Other Sports: Soccer/Football Thread Part Six

Starat327

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jose-mourinho.gif
 

TCTC

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Greatest of all time. Guy has more aura in his left eyebrow than Klopp and Guardiola combined.
 

Starat327

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I don't know how they or their fans can even be proud of winning anything when they build teams like this.

Shrug. I won't deny there is obvious corruption in Madrid and Spain in general. But when you build a team that consistently is winning big things, people want to be there.

There is an entire generation of young footballers growing up watching Madrid dominate the CL for the last 10 plus years, and Madrid will be able to basically pick any of them they want to play for them when they're ready.
 
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Striiker

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Shrug. I won't deny there is obvious corruption in Madrid and Spain in general. But when you build a team that consistently is winning big things, people want to be there.

There is an entire generation of young footballers growing up watching Madrid dominate the CL for the last 10 plus years, and Madrid will be able to basically pick any of them they want to play for them when they're ready.
I don’t even mean the corruption, I mean being able to get any player they want.

$$$ + their reputation = pick and choose your roster from basically anyone in existence.
 
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Starat327

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I don’t even mean the corruption, I mean being able to get any player they want.

$$$ + their reputation = pick and choose your roster from basically anyone in existence.
Right, but that's the second part of it. People want to play where they can win, and noone has shown a consistency to win like Real in a very long time.

Playing for a team like Real also almost guarantees you a spot in your national team, so there's other personal benefit as well.

Thoughts on new coach?
I haven't had enough time to go back and rematch enough Leicester games to form a true opi ion yet, to be honest. Only about 5 or 6 games in and while the style may get results, it looks very rigid and calculated from the little ive seen. Almost predictable in what is going to happen which will present a problem. Also doesn't really appear to have a plan B, so relies on Indivisual brilliance a little in some of the matches I've seen.
 

Striiker

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Right, but that's the second part of it. People want to play where they can win, and noone has shown a consistency to win like Real in a very long time.

Playing for a team like Real also almost guarantees you a spot in your national team, so there's other personal benefit as well.
I get why the players want to go there, but they have to also realize that it’s like a professional hockey team being excited that they beat college teams.

You’re expected to. You have every advantage. It’s hardly even an accomplishment.

Regardless, I wasn’t even really talking about the individual players as much as thinking about the fans perspective. When I was picking a team to follow I specifically avoided the biggest teams that were basically expected to win their leagues. I don’t see the appeal in that. In my opinion, if there’s little/no suspense then there’s no thrill and excitement. Watching BVB get this far was so fun because nobody expected them to and because last year ended so miserably.
 
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Starat327

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I get why the players want to go there, but they have to also realize that it’s like a professional hockey team being excited that they beat college teams.

You’re expected to. You have every advantage. It’s hardly even an accomplishment.

Regardless, I wasn’t even really talking about the individual players as much as thinking about the fans perspective. When I was picking a team to follow I specifically avoided the biggest teams that were basically expected to win their leagues. I don’t see the appeal in that. In my opinion, if there’s little/no suspense then there’s no thrill and excitement. Watching BVB get this far was so fun because nobody expected them to and because last year ended so miserably.

The beauty of football is that anything can truly happen. United had no right beating City in the FA cup, and we had no right to draw with them twice this year. Dortmund looked very much in control for a large part of the game yesterday. Football is special because it truly is the "any given Sunday" sport.

Regarding fans - I get it. But there's a lot morethat goes into supporting a club than "winning" for most people. Now Real has a massive fanbase so the vocal minority probably are the glory hunters but there's typically a lot more deep rooted reasons people support a club than just "they win a lot". From what I've found, that is more an American thing than anything else. But when my buddies and I go out for boxing day, we run into the same people every year and its been amazing to follow some of those journeys. There's a guy that's been wearing old school Newcastle kits for the past 15 years we've all been going out. There's a couple people who are staunch Villa supporters that are there every year. Of course, there's the overabundance of Liverpool supporters who I expect disappear (and likewise the city ones), over the next few years.

I think you just have to be able to differentiate the glory hunters from the "real" supporters to understand it.
 

Appleyard

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The beauty of football is that anything can truly happen. United had no right beating City in the FA cup, and we had no right to draw with them twice this year. Dortmund looked very much in control for a large part of the game yesterday. Football is special because it truly is the "any given Sunday" sport.

Regarding fans - I get it. But there's a lot morethat goes into supporting a club than "winning" for most people. Now Real has a massive fanbase so the vocal minority probably are the glory hunters but there's typically a lot more deep rooted reasons people support a club than just "they win a lot". From what I've found, that is more an American thing than anything else. But when my buddies and I go out for boxing day, we run into the same people every year and its been amazing to follow some of those journeys. There's a guy that's been wearing old school Newcastle kits for the past 15 years we've all been going out. There's a couple people who are staunch Villa supporters that are there every year. Of course, there's the overabundance of Liverpool supporters who I expect disappear (and likewise the city ones), over the next few years.

I think you just have to be able to differentiate the glory hunters from the "real" supporters to understand it.

In some ways I enjoyed being a City fan more when we were shit...

success is nice, but aside from (really) Liverpool, United and Arsenal fans of "my" generation (age ~28-40 or so) no other fanbase in England actually "expected" to win really growing up, was just a nice cherry on top if got to see a couple of Cups over a lifetime.

There is also a pretty special "community" aspect of a lot of clubs, that sadly reduces with more success (and economic climate like we have seen over last ~12-14 years in the UK) where you sit with the same people each game, a lot of people know each other etc.

I think as:

The Football League pyramid (really) has around 114 professional teams (Prem, FL and National league, who while not technically pro basically are salary wise etc.)... those 114 teams are playing for, effectively, different things:

1x Premier League
5x lower league trophies
1x FA Cup
1x League Cup
1x EFL Trophy

so 9x trophies (not including Charity Shield as have to win another trophy to get in!) each year between 114 teams...

and there are only 24 teams in footballs ~150 year history with 5+ "top tier" trophies! (Prem, FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield and European Comps) Considering that more than 200 clubs have played pro football in the English system? That is a very small amount of teams that have ever really had considerable success.

And almost everyone (probably 90% I would say) generally supports their "local" team. Though of course people who support lower league teams often also have a "top" team they support too. But usually, and historically, the other team that they support would be kind of "close". (for example most Carlisle United fans would support either Newcastle or Man United as their 2nd team as the two closest "big" towns to them geographically and culturally)

So most fans just enjoy going - and who you support is tied heavily to your local and cultural identity - and while "hope" that team will win 90% of fans up and down the country dont expect it.

Though I do think that we are drifting more and more towards more "Americanisation" of sport in the internet era.

Though glory hunters have always been about... even back in the 1930s etc... for example my Step-Grandad's Father, even though he lived in Stockport his entire life? Was an Arsenal fan due to them being a monster team in the 1930s. (my Step-Grandad supports Stockport County and Man City, as most in Stockport do.)
 
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