pratty Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 Is there any point about finding out who the best club team in the England is? Just ditch the FA Cup and League cup because the Premier League already does that. It means that people will take international matches outside qualifying more seriously as there's actually some meaning to them. But why do the friendlies have to have meaning? International games are drain as it is, at least freindlies aren't as demanding. The irony of it is the more similar competitions you have the less they mean. This new competition effectively creates two champions of Europe, they devalue each other. Though one will ultimately become more prestigous, but where does that leave the other competition? Will we start sending the U-21s to the Euros to save our best players for the new super league? There's nothing really wrong with football for football's sake, none of it is really of any importance, all I'm saying is let's not kid ourselves about Uefa's motives, more 'importance' means more people watching, which means more money. And there's a limit to people's priorities, the top players/clubs clearly prioritise their effforts in each club competition as it is. And now we're asking them to care about yet another competition. It's seems like a good idea in theory, more competitive and meaningful international matches to enjoy, yay, but maybe we're being too greedy? Lets say Sturridge (as I'm a Liverpool fan) gets injured playing for England in some new competition (that doesn't determine anything that the Euros won't), and now he can't play for Liverpool. That can still happen in freindlies but the point is it's less likely due to their more relaxed nature.
Hero-of-Time Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 Really tough game for us tonight, especially towards the end. To be fair though Sunderland should only have had 10 men on the pitch.
Mokong Posted March 28, 2014 Posted March 28, 2014 (edited) UEFA annouce International League, the UEFA Nations League http://www.uefa.com/community/news/newsid=2079553.html -To start after the 2018 World Cup, -will be a Bi-annual competition taking place on "odd" years, -Matches will take place on dates currently used for "Friendlies" -the 54 UEFA members will be divided into 4 Divisions initially decided by UEFA rankings then with promotions and renegations at end of "seasons" -Will NOT replace current Euro or Qualification tournaments -But will provide for 4 "wildcard" qualification spots for the European Championships (and maybe World Cup, TBD) -This 4 spots will be to the winners of each division (if not already qualified from proper Qualification Tournament) and will replace the "Play-off" qualification spots from the main qualification tournament -Means the "bottom" 16 or 14 ranked UEFA teams will be gauranteed 1 qualification spot for a major tournament -The idea is to replace Friendlies with more meaningful and competitive matches -There will still be a small number of normal "friendly" dates left open to allow lower ranked teams play higher ranked teams or to allow European teams to play teams from outside Europe So what does N-E think of this plan? I kinda like the idea....it's interesting and could turn out to be a good tournament. I assume Ireland will likely start in Divsion 2 EDIT: Also I trying to get more info as I realised each Division will have like 16 or so teams... there aren't enough friendly dates to allow teams to play home and away vs 15 other teams! Seems within each Division there'll be 4 groups of 4 or 3 teams, winners of each group then contest a divisions Semi Finals then Final (to be played at neatral venues) to decide League Champions in Div 1 and promotions in other leagues. EDIT2: I actually was hoping for a new international tournament, but a smaller one, I always hoped Football would get a 6 Nations Style competition, we almost had one few years back, can't remember what it was called, Rep Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland took part but England wouldn't. Was meant to take part every 2 years but a 2nd one never happened Had hoped if it happened again England would join and we'd get a 5 Nations. The bigger issue that first tournament had was they had all games take place in Dublin. Should have used the 6 Nations format of games alternating home and away each year. Edited March 28, 2014 by Mokong Automerged Doublepost
pratty Posted March 28, 2014 Posted March 28, 2014 -But will provide for 4 "wildcard" qualification spots for the European Championships (and maybe World Cup, TBD) -This 4 spots will be to the winners of each division (if not already qualified from proper Qualification Tournament) and will replace the "Play-off" qualification spots from the main qualification tournament -Means the "bottom" 16 or 14 ranked UEFA teams will be gauranteed 1 qualification spot for a major tournament WTF? So you actually stand a better chance of qualifying for the Euros if you get yourself relegated so you can win an easier division. The runners up of the top division don't deserve automatic qualification for the Euros but the winners of the bottom division do? That's like the winners of the Championship and Division 1 and 2 qualifying for the Champions League instead of the top 4 Prem teams. The whole point of qualification is to ensure the best teams get to the Euros.
Emerald Emblem Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 Good news for Dazzy: Tottenham: Louis van Gaal has met with Daniel Levy - Ruud Gullit If you believe him it's a done deal.
Fierce_LiNk Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 I heard of this plane and banner talk on another forum and thought it would be just a fruit-less rumour. Can't believe it's actually happening. A lot of fans have criticised his selections and tactics, but the majority want him to succeed. Nobody wants to see him fail. I don't see what this banner does to help the team, the club or him as a manager. It'll destroy him and shatter whatever confidence he and the team had left. Mistakes have been made this season, and it's clear that David either hasn't learned from them or he is taking a loooong time to learn. Either way, this is pretty class-less and goes against how the club conducts things. I'm sad to see it happen. As for where I stand: I want him to succeed, but he's making it very difficult for himself. He was almost doomed before he started by getting rid of the backroom staff; it's not something that he has ever recovered from. Importantly, I want to see him be much more ruthless and go out to win games. None of this cautious bullshit that we've seen far too often.
MadDog Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 Fucking yes Palace. We HAVE to win tomorrow now. Hopefully Arsenal can get a result today aswell.
Kav Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 We couldn't seem to fashion a decent chance against Palace today. Not what we needed just now The end to this season is brilliant (even if we have just thrown away a lead).
