GWT: Champions League - Quarterfinals

[cgf]

Told ya.
Dog has Real and PSG through in the semis. And PSG winning it.

Well getting the QFs right is impressive enough, even if the dog will unfortunately be wrong from here on out.

 

[Power Man]

Then why is Man City in first place in the EPL as we speak?

Because it’s just the EPL

 

[cgf]

Bundesliga must be really close to clinching that 5th UCL spot right? Especially with Leverkusen advancing tomorrow, and West Ham & Liverpool getting knocked out.

Still work to do.

 

[S E P H]

*1 of their best players. You could take advantage of the incompetence of clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal too

I think we've been over this, but Bayern doesn't get gift-wrapped German players at a low cost because of the incompetence of others, they get them from bullying tactics, players wanting to join Bayern, and Bayern being able to pay them more than the likes of Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, Koln, and others can. Gotze and Gnabry are the perfect examples that come to my mind of players who joined for most of the reasons above; higher aura team with higher wages and a chance to "win" something.

 

[cgf]

And imagine BVB winning the CL and coming 5th in the Bundesliga, then there would even be 6 Bundesliga teams in the CL.

Or Bayern winning the CL while dropping to 5th

I think we've been over this, but Bayern doesn't get gift-wrapped German players at a low cost because of the incompetence of others, they get them from bullying tactics, players wanting to join Bayern, and Bayern being able to pay them more than the likes of Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, Koln, and others can. Gotze and Gnabry are the perfect examples that come to my mind of players who joined for most of the reasons above; higher aura team with higher wages and a chance to "win" something.

Don't give me Götze and Hummels, name one from their current roster. They paid bigly, developed, or capitalized on the stupidity of the London clubs to get their best players.

Can someone explain this Saka thing going on? Opted to see City-Real...

He wasn't as good at beating multiple guys as Sane or Musiala

 

[cgf]

By the way, what a game by Kimmich on both sides of the ball. He obviously hates playing right back, but he got the job done. Martinelli started off well then completely disappeared.

Lahm hated it too. It's time for the free-thinker to suck it up so the NT can start winning bigly again.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Or Bayern winning the CL while dropping to 5th



Don't give me Götze and Hummels, name one from their current roster. They paid bigly, developed, or capitalized on the stupidity of the London clubs to get their best players.



He wasn't as good at beating multiple guys as Sane or Musiala

I probably would have gone for Neuer, LeGo, or Kimmich--Oopsamecano, Sabitzer, and Nagelsmann all came from RBL, but were paid fair prices/maybe even overpaid for. BVB has probably been as egregious at the described behavior as Bayern over the last several years, if not worse (Modeste, Özcan, Füllkrug all important players to lesser BL teams bought for cheap and late in the window, Schlotterbeck bought for a measly 25M, Bensebaini lured on a free and they were close to the same with Kamada, Adeyemi...38M seems low but probably about right, etc...).

 

[Savant]

Gee I wonder why no one took seriously your suggestion to compare trophies won by Saka in his age 16-22 seasons to Salah's age 25-31 seasons. We're all trying to figure that one out!

I mean, I know why.

 

[KJS14]

They paid bigly, developed, or capitalized on the stupidity of the London clubs to get their best players.

To be fair, Wenger started integrating a teenage Gnabry into the first team, but then he had a knee injury that kept him out for a year. Sending him to West Brom was a blunder, but it was always going to be hard for him to get minutes coming off a serious injury.

 

[GeoRox89]

It’s gonna be a Madrid/PSG final.

If that doesn’t end with Mbappe pulling off his PSG shirt to reveal his new Real one it will be anticlimactic

 

[cgf]

I probably would have gone for Neuer, LeGo, or Kimmich--Oopsamecano, Sabitzer, and Nagelsmann all came from RBL, but were paid fair prices/maybe even overpaid for. BVB has probably been as egregious at the described behavior as Bayern over the last several years, if not worse (Modeste, Özcan, Füllkrug all important players to lesser BL teams bought for cheap and late in the window, Schlotterbeck bought for a measly 25M, Bensebaini lured on a free and they were close to the same with Kamada, Adeyemi...38M seems low but probably about right, etc...).

Kimmich was leaving Leipzig for a first division team, whether it was Bayern or not. I don't think we can call that bullying.

Agreed on Neuer and LeGo...though he was leaving Schalke on a free whether to Bayern, Real, or one of the EPL teams that was sniffing around about him.

 

[OKR]

I mean, I know why.

Please just stop, reading your posts these few last pages has given me a massive case of second-hand embarrasement.

 

[Savant]

Please just stop, reading your posts these few last pages has given me a massive case of second-hand embarrasement.

I don’t even know who you are.

Think you are embarrassed by the wrong person. Have not told any lies

 

[cgf]

To be fair, Wenger started integrating a teenage Gnabry into the first team, but then he had a knee injury that kept him out for a year. Sending him to West Brom was a blunder, but it was always going to be hard for him to get minutes coming off a serious injury.

Oh I was just teasing SEPH by saying the London clubs instead of Chelsea, Gnabry isn't one of their best players...musiala is and they were gifted him, but that wasn't them pilfering other German teams, like SEPH was implying.

