General Soccer/Football Discussion Thread 1.0

Post #81 » by **Baphomet** » Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:36 pm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67063281

Eden Hazard has retired from football aged 32. Excellent player in his day, arguably the best player in the PL for a couple of seasons. Slightly surprised to see this but I know his time at Real has been horrendous, not sure if that's mostly down to injuries or poor performance, or both.

Foye · Post #82 » by **Foye** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 10:14 am

Baphomet wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67063281

Eden Hazard has retired from football aged 32. Excellent player in his day, arguably the best player in the PL for a couple of seasons. Slightly surprised to see this but I know his time at Real has been horrendous, not sure if that's mostly down to injuries or poor performance, or both.

I was never the biggest fan of him.
Always seemed to disappear in the big games.
Although he did have some great seasons at Chelsea.

I think at one point it was questionable who is the best Belgian player of that generation Hazard or de Bruyne.
That discussion has comfortably moved into the direction that de Bruyne is the best.

Post #83 » by **Baphomet** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 4:10 pm

Foye wrote:
Baphomet wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67063281

Eden Hazard has retired from football aged 32. Excellent player in his day, arguably the best player in the PL for a couple of seasons. Slightly surprised to see this but I know his time at Real has been horrendous, not sure if that's mostly down to injuries or poor performance, or both.

I was never the biggest fan of him.
Always seemed to disappear in the big games.
Although he did have some great seasons at Chelsea.

I think at one point it was questionable who is the best Belgian player of that generation Hazard or de Bruyne.
That discussion has comfortably moved into the direction that de Bruyne is the best.

One of the few things No_20 was right about.

Foye · Post #84 » by **Foye** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 8:36 pm

Watch on YouTube

;pp=ygUQMjAwNSBlbCBjbGFzc2ljaQ%3D%3D

The amount of legends in this game was insane.
Beckham was actually one of the less talented players there…

wco81 · Post #85 » by **wco81** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 8:59 pm

I guess the Euro 2024 qualifying matches aren't too interesting, not many surprises so far?

Baseline81 · Post #86 » by **Baseline81** » Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:33 pm

wco81 wrote:I guess the Euro 2024 qualifying matches aren't too interesting, not many surprises so far?

Hard to get excited when there are matches featuring Malta and San Marino...

wco81 · Post #87 » by **wco81** » Sun Oct 15, 2023 1:12 am

I saw bits of the Netherlands-France match.

In most of the groups, the winner is still up for grabs. Only Portugal and France have pulled away from the rest of the teams in their respective groups.

After 5 or 6 matches, several of the groups have 3 teams within 3 points of each other. So in a 5-team group, there should be 8 total matches and in a 6-team group, there should be 10 matches? They're over half way there so there should be some clutch matches to play to determine which teams get out of the group stage.

MaliBrah · Post #88 » by **MaliBrah** » Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:58 am

We aren't going to see Norway , Haaland , and Odegaard at an international tournament ever huh.

reading that their last chance to qualify for euro 2024 will be through the nations league playoff.

Post #89 » by **Baphomet** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 3:57 pm

RIP Sir Bobby Charlton

One of England's greatest ever players, a legend on and off the pitch. Geoff Hurst is now the last surviving member of England's World Cup winning starting line-up from 1966.

wco81 · Post #90 » by **wco81** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 4:18 pm

Neymar tore his ACL in WC qualifying.

It's been over 20 years since Brazil won a WC. In fact they've not even made the final game since 2002 when they beat Germany 2-0.

That has to be a big deal over there, the biggest nation(in population) of the traditional football powers.

They've obviously produced great players since then, at least in club football.

But I guess 2014 had to be a nadir for the Brazilian National Team, being housed while hosting the WC.

They should still be contenders in 2026 when US hosts. Brazil won in 1994 when US last hosted.

Neymar will be over 34 then, so maybe his last chance. Maybe he will be able to do what Messi did last year, get the elusive cup late in his career.

hermes · Post #91 » by **hermes** » Mon Oct 23, 2023 3:02 pm

why is conmebol's qualifying starting so early?

