Footy Thread

[KaiserJ]

so lets hear it! what teams do you support; what leagues do you watch; who will win the EPL and the champions league? who is the best player in the world?

we've got a ton of people from around the world here; and although i don't expect you all to be raving maniac fans, it would still be cool to hear about everyones opinion and allegiances!

i'll go first : teams i support... hard to say, because im more of a fan of the game itself; rangers support because when i was a little kid, i initially got into football watching rangers with my grandpa. and i've gotta support toronto FC, because even though they are only 3 years old, and the league is total crap, it's still the best team bang-for-buck wise from my hometown.

i watch the EPL a lot; i enjoy watching the non-stacked teams in serie A (go sampdoria!) and although i don't catch much, the spanish primera is also very stylish and generally exciting to watch. bundesliga and dutch soccer are also hella entertaining but i'm rarely able to catch a game where i live. argentina has a pretty exciting league; the quality of the play isn't the best but the teams literally kick the crap out of eachother for the full 90.

EPL this year : probably manchester again. although i think tottenham will finish above arsenal at the very least to break up the big-4 finish.

edit : manchester united. although man city looks like hot fiyah this year and i wouldn't be surprised to see them in the top 4 either.

UCL this year : barca all the way; they've been completely raping this year. i've placed a bet, so i hope im right.

which leads me to my last point... Messi is the best IMO.... i know he's not the most balanced player, but he's the equivalent of a combomb... potentially gamebreaking at any moment, and if you let up your attention for a second, he has you.

discuss :D

inb4 soccer.

[Forboding Angel]

Footsie is a sport? Good gawd almighty, it's a sad sad world...

[CarRepairer]

Kaiser, we all know what country you live in. Stop pretending you're a snooty brit.

[Imperium]

so lets hear it! what teams do you support

I support Chelsea and England.

what leagues do you watch

Pretty much only the Premier League and Champions League these days, I miss when Serie A was on Channel 4.

who will win the EPL and the champions league?

Even though it is early days I'm going to go with Chelsea reclaiming the Premier League, seems to me that they have the best squad which is what you need. Tough decision on the Champions League, could one of many teams to be honest. Wouldn't want to write off Barcelona, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Juventus, Inter, or maybe even Lyon. Depends a bit on luck of the draw.

who is the best player in the world?

Messi at the moment.

[MidKnight]

Kaiser, we all know what country you live in. Stop pretending you're a snooty brit.

And you stop pretending you're a snooty Pailian!

[Caydr]

And what do we call snootie brits? AF can you help me with this one?

[Otherside]

I follow the EPL and La Liga

I only support one team which is Barcelona

I think Chelsea will win the EPL this year as manchester UTD are really feeling the loss of Ronaldo. Manchester city are really looking the real deal as a top 4 club but its still to early to tell but the fact that they will spend more in january if they are still in contention for a top 4 finish and will deffo spend more next summer means they will get there. Liverpool and Arsenal are suffering a bit and i would not be surprised if one of them drops out the top 4. Also really enjoying Spurs this year.

For the UCL as much as i would like Barca to win it and ofc they are in contention and one of the faivourites to win it. Barca have to many games this year with the world club championships and the fact 2 key players will be gone for the african nations cup in jan/feb. + the squad is quite small this year as we didnt get to many new signings so injuries could really hurt our title hopes but we are still ofc in contention and a strong squad (possibly stronger than last year as Ibrahimovic is proving to be worth his money). I would not be surprised to see Sevilla to get far this year in the UCL even to the finals and possibly winning it they are a real dark horse with impressive results, I cant see real winning it as they lack defensive qualities. I dont believe more than 2 english clubs will reach the semi finals i predict it will be 2 spanish / 2 english with possibly a surprise package from a italian/french team.

And forb Football is a real sport which is entertaining (the most popular sport in the world)unlike handegg. Watch Barcelona play at there best it is the best football advert in the world they are the masters of the beautiful game.

[lurker]

Yes, forb was clearly mocking the sport of football rather than the name "Footy".

