Topic: The Push Square Football (Soccer) Thread

@Fight_Teza_Fight These are my pick that I think it will advance to the semifinals as well. Wouldn't be surprised at all if Real Madrid wins again.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Why is it unfortunate that there will be one English team in the semi finals?

I think Liverpool have a big chance against Man City, they've already beaten them this season and on their day reckon they could beat anyone.

@JohnnyShoulder Always found it funny how the self proclaimed best league in the world would flop in the Champions League. Nothing wrong with it, but as a fan of La Liga I'm rooting for the Spanish sides .
City-Liverpool will be a great watch.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Maybe its the fact that the English based players generally play more football and especially over Christmas. The players on the way back from fitness also play in the u23's too where as in Europe, they are not permitted to play for 'B' teams. Also, the fact that EPL is a 'stronger' league means that every week is a 'tough' match where as the likes of Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern and Juve only have around 3 maybe 4 big teams and the rest are generally considered 'easy' matches.

Maybe the reason the EPL teams tend to fall at this stage is fatigue - the fact that they have played a tough season and a lot of high intensity football which catches up with them and the other European teams are fresher...

I enjoy watching Spanish league too - but its often more of a stroll, players have more time and space on the ball - at least until they get into attacking positions. I know that some EPL matches can be slow, but a lot are quite high intensity and you don't often see all the tricks and flicks that you do in the Spanish league as a result.

@BAMozzy That's definitely a factor. A Christmas break would do the clubs well, but the FA would lose a ton of money through ad revenue for live programming during the festive season. The gulf in class in Spain is not as big as most people like to make it out to be. The bottom 5 are fodder, but apart from that there's a high standard throughout.
UEFAs Association Club Coefficient- which ranks the leagues based on European performance also has Spain comfortably sitting at the top with ~104 points, which is way ahead of the other leagues.
I've always said the Prem is the most competitive league in the world, but that doesn't make it the best . Unless that's what you look for in your football. I personally have always valued the flair and pace of La Liga more.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Of course Spain are comfortably on top - they have dominated the European trophies for years which contribute to their points tally. As we were discussing though, the reason that English clubs aren't as successful as Spanish clubs, that has contributed to their lower score.

The most competitive league is what is contributing to the lack of European success. The fact that most of the league matches are still very competitive - even with teams at the bottom end (maybe not the very bottom 1 or 2) means that the teams in Europe can't exactly take it easy and stroll to a comfortable win or rest key players and still win in preparation for their European tie. The gulf in class is quite large in the Spanish league - not that the worst team is necessary as weak as the worst EPL team but that the majority of those in the mid-table are not as strong as those in the mid table of the EPL. There is a bigger gulf between the top and say 6th/7th place down than there is between top and 6th/7th place in the EPL. What this means for the likes of Real Madrid/Barcelona etc is that nearly every match is like playing against a relegation fighting team where as the EPL teams have many more 'competitive' matches as those mid teams are all as good as the likes of Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla etc - the teams that you expect to be fighting for 4th behind Barca, Real and Atletico Madrid but wouldn't get into the top 6/7 over a season in the EPL. Its the same in Germany and Italy too - outside the Top 2 or 3, the rest are no better than mid/bottom-table teams in the EPL - that's why its much more 'competitive'. I don't think the likes of WBA, Stoke or Crystal Palace would be in the bottom 3 of the Spanish league...

English teams so not do as well as other nations in Europe because the insentive is a lot less. The money available in the Premiere League and placing is more important in many regards than winning the European trophy.

@Fight_Teza_Fight @BAMozzy @dryrain What annoys me is the media create the deconstructive atmosphere. For instance talk sport when the last 16 was drawn:

"We should comfortably have 4 teams in the last 8 with maybe Chelsea losing out." Talksport then had the breakfast show dedictaed to bigging up the teams and how the teams abroad are not as good as our great teams. It was ridiculous. They are all cup ties with some of the best players in the world playing for the other teams in the cup. There are no easy games in the last 16 any team has the ability to beat anyone else. I dont think Tottenham, man utd or chelsea should be firing any of the managers as they need to get stronger not weaker.

