The 2015/2016 Football (Soccer) Thread

[markyosullivan]

Amazing game to watch. I thought Liverpool were out for sure but when they were creating chances towards the end I put £1 on them to win at 7.5 odds, nice £7.50 return

 

It's games like that which make football enjoyable to watch. I watched Barcelona vs Atletico and it was frustrating seeing Atletico do absolutely anything to waste time.

[Stinkypantsr]

Most teams are big on wasting time now sadly. I wanted them to go through after the first leg, ideal world they beat Real in the final (I have an irrational dislike of Real)

[Mentor]

Spurs is beating teams up, but it could be too late. I think if they have a perfect 4 wins, they could still win it.

[Mentor]

I read Vardy is suspended today against Swansea, i think a slip up today for Leicester could cost them the league. Even with a draw the difference will drop down to 3 points difference, assuming Spurs beat WBA on Monday (which they should). They still have Chelsea, Everton and United to play, if either of those 3 teams play to their potential, they can beat Leicester. The only problem i see is that none of them have anything to play for, besides maybe United.

[ArtieBanks]

I read Vardy is suspended today against Swansea, i think a slip up today for Leicester could cost them the league. Even with a draw the difference will drop down to 3 points difference, assuming Spurs beat WBA on Monday (which they should). They still have Chelsea, Everton and United to play, if either of those 3 teams play to their potential, they can beat Leicester. The only problem i see is that none of them have anything to play for, besides maybe United.

 

No Vardy, no problems by the looks of things.

 

Spurs aren't going to win there remaining games and win out. Chelsea away will be extremely tough, and Newcastle away on a day they may be relegated will be horrendous for you guys. Mix in Southampton looking for a European spot, and you have yourself a minefield to make your way through.

 

Man Utd aren't going to place 4th, I think they know the game is up for that, Everton have been fucking horrendous recently and Chelsea away is a really tough game, but on the last day of the season with nothing to play for, i think they might roll out the youngsters.

[Mentor]

Well, the chances they drop 5 points and us win all the last 4 are not too big, i think today was the important one because nobody expected Swansea to win or draw and Vardy was away, which i expected would be more of a factor.

 

I still think Spurs had the best overall team this year, but a poor start to the season + a lack of concentration in crucial games (Arsenal and the Leicester home game come to mind), plus a tactical blunder by Pouche (against West Ham, where he fielded just 5 starters) will end up costing us the league. Leicester have sure been consistent though. I still think this is the biggest upset in any top level league history. Denmark and Greece winning the Euro's are probably bigger, but those were international cup competitions, this is in a league format at the top level.

[ArtieBanks]

Well, the chances they drop 5 points and us win all the last 4 are not too big, i think today was the important one because nobody expected Swansea to win or draw and Vardy was away, which i expected would be more of a factor.

 

I still think Spurs had the best overall team this year, but a poor start to the season + a lack of concentration in crucial games (Arsenal and the Leicester home game come to mind), plus a tactical blunder by Pouche (against West Ham, where he fielded just 5 starters) will end up costing us the league. Leicester have sure been consistent though. I still think this is the biggest upset in any top level league history. Denmark and Greece winning the Euro's are probably bigger, but those were international cup competitions, this is in a league format at the top level.

 

1/4 odds on the Foxes taking the league compared to 7/2 for Spurs, I'd say the bookies have about wrapped up the league.

 

I think you have the best overall team, I do not think you were the best overall team though and the league speaks to that. The lack of concentration is what makes a great team and it is why Leicester are top of the league, they held on to those 1-0 wins or snatched a win when it looked like a draw. I'd say this is the greatest upset ever in any competition as far as winners go, Greece was a huge one but they don't have to compete with the spending power. You can look at the small mistakes that Pouche has done, or look at the big picture, he got you guys back in the Champions League and above Chelsea and Arsenal for top bragging rights in London. He deserves major props for that.

[Mentor]

 

I think you have the best overall team, I do not think you were the best overall team though and the league speaks to that. The lack of concentration is what makes a great team and it is why Leicester are top of the league, they held on to those 1-0 wins or snatched a win when it looked like a draw. I'd say this is the greatest upset ever in any competition as far as winners go, Greece was a huge one but they don't have to compete with the spending power. You can look at the small mistakes that Pouche has done, or look at the big picture, he got you guys back in the Champions League and above Chelsea and Arsenal for top bragging rights in London. He deserves major props for that.

