Football

[DavidM]

53 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Man City are 4th for all time league titles, having now overtaken Everton. I wouldn't have imagined that when I was a kid and they were a yoyo club.

We’ll go level again next year 

[Tommygilf]

10 hours ago, DavidM said:

We’ll go level again next year 

 

 

[GeordieSaint]

Decent England train on squad that. The likes of Henderson, Chilwell and Rashford gone. Southgate needs to now have the balls to take Wharton… 

[Gerrumonside ref]

13 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

Decent England train on squad that. The likes of Henderson, Chilwell and Rashford gone. Southgate needs to now have the balls to take Wharton… 

I like Wharton who has grabbed his chance under a new coach at Palace after moving from Blackburn in the Championship.

I always think back to previous tournaments where some of our more successful runs have included players stepping up and having breakthrough moments.

We’ve got an exciting looking squad in many ways just caught short in defence I think.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Atalanta have ended Leverkusen's 51 game unbeaten run and won the Europa League with a hat trick from former England junior, Ademola Lookman. Atalanta's first European trophy and first major trophy of any kind for 61 years.

[GeordieSaint]

On 22/05/2024 at 13:26, Gerrumonside ref said:

I like Wharton who has grabbed his chance under a new coach at Palace after moving from Blackburn in the Championship.

I always think back to previous tournaments where some of our more successful runs have included players stepping up and having breakthrough moments.

We’ve got an exciting looking squad in many ways just caught short in defence I think.

If Southgate selects the right defenders, there is a good team there; really good team. The risk is LB though as I don’t think Shaw will be fit. So Gomez is the likely LB…

My team if all fit would be:

1. Pickford 

2. TAA 4. Stones 5. Branthwaite 3. Shaw

6. Rice 8. Bellingham 

7. Saka 10. Foden 11. Gordon

9. Kane 

The likes of Palmer, Grealish, Wharton, Walker et al can all come in replace the starters. 

Only LB is a worry for me.

[Gerrumonside ref]

10 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

If Southgate selects the right defenders, there is a good team there; really good team. The risk is LB though as I don’t think Shaw will be fit. So Gomez is the likely LB…

My team if all fit would be:

1. Pickford 

2. TAA 4. Stones 5. Branthwaite 3. Shaw

6. Rice 8. Bellingham 

7. Saka 10. Foden 11. Gordon

9. Kane 

The likes of Palmer, Grealish, Wharton, Walker et al can all come in replace the starters. 

Only LB is a worry for me.

Not sure myself about that back four as stated, it’s never really played before as a unit and relationships are key.  Individually yes, all good players, but collectively it’s untried I think.

I think that’s where Stones-Maguire gets favoured and then Walker to provide the recovery pace instead of TAA (despite him arguably having the best range of passing in the whole squad).

If Southgate is going to play it conservatively then I think it’s vulnerable to the very top teams in international football who we are bound to play along the way barring a jammy tournament run.

 

Edited May 23, 2024 by Gerrumonside ref

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

24 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

If Southgate selects the right defenders, there is a good team there; really good team. The risk is LB though as I don’t think Shaw will be fit. So Gomez is the likely LB…

My team if all fit would be:

1. Pickford 

2. TAA 4. Stones 5. Branthwaite 3. Shaw

6. Rice 8. Bellingham 

7. Saka 10. Foden 11. Gordon

9. Kane 

The likes of Palmer, Grealish, Wharton, Walker et al can all come in replace the starters. 

Only LB is a worry for me.

I would put Mainoo at 8, Bellingham at 10 and Foden at 11. Regarding the defence, its easy to say drop McGuire and play Braithwaite or players XYZ but in reality theres no central defender breaking the door down, performance wise, saying play me, I think that's why Southgate picks him, he's somebody he can trust. As for TAA, fantastic player but I don't think England can carry a fullback that goes AWOL defensively .

[GeordieSaint]

3 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Not sure myself about that back four as stated, it’s never really played before as a unit and relationships are key.  Individually yes, all good players, but collectively it’s untried I think.

I think that’s where Stones-Maguire gets favoured and then Walker to provide the recovery pace instead of TAA (despite him arguably having the best range of passing in the whole squad).

If Southgate is going to play it conservatively then I think it’s vulnerable to the very top teams in international football who we are bound to play along the way barring a jammy tournament run.

 

Southgate will be conservatively. And we’ll lose again. I absolutely get your point about  units and relationships. But there is time to grow into the tournament. Southgate needs to be bold. We have an abundance of talent. He needs to unleash it. Hence TAA at RB. Foden at 10. Go for it rather than defending and losing. 

[HawkMan]

Southgate stated that he doesn't tell his forwards to stay in one part of the field , so Foden will probably start left to accommodate Bellingham,  but he can drift in. 

I get the feeling Southgate knows this is his best and probably last chance to win something,  so hopefully he's  going to go all out and unleash the most talented attacking team we've had in decades.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

What a first half that was for Man United! I thought City were gonna walk this but they have been very poor.