[KaiserJ]

well... i mean... for people living in north america, it's hard to get ones head around the concept of football being a world game... the money spent on it, the depth and massive number of leagues and players, and the sheer size of the audience.

sports stars from north american sports are unknown in other countries for the most part, are paid less, and have a limited audience due to the sports they play. for hockey, american football, even baseball, there is a certain amount of equipment and money required even at the most basic level; with football, even people of the poorest and least advantaged backgrounds can make a ball and play.

one of the biggest problems i see with north american sports... with salary caps, no relegation, profit sharing, and a limited talent pool to pick from, it's no wonder that the leagues are stagnant and boring (opinion). the teams really play for nothing, and if they lose, there is no penalty to the individual team, only to the players themselves if they get sent back to the farm team. as much as north america is criticized for its capitalist ways; the leagues we have are a mirror image; communist by nature.

for instance (debate me plz if im wrong) out of the NHL (national hockey league) there is a lot of paraphernalia sold in north america... jerseys, equipment, you name it, they sell it. 90% of these profits are from products emblazoned with logos of canadian teams, and yet, the profits are shared evenly around the league. places where there are few fans get an even share, and essentially those teams are being kept alive by the popularity of others. even though in toronto, we have the maple leafs who are arguably the best supported team in the league, they still fail year after year because the people in charge only care about making money; it makes no difference to them how well the leafs do because they make the same amount of money either way.

imagine someone asking barcelona or chelsea to share their jersey profits with other teams in the league! it just wouldn't happen. hell, you could probably use the profits from messi jerseys for a year to buy yourself your own NHL team.

bottom line : sports in my continent are a joke (fine, the north of my continent. mexican soccer is pretty hardcore and follows the european model) all i can really stand to watch is individual or collegiate level sports... boxing and martial arts are great because money will never define how good the fighters themselves are, and with university level competition in basketball and football, we actually get to see some good matchups, and some players who actually have it all on the line as they try to break through as professionals.

haha anyways. that's why im being a snooty brit :) (or really, if you looked at my preferences, a snooty scot/canuck)

[pintle]

With Newcastle relegated, I am ignoring Premiership Football this season :<

[Otherside]

With Newcastle relegated, I am ignoring Premiership Football this season :<

they are pwning the championship, it was looking like a leeds like spiral down when they fell in the premier league but there championship form is impressive and they should bounce back up to the premier :p

[Neddie]

Meanwhile, in the United States we complain that athletes earn too much with too little actual connection between their pay and their performance.

I live above San Jose, where we have the Sharks, who are a relatively well-performing American hockey team with a large fanbase. However, far more interesting to me are the Earthquakes, our soccer (Association Football) team. For some reason they were sold to Texas, then bought back... I see more in what they do than what any sports league that actually gets funding in the US does, including all the Collegiate leagues. Intramural still gets better.

[1v0ry_k1ng]

I tried so hard to get interested in football. even went to a premier game with some friends encase the lack of atmosphere was the problem. no luck.

dumb men kicking a ball at/with/past other dumb men. match results, player performance etc are not really predictable and are subject to human factors that cant be controlled. any skill or intelligence that you think you are seeing is actually an interplay of simple behaviors hammered into each player like dumb apes learning to press a coloured button when a coloured light comes on. no player on the field is thinking about stratergy and tactics, they are simply looking for openings for a pass/kick. even team formations are 99% redundant on play since everyone just runs about the place the second the kickoff starts. theres just.. nothing to get excited about. the game is lowbrow shit.

football really isnt much to watch. (its ok to play, though rugby is waay better)

[Neddie]

Now that you've described every sport ever, can we move along? I don't really enjoy watching any of them myself, but I did and probably would play association football again.

[Forboding Angel]

Wow, all of you fail at detecting sarcasm. That's just sad.

Secondly, soccer is popular in the US, just not as popular as football or basketball. Hockey is a pretty big sport too depending on what part of the country you're in. Baseball used to be the biggest of all when I was growing up, but it gave way to basketball at some point.

So you like soccer, big deal, it's not something to get all misty eyed about. It's a sport, people get into watching it. That's kinda the point.

[Panda]

I mostly just watch Ninja Warrior and different kinds of gymnastics, but soccer's ok.

[Imperium]

A load of rubbish

Dear God I hope you were trolling, there was just so much wrong with what you said.

[lurker]

Wow, all of you

He said to one person in a condescending tone.

[Spawn_Retard]

football is shit, if you like it, go support your local team, and not players who get money a minute than a doctor.

[KaiserJ]

holy crap, the ninja challenge is INSANE! thx panda!