FA Cup Quarter Final

Bloother said:
From Oliver Kay in today’s Times:

In this extraordinary season, in which English football’s aristocrats continue to be humbled by an emboldened middle class, this was a classic demonstration of the reasons why. Watford were not just more clinical than Arsenal. They were fitter, hungrier, more resilient and more intelligent, fully deserving of an FA Cup upset that will intensify the scrutiny on Arsene Wenger.


Arsenal found themselves undone by a slicker, quicker, cleverer team. The goals came from Ighalo and Guedioura, but Watford were epitomised by Troy Deeney, their captain. Others, such as Sebastian Prodl and Nathan Ake, were equally impressive, but Deeney’s combination of industry, aggression, selflessness and intelligence sums up his team’s approach under Quique Flores.

I think people are starting to wake up to the fact that all this money is starting to level out the playing field. It means that the middle class teams referred to above (West Ham, Leicester, Stoke, Watford and others) are able to afford fees and wages that make them, if not on a par with the so called big four, then not as far behind as has been the case previously. Its no coincidence that the teams in danger of going down are largely clubs that are poorly run Norwich are the exception, but do not have a good enough squad and have not bought well enough. Despite this they may well yet survive.
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England's footballing aristocrats have problems, beginning with Arsenal, but also Man. Utd, City, Chelsea are not the teams they were, and this has been proved by their lack of European success over the last few years. I also can't see any of them being major forces next year either (Guardiola will need time at City). The league could be between Spurs, Liverpool (who will be a force next year under Klopp), Leicester (if they keep their best players) and ourselves. The idea has come into English football that money = success and that the only way to get better is by buying in ever more expensive players, the result is often discontinuity and fans with unrealistically inflated expectations who end up getting on the back of their own players.
 
What makes Guedioura's goal so good is the way the midfield got the ball off the Arsenal player, followed by Iggy's perfect pass to TD, then the way TD held up the ball until he got support, before providing a perfectly weighted pass. The shot was pretty good, too.
 
NZHorn said:
What makes Guedioura's goal so good is the way the midfield got the ball off the Arsenal player, followed by Iggy's perfect pass to TD, then the way TD held up the ball until he got support, before providing a perfectly weighted pass. The shot was pretty good, too.
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Just long ball football though!
 
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