Kaizero

As I feel obliged to have my agency sometimes publish content online to maintain some relevance on SoMe platforms and search results, I wrote a short piece about fans protesting VAR: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7268176316275838977/ tl;dr cliffnotes are that the reasons fans are protesting have genuine validity, but that they aren't actually protesting the actual culprit for their dislike of VAR - which eventually could lead to football as a whole becoming much worse than it is today. FIFA having hustled their way into IFAB not being able to pass any revisions/additions/removals to the Laws of the Game without their vote has, since it happened, continually made the game worse every year following the annual IFAB board meeting. The EC this summer was the perfect example of this, as the outrage fans showed against VAR turned into a fire that ended up continually having gasoline poured onto it by the media looking to turn the outrage against VAR incidents into clicks and ad revenue. In reality, however, EC 2024 was the most accurately refereed international competition in history. What fans were actually enraged about wasn't VAR, it was the referees utilizing VAR to correctly apply the Laws of the Game - which at the time had just been given its annual post-IFAB board meeting update, which included an even larger amount of mind-boggling rule revisions and additions than it usually does. Granted, fans can't exactly be expected to, once a year, read through ca. 230 A4 pages worth of rules and regulations that referees need to be aware of so they can enforce them in every professional competitive football match across the globe It's about the same length as The Great Gatsby, but instead of reading about a mysterious millionaire with an obsession to reunite with his former lover, it's bullet point after bullet point in dry, bland, language that flows just as fluently to a reader as the Terms & Conditions text everyone ignore when they click "accept". If fans want to see football improve, they shouldn't be doing it through a VAR witch hunt - they should burn the actual witches, IFAB, at the stake.

From a purely geographic standpoint, I can never truly wish Bodø/Glimt well, whatsoever*. That said,I can't really deny having experienced some joyous emotions from being able to witness a Norwegian team regularly qualify for the group stage in a European competition AND not ending up just making complete fools of themselves for six straight matches before crashing out of Europe, finishing bottom of their group! Been far too long since Rosenborg were regulars in the CL from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, our league isn't great, but neither is it as shit as our teams have pretended like it is when playing in Europe Putting the rest of the post in a spoiler as I ended up going off on a loooong rant about football rivalries and culture in Northern Norway, as well as football's status and history in my hometown compared to Bodø - then realized where I was about to post that very specific rant about non-Newcastle/English football and concluded that it might just be interesting enough for someone with enough hipster-esque football club interests like Disco to bother reading, and even then I'm not even sure it's interesting enough for Disco

Lampard actively, at least, appears to be wanting to become a manager and appears to be keeping up to date with tactics and visiting other clubs to learn from other managers. I put "appears" in italics because for all I know he could be like the pair you mentioned, Gerrard and Rooney, who doesn't even appear to be doing anything other than relying on getting gigs because they used to play footy themselves once upon a time - not caring that playing and managing are two completely different things

No-one asked, but my personality type won't allow me to not explain Bodø/Glimt's weird name The club was formed as "FK Glimt" in the early 1900s when football was still mainly played regionally, not nationally, in Norway - which was fair enough given the vast distances to travel during a time when mass transportation mainly took place by boat However, a few years after after WW2, Norway got its first national league pyramid and it became known that a club from the Trondheim region also had the name "FK Glimt", and were formed before the Bodø team with the same name. So they changed their name to "FK Bodø-Glimt" to differentiate the teams, them changing their name even though being the "bigger" club was simply due to respecting the fact the other club called Glimt were named so first. Including the hyphen was to ensure people remember saying both words when referencing the club, as "Bodø" and "Glimt" are both two other, independent, clubs. HOWEVER As betting on football became increasingly popular in Norway, the third and final change to their name took place; changing "FK Bodø-Glimt" to "FK Bodø/Glimt". Now, one might ask oneself "why bother making such a small, seemingly unnecessary, change to their club name"? The reason was as simple as it's genuinely a bit dumb; when you bet on football matches, your betting slip used hyphens to differentiate between the home and away sides, so they changed the "-" to "/" so there'd be less confusion at the bookies when bets were placed on matches that seemingly were played by three teams, for example "Bodø-Glimt-Rosenborg"

They bought him from B/G and then shipped him back. Another piece of "evidence" for my theory about a manager implementing a tactical "system" where every player knows the exact "responsibility" and "expectation" for them when playing in a certain position being the best strategy a football manager can utilize. Pretty much every single player that's been sold from B/G have came crawling back with their tail between their legs after failing at a "bigger club" in a "better league". B/G players don't play anywhere near as well for the national side as they do for B/G as well, mainly due to the players not really being as good as the tactical system B/G utilizes makes them look like being First time I realized the above was when B/G thrashed Roma 6-1 after the press had been expecting, and building up to, the opposite happening - because B/G's four "best" players were all unavailable for the match. In the end, the four replacements (mainly youth team players) played just as well as the "best" players did in their positions and B/G's play and style didn't seem affected at all from "missing" their "best" players. B/G implements the same tactics as the first team does when it comes to style of play and positional/role responsibilities and expectations across all levels, starting at the most junior level, all the way through their youth sides and reserves. Replace any first team player with an available B/G player playing the same position and the team as a whole remains pretty much unaffected.

