The Evo-Web Football Thoughts Blog

Carles P. said:
Congrats to @Njorgo7 and @Bogo36 for your's Leverkusen cup winner tonight.
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Thank you! It was a very hard fight, especially after the red card.
I know this was the best season of Bayer Leverkusen i will ever see in my life and i enjoyed every moment. Xabi Alonso is already a legend for me. I will never forget this year. I screamed so much this season, its a wonder the neighborhood didnt call the cops 😅
I can die in peace now 😅
 
Carles P. said:
Congrats to @Njorgo7 and @Bogo36 for your's Leverkusen cup winner tonight.
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A season beyond the wildest dreams. I remember before Christmas thinking that I would be a nervous wreck by the time April came around, and it was even worse when Boniface was injured. I thought that run where we played West Ham (A), BVB (A), Stuttgart, Roma (A) and Frankfurt (A) would be our undoing. In the end - it didn't matter!
 
Yesterday's Conference League final was a prime example why this tournament is important for football. There was never a chance that teams like Olympiacos could manage to win a European title in the Europa league or the Champions league, but here in the Conference league, teams from outside the top 7 leagues in Europe have a genuine chance of succeeding, and I think that's beautiful.
 
I actually really like the Conference League!

Here in South America, it isn't usual that we see teams from the Romanian, Greek, Lithuanian, Swiss Leagues etc.! (or lesser known teams from the bigger leagues). Only the most famous leagues used to be broadcast.

Having the Conference League is a great idea, as it showcases these teams to a much wider audience, and to me it really enhances the fan experience. Football is alive and well outside of the "top 7"! :TU:

Congratulations to Olympiakos! :RSCARF:
 


Mourinho seems to be really close to signing with Fenerbahçe. It's not 100% confirmed yet, but all signs are pointing that a deal is going to be announced very soon. I, for one, like this move, it'll bring a lot of attention to the Turkish League and Mourinho, love him or hate him, is an interesting character!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c1een240ql1o
 
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Surprising move really. I know he wanted to get back into management and the way he was talking, he was hell bent on wanting to manage Manchester United again. It’s looking ever likely that Ten Hag will stay which I won’t be happy about. kudos for us winning the FA cup and indeed his tactics in that game but 8th in the league?!? How can this be acceptable to the Glazers and Ratcliffe? 🤷‍♂️
 
millossobek said:
I actually really like the Conference League!

Here in South America, it isn't usual that we see teams from the Romanian, Greek, Lithuanian, Swiss Leagues etc.! (or lesser known teams from the bigger leagues). Only the most famous leagues used to be broadcast.

Having the Conference League is a great idea, as it showcases these teams to a much wider audience, and to me it really enhances the fan experience. Football is alive and well outside of the "top 7"! :TU:

Congratulations to Olympiakos! :RSCARF:
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Technically, the Conference League is basically the new Cup Winners Cup. In the past, teams outside the current Top 7 European rankings were still good at that time. I still remembered how Dinamo Tbilisi managed to win this competition as the Georgian club, although it was during the Soviet era.

Also, in this century, there are 4 clubs outside the current Top 7 rankings who managed to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League. I also remembered how the Russian Football were still good, with CSKA and Zenit winning the UEFA Cup, and why this country's good reputation on the international stages was ruined by the bloodshed in 2022.

PES4eva said:
Dortmund should have beaten Madrid in the first half. How disappointing. Another trophy for Real.
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millossobek said:
Was rooting for Dortmund as well.. it would've been a refreshing change..
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Me too. This year's final should have been a rematch of the last Wembley UCL Final (Der Klassiker). Bayern Munich might have the worst season in the Bundesliga because of Bayer Leverkusen, but they showed a good fights in the Champions League. Only individual and tactical mistakes by Thomas Tuchel that denied them for making a repeat of 2013.

As if the madness wasn't quite enough, Bayern Munich now had a difficult task on reviving the past glories. That's under the Manchester City legend who did the worse way by relegating Burnley from Premier League to the Championship. Even the Champions League prove a serious challenge for Vincent Kompany. Oh, and don't forget that the Final will be held in Munich's Allianz Arena.

Anyways, it was a disappointing night for Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, much like Liverpool (another Jurgen Klopp's legendary club) two years earlier in Paris, but the Champions League run this year is still remembered as the best one. Marco Reus will still remain as one of the club's legend, even if he didn't win either Bundesliga or the Champions League.

millossobek said:


Mourinho seems to be really close to signing with Fenerbahçe. It's not 100% confirmed yet, but all signs are pointing that a deal is going to be announced very soon. I, for one, like this move, it'll bring a lot of attention to the Turkish League and Mourinho, love him or hate him, is an interesting character!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c1een240ql1o
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Already confirmed. And there's a first presentation video in front of the Fenerbahce fans at the stadium (I watched it in YouTube).

