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2010/2011 Season Thread


framheim

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The world cup announcements are all about political correctness and giving countries a chance although in the case of Russia, the Russian mafia probably threatened to shoot Blatter and his cronies. Russia is a good choice though I think. Qatar very bizarre but interesting nonetheless. They will automatically qualify and get completely embarrassed. They must have a team I suppose.

It's Blatter wanting his legacy as the man who helped take the World Cup truly global. The established countries are gonna be lucky to get a look in now so England are well fucked, doubt I'll see a World Cup in England in my lifetime.

I expect Qatar will have a good team by 2022. I think it's Qatar that gave citizenship (and loads of money) to various Ethiopian middle-distance runners just so that they could win some Olympic golds. They'll probably do the same with footballers.

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Oh dear two votes for England and one of them we can assume was from the English delegate. It's a bit of embarrassment with the PM and Prince William and David Beckham all getting involved and raising optimism.

I agree I think there's something fishy going on with Russia but I think they're going to hold a great world cup. At least its a football nation. Lots of work to be done to get the place up to scratch.

Qatar though? That really did baffle me but looking at the candidates - the USA and South Korea have both held World Cup's recently. Australia might have been fun but like the US, football (or soccer as they so like to call it) is not the no 1 sport despite a growing popularity. But plenty of ex pats down under. It is a bit of a trek for most people though.

Apparently most of the games in Qatar are going to be within a 60 mile radius or something like that. Air conditioned stadiums and alcohol zones... but they do like their football there apparently.

I think the choices are a combination of corruption/bribery and Blatter wanting to be remembered as the man who helped take the World Cup to far out places. England never stood a chance from the start.

Quite sad as it well looks like I might not see a world cup in England in my lifetime. Maybe they'll get the 2066 tournament to mark the 100th anniversary... I'll be 97 then should I still be alive!

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I'm struggling to get excited about the prospect of watching football in soulless, pop-up stadia in the middle of a desert, in a mind-blowingly wealthy country that has little cultural - nevermind footballing - heritage. There's little in it for the travelling spectator, little in it for football, but plenty in it in terms of FILTHY LUCRE. That's the only reason there could possibly be for them getting it.

Might as well have had it on the moon.

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I'm struggling to get excited about the prospect of watching football in soulless, pop-up stadia in the middle of a desert, in a mind-blowingly wealthy country that has little cultural - nevermind footballing - heritage. There's little in it for the travelling spectator, little in it for football, but plenty in it in terms of FILTHY LUCRE. That's the only reason there could possibly be for them getting it.

Might as well have had it on the moon.

The lack of gravity would make it tough to score goals though, especially headers.

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Both choices were clearly only driven by $$$$. The "Let's Kick Racism Out of Football" campaign has taken a bit of a kicking since the attitude of the Russian authorities has pretty much been to just deny that a racism problem even exists in the country.

I once landed in Qatar to catch a connecting flight. I think I saw the whole country out the window.

England and Spain/Portugal were clearly the two good bids for 2018 but England should have got it since Spain had it much more recently.

Australia would have ticked most of the fifa boxes, first world cup in the continent and a rapidly growing football audience etc and they would have the infrastructure. Less oil than Qatar I suppose.

And on the debate of manager influence, as was already mentioned, I think the Scolari to Hiddink era at Chelsea shows clearly the difference that can be made by a different coach. Without even looking at tactics I think the fact that the players hated Scolari and liked Hiddink was the major factor in the rapid change in form.

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I've also caught a couple of connecting flights in Qatar and the nature of Doha airport is that you get off the plane onto the tarmac and are taken by bus to the connection. The first time it was in the mid 30s at midnight, like Saigon in midday just without the sun. The second was 6am mid-September and humidity was like nothing I'd ever felt; God knows what it would be like during the day in Summer. All the new stadiums will be indoor, no?