 

I would say that is about right, Leicester showed the most concentration and consistency over the course of the year, i think we were in our "we are great and talented" mode for way too long and were unsure of what we really wanted until it was already too late. Either way, if you would tell me at the start of the year, we would come 2nd and Leicester would be 1st, i would first think you are crazy and secondly i would take that any day.

 

I am actually happy Leicester pulled this off because it showed that the underdog can pull off an upset. It will probably inspire teams for generations to come that it is possible. I know Nottingham's Division 1 win in the 70s is still being talked about. They have made at least a couple of films on that team, so probably Leicester will get their share of Hollywood fame after this. I am still struggling to believe that Leicester is about to win the league with a comfortable margin.

[Mentor]

Congrats to Leicester on winning the title, we just gifted them it by not beating WBA. We hit the post 3 times, but that is no excuse. It is also no excuse for Pouche to make exactly the same mistake every single game. Every game we go in, dominate and then start to fade, by the 60th minute, usually the opposition starts to take over. Pouche does not make any changes though, usually his first comes mid 70s, one early 80s and one around the 90th minute. Same picture today (the first one being a forced change, the second change coming at the 82nd minute).

 

Either way, we still need to fight for 2nd, 3 games to go.

[Stinkypantsr]

Great result. Did lose a bit of love for Leicester after the abuse they threw at Golds family the other week but it is really good for the prem.

 

You a Spurs fan? 2nd should be a lock your last few games should not be too hard to keep hold of second.

 

Edit. Just seen the Ali punch did make me chuckle...though a 3 game ban just after winning the PFA young player must be pretty rare (assuming he gets one)

[ArtieBanks]

Congrats to Leicester on winning the title, we just gifted them it by not beating WBA. We hit the post 3 times, but that is no excuse. It is also no excuse for Pouche to make exactly the same mistake every single game. Every game we go in, dominate and then start to fade, by the 60th minute, usually the opposition starts to take over. Pouche does not make any changes though, usually his first comes mid 70s, one early 80s and one around the 90th minute. Same picture today (the first one being a forced change, the second change coming at the 82nd minute).

 

Either way, we still need to fight for 2nd, 3 games to go.

 

I don't think Leicester were gifted anything and have earned the league. Spurs just aren't mature enough to clutch up when needed, that will come with time. Leicester are a team of misfits, diamonds in the rough and unwanted players. I think their team, overall cost about 30-35mil in total to build - which is roughly what Spurs paid for two players Toby (Great signing) and Son (terrible signing for the money paid). I think that Spurs team overall cost about 200mil to build? Somewhere around that margin anyway, most of the big money was spent on duds however, and the diamonds were guys like Dier, Christian and Alli who cost about the same as Soldado did.

 

I think Leicester have shown that you don't need to splash the cash, you just need to play as a team. I mean if you told me that Man Utd and Chelsea would not be in the Champions League and that Leicester and Spurs would be fighting it out for the title, i'd ask for some of what you were smoking. It has been great season all in for the EPL and brought some life into it; however it is swiftly becoming the third tier league in Europe with La Liga and the Bundesliga starting to take off.

[Mentor]

 

It has been great season all in for the EPL and brought some life into it; however it is swiftly becoming the third tier league in Europe with La Liga and the Bundesliga starting to take off.

 

I do not think that is the case, leagues like Germany and La Liga in particular, have 3-4 really good teams and the rest are below average. I bet if you would take the teams ranked 5th to 20th in each of the leagues (Germany only has 18, but you get the point), and put them against each other, i think the EPL will easily win. The problem with the EPL is their Elite teams have not been Elite at all. Nowhere near the level of PSG, Barca, Real and Bayern the past few years. The fact Leicester and Spurs are comfortably coming 1st and 2nd pretty much highlights that fact. You could argue though that with the exception of Man U for a short period of time and Chelsea for 2-3 years, this has pretty much always been the case since the 80s.

