The 2023-2024 Football Thread

[Lioness~]

Our 'Frido' (Fridolina Rölfö) is back (after knee injury) and starting in matches and playing well and scoring for Barca again.

I checked, the draws are in a way that Häcken and Barca can't meet before the final, wonderful!
I hope it comes to that 💥

Hope Barca can keep up with Häcken's (super fast) left-winger, and likewise for Häcken as that is Rolfö's position too ♥️

 

[laptech]

Nottingham Forest have been found guilty of breaching FFP and thus been given a 4 point deduction. Their breach is the same as Everton but as we know Everton was given a 10 point deduction reduced to 6 on appeal. Reading up on this, many seems to be asking why did Forest only get 4 points deduction for exceeding FFP by £34 million whereas Everton exceeded FFP by £19 million but yet Forest was given a lesser deduction. The reason for this appears to be related to cooperation with the premier league and herein lies the discrepancy between the two clubs and it is all in the wording. According to the report from the premier league about Forest's penalty the wording says Forest cooperated with the premier league from the beginning BUT with regards to Everton it was Everton who said they co-operated with the premier league not the league saying Everton co-operated with them and thus it appears this is why Everton was hit with a harder penalty will questions the truthfulness of Everton's statement at the time that said they are appealing the points reduction because they co-operated with the premier league. That appears to be not the truth because Forest exceeded FFP by way way more than Everton but got hit with a lesser points deduction.

So, conclusion is, Forrest and Everton both given a penalty by the premier league for doing exactly the same thing but yet Everton breach FFP by £19 million and was initially given 10 points (now 6) and Forrest breach FFP by £34 million but only get a 4 point deduction. Everton will claim something is not right here, their breach was half that of Forrest and yet they got hit with more points deduction. I do not think this has finished for either club yet.

 

[daneoni]

Would depressingly hilarious if City are found innocent or only given a fine after all this show by the EPL.

 

[laptech]

Would depressingly hilarious if City are found innocent or only given a fine after all this show by the EPL.

Well the EPL's treatment of Everton I am sure will be used as a guide into what happens with City because Everton only faced 1 action against them whereas City is facing 115. Derby County is also another one fresh in the mind, they had multi counts against them which resulted in them getting relegated, so yes, if City escape with a minimal fine or minimal points reduction I think there will be previously sanctioned clubs who will take legal action against their respective league and the FA.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Would depressingly hilarious if City are found innocent or only given a fine after all this show by the EPL.

Depressing, yes, but hilarious, no.

 

[daneoni]

EPL charge leicester for breaking spending rules. Feels like another go after the little guy situation but hey ho

 

[Scepticalscribe]

EPL charge leicester for breaking spending rules. Feels like another go after the little guy situation but hey ho

Yes, I look forward to seeing a few of the larger (and better resourced) clubs challenged and charged.

 

[laptech]

I do wonder if all this scrutiny of football clubs being made to keep their financial accounts in order is due to the irresponsible dealings of then club owner Ken Bates who when owner put Chelsea into massive debt only to then sell to Roman Abramovich and then Bates doing the same again when owner of Leeds who went into administration due to unpaid debts. It seems that ever since his irresponsible behaviour as club owner the FA and league owners have severely clamped down on how clubs operate to prevent club owners from doing the same as Ken Bates did which was basically ruining football clubs.

 

[laptech]

Yes, I look forward to seeing a few of the larger (and better resourced) clubs challenged and charged.

Well it would seem all this talk of Ratcliffe wanting to cut costs at Man United is because apparently come the 2024/2025 season, UEFA's system that replaced FFP means clubs that play in UEFA competitions in 2025 must limit spending on wages, transfer fees and agents fee's to 70% of their revenue. When I read a related article on the website Goal.com it stated that 3 clubs fighting for UEFA cup competition places will fall foul of the 70% rule. Those clubs being Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United. I therefore assume Ratcliffe wants to cuts costs because he is worried the club will be charged by UEFA for breaches of it's rules if the club manages to finish in a league position that would qualify them entry in to a European cup competition.

 

[Lioness~]

Our guys, Sweden, lost against Portugal with 5-2 in a friendly match, without Ronaldo.

But I really liked the attitude from our new National Team Captain, Jon Dahl Tomasson. He's a mature man, no negativity, no anger, just humble and positive and supportive in the loss.
I really like him.
Everybody expected that we would lose against Portugal.
But the guys were also positive with each other after the game. Huge step forward for he Swedish guys ♥️⭐️

 

[timber]

We are probably the only ones that followed that match.

As usual the team works better without Ronaldo and Semedo was a great replacement for Cancelo. The defense wasn't properly focused and while not acceptable I do hope it was because it was a friendly.

Also enjoyed Gyökeres that we also get to follow on a weekly basis (unfortunately against Benfica, which also had a good showing against OL in the WCL mid week).

 

[laptech]

Was reading an article about the recent Spanish friendly game and in the article it made comment about Spain's manager substituting Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya at half time but what shocked me was in the article it mentioned that Raya is on loan from Brentford and I thought, what!!!, Arsenal's current No.1 choice goalkeeper is a loanee!!!. I never realised he was a loanee, I thought the club bought him outright as a backup to Ramsdale.

