I'm not sure it's fair to call Southampton a feeder club for Liverpool.
We're also developing players for other clubs too. Quite often Championship and League One clubs. We're an equal-opportunity feeder club.
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The 2021-2022 Football Thread
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We're also developing players for other clubs too. Quite often Championship and League One clubs. We're an equal-opportunity feeder club.
I used to think that way, but I am beginning to question that assumption. Fans of small-to-medium-sized clubs are genuinely angry at attempts to wall off the upper tier of club football with things like the Super League. As long as their club is one of the 'little guys' they see the inequality and lack of fairness in the system.
But dangle the prospect of a billionaire sugar daddy owner in front of them (nevermind who it is or where they are from or where they got their wealth), and suddenly they have stars in their eyes. They've 'made it', and the prospects of star players and trophies makes them forget the systemic issues they once complained about - because those issues are no longer their problem.
I'll believe that fans truly want fairness and competition when I see fans stop coming to matches, buying merch, and subscribing to TV in protest. Because as long as they continue to pay, they are voting a resounding 'yes' to the concept of super clubs and super leagues, and the shadowy suits who run and profit off of them without any meaningful regulation, and who genuinely think they own the whole sport.
Listen to Leeds CEO and general waste-of-human-flesh Angus Kinnear speaking of the idea of independent football governance as "akin to Maoist collective agriculturalism." So apparently the 'right' way to run football is a self-regulated cabal of hedge fund managers, petro-state monarchs and TV corporations. Great! We are hosing people like Kinnear down with a deluge of cash under the current system, so his arrogance is unsurprising and we deserve what we get (such as skyrocketing ticket/subscription prices, a European Super League, more small clubs getting wound up every year) if we don't change things.
Not always.
But, such preferences invariably came at a cost - and not just to a player's potential career, but also to intangibles such as "reputation".
Even twenty years ago, there was a sort of derision among commentators (let alone other footballers, and the wider football supporting public) against footballers (such as, say, Alan Shearer, or Matt Le Tisseur) who chose, who deliberately chose to stay with one club for most of theri career, because they liked it, were happy there, enjoyed the ambience, had a work/life vbalance and so on.
Anyway, they were derided, taken less seriously, and considered to "lack ambition".
Excellent post, and well said.
Barcelona - a club well and truly in crisis.
Currently 3-0 down to Bayern (no surprises there) and looking very much a shadow of their former selves.
As a long-time Barca fan (all the way back to the 90's) I am sad to see their demise, but you can't feel sorry for them as a business. They've been rotten to the core for some time now.
Currently 3-0 down to Bayern (no surprises there) and looking very much a shadow of their former selves.
As a long-time Barca fan (all the way back to the 90's) I am sad to see their demise, but you can't feel sorry for them as a business. They've been rotten to the core for some time now.
They recklessly overextended themselves financially. They were amazing during the Tiki-taka era, but the club was run into the ground. Of course, they are 'too big to fail,' so I'm sure they'll be back soonish. If Rangers can bounce back from oblivion as quickly as they did, Barca will be back even faster. I'm sure Bury fans are very sympathetic.
With the backing that they have received (and the income they generate for the city of Barcelona) I also can't see them sliding into obscurity, but I'd like to see them get what they deserve...a la Rangers, and their ilk. Give them a couple of seasons in the nether regions of the Spanish footballing system to have a jolly hard look at themselves.
Spurs game was cancelled due to a Covid outbreak. I wonder how many other games will suffer the same fate with the pandemic on the rise again.
Hard to tell. But it's important to remember back in spring 2020 when people asked " when will the pandemic end?" and the epidemiologists answered "possibly never." It was too much to process, but they were not kidding.
It could take years before we develop more effective ways to better control the seasonal infection spikes and vaccine-hesitants either die or change their minds in large enough numbers to dramatically slow the spread. And, of course, there is always the possibility that new nastier variants take us back to square one each year.
This is all bigger than football - but if people think the empty stadia, postponements, and - some day - a player fatality are not going to happen they are wrong. It's statistically certain for the foreseeable future.
I don't understand how "people" didn't see this coming. It's heading into winter in the Northern Hemisphere - peak COVID infection season.
There's going to have to be something done to safeguard the fans, players and staff at football matches - but I am at a loss as to what that could be - many stadia are ensuring fans are vaccinated before entering, I assume all players and staff are also vaccinated and tested before games (hence the cancellations etc), so what's the solution? Does the sport move to summer? Does it take a break while the virus is brought under control (if that's even possible)?
Here in the Antipodean part of the Southern Hemisphere, we're heading into summer and our top football leagues are in full swing. But the crowds are small or non-existent. Some cities are still partially or fully locked down and travel is restricted.
Wellington Phoenix, for example, are playing out of Wollongong in New South Wales. A long way from home. Perth is enforcing 2 week quarantines. Melbourne and Sydney are in and out of crises. Here in NZ, we just won't allow people in without a bloody good reason and a NZ passport. Unless you're an essential worker of some sort - and that's not footballers (but does appear to be International Cricketers and Music/Arts Entertainers).
