Well done Glassner, Eze and Palace.
Nice to see a new name on the trophy.
Nice to see a new name on the trophy.
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The 2024-2025 Football Thread
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Agreed. Enjoyed the game. Glad City couldn’t buy another trophy.
Indeed. City looked pretty poor. Yes Henderson had a good game and was lucky not to have been sent off, but City seamed to be devoid of ideas. Even KDB and Halland couldn’t find the target.
Actually, this is further proof, if any was needed, that City have really missed Rodri this season.
Moreover, I have long thought that Haaland is the sort of player who only does well when the entire team do well, - when everything is functioning properly - thus, his performance today didn't come as much of a surprise.
Henderson had a terrific game, and, while he may have been lucky not to have been sent off, - and, frankly, given that this occurred so early in the match, that would simply have killed any competitiveness remaining in the game and as good as handed the trophy to City - and I'm delighted that Palace won - I would also argue that KDB - that was a gratuitously nasty foul - deserved to have had a coloured card waved in his direction, as well.
Haaland is kind of like Paul Pogba: a "cherry on top" player who can make an already great team an all-time great side. However, they can't do the heavy lifting themselves and make an average team much better.
Also very pleased for Palace. This has been a good year for ending domestic trophy droughts. Maybe that augers well for Spurs in Europe, but... I hope not.
Also very pleased for Palace. This has been a good year for ending domestic trophy droughts. Maybe that augers well for Spurs in Europe, but... I hope not.
Football critics seem to think that having world class players in your team should be enough for the team to win things and if they don't the world class players come in for heavy criticism for not being able to pull the team together to win. Take United's 'Holt Trinity' as they are called, George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton, 3 world class players who whilst United did win some things they were not dominating the league, the FA cup or the European Cup. Then has been pointed out Paul Pogba, a world class player who did wonders at Juventus but when at United struggled. Messi is another one when it came to International duty, considered one of the worlds best players but for years was unable to use his exceptional talent to help Argentina to constantly win things. City's Haaland fits in this group as well. All these players have one thing in common, they need the team to be at their best for them to be able to shine because they are unable to do it all themselves and when the team struggles to be at their best, so does their world class players.
Many have argued that United squandered a 16 point lead in the 1997/1998 season to Arsenal because of an injury their captain Roy Keane suffered in the 2nd half of the season. Critics of this have always argued that a team should not be reliant on one player regardless of how important that player is to the team because injuries do happen to players and thus it is up to the manager to be able to overcome this problem. Ferguson failed to do it in 1997/1998 and Pep has failed to do it in 2024/2025 because of Rodri.
Many have argued that United squandered a 16 point lead in the 1997/1998 season to Arsenal because of an injury their captain Roy Keane suffered in the 2nd half of the season. Critics of this have always argued that a team should not be reliant on one player regardless of how important that player is to the team because injuries do happen to players and thus it is up to the manager to be able to overcome this problem. Ferguson failed to do it in 1997/1998 and Pep has failed to do it in 2024/2025 because of Rodri.
Those of you that watched the FA Cup final, do you agree with the games pundits that Dean Henderson should have been sent of for handling the ball outside the goal area preventing Haaland a goal scoring opportunity? VAR said Haaland's body position meant he was not in a direct goal scoring opportunity and thus is was not a red card situation. All the games pundits bar Alan Shearer said it was a sending off because Haaland was in a goal scoring opportunity and that VAR and the referee got it wrong.
The reason why this is contentious is because Henderson saved a penalty and made a number of good saves to prevent City from scoring but if he had been sent off, would their No.2 goalkeeper have stopped the penalty and made the same saves that Henderson did? Personally I do not think so. Yes the Palace defenders did a magnificent job of putting blocks in but there were a number of times Henderson was called into play. If he had been sent off I do think it would have changed things for Palace and City would have scored a couple of goals.
The reason why this is contentious is because Henderson saved a penalty and made a number of good saves to prevent City from scoring but if he had been sent off, would their No.2 goalkeeper have stopped the penalty and made the same saves that Henderson did? Personally I do not think so. Yes the Palace defenders did a magnificent job of putting blocks in but there were a number of times Henderson was called into play. If he had been sent off I do think it would have changed things for Palace and City would have scored a couple of goals.
For me it should have been a sending off. And yes it probably would have changed the result.
But these things happen. Personally I was quite happy with the result.
My position is similar to that of @Apple fanboy, quoted below.
Moreover, I would feel perhaps somewhat more exercised over the fact that Henderson did not receive a card (red or otherwise, goal-scoring opportunity denied or otherwise, this was not one of Haaland's better games, he is the sort of player that performs well only if everything else in the team is already flawless, but not otherwise; moreover, bear in mind that Haaland was not selected to take the penalty that City also failed to convert) had KDB received a card - which, equally inexplicably, he didn't - for a nasty foul.
Gutting a team in a Cup Final by sending off their goal-keeper (who subsequently played a blinder) early in the game would have been tantamount to handing the trophy and killing the competition.
