Football: Alisson Wonderland

[baxus]

34 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

 

 

This doesn't seem like something that is decided on out of the blue. I'd expect that there has been some sort of analysis on whether or not away goals rule managed to do what it was supposed to - make games more entertaining by giving teams incentive not to park the bus in away games. It would be interesting to see results of that analysis.

I really hope it's not just UEFA deciding to do whatever they want in the aftermath of Super League fiasco, while they're still seen as "good guys".

[polishgenius]

Fuming coz a comedy of errors and incompetency over the course of six weeks now means I still do not have internet in my new flat and the piddly sim card I'm using over a stick to stand in cannot handle me watching sport. Really pissed off.

[Winterfell is Burning]

1 hour ago, baxus said:

This doesn't seem like something that is decided on out of the blue. I'd expect that there has been some sort of analysis on whether or not away goals rule managed to do what it was supposed to - make games more entertaining by giving teams incentive not to park the bus in away games. It would be interesting to see results of that analysis.

I really hope it's not just UEFA deciding to do whatever they want in the aftermath of Super League fiasco, while they're still seen as "good guys".

On the other hand, that creates an incentive for home teams taking less risks because conceding one at home is deadly, plus inferior or defensive teams will park the bus anyway. And often what is home and away is purely arbitrary- see many games in the pandemic in neutral countries and empty stadiums, or that time Milan eliminated Inter on away goals in two games in the same stadium.

[The Sunland Lord]

The away goal rule should be removed. 1 goal should be 1 goal no matter where it's scored. 

[Soylent Brown]

The knockout stages have generally been very exciting, so I'm not sure why they feel the need to make changes to that part of the European competitions.

The rule may not be perfect, but things weren't exactly great before it was introduced either.

[Mark Antony]

 

[polishgenius]

Gareth Bale wins.

[Soylent Brown]

Both of the keepers are hopeless.

[mormont]

But only one of them can score penalties, seems like.

[Soylent Brown]

Poor Dave de Gea is double hopeless, it seems.

[Consigliere]

Shit game.

Knew De Gea was gonna miss. He can't save penalties and evidently can't score them either. Should've subbed in Henderson for the shootout. 

Oh well, it was a passable season but it doesn't look like we'll ever win anything with Solskjaer in charge. 

[polishgenius]

Mates

[Consigliere]

1 hour ago, Mark Antony said:

 

 

I expect Real will go for either Allegri or Conte. Di Marzio reported that Juve were negotiating with Allegri but apparently Real Madrid is his preference and he was waiting to see what Zidane decides. Allegri seems the most likely for Real given that he's performed much better than Conte has in the CL. 

Lukaku might try to force his way out of Inter now so I expect Chelsea will make a move for him. Earlier reports said City had him on their CF list too. 

If Allegri joins Real, I'm not sure Conte would go to Juve since things ended badly there. I'm kinda hoping United go in for Conte - it's destined to end in tears but he's definitely a manager who can elevate us. I feel this season is basically the ceiling as far as Solskjaer's managerial ability goes. 

[Raja]

Foyth winning a trophy whilst not at spurs, is it?

Emery masterclass.

[The Winged Shadow]

Damn, quite a few top managers are on the market. Doesn't look good for Ole, but the fans must be licking their lips with Zidane, Conte and Allegri all available. Conte's style seems the furthest from what the fans would expect (I assume) but he would be the one I'd hate to see at United as I think he has the capacity to topple City with United's budget. 

 

[Corvinus85]

United should have won this game in running time. But they must really be out of depth to not make any subs until extra time, and even then keep Rashford on to run himself ragged because he is a good penalty taker.

DeGea looked like he was the most tired man on the pitch during the penalties. Villa's penalties got better as they went along, United's worse. Shaw and Lindelof nearly bungled it, but DeGea decided to gift it to the Yellow Submarine.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

18 hours ago, baxus said:

Well, there will come a time when refs will have to step up and start making difficult decisions. I mean, it's not as if there is no VAR to help out when deciding if there is a foul for a penalty kick or not.

Refs already get slaughtered, and more often than not rightly so. Especially in PL, where refs have definitely been THE weakest link for at least a decade now.

I know, but what I'm suggesting takes it out of their hands to some degree. If they can just flag an event while keeping the game moving so an independent body could review it, would that make it seem more reasonable?

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Don't get me wrong, I am aware that there are clean contacts in the box that may cause a player to go down to the ground. If the player gets up and continues to play then ref is not put in the position to decide between penalty and a booking. But if a player stays on the ground or starts yelling at the ref (which I'd call a bookable offense on its own) then there is a situation that needs to be handled by the ref. That's why they're there in the first place.

Anyway, I'm not saying that these rule changes wouldn't need some tweaking here or there. Maybe they'd not even turn out to be good changes. I just said I'd like to see something done about issues that annoy me in football.

Perhaps I'm looking at this ass backwards, but my concern isn't really about what happens in the box. The entire process has flaws, but I think they do a better job there than handling the flopping in the midfield. I could be wrong, but it just stands out so much more there.

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You get fights in ice hockey and as much as I'd like to see that mechanism of dealing with dirty plays in football, it doesn't mean that it would be a good idea.

I would hope that produced a better outcome than some of the soccer fighting clips I've seen which are just guys kicking at each other's shins.

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Regarding red cards for diving, I'd say that it's a bit over the top but diving is definitely a pretty big problem in modern football and something needs to be done.

It is harsh, but that's what could actually create a real change in play. I have to believe the over the top flopping would end quickly if it could cost your team that significant of a disadvantage. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

10 hours ago, mormont said:

To be quite honest, the fact that showing an understanding of the rules and sympathising with referees could lead one to believe that I have done the job, does highlight one of the actual worst things about modern football. That is the number of fans, players, managers and pundits who actually don't know the rules of the game (but insist that they do). I can't think of another sport where that level of ignorance is so common and so tolerated in the culture.

Please come to America my friend. 

[Mark Antony]

1 hour ago, The Winged Shadow said:

Damn, quite a few top managers are on the market. Doesn't look good for Ole, but the fans must be licking their lips with Zidane, Conte and Allegri all available. Conte's style seems the furthest from what the fans would expect (I assume) but he would be the one I'd hate to see at United as I think he has the capacity to topple City with United's budget. 

 

Yeah Ole doesn’t exactly deserve to be sacked after that season but lots of upgrades available 

[polishgenius]

If Solskjaer was gonna get fired it would have been back at the start of the season when we were shite, not at the end of it where despite a disappointing final with what sounds like some shocking rabbits-in-headline-freezing by him we overall did better than people expected us to.

 

In any case as successful as Zidane has obviously been his constant personality clashes with his players make me wary of the idea of getting him.

 

12 hours ago, mormont said:

That is the number of fans, players, managers and pundits who actually don't know the rules of the game (but insist that they do). I can't think of another sport where that level of ignorance is so common and so tolerated in the culture.

 

I'm quite involved in the online culture of (and write about) boxing and MMA and both of those are way worse. Whenever it comes up I always say I understand football better than I do boxing but I stand out way more as a boxing analyst coz the basic common level of knowledge is much smaller. And in MMA it's even stronger since the lack of knowledge extends to very, very high level coaches and fighters. Football doesn't come close.

But I do take the overall point anyway.