Lets Talk Football

Up to a point maybe but I've been amazed at what they have managed to do with it. Getting Richard Ayoade was genius because he's bringing the kind of arch humour and sarcasm that I loved about Richard O'Brien .

I agree and that's why it's boring to me. For me, that's like a training session and I have no interest in watching training. Others go to the grounds and watch the training sessions. It's horses for courses.

I also agree that big teams have great players (though United have been pushing that one until a couple of seasons ago) but I honestly don't think I've seen a team like that Barca team and that midfield was the main reason. Messi is, arguably, the best player in the history of the game and Xavi and Inniesta are generational talents. To have them both in the same position and team? That almost never happens anywhere.

Again, I have no problem with this, but I'm at the opposite end. I hate Liverpool, but I'd much rather watch them play than that Barca team.


I think this is the crux of the matter. For me, this is coaching. Not tactics. I have no doubt that he's the best coach out there and I'm not sure his ability and approach in this respect can be argued. Whether he could do it with 'lesser' players isn't really a thing because he'll never have to. I think what I think of or class as coaching, you've described as tactics. Taking that word, I'm with you 100%.

OK, the final is a given (though I still don't think that means you can say that Liverpool would've won) but which were the matches which Real won thanks to the ref? I'll be completely up front with you. Please don't say Juventus. I don't care which other 5 you bring up, but that game has as many pluses for Juve as it does minuses, it's a stonewall penalty at the end and Buffon (as wonderful as he is/was/has been) deserved to be sent off.

Again, I'm not telling anyone that Madrid are the best team in Europe. I said on the last page, I think City are the only really good team in Europe. I'll go further, I expect them to be really good next season.

@neiba While I have you here, what can you tell me about Diogo Dalot?

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Correct. On paper it looks like Real got lucky as hell with that Juve game, but it was a definite penalty. An absolutely desperate clumsy challenge that if your team were on the end of it, especially in the last seconds of a European quarter final, you'd be outraged if it wasnt given. Yes, the Bayern keeper made a dreadful howler against them in the semi, but Bayern had more than enough chances to win both legs of that tie, they just didnt take them. Fact is, Madrid finishing 2nd in their group behind Spurs meant they had as difficult a run to the final as any winners have probably ever had, having to play the champions of France, Italy and Germany to get there, and they found a way. PSG they didnt start the first leg but came back and blew them away, Juventus they outclassed in the first leg before underperforming in the second, Bayern they were resilient when they had to be and took their chances when they came. No side has ever won the European Cup by playing brilliant attacking football in every game of the run, it's about doing what you need to do to get through. To me there is no question that Real were the best team in the competition this season.

As for luck, every team has luck in their run. As easy as Liverpool's 2 legged win over City looked on paper, City had a goal wrongly disallowed in both legs at crucial times. The one in the first leg has denied them an away goal which has the potential to make an enormous difference, and the second stopped them going in at half time of the second leg only 1 goal behind.

The two matches against Bayern were a scandal... And Ramos should hv been sent off at the final...

About Dalot... I'm pretty disappointed with the kid... He might become one of the best full backs of his generations, but I was hoping to have him here for one season more... His dad, who's also his agent, kept Porto away from renewing contract all season, never saying no but always postponing. He ends up leaving one week after we lose our main right fullback to Leicester (Ricardo) for a ridiculously low amount of money.

He is quick, quite strong physically, has a good positioning game for someone so young, does well at crossing and is not bad at defending either... He's probably the best player who Porto produced in many many years so if he adapts well, you might just hv hit the jackpot.

Even so, I think it would be better for him to have waited one more season to play regularly instead of going to the bench at ManUn! He would be part of the starting team here, next year, no doubt, our manager had already admitted that!

I think @SmudgeEFC1985 has already said what I would've about the Bayern games. Bayern were the better team in both legs of the tie and wasted the opportunity to put Real away. There were a few dodgy decisions, I don't remember the specifics but I remember thinking a Bayern player was lucky to stay on the pitch at one point.

