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The 2017-2018 Football Thread

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Scepticalscribe said:
Ouch.

Was too busy looking at night skies in a different world, and sipping superb French wine, to pay much heed to what was - is - going on elsewhere.

To be honest, (unlike Liverpool who do have a genuine European pedigree), Arsenal - even in the days of The Invincibles - have never performed to the best of their (occasionally considerable) ability in Europe.
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Welbeck to the rescue!
 
Yeah. Not the stuff heroes are made of for sure.

CR7 i disagree. You don't like his on field antics, I get that. I forgive him for that stuff though.

CR7 off the field, from what I gather, is a pretty decent chap or so I've heard. I'm sure he is still arrogant but none of us are perfect.

If he suddenly popped on the pitch in an Arsenal kit you may not like him but you wouldn't complain too much I suspect.

But again, neither of you don't care for him and that is cool with me. 😉
 
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pachyderm said:
Yeah. Not the stuff heroes are made of for sure.

CR7 i disagree. You don't like his on field antics, I get that. I forgive him for that stuff though.

CR7 off the field, from what I gather, is a pretty decent chap or so I've heard. I'm sure he is still arrogant but none of us are perfect.

If he suddenly popped on the pitch in an Arsenal kit you may not like him but you wouldn't complain too much I suspect.

But again, neither of you don't care for him and that is cool with me. 😉
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Actually, I probably would; to be honest (not that it is likely to ever happen), I wouldn't be crazy to see him in an Arsenal kit - I really don't like the man.

Maybe it is age, maybe the fact that while I support Arsenal, it is a support that could not be classed as blind devotion, but I like the people who represent the team I support to have a bit of class and decency as a person as well as possessing aptitude and skill as a footballer.

The tributes to Ray Wilkins all stressed what an impressive human being he was, in addition to having been a fine footballer.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Actually, I probably would; to be honest (not that it is likely to ever happen), I wouldn't be crazy to see him in an Arsenal kit - I really don't like the man.

Maybe it is age, maybe the fact that while I support Arsenal, it is a support that could not be classed as blind devotion, but I like the people who represent the team I support to have a bit of class and decency as a person as well as possessing aptitude and skill as a footballer.

The tributes to Ray Wilkins all stressed what an impressive human being he was, in addition to having been a fine footballer.
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You seem to be a person of integrity so I could you see you not being happy about.

Or at least begrudgingly kinda not unhappy...? 😛
 
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Alphazoid said:
Liverpool get the best possible draw whilst Arsenal get the worst possible one.
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I think it's fair to say that Roma are the weakest team left in the competition, but this will be a really tough game.

It might sound weird, but I was almost hoping to draw Real Madrid - I think their defense is weak and Liverpool can go toe to toe with them and hurt them. Liverpool won't be afraid to conceal a couple Ronaldo goals because they will expect to put away a few of their own.
 
Real know how to play the CL and work miracles, Liverpool would be better off with Roma.

On another note, there's 5 games left to play and the EPL is pretty much done with almost no one left with anything to play for. I don't know if that's impressive...or sad.
 
Alphazoid said:
Real know how to play the CL and work miracles, Liverpool would be better off with Roma.
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Sure, but I don't necessarily want the easier draw. I want to beat Real Madrid. (though, I should add that Roma is NOT an easy draw).

Real Madrid are one of the best teams on the planet, but they don't know how to defend and a lot of their fear factor is hype. Liverpool are good enough to beat them if they keep their heads and play to their potential.

Sergio Ramos should be banned for the semifinal because despite being suspended he made his way down to the Real bench towards the end of the match with Juve. But, adding fuel to the conspiracy theories that Real always get preferential treatment, he was not charged and thus will be available to score his usual last-second winner from a corner in the first leg of the semifinal.

Alphazoid said:
On another note, there's 5 games left to play and the EPL is pretty much done with almost no one left with anything to play for. I don't know if that's impressive...or sad.
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The gap between top and bottom is wide this season. There was some pretty stiff competition for the CL places at first, but Chelsea & Arsenal fell away a bit early so the relegation battle has really been the only story for some time now.

The FA Cup and Europa League spots are still up for grabs. And we now begin the World Cup injury watch...any internationals picking up significant injuries now are in serious danger of missing WC matches, or even the whole tournament.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Sure, but I don't necessarily want the easy draw. I want to beat Real Madrid.

Real Madrid are one of the best teams on the planet, but they don't know how to defend and a lot of their fear factor is hype. Liverpool are good enough to beat them if they keep their heads and play to their potential.

Sergio Ramos should be banned for the semifinal because despite being suspended he made his way down to the Real bench towards the end of the match with Juve. But, adding fuel to the conspiracy theories that Real always get preferential treatment, he was not charged and thus will be available to score his usual last-second winner from a corner in the first leg of the semifinal.



The gap between top and bottom is wide this season. There was some pretty stiff competition for the CL places at first, but Chelsea & Arsenal fell away a bit early so the relegation battle has really been the only story for some time now.

