Weekend Football

[Ascotexgunner]

Seriously, Arteta is costing Arsenal the title.
Absolutely cowardly tactics and starting lineup, go a goal down and zero ideas other than tippy happy round the box.....
Even the Stoke tactic is wearing thin.

[Orion1871]

Title sealed for Liverpool.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Liverpool not playing great and looking pretty unconvincing, but already 5 points clear. Will their performance levels improve? Or will results start to slip?

And even if their results tail off a little, will anyone take advantage? Arsenal and City don't look great. Last season Liverpool were pretty average after the New Year and nobody applied pressure on them.

After a few years of having two exceptional teams in Klopp's Liverpool and Guardiola's City v.1, it seems there is a bit of a lull now. Arguably it makes the league more competitive and exciting, but the title races and matches those two had were awesome.

I also wonder what the future is for Arsenal and Arteta. He's done a good job and has made them consistently compete at the top level, but if he can't complete the job this season, is it time for someone else to have a go? As outlined above, he's not competing with exceptional teams.

[Ascotexgunner]

Liverpool not playing great and looking pretty unconvincing, but already 5 points clear. Will their performance levels improve? Or will results start to slip?

And even if their results tail off a little, will anyone take advantage? Arsenal and City don't look great. Last season Liverpool were pretty average after the New Year and nobody applied pressure on them.

After a few years of having two exceptional teams in Klopp's Liverpool and Guardiola's City v.1, it seems there is a bit of a lull now. Arguably it makes the league more competitive and exciting, but the title races and matches those two had were awesome.

I also wonder what the future is for Arsenal and Arteta. He's done a good job and has made them consistently compete at the top level, but if he can't complete the job this season, is it time for someone else to have a go? As outlined above, he's not competing with exceptional teams.

As mentioned by a friend. Arteta is the Spanish Southgate. Gets his team to that next level but not capable of getting over the line and come the big game, pulls the hand break up.

[BRO_BOT]

#21 is coming

[windermereROYAL]

5 games gone 33 to play, after next week Arsenal will have played united Liverpool Newcastle away and city at home in their first 6 games, Liverpool have played Arsenal home and Newcastle away.

On todays game, that twat Neville called city`s performance a masterclass in defending while in the past he`s slated Arsenal for exactly the same thing, remember city away with 10 men last year? Keane and Carragher are no better, hypocrisy of the highest level.

[BRO_BOT]

5 games gone 33 to play, after next week Arsenal will have played united Liverpool Newcastle away and city at home in their first 6 games, Liverpool have played Arsenal home and Newcastle away.

On todays game, that twat Neville called city`s performance a masterclass in defending while in the past he`s slated Arsenal for exactly the same thing, remember city away with 10 men last year? Keane and Carragher are no better, hypocrisy of the highest level.

or they HAVE actually played:

AFC:
promoted Leeds
15th place Utd
7th place Forest
3rd place City
1st Champions LFC

Quite interesting to see who others have played

LFC:
promoted Burnley
13th Everton
9th Bournemouth
5th Newcastle
2nd Arsenal

UTD:
promoted Burnley
11th Fulham
4th Chelsea
3rd Man City
2nd Arsenal

SPURS:
promoted Burnley
14th West Ham
9th Bournemouth
8th Brighton
3rd Man City

BOURNEMOUTH:
17th Spurs
16th Wolves
8th Brighton
5th Newcastle
1st LFC

[Sanguine]

Evens out a bit over the coming weeks, with Liverpool's next two league fixtures being trips to Palace and Chelsea. If Liverpool win those two and stretch their lead again, Paddy Power might even pay out on the title race, as they do with this kind of thing.

I think a lot is being made of Liverpool 'not being at their best', but that's only defensively, and in moments. I don't think their attacking play and intricate passing and fluid movement is getting much coverage. Look so hard to beat.

[Sanguine]

Returning as I do to Crystal Palace and the extraordinary turnaround made at the club by Oliver Glasner and his players. Now unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions, dating back to their (really odd) 5-0 defeat at Newcastle in April. Just so tough to beat, they've conceded only 11 goals in those games. And brilliant on their travels too - only three away defeats in all competitions dating back to last October, 25 games.

[South Coast Royal]

Seriously, Arteta is costing Arsenal the title.
Absolutely cowardly tactics and starting lineup, go a goal down and zero ideas other than tippy happy round the box.....
Even the Stoke tactic is wearing thin.

I thought that but Rice ,when interviewed afterwards, said they had played really wel (is this part of the modern football philosophy that you must always look at the positives regardless of what has happened?).
For once I agreed with Carra when he said that Arsenal's problem is not being without a decent striker it is that they fail to make enough chances.

As fot the long throws and corners this is not Wimbledon it is Arsenal who have spent a small fortune on good footballers but seem to want to rely on goalmouth scrambles for their goals.
Very un-Spanish.

[Sanguine]

Feels like the Ballon D'Or has just become about rewarding an excellent player on the Champions League winning team (I've not checked prior winners, likely proves me wrong!).

Dembele I don't get at all. This is a 28 year old with 81 career league goals. Before last season you have to go back to 2015/16 for the last time he hit double figures. And sure, 35 goals in all comps for PSG, a great season. But better than Salah's season? Come on now.

