Say Hey Kid
War, it's just a shot away
I want a one year ban on investigations involving the Big 2 (Man City and Liverpool). I just want to see them play each other next season, not hear about financial rules that I don't care about.
Kinda like city now?
City still had to face offensive players like Kane, Auba, Laca, Salah, Mane. Besides Henry and RVN who else did Chelsea have to fear in their season?
I don't know how you can come to the conclusion that City is definitely worse defensively than those two teams (who both played a more defensive style) but say that the difference offensively 'isn't much'. This is the best 2 year stretch comparison between all three of these sides (using the two years you mentioned as the base, and then looking on either side of it). Goals for and goals against.Except for the best defensive team. Which both the teams mentioned are definitely better defensively while the difference offensively isn’t much, though still in city’s favor. Slightly.
Henry/Pires/Ljungberg and Rooney/Scholes/Van Nistelrooy/RonaldoIt's not irrelevant though. Chelsea were spending near 100 million pounds with no FFP rules. And it's not like other teams had great offense in that era. Compare Andy Johnson, Jermaine Defoe, Jimmy Haiselbaink vs the likes of Aguero, Salah, Auba, Lukaku, Kane that EPL teams face now.
If you buy a club, your money is going into the club. If I buy Amazon stock, my money is technically being used by them, no matter how small it is. Sure, it's not their pet project to go out and buy a bunch of players like it is for City, but to ignore being owned by billionaires hasn't had an impact is kind of silly IMO.
This is getting more off-topic though. Don't really want to discuss Tottenham's ownership structure and how they were built. It's not really the point.
IThe league and football are both better now, as are the quality of players.
Henry/Pires/Ljungberg and Rooney/Scholes/Van Nistelrooy/Ronaldo
Players from just two other teams.
Versus now where there are elite talent in 5 other teams besides Man City plus very good talent on midtable teams.
Can you legitimate name some elite talent back then on Everton, Bolton, etc.
Yeah it doesn't bother me (the spending). I'm also fine with rich owners coming in and buying other teams and bringing them to the top. I do feel for the teams that can't compete with that spending, but whether it's 2 teams or 6 teams that they are going to be massive underdogs against doesn't make a huge difference -- so if you can't bring down the giants to their level you may as well open up the playing field to whoever is willing to compete.And to bring it back to my original point, this is it. Chelsea and City being taken over by billionaires and joining the traditional powers of United, Liverpool, and Arsenal has been great for the league. I want more of it, that's why I don't really like FFP, it keeps the low/mid level clubs in their lane for the most part.
A salary cap would be pretty much impossible IMO and any other revenue-sharing method wouldn't make sense because you'd want your top clubs be able to compete in Europe, so you don't really want to limit what they can do to increase domestic parity. Only other option left is to incentivize investment and spending on the non-big clubs.Yeah it doesn't bother me (the spending). I'm also fine with rich owners coming in and buying other teams and bringing them to the top. I do feel for the teams that can't compete with that spending, but whether it's 2 teams or 6 teams that they are going to be massive underdogs against doesn't make a huge difference -- so if you can't bring down the giants to their level you may as well open up the playing field to whoever is willing to compete.
It's not irrelevant though. Chelsea were spending near 100 million pounds with no FFP rules. And it's not like other teams had great offense in that era. Compare Andy Johnson, Jermaine Defoe, Jimmy Haiselbaink vs the likes of Aguero, Salah, Auba, Lukaku, Kane that EPL teams face now.
So, the players were singing about the fans? Like, why?
So, the players were singing about the fans? Like, why?
Even if it wasn't about him, not sure if we know for sure it's just a stupid thing to do. Yeah, if they take action on what they tweet as a teenager, this should have some serious consequences.They're morons? I don't really know how to take this. Singing about a person who got beaten into a coma and has brain damage is absolutely sickening.
There's about a 1m shortfall in funding for his care. Regardless of how many people donate, it seems unlikely to reach the goal. The players should all be fined equally by the FA in order to make it whole. They have no problem fining players for stupid **** they said when they were 14.
I expect that from fans, but never from players.
Am I allowed to compare Jermain Defoe of 2004-5, when he scored 13 in 35 EPL games, with Jermain Defoe of 2016-17, when he turned 34 during the season and scored 15 in 37 playing for a terrible, relegated, smelly, ugly and stupid sunderland team? (I'd mention Defoe in 2015-16, when he scored 15 in 33 scoring for a bad, smelly, ugly and stupid sunderland team did I not appreciate the vast evolution in the game in the aeons that have passed since then).
You belittle Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (who by the way was a very good finisher with a howitzer shot) but have you already forgotten how many goals Glenn Murray has scored in the last two seasons? In 2004-5 he was scoring 2 in 19 for Carlisle United in the Conference, which presumably adjusts to scoring 1 goal from 17 appearances in the Staffordshire Sunday league ninth division in 2018/19 if I'm to swallow the hype.
The ironic thing is, there is a reason to say attacks were less potent in 2004/5 than now - but it was more a tactical issue that had begun the season before - the moment Abramovitch arrived at Chelsea everyone beyond Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United battened down the hatches and lowered their horizons. Negative midfields, lone strikers and a dependency on set-pieces became ingrained. It's no coincidence that Allardyce's Bolton went from being an outfit that barely survived in their first two seasons in the division to consistent top eight finishers - everybody else dragged themselves down to that level. (Note Liverpool finishing fourth with 60 points in 2003/4 and Sir David Moyes beginning his long road to ultimate glory by taking Everton to fourth with 61 points the season after).
2004/5 was the season that a 34-year old, utterly paceless Alan Shearer found himself used as a lone striker waiting for service from winger Shola Ameobi. Strange to say, Shearer's waits often proved lengthy. Newcastle's manager was Graeme Souness, showing all the strategic subtlety that would eventually lead to him throwing hissy-fits and pens in TV studios at the mere mention of the word 'tactics'.
In short, strikers outside the top handful of clubs in 2004/5 were frequently feeding on scraps.
They're morons? I don't really know how to take this. Singing about a person who got beaten into a coma and has brain damage is absolutely sickening.
There's about a 1m shortfall in funding for his care. Regardless of how many people donate, it seems unlikely to reach the goal. The players should all be fined equally by the FA in order to make it whole. They have no problem fining players for stupid **** they said when they were 14.
I expect that from fans, but never from players.
For all the people that said Liverpool and their fans would be insufferable if they won the league:
Classless Man City players should be ashamed of sick Liverpool chant
Outrage as City players sing about LFC fans being 'battered in the streets'