The General Motors Domestic Football Thread. 21/22 (NO SHIT BANTER)

[The Gaffer]

1 minute ago, air_raid said:

Pep's statement that everyone else supports Liverpool made me howl with laughter. As a Spurs fan, there's no real rivalry to speak of, but I despise them. Gobshites.

You'd be led to thinking these are professionals - in it for the cash and the silver - but there's absolutely a part of that mass of complexes pride that's stung by people's vague indifference to City's annual procession to the title. 

He'd mainline the Cena 2006 reactions if he could, I think. 

[air_raid]

1 minute ago, Gay as FOOK said:

You'd be led to thinking these are professionals - in it for the cash and the silver - but there's absolutely a part of that mass of complexes pride that's stung by people's vague indifference to City's annual procession to the title. 

I'll take them winning the title for the next 35-40 years if it means I can die without every hearing about Liverpool winning it again.

[Duke]

2 hours ago, air_raid said:

This is definitely the first time in ages a player that could command a start absolutely ANYWHERE (e.g. Barcelona and Real both wanted him) has come to the Premier League.

Hazard? He's on the younger end but he was very highly courted at the time.

Plus, I know how it turned out but I think Lukaku was being looked at by some of the top (top) teams when Chelsea bought him this year. No one thought he was on a par with Messi and Ronaldo, but he was being touted as "top 5 strikers in the world" .

 

It depends how wide you're going. If you just mean the messis and ronaldos, well yeah, there are only two of them and one was a one club man.

[air_raid]

8 minutes ago, Duke said:

Hazard? He's on the younger end but he was very highly courted at the time.

Ugh, very sore point for me. All the rumours coming out of France before the 2012 season ended, which made their way into the red tops with his agent apparently saying "Eden will be playing for Tottenham Hotspur next season." He didn't, of course. Not that it made a difference, the wheels fell off anyway with Redknapp sacked for coming 4th. Levy's a fucking prick at times, he really is.

[PunkStep]

2 hours ago, Duke said:

Hazard? He's on the younger end but he was very highly courted at the time.

Not even close for me. Let's not forget, he was also rumoured to sign for Arsenal until Chelsea and United realised we could be getting a gem on our hands and intervened. But as good as he was at the time, he was still a prospect and not one of the biggest names in the sport unlike Haaland. Haaland now is akin to Ronaldo (proper one, not the rapey one) circa 1996 in terms of his stance on the world stage. Shevchenko was definitely a bigger signing than Hazard, and even back then it didn't seem as big as perhaps it should have. I think @air_raid's post is spot on.

It's funny that so many United fans genuinely thought he would sign for them. I think everyone's favourite moody pundit retrospectively stopped that from ever happening 21 years ago.

[Jazzy G]

On 5/11/2022 at 8:10 AM, Gay as FOOK said:

It's not fair. All the Norwegians are meant to support Liverpool.

He's from Leeds isn't he? He was born there at least. 

I think this signing is similar to when United lost the title on goal difference in 2012 so went and signed Robin Van Persie. For as well as City have been doing in the league I think they have been missing Aguero since he went. Somebody who can turn up where he needs to be and stick the ball in the goal will be very useful to them, and could be the missing key to getting the champions league won. Plus he's at an age where it'll probably be easier to get him used to playing under a different system. 

@air_raidI think once upon a time a lot of fans wished Liverpool well, but since they finally managed to win the Premier league there's just been this entitled attitude about them. Watching Luis Diaz celebrate an equaliser like he'd just scored the winner in the 93rd minute of the cup final compared to the parade of faces like slapped arses as they trudged off the field having had to settle for a point was great, plus I'm getting bitterer and bitterer as I pack more and more "Liverpool FC Kings Of Europe 2022" t-shirts a fortnight removed from the Champions League final. I'm almost looking forward to seeing them try and justify the league Cup as a good season. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by jazzygeofferz

[Mr_Danger]

Well it is a good season. Outside of City whose fans wouldn’t swap their season for ours if we only end up with one trophy and three runners up trophies? It’s not as good as a quadruple or cup treble/double but it would be hard to look back on this season and think it was shit.