Point of the team award is to award the best team. Which was PSG. If Liverpool had won the CL, Salah probably would have got the Ballon D'Or. It's a little silly.

Takes me to an astonishing stat. In 1998-99, Dwight Yorke was the Champions League top scorer, the Premier League top scorer, he got second most assists in the Champions League, third most assists in the Premier League, and United won an unprecedented English domestic treble. Yorke came 11th in the Ballon D'Or voting.

[Hendo]

Feels like the Ballon D'Or has just become about rewarding an excellent player on the Champions League winning team (I've not checked prior winners, likely proves me wrong!).

Dembele I don't get at all. This is a 28 year old with 81 career league goals. Before last season you have to go back to 2015/16 for the last time he hit double figures. And sure, 35 goals in all comps for PSG, a great season. But better than Salah's season? Come on now.

Point of the team award is to award the best team. Which was PSG. If Liverpool had won the CL, Salah probably would have got the Ballon D'Or. It's a little silly.

Takes me to an astonishing stat. In 1998-99, Dwight Yorke was the Champions League top scorer, the Premier League top scorer, he got second most assists in the Champions League, third most assists in the Premier League, and United won an unprecedented English domestic treble. Yorke came 11th in the Ballon D'Or voting.

Harry Kane being 13th in the voting also seems well off.

[Winston Biscuit]

Kvaratskhelia should have been much higher. him joining PSG in January coincided with them turning around their Champions League season, and that wasn't just coincidence (and he was great for Napoli in the firsy half of the season)

[Winston Biscuit]

What Is Evaluated in the Candidates?

Journalists must adhere to three main criteria defined by France Football:

Individual and decisive performance: Goals, assists, statistics, influence on the game, and consistency throughout the season.

Collective successes and team achievements: Titles won at both club and international levels, and the player’s role in those successes.

Fair play and public image: The footballer’s class on and off the pitch, including sportsmanship and charitable actions.

Within this framework, the 2025 Ballon d’Or not only honors the best player of the season but also the one who embodies the values of football both on and off the field.

[BRO_BOT]

Takes me to an astonishing stat. In 1998-99, Dwight Yorke was the Champions League top scorer, the Premier League top scorer, he got second most assists in the Champions League, third most assists in the Premier League, and United won an unprecedented English domestic treble. Yorke came 11th in the Ballon D'Or voting.

Think Beckham should have won that year. He was Utd's best player, contributed to all of the big goals etc. Assume Rivaldo won based on international performances (plus club obvs) as Brazil won the Copa America

A lot of strikers are above Yorke who play for much better/larger national teams. Without checking, I doubt they scored significantly more club goals, so I have to assume national team performances counted.

Order Player Club Nationality Points

1 Rivaldo Barcelona Brazil 219
2 David Beckham Manchester United England 154
3 Andriy Shevchenko Milan Ukraine 64
4 Gabriel Batistuta Fiorentina Argentina 48
5 Luís Figo Barcelona Portugal 38
6 Roy Keane Manchester United Republic of Ireland 36
7 Christian Vieri Lazio Italy 33
8 Juan Sebastián Verón Lazio Argentina 30
9 Raúl Real Madrid Spain 27
10 Lothar Matthäus Bayern Munich Germany 16
11 Dwight Yorke Manchester United Trinidad and Tobago 14
12 Jaap Stam Manchester United Netherlands 13

[Sanguine]

Yeah, that's probably true. Hadn't occurred to me that playing for Trinidad might have hurt his chances.

[Winston Biscuit]

yeah just looked it up and Rivaldo was joint top scorer in the Copa America in 99

[Pepe the Horseman]

Wtf was Ekitike thinking? Either he didn't know it was a bookable offense, forgot that he'd already been booked, or wanted to miss the next game. But why take your shirt off for a goal in the mickey mouse cup against a team in the league below?!

[South Coast Royal]

Wtf was Ekitike thinking? Either he didn't know it was a bookable offense, forgot that he'd already been booked, or wanted to miss the next game. But why take your shirt off for a goal in the mickey mouse cup against a team in the league below?!

These are the occasions when "footballers are thick" rings true.
Barmy.

[Royal Rother]

Seriously, Arteta is costing Arsenal the title.
Absolutely cowardly tactics and starting lineup, go a goal down and zero ideas other than tippy happy round the box.....
Even the Stoke tactic is wearing thin.

I thought that but Rice ,when interviewed afterwards, said they had played really wel (is this part of the modern football philosophy that you must always look at the positives regardless of what has happened?).
For once I agreed with Carra when he said that Arsenal's problem is not being without a decent striker it is that they fail to make enough chances.

As fot the long throws and corners this is not Wimbledon it is Arsenal who have spent a small fortune on good footballers but seem to want to rely on goalmouth scrambles for their goals.
Very un-Spanish.

Their reliance on set pieces to create chances rather than focusing on using the hugely gifted resources at their disposal to create chances in open play is an embarrassment.

It suggests they spend a lot of time working on them in training - no wonder Gyokeres is struggling to get involved in games.

Arteta's days are surely numbered - I suspect their courtship of Iraola has begun behind the scenes.