is the champions league just a big fix?

a reply to: alldaylong

Nah they played better than us that is all.
I'm gonna put 20 on city still winning the whole thing .

a reply to: oloufo
It aint over yet...If a team containing Djimi Traore can score 3 goals in 45 minutes against AC MIlan, I am sure City can score 3 in 90 minutes.

a reply to: SprocketUK

na, city is out - liverpool will score at least one goal.
as a bayernfan i would like to see bayern vs. liverpool in the semifinals - and then we beat madrid in the finals.(:
greets!

a reply to: SprocketUK

You gonna throw every team out of every competition when a tiny number of their fans break a window on a coach now

Nowhere on this thread have you condemned the behaviour of the thugs.

Any chance on doing so?

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: SprocketUK

You gonna throw every team out of every competition when a tiny number of their fans break a window on a coach now

Nowhere on this thread have you condemned the behaviour of the thugs.

Any chance on doing so?

Come on. Lets leave the bs demanding of personal statements and condemnation to all the political wankers. Its pathetic.

a reply to: 1337Kph

Since 2009 I have no doubt in my mind that the champions league is rigged in favor of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Yeah, me too.

That match was disgraceful.

But match fixing has always gone on.
The Mighty Leeds v Bayern Munich. 1975.
en.wikipedia.org...
ETA
And of course the 1973 Cup Winners Cup.
The Mighty Leeds v A.C. Milan
en.wikipedia.org...

Really fancied Liverpool to win the other night, had a small wager - £10 double, Barcelona to win and both teams to score doubled with Liverpool to win and both teams to score.
Typical of my luck recently.

Would love to see Liverpool beat Barcelona in the final considering Barcelona have bought Liverpool's two alleged best players recently.

Always root for the English clubs in Europe, would be nice though if more English players actually played for them.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Nothing would shock me.

But the real fix is, that the programming works. Football is such a dunderheaded game, played professionally by men who are too functionally useless at being men, to do anything more worthwhile with their time. They should all be forced to get real jobs, and stop earning millions of pounds to do what really dedicated people will do for free on the weekend.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
But the real fix is, that the programming works. Football is such a dunderheaded game, played professionally by men who are too functionally useless at being men, to do anything more worthwhile with their time. They should all be forced to get real jobs, and stop earning millions of pounds to do what really dedicated people will do for free on the weekend.

I'm sure that can't be said for each and every player out there.. we can't really know for sure it's correct about most of them. And besides, it's a ball game like others. What other ball game can be considered sophisticated?

I agree with you about players being overpaid. Hell Neymar was recently bought for a price of a fighter jet. Have to appreciate the top players tho, they are overpaid as hell yet still put the majority of their lives into training, not to mention giving their 100% when it's game time.
Lots of people would love retiring for life after one season that earned you millions.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: SprocketUK

You gonna throw every team out of every competition when a tiny number of their fans break a window on a coach now

Nowhere on this thread have you condemned the behaviour of the thugs.

Any chance on doing so?

No, because it's off topic and just you trolling

a reply to: TrueBrit

I know what you mean,
Though when I see someone like Robbo, or Trent running their hearts out, it reminds me there are real people who grew up loving the game and actually made it.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Hello my friend,

While I usually agree with your statements, I have to say you are really oversimplifying things.

I have personal experience with the dedication and work it takes to excel at that level..

I played goalkeepr competitively for Many years.
The highest level I made it to was an alternate for the Olympic development program..

The amount of pure determination and perseverance required to actually make it to the pros is ridiculous.

I was playing for two teams each season, 3 seasons a year,and attended Tony D's goalkeeper academy.



The difference in skill level from a club team to a traveling team is staggering ,and it's another huge leap in skill from a traveling team to a state select team.. And the difference again between a state select level of play and Olympic development is miles apart..

When you see someone make it to the big show and get paid, you should cheer them on, you have no idea of the 1000's of hours training, and the mental fortitude it takes to get there..


I'm Sry I'm still on my first cup of coffee and that probably seemed like a jumbled mess..




