the City fans for forcing the minutes silence for the 97 to be cut short. Second only to Chelsea in the prem for having plastic fans with no ability to show respect.
As for ManU, there seems to be some sort of opposing polarity where they can't get Ronaldo and Fernandes to both play well, despite their shared nationality. Just another example of how the squad has been built with incredibly talented players but zero thought about how they will integrate together. It's also an example of the same Ronaldo trap that Juventus fell into: he scores lots of goals (especially in bunches) yet inexplicably makes your team less resilient and more prone to collapse when it matters. ManU whines and cries and throws their arms up and stomps their feet more this year than I've ever seen them do, which seems like Ronaldo's 'leadership' to me.
Still, Arsenal and Tottenham are stumbling over each other to avoid that last CL spot, so there's still the possibility that ManU squeaks in there. A win squeaked over the worst team in the league isn't a massive mountain climbed, but you can only beat the team in front of you.
Oh, and shame on the City fans for forcing the minutes silence for the 97 to be cut short. Second only to Chelsea in the prem for having plastic fans with no ability to show respect.
One thing that stood out to me from the Liverpool match and one that wasn’t mentioned by anyone…was Luis Diaz’s pace. Raheem Sterling always scares me when he’s playing against Liverpool because of his pace but he was gone on the wing in this FA cup semi game and I thought he was free and clear but Diaz caught up to him like he was standing still. He’s going to be a phenomenal player for Liverpool.
Priller
Well-known member
Diaz has been a very pleasant surprise. He brings an element of wild chaos to Liverpool's attack, and is willing to run at anyone. It's funny watching players adapt to Klopp's system. Attackers seem to slot right in (Jota made an instant impact as well), defenders take a while (Tsimikas took a couple months), and midfielders take forever (Fabinho took over a year to settle). I suspect that has a lot to do with what the system asks of players as far as positioning and pressing, with attackers being given mostly free reign to run around and disrupt things, while defenders need to learn the high line and midfielders need to be extremely precise with their responsibiliies, never over-committing and making sure they can cover for the wing backs bombing forward.
(I can't get the new Klopp song out of my head, by the way. Ooooooh, Jurgen said to me, yeno, he said we'd win the Premier League, yeno, he said so! I'm in love with him and I feel fine...)
Priller
Well-known member
Repeat of the League Cup final, then. Watched on a weird delay on ITV, and Palace held Chelsea in the first half quite well, but were too conservative, I think. Chelsea started to apply more pressure in the second half, and once they went ahead, Palace didn't have an answer.
The Palace supporters, though? Lived up to their reputation and were incredible. Possibly the loudest in the league over the course of a game.
Not an ideal final for Liverpool, as Chelsea has nothing else to play for, so will be as prepared as possible. Still, yet another game at Wembley, even if it may end up being the C team for Liverpool with the fixture congestion coming up...
The Palace supporters, though? Lived up to their reputation and were incredible. Possibly the loudest in the league over the course of a game.
Not an ideal final for Liverpool, as Chelsea has nothing else to play for, so will be as prepared as possible. Still, yet another game at Wembley, even if it may end up being the C team for Liverpool with the fixture congestion coming up...
Priller
Well-known member
I can't decide if I love every game for the next 11 (I hope!) being life or death or if I hate it. After every good result I love it, and every bad one I hate it. In between, it's pure nerves.
Liverpool supporters singing YNWA at 7' for Ronaldo. Bless them all.
Pogba off to jeers from the ManU supporters. Wonder if he wants no part of this...
2-0 now
Priller
Well-known member
Not sure if anyone watched the LIV-MUN game yesterday, but I've never seen a ManU side so devoid of any heart. There was absolutely zero desire in that side for anything bar getting off the pitch. They managed to cobble together one decent chance midway through the second half after lulling Liverpool into a complete torpor, but that just woke Liverpool up and they banged in two more as punishment for making them run a bit. 9-0 on aggregate for the home and away this year is almost inconceivable.
