Football 2013-2014

[mrtourette]

What's everyone's take on the Cardiff sending off yesterday? Good to see advantage played so that it really means that, although possibly went on for a bit too long.

Edited April 28, 2014 by mrtourette

[Essex_George]

I don't think the title is over just yet, still going to be another twist in there somewhere. City did look nice and relaxed against Palace but the early goal helped them out. Be a tough game for them at Everton.

[Wooderson]

It's a lie? You think Man United are somehow immune from the idiots that follow every other club? Of course there will be folk who think about their rivals more than their own team. It SHOULD go without saying. It's just that folk should remember that the number of idiots is relative to the number of supporters a club has.

[ThomThomDrum]

What's everyone's take on the Cardiff sending off yesterday? Good to see advantage played so that it really means that, although possibly went on for a bit too long.

[pink_triangle]

There might yet me a couple twists in the tale - but I think you put it well when you said that City will prolly smell blood and close it out here on in. I would dispute somewhat your claim that theyre the best team in the country. LFC are still top of the league sir. Only temp of course but still.

[eFestivals]

It's a lie? You think Man United are somehow immune from the idiots that follow every other club? Of course there will be folk who think about their rivals more than their own team. It SHOULD go without saying. It's just that folk should remember that the number of idiots is relative to the number of supporters a club has.

No, the lie is the claim that Liverpool's near-success-but-failure is more satisfying than anything Utd might achieve for themselves.

It's revisionism. They'd have never said such a thing at the start of the season, but with the situation as it is now it's a way to wind up any gullible Liverpool fan that might be stupid enough to fall for that revisionism.

[eFestivals]

I don't think the title is over just yet, still going to be another twist in there somewhere.

while I do think it's more over than open, I've been saying for a while that it's far from impossible for Liverpool to lose against Chelsea but to still win the league.

Mind you, if City blow it from the position they're in now they'll be more-deserving of the 'weak' tag that Nal gave Arsenal.

[Wooderson]

I dont automatically assume the team who wins the league has been the best though. While I think liverpool or chelsea would be deserving champions if they end up winning the thing, I think Man City have been the best team and am probably unlikely to change my mind about that now.

[TheGayTent]

What's everyone's take on the Cardiff sending off yesterday? Good to see advantage played so that it really means that, although possibly went on for a bit too long.

[pink_triangle]

I've was strongly criticised in the past (2009 comes to mind) for suggesting that the league winners might not always be the best team. Tried hard to argue the vaguearies of "deserving" but fixtures/decisions/injuries/squad depth/blind luck didnt matter a damn then. They don't now either.

[mrtourette]

By the letter of the law they were all the correct calls, the pen and the sending off. However, I think the revised rules are wrong, and I would have liked to see a red and a free kick from where the foul was initially committed.

[ThomThomDrum]

I wasn't even aware of that rule until last night, but it certainly is an interesting one. It does seem odd that if an advantage is called back the team can get a greater reward than if the whistle was blown at the point of the first offense, just because the referee allowed the offense to continue.

[TheGayTent]

He should have released before they entered the box and then the ref could not give the peno.

(A lot harder to do than say)

[Wooderson]

I would have agreed with you in 2009. I dont think you can assume that a club who finishes 1 or 2 points ahead of another or level and split by goal difference is better than the one below, they may have just been luckier, while the league is a better way of judging the best team than a cup it is far fro being a tightly controlled scientific experiment where all variables are the same. However the function of the league is not necesarily to determine the best team but the team who accumulates the most points using the formula the league (in this case w=3 d=2 l=0) uses. Whoever wins the league may not be the best but they will be deserving.

[pink_triangle]

I would view it from the other way round actually. That the league for better or worse determines the best side in the division. Debate is what you mean by "best" and in this instance "deserving" mightnt come into it. The glorious thing about footie is its expressive, poetic side. No footie I'm interested it divests itseld of these two truths.

[Wooderson]

I would argue the best as the team who have perfomed to the highest standard over the season and I think that has been Man City, they havent converted hat dominace into points and it will be their fault if they dont win the league as I would rather be the league champions than the best team.

To those who say the best team always win the league how would you argue that in some circumstances just changing the points system eg 2 for a win instead of 3 for a win can result in a different winner with identical perfomrances/results.

[mrtourette]

Yeah you can't retrospectively change the rules and still assume results would have been the same. It's like saying even if Gerrard hadn't have slipped and gifted Ba a goal then Chelsea would still have won 1-0.

[Wooderson]

Anyway. Circular argument.

I wouldnt by any means begrudge Chelsea or City to win the league. Great for the championship that three teams are still "in it" and nothing is decided till everything is decided!

[Wooderson]

Hopefully Munich view a copy of the game yesterday. Maureen is gonna do something similar against them in the CL final.

[DomDom1984]

Bayern can watch as many copies of that as they want. Twice they have struggled against a similar, and in one case inferior, version of the same thing.

If they came up against Chelsea like that, they'd struggle badly.

[pink_triangle]

Teams would set up differently. This point is irrelevant.

[mrtourette]

Well the whole thing defines how you define 'better'. Chelsea have beaten Liverpool twice, so are they the 'better' team? Or were Liverpool unlucky on both occasions and have somehow shown in their games against other opponents that they are 'better' than Chelsea?

[zahidf]

Ha. This made me laugh from football 365

Braveheart

Mediawatch has a little sick in its mouth this morning. Thank you Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail for these words on Steven Gerrard:

'When you play your football on the limits of courage, like he does, though, you always risk the occasional calamity.'

Presumably Jan Vertonghen also slipped against Chelsea last month because he was 'playing his football on the limits of courage'? Or did they both simply make a mistake?

Old Boys

Jamie Redknapp is unsurprisingly touting Ryan Giggs for the permanent manager's job. He's a proper football man, you see.

'Does he really know more than Giggs about what United need?' asks Redknapp about Van Gaal in the Daily Mail.

Perhaps not. But he probably - with his Champions League, Bundesliga and La Liga titles - has just a little more idea how to give them what they need. Which is kind of the point.

Edited April 28, 2014 by zahidf

[DomDom1984]

Chelsea were better than Liverpool on the two occaisions that those two teams played.

But that's why the league is decided over 38 games against everyone and not two.

[mrtourette]

Chelsea were better than Liverpool on the two occaisions that those two teams played.

But that's why the league is decided over 38 games against everyone and not two.