Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2010-2011 Football Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jaffa Cake said:
It could be worse, your Lordship
Click to expand...

Well, the poll at the bottom of the linked article indicates that 53% of Guardian readers believe Bywaters' installation to be art. ;)

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you though - I would gladly be Bywaters' neighbor if it meant Liverpool winning the league and being shot of Statler and Waldorf. Don't send them back here though, send them to Ausrtralia. Isn't that where you English-types send all the screw-ups (and Robbie Fowler)? :D

Derby doesn't sound like a bad place to live. I wonder if there are any good Mexican places round there...
 
Lord Blackadder said:
All I care about now is coming out of this season with new owners, no points deductions and avoiding relegation. I'm mostly joking about that last one. :(
Click to expand...

You may not be joking. Blackburn were relegated the season after Roy Hodgson managed them for a year.

Speaking of Blackburn, Kenny Dalglish should be Liverpool's manager. The last time Liverpool actually won the title was with him. Thanks to Benitez, he's already at the club as the head of footbal development, so he should just take over the managerial duties. After Hodgson is fired, of course. Which is inevitable. Hodgson is all wrong for Liverpool imo. He did alright with Fulham, but isn't what Liverpool needs or wants I reckon.

Dalglish's record as manager at Anflield in just 5 years speaks for itself (even without Euro competition) - 3 titles and 2 runner-ups, 2 FA Cups and 1 runner-up, Football League Cup, 4 Charity Shields. Now *that's* what Liverpool wants and needs! And, it would have been 4 titles in 5 years if not for the very last minute of the very last game against Arsenal in '89 (I loved that. :) )

Silencio said:
Crazy day of cup results today! Newcastle beats Chelsea at the Bridge in a thriller.
Click to expand...

Chelsea fielded a reserve team of actual players they can actually afford without using Russian oil money, yet still managed to reduce a 1-3 deficit to 3-3 with only ten men. They did okay, just like back in the late 90s.

But so much for yesterday's headline of Drogba talking about doing the 'Quadruple'. Turning up understrength isn't the way to do it, which is what Arsenal has always done. It's good to see Wenger finally taking the non-Premier and CL competitions seriously with a full strength team. About bloody time I say, because it otherwise instills an 'it's okay to lose' attitude as opposed to 'it's never okay', and Arsenal's performances immediately after one of those losses have always been poor too even after reverting to the full strength team again. It's psychological, I reckon.
 
Silencio said:
I think Citeh's loss is especially bad. They need to win some sort of silverware, even the Carling Cup would have given them some legitimacy. Pressure's got to be pretty intense on Mancini.
Click to expand...

When they play with 6 young players, there's always a greater chance they will lose. Mancini is saving the team for Saturday's game, obviously the Premier League is more important than the Carling Cup to him.
 
awmazz said:
Dalglish's record as manager at Anflield in just 5 years speaks for itself (even without Euro competition) - 3 titles and 2 runner-ups, 2 FA Cups and 1 runner-up, Football League Cup, 4 Charity Shields. Now *that's* what Liverpool wants and needs! And, it would have been 4 titles in 5 years if not for the very last minute of the very last game against Arsenal in '89 (I loved that. :) )
Click to expand...

Dalglish's record speaks for itself, but his managerial success came in a totally different ownership situation, in a different league setup, and over 20 years ago. Things are very different now and there is no reason to suppose he'd be doing any better job than Hodgson. More often than not, the return of heroes ends up falling flat, as it did with Kevin Keegan's return to Newcastle.

Hodgson has a good record, if not as trophy-filled as Dalglish's. Had Dalglish been chosen I would be behind him 100%, but since Hodgson is the manager I think he should be given a fair shot at it, and frankly nobody can fairly judge him on the basis of results this season. He's barely had time to make any sort of impact at all. Events off the pitch destroyed Liverpool's chances of salvaging this season before it even began, so if Liverpool finish well out of the Champions League places again it is emphatically not Hodgson's fault, unless he does something obviously foolish. The squad are going to have to get used to his new system for starters.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Dalglish's record speaks for itself, but his managerial success came in a totally different ownership situation, in a different league setup, and over 20 years ago. Things are very different now and there is no reason to suppose he'd be doing any better job than Hodgson.
Click to expand...

Indeed yes, that was before the Premier League. So let's look at his record in the following four years after it changed from the 'old' to the 'new' League (with no more back-passes ;) ):

Kenny Dalglish @ Blackburn Rovers 1992-1995 - Div 2: Promotion, PL: 4th, PL 2nd: PL: **Champions**.

