...::[The Footy Desk]::... (Part 2)

[TheSantader25]

I think Spurs and Arsenal will make it up there in the end But it's gonna be tight. 

[santosvagos]

the top 4 race is hotter than ever before . As a fan of Manchester United , i believe they will make it to the top  4 since Chelsea lost their game against Liverpool 2 days ago and played more than Mu but things are gonna be tough for Manchester united as they have to fight against Everton , Chelsea and especially Manchester City , the club is in the title race with Liverpool .

[TheSantader25]

Oh my god! Yes! Could tonight get any better? I hadn't felt this good for a looooong time. Ajax and Barca to the next round together. 

 

Messi really does want that trophy this year. Very tough semi final coming up though. Respect to Ajax. I won't even be bothered if they win this trophy this year. I'll probably celebrate as well. f*ck off 2018 and 2017. Football aside we're four months in and it's already better than those sh*tty years in many areas of life. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by TheSantader25

[Jason]

Well, that happened. Big summer ahead of us, we have to get it right otherwise we're back to square one. We should also be getting concerned about our current form and style of player, the past few weeks we've played no better than we did under Mourinho. City or Liverpool would butcher us at the moment, and I'm assuming City will when we play them and it'll cost us top 4.

 

Ajax though. 

[Guest]

Well, I can get back to the Ajax train... Damn, how the hell can they play so good for 90 minutes?

In all these years I've never seen a team that destroyed us so much, really congratulations to Ajax... Actually I'm starting to think they're able to fight for the trophy, unlike us!

Great game, great players and great manager, it's a beauty to watch them play!

 

For us the season ended tonight, the "Treble Season" they said. Yes, the treble...

Probably this was the last match for Allegri as Juve manager in the UCL, I don't know why but I think Conte will come back in summer.

And, like all the years, we'll win the treble next year.

[Tchuck]

Holy cow Ajax did it again, murdered another giant on their own ground. Wow.

 

These players know it’s their chance to achieve greatness before going their separate ways. It’s like when a bunch of class musicians form a supergroup for an album, then go their own ways. They’ll be giving it all to make history.

 

Go Ajax!

[Jason]

Whisper it quietly, but the lack of real competition in Serie A is f*cking them in the CL. Same story with PSG. It's hard to be on it every game when you're not having to fight on all cylinders every match regardless of competition.

[TheSantader25]

Having a competitive league can have both good and bad points. Obviously leagues like Bundesliga, Serie A or Ligue 1 do nothing but damage to their best teams but tbh at the same time I feel like PL matches really cause trouble in terms of fatigue in the final stages of the season. I think this could be one of the reasons for the fact that we haven't had a PL champion in Europe. Liverpool and City are gonna have a tough time if they both reach the semis since they can't rest their players. Though they might manage it. Who knows. 

[Tchuck]

@TheSantader25 I think that applies if you are actively chasing both titles. If you prioritize one or the other, have decent squad depth, the positives will definitely outweigh the negatives.

 

But yeah, Juve has the same issues PSG has, but they have a better history and tradition in Europe, which has carried them so far. But low level on the league f*cks it all up. You’re only as good as your best opposition, forcing you to improve in order to win. If you just win all the time...

[Crokey]

True, the Premier League is great because of the competition, and you can't afford to field a weakened side because any team can likely screw you over.  Where as in the some of the other divisions it's one or two big teams and the rest are straight forward and predictably easy to beat.

 

As for Ajax, well done.  I just hope if we can get passed Spurs, then we also don't fall victim to the Ajax Train... although it would buy us a few haters for knocking out an underdog.

[Eutyphro]

Well, what can you say as an Ajax supporter? It's ridiculous. Juve was nowhere in the second half. I hope we get to play Spurs in the semis, but I fear City will be much too much. But after outclassing Juve, anything is possible? I guess.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Jason said:

Whisper it quietly, but the lack of real competition in Serie A is f*cking them in the CL. Same story with PSG. It's hard to be on it every game when you're not having to fight on all cylinders every match regardless of competition.

Yeah, you're absolutely right! Not only PSG had the same issue, also Bayern had problems some years ago due to the lack of competition in Bundesliga.

The last match against SPAL (which we lost 2-1) we put on the pitch 3-4 players of the youth team for keeping the main team in good conditions. Ajax, on the other hand, made a fantastic comeback in Eredevise, just recently they've overtaken PSV. And look the remaining teams: Man City and Liverpool are fighting for the PL, Porto is fighting for the Primeira Liga, Tottenham is fighting for a UCL spot, at the moment just Barcelona are the exception of the rule.

 

Serie A is really killing us... And it's incredible to say it considering we have 17 points over Napoli! Italian teams have to wake up, make investments (stadiums, youth sector, etc.) and change mentality. Believe it or not, but for us the revolution started 8 years ago with the new stadium which allowed us to gain money from every single home match. In Italy the majority of stadiums are under the property of municipalities, so a very little amount of the tickets sold goes to the home team. Plus lots of stadiums are very very old (with that useless running track), we desperatly need to host something important like the EURO or the WC.