Hero-of-Time Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 We couldn't seem to fashion a decent chance against Palace today. Not what we needed just now The end to this season is brilliant (even if we have just thrown away a lead). Agreed. It's so close at the top and bottom. Every game from now until the end pretty much counts for so many teams. It's going to be a fantastic and nail biting finish.
Retro_Link Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 Those Utd fans totally wasted their money :p 4-1 win to keep everyone entertained and a great reception in the stadium... no one probably noticed.
Hero-of-Time Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 Nice one, Arsenal! I'll take that result. It's ours to lose now...
Wii Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 (edited) Chelsea? :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Fair play to Palace. All today's results make things exciting at both ends, except United's. They'll be reminded how bad they are on Tuesday. Beat Villa, Wooh. Yeah, whatever who cares? Edited March 29, 2014 by Wii Automerged Doublepost
Emerald Emblem Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 City could have hammered us after going ahead, likewise Arsenal could have when we equalized around the same time in the second half. A game of two halves and I didn't give us a shot at getting anything, our title challenge may be over after this but hell we were some 20 points off this time last season instead it's only 9 potentially. Gotta play each game like a cup final till the end of the season, then who knows. Liverpool, City and Chelsea have to play each other in the run in so we can only win our remaining games to have any shot at bridging the gap.
Blade Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 This season. So many twists and turns! Tell me about it...
Wii Posted March 29, 2014 Posted March 29, 2014 April 27th is D-Day. We'll know pretty much who's won it after that barring a disaster on their part.
nekunando Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 (edited) The results today were perfect for Liverpool today so we really need to take advantage of that tomorrow against Spurs! I've been looking at this fixture for a while now and because of the 5-0 demolition at White Hart Lane, you almost expect it to be a comfortable win at Anfield.. but that won't be the case, even if I hope it is The only problem with the results earlier is that, if anything, it puts more pressure on Liverpool because we now have everything in our hands and don't have to rely on anyone else at all. We all know it isn't as straightforward as that, but things just got a lot more intense today when you start to consider that we could actually win it As a fan, I've been accustomed to expecting us to drop points in games we should win as we've done it so many times over the years.. but events like the Champions League final in 2005 have shown that you can believe! If we manage to get a win tomorrow against Tottenham, I'll start to believe we can do it Audio Edited March 30, 2014 by nekunando
Hero-of-Time Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Very solid first half and we could have had a couple more. I'm still nervous as hell though. I dunno if my heart take it this for the remaining games.
Fierce_LiNk Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Those Utd fans totally wasted their money :p 4-1 win to keep everyone entertained and a great reception in the stadium... no one probably noticed. I'm happy with that. Although, the plane did have an effect within the stadium as we conceded the first goal pretty soon after. It was bound to affect the team, but I'm happy with how we responded. Right, we need to play Kagawa-Mata-Rooney as a three in every single game. Maybe even a 4-3-2-1 with the two behind Rooney being Kagawa and Mata. Either way, we need to build this team around those three like Liverpool have built it around Suarez, Sturridge and now Sterling. The Liverpool/Spurs game is so interesting. It's a contrast between having a style of play and having expensive signings. The style of football wins almost any team. It's a team game and a team of 11 who play well and fluidly together will always beat a team of individuals. So many parallels between Spurs and United this season. Liverpool's style of football is good to watch AND they score goals.
MadDog Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Top of the league! Honestly can't believe I'm saying that with 6 games to go. Brendan Rodgers is spectacular. I've lost count of how many different formations we've played this season, yet he adapts and continues to win.
Emerald Emblem Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Liverpool look unstoppable right now, when their title rivals are starting to drop points they win convincingly. City have the games in hand still but if Liverpool can beat City then they have to look the favorites and who would have thought that 12 months ago.
Hero-of-Time Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Top of the league! Honestly can't believe I'm saying that with 6 games to go. Brendan Rodgers is spectacular. I've lost count of how many different formations we've played this season, yet he adapts and continues to win. Our work rate is insane as well. Even at 4-0 up we kept pressing the ball and pushing forward, with everyone chipping in. The goals are coming from not just Sturridge and Suarez but every Tom, Dick and Harry. It's nuts!
-Dem0- Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Liverpool deserve to be top. They play great, attacking football week in-week out. Rodgers is an excellent manager, but more importantly Henry & Co. stuck with him during the difficult times behind the scenes & on the pitch (manor of Dalglish sacking, poor league finish etc), and now it's paying off.
pratty Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 It's on! Great win today. Not going to expect to win the league now but it's great to be genuine contenders again. Even at home the City and Chelsea games are still entirely losable games, yet entirely winable at the same time, could go either way, as could the league itself. There are always other potential banana skins where we could drop points, but that applies to our rivals too, as Chelsea demonstrated against Palace. Our work rate is insane as well. Even at 4-0 up we kept pressing the ball and pushing forward, with everyone chipping in. The goals are coming from not just Sturridge and Suarez but every Tom, Dick and Harry. It's nuts! It was fantastic, the workrate and the desire! Throwing themselves infront of shots, chasing lost causes etc. The contrast in attitude between us and Spurs was night and day, we really wanted it and believed in ourselves. Though to be fair I will say Lloris was a credit to Spurs, he really did all he could to keep the score down. The atmosphere in the ground was superb too, so supportive, even applauding when things didn't come off, allowing the players to play without fear.
MadDog Posted March 30, 2014 Posted March 30, 2014 Also, Tim Sherwood is a footballing genius. @dazzybee
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