The Evo-Web Football Thoughts Blog

Carles P. said:
Yea everything ok. I only share my toughts.

I don't like such a style of football, 2 times 90 minutes + and just one goal each. Once a long ball and one after a standard situation.
And the others a mixture of lack of ideas and like the rabbit before the snake in the game structure. Just don't get an opponent's counterattack.
I prefer it if there is an open mind between both teams.

Well, now the Spanish LaLiga champions are playing against the fifth team from the Bundesliga.

Just not my UCL season. I was hoping, like I said weeks ago, for a final between Inter and Atletico.
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I see your point, and I like it when both teams are open, but I'll take a team playing like Dortmund when they're the underdog. PSG's wage bill will be, what, two or three times that of Dortmund's? And PSG have an insane amount of speed and skill up front. Dortmund did what they had to do in the circumstances. When a team is rightly pragmatic (Greece 2004 comes to mind) I have utmost admiration. When a team is needlessly stuffy (Mourinho's Chelsea around the same time comes to mind) that's when I get annoyed!
 
Flipper the Priest said:
I see your point, and I like it when both teams are open, but I'll take a team playing like Dortmund when they're the underdog. PSG's wage bill will be, what, two or three times that of Dortmund's? And PSG have an insane amount of speed and skill up front. Dortmund did what they had to do in the circumstances. When a team is rightly pragmatic (Greece 2004 comes to mind) I have utmost admiration. When a team is needlessly stuffy (Mourinho's Chelsea around the same time comes to mind) that's when I get annoyed!
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Yeah, sometimes you just need to counteract another team or be defeated. After all, you play to win a football match first and foremost. Being entertaining is a secondary thought.
 
Carles P. said:
Yea everything ok. I only share my toughts.

I don't like such a style of football, 2 times 90 minutes + and just one goal each. Once a long ball and one after a standard situation.
And the others a mixture of lack of ideas and like the rabbit before the snake in the game structure. Just don't get an opponent's counterattack.
I prefer it if there is an open mind between both teams.

Well, now the Spanish LaLiga champions are playing against the fifth team from the Bundesliga.

Just not my UCL season. I was hoping, like I said weeks ago, for a final between Inter and Atletico.
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Absolutely gutted to see Bayern Munich bottling up again. No more Wembley repeat like 2013 vs Borussia Dortmund. Referees made a terrible mistakes in the dying moments that favored the Spanish corrupts.

But I think Bayern are really deserved to not win any kind of trophies after their tumultuous season. They look very awful, lacked discipline and fell apart throughout this season.

Asking about the UCL Final this year, I personally don't like to see Dortmund and Madrid making through. When the quarterfinal draw came out, I was hoping for the semifinal to be an all-Spanish (Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona) and all-English affairs (Arsenal vs Manchester City), with Barcelona and Manchester City going through. It's all about the 2011 reunion, when Xavi and Pep Guardiola together won the Champions League at Wembley against Manchester United, which was Manchester City's "noisy neighbors".

Last, but not least, UEL and UECL Finals this year get very interesting, with Atalanta and Olympiacos playing in the major European Finals for the first time ever. Bayer Leverkusen produced yet another "Xabi Time" thing against Roma, scoring two equalizing goals in the injury time after being 0-2 down to keep their Invincible Treble hopes alive. As for the Olympiacos, they are looking for a repeat of the national team's historic victory in Euro 2004, with the twist that the UECL Final will be played in home soil, having already knocked the likes of Maccabi Tel Aviv (after losing 1-4 at home), Fenerbahce (won on penalty shootout), and now, big favorites Aston Villa (over two legs).

As an English fans, I'm very disappointed to see no English teams (Premier League) playing in the European Finals this year, after the other 4 were knocked out in the quarterfinal. The 5th-placed teams for Premier League will still play in the next season's of Europa League, then, which is really a bad news for Tottenham Hotspurs. Same for Manchester United, who will most likely not even playing in the European Football whatsoever. Hopefully, the Premier League clubs will bounce back for the next season, where the European club competitions will have 36 teams instead of 32.
 