With regards to Russia, I can't see why giving a self-consciously inclusive and globalised event to a country infamous for violent racism is a good idea.

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Reading an interview with Andy Anson just now about claims over how FIFA are crooked and break promises. With regards to broken promises he is quoted as saying "David Dein, myself, David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William were looking people in the eye and asking them for their vote and being told "yeah"". Erm, is that not a bit crooked in itself?!

I really wanted England to get the bid as it would have been a good opportunity to get a few outings but didn't like reading this. I'm actually assuming this went on with all the nations who were in the running. Sounds like a voting system for Eurovision not the fucking World CUp.

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Its all fine and well that the pitches will be air-conditioned, but what about training facilities? My friend lives in Abu Dhabi - which is relatively close and probably warmer than Qatar - and he says the game is completely different to the game in most other countries with professional leagues. The humidity and heat mean that no matter how fit you are, you can't run for 90 minutes of football, let alone train in it. He compares it to table football, as in players stick to their positions and play long balls forward. No attacking full-backs, box-to-box midfielders, tricky wingers etc; just guys who tackle, guys who pass it, guys who cross it and guys who head/kick it. As I said, its just too hot to sustain any kind of energy if you are running about all over the place.

Doesn't seem like a very suitable place for a world cup? Maybe I'm wrong.

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No hopers? England were considered to have the best technical bid in terms of what is already in place, and what will be in place by the time the tournament comes around, and had been for quite some time. Out of all the nations running for 2018, Russia's bid was considered the worst technical bid as there just isn't enough suitable stadia, and they have very dismal records of crime and racism mixing with football (the most unideal aspect of inviting the whole world into your backyard for a kickabout and a party!). I'm not all that fussed that England didn't get it, but I certainly wouldn't say that Russia's bid was good, or anywhere near it. I'd have liked it to have been in Holland and Belgium. Opportunities for cheap getaways and such.

It's not the BBC's fault we didn't get it though, or even Blatter's. It's those fucking Brummies. A pitch invasion in a quarter final... Really? The day before the vote? Hideous place. Shite people. Fuck them all.

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No hopers? England were considered to have the best technical bid in terms of what is already in place, and what will be in place by the time the tournament comes around, and had been for quite some time. Out of all the nations running for 2018, Russia's bid was considered the worst technical bid as there just isn't enough suitable stadia, and they have very dismal records of crime and racism mixing with football (the most unideal aspect of inviting the whole world into your backyard for a kickabout and a party!). I'm not all that fussed that England didn't get it, but I certainly wouldn't say that Russia's bid was good, or anywhere near it. I'd have liked it to have been in Holland and Belgium. Opportunities for cheap getaways and such.

It's not the BBC's fault we didn't get it though, or even Blatter's. It's those fucking Brummies. A pitch invasion in a quarter final... Really? The day before the vote? Hideous place. Shite people. Fuck them all.

Good technical bid or no, nobody ever rated England's chances of getting it, except the English media in the last week. And yes, I'm sure the Fifa delgates were heavily influenced by a minor skirmish in a Carling Cup match, no doubt they were all glued to their sets the night before the big vote.

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I wasn't really serious about the Brummies. They can still get to fuck though.

Blatter spoke out about how England's bid was very strong on two seperate occasions, which he didn't do for any of the other bids for the 2018, but it seems Fifa aren't interested in taking advantage of what is already there, but seem to want to turn the World Cup into some kind of global redevelopment, spreading football far and wide. Probably so he'll be remembered as some kind of footballing saint. If the bid came down to the best internal facilities and how prepared the country is to host the event, then England would have nailed it. It only seems logical that that's what the bid should be based on. Not some "Well we've never hosted it. Sadface" campaign.

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But why shouldn't football be spread around the world? It is the World Cup after all. The bid team just can't accept that non-established footballing nations are being given the chance to shine. I read an article interviewing the head of the bidding team or something and he just sounded bitter as fuck. Go sook a lemon.

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