Then there are 2 big problems, which are popularity and money. At the moment only Juve can buy good players (because of popularity and money), but teams like Napoli or Inter usually don't spend more than €30M.

[Tchuck]

Man, I truly do hope for an Ajax win. They've been the most entertaining side on the Champions League this season.

[Eutyphro]

14 minutes ago, Tchuck said:

Man, I truly do hope for an Ajax win. They've been the most entertaining side on the Champions League this season.

It would be the biggest miracle since Leicester winning the league. But actually, calling it a miracle, which I've done, does not provide sufficient praise. It's not a miracle, but pure quality.

[Member#1]

11 hours ago, Jason said:

Whisper it quietly, but the lack of real competition in Serie A is f*cking them in the CL. Same story with PSG. It's hard to be on it every game when you're not having to fight on all cylinders every match regardless of competition.

Ajax doesn't have much of a competition in their own league either (106-28 goals in 30 games). Just PSV, number 3 is 18 pts. behind. And Real Madrid got kicked out by Ajax too.

[TheSantader25]

12 minutes ago, Member#1 said:

Ajax doesn't have much of a competition in their own league either (106-28 goals in 30 games). Just PSV, number 3 is 18 pts. behind. And Real Madrid got kicked out by Ajax too.

Having a competitive side in the second place makes them to always be on their toes. It's not about the sides they face. It's about the mentality. When you have a close follower you'll feel the pressure and therefore the entire match will be different even if you're playing a side that's fighting to avoid relegation whereas Juventus players can clearly go to Series A matches as if they are on a picnic. Not taking credit away from Ajax though. As you said they beat Madrid as well(though they are utter sh*t this season). Ajax have enough good players and most importantly the young mentality to compete for the trophy. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by TheSantader25

[Tchuck]

Eredivisie sees more competition than Serie A or Ligue 1. I'd put it at the same level as La Liga in terms of competitiveness. You won't see massive winning margins like you'd see in the Serie A or Ligue 1 (think constant 20+). There's always fierce competition between PSV and Ajax, and usually a third team thrown in the mix, be it AZ, Feyenoord, Twente... 

 

Plus, they have amazing youth academies, and even better scouts. Ajax makes bank finding gems, signing them on a cheap, and selling them for massive profit. I mean, at LEAST they have PSV to challenge them constantly.

 

Who's PSG's PSV? No-one. Who's Juventus' PSV? Last year it was Napoli. The 6-7 years before that, nobody could touch them. This season too. Come next year, PSV will be at Ajax's throat as always. They'll have to keep constantly upping their game and playing their best. 

[Jason]

3 hours ago, Member#1 said:

Ajax doesn't have much of a competition in their own league either (106-28 goals in 30 games).

They haven't won the league since 2014.

[Laker23]

If Ashley Young is anywhere near the starting 11 next season something is seriously wrong. Guy is infuriating. Disappointing to see 3 individual errors lead to goals over the two legs but happy we matched them at OT, and were the better team in the second before Young decided to be Young and we collapsed.

 

Fancy Liverpool to beat them over two legs, honestly. I hope not but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

Come on you Spurs tonight!

[Member#1]

8 hours ago, TheSantader25 said:

Having a competitive side in the second place makes them to always be on their toes. It's not about the sides they face. It's about the mentality. When you have a close follower you'll feel the pressure and therefore the entire match will be different even if you're playing a side that's fighting to avoid relegation whereas Juventus players can clearly go to Series A matches as if they are on a picnic. Not taking credit away from Ajax though. As you said they beat Madrid as well(though they are utter sh*t this season). Ajax have enough good players and most importantly the young mentality to compete for the trophy. 

So what you're saying is that the Juventus players don't have the mental ability and experience to deal with that?

Juve could've and should've lost the game in Amsterdam and the coach kept them on the bench in the weekend game (while Ajax played with their best team). They knew very well what Ajax was capable of and what was asked from them.

You could say Madrid is bad this season, but they're still third in Spain and were first in their CL group. PSG was a lot better than Man U., but got kicked out because of a few unfortunate mistakes and some bad judgment by the ref. And they missed their best player.

[TheSantader25]

38 minutes ago, Member#1 said:

So what you're saying is that the Juventus players don't have the mental ability and experience to deal with that?

Juve could've and should've lost the game in Amsterdam and the coach kept them on the bench in the weekend game (while Ajax played with their best team). They knew very well what Ajax was capable of and what was asked from them.

You could say Madrid is bad this season, but they're still third in Spain and were first in their CL group. PSG was a lot better than Man U., but got kicked out because of a few unfortunate mistakes and some bad judgment by the ref. And they missed their best player.

I'm saying jumping from the picnic league to a high pressure UCL match isn't good. Juventus players are so used to being comfortable with no pressure on them and therefore they get stunned in certain situations. (and also overestimate themselves, underestimate others) This was evident in the first leg against Atletico as well. They didn't wake up until they had conceded two against ATM and realized this is the UCL. 

 

Being 3rd in Spain is horrible for a team like Real Madrid. They are even lower than Atleti which has far less squad depth. Also they were sh*t in their CL group as well and conceded three goals against a Russian club but it's madrid so they got the first place anyway. 