PES4eva said:
Yeah, sometimes you just need to counteract another team or be defeated. After all, you play to win a football match first and foremost. Being entertaining is a secondary thought.
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That's a point I'm quick to make. As much as we want football to be entertaining, it has no right to be. It's a sport, it just so happens that it can be brilliant to watch! I think people have lost sight of that.
 
Come on Tottenham beat City tonight!
I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Tottenham didn’t put maximum effort into this game as they want Arsenal winning the league about as much as I want Man City winning the league. Well I can hope Tottenham beat them anyway 😂

Edit: 😡🤬😢😭😭😭😭
 
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Just heard about the new format for the 2025 Club World Cup

Taken from the article above:"On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States will host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The host cities for the tournament remain undecided. The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage. The format will be the same that was used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022, with the exception of a third-place play-off."

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Ok, so now the Club World Cup will be 32 teams:

12 slots for UEFA: Qualified Teams - Chelsea, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, PSG, Inter, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg:
6 for CONMEBOL: Qualified Teams - Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate, 2 more TBD
5 for CONCACAF: Qualified Teams - Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Leon, 2 more TBD
4 for AFC: Al-Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Ulsan Hyundai, 1 more TBD
4 for CAF: Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Espérance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
1 for OFC: Auckland City

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Personally, I'm not sold on the idea. I think the Club World Cup should feature only the Champions of the respective Club Cups.

I think the traditional Club Cups (Champions, Libertadores, AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League) are the ones that should retain the luster and importance that they've always had. If you were to ask me, I think winning a Champions League or a Libertadores is much more important to the respective teams than a Club World Cup. They have regional history, tradition, and weight. Creating a 32-team Club World Cup is like trying to undermine the importance and tradition of the Champions Leagues (UEFA, AFC and CAF) and Libertadores.

Not a fan of the 48-team World Cup either, and now this.. IMO, FIFA really makes some head-scratching decisions sometimes.
 
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millossobek said:
Just heard about the new format for the 2025 Club World Cup

Taken from the article above:"On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States will host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The host cities for the tournament remain undecided. The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage. The format will be the same that was used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022, with the exception of a third-place play-off."

-------------------

Ok, so now the Club World Cup will be 32 teams:

12 slots for UEFA: Qualified Teams - Chelsea, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, PSG, Inter, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg:
6 for CONMEBOL: Qualified Teams - Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate, 2 more TBD
5 for CONCACAF: Qualified Teams - Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Leon, 2 more TBD
4 for AFC: Al-Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Ulsan Hyundai, 1 more TBD
4 for CAF: Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Espérance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
1 for OFC: Auckland City

-------------------

Personally, I'm not sold on the idea. I think the Club World Cup should feature only the Champions of the respective Club Cups.

I think the traditional Cup Cups (Champions, Libertadores, AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League) are the ones that should retain the luster and importance that they've always had. If you were to ask me, I think winning a Champions League or a Libertadores is much more important to the respective teams than a Club World Cup. They have regional history, tradition, and weight. Creating a 32-team Club World Cup is like trying to undermine the importance and tradition of the Champions Leagues and Libertadores.

Not a fan of the 64 team World Cup either, and now this.. IMO, FIFA really makes some head-scratching decisions sometimes.
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It's also very possible that the European teams won't take it seriously, because it's at the start of the summer and they would want to avoid any injuries to their players, and therefore the whole tournament would lose the whole point it was created for. It looks like another FIFA cashgrab, however I want to wait until the tournament is already played to judge it.

EDIT: Oh and as a sidenote, the old format of the FIFA Club World Cup still exists, but this time by the name FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
 
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Billy Jov said:
It's also very possible that the European teams won't take it seriously, because it's at the start of the summer and they would want to avoid any injuries to their players, and therefore the whole tournament would lose the whole point it was created for. It looks like another FIFA cashgrab, however I want to wait until the tournament is already played to judge it.
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That's a major problem for the European teams, plus there's an expanded UEFA club competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League), with 36 teams participating on each competitions and more games (Top 8 of the main stage automatically qualified for the knockouts, with the additional 8 going through by the virtue of playoffs for teams ranked 9th-24th), and, of course, the World Cup itself with 48 teams and the additional Round of 32 in this tournament. So far, there had always been a competitive football games in just 3 years every summer! The next year where there's no competitive football games (of course, men's football) will be 2027.

