Guest firetotheworks Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 That said, they've only conceded 2 goals all tournament. Which is obscene. That's fucking outrageous. Surely that's a record? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Aye Bayern, Barca, Real and to a lesser extent Atletico have dominated the tournament in recent years. Wouldn't say it's rigged- those are the best teams in Europe by a distance. even when Chelsea won it the big 3 were the best teams that year. Yes they are the 'best', but it's made the tournament boring. Globalization has turned the best clubs into global brands, with enormous revenue streams, that monopolize their leagues and hoover up the world's talent. The CL is a tournament built to allow these clubs to reinforce their brand as they qualify every year (even if they finish 3rd or 4th in their league), get to play 6 group stage games against lesser sides due to seeding, then have country restrictions help them out in the last 16 too. It's basically a guaranteed quarter final place every year at this point. They've always been big clubs, but they're almost indestructible now. Barca have 3 of the best forwards in the world, Real Madrid too, and they have a bench filled up with talent that would star for teams elsewhere. It's not just the tournament that's 'rigged', it's the entire set-up of the global game, but the Champions League has become a particularly powerful tool in reinforcing unbreakable and insurmountable hierarchies. If the CL is a shit tournament football isn't worth watching. Its the best tournament from the knockouts onwards. This years has been quality and there's signs the field might be opening. This is the kind of post that suggests you don't actually go to many games and watch much football in person. Football is worth watching at all levels. It's the best sport in the world for entertainment, atmosphere, tribalism, and a feeling of belonging. People turn up in their droves every week to watch all kind of levels, all around the world, all poorer than the Champions League. The CL is a 'shit' tournament not because of the players that are involved in it. Obviously it has most of the best players in the world playing in it and has the highest pure footballing level. The problem is the inequality involved, the monopolization of talent, the few number of teams who actually have a chance of winning it, the fact the same ties are consistently repeated year on year. There's only so much of Bayern vs Barca, Barca vs PSG, Bayern vs Real Madrid before things become very dull. I guess not though, because plenty the world over still stick the telly on to watch, so it must be me that's got it wrong by being so fatigued. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Really hope Juve win Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leffe186 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Yes they are the 'best', but it's made the tournament boring...(...)...fatigued. What you said. All of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Aye Bayern, Barca, Real and to a lesser extent Atletico have dominated the tournament in recent years. Wouldn't say it's rigged- those are the best teams in Europe by a distance. even when Chelsea won it the big 3 were the best teams that year. Yes they are the 'best', but it's made the tournament boring. Globalization has turned the best clubs into global brands, with enormous revenue streams, that monopolize their leagues and hoover up the world's talent. The CL is a tournament built to allow these clubs to reinforce their brand as they qualify every year (even if they finish 3rd or 4th in their league), get to play 6 group stage games against lesser sides due to seeding, then have country restrictions help them out in the last 16 too. It's basically a guaranteed quarter final place every year at this point. They've always been big clubs, but they're almost indestructible now. Barca have 3 of the best forwards in the world, Real Madrid too, and they have a bench filled up with talent that would star for teams elsewhere. It's not just the tournament that's 'rigged', it's the entire set-up of the global game, but the Champions League has become a particularly powerful tool in reinforcing unbreakable and insurmountable hierarchies. If the CL is a shit tournament football isn't worth watching. Its the best tournament from the knockouts onwards. This years has been quality and there's signs the field might be opening. This is the kind of post that suggests you don't actually go to many games and watch much football in person. Football is worth watching at all levels. It's the best sport in the world for entertainment, atmosphere, tribalism, and a feeling of belonging. People turn up in their droves every week to watch all kind of levels, all around the world, all poorer than the Champions League. The CL is a 'shit' tournament not because of the players that are involved in it. Obviously it has most of the best players in the world playing in it and has the highest pure footballing level. The problem is the inequality involved, the monopolization of talent, the few number of teams who actually have a chance of winning it, the fact the same ties are consistently repeated year on year. There's only so much of Bayern vs Barca, Barca vs PSG, Bayern vs Real Madrid before things become very dull. I guess not though, because plenty the world over still stick the telly on to watch, so it must be me that's got it wrong by being so fatigued. Well said. That said I'd prefer Juve to win it for Gigi but Monaco would be the real shock before their team gets hoovered up by those mentioned and Sky TV. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmoset Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Just cba with another Madrid derby. Monaco vs real or juve final would be nice. When's the draw? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
