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Actually I see that forest have taken palaces spot, so not an anti english move by uefa (this time).
Sad for Palace but I'm struggling honestly to see why Forest are being dragged in as being the bad guys, the rules are that you can't have two teams with the same owner in the same competition, the Forest owner gave up his control in case it happened (Olympiakos) and Palace's owner (Lyon) didn't. As it happens the For/Olym clash didn't happen, the Pal/Lyon did, and Lyon as the higher ranked team take preference.
Ok, Forest have complained but entirely within their right to, and as a business needing to meet viability rules of course the higher revenue is significant.
This never comes as a surprise.
You'd prefer they kept their gob shut and never questioned the status quo?
This never comes as a surprise.
You'd prefer they kept their gob shut and never questioned the status quo?
I'm gutted for the Palace fans, roared their team on to an historic cup win, get into Europe, and then have it snatched from them due to a rule that I can kind of see the point of but totally ignores the supporters who actually fund the club/leagues.
They're still in Europe, just swapped competitions into the Conference so there isn't a clash. In fact, there's a possibility of winning their competition now that there may not have been in the Europa League. The fans will get to go to some interesting places still. That interesting may need inverted commas around it. I mean, fabulous scenes at Wembley a few weeks' ago but can you do it on a rainy Thursday night in Chisinau?
I get the Forest owner may not be whiter than white but all they've done is ask for some clarification given it has a huge effect on club finances and who we may/may not be able to bring in over the summer, its not like they were lobbying UEFA for months on end. Agree, Crap for Palace supporters though.
Anyway, on to Levy now.
Forest seem in a bit of a pickle, potentially - obviously dependent on who they sign, given they have lost Elanga and Gibbs-White. An average start and Nuno will get the boot.
I wouldn't say we'd 'lost' Elanga, Newcastle wanted him last summer so it's been well on the cards, the counter attacking style was well known by the last 10 games where we dropped the most points, Elanga does well on the break obviously but I'm not sure how effective he is stats wise at breaking down teams who sit in a low block, Teams certainly won't be putting a high line out against us next year and I'd doubt they will against Newcastle.
Nuno certainly has some work to do to get the plan B up and running, that'll take a different type of player so I'm guessing they're thinking they can get 2 up and comers for the 55mil so will give more options, it's always a gamble though.
MGW seems to have created a right mess in acting the way he has, it's weird Spurs fans always seem to want Levy out but as soon as a situation like this comes about he's some kind of business like genius...Maranakis got the better of him with the Johnson sale and is bet he'll win out this time also.
recruitment team need to get their skates on but even if we finish mid-table I'll be more than happy, teams coming up seem to be showing a bit more guts than the last few.
Yeah, the fee for Elanga is pretty decent - did he even start each game? As long as it gets sensibly reinvested. You may be happy with mid table but I doubt the owner will be!
Meanwhile at United, the Amorim revolution is in full flow.
Last seasons loanees will all be returning to OT, as nobody wants them.
The hopeless underperformers are all still on the books, picking up their enormous salaries, as nobody wants them.
The only ones who've left are the ones who've retired.
We've signed Cunha and... erm... no, thats pretty much it
Looks like we'll be in the thick of it for the title race next season then
I know it’s not a real game….. But wow 😮
Who’d have predicted this!!! PSG need a heck of a second half to recover this score…
Yeah Chelsea have ripped them apart. Unbelievable given PSG's CL dominance. Fair play to them. Good to see Palmer given service and space as well.
Looks like a real a real game to me, both sides have got their first 11s out and are putting some serious effort in.
Chelsea look a very good side now they’ve got a decent striker/centre 3.
a good bet for the prem title if these extra games don’t catch up with them in the back half of the season
I'm away so missing the Chelsea game but it seems to be a good one.
Where’s John Terry when you need him? He must have had a spare kit for Don to wear to lift the trophy?
Seems appropriate that Chelski should win the Trump Cup.
Meanwhile at United, the Amorim revolution is in full flow.
Last seasons loanees will all be returning to OT, as nobody wants them.
The hopeless underperformers are all still on the books, picking up their enormous salaries, as nobody wants them.