There's going to have to be something done to safeguard the fans, players and staff at football matches - but I am at a loss as to what that could be - many stadia are ensuring fans are vaccinated before entering, I assume all players and staff are also vaccinated and tested before games (hence the cancellations etc), so what's the solution? Does the sport move to summer? Does it take a break while the virus is brought under control (if that's even possible)?
Here in the Antipodean part of the Southern Hemisphere, we're heading into summer and our top football leagues are in full swing. But the crowds are small or non-existent. Some cities are still partially or fully locked down and travel is restricted.
Wellington Phoenix, for example, are playing out of Wollongong in New South Wales. A long way from home. Perth is enforcing 2 week quarantines. Melbourne and Sydney are in and out of crises. Here in NZ, we just won't allow people in without a bloody good reason and a NZ passport. Unless you're an essential worker of some sort - and that's not footballers (but does appear to be International Cricketers and Music/Arts Entertainers).
Right: back to football.
Leicester have just been knocked out of the Europa League into the Europa Conference League after losing 3-2 against Napoli.
West Ham are up next.
Rangers drew 1-1 and are through to the next round - will face a Champions League drop-out.
Leicester have just been knocked out of the Europa League into the Europa Conference League after losing 3-2 against Napoli.
West Ham are up next.
Rangers drew 1-1 and are through to the next round - will face a Champions League drop-out.
We’re already through. I’m expecting the ‘c’ team.
Hay the standards are higher at a top four club! ?
Who are you playing in the weekend? Is there anyone on the pitch, other than Noble that you'd want to ensure didn't get injured?
We like to call it the 'Greedy Four'
People see it coming but many don't care. The world is still very politically divided on whether COVID is even a real threat, and there is a substantial minority of vaccine hesitant players. So for the foreseeable future I think the precautions will vary wildly between different teams, leagues, and nations.
The US situation proves that making the control of COVID an 'individual choice' does not adequately slow the spread, so we will see these periodic spikes happening indefinitely until that attitude changes. What that means in terms of football is permanently reduced crowds (because many people will stay away on their own initiative, especially during spikes), periodic intra-team outbreaks (like we saw with Philadelphia and is currently happening at Spurs), and potentially the occasional crowdless games (when things get so bad locally that any other approach would be pure insanity rather than mere recklessness).
Norwich has been hit with multiple suspected Covid cases after playing Tottenham, putting their fixture against United tomorrow in doubt. Yep, this is really going to snowball.
[EDIT: Hopefully this is just typical Daily Fail hyperbole, but I do expect there will be more widespread outbreaks amongst the players sooner or later.]
[EDIT: Hopefully this is just typical Daily Fail hyperbole, but I do expect there will be more widespread outbreaks amongst the players sooner or later.]
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Definitely.
I was listening to a soccer show on satellite radio yesterday and the pundits were discussing Kimmich's COVID-related lung issues... they were still spreading misinformation with statements like 'we all know about breakthrough infections' as a way of downplaying the importance of vaccines. I don't know that they were necessarily intending to downplay them, but their description of the scenario was simplistic. As if Kimmich's situation was inevitable and people need to back off criticizing his decision to not be vaccinated. Nonsense. Once again people fail to understand that vaccines vastly reduce the severity of illness - their primary purpose. Kimmich's likelihood of infection would have been only slightly reduced had he been vaccinated - but he would likely NOT be having the lung issues that will now keep him out till 2022, and his likelihood of spreading it to others would be less. Those things matter.
Teams/leagues need to learn that tolerating vaccine hesitancy is costing them money. Vaccines better protect their investment in players and reduce their chances of forfeiting matches or having to put out a scratch XI that gets humiliated in crucial matches. If players fear vaccines, too bad.
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Arsenal manage a comfortable (3-0) win against Southampton.
All three title contenders needed PKs to win their matches today, it was pretty tight.
Some of those penalties were slightly questionable.
For that matter, I would argue that Norwich deserved a point, (at the very least), but, as my dear old mother used to say, with a grin, and in the sort of tone that is (unfortunately) unanswerable, "it's the score-board that counts".
Indeed. Utd were fortunate. But against Norwich they should have won by miles on paper. Utd are still underperforming as a team.
Good win for you today. I suspect the story with your captain will run and run though.
On paper, yes, but, as you so rightly remark, they are still underperforming as a team, and it would not have been a travesty for Norwich to have come away with a point from the game.
Yes, a good win.
Re Aubameyag: Our captain is 32 years of age (i.e. not a kid - there comes a time when you have to grow up and take responsibiity and lead by example), the club captain, and is currently on something approximating to, or around, or approaching, £300,000 per week.
He is old enough to know better and to behave better, - and, leaving aside entirely his current poor form on the pitch, - his conduct needs attention, and it is time - high time - for him to lead by example; besides, - but this is a separate issue - his form in recent weeks has been underwhelming, to put it mildly.
If he continues to behave in such an immature manner, questions should be asked as to whether he should remain club captain. My sympathy lies entirely with Mikel Arteta on this.