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The 2023-2024 Football Thread

daneoni said:
With that result, Chelsea probably go through. Would be surprised if they lose at home. Meanwhile PSG can still claw it back.
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I doubt it, I think Barça will beat them back, and with a bigger win on their ground.
Bonmati was even funny in an interview afterwards, and not worried at all.

I think Lyon will take a bigger win next turn. They were really great from what I saw.
But what do we know, we can speculate all we want, but know nothing until after next round ☺️
 
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daneoni said:
Zero sympathy for Chelsea. Whoever scouted Jackson should resing and refund his/her salary

I can understand why Palmer doesn't respect his attacking team mates. They're terrible.

Out of the recent 13 trips to Wembley, Chelsea have lost 10. All in the context of £1bn spent.
Yet they look like they need another 4 players minimum

I genuinely don't see how Poch can turn this around.

Meanwhile KDB proves the difference again, despite being fatigued from the UCL. Puts a shift in, and in the end, made the difference.
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Agreed, zero sympathy for Chelsea, but, to be perfectly honest, today's game was one of those rare matches where I devoutly wished that it was possible for both sides to lose.

Elsewhere, Arsenal defeated Wolves to return (for now, at least) to the top of the table.
 
Lioness~ said:
View attachment 2370310

Chelsea was successful to tear Barça's passing-game apart. Was a boring game to watch though.
But Chelsea’s tactic was good. Not often Barça looses.
Then I missed the 1st half of Lyon-Paris, but I didn’t miss the height of the game. Wow, 3-0 to Lyon in 2nd half, and a good win for them.
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Is it a stretch to say both results were unexpected?
 
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pachyderm said:
Is it a stretch to say both results were unexpected?
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Not that Lyon won, not at all.
But that Barça lost, absolutely. They haven’t lost a game in a while (edited).
Just a 'gift' to the resigning coach at Chelsea - from Barça 😉
Chelsea was just successful in damaging Barças game. They didn’t had much good play of their own overall, without Kerr, from what I saw. Just some luck, and that seldom strikes twice in a row.

Chelseas next coach is btw Lyons Bompastor.
Still think Barça and Lyon are the finalists. If Lyon plays as good as in 2nd half of their last game, it will be a great match to watch.
 
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ppphhhhhheeeewwwww....
 
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Well, in the semi-final of the FA Cup, Coventry came back from 3-0 down, against Manchester United, to equalise, leaving the two drawn at 3-3 by the 95th minute.

They are now into extra time.
 
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If ETH survives this summer i'll be genuinely amazed.

Saying that, some of the referring this weekend has been diabolical.
 
daneoni said:
If ETH survives this summer i'll be genuinely amazed.

Saying that, some of the referring this weekend has been diabolical.
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The malaise at Manchester United is far deeper than can be laid at the feet of ETH.

To my mind, they are not a team but a collection of individuals, some of whom are very talented, others a lot less so.
 
United's squad for this match was incredibly patchwork due to injuries — you'll have noticed Casemiro drafted in to central defense, as a hobbled Maguire was the only United central defender fit enough to play. Regardless, if they get a 3-0 lead against a Championship side, not holding on to it — and only failing to completely blow it at the end of added time due to a razor thin offside call — is simply unacceptable.

I'm glad United are making progress filling in the footballing structure: they have some massive calls to make over a new manager and a huge chunk of the squad this summer.

In other news, Forest got really jobbed by VAR against Everton. I think they are fully justified complaining about PGMOL as they did today.
 
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I see the VAR express is in full effect in the Prem and Cup games, while the lack thereof is blatantly clear in the Championship.
The mere micrometres that were used to disallow Coventry's goal in The FA cup was nothing compared to the several hundred kilometres between the last defender and young Mr Gnonto for Leeds as he scored this morning's third(?) goal for Leeds in what was a quite important game for the league's top four teams.
To be honest, it was refreshing to see the Middlesborough players largely accept the goal, as that's what you get without VAR - a game that has occasional injustices but generally, a lot less contention.
Great game to watch and so nice to see players accept the officials' calls no matter what - The Premiership really can be a cess pit.
 
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Please, can you write out in letters what teams you're posting about.
To make it more interesting for us who maybe not follow the teams that you do more closely.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
I see the VAR express is in full effect in the Prem and Cup games, while the lack thereof is blatantly clear in the Championship.
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I think that there is more to it than this.
HandsomeDanNZ said:
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To be honest, it was refreshing to see the Middlesborough players largely accept the goal, as that's what you get without VAR - a game that has occasional injustices but generally, a lot less contention.
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Yes, it was (and is) refreshing to see players accept a goal (scored by their opponents) without complaint, but, to be quite candid, I very much doubt that VAR - or, the lack of it - is the issue here.

In other words, with or without VAR, I would argue that the management of some Premier League teams (especially a number of the wealthier and more entitled clubs) have encouraged their players to challenge the authority of match officials, challenge their decisions and rulings, and dispute any perceived advantage awarded to their opponents (goals, free kicks, cards of any colour).

To my mind, unfortunately, this is the culture that has been allowed to take hold in the Premier League, and this has come about because the stakes are so high - and the potential profits and rewards for success are so great.
HandsomeDanNZ said:
Great game to watch and so nice to see players accept the officials' calls no matter what - The Premiership really can be a cess pit.
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Agreed.
 
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Wasn't expecting it to be this straightforward. Chelsea really are in a state.

Were dangerous in the first half and should score. Our 3rd shouldn't count...but then Jackson shouldn't be on the pitch either so meh.

In any case, 3pts, clean sheet, and Kai Havertz scores again!

David Raya gets the Golden Glove. Albeit most of the work is from the 3 in front of him. Saying that, he got us into the UCL Quater final so fair play to him.

Hopefully we can get past Spurs unscathed too on Sun.
 
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No sooner do I write about the VAR and lack thereof in the Championship (and how refreshing it is to see little to no protest when incorrect decisions are made), than I have to accept the same for my beloved and long-suffering Saints (Southampton FC).
Playing Leicester this morning (NZT) and there was a pretty easy to spot offside immediately following a blatant foul on a Saint, both of which were ignored by officials and a goal was scored by Leicester.

In the end it really didn't matter as Saints squandered the amount of possession they had and sunk to a season low, conceding 5 goals with no reply.

I do not look forward to the playoffs - I can't see Saints in their current state winning the playoffs, or even making it to the final at this stage. And I have said this before, but I think a promotion to the Premier League would be a mistake at the moment anyway. We'd get slaughtered in the Prem right now and with the way FFP is, we couldn't invest too much to improve our squad to Premier League standard.

I wish Ipswich, Leeds and Leicester well in the Premier League next season, as that's who I feel will be there - and deservedly so.
 
daneoni said:
There probably should be more shout for a Partey/Odegaard/Rice midfield after that performance.
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The problem with Partey is, that while he is a superb player, unfortunately, he is rather injury prone ("he is made of glass", according to one of the Arsenal fanzines), and - on account of that - has, in the time since he was bought, has been out injured for a period of weeks to months of almost every season.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
The problem with Partey is, that while he is a superb player, unfortunately, he is rather injury prone ("he is made of glass", according to one of the Arsenal fanzines), and - on account of that - has, in the time since he was bought, has been out injured for a period of weeks to months of almost every season.
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True, but now that he is fit. He should be able to manage 4 games at least.
 
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