The only ones who've left are the ones who've retired.We've signed Cunha and... erm... no, thats pretty much it
Looks like we'll be in the thick of it for the title race next season then
The problem with Man Utd isn't the players; we've seen how the likes of Antony and Mc Tominay have thrived once they've left the club. Even Rashford enjoyed a brief spell of decent football during his Villa spell. Players like Garnacho and Sancho weren't crap before they got to Utd. No; the real issue there is that the club has lost its identity; it sold that out decades ago for silverware, and now other clubs have caught up with the idea that you can buy success, Utd are no longer top dogs. Utd were more than happy to enjoy the wave of success that all the commercial endeavours brought them, but they ignored their own foundations, and the sense of community that makes a club great. The same rampant commercialism that saw them selling more shirts globally than any other club, and giving them the financial power to buy top players, has been their undoing, as it's artificially inflated the 'value' of the brand to unrealistic levels. And now the house of cards has come tumbling down. And many of their so-called 'supporters' have abandoned them, no doubt for their noisy neighbours, or other moneybags clubs (see PSG). Man U gambled hard and came up with a busted flush, as other clubs had their own cards up their sleeves. But that modern identity was built on a lot of bullshit; it wasn't about becoming the best football team, it was all about being the best business. Supporting Man U now is like supporting Screwfix over Toolstation or something. Brand is more important than the actual product.
Contrast that with Liverpool; no question that they haven't joined the arms race that big money has brought to the game, but they've managed to retain the club's identity. And that's been key to them remaining at or near the top; they may not have the silverware that Man U has 'won' over the last 25 years, but they've remained financially viable and kept the same ethos. Even during the wilderness years, where the old guard seemed clueless as to how to move the club forward, they still remained a football club. Man U became a vehicle for advertising and commercial promotion. Liverpool suffered the Hicks and Gillett era, the nadir of the Roy Hodgson period, yet bounced back and was able to use the club's ethos to stay relevant. I'm not going to pretend for a moment that the current owners are saints, but at least they haven't just seen the club as a cash cow. It's ironic that a certain Scotsman vowed to 'knock them off their perch'; well, now they're firmly back on it, and singling proudly.
Man U need to become relevant again. Expecting success because you're a 'big club' is deluded. There needs to be a renaissance. And this has to start from the ground up; the fans need to get behind the players. Who wants to play for a club where the so-called fans are abusing you for 90 minutes? The real problem is in the boardroom, inside stuffy suits. They don't respect the fans, this is patently obvious. The club is basically now being controlled by a vile egotist who has no real emotional investment in it (didn't Ratcliffe once want to buy Chelsea?). Directing your anger towards the players is wrong; it's not their fault, and you only make things worse. If you actually have any sense of pride in your club, then get behind it and stop moaning all the time.
Actually, don't; it's great fun to watch. 😀
Contrast that with Liverpool; no question that they haven't joined the arms race that big money has brought to the game
Hahahaha 🤣
Contrast that with Liverpool; no question that they haven't joined the arms race that big money has brought to the game
Hahahaha 🤣
Sorry; it's been a big weekend. To clarify; Liverpool have spent big (not as much as some, but still huge amounts), and wouldn't have enjoyed the success they've had over the last few years without doing so. Other clubs have spent a lot more and achieved a lot less of course. You cannot sustain success without spending lots of money these days sadly. But Liverpool are at least still Liverpool; what Man U have become is unrecognisable. Ratcliffe sacking loads of loyal workers has damaged the club irreparably; it's become a hollow shell. What is it now, even? That's what I mean about identity. Man U fans need to sing even when they're not winning. What summed up the state of the club for me, was the scenes of thousands of so-called 'loyal' supporters leaving Old Trafford well before the end of the game, when Liverpool spanked them 5-1. You don't do that; you stay to the very end, you get behind your club, you sing your heart out. And maybe the players take heart from that and are a little more motivated for the next game. But I suspect many at OT these days aren't interested in being part of a real identity; they just want value for money for the tickets they've shelled out on. And that's sad.
Looks like the next series of the ManU soap opera will soon be released...
Just found the highlights of the club world champs on YouTube - I'm not fan of Chelsea but bloody hell, they got that right.
Delap looked good, Ipswich are gonna miss him
Just found the highlights of the club world champs on YouTube - I'm not fan of Chelsea but bloody hell, they got that right.
Delap looked good, Ipswich are gonna miss him
Just saw it having missed the game. Chelsea really had PSG's number. But the highlight is Cole Palmer's look of disgust towards Trump.
Genuinely gutted that Trump didn't accidentally get knocked over in the Chelsea celebrations.
Are we all followimg the Euros? Tough game this evening - Sweden are no pushovers...
Should be a cracking game! Could well be a goal-fest, given both teams form up front going into this match
Looking forwards to tonight, might skip the pub stop after our ride to get home.
Norway v Italy last night perked up in the second half at least! That attempt from the halfway line looked pretty close from tbe initial angle
Duplicate due to being an idiot
I see Sweden have fallen into our cunning trap....
