The Football News Thread 2023/24

[Deutsch Wolf]

Bayern got away with it somehow last season but I don't think they will this time. Should be Leverkusen's title.

 

[Alan]

I'd love to have seen Brentfords goalie get a second yellow today for time-wasting, but it just doesn't happen, so giving them a blue and make them put an outfield player in goal for 10 minutes would be fun.

It's such a wild happenstance that I'd even have to swallow it if it happened to us.

Like a wide receiver as an emergency QB in Am. footy. Is the team it happens to probably fucked? Absolutely. Is it going to be a dramatic ride? Almost definitely.

 

[The Bear]

Bayern got away with it somehow last season but I don't think they will this time. Should be Leverkusen's title.

The Harry Kane effect. You can take the boy out of Spurs....

 

[Johnny75]

Not sure many people would've had Nathan Tella winning a title before Harry Kane.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757091065910231190

Can't see Villa making the CL, even if it goes to 5th place

 

[Johnny75]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757091065910231190

Can't see Villa making the CL, even if it goes to 5th place

I thought it was serious yesterday, looked like a possible ACL.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

No way they could have predicted this of course but they could have done without loaning Donck out. We all know his limitations but he's the closest to matching Kamara that they have, the likes of McGinn and Tielemans can't do that job.

 

[PuntsWolf]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757091065910231190

Can't see Villa making the CL, even if it goes to 5th place

Can you trust United to score 6 more points than them in 14 games? Got City, Liverpool and Arsenal in there too

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Fair, but I'm not sure they need to be very good (just as well as they aren't). Villa have 8 points from their last 7 games - half of them earned vs Sheff Utd - and have just lost a key player.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1757091065910231190

Can't see Villa making the CL, even if it goes to 5th place

Amazed that they're still 5 points clear of 6th, shows how good their 2023 form was.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Amazed that they're still 5 points clear of 6th, shows how good their 2023 form was.

Home form was ludicrous. Won literally every home game from 4 March to 21 December.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Didn’t Kamara do a serious injury when he arrived?

Terrible luck for a great player.

 

[Alan]

They've not exactly picked the best of the best there, have they.

The franchise model does not preclude passion, seems that should be obvious.

 

[lemonjelly]

@Alan seeing as you mentioned freddy adu the other day;
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ust-like-messi-what-happened-to-americas-pele

 

[Alan]

I remember watching him when he signed for Philadelphia and thinking "man, there's still something here". He could shape a pass like nobody else in MLS (except Becks, naturally).

A wonderfully gifted footballer despite it all. Just... not a very good player when steel met steel. "Heart of a pea", I think Dan would say.

Every American soccer fan who lived through the Adu hype will always be haunted by what might have been if we hadn't shoved the savior tag onto him at fourteen. Couldn't have been more unfair for Freddy. No way was he prepared for the life of a pro footballer at that age.

 

[Del Woppio]

You do wonder what sort of career he'd have had if he came through the academy in a European league rather than The MLS. Not in a snobbish 'our coaching is better than yours' way, just that more established leagues could happily have a really talented 14 year old have some hype without it turning into the poor kid being a poster boy for the whole sport. By the time he got to Benfica he was already fucked.

 

[Alan]

You do wonder what sort of career he'd have had if he came through the academy in a European league rather than The MLS. Not in a snobbish 'our coaching is better than yours' way, just that more established leagues could happily have a really talented 14 year old have some hype without it turning into the poor kid being a poster boy for the whole sport. By the time he got to Benfica he was already fucked.

I'm fragile but I'm no fool (don't correct that); even today the standard of coaching here just can't match what it is in Europe, not by averages at least.

The situation was even worse back then.

 

[Squeak]

Saw him a couple of times playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies back in 2016. Coaching in America is nowhere near Europe levels and you only have to look at the US national team to see that.

 

[Alan]

The heck possessed you to watch 2nd tier American soccer?

I mean, I would. But I’m sick.

 

[Squeak]

The heck possessed you to watch 2nd tier American soccer?

I mean, I would. But I’m sick.

If I told you, you wouldn't believe me.... besides, thought you blocked me?