 

[OKR]

I don’t even know who you are.

Think you are embarrassed by the wrong person. Have not told any lies

You do realize that this is a public forum and not a group chat? You don’t have to know who i am for me to see your posts.

The fact that you don’t see how stupid it is to compare trophies won since 2018 when one player made his debut that year at age of 16 and the other entered his prime at age of 25, is embarrasing.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

I don’t even know who you are.

Think you are embarrassed by the wrong person. Have not told any lies

 

[Savant]

You do realize that this is a public forum and not a group chat? You don’t have to know who i am for me to see your posts.

The fact that you don’t see how stupid it is to compare trophies won since 2018 when one player made his debut that year at age of 16 and the other entered his prime at age of 25, is embarrasing.

I’m just saying I’ve never seen you here before. Welcome aboard.

I don’t think it’s stupid to compare. Saka was getting elite training from the time he was 7 years old by one of the top academies in England. He came into the league about as well prepared as you can be and he certainly hit the ground running. I don’t think it particularly matters if you are young if you are ready. Saka was certainly ready. Salah was a late bloomer and had no where near the infrastructure that Saka had. Soccer especially age is not as big a deal as training. Look at Yamal at Barca for another recent example. When guys are ready they are ready. But again, my point was talking about team success since 2018, and I was not the one who tried to spin it about individual players. All I said was Saka had a bad game today. I stand by that

View attachment 854123

I’m the guy people keep wanting to talk to apparently. Sometimes I wish that I wasn’t.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I gotta hand it to the Arsenal fans on this board, takes some gusto to keep doing your "we haven't won anything but we're actually better than a side that won an insanely dominant PL, went to three Champions League Finals, and lost two more PLs by a single point" schtick immediately after losing a UCL QF to the same bogeyman as you constantly lost to before you were back. Good shit, though. Loathe am I to defend our dear friend @Savant but I don't believe he brought Liverpool into this and any attempt to deflect with "well Liverpool are in the UEL" rings pretty hollow given, well, Arsenal over the last ten years and their historical problems with Europe. But, then again, the Arsenal contingent on this board is obsessed with deflections - it's why they hated Palmer's hat trick against United and it's why any dig on Arsenal immediately gets responded to with "well your club!!!!" cope.

Anywho, for all that our dear friend @S E P H might feel otherwise, we would all do well to remember that Thomas Tuchel has more UCLs than Arsenal FC, and double the finals of Arsenal FC. He's an excellent coach, even as his Bayern stint has been poor.

Happy that Madrid have prevented a double City treble. Would've been deeply annoying if Pep went back-to-back with teams that are arguably his worst City teams (outside his first season).

 

[Savant]

I gotta hand it to the Arsenal fans on this board, takes some gusto to keep doing your "we haven't won anything but we're actually better than a side that won an insanely dominant PL, went to three Champions League Finals, and lost two more PLs by a single point" schtick immediately after losing a UCL QF to the same bogeyman as you constantly lost to before you were back. Good shit, though. Loathe am I to defend our dear friend @Savant but I don't believe he brought Liverpool into this and any attempt to deflect with "well Liverpool are in the UEL" rings pretty hollow given, well, Arsenal over the last ten years and their historical problems with Europe. But, then again, the Arsenal contingent on this board is obsessed with deflections - it's why they hated Palmer's hat trick against United and it's why any dig on Arsenal immediately gets responded to with "well your club!!!!" cope.

Anywho, for all that our dear friend @S E P H might feel otherwise, we would all do well to remember that Thomas Tuchel has more UCLs than Arsenal FC, and double the finals of Arsenal FC. He's an excellent coach, even as his Bayern stint has been poor.

Happy that Madrid have prevented a double City treble. Would've been deeply annoying if Pep went back-to-back with teams that are arguably his worst City teams (outside his first season).

Thank you for summing up my feelings, Probably better than I did

 

[phisherman]

I gotta hand it to the Arsenal fans on this board, takes some gusto to keep doing your "we haven't won anything but we're actually better than a side that won an insanely dominant PL, went to three Champions League Finals, and lost two more PLs by a single point" schtick immediately after losing a UCL QF to the same bogeyman as you constantly lost to before you were back. Good shit, though. Loathe am I to defend our dear friend @Savant but I don't believe he brought Liverpool into this and any attempt to deflect with "well Liverpool are in the UEL" rings pretty hollow given, well, Arsenal over the last ten years and their historical problems with Europe. But, then again, the Arsenal contingent on this board is obsessed with deflections - it's why they hated Palmer's hat trick against United and it's why any dig on Arsenal immediately gets responded to with "well your club!!!!" cope.

Anywho, for all that our dear friend @S E P H might feel otherwise, we would all do well to remember that Thomas Tuchel has more UCLs than Arsenal FC, and double the finals of Arsenal FC. He's an excellent coach, even as his Bayern stint has been poor.

Happy that Madrid have prevented a double City treble. Would've been deeply annoying if Pep went back-to-back with teams that are arguably his worst City teams (outside his first season).

"Here I come to save the day!"

