How low I feel now!! A lovely weekend ruined by Barcelona putting 6 past Athletic. Do the referees in La Liga favour Barca and Real as the Athletic keeper was sent off in the 4th minute. Technically it was a sending off but surely referees have a duty when Barca play a lesser team not to apply the letter of the law so rigidly just for the sake of making not so ridiculously one-sided. As it i.s there is a great imbalance between Athletic and Barca to begin with. Barca being a team that have acquired the best players from South America and Europe, Athletic from Pais Vasco.
Why? The law is the law, whether you are Barcelona or Dagenham and Redbridge. You can't make an exception just because you're playing Barcelona.
It just ruins the game and makes it sooo one-sided as Barca as so ruthless. Let's hope Athletic can beat them in the Copa Del Rey!! But yes, the law is the law and as such must be carried in all fairness to Barca and Real who cream off the bulk of the television money!
Tbh, I'm with you Tom on applying referee decisions. There's often plenty of room for a referee to judge the severity of a situation, but occasionally you'll hear a pundit saying how a referee had ruined a game because he'd applied the letter of the law and sent a player off, ending a thrilling contest. Well tough toenails I'm afraid. Football is 100% a sport that happens to be entertaining to the point where millions of people will watch it. But it's a sport first and and incidentally, an entertainment second, and so let's never get that order confused.
I have recovered from the shock!! We have to accept that Barca have been the best team in the world for the past 10 years. If we were to compile a Current World XI then Barca would have 6 in this team Neymar, Suarez (ahead of Ronaldo now), Messi, Iniesta, Pique and Busquets as the midfield anchor. The challenge for other teams is to keep Barca off the ball, no easy thing when they want it. When they are 3-0 up and ease off, then the opponents have a chance of scoring as with Athletic in the Copa del Rey final last May. Last night Bilbao gave up in the 5th minute, as well as Barca played. Some of the goals were a walk-in.
Sometimes I take a peek at the Championship table and I notice 3 Yorkshire teams in the top 6. I don't know the feelings of other posters on this site, but wouldn't it be great to have three from Yorkshire back in the PL particulary a club like Sheffield Wednesday, possibly the biggest in Yorkshire.
A former AC Milan youth player who purported to be 19 years of age is facing fraud charges after his Facebook profile revealed he is actually 28. Yusupha Yaffa was on the books at the San Siro until earlier this season, where chiefs believed him to still be a teenager. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/former-19-year-old-ac-7199195
Except that Yorkshire is a very beautiful county and well worth visiting. That aside I think the main contenders for promotion are mainly East Midland or Northern based. Even Ipswich is a trek.
Yes indeed had some happy holidays in Yorkshire. I don't do away games any more so not too bothered on my own front.
Didn't know where to put this and didn't think it warranted its own thread, but as you may have read earlier i was in Rotterdam today and took a visit to De Kuip, the Feyernoord stadium. It's on the outskirts of town and holds over 50,000 fans (52 one lad told me). I called into the shop to buy my lad a shirt and had Koeman printed on the bottom (posted below again) and the two lads in the shop immediately knew I was a Saints fan. We had a good chat for a few minutes about the new links with the two clubs and they said we are held fondly over there, despite now being half Feyernoord! The other lad quickly quipped that it was ok, because Liverpool are now half Southampton - they knew their stuff! They both wanted to come over and see a game at Southampton but were a little shocked at the prices. They can watch a game for €18 (£14) Here are a couple of things they talked about: Koeman - they love him. They said he won't leave until Barca come calling or we sack him (at which point they laughed and said, "That's not likely is it?" ) Clasie - great player and key to most things Feyernoord did. Surprised some fans haven't "got" what he's about but said they surely would soon. Pelle - this was interesting. They said there were a lot of murmurs when they signed him because he'd been poor before (I think they said at AZ Alkmar) and fans were surprised he was signed. However, he became a star because of his goals and that with Pelle you have to play to his strengths. They thought he wasn't great on the floor and often got his feet caught up on the ball if doing anything other than shooting. They loved his strength at attacking crosses from wide and his sheer power and will to score a goal. They mentioned something about Italian passion but I'm not sure we've seen that yet It was very interesting to hear that they felt that the team's style changed a little too much after awhile and they played too much long ball and then carried on doing that when Pelle wasn't playing and/or left. Overall though they loved him for his goals. Vilhena - they think he's a great prospect. Talented with bite! They said if I think Clasie is a terrier, then Vilhena is a bulldog!!! Elia (I had forgotten he was there now) - they like Elia without being too crazy about him. They said they need Pelle to get on the end of his crosses!! They said for free, he's been good. The ground holds 52,000 fans and they are currently reviewing whether to put another layer on top, or to build a brand new stadium on an island in the big river just alongside the city - that would be kind of cool. Financially the club are in a much better place than they were a few years ago when they were in a lot of trouble. All in all, they seem to really like us and love Koeman, Clasie and Pelle. We have new friends. I also saw 4 or 5 players coming in from training, but none of them looked like Vilhena.
So Blatter and Platini are still being paid their wages even though they're banned from all football activity for 8 years??? The amount hasn't been released because we'd all choke if we knew. How can you be relieved of your job for corruption and still get paid? It's a crazy crazy world where the money is and far from mine. Thinking of joining a religion where you get reincarnated and I know exactly what job I'm aiming for in my second life!
What's wrong with Gareth Bale? These muscle injuries aren't common are they? I really want him 100% for the Euros!