Post #92 » by **magik9113** » Mon Oct 23, 2023 3:18 pm

I think it is always early because there is no qualifying for Copa America

Foye · Post #93 » by **Foye** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 2:17 pm

wco81 wrote:Neymar tore his ACL in WC qualifying.

It's been over 20 years since Brazil won a WC. In fact they've not even made the final game since 2002 when they beat Germany 2-0.

That has to be a big deal over there, the biggest nation(in population) of the traditional football powers.

They've obviously produced great players since then, at least in club football.

But I guess 2014 had to be a nadir for the Brazilian National Team, being housed while hosting the WC.

They should still be contenders in 2026 when US hosts. Brazil won in 1994 when US last hosted.

Neymar will be over 34 then, so maybe his last chance. Maybe he will be able to do what Messi did last year, get the elusive cup late in his career.

Brazil will be better without Neymar.

Gesendet von iPhone mit RealGM Forums

MetalFingaz · Post #94 » by **MetalFingaz** » Mon Oct 30, 2023 9:59 pm

Messi claims his 8th Ballon d'Or. It was never in doubt. Should've been Rodri though.

El Turco · Post #95 » by **El Turco** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:26 pm

over/under 10000 migrant workers dead for the Saudi world cup. At least they didnt have to buy off federation reps this time.

-Luke- · Post #96 » by **-Luke-** » Fri Nov 3, 2023 9:18 am

A lot of big traditional clubs with problems this year in Europe. Ajax was last in the Eredivisie until yesterday, but they won against Volendam in the first game of the new coach. I think they will turn the corner now. Lyon dead last in France with 3 points after nine games. FC Basel dead last in Switzerland and it's also not looking good.

GSWFan1994 · Post #97 » by **GSWFan1994** » Wed Nov 8, 2023 4:41 pm

wco81 wrote:Neymar tore his ACL in WC qualifying.

It's been over 20 years since Brazil won a WC. In fact they've not even made the final game since 2002 when they beat Germany 2-0.

That has to be a big deal over there, the biggest nation(in population) of the traditional football powers.

They've obviously produced great players since then, at least in club football.

But I guess 2014 had to be a nadir for the Brazilian National Team, being housed while hosting the WC.

They should still be contenders in 2026 when US hosts. Brazil won in 1994 when US last hosted.

Neymar will be over 34 then, so maybe his last chance. Maybe he will be able to do what Messi did last year, get the elusive cup late in his career.

Friendly reminder that Brazil has been through a similar drought before: 1970 --> 1994.

The last great brazilian team was the 2006 WC version. It didn't win then due to off-court problems.

Since then, the talent pool has really, REALLY dried out. Every now and then there appears a star, but in terms of having a consistent, top to bottom team, a full-on generation of great players, it's been lacking for a long time now.

Think about it: if you go back in time and put Neymar in the 2002 team, he would play alongside many other greats. Now he's basically playing by himself, in terms of the greatness of the other players. For example, a guy like Casimiro, who's highly regarded today, would hardly be a starter in previous teams. And don't even get me started on the midfielders, strikers, etc...

Our current crop of "number 9" players is far and away the very worst this country has ever seen. Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol, Richarlison, etc.

I just saw this argument in a podcast recently and I agree with it: when you had a classic, great Brazil team, you usually had 4 to 6 greats playing together at any time during their existence (1950-2006). And the other top teams in the world had like 1 to 4 per team. Now basically every team has 1 to 3, Brazil included. It has become more of an even field.

We have a few prospects coming up, like Endrick (Palmeiras, been sold to Real Madrid, will report next year I think), Vitor Roque (Athletico Paranaense, sold to Barcelona, ditto), both 18. And a few others.

Also there have been reports that Carlo Ancellotti (Real Madrid manager) has signed to coach Brazil's team in the next WC, but due to his obligations at Real, will only report next year. A great coach at the helm will surely improve our chances.

Another argument that is made nowadays is that the brazilian players, more and more, are exported at such a young age to foreign countries that they basically forget the "magic" aka "joga bonito" (improvisation skills, I shall say) that made brazilian futebol so well-known, distinguished and feared, as they learn the more european-focused "tactical futebol" and never look back.