 

[OKR]

I don’t think it’s stupid to compare. Saka was getting elite training from the time he was 7 years old by one of the top academies in England. He came into the league about as well prepared as you can be and he certainly hit the ground running. I don’t think it particularly matters if you are young if you are ready. Saka was certainly ready. Salah was a late bloomer and had no where near the infrastructure that Saka had. Soccer especially age is not as big a deal as training. Look at Yamal at Barca for another recent example. When guys are ready they are ready. But again, my point was talking about team success since 2018, and I was not the one who tried to spin it about individual players. All I said was Saka had a bad game today. I stand by that


I’m the guy people keep wanting to talk to apparently. Sometimes I wish that I wasn’t.

Salah had multiple years of pro-experience, including having played in the Champions League, you think Saka was more prepared than him because he played for Arsenal’s academy? Wouldn’t that mean their U21 team should smoke Basel head-to-head each and everytime?

Age absolutely does matter, that’s why 99,9% of players are better at 25 than they’re at 18, even players who are ”ready” to play big minutes already at 16 like Yamal.

And no, you didn’t just say Saka had a bad game, you went on these embarrasing rants about trophy cases etc. to the point where i, a person who doesn’t care about either one of Liverpool or Arsenal felt like i had to say something.

 

[Live in the Now]

I gotta hand it to the Arsenal fans on this board, takes some gusto to keep doing your "we haven't won anything but we're actually better than a side that won an insanely dominant PL, went to three Champions League Finals, and lost two more PLs by a single point" schtick immediately after losing a UCL QF to the same bogeyman as you constantly lost to before you were back. Good shit, though. Loathe am I to defend our dear friend @Savant but I don't believe he brought Liverpool into this and any attempt to deflect with "well Liverpool are in the UEL" rings pretty hollow given, well, Arsenal over the last ten years and their historical problems with Europe. But, then again, the Arsenal contingent on this board is obsessed with deflections - it's why they hated Palmer's hat trick against United and it's why any dig on Arsenal immediately gets responded to with "well your club!!!!" cope.

Yeah this is why I hardly post anymore. No time for the nonsense.

 

[S E P H]

I gotta hand it to the Arsenal fans on this board, takes some gusto to keep doing your "we haven't won anything but we're actually better than a side that won an insanely dominant PL, went to three Champions League Finals, and lost two more PLs by a single point" schtick immediately after losing a UCL QF to the same bogeyman as you constantly lost to before you were back. Good shit, though. Loathe am I to defend our dear friend @Savant but I don't believe he brought Liverpool into this and any attempt to deflect with "well Liverpool are in the UEL" rings pretty hollow given, well, Arsenal over the last ten years and their historical problems with Europe. But, then again, the Arsenal contingent on this board is obsessed with deflections - it's why they hated Palmer's hat trick against United and it's why any dig on Arsenal immediately gets responded to with "well your club!!!!" cope.

Anywho, for all that our dear friend @S E P H might feel otherwise, we would all do well to remember that Thomas Tuchel has more UCLs than Arsenal FC, and double the finals of Arsenal FC. He's an excellent coach, even as his Bayern stint has been poor.

Happy that Madrid have prevented a double City treble. Would've been deeply annoying if Pep went back-to-back with teams that are arguably his worst City teams (outside his first season).

Most of Arsenal's problems are due to a lack of spending because of the stadium and Wenger not stepping down 4-5 years before he did. Just look at Liverpool, they fired Rodgers at the time he needed to be fired and ended up with Klopp. This isn't rocket science; give people a chance, if they suck, fire them, and replace them with better blokes. And not one Arsenal fan here was arrogant by any means until Savant came to claptrap his pettiness all over the place trying to justify something to someone.

E: Both of Chelsea's CL wins were fluke fam.

 

[S E P H]

Also, I am not blaming White for the reason why we lost, but man oh man he has to do better than on that cross. It was a perfect cross, no questions asked, but you gotta make it tougher if you want to be a CL winner. Additionally, he should have done better on that chance in the first leg when it was him along with Neuer and he just shoots it right at him.

I saw a good review that Arsenal lacked the experience, not necessarily in terms of mistakes, but in terms of calmness. Bayern played their shape and waited to capitalise on the Arsenal, they were not scared by any means and I am not sure if that was Tuchel's gameplan or what, but Arsenal made a major mistake and they capitalised. That's what I suggest was the difference between the two clubs because there was not a ton to separate them, that's what honestly hurts. I will admit that Bayern probably had "more" better chances on both legs, but Arsenal was right there with them and lost due to moments where they switched off.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

When I commented about Saka limp it was not because I find him a bad player, quite the opposite, it's just about the internet meme (which is funny) about him limping every time he has a bad game and for banter. But this then started to go down fast because it felt like a Liverpool fan is attacking the prodigious child.

Don't be mad Arsenal fan, Salah has been victim of similar fate and meme, a lot, especially after his comment about Madrid prior to CL final that LFC lost. That was peak meme and direct attack from madrista to him.

Anyway, get some fresh air, Saka is just starting his career and Arsenal will be a top side for a long time. It was just a bad game.