Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:42 pm  

Cibaman wrote:

Strange match, scruffy at times. Didnt think either team played near their best. It will add to the psychological hold that Barca have over RM just now, but in pure footballing terms I didnt think it was particularly meaningful.

Despite Madrid having a game in hand, Barcelona going top will also get under their skin. I have it in my head that Barcelona were at least five points behind a few weeks ago, or have I made that up?

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:41 pm  

PAUL M wrote:

I thought Madrid were poor, very direct and gave the ball away far too often. That said they made chances but Ronaldo had a shocker.

Spurs can feel hard done to today, should have had two/three more pens and a red card for Shawcross, plus the first goal was handball.

Agree that Spurs were on the receiving end of poor decisions. Apparently Sir Chris Hoy is complaining about the stick he's getting on Twitter from Spurs fans!

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:03 pm  

Cibaman wrote:

PAUL M wrote:

I thought Madrid were poor, very direct and gave the ball away far too often. That said they made chances but Ronaldo had a shocker.

Spurs can feel hard done to today, should have had two/three more pens and a red card for Shawcross, plus the first goal was handball.

Agree that Spurs were on the receiving end of poor decisions. Apparently Sir Chris Hoy is complaining about the stick he's getting on Twitter from Spurs fans!

Can't be very bright can they ?

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:54 pm  

"There are still those, remarkably, who ask whether tactics really matter, still those who persist with the Luddite insistence that the best players will win out come what may." Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1gLszMdoc

"There are still those, remarkably, who ask whether tactics really matter, still those who persist with the Luddite insistence that the best players will win out come what may." Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1gLszMdoc

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:22 pm  

D.D. wrote:

If it was your team you would love it and you know it.

I have been supporting City for 32 years and I really couldn't care less what fans of other clubs think and I couldn't care less about Championship Manager jibes. Neither can any of the other 45,000 regulars either.

Fact is none of that money was mine so I don't care how we got to get those eleven players on the pitch. All as I know is I am now finally being rewarded for those years of patience with winning, entertaining football and, you know what, paid for or not, winning that FA Cup in May felt every bit as good as I ever dreamed it would, no matter how much we spent on those players.

So you can jibe away all you want old boy but these are great times to be a Blue and I'm loving it. Absoultely loving it!:)

Think what has riled the fans of clubs who were a similar stature to city pre takeover is the hypocrisy of the city fans. During the era when Chelsea were splashing the cash and bought Wright Phillips from city, money was ruining football, and city fans were boycotting away games after being charged £35 at places like Birmingham and Bolton.
Fast forward to 2011 and everything is ok in the world, city are the team with the money, and everyone else can like it or lump it. The same fans who called for a boycott over ticket prices are now happily shelling out up to £55 at the likes of Chelsea, and for the first time since moving grounds, home games are selling out weeks in advance.
Chances are this will probably be the start of a golden era for city, however, as already mentioned, the decline of the matchday atmosphere has begun, along with the gradual erosion of the clubs local 'pay on the gate' supporters. Hey, at least the team are winning though!

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:45 pm  

Karlos13 wrote:

D.D. wrote:

snip

snip

You forget to mention the of Citeh's greatest academy in the country. Their fans used to rub it right in when players like Richards, Sturridge, Johnson and Onuoha were coming through, it was all "we're doing it the right way" and "when was the last time United/Liverpool/Chelsea produced a top player?". With these sort of funds, they'll never need to produce good young players, if the owners have no care about money and just want the side to compete, it will end up just like Chelsea: ridiculous expectations will always come over progress and sensibility.

How Citeh fans view their success is up to them, they obviously have no care about the views of others, but the majority of people know that what they're doing now isn't the answer to breaking the monopoly of big clubs. Ironically, what they were doing before the Arabs came in is/was, from a 'purists' point of view, part of the solution to breaking the monopoly. The biggest part of solving it will always be the responsibility of the FA and those that run the game, but turning the game into a billionaire's playground is pretty much the exact opposite of what the sport needs.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:02 pm  

Roddy B wrote:

Ironically, what they were doing before the Arabs came in is/was, from a 'purists' point of view, part of the solution to breaking the monopoly.