The FA Cup and Europa League spots are still up for grabs. And we now begin the World Cup injury watch...any internationals picking up significant injuries now are in serious danger of missing WC matches, or even the whole tournament.
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I'd love to say the bottom is decided, but I think there is still stuff to play for down there as well as the European stuff.
 
Looks like Man Utd are gradually boring West Brom to death. Still no goals but I expect Mou's men to score a few in the second half once West Brom tire.

Benitez has now won four in a row with Newcastle, despite operating on a shoestring budget. Mike Ashley will be delighted, but if he doesn't sell out or provide more transfer funds I somehow doubt Benitez will stay on.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Looks like Man Utd are gradually boring West Brom to death. Still no goals but I expect Mou's men to score a few in the second half once West Brom tire.

Benitez has now won four in a row with Newcastle, despite operating on a shoestring budget. Mike Ashley will be delighted, but if he doesn't sell out or provide more transfer funds I somehow doubt Benitez will stay on.
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Lol. Looks like West Brom didn't read the script!
I'm sure the blue half of Manchester are happy!
 
Apple fanboy said:
Lol. Looks like West Brom didn't read the script!
I'm sure the blue half of Manchester are happy!
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I'm sure that Man City fans really wanted to win the title at Old Trafford. But having it happen this way does have some comedy value.

Liverpool fans can't laugh too hard, as West Brom -easily the worst team in the league - also notched a victory against them earlier this season. But having this result come right after Mou's demands for more respect is quite amusing.

Respect is earned by playing exciting football or winning matches. Preferably both.
 
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One word: schadenfreude. Delighted to see Mr Mourinho's team defeated, and in such circumstances especially after he had called for "respect".

Mind you, after Arsenal's defeat yesterday, I'm not sure I can credibly cast aspersions on others.
 
Still some football left...

Burnley might leapfrog Arsenal to take 6th place in the league and qualify for the Europa League. If Wenger can steer the gunners to the Europa League trophy, fans might not mind a 7th place finish as much - but that is still very much an "if".

We could still see some good matches in the FA Cup, and of course the Champions League has set up some big matches for the semifinals.
 
Burnley will leapfrog Arsenal, and Arsenal won’t win the EL. The current bottom 3 is essentially set in stone. Liverpool might leapfrog United but in the grand scheme of things that doesn’t matter. Neither won the EPL and both will be in the CL.

The EPL is done as far as I’m concerned. Now it’s about transfers (players/manager) and the World Cup for me.
 
Another frustrating night at the London Stadium.
Two disallowed goals. Walk away with a point.
Will it be enough? For us? Maybe.
For Stoke? Not a chance! They're gone with West Brom.

Only bright point was Andy Carroll coming on as sub and scoring.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Peter Crouch and Andy Carroll...ghosts of England Past.
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One has played a lot more games than the other! Can't really imagine Andy Carroll still playing at Peter Crouch's age!

But is a point enough for us? The rest of our run in isn't great, but then if things are settled at the top and their focus is on European matters, maybe we can nick another few points.
 
Apple fanboy said:
One has played a lot more games than the other! Can't really imagine Andy Carroll still playing at Peter Crouch's age!

But is a point enough for us? The rest of our run in isn't great, but then if things are settled at the top and their focus is on European matters, maybe we can nick another few points.
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I've been studying the table this morning; I'd imagine you're pretty safe unless a number of clubs - not just one or two - develop an unexpectedly ambitious winning habit over the coming weeks.

There is now a gap of five points between the bottom three and those immediately above them; with only a handful of games left, that means a two wins - for at least two of those clubs and a series of stumbling losses for those lying above them in the table. To be honest, at this stage in the season, I don't see this happening; one or two more draws would leave any of those clubs above the safety cushion quite safe.

What is striking to me, though, is that only ten points separate the team placed 18th (Southampton, currently on 28 points) and the team currently lying at eleventh (Bournemouth AFC, on 38 points), while the teams neither at the bottom, nor challenging for the top places, are a squashed few.

Arsenal, unfortunately, are well adrift, and won't make up that deficiency; eleven defeats in a season is scandalous, and speaks of a brittleness and lack of focus and ambition that is........unsettling.
 
I imagine everyone has seen this, but:

The United Arab Emirates-based telecommunications multinational Etisalat has released a horrifyingly corporate video celebrating Man City's league title. Where to begin...I don't have an hour to foam at the mouth over this, so I think it can be best summed up as an exposition of modern football, with all that entails.

Hard to pick my favorite moment in the video, but it's probably when the players had to pretend to celebrate as if they'd won the title on the pitch.

...then again, maybe they were watching Man Utd lose to West Brom while standing on the Etihad pitch in full kit. 🙄

(in the interest of balance, I have to say I've never seen a championship celebration video/song from any team anywhere that wasn't totally embarrassing).
 
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