Captain America Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 When Liverpool didn't get ahead in the Chelsea game and fell back to even in the Palace game it was nice to see the return of Hollywood Gerrard. That's the time in his career he should be criticized for, mindlessly pinging 50 yard pass after 50 yard pass to nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skacel Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 If anyone's interested in the UEFA cup qualifier teams etc then this website is pretty good: http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/seedel2014.htmlIt shows you the teams Aberdeen might be drawn against. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 When Liverpool didn't get ahead in the Chelsea game and fell back to even in the Palace game it was nice to see the return of Hollywood Gerrard. That's the time in his career he should be criticized for, mindlessly pinging 50 yard pass after 50 yard pass to nothing.Didn't see the Palace game but he was also shooting every single time he got the ball within 30 yards of the Chelsea game but showing absolutely no composure. He was just desperately trying to make up for his earlier mistake / be the hero. To be fair, Gerrard has been a huge player for Liverpool over the seasons but a lot of what that article says is quite interesting - it is clearly over the top though! I wander what would have become of Gerrard had he gone to Chelsea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Owl PhD Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 That article is really over the top. Gerrard is a flawed player in some ways, but then pretty much every player is if you look hard enough. I agree that he wasn't the second best player in the league this season, but he might well have been third (he's third in Fantasy League terms, which whilst not the whole story, is revealing). I think that article implies that to be a good leader, a player needs to be flawless and, basically, come out on top all the time. If (and it's a fairly big, but not massive, if) Liverpool had got three more points this season then that article wouldn't have made a lot of sense. Yaya Toure is a great player and leader, but what was he doing last season when Man City woefully underperformed and seemed to be more intent on arguing amongst themselves and with their manager than with winning the league? On Sunday, with Liverpool inevitably going to finish second and with the opposition fans constantly singing the song about his slip against Chelsea, Gerrard put in two brilliant free kicks in quick succession that resulted in the two goals that won the game. He has demonstrably assisted in winning dozens of games for both England and Liverpool, some of them in major cup finals when the pressure was really on. He has never been and probably never will be a 'percentages player' and his shooting and passing tends to be more ambitious than most other players. He also tends to make a few errors as a result and he has cost his teams perhaps a handful of games over a long career with errors. I sometimes get a bit bothered by his earnestness and posturing but I'd rather that than a player who signs for whatever club will pay them the most and then moves on somewhere else to collect the next pay cheque. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Moving on from the Steven Gerrard hate, it's the Europa League final tonight (Sevilla vs Benfica). Does anyone care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skacel Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Moving on from the Steven Gerrard hate, it's the Europa League final tonight (Sevilla vs Benfica). Does anyone care?This season? No. Next season, when Aberdeen are there? Yes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Moving on from the Steven Gerrard hate, it's the Europa League final tonight (Sevilla vs Benfica). Does anyone care? I care. I really like the Europa once it gets passed it's massive group stages bit. I think it's a great trophy for those in between clubs to win (good enough to get into Europe but never out of CL group stages etc). I think Spurs really missed a trick not going all out in that a couple of times, would have been a real thing to show off if they won it. They really need to do more to make that competition worthwhile for teams, give it a champions league place for the winner that should give teams a reason to really go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I thought they had already done that? I'm almost 100% certain that the winners of the Europa now get into the CL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeinzHines Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I thought they had already done that? I'm almost 100% certain that the winners of the Europa now get into the CL.From next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Hasn't the Europa League final been on a weekend in recent years? If it's been moved I assume its because of the world cup. I like the captain says it's a good tournament once it reaches the final stages. Unfortunately Thursday night football has been impossible for me to watch this year so I've not seen any of it. I think it's only England which rates the tournament so low. Other countries rate it higher and even English sides actually go for it once they reach the last 8 or so. Giving the winners a CL spot is a good idea but more important than encouraging teams to go for it I think, is to make the competition different and stand out from the Champions League. I would make the Europa League more like the FA Cup. Single leg fixtures, straight knock out from the beginning, no groups. Home side to be decided by the draw. If a team wants to play a weakened side then they can go out after one game instead of six. There would be shocks and entertainment and less fixture congestion. All good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I think it's only England which rates the tournament so low. Other countries rate it higher and even English sides actually go for it once they reach the last 8 or so. Giving the winners a CL spot is a good idea but more important than encouraging teams to go for it I think, is to make the competition different and stand out from the Champions League. I would make the Europa League more like the FA Cup. Single leg fixtures, straight knock out from the beginning, no groups. Home side to be decided by the draw. If a team wants to play a weakened side then they can go out after one game instead of six. There would be shocks and entertainment and less fixture congestion. All good.This all sounds very good to me. I think that the competition has suffered since they started adding league stages and making out like it's a mini CL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I love watching the champions league but I also fondly remember the times when it, the uefa cup and cup winners cup were all entertaining and had great football. I'd love it if the Europa League could be turned into something with a bit of magic about it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 It's true a real knockout wouldn't be too much on the teams in the Europa. These are the teams usually trying to catch up with the Champions League sides in the league the amount of extra fixtures just gimps them further. If it was true knockout as well it would make it easy to include the sides that drop down from the Champions League as well. Basically once it gets to that stage of the tournament every team that's earned it's way that far meets a team that drops down from the CL in the round of 16. Winners into the quarters. Would be pretty entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 I love watching the champions league but I also fondly remember the times when it, the uefa cup and cup winners cup were all entertaining and had great football. I'd love it if the Europa League could be turned into something with a bit of magic about it again. They could probably do that by making the Champions League an elite competition again. Teams finishing 4th in their division and qualifying for it just seems to water it down. When they broadened the bracket for Champions League qualifiers letting more and more teams in, that then reduced the quality of teams playing in the UEFA Cup as well. Hull are going to be in it next season. HULL! Though they'll deserve it if they win the FA Cup tbh, though they're going through by default anyway. Top two in the Champions League. 3rd, 4th and the FA Cup winner into the UEFA Cup. Both competitions are then laced with top sides. These days, the Europa League group stages play out like a glorified Intertoto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 (edited) Edited May 14, 2014 by Captain America Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Whats his deal with not wanting to play for Mexico? He was a god in FM years ago when he was still at Arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Something to do with the old Mexico manager and their body made him out in Mexican media in a really bad light. Don't think he is happy going back to play for them so he wont. If he can be as good in the EPL as he was last year he can hurt teams, even coming off the bench (which is a bit of a worry as he seems to benefit from playing week in and out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skacel Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/sylvain-distin-announces-retirement-from-international-football-on-twitter-after-a-total-of-zero-callups-9371717.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Franck Ribery get's dressed in the dark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Loafers and shorts. What a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Franco-German Normcore 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 14, 2014 Report Share Posted May 14, 2014 Dem socks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJimF Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Bad news Murr http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27410692 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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