They'd have never broken the monopoly with the way the club was being run before the Arabs came in. They were set up as a mid-table club with the occasional flirt with Europe or scare with relegation.

Personally I think there is pretty much zero chance a club can fight above their weight and challenge at the top. Abramovich, the Sheik and Jack Walker have just added variety to United winning everything and Arsenal snatching the scraps when United dip a little.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:28 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

Roddy B wrote:

Ironically, what they were doing before the Arabs came in is/was, from a 'purists' point of view, part of the solution to breaking the monopoly.

They'd have never broken the monopoly with the way the club was being run before the Arabs came in. They were set up as a mid-table club with the occasional flirt with Europe or scare with relegation.

Personally I think there is pretty much zero chance a club can fight above their weight and challenge at the top. Abramovich, the Sheik and Jack Walker have just added variety to United winning everything and Arsenal snatching the scraps when United dip a little.

Of course, not everything about the club was right. But part of what they were doing - the vast investment in youth and homegrown talent - was certainly something they were doing better than Chelsea, United and Liverpool.

Of course clubs won't be able to punch above their weight, not consistently anyway. The only way clubs will is if everybody's weight is made the same, and by that I mean bringing in a salary and transfer cap.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:47 pm  

Lampard must be blowing out of his backside after running to take that penalty.

Re: The Football Chat Thread : Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:19 am  

The Barcelona love in's made my day, it's even more embarrassing than Gerry Armstrong's biased commentary. It just shows how fabulous Barca's football can be that even when they put in an average performance in a finely balanced game that they still have people drooling over them. The fact is neither side performed brilliantly as has been proclaimed they snatched some goals in a game that could've easily gone either way. Madrid dominated the first half, if not the first hour, of the match and only for Ronaldo fluffing his lines twice it probably would've been a different outcome. Barcelona's second was a tame Xavi effort which Casillas would've got too only for, the ever disappointing, Marcelo to deflect it in and with Madrid pushing forward for an equaliser Barca broke and punished them, that's it, not footballing lesson or superior performance by anyway, two side putting in average performances in a game that could've gone either way. Some of the pludits coming Barca's way are laughable but then I suppose those same people were claiming Barca to be unlucky when they decided to play for 5 minutes when losing to Getafe recently.

Madrid pressed with a good high line for the first 15-20 mins and forced mistakes out of Valdes and his defence when they still insisted on knocking the ball back across their own goal. How Rob can say Benzema was Madrid's only threat when Ronaldo found himself free in the area twice with the goal at his mercy is strange.

Roddy B wrote:

How Citeh fans view their success is up to them, they obviously have no care about the views of others, but the majority of people know that what they're doing now isn't the answer to breaking the monopoly of big clubs. Ironically, what they were doing before the Arabs came in is/was, from a 'purists' point of view, part of the solution to breaking the monopoly. The biggest part of solving it will always be the responsibility of the FA and those that run the game, but turning the game into a billionaire's playground is pretty much the exact opposite of what the sport needs.

Of course it is, what other way is there to break the top 3 or 4 clubs monopoly now? You can bring quality young players through all you like but as soon as they start playing the bigger clubs come and nick them regardless. It'd be nice if every club had youth academies and brought through their own young players and built sides that way but it aint going to happen. You need money to compete and quite frankly after the dross Everton have served up this season and the ultra negative tactics Moyes comes up with every week I'd glady take a billionaire to serve up some of the stuff City fans have viewed this season. All clubs are spending money, to single out City is daft. You need to spend money on buying and wages otherwise you'll get nowhere, until the governing bodies decide to do something about it there's nothing that can be done by us.