The presence of Chelsea, PSG, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, and Red Bull Salzburg in the Club World Cup makes no sense, given their inconsistencies in both domestic and international stages. The Club World Cup should feature the big names like Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, etc. Even though they weren't in a good form, those clubs had a historic European pedigree in the past.

Personally, I'm not sold on the idea. Scrapping the meaningless Nations League tournaments (UEFA and CONCACAF) and the international friendlies are the only way to stop the scheduling congestion.
 
Ravager29586 said:
That's a major problem for the European teams, plus there's an expanded UEFA club competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League), with 36 teams participating on each competitions and more games (Top 8 of the main stage automatically qualified for the knockouts, with the additional 8 going through by the virtue of playoffs for teams ranked 9th-24th), and, of course, the World Cup itself with 48 teams and the additional Round of 32 in this tournament. So far, there had always been a competitive football games in just 3 years every summer! The next year where there's no competitive football games (of course, men's football) will be 2027.

The presence of Chelsea, PSG, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, and Red Bull Salzburg in the Club World Cup makes no sense, given their inconsistencies in both domestic and international stages. The Club World Cup should feature the big names like Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, etc. Even though they weren't in a good form, those clubs had a historic European pedigree in the past.

Personally, I'm not sold on the idea. Scrapping the meaningless Nations League tournaments (UEFA and CONCACAF) and the international friendlies are the only way to stop the scheduling congestion.
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I actually like the fact there's a limit of two teams per country and the teams that qualify only get in because of their Champions League performances, that way every time the competition is played we get new teams, not the same names every time.
 
millossobek said:
Just heard about the new format for the 2025 Club World Cup

Taken from the article above:"On June 23, 2023, FIFA confirmed that the United States will host the 2025 tournament as a prelude to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The host cities for the tournament remain undecided. The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams with the top two teams in each group qualifying to the knockout stage. The format will be the same that was used in the FIFA World Cup between 1998 and 2022, with the exception of a third-place play-off."

-------------------

Ok, so now the Club World Cup will be 32 teams:

12 slots for UEFA: Qualified Teams - Chelsea, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern, PSG, Inter, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg:
6 for CONMEBOL: Qualified Teams - Palmeiras, Flamengo, Fluminense, River Plate, 2 more TBD
5 for CONCACAF: Qualified Teams - Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Leon, 2 more TBD
4 for AFC: Al-Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds, Ulsan Hyundai, 1 more TBD
4 for CAF: Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Espérance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns
1 for OFC: Auckland City

-------------------

Personally, I'm not sold on the idea. I think the Club World Cup should feature only the Champions of the respective Club Cups.

I think the traditional Club Cups (Champions, Libertadores, AFC Champions League, CAF Champions League) are the ones that should retain the luster and importance that they've always had. If you were to ask me, I think winning a Champions League or a Libertadores is much more important to the respective teams than a Club World Cup. They have regional history, tradition, and weight. Creating a 32-team Club World Cup is like trying to undermine the importance and tradition of the Champions Leagues (UEFA, AFC and CAF) and Libertadores.

Not a fan of the 64 team World Cup either, and now this.. IMO, FIFA really makes some head-scratching decisions sometimes.
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That will be some schedule!

@billyjov if it interferes with player fitness they won’t take it seriously you’re right. Having said that and no disrespect to other clubs but a lot of the European clubs could probably win it with a team that’s not full strength.
 
PES4eva said:
That will be some schedule!

@billyjov if it interferes with player fitness they won’t take it seriously you’re right. Having said that and no disrespect to other clubs but a lot of the European clubs could probably win it with a team that’s not full strength.
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I do however believe, that the teams that are a bit more weak on the European side, like Porto and Salzburg will give it their best shot, as it's probably the only time they'll get to play in such a tournament, even if it interferes with their players' fitness.
 