 

I think the English league is the best, but the best teams are based elsewhere. I also think the EPL easily trumps any other league in TV revenue and the average budget of the EPL teams is also higher, but due to their even distribution, they end up having weaker top level teams in general.

[Stinkypantsr]

If Newcastle stay up they should build a Rafa temple.

Maybe sacrifice Ashley while they are at it.

[Mentor]

Rafa will get a nice bonus as well, supposedly around 5m

[ArtieBanks]

 

I do not think that is the case, leagues like Germany and La Liga in particular, have 3-4 really good teams and the rest are below average. I bet if you would take the teams ranked 5th to 20th in each of the leagues (Germany only has 18, but you get the point), and put them against each other, i think the EPL will easily win. The problem with the EPL is their Elite teams have not been Elite at all. Nowhere near the level of PSG, Barca, Real and Bayern the past few years. The fact Leicester and Spurs are comfortably coming 1st and 2nd pretty much highlights that fact. You could argue though that with the exception of Man U for a short period of time and Chelsea for 2-3 years, this has pretty much always been the case since the 80s.

 

I think the English league is the best, but the best teams are based elsewhere. I also think the EPL easily trumps any other league in TV revenue and the average budget of the EPL teams is also higher, but due to their even distribution, they end up having weaker top level teams in general.

 

Perhaps the La Liga that will happen but not the Bundesliga, I'd also say that teams such as Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Bilbao and Celta Vigo aren't that shabby either, i'd take the top 8 from Spain against the top 8 from the EPL any day of the week. Bundesliga has that one team right now in Bayern, who are as good as any of the top teams in Europe. Prior to that though you had an any team could win it mentality, teams such as Wolfsburg winning, Dortmund coming back from really no where to win it. You also have to look at the quality of football on show in these leagues also which is spectacular, the players on show, well Germany won the World Cup with a team which almost exclusively played in the Bundesliga, similarly Spain done the same thing and when Italian football was good, they had a team which all played there.

 

The TV revenue argument is irrelevant because these leagues focus on home grown talent and not having to try and get bigger players from other leagues (go back to my point about why England suck for analysis on that). The EPL has always boasted it is the biggest and best league in the world, which was true for the 00's, no doubt about it. However, the rise and dominance of teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, these are the teams the big players want to play for now - the EPL's elite clubs are second choice.

 

Another nugget is the any team can win it argument, other than this year the only other team (who had a fucking awesome team at the time) who won it was Blackburn. Other than that Man Utd, Man City (Recently), Chelsea and Arsenal won the EPL. So to argue that the league is exciting because any team can win it is bullshit, the big teams for the most part will always win it. Next year I suspect after these big teams hunting down any player not wanted by the other big European clubs will overpay for them and normality will be restored in the EPL with the top 4 looking like this.

 

Chelsea

Man Utd

Man City

Arsenal

Liverpool

Spurs

 

I still refer back to my earlier point about Spurs being gutted this season for their talent by the big clubs.

[bjornmma1]

That is one hell of a strange top 4. I mean, 6 teams in the top 4 ... hmmm...

[Stinkypantsr]

It isn't so much any team can win the league outright but that most of the smaller clubs have a decent chance of upsetting the larger clubs on any given day. This does not happen quite so much in many other top flights.

 

The huge amount of money comming into the divsion next season will make this more likely to happen I believe as one or two class players at a smaller team makes a big difference to them but in the larger clubs the difference in general will be less as those clubs already have class players.

[Mentor]

 

Perhaps the La Liga that will happen but not the Bundesliga, I'd also say that teams such as Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, Bilbao and Celta Vigo aren't that shabby either, i'd take the top 8 from Spain against the top 8 from the EPL any day of the week. Bundesliga has that one team right now in Bayern, who are as good as any of the top teams in Europe. Prior to that though you had an any team could win it mentality, teams such as Wolfsburg winning, Dortmund coming back from really no where to win it. You also have to look at the quality of football on show in these leagues also which is spectacular, the players on show, well Germany won the World Cup with a team which almost exclusively played in the Bundesliga, similarly Spain done the same thing and when Italian football was good, they had a team which all played there.