[Jeff Stein]

Is anyone interested in the FA Cup nowadays? Entirely unscientific but been in 2 pubs during the game (1 in Essex and 1 in East London) and I don't think you would need the fingers on one hand to count the numbers watching 

Edited May 25, 2024 by Jeff Stein

[gingerjon]

26 minutes ago, Jeff Stein said:

Is anyone interested in the FA Cup nowadays? Entirely unscientific but been in 2 pubs during the game (1 in Essex and 1 in East London) and I don't think you would need the fingers on one hand to count the numbers watching 

Entirely unscientific, but three of Tiny Ginger's friends (and him) have just watched the whole thing.

Not sure it's a standard pub watch game? There do seem to be a lot of garden BBQs round here watching it judging by cooked meat smells and the occasional drunken cheers vaguely in time with what's been happening.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Great win for Man United! City were a lot better in the second half but Man U's defence was incredible, so solid, Man City barely got into the box all game. 

Never thought I'd find myself so happy for Man U but its just great to see City actually lose something!

I was really impressed with Mainoo, not seen much of him but England could have a real star there for the future.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

Entirely unscientific, but three of Tiny Ginger's friends (and him) have just watched the whole thing.

Not sure it's a standard pub watch game? There do seem to be a lot of garden BBQs round here watching it judging by cooked meat smells and the occasional drunken cheers vaguely in time with what's been happening.

Myself and Brother Goose just enjoyed the game at home. Like you say, it's not a pub watching game necessarily; I asked Brother Goose yesterday whether he wanted to go to the pub to watch it and it was a staunch no.

[gingerjon]

Southampton beat Leeds in one of the flattest play off finals I can recall.

[DavidM]

25 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Southampton beat Leeds in one of the flattest play off finals I can recall.

First goal is really important I always think in these games . Leeds just never really got going 

[17 stone giant]

On 25/05/2024 at 16:41, Jeff Stein said:

Is anyone interested in the FA Cup nowadays?

Probably best to see what the viewing figures were on BBC and ITV and then make a judgement.

The Man Utd v Coventry semi final apparently averaged 4.4 million and peaked at 7.1 million on ITV.

[17 stone giant]

On 25/05/2024 at 17:11, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I was really impressed with Mainoo, not seen much of him but England could have a real star there for the future.

Absolute class once again. Have to keep reminding myself that he's still a teenager. He plays with the maturity of a 25 year old who has got several seasons and plenty of international caps on his CV.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Yesterday I bought my first England football shirt since I was a kid!

[graveyard johnny]

14 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Southampton beat Leeds in one of the flattest play off finals I can recall.

how many shots on goal did Leeds have? one? two? the saints played the right tactics after the early goal- all credit to them

[RayCee]

So which are the the most successful clubs in England?

https://footballcharts.blogspot.com/2024/05/england-teams-ranked-196061-to-202324.html

There are other countries and tournaments too if you want to delve deeper. 

[tonyXIII]

On 25/05/2024 at 18:41, Jeff Stein said:

Is anyone interested in the FA Cup nowadays?

Hmm.

This particular Man City fan certainly isn't!

[HawkMan]

On 25/05/2024 at 16:41, Jeff Stein said:

Is anyone interested in the FA Cup nowadays? Entirely unscientific but been in 2 pubs during the game (1 in Essex and 1 in East London) and I don't think you would need the fingers on one hand to count the numbers watching 

We can answer that in a number of ways. For the really big clubs, Liverpool,  Manchester  City etc, probably not really bothered by the FA Cup. However as Manchester United proved it is vitally important if you've screwed up your league campaign. United desperately needed to win on Saturday to get into Europe. Fans of big clubs probably feel the same, rather get top four, but FA Cup is a safety net, and it's a trophy,  so not to be sneezed at.

Fans of lower league clubs and clubs themselves feel very different. The uproar regarding scrapping of replays shows how important the FA Cup is to smaller teams. Take an average championship club, Middlesbrough for example,  a match at home to Bristol City in the league would get a 20,000 crowd more or less, but only half that for a cup meeting. However Middlesbrough v a mid Premier team in the FA Cup , say Crystal Palace,  would be above average attendance, and against a Liverpool or Arsenal,  full house, no question.

So the FA Cup is still important and has a place in fans hearts, different reasons for different fans depending on the status of their club. It still has global appeal of course with over 100 countries taking coverage of this year's final.

 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

4 hours ago, RayCee said:

So which are the the most successful clubs in England?

https://footballcharts.blogspot.com/2024/05/england-teams-ranked-196061-to-202324.html

There are other countries and tournaments too if you want to delve deeper. 

I think you've done Leeds out of 4 points in Europe.

European Cup - Runners up - 1975 - 4pts                                                                                                                                               Semi final  - 1970 - 2pts                                                                                                                                             Semi final - 2001 - 2 pts                                                                                                              Cup winners cup Runners up - 1973 - 2pts                                                                                                               UEFA                   Winners    - 1968 - 6pts                                                                                                                                             Winners   -  1971 - 6pts                                                                                                                                               Runners up - 1967 - 3pts                                                                                                                                           Semi finals - 1966 - 1pt                                                                                                                                               Semi finals - 2000 - 1pt

                             Total    27 points

Sorry to be pedantic but Leeds need all the help they can get after Saturday.