Billy Jov said:
I do however believe, that the teams that are a bit more weak on the European side, like Porto and Salzburg will give it their best shot, as it's probably the only time they'll get to play in such a tournament, even if it interferes with their players' fitness.
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I don’t know how the rest of the world sees the competition but the top teams in England would probably see it as a nice bonus tournament to win but not a massive deal if they don’t. Having said that, if Man Utd were in it we would probably be going all out for it at this point just to try and get a trophy. So for that reason the weaker teams could be in with a shot.
 
How does Chelsea qualify for this thing? 😄 (In case sarcasm wasn't clear, they qualify from winning the UCL in 21)

I think this would have been capital-A Amazing, say, 20-30 years ago, but now just seems like a cash-grab that nobody in particular is asking for.
 
Silverdome94 said:
How does Chelsea qualify for this thing? 😄 (In case sarcasm wasn't clear, they qualify from winning the UCL in 21)

I think this would have been capital-A Amazing, say, 20-30 years ago, but now just seems like a cash-grab that nobody in particular is asking for.
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If I heard correctly, UEFA are only permitted to have 12 clubs in the Club World Cup. That is, the winners of the Champions League in last 4 years (2021-2024) and 8 clubs based on the Champions League performances in the same period. Salzburg took the vacant spot for this season's winner because both Arsenal and Barcelona were eliminated in this season's QF, as both eventual finalists of this season (BVB and Real Madrid) had already qualified before, with the latter winning it at all in 2022.

But seriously, having the likes of Chelsea, Porto, and Salzburg makes no sense, given their recent poor form. The good news for Chelsea is that they will have a chance to secure a qualification to the European Football (still no Champions League, of course). It's still a great achievement, given their disastrous 22/23 season (they finished 12th) and also the disastrous start of this season (they were around 11th by January and also lost the EFL Cup to an understrength Liverpool side). If Chelsea played better like what happened more recently, they will obviously have a chance to get better results in the Club World Cup, but I think they will only realistically go all the way to the Round of 16 (or QF).
 
The Bertie butthole dwellers won it 4 times in a row then. Don’t think anyone is shocked but we should want to puke our guts out about the Abu Dhabi shaolin kung fu blood money that’s monopolised the premier league 🤮
 
I really think it's time for Arsenal and/or Man United to make the Premier League interesting again.. This Man City domination is becoming dull, IMO, not only for the reasons PES4eva mentions above, but because personally, I find their style of football/overall recent story quite boring. Not a fan of Guardiola and his "all-star" approach either. I'd much rather follow a story like Portsmouth's ascension to the Championship, or a squad like West Ham or Forest trying to stay in the Premiership..
 
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millossobek said:
I really think it's time for Arsenal and/or Man United to make the Premier League interesting again.. This Man City domination is becoming dull, IMO, not only for the reasons PES4eva mentions above, but because personally, I find their style of foorball/overall recent story quite boring. Not a fan of Guardiola and his "all-star" approach either. I'd much rather follow a story like Portsmouth's ascension to the Championship, or a squad like West Ham or Forest trying to stay in the Premiership..
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If I’m totally honest, Arsenal are way closer than Man United to challenge City again next season. We’re absolutely nowhere near good enough to challenge for 4th let alone the title. However a lot can change in a season depending on transfers.

Liverpool is a complete uncertainty because of Klopp leaving. It could go one way or the other for them.

Chelsea may be a surprise next season. A dreadful beginning but they finished strong at the end and it’s all about whether or not they can take that end of season form into next season.

Portsmouth used to be a mainstay in the premier league, always hanging in there but never really vastly improving. Was a massive fall from grace for them.
 
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Well deserved girls, whole league season unbeaten.



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German cup female winner 2024: VFL Wolfsburg
 
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https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cd11npex2yyo

Toni Kroos will retire after this year's Euros! Kroos has to be considered one of the best midfielders, alongside his friend Modric.
Like I read somewhere: "Modric is the lyrics and Kroos is the beat".

