[demonrail666]

The Caribou should be rebranded as the League Cup again. Let the FA take the financial hit. It'll still always be the poor man's fa cup but it'll at least have an identity. Personally I'd be in favour of scrapping it all together but I know clubs in the lower leagues rely on it for revenue.

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

also, how is bravo doing now?

He makes cameo appearances at Caribou Cup games.

So Symbols, too soon for any concrete judgments but 1st impressions of the prem?

[!@#$%!]

first impressions plenty, first one being: it’s a world cup every matchday! as patsy stone would put it (ha ha ha) “names, names, names”. lol

then it’s the insane parity/unpredictability of the thing. e.g., i could not believe that a team with pogba and lukaku in it could be so thoroughly punked by a nowhere team, but there you go. same with the monday liverpool game being so tight.

and i do not remember this prem. maybe i was looking at it wrong but i do not believe it was the same quality 5-6 years ago. i remember liking man city who were then champions but they were not this. i remember trying to like liverpool at the time, and same thing. klopp >> brendan rogers, and their current forwards... wow. i remember also trying to like arsenal and being thoroughly bored with them—pass, pass, pass, fail to score... there was no team for me to love. now there are several.

i dont know if it’s the tv money or a change in my perspective, or the new foreign managers or what, but this prem is a different prem than i recall. very different. or maybe i changed.

—

@h8kurdt: i understand his words! i just dont get what he means ha ha ah.

and thanks for clarifying all the rest!

[demonrail666]

I'd say the intensity and unpredictability have always been there but the quality has definitely improved. While it still struggles to attract the very top tier of players (although I think that'll change) it has the monopoly on real quality managers. Even forgetting about the top end, the fact West Ham have Pellegrini, or Newcastle have Rafa is pretty insane, and just not something I see in other leagues. At least not to this extent. There's always 3 or 4 teams each season that collapse but I'd say all the others are capable of giving anyone a game, which may in part be down to the generally high quality of managers throughout the division.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I'd say the intensity and unpredictability have always been there but the quality has definitely improved. While it still struggles to attract the very top tier of players (although I think that'll change) it has the monopoly on real quality managers. Even forgetting about the top end, the fact West Ham have Pellegrini, or Newcastle have Rafa is pretty insane, and just not something I see in other leagues. At least not to this extent. There's always 3 or 4 teams each season that collapse but I'd say all the others are capable of giving anyone a game, which may in part be down to the generally high quality of managers throughout the division.

i dont know about failing to attract top quality players. most of the best ones are there already

the one hurdle i see for someone highly valued i suppose is the insane amount of games they must play, and the abundance of injuries that can ruin a career.

would you? i wouldn’t. it’s fucking nuts. borderline abusive. a darwinian experiment i guess.

can’t ride a ferrari like a delivery truck though

as for managers, yes, they make all the difference. i think before you had the ones who played english ball and the ones who copied the europeans (arsene, rodgers). now you have everyone from everywhere doing real innovation right there.

still cant believe conte was let go. i know theres a story behind it but—fucking conte!

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

would you? i wouldn’t.

You'd be surprised what I'd do for a prem player's wage.

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

still cant believe conte was let go. i know theres a story behind it but—fucking conte!

Two words that should explain all: It's Chelsea

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

the ones who copied the europeans (arsene, rodgers)

True in the case of Rodgers but harsh in terms of Wenger.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

True in the case of Rodgers but harsh in terms of Wenger.

i thought it was you who had told me that wenger was basically a halfhearted follower of fashions with his possession game, but maybe i misremembered

then again i never saw him during his 4-4-2 golden era circa 2000. i had been abducted by aliens at the time and remember little football, or sleep for that matter.

anyway i did a post search here and at least since 2012 it was all “arsenal a shambles” and talk of replacing wenger, so maybe that’s why i see him in this light, as i witnessed only his long decline.

BUT ANYWAY

zidane or conte in for mourinho? ha ha ha ha

[h8kurdt]

I dunno the leagues are cyclical in terms of footballing power (for want of a better term). Right now Spain are still flourishing. However from 2004 to 2013 England had at least one team in either the Champions League or the Europa league. Then it flipped to Spain dominating. It's a disservice to say that English teams just played "English ball" and not recognise how brilliant some of those teams were.