It must be embarrassing for Ramsdale to have lost his position to a loanee.

 

[timber]

Perhaps it's one of those loans that exist nowadays that are loans on name only with mandatory purchase clauses.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Was reading an article about the recent Spanish friendly game and in the article it made comment about Spain's manager substituting Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya at half time but what shocked me was in the article it mentioned that Raya is on loan from Brentford and I thought, what!!!, Arsenal's current No.1 choice goalkeeper is a loanee!!!. I never realised he was a loanee, I thought the club bought him outright as a backup to Ramsdale.

It must be embarrassing for Ramsdale to have lost his position to a loanee.

Yes, I know - have always known - that he is a loanee.

That is no secret.

There is an option to make that loan permanent at the end of the season.

Mikel Arteta seems to have concluded that Ramsdale's form (or limitations - for, while he is an excellent shot-stopper, he is a lot less competent, let alone comfortable, when called upon to play out from the back) contributed to Arsenal's late season decline and the collapse of their title challenge towards last season.

Personally, I thought the absence of Saliba (not Jesus) through injury crucial to our fading challenge, but, then, he is the manager, and I'm not.

However, I have long been of the opinion that we should never have sold Martínez, (that was the time to have replaced Leno with Martínez) and, while Ramsdale was a definite improvement on Leno, and Raya possibly an improvement on Ramsdale, I am not so sure that Raya is quite as good as is needed or necessary for that position in a top team.

 

[daneoni]

Was reading an article about the recent Spanish friendly game and in the article it made comment about Spain's manager substituting Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya at half time but what shocked me was in the article it mentioned that Raya is on loan from Brentford and I thought, what!!!, Arsenal's current No.1 choice goalkeeper is a loanee!!!. I never realised he was a loanee, I thought the club bought him outright as a backup to Ramsdale.

It must be embarrassing for Ramsdale to have lost his position to a loanee.

He is only a loanee because it allows Arsenal to navigate FFP.

For all intents and purposes, he is an Arsenal player. No chance he returns to Brentford in the summer.

 

[Lioness~]

Tonight our guys won a friendly game against Albania with 1-0, when our 'little guy' Gustaf Nilsson (197 cm) headed the ball in, late in the game. With some time they will get together as a team and and make Tomasson and Sweden proud of them. Not the most excited match, but I have faith in them.

 

[Lioness~]

Kulusevski hold an emotional and powerful speach for our guys before the game against Albania, that was about 'we are a family' - source in below articke. I agree about it.

Dejan Kulusevski reveals what he did for Sweden which was inspired by Tottenham's Ange Postecoglou

Great stuff from Kulusevski 👏

www.thespurs.news

 

[laptech]

After the England v Belgium game I was reading some after game comments on social media and some fans made what I think is a very good point. They questioned the competency of England's management/coaching staff due to Romelu Lukaku constantly getting the better of Lewis Dunk during the England game, something that was very noticeable during the second leg of Europa League game between Brighton and AS Roma (Dunk for Brighton, Lukaku for AS Roma).

Being that both of them have squared up against each other it would be common place to assume that Southgate would have thought that Dunk would known how to get the better of Lukaku but that was not the case. Dunk proved he is no match for Lukaku during the Europa League games and it was proven again during the England game.

The Brighton v AS Roma game proved Dunk was no match for Lukaku so was it an error on Southgates part thinking Dunk would get the better of him in the England game?

 

[daneoni]

If Southgate doesn't win the upcoming Euros (which he likely wont) i think its time to call it and bring someone else in.

 

[laptech]

If Southgate doesn't win the upcoming Euros (which he likely wont) i think its time to call it and bring someone else in.

England are good enough to get to the quarter finals and maybe the semi final but I do not agree with the majority saying England are favorites to win the Euro's. I would pick France as being the favorites.

 

[daneoni]

England are good enough to get to the quarter finals and maybe the semi final but I do not agree with the majority saying England are favorites to win the Euro's. I would pick France as being the favourites.

I think they have enough to get to the final and possibly win. Argentina beat France at the world cup and outside of Messi you'd say England have the better squad.

 

[Silencio]

France and Portugal are both very strong. I don't know that any of the top teams were taking this set of friendlies super seriously, more like trying a few things to see if they worked or not. Portugal made a bunch of changes yesterday and looked pretty bad.

Southgate tried a few things that didn't come off, like playing Lewis Dunk in defense and Phil Foden on the left. On the other hand, Kobbie Mainoo put in a fantastic performance in midfield yesterday — he not only booked his spot in the final squad, he made a strong case that he should start in that #8 position.

 

[timber]

France in the recent years always seems no to be trying hard enough or properly focused and if they did get their game on they would roll to whatever title.
The question is, will they properly show up?
If not several teams could have something to say including and in particular England.

 

[pachyderm]

vs

03/29/2024

 

[laptech]

What is your thoughts on this? WSL Leicester have sacked their manger due to an alleged relationship with a player because the club says he has broken the clubs code of conduct BUT apparently same sex player relationships are allowed. So, players can have relationships with one another but coaching staff and players are not allowed. Do you agree that a manager having a relationship with one of their players can cause a power imbalance within the team? as in the player may get preferential treatment due to being in a relationship with the manager.