Soccer 2017-2018

The walking red card called Sergio Ramos? Every game I watch of RM he should be sent off.

And Zidane greatest manager ever? Please...

Jozu said:

Im not saying he WOULD be the greatest manager ever, I said he would have to be in the discussion surely, starting his first 3 years with 3 straight European triumphs? That is an incredible feat, and by the time he is done who knows how much silverware he can win.

RM is a much better team with Sergio Ramos, Brando. I know you understand football, and Im sure you watch more matches than I do, but I can assure you Real are a much better team when he is on the pitch. How many times did that guy provide a stunning headed goal in the dying moments of a crucial game? How many times has he harried the other teams forward to the point where they cant even get a shot on goal? Yeah he takes risks, and is clumsy in his challenges, but cmon, the guy is still, even now at 32 he is a world class defender with 4 CL titles under his belt.

Ramos been the difference time and time again for Real, and Im talking scoring wise, usually he is the guy that provides the magic Real need when Ronaldo is being smothered.

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Couple of things here.

First I despise everything Real Madrid stands for so I cannot have an honest discussion about them. From the fascism, the Galacticos, Mourinho, the play acting, the bull shit real estate/tax deals with the city/state and then Ronaldo's bull shit to top it off I find for the most part their entire club history is anathema to what the sport should be about. I can respect what they've accomplished but I find no enjoyment from it.

Second, the CL is a crap shoot once you get to the knock out stages. It's 180 minutes at a time which is a very small time frame and random shit happens. Each year they've won it they've needed some incredulous refereeing decisions to go their way on top of the other random luck. Every team needs this to win the competition, Zidane had nothing to do with it.

So as far as Zidane, amazing player. As a manger who knows. His first year they were already out of the league, they won the league last year but this year he sat and watched Ronaldo shoot them out of the league by Xmas and couldn't do anything about it. He hasn't created any amazing style of play or tactics in my mind, just benefiting from having one of the best players in the world on a team that spend the 1-3rd most in the world so by pure money is always favored to win.

Even if they win the 3rd in a row I'd consider him to have nothing on Paisely, Clough, Sacchi, Guardiola, and even as it pains me to say it Ferguson.

Edit: Also forgot to mention that it was widely reported in the Madrid media that Zidane would have been fired had they been knocked out of the CL early due to their shit league run.

Jozu said:

Id rather be lucky than good.

The Spanish media is ridiculous, the guy is coming off winning 2 Champions League titles and won La Liga the year before for the double, to say he was on the hot seat depending on their champions league run this year is laughable. If they end up winning a 3rd straight with him at the helm, I dont care about his tactics, his overall strategy or ability as a game or player manager, he will have 3 CL titles under his belt 3 years in. Call it good fortune, luck, or whatever the fuck you want, the fact will remain that its an incredible feat and will just add to his already highly respected legacy as a player.

You can hate Real all you want, and Ronaldo, but the facts are Cristiano is the best player, has scored in 11 straight champions league matches, leads the CL in goals every year, and has won 3 of the last 4 titles while being instrumental in every single one. You can blame the refs, ties, or circumstances until the cows come home, but you know football, luck and match-ups are a huge part of it, and Ronaldo has stepped up in EVERY situation he was needed, and provided spectacular results.

If you cant appreciate what Ronaldo has done the past 15 years then you are doing yourself a disservice.

He is a cocky, self important player, but he is a very intelligent player, and his dedication to training and staying fit are the stuff of legend. Not one professional footballer that has played with Ronaldo would ever speak ill of him when it comes to his dedication to the sport and the work he puts in.

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I understand you said earlier that you maybe don't watch or follow the sport as much as I so maybe this would be a surprise. To look at the managers that RM have fired in the last decade on short notice for the most minute of failings and then say the Spanish media is ridiculous when they were just rightly reporting at the time that Zidane would have been fired had they been eliminated by PSG then I don't know what to say. He may not even be back next year if they win the CL because of how ridiculous the Madrid media circus is.

As far as Ronaldo, where did I say I didn't respect what he's done? I don't think he's the greatest player ever but that's a subjective opinion to begin with and if you want to hold that opinion then fine by me. I even said in my previous post that Zidane is benefiting from having one of the greatest players in the world on his team.

Merrith said:

So much of random hate for Ronaldo or Messi seems to stem from the endless debate between the two. At some point you'd think people would just come to appreciate what both are still continuing to do in their careers at a level that just...I mean you don't want to say shouldn't be possible, b/c they're still doing it. Frankly it's just insane to watch them both now in their 30's and still dominating football the way they do, despite all the guys that were supposed to have taken over for them already at the top. It's just incredible to watch both of them at this point.

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Fully agree.

You could write the same thing about the other top 5 leagues as well. For La Liga it's not the TV deals that were the biggest culprit, it was the land deals and tax status. The Spanish government would not disclose how much in back taxes Barca and RM owe, but for all other clubs it was something like $700m as of 2013. I believe there is still ongoing litigation within the Euro court system to have this changed as well as have RM pay back money on their land deal. Aside from that that TV deal was fixed some years ago and how At. Madrid has been able to compete.

Bundesliga - Bayern Munich richer than every other club by at least triple the revenue plus bullshit relationship with Adidas plus 50+1 rule to keep it that way
Ligue 1 - PSG - owned by Qatar sovereign wealth fund. Player salaries quadruple their nearest competitor
Seria A - Juve - now almost double the revenue of the Milan clubs due to their incompetence
EPL - ManC - owned by UAE royal family, before that it was Abramovich with Chelsea. Both were nothing clubs before rich benefactors showed up

Yet La Liga is the only issue?

Ossoi said:

Oh dear "show ignored content" and the first line of the first paragraph of the first post I read is wrong.

Barcelona/Real Madrid take the lions share of the TV money in Spain, that definitely doesn't happen in the PL. The TV rights money is distributed much more equally. Admittedly the top 6 PL teams want to change the way it’s distributed but have no chance of passing any changes

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Is the distribution as fair as the EPL, no? Is it still 90% to Real Madrid/Barca? Also no, that changed 2 years ago:

Market Insight: LaLiga’s new TV rights distribution model: a level playing field?

Would not having to pay a combined $1bn+ in taxes to the Spanish crown be a help in also establishing financial dominance? I'd say yes and especially when it comes to RM and how it was able to grow so much financially in the last 20 + years.

Which even if you disagree doesn't negate my point that what Whidon wrote can be said about basically every European league.

LOL, do you have anything to add about Whidon's point? Or do you want to just whine how the two most storied Spanish(latin) clubs make a shit ton of money and would even if they made it the same ratio as the EPL?

Amycus said:

Got tickets for ManU v LFC in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the match in July. Super excited! Chances of me ever making it across the pond to a match are pretty slim, so this is a big deal for me. It’s the first time a match has been close enough to where I live, while being scheduled on a date I can manage with my work schedule.

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Awesome!

Egypt's last group game is 6/25 though i think they have a pretty good chance of advancing out of their group. Assuming the standard month off after their team is eliminated then there's a good chance at least some of the starters will be there by that game and may get some minutes.