Arena "The Beautiful Game" - The Official JCC Football (Soccer) Thread.

Worked well for the likes of Solskjaer.

 

The funny thing about football players, is they like to play football. It's crazy!

 

They do play, just some can't play all the time.
And some are simply better as support players in a squad. They might not get all the praise but they're reliable.

Players also want to win, why go off & play regularly for a side that wins far less than the team you just left?

I get that Bale wants to play more often, but I can see him regretting leaving Madrid. Especially if they win more CL titles & he's off not even getting to domestic finals with the likes of Spurs.

Solskjaer could've left United because he didn't want to be on the bench so much, instead he chose to help the team win the Treble.

 

Shame to lose in such a fashion @Diggy. You had a good season, just not as good a season as Fulham unfortunately

 

The Fulham players will certainly be happier at the moment.

Good to have Craven Cottage back in the PL, nice stadium

 

Fulham topped us both.

But how do we compare? You were higher in the league, but we both got top four. We both lost a cup final, but ours was the more prestigious competition.

It’s a tough one, and I’m not sure how the made up ranking work at this point.

 

Not sure if this had an impact on Karius, but certainly another reason to hate Ramos, and a clear straight red

 

As a Liverpool Fan we did alright in the end, fair enough Karius was the MOTM for Madrid and Ramos was typical Ramos but yeah, put up a better fight than United did in the FA cup final and actually tried to plan for the trophy.

 

So both CR and Bale indicated their desire to leave Real in their post-match statements. Will be interesting to see how much interest there is in Cristiano, an all-time great, but with an incredible amount of baggage and an enormous price tag. Or does he already have an offer? Hard to imagine anyone other than PSG putting up that cash. Or is he willing to go to China?

As for Bale, I could see there being plenty of interest (Bayern desperately need someone to replace Robben). Or would he be willing to stay if CR leaves?

 

Since you seem to base your ranking on style of play (which makes less sense) you should go with that.

 

More disgraceful Ramosness

 

I was actually going to joking suggest Bale to Bayern, but it does kinda make sense. For them and for him.

CR7 probably just wanted the spotlight on him after a pretty much invisible UCL Final, so I would doubt he's moving. Still, if he is, you know United will be in the rumor mill, if not the actual conversation. PSG shouldn't splash any cash this summer beyond Mbappe, unless it's cash neutral from a big sale (like Neymar), so can't really see CR7 going there.

 

Ronaldo says this every year. He will stay

Bale I could see leaving. I think United would be interested, Jose rates him. His only issue is his injuries.

I’m not sure Bayern could afford him.

 

Depends what Madrid want.

Is he worth more now than what they paid for him?

 

Nah, but if you’re a final, I would prefer to actually try and win. See MR’s post above

 

An article on trying to properly diagnose the greatness of Real Madrid, and this quote seems especially poignant for some in this thread

And greatness, anyway, perhaps is about more than mere trophies. As Arrigo Sacchi has always been very keen to point out, what matters in football, what is remembered, is not necessarily what is done, but what is done well.

 

Except their greatness comes from the fact they win, that's why they're regarded as great.
Would they be hailed as great if they'd not won 3 CL titles in a row?
How well you win is fine, but you still have to win.

 

I would posit that the majority of England fans still revel in Italia 90. We didn't win, but no one (#richielogic aside) would write it off as useless.

 

A team going beyond expectations isn't the same as an elite level team that has certain goals & doesn't achieve them.

Iceland did well in Euro 2016 given the squad they had. They were not expected to get out of their group let alone advance beyond the first knock out round & beat England.
Belgium underachieved, because they should have got further given the quality of the players they had.

Ranking also creates an expectation. The Top 10 teams should not consider failing to get further than lower ranked teams a success.

Also, England getting to where they did given the state of English football in the 1980s would be considered an achievement in of itself.
Not kicking on from there given the talent in the squad & the amount of money spent in the PL is the failure.

The only great England side is the 1966 side.
Others were good, and did well considering the opposition, but they weren't great.

 

Well, it’s clear Richie is nothing but a glory hunter, so no surprise there, Hal.

The England team who got the quarters in 86 and knocked out thanks to an illegal goal subverted expectations by getting to the semis in the next tournament?

Okay then.

 

Manchester "sixth" United getting 2nd and a cup final isn't exceeding expectations? Okaaaaay....

 

CL Qualification + 2 trophies to CL Qualification + 0 trophies is not exceeding expectations. It's a lower achievement than before, which shouldn't be happening.

If Arsenal getting Top 4 for 10 years & not winning is considered failure, I'm not sure why other bigger clubs which spent more should consider the same thing an achievement.

 

Aww bless. You consider the community shield as a "trophy". It's an off-season (pardon the pun) trophy match. If you consider that above a 2nd position finish (with all the extra revenue that brings to the club) then we may have discovered an hitherto new level of #richielogic

 

When did I mention the community shield?

 

i think you'd be very hard pressed to deny this Madrid side being classed as great.

they're a great side. and these three Cups in a row will be remembered.