[Jazzy G]

It is a good season, certainly better than the season the Rovers have had.

[Factotum]

It will be interesting to see what the reaction to Haaland is in Norway with this move.

The Norwegian FA and the international team were very outspoken on Qatar and sports washing in general (the head of their FA has come out very strongly against Middle Eastern regimes involvement in football and the human rights issues) It was widely backed by supporters there.

I don't think we'll see Haaland in a 'Stop Human Rights Abuse' T-shirt any time soon

[Duke]

2 hours ago, PunkStep said:

Not even close for me. Let's not forget, he was also rumoured to sign for Arsenal until Chelsea and United realised we could be getting a gem on our hands and intervened. 

He was rumoured on signing for everyone. That's the point I'm making.

 

I'm in no way saying he's a level of potential comparable to Haaland, but that's what I mean about how wide we're talking. If we're just talking "will win the ballon d'Or in the next few years" it's tough because that pool is only a couple of men big and neither of them moved much. The only other one who could have been in that category in that window really is Neymar, right? Or Lewa? 

 

It's not like those guys have been moving a lot and English teams have been missing out, is I guess what I'm trying to say.

 

[PunkStep]

15 minutes ago, Duke said:

I'm in no way saying he's a level of potential comparable to Haaland, but that's what I mean about how wide we're talking. If we're just talking "will win the ballon d'Or in the next few years" it's tough because that pool is only a couple of men big and neither of them moved much. The only other one who could have been in that category in that window really is Neymar, right? Or Lewa? 

I mean in terms of how much of a big name signing this is in terms of their current standing in global football. Benzema, Lewa, Haaland and Mbappe seem to be the likely candidates to win the Balon D'Or in the next couple of years I would say (well, it can depend on who wins the CL or World Cup), yet Benzema or Lewa joining a PL club would not be considered as big a signing as Haaland or Mbappe- because they are the darlings for the future and the hottest names around.

Neymar is still a massive name, but given his age and declined form means he would be more of a 'Ronaldo homecoming' kind of marquee signing, albeit one with more intrigue because he's never played here before.

[Keith Houchen]

3 hours ago, jazzygeofferz said:

since they finally managed to win the Premier league there's just been this entitled attitude about them.

Since? They had it for more than thirty years before!

[air_raid]

“What would happen if the Premier League had to be decided by a play-off???!??”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61407180
 

A better question is why do the BBC continue to run this pointless article year in year out? I swear, they’ve posed this question three or four times at least, not including the year Liverpool ran away with it either side of lockdown, which as we all know, didn’t count.

Is it mathematically possible? Yes, if the two sides finish level on points, goal difference, goals scored (currently level) and games between them (which were two draws). But that would involve Liverpool catching City on points AND overturning their goal difference deficit while in the same number of games each, not scoring more goals than City do. Possible, technically, but about as likely as Fulham winning the league next year.

BBC, stop trying to make “Game 39”happen. It’s NOT going to happen.

[SuperBacon]

Nearly happened in 1996. 

[PunkStep]

I mean, that BBC article was before tonight's result, but the 39th game did (and to a lesser extent now) look a possibility. Had City lost 1-0 to the biggest club in Europe tonight then won their final two games 2-1, with Liverpool winning both of their final games 2-0, then we have a play off. Or a number of different combinations.

Very unlikely, but I can't recall a season where it's looked more likely so close towards the end of the season. The kicker being that it would even happen now that head to head results are taken into account, because both matches ended 2-2.

Anyway, I'm going to be a complete fucking state this time tomorrow regardless of the result. Perhaps not so much after a draw. I dunno. This feels exciting and horrible at the same time, like a cup final. Urgh.