One of the things that irks me about the Spanish and some of the other European leagues is the amount of diving and playacting that goes on. I find some games unwatchable because of it. I know it goes on the the English leagues but not to the extent in the other European leagues.

@themcnoisy In fairness, only Chelsea looked to be in a really difficult draw. Going to Nou Camp after conceding an away goal was always going to be tough - even with a Barca team that many consider to be the weakest in years. The difference though was more about the clinical finishing of Messi who scored 3 over the two legs as well as set up the other. Willian hit the post twice in the home leg and good of been travelling to the Nou Camp with a 'healthy' lead.

Spurs played really well too - lacked the experience of being in a tie like this and let themselves down in a 5min window where Juve scored twice. Over the two legs though, they were unlucky to lose. We see matches in the EPL were a team can have 70%+ possession, pepper the goal with shots and still lose on a break-away or set-piece goal.

The biggest 'disappointment' from an English perspective was the performance of Utd over 2 legs against Sevilla. They showed no ambition or quality in either leg - settled for a bore-draw away from home and then didn't bother playing at home at all. Sevilla deserved to win because they were up for the fight, they wanted to give a good account of themselves. They probably can't believe how apathetic Utd were and expected to be under pressure, defend for their lives and hope to get something on the break...

Point is though, that on paper at least, all of these teams 'could' have made it through - even Chelsea despite having the 'toughest' task in the 2nd Leg but really should have been much better off before that fixture. Even if had been 3-1 from the first leg, nothing is guaranteed with Barca as PSG found out...

None of these managers deserve to be sacked. I don't think Wenger does either but then I also don't think Managerial sackings should occur during a season and certainly not within the first year of their contract. Often managers are scapegoats for under-performing players, the mistakes they make and even the mistakes/lack of investment from those above the managers. People forget that the Manager doesn't always have total autonomy on the players in their Squad. Yes they can make suggestions - sometimes just identify an area that they feel needs strengthening but if the board/committee don't agree with the manager over a specific player or area, then the manager often has to make do. When LFC signed Balotelli, Rodgers wanted a different player but the committee told him he could have Balotelli or some other player that wasn't who he wanted. In the end Rodgers picked Balotelli as, on paper at least, he had more potential but more baggage - it didn't work out but Rodgers didn't really want Balotelli and had to pick him, another player he didn't want or go without.

I do find it crazy that managers often inherit an under-performing and generally poor team and still get 'sacked' when results don't pick up...

Is it true that Klopp has the best managerial record against Guardiola? Now that will be a interesting match to watch.

If the match at Anfield is anything to go by both games should be stonkers.

Champions League matches of today: Juventus X Real Madrid and Sevilla X Bayern Munchen. Place your bet.

Just a suggestion, would you guys like to create a topic about the World Cup that is coming soon? It will be great to discuss the competition only. Just a suggestion though.

@PS_Nation Actually if you look at the first post of this thread that's what it was originally meant to be. However since the World Cup is only every 4 years this thread just became to all purpose soccer thread since soccer is played every season.

So basically of it's soccer it can be discussed here no need to make a seperate World Cup thread.

@PS_Nation Juve, Sevilla, Liverpool and Barca will make it to the semis.

Playing City makes me nervous only because our defence and keeper are still a bit shakey and they have the players that can punish any mistakes. Fortunately the same could be said for them. It's gonna be a cracking, nail biting 180(+) minutes.

Ronaldo is the G.O.A.T .

Being rested every now and then has done him wonders. Untouchable.

@Fight_Teza_Fight What a fantastic goal. I watched the match, there was no chance for Juventus, Real Madrid was superior all the time.

I dislike the smug git but he's a cracking player and that goal was a joy to watch.