Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

The shitness of modern football


Redder Lurtz
 Share

Recommended Posts

10 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

Pretty much all of this.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/08/andrea-agnelli-champions-league-reforms-premier-league
 

Andrea Agnelli says agreement on 'ideal' new-look Champions League is close

  • ‘Swiss system’ would see 36 teams each play 10 group matches
  • Transfer ban between Champions League clubs is discussed

Agreement on a new “ideal” Champions League is imminent, according to the man who represents Europe’s biggest clubs, which may put pressure on the Premier League to reduce its fixture list in future if it is to benefit.

 

Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of the European Clubs Association, said on Monday he expects a reshaped Champions League to be agreed within weeks. The Juventus president wants an expanded competition to be just the start of wide-ranging reforms at the top of the game that could mean the overall number of domestic games in England is reduced and a ban on transfers between elite sides.
 

Uefa is expected to ratify plans for an expanded Champions League of 36 teams, with each club playing 10 group matches in a “Swiss system” that would see them ranked in a single league table. This would bring an end to recurring rumours of a breakaway Super League, something Agnelli says he has always been keen to avoid.

 

“I think we’re very close to my ideal Champions League, I think the Swiss system is beautiful,” he said. “I think it will provide great opportunities for those teams participating in that competition. It will provide the knockouts that are the essence of any competition. It’s very, very close to an ideal Champions League. We’re maybe just a couple of weeks away.

 

“My attention for quite a long time has been to make sure we find a solution with Uefa. We had fights with Alex [Uefa’s president, Alexander Ceferin] in the autumn months because we wanted to find the balance between continental and domestic competition. It’s [about] having a balanced competitive landscape.”

 

Agnelli, whose organisation represents 246 clubs across Europe including nine in the Premier League, says he wants the domestic calendar to take up only two thirds of any season. The Premier League have pushed back against the new Champions League proposals due to their effects on the calendar but Agnelli believes it is the larger domestic competitions, such as the English top flight, that will eventually have to compromise.

 

“If we look back in time the Champions League had four more games than it has today,” Agnelli said. “I think the balance that we are trying to strike is one third international [European competition] and two thirds domestic. We can take a look at the overall calendar, we have countries like England with a maximum number of games at 53, If I’m not mistaken, Germany is 43 and so is Italy.

 

“We do think that currently for competitive balance purposes 20 teams in leagues are too many. There is an overall element that could actually be worked out altogether in the interests of everyone.”
 

With the new competition not set to start until 2024, Agnelli would like any restructuring to be made in tandem with wider reform. He wants an end to financial fair play in its current form, with clubs scrutinised on their overall balance sheet rather than annual profit and loss. He also said the ECA had discussed changing the transfer system so Champions League clubs could no longer buy from or sell to each other, instead trading only with lower-ranking clubs.

 

“No triple-figures transfers between Champions League participating clubs maybe would [mean] focusing instead on champion players in smaller countries allowing us only to buy players there,” Agnelli said. “These are elements we are discussing but certainly cost control will be one of the biggest challenges in terms of reforms going forward.”

 

Agnelli also stressed that football must think of ways to attract younger viewers in an increasingly crowded marketplace. “We could imagine a subscription for the last 15 minutes of a specific game,” he said. “The attention span of today’s kids and tomorrow’s spenders is completely different to the one I had when I was their age.

 

“If you take golf, if it’s interesting at all, it’s only the last six holes on the final day. You are not going to watch the whole thing on the TV unless you are a hardcore fan.”

That's me not watching any more football in the near future then. What a load of shite!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The European Cup is really, really shit already in my opinion. All of the seeded groups to try and ensure the bigger teams always stay in and the majority of it's boring as fuck. 

 

Increasing that will just make it even more unremittingly dull most of the time.

 

I'd far rather it went back to a knockout tournament all the way through with no seeding, Real Madrid vs Barcelona in the first round and one of them gets knocked, well fucking tough.

 

That and the chance for a smaller team to potentially get a decent run of draws and/or a chance of winning it would make it much more interesting in my opinion. 

 

It would never happen of course as it's far better to just generate a load of meaningless hype* and try to rinse as much cash out of the TV companies as far as the governing bodies are concerned. 

 

Football is basically fucked as far as I can tell. Besides 3 or 4 teams in the UK and maybe 10 at the most in Europe the rest may as well just pack up and go home as they have almost zero chance of doing anything other than make up the numbers unless they are bought by a billionaire with money to waste. 

 

*i.e. "the best league in the world" Premier League bullshit.  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All this talk of Liverpool can only make top four if they win the Champions League....Although technically correct I can honestly say if we did win number 7 thinking “great we’re in next seasons competition” will be way down my list as I’m getting pissed 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 09/03/2021 at 15:55, Stickman said:

All this talk of Liverpool can only make top four if they win the Champions League....Although technically correct I can honestly say if we did win number 7 thinking “great we’re in next seasons competition” will be way down my list as I’m getting pissed 

This. Every day of the week

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The way Sky and the PL keep trying to fuck English clubs over with the domestic schedule before and after European games continues to take the piss.