Agreed.
As was I.
An Arsenal victory at St James's Park, where, in a hard fought game, Arsenal have defeated Newcastle by a goal to nil (thank you, Declan Rice, an excellent - actually, a superlative - addition to the team, and worth every penny or cent that he cost).
This victory has ensured that - irrespective of results over the coming week - Arsenal (for the third consecutive season) have now nailed down, secured, second place (the runner-up position) in the Premier League, and cannot now be caught by any other team.
Unfortunately, the game also came with a veritable cluster of coloured cards (including one for the manager, Mikel Arteta), few of which one can argue were entirely without merit.
Now, while I fully understand the need to be competitive, I do also wonder at the number of coloured cards we have amassed over the course of not just this match, but also this season.
Unfortunately, the game also came with a veritable cluster of coloured cards (including one for the manager, Mikel Arteta), few of which one can argue were entirely without merit.
Now, while I fully understand the need to be competitive, I do also wonder at the number of coloured cards we have amassed over the course of not just this match, but also this season.
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Then, the rules of the game should also have been applied to KDB, who committed a nasty (and wholly unnecessary) foul earlier in the game, and I would be somewhat more sympathetic to your stance had that occurred.
It's been a while since i've posted in here. The Premier League has sucked all enjoyment out of football for me this season. We've been very bad in this second half of the season, and we're going down with a whimper. At least we let Jamie Vardy get his goal 🙄
They need to find a way to help promoted clubs with a chance of staying up. The gap between the PL and the Championship is becoming too big, and you'll start to get the same clubs bouncing between the two divisions each season, and that will have a detrimental effect on the Championship itself as you'll get parachute clubs at the top and other clubs will struggle to get into the promotion picture.
Oh well, Roll on the Championship next season. No VAR!! VAR is one thing watching it on TV, its a whole different ball game experiencing it in the stadium where you haven no clue on what is going on.
Bye Bye PL for (Hopefully!) a year, I won't miss you 😂
They need to find a way to help promoted clubs with a chance of staying up. The gap between the PL and the Championship is becoming too big, and you'll start to get the same clubs bouncing between the two divisions each season, and that will have a detrimental effect on the Championship itself as you'll get parachute clubs at the top and other clubs will struggle to get into the promotion picture.
Oh well, Roll on the Championship next season. No VAR!! VAR is one thing watching it on TV, its a whole different ball game experiencing it in the stadium where you haven no clue on what is going on.
Bye Bye PL for (Hopefully!) a year, I won't miss you 😂
Harsh but true!It seems Luton didn't quite get that memo...
Nice to see Liverpool defeated (by an excellent Brighton, who won by three goals to two).
Granted, it makes no difference to the standings in the Premier League, - Liverpool have been League Champions for weeks - and equally granted, it is more than possible that Liverpool have relaxed (even if this has happened subconsciously) in the days and weeks since they claimed the Premier League title.
Nevertheless, none of that detracts from the fact that Brighton defeated the League Champions, and defeated them well in what was an excellent performance.
Granted, it makes no difference to the standings in the Premier League, - Liverpool have been League Champions for weeks - and equally granted, it is more than possible that Liverpool have relaxed (even if this has happened subconsciously) in the days and weeks since they claimed the Premier League title.
Nevertheless, none of that detracts from the fact that Brighton defeated the League Champions, and defeated them well in what was an excellent performance.
Europa League Final coming up today in Bilbao. I'm nervous yet sanguine about the match. Win or lose, I can look at the glass being half full: win it, and there's UCL to look forward to next season, more transfer money to spend, more appeal for players who potentially want to transfer in, and validation of Amorim's hiring and the direction he and INEOS are taking the club; lose it, and there will be more impetus to sell existing squad members and bring in cheaper, less hyped players who may be hungrier to prove themselves at United and in the PL, and fewer matches next season to allow more time for training and recovery.
Bit in bold, totally disagree. Since Amorim has arrived he has done worse than what ETH had done. Getting into the Europa league final should not be seen as a positive by any stretch of the imagination. The premier league is where it matters most and this is where Amorim and INEOS have failed massively. Which either clubs wins the Europa league, it will be a massive embarrassment to the champions league to have one of the premier leagues worst league finishers mixing it with the top of Europe's elite.
The no hopers verses the alsorans cup is on Discovery + for free tonight.
I must admit that - having just examined relevant part of the league table closely - and notwithstanding the endless howls of complaint I have read from supporters of both clubs (well, Spurs always complain, even when they are doing well, self-torture is almost a default setting for some who support them, while Manchester United have been a bizarre and almost hilariously dysfunctional spectacle for quite some time) - I hadn't quite realised just where both Spurs and Manchester United actually are in the table.
Actually, I am quite shocked.
This is extraordinary.
Now, some of what I have read makes a lot more sense.
Well if they (and let’s be honest us!) hadn’t been blessed with 3 worse clubs one or both of them would have been relegated.
Can you imagine getting relegated and a Champions League spot. Championship League more like!