This ManU side really is sad. Even at their absolute nadir under Woy, Liverpool always managed to get up for ManU and at least make it a tough game for them. But those Liverpool sides were crap players being asked to overachieve, while this Manchester side is expensive players who simply can't be arsed. It's peculiar watching a great football mind like Rangnick look so baffled at what his players are doing. The *really* weird part is I almost feel sorry for the supporters. That's not something I ever thought I'd say, considering there wasn't much sympathy coming the other way when Liverpool sucked, but the game has changed a lot since then. It's not just Chelsea spending oil money on a sportwashing venture, and so the City's and PSG's of the world feel like bigger enemies...
Arsenal and Tottenham are just as perplexing but for entirely different reasons: they can both look world beating one day, then incredibly fragile the next.
This ManU side really is sad. Even at their absolute nadir under Woy, Liverpool always managed to get up for ManU and at least make it a tough game for them. But those Liverpool sides were crap players being asked to overachieve, while this Manchester side is expensive players who simply can't be arsed. It's peculiar watching a great football mind like Rangnick look so baffled at what his players are doing. The *really* weird part is I almost feel sorry for the supporters. That's not something I ever thought I'd say, considering there wasn't much sympathy coming the other way when Liverpool sucked, but the game has changed a lot since then. It's not just Chelsea spending oil money on a sportwashing venture, and so the City's and PSG's of the world feel like bigger enemies...
Arsenal and Tottenham are just as perplexing but for entirely different reasons: they can both look world beating one day, then incredibly fragile the next.
Priller
Well-known member
I've got no time for Keane, a dirty player who got way too much credit as a leader despite ending many careers through horror tackles. He's as bad a pundit as he was a coach, with zero understanding of the modern game and a Don Cherry-like repertoire of 'they just need to be tougher' as his solution to all problems. I'll grant you, he's entertaining in a weird way, watching him get all steamed up at things he doesn't like, but I never actually learn about football listening to him. Him and Souness on a panel is a recipe for a heck of a lot of, "In my day..." gammon specials.
Neville, on the other hand, has weirdly become one of my favourites. His buddy act with Carragher is hilarious, and he comes across as a decent guy. If you'd told me back in the late '90s and early '00s that one day I wouldn't hate him, I would have said you were completely nuts...
That said, I think all these Ferguson-era ManU talking heads in the various media (Keane, Neville(s), Ferdinand, Scholes, Schmeichel, Hargreaves *spit*, Evra, etc.) are actually making it worse, as they all have mostly terrible opinions about the club yet wield huge influence with the supporters. Normally, that wouldn't matter much, but the decision makers at ManU seem to be particularly affected by supporter opinion, most recently doubling down on their buddy Solskjaer despite everyone outside the club seeing how in over his head he was. He never should have been anything other than a caretaker, but all those lads talked him up as 'understanding the ManU way' and 'having the right DNA', which resulted in him hanging about for two years with minimal forward progress.
Keane and Souness won a lot of hardware between them, they've been there and done it, and their playing style was key for that period of football. Roy was coached by Clough and SAF, so it's in his DNA that he gave everything he had every single game, the type of player you hate, but would love to have him in your team. Personally I think they never gave Moyes the chance, he was probably the right man and this has snowballed into what we are watching now.
Manchester United appoint Erik ten Hag as manager | LiveScore
Manchester United have confirmed Ajax boss Erik ten Hag will become the club’s new manager this summer.
www.livescore.com
The Dutch Pep
Haven’t been in awhile either but going in May. Taking my daughter to her first major live sporting event. I love going. I took my now-wife to a game on one of our early dates and have some great memories of sitting in the south stand with all the hard core fans.
Also, some very cold and windy games in March and April. Nothing some pints and poutine can’t remedy though.
But yeah- Mistake by the Lake Pt. 2
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