Football Banter

re. Champions League reshuffle : It's all about the money, more teams = more games = more dollars, so a knockout competition wouldn't work, they need the league style to ensure the extra games. Each team would want to be garaunteed a certain number of games as well, to ensure they get the revenue.

What I don't get though is how the teams are expected to play all the extra games. Here in blighty I guess it would be easy, those teams would simply not play in the League Cup, but elsewhere how would it work. Apparently todays footballers are incapable of playing twice a week as well as travelling first class and staying in five star hotels ... well it does sound like a rough deal doesn't it!

(28-11-2012 20:24 )munch1917 Wrote:  re. Champions League reshuffle : It's all about the money, more teams = more games = more dollars, so a knockout competition wouldn't work, they need the league style to ensure the extra games. Each team would want to be garaunteed a certain number of games as well, to ensure they get the revenue.

What I don't get though is how the teams are expected to play all the extra games. Here in blighty I guess it would be easy, those teams would simply not play in the League Cup, but elsewhere how would it work. Apparently todays footballers are incapable of playing twice a week as well as travelling first class and staying in five star hotels ... well it does sound like a rough deal doesn't it!

Money is always at the core when things like this come about.

This is probably the closest thing to that European Super League idea that was mentioned before.

I'm not sure it would be passed though this idea, because like you said how would the football calender fit all the fixtures in especially when English football doesn't have a winter break. I guess if they wanted it to work, only one group stage should happen and perhaps UEFA will have to persuade the FA to scrap the League Cup to fit in the fixtures for the Champions League and plus I think the players will be furious about all the games they have to play.

Perhaps this is a plan by the big teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Man United to reduce the amount of friendly international matches.

How Joey Barton learned to speak french

Yeah, goals in an English EPL telly game. Thought this would be the 5th straight 0 - 0 draw televised.

A 4th straight loss for Newcastle.

At least we are being consistent

i'm happy with a point at goodison. honestly, sometimes i think i've woken up in a parallel universe!

Our unbeaten run is over

Fellaini needs a makeover.

A good old Justin Bieber haircut would do the trick.

Well thats my fun post for the day

Seriously, I'm starting to question if Pardew can actually get us out of this mess?

He looks lost and seems too stubborn to change tactics and admit Ba and Cisse can't play together.

Never mind he's only there for another 8 years

(28-11-2012 23:23 )LODOS Wrote:  Never mind he's only there for another 8 years

That 8 year contract has been a nightmare for us.

But Ashley did pay off Allardyce, so I wouldn't be surprised if he paided Pardew off.

Ashley and Pardew are good friends, so there are probably clauses or some shit in his contract.

I will write this again, but I hope Pardew reads this and gets the message. I'm not sure if Pardew is into these wank channels, but hey its worth a shot

1. The formation is wrong. 4-4-2 clearly doesn't get the best out of this squad and its showing. Lots of teams these days play with 3 centre midfielders and we are getting mobbed in midfield, which means we can't hold possession and its difficult to get back.

2. Ba and Cisse should not play up front together. They clearly don't compliment each other as a strike partnership and again its evident. They are just too similar for it to work. Sometimes Pardew tries playing Ba behind Cisse, but that doesn't work either unless you have someone like Suarez in that position. Pardew needs to accept that they simply can't together and has to drop one of them preferably Cisse.

3. This long ball game of football we are playing has to stop. In the first 20 minutes of the game I think we hit 30 long balls and were so easily dealt with by Fonte. When Krul had the ball, he would just boot it up field aimlessly and there weren't any defenders demanding the ball. When we attacked we made 3 passes down the wing and then Ferguson or Gutierrez would hit a shit ball into the penalty area. What's the point? We don't have the players to play this way and we played our best football last season on the ground. I have no objection to hitting long balls, but it doesn't if (a) You do it constantly and it becomes predictable that the opposition easily deal with it and (b) We haven't had enough time to practice a long ball game, its not like Stoke and West Ham, who have managers, who have been using that tactic throughout their managerial careers. It baffles me why we bothered trying to sign Debuchy and Douglas, because they thrive on a passing game and would be useless in a long ball type of game.

4. Williamson is a donkey in defence and Krul has got complacent because he doesn't have serious competition in his position.

5. There is a lack of creativity in the team, we desperately need someone like Wes Hoolahan in the team.

On a different note, great to see Benitez bring back his sexy, free flowing football, I have missed it since he left the Premier League