The Real Football Thread

[Maaaaaaaarten]

After years where we saw teams get success with parking the bus (Chelsea under Mourinho, Leicester, Atletico, every team last Euros etc.), it will be good for football if we get some more offensive teams doing well. I get the impression Pep is just good with the media rather than a genuinely nice guy and I've never liked City, but if Pep's football can get them some trophies I think that will be good for football (especially if he does well in the CL). If Wenger can get Arsenal to play like them good old days it will be great too, but I hope that every year after a few good games in vain. Klopp doing well at Liverpool would also be nice.

Also, not that anybody cares about the Dutch competition, but Ajax, after Frank de Boer played a more conservative style averse of risk - which is worse than losing in the Netherlands -, appointed a wannabe Pep Guardiola as coach who yesterday lined up a hilariously offensive lineup; 4-3-3, with 3 attacking midfielders and a winger as LB. Schöne, who was originally an attacking midfielder and who has played as a winger last couple of years was the deepest midfielder. Despite abysmal defending they overclassed the opponent so much in attack that they still won with big numbers (5-1), but if he keeps sending these ridiculous lineups unto the pitch there will be some ugly losses. Anyway, at least Ajax football has been more fun to watch this year than it ever was under De Boer, which is why they appointed him........

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

That said, I can't seem to find many critics towards Conte The Tactical Genius anywhere. His Bari and Juventus work was laudable but I never understood the hype around his national team and found much of the praise misplaced, especially during the Euro. Lost three-nil to Arsenal.

In other news, a wild Pogba appears against Leicester.


PS: Rashford is a future Ballon d'Or winner.

I strongly dislike Conte, but his work with Italy was outstanding. He took a mediocre team and with it beat Belgium and destroyed Spain - without De Gea that could've finished 4-1. Injuries sort of destroyed any hopes for Germany, but 1-1 is respectable. They were one of the best teams in the tournament, without the talent of so many other teams.

@Maarten I think tiki-taka at its best is so boring. Spain at their best were so conservative and defensive minded. When you have Barcelona's team it is ridiculously hard to be defensive, yet all those 2-0 and 1-0 victories managed it. At its core, it is the same as catinaccio: let no team past into the box with the ball. Just with different methods, not giving away the ball.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Barca at their best gets boring because they're too good. When a team can just control the game to death and doesn't want to take risks it gets boring. But City - United last time was one of the best games I've seen recently, because the two teams were fairly evenly matched. Without too much bus parking and with fairly evenly matched teams Pep's football is very nice to watch.

 

[Põhja Konn]

When teams learned, that the only remotely successful way to stop Pep's Barca was sitting deep and hitting on the counter, it lead to Barca's games unfolding in the same way time after time after time. Their own growing obsession with possession itself instead of goals only aggravated this and resulted in numerous boring games. Del Bosque with Spain used possession mostly as a defensive weapon throughout his tenure, which explains the boring nature of their game, specially in big tournaments. Pep has always been attack-minded coach and most of the time produced exciting beautiful football with his teams. The relative dullness of his later Barca years is certainly an exception rather than a rule. Lack of a CL trophy remains clouding his time with Bayern for many, but he evolved as a tactician enormously during his time there.

On the subject of the best game of recent times, it has to be Dortmund vs Bayern from this spring. Nothing else comes even close. In terms of tactical and technical quality on display from both sides, this even could be one of the best matches ever. Though it lacked in magnitude as an event to figure near the top of any best of lists on the subject.

 

[Brullnux]

You are both right, and I agree that there is a large difference between Del Bosque and Pep.

 

[Brullnux]

http://video.gazzetta.it/figuraccia-portiere-nordcoreano/fbc9c2ca-831e-11e6-b92a-cfd08dd4ee66?intcmp=VideoBar&vclk=VideoBar|figuraccia-portiere-nordcoreano

 

[jsem94]

With the squad Spain had in the 2008-2012 period anything other than a clean sweep would have been an underperformance anyway. World class (and I don't say this lightly) players in every position.

Anyway Juve wins 1-0 without a shot on target.. Own goal. But Roma and Inter both lose points in matches they played better in. De Boer impressed me with substituting Kondogbia in the 27th minute for being a sack of rubbish and was at fault for the goal we conceded. Damn Juve getting lucky...

 

[BigMac]

Happy birthday to Il Re di Roma. Francesco Totti turns 40 today.

 

[BigMac]

How was that not a handball?

Dortmund dominating the start. Even getting Navas to fake fouls to ease pressure. Lol.

 

[BigMac]

And Real scores... I can't believe it.

 

[djpbaltimore]

With Big Sam hitting the bricks. Is there any chance that England try to lure Klinsmann again out of the USA setup?