 

They already knew the midweek after the next round of domestic games will see some of our teams in European action, yet Sky still chose to move our game at Arsenal to the Sunday. They've moved it back to the Saturday again because we are away in Madrid the following Tuesday, but they've chosen to make it an 8pm kick-off. Why? Our players have to travel back late after the Arsenal game, then have more travel on the Monday evening leaving very little time to rest and recover in between matches, nevermind prepare for an important Champions League game.

 

Across the continent, teams involved in Europe are given a massive leg-up by having their fixtures either side of a midweek European game be scheduled to give them as much time as possible to prepare and recover. This on top of having 5 subs for domestic games too. Here, the stupidest options are not only suggested but actually voted for!

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Trumo said:

The way Sky and the PL keep trying to fuck English clubs over with the domestic schedule before and after European games continues to take the piss.

 

They already knew the midweek after the next round of domestic games will see some of our teams in European action, yet Sky still chose to move our game at Arsenal to the Sunday. They've moved it back to the Saturday again because we are away in Madrid the following Tuesday, but they've chosen to make it an 8pm kick-off. Why? Our players have to travel back late after the Arsenal game, then have more travel on the Monday evening leaving very little time to rest and recover in between matches, nevermind prepare for an important Champions League game.

 

Across the continent, teams involved in Europe are given a massive leg-up by having their fixtures either side of a midweek European game be scheduled to give them as much time as possible to prepare and recover. This on top of having 5 subs for domestic games too. Here, the stupidest options are not only suggested but actually voted for!

Why? Cos they're cunts and the 14 smaller clubs in the PL will do anything they can to fuck the 'bigger' clubs over. Obviously arsenal arent one of the smaller clubs despite their current lack of success.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Trumo said:

The way Sky and the PL keep trying to fuck English clubs over with the domestic schedule before and after European games continues to take the piss.

 

They already knew the midweek after the next round of domestic games will see some of our teams in European action, yet Sky still chose to move our game at Arsenal to the Sunday. They've moved it back to the Saturday again because we are away in Madrid the following Tuesday, but they've chosen to make it an 8pm kick-off. Why? Our players have to travel back late after the Arsenal game, then have more travel on the Monday evening leaving very little time to rest and recover in between matches, nevermind prepare for an important Champions League game.

 

Across the continent, teams involved in Europe are given a massive leg-up by having their fixtures either side of a midweek European game be scheduled to give them as much time as possible to prepare and recover. This on top of having 5 subs for domestic games too. Here, the stupidest options are not only suggested but actually voted for!

The Villa game is currently saying 3pm for Saturday 10th April so it will no doubt be moved to Sunday evening before the second leg 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Grinch said:

The game keeps getting worse.  The champions league is already shite, with the group stages completely pointless affairs. 

 

 

I think that's the main point of the changes. Everybody in one big league with nobody able to relax till almost all of the games are played. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Grinch said:

The game keeps getting worse.  The champions league is already shite, with the group stages completely pointless affairs. 

 

 

The Champions League (or The Money League as it should be called) was a big nail in the coffin of Football as a fair sport.

 

It's all bollocks now & there are people who think a final between the likes of Nottingham Forest & Malmo would be terrible. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer & Liverpool FC are as guilty as anyone.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, aws said:

I think that's the main point of the changes. Everybody in one big league with nobody able to relax till almost all of the games are played. 

Look at the seeding.  It's still pointless with four extra money making games of pointlessness with the added benifit that eight big clubs can't fall out of it if they've a shite league season. 

 

The last thing football needs is more of anything.  It's an over saturated mess with very little quality anywhere. 

 

The only way to make European football remotely interesting again would be straight knock out old school style but it'll never happen for the same reason they keep adding games.  £££

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Mook said:

The Champions League (or The Money League as it should be called) was a big nail in the coffin of Football as a fair sport.

 

It's all bollocks now & there are people who think a final between the likes of Nottingham Forest & Malmo would be terrible. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer & Liverpool FC are as guilty as anyone.

I've been saying for years that the money bubble in football is going to burst.  Still hasn't happened and it just keeps getting worse; as long as there are consumers (sic) then they'll keep messing with the product (sic again) to make more money.

 

It's all fucking bollocks and it depresses me.

 

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Totally agree with what’s been said over the Champions League and it has been for years but the way rival fans behaved over the “hilarious” idea of Liverpool being denied the title thanks to a killer pandemic then fuck em and double double fuck em over their love of Man City when stopping the only club who challenges them ......