It's a safe bet to assume the likes of Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, England, Turkey, Sweden, Norway and Romania will be able to finish top two in their WC qualifying groups. If that turns out to be the case, San Marino didn't just win their Nations League group, they booked a ticket to the WC play-offs.

They don't make 'em like him anymore My favorite trivia about Collina is how he was the only active Serie A referee during the match fixing scandal that the match fixers couldn't turn, no matter how much money they tried to buy him with. When money didn't work, their next move was to pay a player to "accidentially" tackle and injure Collina, allowing for a bribed referee to ref the games he'd miss because of that injury... they got no takers, as even though they'd been bribed to fix matches already and seemingly had no fear of being caught doing that, they all feared Collina so much that nobody dared go near him

I feel like whoever allowed the drug addict walking about SJP, after being sent to the club by the dole office to get a week's worth of work training under his belt, to pose for our new merch might've been on some drugs themselves After looking at those three pics lined up... I mean... That's just photoshop at this point, right? I'm not blind? Not even Zoolander could keep his Blue Steel as identical as that bloke would be able to if it wasn't just one single picture of him

Well done to @Pata's U21 lads, no way we get back from 5-1 down to qualify for the 2025 EC in the reverse fixture. Finland's just done a perfect example of "it doesn't matter if you dominate the game if you can't score any goals"

You basically just helped my point by giving more "evidence" for the game being gone there, to be fair Ødegaard and Haaland aren't old, they're both almost billionaires at 24 and 25 years of age. Peresic is the youngest of the three players you mentioned, but still 1o years older than Haaland and Ødegaard. Those ten years may not sound like they should matter, but how kids today watch, and think, about football is completely alien to me - and I am Peresic's age I think I saw a stat about the average age of a season ticket holder 10 years ago, vs now, which coincidentally fits this post perfectly. But yeah, if someone first told you what the average age of a season ticket holder at a club in the top four divisions in England was, ten years ago - before proceeding to ask you to guess what the average age is today... would you *logically* have dared to answer an age that wasn't fairly close to what you were informed the average was ten years ago? Because if you would've done that, you'd be mistaken. The average age now, compared to ten years ago, is almost exactly ten years older - kids today doesn't have the attention span to go watch football. They can barely maintain interest watching it at home, where they'll certainly be diverting their attention to their phone screen for the better part of those 90 minutes than they do watching the actual game. I saw a report that kids aged 15 or less no longer watch matches on TV unless it's a match of utmost importance. Instead, they watch a TikTok with the most important highlights after the game has finished. Even if they play some football themselves I find it hard to believe that anyone, really, would believe that those kids - the same kids throwing a hissy fit if the TikTok highlights video even just dares to be any longer than 3 to 5 minutes - would grow up to become professional athletes that were motivated by their love for the game instead of the paycheck? I've been doing agent work on the side for almost two years now, so I've dealt with a fair amount of up and coming footballers from all around the world. The players you mentioned were kids when war ravaged the Balkan nations, which in turn makes me 100% believe that if a club/club manager had even just hinted to Dzeko that he should avoid playing for Bosnia, he'd knock them the fuck out. The Balkan countries are one of the few countries in Norway that still runs on national pride. The only youth players I've spoken to that felt like they would give all their blood, sweat and tears playing for their country - for which they wouldn't be paid - even though a club that pays them millions had asked them to consider it. Their motivation being personal achievement, winning trophies and making a name for themselves in the sport. It's literally the only country whose youth players haven't blatantly just told me that they don't care about what club they go to, as long as the club they sign for is the club that offered to pay them the most money. Putting which country it was in a spoiler so anyone that wants to guess before finding out get a chance to do that: If this trend continues, the players I've spoken to will be around 25 to 28 years old when we get to the 2030 WC in Saudi Arabia. If their players don't end up joining the current treng amongst youth players, they'll probably win that WC as their team will be the only one that actually care about winning it for the glory and honor it'd bring them. All the other country's players will phone it in because they can't believe they even agreed to giving up their holiday to go play football without even getting paid over 100k per week to do it.