 

The TV revenue argument is irrelevant because these leagues focus on home grown talent and not having to try and get bigger players from other leagues (go back to my point about why England suck for analysis on that). The EPL has always boasted it is the biggest and best league in the world, which was true for the 00's, no doubt about it. However, the rise and dominance of teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, these are the teams the big players want to play for now - the EPL's elite clubs are second choice.

 

Another nugget is the any team can win it argument, other than this year the only other team (who had a fucking awesome team at the time) who won it was Blackburn. Other than that Man Utd, Man City (Recently), Chelsea and Arsenal won the EPL. So to argue that the league is exciting because any team can win it is bullshit, the big teams for the most part will always win it. Next year I suspect after these big teams hunting down any player not wanted by the other big European clubs will overpay for them and normality will be restored in the EPL with the top 4 looking like this.

 

Chelsea

Man Utd

Man City

Arsenal

Liverpool

Spurs

 

I still refer back to my earlier point about Spurs being gutted this season for their talent by the big clubs.

 

The biggest difference between the EPL and any other league is not the amount of potential winners of that league, the difference is the level of competition an average game has. I do not mean just the top 6-8 teams. I mean if you take a ranked 15 team in the EPL or a ranked 15 team in Spain and the #1 team is playing against them, in Spain it will usually be a mauling. Look at how many goals a team like Real or Barca has in comparison to the rest. The German league is more similar to the EPL, they have a pretty significant TV deal as well and they distribute it the same way like the EPL (Spain they sign their own deals individually, which is why Barca and Real are so much stronger than the rest).

 

The other difference is the general depth of English football. When i mean depth, i mean you have more teams in England which fill up 20k stadiums every week than any place in the world. It is not impossible we will bump into the new Blackburn or Leicester in the next 15-20 years and that is only possible because those teams technically speaking are not small, if you compare them with teams around the world. Lets put it this way. If you take the top 30 teams in the world in terms of profits + turnover, 17 are EPL teams!

 

http://www.mmatycoon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51061&page=15

 

In comparison, 1 is French, 3 German, 2 Spanish, 5 Italian. The Italian league has actually the most competition if you remove the English league. The difference between England and the rest is that the very top end is not in England. In the next 3-4 years, the EPL league as a whole will continue to surpass the rest. The next TV deal coming up is ridiculous and a lot of top level teams like Spurs, Chelsea etc are expanding their stadiums. German teams could still produce the best players, but it will be more of them moving to the EPL to play their football. Put it this way, you rarely hear about a top English talent moving abroad to play football, but you hear about the best talent moving the the EPL to forward their careers. Barca and Real will likely continue to be the glamor clubs and PSG and Bayern will continue to maul everyone in their leagues, but as far a the best league to play in, the EPL will be there for sure.

[ArtieBanks]

That is one hell of a strange top 4. I mean, 6 teams in the top 4 ... hmmm...

 

This is the real life section bitch tits, if you want to go piss about there is a game discussion part instead of trying to derail a perfectly good football thread with your childish immaturity.

 

I would quote you Mentor but I forgot to hit multi quote so this part is directed to you.

 

You are talking from a profits and business side of things, I am talking purely from the standard of football in these leagues. Also as far as the fans goes, the Bundesliga actually overtook the EPL last year in average attendances according to the Daily Mail (overall attendence the EPL is higher but it has 2 more teams). You are correct in the fact that in Spain, Barcelona and Madrid slaughter the smaller teams, but to be fair they would do the same to most English clubs also. When a top English team is on their game, they will also slaughter the smaller teams by 4/5 goals easily. I do agree that the gap has been shrinking in the EPL due to the money between the top teams, but it also includes the fact a lot of the top teams lost their top talent (Ronaldo to Madrid, Bale to Madrid, Suarez to Barcelona, i mean those three are three of the top 10 players in the world). This is shit that the EPL cannot compete with. If you for example took Barcelona and Real Madrid into the EPL, they would fucking smash it and the EPL would turn pretty much into a two horse race with the other clubs somewhere in the pack behind them. They also don't have a merry go round of players, if you look at the teams, they have had core players there. In the EPL you witness players going all over the place, hence the reason a lot of the big clubs went to shit this year.