Just catching up, haven't been that good have we?
But also just seen that elbow; for me leading with the elbow like that whether deliberate or not is over the threshold of not taking sufficient care for an opponent
- Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned
and pretty close to
-
Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off
Is going in that hard and leading with the elbow 'necessary'
I was about to declare "gnisslande rumpa tid" and then a second!! Howay the lasses!
No way did I see Engerland taking this match into extra time. This should be lively!
Good of us to give them a start....to be fair, Sweden have been the better team from the second minute.
Ref has been a little inconsistent, but it's balanced out.
Are there not rules about moving before the ball is struck?
Has anyone ever taken a penalty before?
I only started watching from 2-2 but England are very lucky to get through. They didn't threaten much and the standard of penalties were very poor. Italy will fancy their chances.
Made hard work of that. Swedish keeper taking the 5th pen was a strange choice
Mrs Binners comment: we’re going to be here all night at this rate 😂
Are there not rules about moving before the ball is struck?
No. But there are laws.
Law 14
When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line.
@binners, for promoting as two in form goal scoring teams, those penalties should see you hauled up in front of trading standards. They made Rasmus Hojland look deadly.
Swedish keeper taking the 5th pen was a strange choice
Depends. Although evidence suggests otherwise, pens are planned and practised and the boss would have a decent idea who the top 5 are. And the next few in case of injury, subs, etc.
And then in the moment, someone might bottle it and someone else might fancy it. Highly unlikely it was spur of the moment and so she must have been trusted.
The oddity is that as it goes on, the last ones of the 5 almost inevitably carry more jeopardy, less chance to come back...but often the best takers go early and build scoreboard pressure. And if it goes beyond 5, inevitably it's sudden death and yet now it's players who didn't make the first 5, less equipped to deal with it.
But both sides took in the main, shit penalties.
My word - that was a match! 🙂
My word - that was a match! 🙂
Italy will fancy their chances.
One less day, and 120 mins played and poss some injuries, I think might even things up a bit but by rankings and on tournament form (getting it done in knockouts, rather than specifically how well they've played in THIS tournament) England are strong favourites.
Italy will know they can give away as many penalties as they like and it won't matter
Ref did not have a good game but it was entertaining
Ref did not have a good game but it was entertaining
oi! that's my future wife you're talking about!
I was surprised she let that elbow to Hemp's face go without a card, but then again she did the same with Hemp's two-footer on the halfway line earlier. Both of which should have been bookings at least.
I feel like we're currently playing a system in which Lucy Bronze sods off 50 yards up the pitch, which leaves us very exposed at the back, creating essentially a 3-4-3 formation - which means we're very vulnerable to a high press and Jess Carter just isn't fast enough or adaptable enough to deal with that.
Bronze's forays upfield - while very valuable in attack - left us light in defence for the Sweden goals here, for the first goal against France, and for the Spain goal in the WC final. It's a dangerous game. But I suppose it does make us very entertaining to watch...
Has anyone ever taken a penalty before?
Have you ever taken a penalty in such high-pressure circumstances?
Has anyone ever taken a penalty before?
Have you ever taken a penalty in such high-pressure circumstances?
Yes, against Manchester University in 1994 in a football tournament.
Yes, against Manchester University in 1994 in a football tournament.
So you clearly know how difficult it is in such circumstances then, ehh?
So who on here did this mural:
Have you ever taken a penalty in such high-pressure circumstances?
No. But I'm not a professional footballer.
Fortunately, there's a long list of penalty shootouts under high pressure environments to compare this set to, and while inevitably someone always misses, in this shoot out 5/14 were scored, 6/14 were saved (partly good goalkeeping) and 3 missed the target completely. It's the worst in this tournament's history and among the worst ever particularly for outright misses.
Pressure is for tyres.
3 out of 14 outright misses doesn't sound that terrible to me?
One of the things that tempered my joy at England's win last night was knowing how gleefully men would be proclaiming that women are shit at penalties - quite a lot, it seems (not aimed specifically at you, TheOtherJohnV).
Not heard a single derogatory remark today against the penalties last night. Your average bloke never really played competitive football.
Social media, which I would do well to avoid, is awash with them. Very few, I would judge, from people who've been in a similar position.
I think I've said this before but being a fan of women's football has been a real eye-opener as to how rife misogyny is, something that as a bloke I wouldn't see.
There's been some right bollocks on SM about last nights penalties. To be fair, Spain haven't helped on the penalty front tonight
There's been some right bollocks on SM about last nights penalties. To be fair, Spain haven't helped on the penalty front tonight
As I was saying....