As for Ramos, he always deserves to be sent off. I know it sounds flippant, but that's how he plays. He's been sent off God knows how many (I think it's 24 but I can't be bothered to check) but that's how he plays. After that amount of reds (and many more yellows and free kicks) it's not as if he's going to change, so all you can do in enforce the laws of the game. As for the final. It's a foul against Salah, but not a red card IMO (though as it's Ramos I'd have been happy to see him get one) and the second I'm not sure about. He's pushed into Karius, which is a foul, so I don't know if he can be carded for that or not. Though I don't remember thinking that the ref could've spotted it anyway. But I might be wrong.

He only has Valencia to beat for the right back spot. I wouldn't be too sure that he'll spend a lot of time on the bench. Obviously at his age you probably shouldn't play him all the time and as a new player in a new club, league and country you can never tell how they'll settle in. But I'd like to think he'll be challenging for the starting spot soon enough.

I for one ain't feeling this World Cup.

Maybe its Russia hosting or just the fact that International Football isn't as exciting anymore.

Dont know how accurate it is, but I think I heard that all of Ramos' red cards have come in La Liga or Spanish Cup games, he has never been sent off in the Champions League. Which doesnt really surprise me, as it's about adjusting your game to different opponents, but also different refs. Ramos is basically King Sh*thouse. Yes he's a top player too, but he also absolutely loves getting under the skin of opponent's better players. Salah actually grabbed him first, because he;d spent the first 20 minutes winding up, so put Salah off his game to the extent he's then getting involved. The fact the foul resulted in an injury is just unfortunate, Ramos had already done the minimum he set out to do and that was to diminish Salah's influence in the game. The fact an injury put him out completely was just a bonus. The Karius one, cant blame Ramos at all for that one, and nobody would have if it had been any other player. Van Dijk pushes him in the back, and his arm comes up as a reaction and it's just a collision with Karius.

My national team is FC Porto. The rest is just a waste of time.

At least you're not Sporting CP right now.

I feel bad for the real fans of the club. The sooner Carvalho is gone, the better.

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

Ahaha, yeah, that's true... They have been receiving bad news every week for the past 3 months...

Well, the surprise thing is that he'd probably win if he ran again!

I've been thinking that some of the pairings haven't been that exciting. I am trying to pace it out a bit more this time though. I don't want to be watching three matches a day . The next biggie for me is going to be Argentina v Croatia.

I'm annoyed by what modern football has become... Porto best striker of last year, Marega, just refused to train because he wants to go to West Ham... WEST HAM???

Between the possibility to win titles and play the CL every year, he prefers a team that won't ever win any title?

On the other hand, Brahimi refused to even deal with them. That's a relief.

Kroenke's full takeover and chamber goes on loan, again. Sad season gooner full throttle

premier league cash so tempting i guess.
Now even guy like paulinho absurdly back to farmer league from same reason i believe after impressive season with barca. I hope axel witsel didnt follow the same pattern after dortmund transfer

I don't really get why there's any opposition against all the big European leagues adopting the German player rule the Bundesliga still has. Would Man City really start hemorrhaging money if half their players had to be English

I've been meaning to ask this for about a month or so now. @neiba how are Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) being viewed in Portugal? Are they the Portuguese equivalent of Arsenal/France over there or isn't it really a thing?

That depends of your favorite Portuguese club. Guys from benfica and sporting don't really care, while the ones who root for FC Porto have mixed feelings about them.

on one hand, there's many ex FC Porto players (including the manager), some of them who we really care about, like Neves and Moutinho.

But we also know that it's one of those private teams for Jorge Mendes so we hate that, because the man is trash and has a past of hurting the club that we don't forget. At the moment, we are all for dismissing all the players who are managed by him.

I would guess most Portuguese people root for teams like United, Liverpool or Arsenal.

@honeykid, what did you think of Mou's press conference after the match against Totthenham?
How is he viewed among United fans?

Can I just say the design of Wolves' kit for this season is the best in the Premier League.