Topic: The Push Square Football (Soccer) Thread

@DonJorginho I do love a bargain lol, I’ll never forget Celtic signing Van Dijk for £2.48 million and look how that turned out!

@Arugula Obviously the generational talent Jesse Lingard

@nessisonett What an investment that turned out to be! I look back on some of our recent signings like Hazard and Kante for only a combined £64m when now they are both £150m+ players.

Great business indeed.

@DonJorginho that is one hell of a purchase. Ziyech is fantastic imo.

I watch a lot of football and listen to talksport but I am losing interest. Bunch of trumped up lucky gits who can't see it with their own eyes. I think whilst I am too lucky in as much as I have a boss family and am financially okay for the time being. 2 weeks earning Theo Walcotts wages and I would be set for life, mortgages paid, savings, dream holidays, new car, take a year off work etc. Its only recently dawned on me the huge disparity between working hard in civvy Street and keeping your head above water and a 19 year old trainee destined for the lower leagues who is minted and has carte blanche to do what they want. I don't think it's fair to be honest.

The superstars of the world, absolute machines. Ronaldo, Messi etc of course they are world stars. Whatever they get they are superstars. I'm referring here to the younger no marks or older average players are taking home more in a week than I earn in 2 years. Its bang out of order and puts the prices of everything up. From subscriptions to gate prices.

I would like to hear everyone else's opinion.

@themcnoisy I think there’s a lot to be said there looking at big name flops etc who still made an absolute mint in the process. Can’t think of too many other jobs where you can be rubbish, a complete waste of wages but still end up paying off your mortgage in a year.

@nessisonett paying off your mortgage in a week more like. Theo Walcotts on £150,000 a week reportedly.

@themcnoisy That’s a whole lotta money for FIFA 12 personified. Meanwhile I’m budgeting so that I can afford FF7 on launch!

@nessisonett exactly. Don't get me wrong I'm doing great and this isn't a poor vs rich thing. If an amazing pioneering doctor or sublime mathematician was earning this coin, fantastic. But it's Theo Walcott.

Footballers are also the most boring people ever. I watched a 5 minute question video of Mendy and Marhez from Man City, it was uninspiring and pathetic. Literally anyone else would have been better on this video, I came away and it made my life worse in a way I couldn't explain. I felt sad. I was sad for them. They made staring at paint seem a good option. They looked like they were having fun, smiling at their own answers and stuff. But the insightful answers of what goes on in the dressing room, it was like a really bland person reading monotone a laundry list of Microsoft word font styles. I became less interested in football after that video. Hung up my boots and threw my shin pads at a passing stranger who resembled Kasper Schmeichel.

@DonJorginho He is a good player, but I would be a bit wary of over hyping him (something we are guilty of in the UK) as he still has to prove himself in the Premier League.

@themcnoisy I agree completely that football wages are insane.

Look at my club's very own Callum Hudson-Odoi, scored a few average goals in the Europa League then sulked over not starting over Eden Hazard, so threatened to leave, and as we were so desperate to keep him, we offered 18 year old CHO a £140k a week contract.

The wages are insane and it puts me off football as much as I used to be, especially when you have injured footballers like Sturridge who have continued to get their wages when sitting at home for 8 months at a time.

@JohnnyShoulder Oh I agree, he will need to improve aspects of his game to be a great PL player but has all the qualities Lampard loves, relentless pressing, a proper engine, good eye for a tackle and an amazing passing ability, also is not scared to shoot from outside the box what we lack.

@DonJorginho @themcnoisy Yep there is too much player power and agents have too much sway. But it is what it is, it is probably too late to change things now, there should had been a wages cap about 15 years ago. The football is still fantastic to watch, players being on huge amounts of money does not effect that. You are always gonna get a few bad apples like Neymar, but overall I think the players these days are more professional and althetic then they have ever been. Not sure if that would be the case if it wasn't for the money being piled into the game.

Man City have been banned from the Champers League for 2 years!

@JohnnyShoulder Any club that big has a few skeletons in its closet so it was Chelsea last time, now it’s Man City’s turn. They’ll be furious though, the next two years would have been a good time for them to win it.

A mixed bag for UK teams tonight. Good news for Wolves and Man Utd fans but Arsenal got pipped right at the 119th minute which has got to sting. I’m heartbroken about Celtic being knocked out by Copenhagen mostly because Rangers went through last night, it’s bloody typical 😂😂

@nessisonett I think it's time the prem had a merger with Scotland. Get Rangers and Celtic starting in the championship or even league 1. Then another 12 teams spread into league 1, 2 and the conference. I understand why it hasn't happened yet (we have 3 out of 6 votes in world football rules as home nations) but it should happen.

@themcnoisy I dunno, the Scottish leagues have a lot of historical significance and I worry that Celtic and Rangers would just get swallowed up by the bigger leagues. No European football would be a big loss because let’s be honest, they’re not finishing in the top 6 in the Premier League but it wasn’t even 10 years ago that Celtic got to the quarter finals of the Champions League. They both need proper competition however, the other teams aren’t catching up this century so it’s definitely a question to be posed.

Celtic have won the European cup - although not since the late 60's. Its clear that the Scottish League is not that and struggles to bring in and keep the 'biggest' players. Its almost a stepping stone to bigger things. Its been a 'two team' league - reduced to one for a while for years. Over 100 of the League seasons have been won by Celtic or Rangers.

However it has a LOT of history and it would be a shame to see the Scottish League(s) swallowed up in a 'British' league and by having its own separate thing, it does give them big European nights on a regular basis - even if they are not as successful as teams from England, Spain, Italy and Germany.

I don't know what the answer is. I think part of the reason Celtic and Rangers can draw the players they do is because they regularly offer European football even if for some its a chance to sell themselves. They also win domestic silverware on a regular basis - its like going to PSG or another very dominant team in a 'weak' league. I don't think it would be in the Scottish leagues interest to merge with the English league. They would lose their own cup competitions and reduce the chance of European football. If it was merged, I can't see UEFA giving those places to the 'British' League but giving an extra place to Italy and/or France for example. Places are allocated based on European results and Spain, England etc get more places because of their success - not just winning but even teams that get to the Semi-finals get 'points' for example and that determines how many teams in Europe we get. England gets 4 right now but we were close to losing that 4th spot to Italy a few years ago. Success in recent years have given us a decent points haul but if we go through a period of not getting through the group stages, failing at the qualification stages, we could lose that 4th place - if other countries consistently reach the latter stages of all European competitions.

@themcnoisy Yeah not gonna happen.

Nations League Group D2 is amazing. I've had a soft spot for both San Marino and Gib for a long time. Looking forward to this one. Anyone know about Liechtenstein?

San Marino
Liechtenstein
Gibraltar