Respectfully,
~meathead

originally posted by: SprocketUK
a reply to: TrueBrit

I know what you mean,
Though when I see someone like Robbo, or Trent running their hearts out, it reminds me there are real people who grew up loving the game and actually made it.

Yes!

I know where TrueBrit is coming from, but there are plenty who do good with their position, LFC alone are involved in lots of charity and community work, as are players and ex players off their own back, separate from the club. This is how it should be in my opinion and shouldn't be glossed over ... do they still get paid too much? # yes!!! credit where it is due though.

If there was any fix then it was the draw that brought two of the most dangerous teams in Europe together where one will be eliminated. There are always rumours about how that is achieved. I doubt Real Madrid or Barcelona really fancied their chances against either Liverpool or Manchester City. Will we ever be able to prove anything like that goes on though? I doubt it. Look at how the World Cups in Russia and Qatar were awarded. It's not even a secret that bribes and illegal financial dealing went on in FIFA when these countries were chosen as hosts. But, within football, no one still surviving wants to upset the apple cart in case further criminal activities amongst football's elite administrators are brought out into the open.

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Regarding the 'bottling' of the City team bus. Which is slightly off-topic.

I don't mind saying it was totally out of order. All genuine football fans feel the same way. There is unfortunately a feral element inherent in certain people. With others it only emerges when they drink heavily. Add the tribal nature of football and you have a problem.

It's hardly an isolated incident. Barcelona recently had their team bus damaged by Valencia hooligans.
It was only a year ago that explosions went off close to a Borrussia Dortmund team bus in very different but much more dangerous circumstances. A year before that West Ham fans damaged the Manchester United team bus.. If you really dig you will find much worse stories. Remember how foreign fans were repeatedly getting stabbed in Italy for years and Turkey in years gone by? Or the Russian mob attacking British (and other) supporters in France in 2016 was disgraceful at Euro 2016.

It is only a minority of so called 'football fans'. But how is a football club/national association supposed to control everyone who attaches themselves as a fan beyond the confines of their own stadium?

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With CL you can have officials from multiple nations and all who may not have a common verbal language at a good enough level and you can communicate at a distance via visual things easier especially when theres a lot of noise as normally the start of a game has a lot of singing and chanting between fans and be thankful it wasn't Stoke fans at the Boothen end as they're pretty much the loudest people around and I should know

Would be good to see if its just a ref's shorthand such as 3 mins till kick off and we'll ask the team in that direction to flip the coin etc.

a reply to: mirageman


There have been rumours that way for years.
People talking about putting a ball in the chiller so its easy for the celeb to find it when he needs to.

When you see that Real and Barca only faced each other 4 times in the European cup and that 3 of those were in semis, it can make you wonder.

a reply to: SprocketUK

To be honest I haven't worked out the odds of Barca and Real Madrid facing each other since the Champions League began (what was it? 25 years ago or so?). But I doubt the statistics would prove anything. Country protection applies up to the 2nd Round anyway.

We should probably just enjoy the football and look at who the likely semi-finalists will be now.

As coaches go I think it's easy to see how Pep and Jurgen really do work with and improve their players. Yes they have a lot of resources to work from as two of the richest clubs in the world. But it takes something extra in my opinion to coach a team how to play open, attractive attacking football and improve players like Lallana, De Bruyne, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling etc, etc.

I don't place Zidane (legend that he was as a player) anywhere near that level. Nor Ernesto Tejedor at Barca. Heynckes at Bayern is an absolute legend and has already won the ECL twice as manager. But I don't think the Bundesliga or the La Liga offer the same challenges that the Premier League do to a manager.

Remember that's just my opinion though!

a reply to: mirageman
Great managers would be a whole other thread and, dare I say it, more bitter than a Trump Hillary one haha.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Fixed or not it does not change the fact that real madrid will win it again

Didn't see that Roma victory over Barcelona coming whatsoever.

Maybe they have it too easy playing in La Liga!

a reply to: mirageman

Blew me away that one