Moreover, as a futebol fan for more than 35 years, what I see nowadays is that futebol has become very robotic. The emphasis on keeping the ball (keeping the possession) has really dragged the dynamic of the game down. In the past decades we had more of a "up and down" kind of game, fast attacks, consistent searching for goals. Now it's more of a "don't let the other team get the ball, pass to the side and only attack when you're very assured" kind of mentality. It's hard for me to explain it in english, hope you understand it.

Now I'd like to comment on a couple more things:

First, the feeling I get is that most of the brazilian population has cared LESS about futebol than in the past. That's what I get from talking to friends, workers, what I saw during the last 2 World Cups, etc.

Every Brazil WC game, in the country, is a holiday. Nobody works. Everything stops. You hear a lot of noise in the streets, in the bars, get togethers, fireworks happening, etc. Now in the latest WC there was a substantial decrease in the noise, and that was not only my impression, many people talked about that. I think that's a reflection of the 7-1 loss from 2014. People really lost that "mistique" (spl?) from the futebol team. People don't care as much nowadays. A lot from that could be that the typical brazilian doesn't identify with the players as much, as all of them go abroad to play and most never come back, so that feeling of seeing them live in the stadiums is gone. I could also say, though, that a lot of people desingaged from the "bread and circus" mentality when our country has been going through so much trouble, corruption, etc (that's for another day...).

Now my other point is, in the past, national teams were the absolute best at what you could get from a talent standpoint. When you had, let's say, a Germany x Italy match, you had multiple all-timers and stars on the field, it was a rare event, everybody tried to watch it. Now, the talent pool in futebol has become so concentrated, that if you pick the best 5 or 6 clubs in the world, they have a better roster than ALL the national teams. Think about it! For example, in the past, the Barcelona team would beat the Spanish team easily, Bayern Munich would beat the Germany team, and so on... that's unimaginable to me. And, as those teams play many times a year, and play each other many times as well, people won't get so excited to watch the national teams when they take part in competition, and also the quality of the games itself won't be as high.

Post #98 » by **Baphomet** » Wed Nov 8, 2023 5:46 pm

GSWFan1994 wrote:.

Great post. My brother was in Porto Alegre during last year's World Cup, and he said he couldn't believe how intense and passionate the Brazilian fans were. Of course we love football here in England too, but what you said about the country going to a standstill during Brazil's matches is so true.

I will say that Richarlison tends to perform quite well for Brazil whenever I've seen him. He's been poor for Spurs. I agree that he's not anywhere at the level you'd want playing up front for a legendary nation like Brazil, compared to the likes of o Fenomeno, Adriano, etc.

wco81 · Post #99 » by **wco81** » Wed Nov 8, 2023 5:57 pm

It would help to have a Messi in his 30s like last year, who carried the burden for the whole Argentina team and let other players rise while he was the one who was going to be blamed if Argentina failed again.

Might give the talented but young players more room to breathe.

GSWFan1994 · Post #100 » by **GSWFan1994** » Wed Nov 8, 2023 6:44 pm

Baphomet wrote:Great post. My brother was in Porto Alegre during last year's World Cup, and he said he couldn't believe how intense and passionate the Brazilian fans were. Of course we love football here in England too, but what you said about the country going to a standstill during Brazil's matches is so true.

I will say that Richarlison tends to perform quite well for Brazil whenever I've seen him. He's been poor for Spurs. I agree that he's not anywhere at the level you'd want playing up front for a legendary nation like Brazil, compared to the likes of o Fenomeno, Adriano, etc.

Hey man, what's up? Hope you're doing well. Thank you.

If your brother was impressed during last year's WC, I wonder what he would think about the 1994 WC, the 2002 one, let alone even the older ones. Just a couple of pictures for you to understand:

That used to happen in EVERY single neighborhood back then. Nowadays, not so much. You had even bar's owners complaining they didn't have the revenue they wished during the last 2 WC.

About Richarlison, it's unanymous here that he's easily replaceable for his position. The problem is, there's hardly anyone better than him. Let's see if Endrick can be that guy in the future.

I just don't see anything resembling a quality generation of players coming up for the next WC. It's still too early to tell though, there may be a 15/17 year old somewhere who could be a starter in 2026 though.

Greetings.