Personally I suspect Spain's dominance is the wane within a coupla years. Then another country will dominate. My money is on Scotland.

[h8kurdt]

And hopefully neither Conte or Zidane. Longer Mourinho stays the better!

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

I dunno the leagues are cyclical in terms of footballing power (for want of a better term). Right now Spain are still flourishing. However from 2004 to 2013 England had at least one team in either the Champions League or the Europa league. Then it flipped to Spain dominating. It's a disservice to say that English teams just played "English ball" and not recognise how brilliant some of those teams were.

ive only been watching intl. leagues since 2009 or so, only increasing gradually, hence i cannot tell before, but during this period i would not say english teams lacked power but they lagged behind in tactics and some skills and the coaches were always the same fucking musical chair names.

i grew up appreciating skill more than power so first time looking at global leagues my eyes wandered to barcelona, beating man u at the champions league a masterclass. i just saw the final that year.

could not find la liga to tune in to, so ended with fox and bundesliga and a bit of prem. somehow bound to bundeliga cuz following bayern and dortmund around 2012 was a joy. much more so than arsenal or liverpool those same years. or even man city.

lately things have stagnated a bit with the germans and my greedy eye brought me back to yr country.

like i said again i dont know decades before, but from 2012 to today i see much more interesting english teams in terms of tactics AND skill. i also know more players than i did before.

e.g. the chelsea that beat bayern at the champions i had nothing to like about except maybe drogba? at least the match i saw.

but look at them now, jeezus frekkington lopez

man city? that show has fans saying “weve been good but never like this”

and this liverpool so much more entertaining. it’s like dortmund used to be, but with more money—and the talent!

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

Personally I suspect Spain's dominance is the wane within a coupla years. Then another country will dominate. My money is on Scotland.

ha ha ha

yes. with gordon ramsey coaching?

ha ha ha ha

[!@#$%!]

anyway re: spain’s waning dominance, no, i’d say they’ve conquered you in footballing terms. not nationally: culturally i mean. what nation has the culture does not matter to me. what matters is the culture itself. what have the romans ever done for us?

man city’s record is the spanish game. or should i say, the catalonian game.

but it’s mutated to thrive in your soil

even the injured are shipped to barcelona for repair haaa haaa haaa

so, yeah... i’d be glad to absorb all that. aren’t you?

now where is conte, to do his thing.

if you can assimilate italian football into the prem, as a culture....

circus fucking maximus, or the apotheosis of globalization

it’s like when the honored matres return to dune, lol

—

ps i gotta read the latest michael cox now, “the mixer”

[!@#$%!]

wait: BIELSA is at leeds???

where do i watch the championship

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

wait: BIELSA is at leeds???

where do i watch the championship

yeah he's killing it there too. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the players are burnt out after Christmas. Less him.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

yeah he's killing it there too. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the players are burnt out after Christmas. Less him.

i don't know but i'd like him to do great and stick around so that i can watch him in the prem next season

getting championship games here is a total mess and more subscriptions i think-- no way!

but wow.

---

ETA - finished the man city show

... i dont hate pep anymore haaa haaa haaa

he's a very nice guy! i don't mean nice as a softie. i mean he's a good person, good for the team, very passionate about his job.

i'm still sorry that things did not work out with him at bayern. i mean in europe. too much tinkering, wrong purchases, i don't know. people fail, learn, who knows what happened. i ultimately don't so i can't really say, only see results. but yeah. uff.

anyway, circus maximus. yeah...

[!@#$%!]

in truth it is dutch football not spanish. proof of etc.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i don't know but i'd like him to do great and stick around so that i can watch him in the prem next season

Me too, but it is Bielsa. Although it's surely only a matter of time before the Leeds shop starts selling replica Bielsa Buckets.

 

There's already a t shirt

 

[!@#$%!]

haaaahaaaaahaaaaa wtf lololo

[demonrail666]

The saddest thing of all is I want one.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

in truth it is dutch football not spanish. proof of etc.

wait... jack reynolds, original revolutionary ajax manager, was from...

manchester

and he first played for....

man city

(wikipedia sez 0 appearances 0 goals, lol)

but still...

what has manchester ever done for us?

[demonrail666]

You should definitely read The Mixer. You'd love it.