3 out of 14 outright misses doesn't sound that terrible to me?
Really? At a very basic level you're a professional trying to hit a target 20m^2 from 12 m away, if you aren't at least making the keeper make a save then you have failed miserably. Less than 1 in ten penalties are missed, this is more than double. There's nothing wrong factually or morally in saying that the quality of penalties was generally poor, the numbers prove it. The worst shootout in the tournament's history, more than double the number of misses and double the number saved compared to AVERAGE let alone good penalties.
You said it wasn't me, thank you for recognising but being absolutely clear, while it may be what's on SM, nowhere did I say women were shit at penalties, I said that the penalties were shit. If anything not commenting to avoid appearing misogynistic is more misogynistic, if men had taken them I'd have said exactly the same. I treat them equally when it comes to shaking my head and wondering what was going on!
That said, Bronze's winning penalty and Zigiotti's one that took the net camera out were superb, two goalkeepers wouldn't have kept that one out! There's nothing physical, emotional, whatever, that means a women can't take a decent penalty, it's just that last night 6 of them took bad ones (by definition if it's a good penalty it won't get saved*) and 3 took dreadful ones.
*another fact. A well placed, well struck penalty is unsaveable**. If a penalty is saved then it's failed on one or both of those counts.
** slightly more nuanced now in the era of all the TV and lists on waterbottles of favourite sides, if a keeper knows definitively where it's going and can set off early (legally) then I won't deny even the well struck / well placed CAN be saved, equally if it's perfectly placed / struck you could nominate it to the keeper first and they still wouldn't have a hope. Unless they stand next to the post, a large area in the top corners are literally unreachable. And it they know you always put it in the top left corner and go and stand there, just kick it in the other side rather than be daft 😉
My bad then. Not really looked on twitter et al for the wise words of the trolls.
Can we have some appreciation for the German keeper - some how kept a 'backpass' out then smashed the winning pen -
I didn't dare watch the penalties, but that save was incredible.
The penalties were actually very good! Unlike the England Sweden game, they mostly scored, and Germany in particular really battered them into the corner. The keeper was one of the first 5 and she took a great pen. She had an eventful day!
Here we go again. I predict 2-2 aet and then Italy win 1-0 on penalties.
I just don’t understand why Chloe Kelly isn’t starting these matches. She’s an Ole-style game changer when she comes on, but why leave that until the last ten minutes?
Please can we practice penalties before the weekend!
….and set up both goals against Sweden within minutes of coming on. Engerlands best player by miles, yet inexplicably spending most of her time sat on the bench
And yet they are in the final so maybe the manager knows what she's doing 🤔
True.
Fergie always said about Ole that he’d never seen a player read a game so effectively from the bench, so when he bought him on late he knew exactly where all the weaknesses were in the opposition and would then ruthlessly exploit them.
It looks like Chloe Kelly has the same ‘supersub ‘ ability.
They don’t do things the easy way though, do they? It’s absolutely bonkers to watch.
Spain v Germany should be interesting later
Yep think so ..... 5 back to back final appearances ... FIVE !!
Netherlands Euros 2017
Netherlands WC 2019
England Euro 2022
England WC 2023
England Euros 2025
Italy had a good plan, looked good on the break and while England had good midfield possession they were a bit toothless in the box. If Italy had just carried on playing they'd likely get a second goal and won. A little bit of schadenfreude over the nature of the win. Italy wasting time for most of the second half then get done 5 mins into "injury" time. Those cramps went away pretty quickly:)
England need a good performance to not get trounced in the final. Anything is possible now.
Italy had a good plan,
waste as much time as possible over goal/free kicks and pretend to have cramp?
It was all the more noticeable as that sort of shithousery isn’t generally as prevalent in the women’s game
… yet
And yet the game against the Swedes had more physical clatterings than many PL matches.
There have certainly been what Duncan Ferguson would refer to as ‘robust’ challenges going in and the refs seem to have been happy enough to let the games flow. Hardly any cards, despite the games being pretty physical
waste as much time as possible over goal/free kicks and pretend to have cramp?
To be fair, that stopped as soon as we went level. 🙂
The games have been quite physical, not sure there's been so much nastiness behind it.
I felt England maybe just played better over the whole of the match, but we are a bit weak at the back and that's why we always seem to concede and have to chase the game. A couple of times Italy could have been more ruthless and killed the game off when we'd pushed forward and they countered. Not the first time Italian time wasting has bitten them on the arse - seems to be a national issue rather than a gender issue!
Would have loved to see Agyemang's lob over the keeper go in, that would have been special. So close.