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The 2024-2025 Football Thread

Whilst i think players are overpaid to kick a ball (yes i know training, studying, lifestyle blah blah), i agree there are now too many games and not even fans have the attention span to keep up.

Julian Alvarez played 75 matches last season...more than any other player in Europe. Phoden and Diaz tied at 72. Thats last season, this season there are even more games.

Inevitably players are wearing their body more and the amount of injuries is now sky rocketing. Even players that have been reliable injury wise are dropping like flies.

So i can understand players pulling out of 'meaningless' international matches to rest and recover.

And it will continue to happen for the foreseeable future.
 
timber said:
The national team medical staff should decide who is injured.
An injured player should present himself and then, if appropriate after evaluation, be released.
Of course there are more straight forward situations (surgery last week for example) but those would be decided between the club and the national team medical staff and wouldn't even be called.
Sometimes these situations are a symptom of deeper issues like the ones on the Portuguese national team where some players decided to end their national career and everybody knows why but nobody does anything or even talks about it.
The issue of course is a player that everything revolves around him, always has to play, never is benched and never at fault for anything. Not hard to guess who.
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When ever it comes it injuries and a players desire to play for their national and the debate surrounding it, it always brings me back to two specific memorable events with regards to the England team, two events that would never be allowed to happen in todays game, well not with England any way and that is Terry Butchers head injury in the 1989 England v Sweden game where he was patched up and told to 'get on with it' by the then England manager Bobby Robson, which Butcher did resulting in England drawing and securing a place in the next world cup. Butcher said the Swedish team kept lobbing high balls into the goal area in the hope it would prevent him from heading the ball away. It did not work, it kept opening up his head wound causing more blood to stream down his face and onto his football shirt, a picture infamous in the world of football. Second event was Gary Lineker playing with a plaster cast in the 1986 Mexico World Cup due to a fractured wrist, coming away with the Golden Boot due to the 6 goals he scored.

Both players playing through the pain for their national team. Gutsy, brave or stupidity? it is very debatable but what those two did shows the strength of power and resolve in wanting to play for your national team. Granted playing through such injuries would never be allowed now but they are both good examples of players back then of a players devotion to the national team to that of players of today. Totally totally different.
 
Apple fanboy said:
As far as I’m concerned there are only two international competitions. The World Cup and the Euros. I don’t really care about the other England matches or if players attend or not. They are just friendlies in my eyes.
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Some football competitions are more prestigious than others but as a fan of football I do my best to follow all the competitions, even if I consider some of them a waste of time, I still like to keep myself informed (when I can).

Now if I was a player, there is no way I would turn down playing for my country, even if it was just for a friendly or a less prestigious competition. I would feel immensely proud that the manager would consider me good enough to play for the national team. If I was injured I would do everything in my power to get injury free and fit to play even if it was for a friendly.

If players are thinking the game/event is not an important one thus they do not want to play then personally I think that is a disgraceful attitude.
 
I had a great day out yesterday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium it was my third visit and it is an amazing experience. So far from the days I spent at the old stadium. WSL game Tottenham vs Arsenal. Unfortunately Arsenal were soooo much better technically and such a high press. Spurs only had one shot on goal in the first half. They couldn't find an outlet to get forward and relieve the pressure.
 
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SteveManila1960 said:
I had a great day out yesterday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium it was my third visit and it is an amazing experience. So far from the days I spent at the old stadium. WSL game Tottenham vs Arsenal. Unfortunately Arsenal were soooo much better technically and such a high press. Spurs only had one shot on goal in the first half. They couldn't find an outlet to get forward and relieve the pressure.
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Sounds like Spurs all right...
 
Sometimes I have to laugh at the sport writers who write about the WSL games because they tend to over hype the fact that Man United women are unbeaten and yet they are 5th in the league. Chelsea are the only other team to be unbeaten and who have won all of their games so far (7). It's oh so good United currently being unbeaten but yet there are teams who have lost games above them lol. Going unbeaten is not a good thing to say when all the team does is draw the majority of their games. :)
 
SteveManila1960 said:
The statistic I most like is in the first half of yesterday’s game there were only 3 fouls and no one rolled around on the floor or tried for an Oscar nomination. Can you believe that? Ref only blew 3 times in an entire half of football.
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Give it time, when the rewards become just as great as the men's, the women will behave the same to obtain those rewards, it's human nature.
 
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laptech said:
Very Very Harsh on Kane. England do not have another prolific striker in any league of which is going to be a problem for England.
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Hello?
1731954851448.png
 
Ollie Watkins isn't chopped liver, either. But yeah, "prolific" is the big qualifier.

Liam Delap was much hyped coming out of city's academy and is showing some promise at Ipswich Town.
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Harsh from the Guardian on Harry Kane:
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Harsh?