Anniversary of what? by the looks of it, they're nine years too early for a centennial:

100% this! I'd not even mind him using the excuse he pulled today as a reason to stay behind in Norway, sitting out the Slovenia match. That choice could be framed by him as the captain "having faith in the team to do the business", yet still leave the window open for him to either start against the Kazakhs, or start on the bench to either sit that match out as well if we cruise to victory - or enter the pitch when/if needed as a "supersub", as what that would mean to the players on the pitch would be a massive motivating factor for the remainder of the game. They'd have been told the intention for Ødegaard would be to sit out the match, so when they see him get ready to come on - what they'd perceive would be their captain choosing to play through the "pain" to make sure Norway wins. It's even more infuriating once you stop to think about how well everything could be spun if they weren't idiots, just his presence in itself - putting the needs of the nation he's been chosen to lead above his own "needs"? Getting subbed on as a supersub, changing the pre-match plans because Norway appeared to need a lift? It's a shitshow. If Haaland hadn't acted like the biggest fucking spoilt brat when he filled in for Ødegaard as captain in the last two matches, I might have lost my shit less dramatically over this. But everything wrong with modern football keeps happening over and over and over again and I just... I despair, I feel saddened, I feel like my favorite sport doesn't exist anymore - actual footballers that at least somewhat care and gave a shit just doesn't exist anymore.

It's not the fact he chickened out of playing that grinds my gears the most, it's that he, the captain of the team - left the team to travel back to London, telling the press he intended to relax on his sofa and recuperate for the rest of the week. Even if you don't intend to play, when you've already traveled out to meet up with team... stick the fuck around and motivate your teammates as their fucking captain. Be a on the subs list for both matches, with the understanding that you won't get subbed in unless the match has become a defcon one situation or similar. It's about just taking basic responsibility for your given role as captain of the team... At worst, sit out the Slovenia away fixture and don't travel down there with the team tomorrow night. However, given that the fucker owns an even larger and better apartment in Oslo than the one he has in London, the fucker could just as well relax on his sofa there until the squad returns on Friday. Then he could join up with them during the day and relax in his fucking sofa the rest of the day. And, if the standings make it clear that Norway needs o win the last Nations League match against Kazaksthan to win their league, grow a pair of fucking balls, take responsibility and lead your fucking team out on the pitch to annihilate the fuckers. Play through the fucking pain, you fucking managed it extremely well for 90 minutes plus extra time this weekend, as well as half the match against Inter in a few days before that. Between this weekend's match and the Boratstan match on Sunday, you'll have been able to fucking sit and relax on your designer fucking sofa for an entire week. Blame UEFA and FIFA as much as you want, look me in the eyes and tell me Shearer would've done the same as Ødegaard ahead of two crucial matches to have a chance at qualifying for the World Cup? Or that Bryan Robson or Kevin Keegan would? All I see is that modern footballers don't even care about getting the chance to fight for glory in major tournaments, I'd not be surprised if the majority of professional footballers today don't actually enjoy the sport they play - for them it's just a job like any other. When players revealed that they didn't care about football even though they were among the best players in the world a decade or two ago, it sent shockwaves through the media... "how can he not enjoy football when he's so good at it?!?" Now, what used to be a shocking reveal, feels like the norm. I'd be more shocked if a player today said in an interview that they are genuinely passionate followers of the sport.

When that match against Kazakhstan most likely will end up being a decisive factor between playing at the WC in 2026 or staying home, again, you'd probably think otherwise - and I genuinely believe you would, because I doubt you are a self-centred prick like Ødegaard.

Up until Haaland and Ødegaard disgraced the captain's armband, international football was my only "safe space" left in modern football. Even though the players playing at the major tournaments now are multi-millionares, some bordering billionaires, when they put on national kit and went out to play football - the glory of winning the tournament remained, in essence, the only thing to play for. At a WC, EC, Copa or any other major worldwide or continental tournament, the players on the pitch want to be victorious so badly you can actually feel it through the TV screens (or from the pitch if you're someone that could afford traveling to a tournament and afford the ticket prices ). In a World Cup, even the minnow nations have a semblance of hope that they could put together a long enough streak of wins to take them to eternal glory and etch their names forever in the history books. International football was the only bastion left in modern football where the players give their all to represent their "hometown club", not for untold riches, but for the chance of experiencing true glory. Putting on your nation's jersey used to mean something, now even the fucking captain of a national team tell the country to go fuck itself because they want to chill out on their couch in London watching reruns of old Friends episodes instead. This was my watershed moment, football's gone and it's never coming back.