 

Now I understand we have a difference of opinion on it, but it was nice to debate it civilly, and don't get me wrong I love the EPL, but I just think that as far as pure footballing talent goes, those other leagues are off to the races and the EPL is being left in the dust.

[Mentor]

At the moment the German league has the best infrastructure without much doubt there, their stadiums are the best, their youth setup is second to none, however I think the financial factor will eventually play a bigger role, it was not until recently the EPL did not have such a huge difference, the extra TV money coming in within the next 2-3 years will simply put the EPL teams above anyone else. Other leagues are not expecting such a boost. I hear the Spanish league is thinking of taking a more "English approach" to their TV deals, i am not sure if they will go ahead with that, but i think the Spanish league has a lot of international appeal as well, due to the weather, language + their 2 glamor clubs which attract so much attention. Anyway, i get your point in regards to the level of football overall, although i still prefer watching the EPL more. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

Did anyone watch the Chelsea vs Spurs game last night? I think i have not seen such a fiercely contested battle in the EPL in years, at least not one with Spurs in it. I think the ref should of given at least 3-4 red cards. I guess there was a lot on the line, Spurs wanted to stay in the title race and break the Stamford Bridge glitch, Chelsea wanted Leicester to win it (mainly because it is not a London club + the Ranieri factor), add the extra derby factor into it. Anyway, it was an interesting game to watch.

[Stinkypantsr]

If games lasted twenty minutes longer I am not sure how many would have been left on the pitch, was brutal.

 

Not looking forward to liniker in his undies though....

[bjornmma1]

http://e0.365dm.com/16/03/768x432/leicester-title-winners_3427259.jpg?20160306170716

 

 

AWESOME !!! So cool to see a small team win the premier league!

[ArtieBanks]

At the moment the German league has the best infrastructure without much doubt there, their stadiums are the best, their youth setup is second to none, however I think the financial factor will eventually play a bigger role, it was not until recently the EPL did not have such a huge difference, the extra TV money coming in within the next 2-3 years will simply put the EPL teams above anyone else. Other leagues are not expecting such a boost. I hear the Spanish league is thinking of taking a more "English approach" to their TV deals, i am not sure if they will go ahead with that, but i think the Spanish league has a lot of international appeal as well, due to the weather, language + their 2 glamor clubs which attract so much attention. Anyway, i get your point in regards to the level of football overall, although i still prefer watching the EPL more. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

Did anyone watch the Chelsea vs Spurs game last night? I think i have not seen such a fiercely contested battle in the EPL in years, at least not one with Spurs in it. I think the ref should of given at least 3-4 red cards. I guess there was a lot on the line, Spurs wanted to stay in the title race and break the Stamford Bridge glitch, Chelsea wanted Leicester to win it (mainly because it is not a London club + the Ranieri factor), add the extra derby factor into it. Anyway, it was an interesting game to watch.

 

They also take care of their fans by not raising the ticket prices etc, I think it was the Bayern Chairman that said if he raised ticket prices a few Euros it would make his club about 4mil which is a players wages now a days, he would rather have football be affordable to all fans and not just those who can afford it. It was an awesome sentiment by at the time, the best club in the world. The EPL is firmly the financial kings, but you consider just economically these countries don't equal up to the money that England make, yes Germany is a powerhouse but it pales in comparison to England, more specifically London. I think in the next 5/6 years the EPL will dissolve personally into an European Super League, similar to that of the NFL in America, there is no relegation, it is the best clubs in Europe competing, at least that is what the rumours going about are saying.

 

The Chelsea v Spurs game, I was happy that Hazard backed up his words with actions and stopped Spurs getting the title. Leicester though prolly would have secured it this weekend though, but props to Chelsea for making a game out of it, when I seen 2-0 at I thought meh fuck, need to wait til the weekend.

[BudLight]

This UCL final is a shit. Bayern should be in finals. And Real Madrid plays just bad, if they played Bayern in semis I bet they would lose with 4-5 goal diference.

[Bwang]

I have to say I was already suprised at the amount of whining from Bayern and Rummenigge. Not exactly the way a club with class acts. And then you come on....!

 

Anyway, I don't care. You moan away.