I like Harry Kane - actually, I like him a lot, he is (or has been) a superb footballer, a terrific role model, and a decent human being - but I fail to see how it is "harsh" to attempt to make the argument that - between increasing age and the cumulative effect of several injuries (not to mention playing through pain when he has not fully recovered from the aforementioned injuries) - he may be approaching a time where he is past his best.
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-a-successful-era-but-that-has-run-its-course

Are they right, though.
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Yes, I think that they are right.
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
Is he getting too old,
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Not just too old, but, worse, to my mind, are also the cumulative consequences of frequently playing through pain, and the cumulative effect of several severe injuries - and worse, returning to playing before he had fully recovered from those injuries - not least because the team needed him - is bound to have damaging long term effects on his body, health and form.


Mitthrawnuruodo said:
and too slow for an ever faster international game?
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And there is this, as well.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Minutes on pitch though….
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It still not looking good for him though

Current stats:

J.Bowen Played 11, scored 3
H. Kane Played 10, scored 11

Looking at the game lineups for the 11 games, West Ham have only used Bowen as a forward twice, rest of the games he's been used as a winger therefore I do not count Bowen as a 'striker' because he is not being used a such by his own club.

England need a dedicated striker, a prolific one, they had one in the name of Wayne Rooney and now they have Harry Kane, both players who banged in goals for their club and many for their country but unfortunately seriously lacking now. The highest goal scorer in the EPL who is English is Carlton Palmer of Chelsea and he isn't even a striker.

There is currently no one who can take over Kane's striker role.
 
laptech said:
It still not looking good for him though

Current stats:

J.Bowen Played 11, scored 3
H. Kane Played 10, scored 11

Looking at the game lineups for the 11 games, West Ham have only used Bowen as a forward twice, rest of the games he's been used as a winger therefore I do not count Bowen as a 'striker' because he is not being used a such by his own club.

England need a dedicated striker, a prolific one, they had one in the name of Wayne Rooney and now they have Harry Kane, both players who banged in goals for their club and many for their country but unfortunately seriously lacking now. The highest goal scorer in the EPL who is English is Carlton Palmer of Chelsea and he isn't even a striker.

There is currently no one who can take over Kane's striker role.
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I do agree. Olly Watkins is probably closest to that role, but nowhere near as prolific as Kane. Mind you when looking at stats, most of Kane’s goals come against pretty average teams.
 
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laptech said:
It still not looking good for him though

Current stats:

J.Bowen Played 11, scored 3
H. Kane Played 10, scored 11

Looking at the game lineups for the 11 games, West Ham have only used Bowen as a forward twice, rest of the games he's been used as a winger therefore I do not count Bowen as a 'striker' because he is not being used a such by his own club.

England need a dedicated striker, a prolific one, they had one in the name of Wayne Rooney and now they have Harry Kane, both players who banged in goals for their club and many for their country but unfortunately seriously lacking now. The highest goal scorer in the EPL who is English is Carlton Palmer of Chelsea and he isn't even a striker.

There is currently no one who can take over Kane's striker role.
Click to expand...

It'll be Liam Delap in years to come. Mark my (biased!) words.
 
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The BBC proved me right because I said in a post one of the UK media will use the words 'special one' towards Man United's new manager. the BBC have used the title headline 'The Second Special One'. I knew, just knew the UK media would not be able to resist using those words.

www.bbc.co.uk

The story of Ruben Amorim: Man Utd's new manager branded the 'second Special One'

From rejection at Benfica to new Manchester United head coach, BBC Sport charts the rise of Ruben Amorim.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
It's a funny article with some curious sentences
The course was conducted in English, which Amorim had learned at secondary school.
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It's not uncommon for grad courses to be carried out in English. The idea is to attract foreign students.
But the funny part is giving the idea it was special for him to learn English. Well, it wasn't then and isn't today. English is mandatory since the first grade (6 years old) and at Amorim time probably at least since the 5th grade (10 years old). Technically he could have chosen French or even German or Spanish (highly improbable particularly these last two but could happen) but he would have two foreign languages since the 7th grade and it would be practically impossible not to learn English even if he wanted not to.
I won't even go into some everyday Portuguese particularities like movies and shows not being dubbed and therefore English exposure is not only common but unavoidable.
I would say it's the first time I ever saw anyone calling him the second special one or even comparing him all that much with Mourinho or whatever.
The article is right in portraying not as an extraordinary player but still he was quite good just not 50M+ sale good. He was better than some lemons, I mean, fabulous not understood football geniuses sold by Benfica.
I do believe he is going to do well at United.
 
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Do you lot agree with the author of this article?

uk.yahoo.com

Manchester United given biggest Man City charges verdict yet after agreement reached

Man United are watching their neighbours intently as Manchester City's battle with the Premier League nears its conclusion
uk.yahoo.com uk.yahoo.com

Basically the author of the article is saying that Man City are not going to suffer badly over the 115 PL charges against them because if they were Pep would not have agreed to a one year extension of his contract (he has recently signed a one year extension of his contract)
 
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