Four years later, Blackburn Rovers = relegated. After just one season (yes, a promising start) Roy Hodgson was sacked before christmas he was so bad. Liverpool hiring the guy who relegated former Premier League champions the same year Man Utd won the Treble isn't the wisest decision in my book to bring the glory days back to Andfield. Hodgson at Liverpool has already by-passed the promising first season start he had with Blackburn and has moved straight to his appalling second season results.. ;)

Wrong, wrong, wrong decision for Liverpool in so many ways..

Yes, Dalglish has won the Premier League as well as the old First Division. With a team called Blackburn Rovers no less. He's won the title in both the old and the new, the only manager to have done so. Not even Alex Ferguson has managed that, he lost it to Leeds in 1992 (buying Cantona from Leeds in 1993 was his PL success secret imo, can't beat them, buy them..)..
 
awmazz said:
Indeed yes, that was before the Premier League. So let's look at his record in the following four years after it changed from the 'old' to the 'new' League (with no more back-passes ;) ):

Kenny Dalglish @ Blackburn Rovers 1992-1995 - Div 2: Promotion, PL: 4th, PL 2nd: PL: **Champions**.

Four years later, Blackburn Rovers = relegated. After just one season (yes, a promising start) Roy Hodgson was sacked before christmas he was so bad. Liverpool hiring the guy who relegated former Premier League champions the same year Man Utd won the Treble isn't the wisest decision in my book to bring the glory days back to Andfield. Hodgson at Liverpool has already by-passed the promising first season start he had with Blackburn and has moved straight to his appalling second season results.. ;)

Wrong, wrong, wrong decision for Liverpool in so many ways..

Yes, Dalglish has won the Premier League as well as the old First Division. With a team called Blackburn Rovers no less. He's won the title in both the old and the new, the only manager to have done so. Not even Alex Ferguson has managed that, he lost it to Leeds in 1992 (buying Cantona from Leeds in 1993 was his PL success secret imo, can't beat them, buy them..)..
Click to expand...

All true - but whether we are talking Liverpool or Blackburn, Dalglish had the benefit of a solid ownership situation and was given money to spend - I think I remember reading that he paid record fees for players while at Balckburn. Liverpool currently have nothing of the sort going for them. If Hodgson fails with the club in turmoil, crap ownership, crap finances, could we really say that Dalglish would have done better? There are just too many variables to judge.

I think it's far too early to judge Hodgson and unfair to compare him to Dalglish. Maybe Dalglish would have been a better manager, but don't forget that apart from Gerrard and Carragher, none of the Liverpool players see him as the legend that the fans see. It wouldn't be automatically all sweetness and light. He'd have to create a system and get the players working in it, he'd need lots of money to bring in new title-winning players, and over all he'd need time. Even Dalglish could not be expected to win without those things, and Roy Hodgson is being given none of them. Finally, Dalglish has been out of management for over ten years, only recently having been brought back into the club working with the academy.

I certainly don't want to sound like I'm slamming Kenny Dalglish, he's a legend who has proved himself on the pitch and on the touchline, and every Liverpool fan, even johnny-come-latelys like myself, associate him with some of Liverpool's defining years. But 2010 isn't 1990. I think Dalglish could do the job, but Hodgson is in and we need to move on.

Besides, the manager is by FAR the least of Liverpool's concerns. The ownership situation carries far more danger with it. Hodgson won't get us relegated - but Tom Hicks just might.
 
Don't forget King Kenny then went on to spells at Newcastle and Celtic, neither of which were covered in glory (although he finished second I think with the Geordies).

Roy certainly wasn't my first choice (none of those would have come to club in its current parlous state :p ) but he's there now and hopefully things will come good....but I'm not overly confident. It's sad that we're only part way through September and the League isn't even a consideration and the main concern is how bad the season could yet be :(
 
Indeed, there is no question of winning anything, unless you count the possibility of finishing in the Europa league places and the (very) dim possiblity that Man City and Spurs will massively choke, allowing Liverpool to ride a late run of form into fourth (chuckles at self).

Dalglish deserves his due, and I understand the desire to see such a legend at the helm, but the big problems at Liverpool are not the kind a manager can fix, unless Roy has Hicks and Gillette run drills until they collapse from heart failure.*

*Disclaimer, I'm not seriously suggesting this**

**though it would solve our biggest problem.
 
Villa takes out Blackburn and a lot of the big boys out. I'm hoping for an Arsenal dive and some silverware this year. After all that we've gone through I think it would be beautiful.
 
tristangage said:
When they play with 6 young players, there's always a greater chance they will lose. Mancini is saving the team for Saturday's game, obviously the Premier League is more important than the Carling Cup to him.
Click to expand...