 

[jsem94]

What a cluster....

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Cahill is awful in general

I really feel like Liam Ridgewell would have done just as well all these years. Cahill is a relegation zone player elevated to undeserved heights by sheer luck and ignorance.

 

[jsem94]

Not easy to go to Celtic Park I guess... and not easy to go to Vicente Calderon easy. Bayern had most of the ball but Atleti had the best chances and could have won by more than 1-0. What a team that is. Amazing quality of players defensively.

 

[Cannibal72]

Guidolin likely to be sacked as manager of Swansea. Apparently, he skipped most of pre-season training because he was at home watching the Tour.

 

[jsem94]

Tottenham can win the league.... damn.

Can't believe Arsenal's handball offside goal was allowed, but three points are three points.

Barca losing to Celta, ter Stegen's mistake was so bad, but they were poor in general.

Milan 4-3 Sassuolo. What a comeback. Locatelli, he's 18 years old and scored his first Serie A goal and might never score a better goal in his life.

And to finish it all off, Inter go to Roma and lose 2-1. Juve don't drop points. So pretty bad footballing weekend for Inter...

 

[Alpe-Thibaut]

Any fans of OL?Or any fans of Lacazette and his teammates?

 

[jsem94]

Icardi stirring up headlines yet again. This time he's spoken out against Curva Nord, and a lot of fans want him OUT. I for one would love to see him leave and take his toxic wife Wanda with him. This spilled into our home game against Cagliari which ended, well, in a loss. This season is *** already. Juve have already got a 5 point lead and I can't see them dropping many points.

I love PL now. Conte's 3-4-3, North London clubs doing well, City having a bit of a slump, Utd being trash so far. There are many teams that are fighting for the top spots and some top managers will be sacked by the end of the season. Liverpool-Utd now will be sick.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Lol who was it again, that was arguing Icardi being a character was a good thing because he had a real winner mentality?

I feel sorry for Frank de Boer that he got caught up in the mess that Inter has become, but Frank was never going to be the right coach for Inter. It's generally just a shame such an old club with a lot of history has become what it is today, for all those who are involved, especially for the fans. Same for AC Milan.

 

[jsem94]

Never said I liked Icardi, but he's a top quality goalscorer and he's a key member of the squad. However if he goes and it strengthens the morale of the team plus gets us 60m, we should do it instantly.

If Atleti can also manage to win something this season, Simeone might leave and we can snatch him and toss de Boer aside. No disrespect to de Boer but this might be the wrong club at the wrong time for him to manage. AC Milan have some backroom issues too, but they look good on the pitch now. Facing Juve this weekend they could cause an upset.

 

[Brullnux]

Lol who was it again, that was arguing Icardi being a character was a good thing because he had a real winner mentality?

I feel sorry for Frank de Boer that he got caught up in the mess that Inter has become, but Frank was never going to be the right coach for Inter. It's generally just a shame such an old club with a lot of history has become what it is today, for all those who are involved, especially for the fans. Same for AC Milan.

Oi we're third. The resurrection has begun

 

[jsem94]

Things can change in a heartbeat. We both know this. There's a lot of turmoil surrounding Fassone, Maldini out etc. It hasn't affected the performances on the pitch, but again, things can change. If you get Fabregas in Januray though, the Serie A is in for a world of hurt.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Re:

Never said I liked Icardi, but he's a top quality goalscorer and he's a key member of the squad. However if he goes and it strengthens the morale of the team plus gets us 60m, we should do it instantly.

Just to be clear, my remark wasn't aimed at you. I remember someone upthread talked about Icardi 'stealing' his team mates wife and that this would somehow be indicative of his winner mentality, but I don't remember who it was. Obviously he is a good player, but to me it always seemed like he had a shitty mentality and getting into a fight with the fans like this is illustrative of the problem, I think.

Also, take it from me as an Ajax fan, De Boer is really bad with players with a poor mentality. He's of the ilk of trainers like Van Gaal who have a very clear philosophy and demand their players to do exactly what he tells them to. See for instance how De Boer handled the Brozovic situation.

 

[jsem94]

He did steal his mates wife though. But you kind of wonder what kind of a man Maxi Lopez is to have married a toxic woman like that to begin with, maybe he was blinded by her massive chest. That's not indicative of anything though other than being an absolute **nt. PSG are apparently willing to buy him in January and I think he must go. Win-win situation.

 

[Gigs_98]

Watching Real and Ronaldo playing is currently incredibly annoying. I'm one of the few people who likes the guy but how can you get so frustrated only because he didn't score many goals in the last weeks? He even made 3 assists today, but still acted as if he just lost the cl final.