A classy, precise player. One of the best passers of this generation. Kroos had tons of quality and was remarkably consistent.

An impressive resume: 1 World Cup, 5 Champions Leagues, 3 La Ligas, 3 Bundesligas, and many other titles. 🏆 He retires at the top of his game.

Here's hoping for a good retirement and post-footballing life! :TU:
 
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So we lost a final...again.....the worst game of the season from us and it has to be in the EL Final. Its so sad, but congratulations to Bergamo, it is well deserved. Now i have to get drunk as fast as possible.
 
Flipper the Priest said:
That performance by Lookman was one for the ages. Ruthless. Reminded me of Bale at San Siro in 2010. Unplayable.
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I was chatting with a friend about watching him play for Fulham when they got relegated, I think in 2020-21. He had a poor season, including a 90th minute chipped penalty that costed them 3 points which got him a lot of hate. He was young and was tasked with performing while their teammates didn't really perform. Glad he now has a game to remember for the rest of his life!
 
Bogo36 said:
So we lost a final...again.....the worst game of the season from us and it has to be in the EL Final. Its so sad, but congratulations to Bergamo, it is well deserved. Now i have to get drunk as fast as possible.
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Worst game to have an off day

Doesn't reflect on what was an incredible day +season.

Atalanta wanted it more, they deserved to win
 
ryudek said:
I was chatting with a friend about watching him play for Fulham when they got relegated, I think in 2020-21. He had a poor season, including a 90th minute chipped penalty that costed them 3 points which got him a lot of hate. He was young and was tasked with performing while their teammates didn't really perform. Glad he now has a game to remember for the rest of his life!
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Always pleased when things like this happen because in the UK we're obsessed with failure. People are allowed to fail and learn from it. It's particularly bad with managers. 'A had success when he managed B and C but was a flop when he managed D so now he's now good enough to manage E'.
 
Flipper the Priest said:
Always pleased when things like this happen because in the UK we're obsessed with failure. People are allowed to fail and learn from it. It's particularly bad with managers. 'A had success when he managed B and C but was a flop when he managed D so now he's now good enough to manage E'.
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Until he gets sacked and goes on to manage F, decides he prefers the lifestyle of managing G, but ultimately finds his niche at H where he’s celebrated for years until for personal reasons he has to leave and then he goes and manages I….. then gets a big money contract from J. The board force him out and he decides to skip the rest of the alphabet and ends his career managing Z.

He comes out of retirement and tries his hand at managing clubs 01 - 100 but that’s a story for another day 😂
 
Flipper the Priest said:
Always pleased when things like this happen because in the UK we're obsessed with failure. People are allowed to fail and learn from it. It's particularly bad with managers. 'A had success when he managed B and C but was a flop when he managed D so now he's now good enough to manage E'.
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It's a results-oriented business and people love making sweeping judgements on a player after seeing them once or a couple times, just so they can say they were right if a player doesn't live up to whoever's expectations, which are always on a sliding scale anyway. I've always hated this, especially from UK media and fans, in particular, for this weird obsession they have on finalizing their opinions on a player after just a few outings, as if it is impossible for someone to improve over time. I remember even an excellent player like Bukayo Saka was treated as if he had reached his ceiling at 20 years old, which is nonsense. It's easier to say a player like Lookman is a "Premier League flop" than it is to accept that a player has improved and/or benefited from being in a better situation, or to admit that a club may have played some role in a player not reaching their inflated expectations.

I think it's one of those differences in which American sports do better at, though I admit that with hot take shows gaining more and more popularity, this will happen more and more here, too. There is an acceptance that a young player will take time to adapt and improve, and there's almost no expectation that they will be the final product or dominate the league at 21. Victor Wembenyama is probably one of the best examples of this, as he is 21 and already good, but there's a general acceptance that he will likely need 3-4 seasons to become the final version of the player he will be for the rest of his career.
 
Man, I'm no fan of Atalanta, but they surely made history.. it's probably the most incredible feat I've ever seen in italian football since I've been following the sport, if you think about the dimension they started from.
 
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