Well, they're not winning the Premier League this year, either.
 
woolyback said:
Don't forget King Kenny then went on to spells at Newcastle and Celtic, neither of which were covered in glory (although he finished second I think with the Geordies).
Click to expand...

He did indeed, Newcastle for 1.5 seasons = 2nd, then the FA Cup Final (lost to Arsenal), despite being lambasted for buying players regarded as nowhere near as good as the departing ones that Keegan had bought. So there goes the argument Liverpool needs a new sugar daddy owner and cash injection to buy better players. Not with Dalglish. The guy's good. His 'not covered in glory' 18 month spell at Newcastle alone with no money is better than most other managers' records over a whole decade.

Dalglish's only weak spot when it comes to being pipped for silverware is Arsenal. But I can live with that. :D
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Perhaps not, but the priority for Manchester City's owners this season will be to make the Champions League places — more so than the League Cup.
Click to expand...

Definitely an achievable goal, though that's perhaps more to do with the weakness of their competition for that fourth spot than anything else. I don't think Spurs can fend them off again.

Still, you don't get a trophy for finishing fourth in the league.
 
awmazz said:
He did indeed, Newcastle for 1.5 seasons = 2nd, then the FA Cup Final (lost to Arsenal), despite being lambasted for buying players regarded as nowhere near as good as the departing ones that Keegan had bought. So there goes the argument Liverpool needs a new sugar daddy owner and cash injection to buy better players. Not with Dalglish. The guy's good. His 'not covered in glory' 18 month spell at Newcastle alone with no money is better than most other managers' records over a whole decade.
Click to expand...

Well, let's just agree to disagree. Frankly, I wish I could agree with you. I wish it were as easy as having Kenny Dalglish swoop in and save the day. Sadly, I don't think that is the case. :(
 
a buddy of mine is in the UK this weekend. here is his itenerary for the weekend starting earlier today(friday sept. 24):

leyton orient v brentford.
wednesday tomorrow.
wolves/villa sunday.
luton town v mansfield tuesday night.
and the big one ... spurs v twente in the champions league on wednesday.

he's bringing a leyton scarf back for me. ;)
 
...and Chelsea draw a blank on their first major test whilst the Gunners follow suite in their non-test.
 
Well, we didn't lose. That's all I can say.

Classy goal fom Tevez.

How the glass in Bullard's knees hold up Jaffa? I see that Koren scored again.

At least I have some positive news from Columbus - we just accomplished something we've never done before, beating a Mexican club in Mexico. After the big loss to Seattle, I was not sanguine about our chances, but equipped with new forward Andres Mendoza, we pulled out a 1-0 victory over the hosts, with Mendoza bagging the winner. Columbus now have 9 points from three games in the group stage, and a very good chance at finishing first in the group. Tonight we face New England, hopefully we can get our league campaign back on track with a win.
 
In terms of footballing quality, that was one of the worst games I've ever seen. Up there with Leeds 1 - 0 Yeovil with a 94th minute De Vries header to win it.

But in terms of excitement... the last ten minutes were insane. Haven't felt so relieved when we've scored for a long time. Amazing feeling. A feeling shared by some 31k other Leeds fans too. :D
 
Fuzzy14 said:
I presume you are talking about this travesty?
Click to expand...

Free kick, he took it with his foot, no travesty.

The ball becomes in play as soon as it is kicked.

The problem is referees have been allowing lazy players to get away with what Turner did, kicking a free kick ball to a fellow player to take instead of bending down and picking it up to hand to the other player (to avoid kicking it with the foot, thus making it active).

What is a travesty in my book is the fact people actually think Torres and Kuyt cheated when in fact it was Turner. Cheating as in ignoring/breaking the rules and then claiming injustice was done when it goes against them. Because refs have let them for so long. How many times a week, a game, every game, do we see referees allowing players to dick around with the ball on free kicks - tapping it around with their foot, kicking it to another player before the 'actual' free kick, rolling it forward again to gain extra yardage, standing with their foot on the ball as if it's a kick-off etc etc, as if they have every right under the rules to kick and/or move the ball as much as they want to until *they* decide when it's actually taken.
 
Stuart Atwell has taken a lot of stick in the recent past, so it's good to see him making a crucial call correctly. Steve Bruce comes out of it looking like a huge fool after all his wailing and gnashing of teeth.

It's unfortunate that Liverpool needed such a goal to get any result today though, a very weak performance.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back