themanupstairs Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Just cba with another Madrid derby. Monaco vs real or juve final would be nice. When's the draw? Friday I would imagine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 A "shit tournament" sounds like a dig at the quality. And you said it best, the CL is as rigged as the modern game in general. Apart from following our club - why bother with the rest? From a personal perspective? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leffe186 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 A "s*** tournament" sounds like a dig at the quality. And you said it best, the CL is as rigged as the modern game in general. Apart from following our club - why bother with the rest? From a personal perspective? It is a dig at the quality, just not necessarily the quality of the football itself. And when the best players in the world are resorting to flinging themselves to the ground at every opportunity - like Barca were the other week - then even the quality of the football comes into question. And frankly, many of us who have been following the game for years have been asking "why bother with the rest" for some time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. Couldn't believe how many people seemed to want Leicester to get turned over like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. Couldn't believe how many people seemed to want Leicester to get turned over like. Same. I'm by no means a 'support all English teams' cretin but generally like to see the smaller clubs do well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. How is it rigged in favour of the bigger teams? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. How is it rigged in favour of the bigger teams? 4 teams from the 3 biggest leagues. Seedings. Outrageous refereeing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. How is it rigged in favour of the bigger teams? 4 teams from the 3 biggest leagues. Seedings. Outrageous refereeing. How many of the three biggest leagues have a team in the semi finals? 1. The only outrageous refereeing I've seen in it this season was in favour of one massive club against another one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Pons got it spot on. It's armchair fan, American style guff for the most part. Odd decent story like a Leicester / Monaco but it's so heavily rigged in favour of maintaining the dominance of a handful of vile teams. How is it rigged in favour of the bigger teams? 4 teams from the 3 biggest leagues. Seedings. Outrageous refereeing. How many of the three biggest leagues have a team in the semi finals? 1. The only outrageous refereeing I've seen in it this season was in favour of one massive club against another one 2. Both madrid clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmoset Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Well he means 1 league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astroblack Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 ESPN FC panel were saying Barca are on the decline and their era of dominance is over. Craig Burley was the only one defending them. The moron host said that Busquets will never get back to the level he was at before. Shaka Hislop just seems so stupid, too. Iniesta is 32, not 36, he doesn't need replacing immediately. He's probably got two-three maybe more seasons left. Also Ian Wright yesterday was shocking. I thought Messi played well personally, but if you heard his punditry, you'd think he was anonymous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 ESPN FC panel were saying Barca are on the decline and their era of dominance is over. Media says this every time they lose it's quite funny actually. By their logic their "era" has been over 3 or 4 times already. I don't know why people are shocked anyway, they have a great front 3 and fuck all else. I don't care how good your attack is it's nothing without a midfield to support it. It's absolutely no coincidence they have lost the last two years to teams with great defensive ability and organisation, when the attack breaks down the midfield has to restart it and get the forwards into position to do damage and there's no chance of that happening with their current team. Hope Juve or Monaco win it anyway, bored to all hell of the Madrid teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ameritoon Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 A good rule of thumb is to never watch ESPN FC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Hmmm..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I should've listened to Robbo. Not a sentence I thought I'd say in my lifetime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 About the only intelligent thing he's said in his life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 For a number of years it was semi final or win the whole thing, pretty much every year. For the first time in awhile they've gone 2 years without making the semi's. Unless something changes significantly they won't win it basically every 2 years like they've done for the previous decade more or less. But with a front 3 like that, never more than a good run from winning it again. Age is a factor because signings are so poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemtizz Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 ESPN FC panel were saying Barca are on the decline and their era of dominance is over. Craig Burley was the only one defending them. The moron host said that Busquets will never get back to the level he was at before. Shaka Hislop just seems so stupid, too. Iniesta is 32, not 36, he doesn't need replacing immediately. He's probably got two-three maybe more seasons left. Also Ian Wright yesterday was shocking. I thought Messi played well personally, but if you heard his punditry, you'd think he was anonymous. See what Ranieri said? “It’s the end of an era. Now the have a lot of reconstruction work to do. It’s not the first time this has happened in football. The cycles end. Manchester United’s ended, so did Milan’s, Ajax’s and Inter’s after the treble. Now it’s Barcelona’s turn.” A top manager, a right back and a CM and they're good. Comparing their situation to Milan and Inter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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