 

This isn't the first time PSG are bottling it. They have been doing this for a decade despite spending tons of money. Clearly something else is wrong other than "a few mistakes and bad referee calls" and their squad is still far better than United even without Neymar. 

 

Edited April 17, 2019 by TheSantader25

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Member#1 said:

PSG was a lot better than Man U.

1st leg yes, 2nd leg nope.

 

1 hour ago, Member#1 said:

and some bad judgment by the ref.

They have consistently given penalties in other ties for the same types of handballs.

 

1 hour ago, Member#1 said:

And they missed their best player.

United literally had their B team out. We were also missing our best player, Pogba.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Jason

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Member#1 said:

So what you're saying is that the Juventus players don't have the mental ability and experience to deal with that?

Juve could've and should've lost the game in Amsterdam and the coach kept them on the bench in the weekend game (while Ajax played with their best team). They knew very well what Ajax was capable of and what was asked from them.

You could say Madrid is bad this season, but they're still third in Spain and were first in their CL group. PSG was a lot better than Man U., but got kicked out because of a few unfortunate mistakes and some bad judgment by the ref. And they missed their best player.

@TheSantader25 is right and he perfectly described Serie A matches for us: picnics! In the last 8 years we had a serious competition just 2 seasons: last year (Napoli) and the year of the first Scudetto (2011/2012, Milan).

Do our players have experience and the right mentality? Yes and no... Yes because they played a ton of matches in the UCL, but at the same time I'd say no because they're too used to play in Serie A. Our football is based a lot on tactics and mid-low teams, when they face bigger clubs, always try do defend the 0-0 rather than trying to score a goal. So how do you win? By waiting a mistake from your opponent, then you score a goal (2 if you're lucky) and then you go back to defend, simple as that!

The problem is that Allegri (and so the players) use the same mechanism in Europe, but in the UCL there are lots of aggressive teams and this tactic doesn't work. Why did we win against Atletico? At the start of the 2nd leg they were leading 2-0, they just had to defend that result and so they tried to do by defending for 85 minutes. For how Atletico played that match it seemed like we were facing a Serie A team, so our tactics worked.

After 5 years, 5 Serie A, 4 Coppa Italia and 2 UCL finals IMO Allegri has to go, we need someone else for the big jump (no, not Conte who wasn't even able to win the UEL). Who exactly I don't know, but the next season I'd like to see my Juve playing better and with a more European mentality, I don't want to fell asleep after 70 minutes of every single match. But sadly both Allegri and our chairman confirmed that there won't be any changes on the bench for the next season 

 

In Spain there are just 3 major teams: Barcelona, Atletico and Real, the other ones can't compete with them. If Real finishes at the bottom of these 3, they didn't have a good season. They arrived 1st in their group, true, but in that group there were Roma, Viktoria Plzen and CSKA (that defeated Real twice): honestly even Leicester (for example) could have finished 1st in that group considering that Roma wasn't in a good period.

PSG a lot better than Man United? No, maybe a bit better yes, but a lot better isn't true. Man United has a very solid team and their actual placement in the PL is very influenced by the bad period they had under Mourinho. No bad judgments by the ref, United beated (maybe with a bit of luck) PSG and deserved to play the quarter-finals. Actually, if we want to talk about referees' mistakes, why no one talks about that goal conceeded at Ajax with VAR at Bernabeu? With this I don't want to say that Ajax didn't deserve to beat Real, but it's interesting how mistakes are always "remembered" when there's a bigger and more famous club involved.

 

[Jason]

What a game. What a f*cking game. Quite possibly the greatest CL knockout round match of all time.

[Lonely-Martin]

Bloody hell, I'm stunned!

 

They scored that early and I thought that was gonna open the floodgates. 3-2 down after an awesome 20 mins or so, and we pinch it with a 4-3 loss and away goals. 

 

Ajax next. Awesome!!!

Edited April 17, 2019 by Lonely-Martin
Spelling.

[Laker23]

Let's f*cking go Spurs! What a bloody game that was. Can't remember the last time I saw as much drama as that in one game.

[Crokey]

VAR can F*CK right off.  I'll take that Stelrings was offside in the build up, but that was handball by Llorente

[TheSantader25]

Holy f*ck! They didn't deserve it but UCL never gives a sh*t about the team that does. It's all about winning. Guardiola's teams flopping once again defensively when they shouldn't. He is an offensive mastermind but boy he sucks at defensive tactics and maintaining leads by smart possession. Can't say I'm not happy. City looked scary and I'm glad they are out. 

 

Though I wonder how many champions would be different if we had VAR right from the start(1950s).

Edited April 17, 2019 by TheSantader25

[Lonely-Martin]

Just now, Crokey said:

VAR can F*CK right off.  I'll take that Stelrings was offside in the build up, but that was handball by Llorente

I'd need to see it as was radio commentary for me. The guys said his elbow was very much tucked in and hit his hip after.

 

Would have preferred it not to be a VAR thing to settle it mind you.

[Jason]

Both big VAR decisions were correct IMO.