 

 

That’s us by the way

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Soft Joe said:

That thing modern footballers do when they cover their mouths when they talk to each other. I’m sure it’s probably been mentioned in this thread. Just been reminded of it after seeing that little gobshite Foden and Haaland doing it this week. Pair of cunts.

I do understand why the do it though. Every game is now recorded and zoomed in on so they have to be careful. The seventy camera angles shit pisses me off more,just get three or four good ones and they'll do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 financially doped sportswashing operations making up the 4 semi final places along with a legacy club that has relied on significant benevolent state support in the past. Football has always been dominated by money, but I can't remember it being so egregious and rubbed in your face in the highest echelon of the game. 

 

City's continuing dominance of the domestic game hardly seems to raise an eyebrow anymore either, if they were to win the league at a canter again and a domestic Cup next year would anyone talk about what is happening?  Everyone in the media held that they were poor last year as they amassed 81 points, won the league Cup and charity shield, made the semi finals of the FA Cup and Quater finals of the champions league.

 

I think in retrospect what Liverpool achieved during 19/20 was absolutely incredible as was keeping pace with Dynamo Abu Dhabi the year before and that over time that achievement will only grow as the monopoly/duopoly of the financially doped clubs with an occasional appearance from United or ourselves sets in.

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Moctezuma said:

3 financially doped sportswashing operations making up the 4 semi final places along with a legacy club that has relied on significant benevolent state support in the past. Football has always been dominated by money, but I can't remember it being so egregious and rubbed in your face in the highest echelon of the game. 

 

City's continuing dominance of the domestic game hardly seems to raise an eyebrow anymore either, if they were to win the league at a canter again and a domestic Cup next year would anyone talk about what is happening?  Everyone in the media held that they were poor last year as they amassed 81 points, won the league Cup and charity shield, made the semi finals of the FA Cup and Quater finals of the champions league.

 

I think in retrospect what Liverpool achieved during 19/20 was absolutely incredible as was keeping pace with Dynamo Abu Dhabi the year before and that over time that achievement will only grow as the monopoly/duopoly of the financially doped clubs with an occasional appearance from United or ourselves sets in.

You mention United as if they have little money but those cunts started this financial doping and its just been gazumped by each new set of owners. OK,they weren't suddenly backed by billions of pounds of dirty money,but 'sponsorships' 'shirt deals' and favourable decisions weren't by accident.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there is an over reliance on the notion of the 'cycle' in football and that there are multiple competitions available to the larger clubs in England, I think those things hide to a certain extent monopolistic or duopolistic issues in England (this less the case in Germany, Italy and France).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, VladimirIlyich said:

You mention United as if they have little money but those cunts started this financial doping and its just been gazumped by each new set of owners. OK,they weren't suddenly backed by billions of pounds of dirty money,but 'sponsorships' 'shirt deals' and favourable decisions weren't by accident.

Agreed, but United have always been wealthy and commercially savy. In addition they benefited from a country wide support post the Busby babes tragedy and were successful during a period where the game was rehabilitated and repackaged on mass to the middle classes, whilst one could claim this was luck they were also operating from the basis of being one of the two biggest sides in the country (the year they were relegated to the second division they had the highest average attendance in England). I don't know whether that can be seen as doping per se or making the the most of your commercial work/success as Liverpool have done recently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Moctezuma said:

3 financially doped sportswashing operations making up the 4 semi final places along with a legacy club that has relied on significant benevolent state support in the past. Football has always been dominated by money, but I can't remember it being so egregious and rubbed in your face in the highest echelon of the game. 

 

City's continuing dominance of the domestic game hardly seems to raise an eyebrow anymore either, if they were to win the league at a canter again and a domestic Cup next year would anyone talk about what is happening?  Everyone in the media held that they were poor last year as they amassed 81 points, won the league Cup and charity shield, made the semi finals of the FA Cup and Quater finals of the champions league.

 

I think in retrospect what Liverpool achieved during 19/20 was absolutely incredible as was keeping pace with Dynamo Abu Dhabi the year before and that over time that achievement will only grow as the monopoly/duopoly of the financially doped clubs with an occasional appearance from United or ourselves sets in.

And all of this a year out from a World Cup in Qatar!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gobshites on memorial posts.

 

Today is dominated by the remembrance of the 96 and to give thanks to those, either living or sadly no longer here, who fought and are still fighting to clear the names of family members and those wrongly accused.

 

However, we seem to get knobheads who want to take potshots at the team on such posts because we aren't doing well. "Sell X player", "Hala Madrid", "Klopp out", "we lost because of..."

 

The majority of these posts are from foreign fans or fans of the team we have just lost to and I can understand in some cases the language barrier; they may post because they see the name Liverpool FC and not fully understand the context of the post but in things like this, the official account should switch off comments. Modern football fans are a pain in the arse. 

  • Upvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...