To be fair, Fenerbahce's last Super Lig triumph was back in 2014 (they were banned for playing in the Champions League 2014-15 because of the ongoing sanctions relating to the match-fixing scandal 3 years earlier), and they didn't fared better in European stages since that deep run in Champions League back in 2008 (they had almost eliminated eventual finalist Chelsea in the quarterfinals under the Brazillian legend Zico). These are quite difficult to achieve for Fenerbahce, but let's see if this team played well under Jose Mourinho.

PES4eva said:
Surprising move really. I know he wanted to get back into management and the way he was talking, he was hell bent on wanting to manage Manchester United again. It’s looking ever likely that Ten Hag will stay which I won’t be happy about. kudos for us winning the FA cup and indeed his tactics in that game but 8th in the league?!? How can this be acceptable to the Glazers and Ratcliffe? 🤷‍♂️
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Forgot to mention the disappointing Champions League campaign, where they finished dead last in the group, and a humiliating defeat to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup.
This club has a lot of injuries for key players that surely hampered the season a lot, particularly the defenders. Sacking Erik ten Hag would be a "disaster" for Manchester United, just like how Chelsea decided to sack Mauricio Pochettino, despite guiding this club to the Conference League football.
 
Oliver Kahn made a similar mistake to the one he did in the WC 2002 final, but this time against a through pass

 
@Ravager29586 I didn’t forget about about the champions league disaster I just chose not to include any more failures because for a club of our stature it’s embarrassing 😒
 
Ravager29586 said:
Technically, the Conference League is basically the new Cup Winners Cup. In the past, teams outside the current Top 7 European rankings were still good at that time. I still remembered how Dinamo Tbilisi managed to win this competition as the Georgian club, although it was during the Soviet era.

Also, in this century, there are 4 clubs outside the current Top 7 rankings who managed to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League. I also remembered how the Russian Football were still good, with CSKA and Zenit winning the UEFA Cup, and why this country's good reputation on the international stages was ruined by the bloodshed in 2022.
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Hard to make a correlation with the CWC. It was considered the second most prestigious tournament ahead of the UEFA Cup. Rightly, winning a cup was seen as a more worthy achievement than finishing second/third/fourth in the league.

I of course say this as a fan of Aberdeen, who won the CWC in '83 (still the last team to be Real Madrid in the final of a full European tournament)and then the Super Cup.

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Generally, I do like the Conference League but I won't give UEFA any credit - this competition was for freeing up Champions League spots for the big nations, first and foremost.

millossobek said:
it'll bring a lot of attention to the Turkish League and Mourinho, love him or hate him, is an interesting character!
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I don't think it'll bring attention to the Turkish league, sadly, just Mourinho. That's MLS's argument for Messi, and people only care about Messi. The average Joe hasn't suddenly tuned in for Philadelphia Union vs Colorado Rapids.

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Overall a more negative post than I'd like. I blame the sun and the fact that football is eating itself. Bring on the Euros! I have my passport at the ready. Anyone stay near Dusseldorf?...
 
I have family in Düsseldorf which as you can imagine makes it super awkward during international football and super awkward for me in general since I’m English with German heritage. So any tournaments and I’m supporting England with a secondary support for Germany 😂
 
PES4eva said:
I have family in Düsseldorf which as you can imagine makes it super awkward during international football and super awkward for me in general since I’m English with German heritage. So any tournaments and I’m supporting England with a secondary support for Germany 😂
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I'm Scottish and my mum's English. Every two summers I try to be a bigger person and fail 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."

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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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Just spotted this. So no more Confederation's Cup? And i am always sceptical. Isn't this a lot of football to consume?
 
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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Wait till you meet the Balkans obsession about failure. We live and breath for someone other to fail, in order to mock him with the every power of our soul. But when the same people do fail themselves, the deny any responsibillity and pretend that it was something random, a bad day, bad luck, a consipiracy, anything.
 
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It’s the first day of Euro 2024!

Germany vs Scotland 20.00 GMT
 
PES4eva said:
View attachment 284694
It’s the first day of Euro 2024!

Germany vs Scotland 20.00 GMT
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Can't wait... almost all groups are interesting/competitive. I think it's gonna be a great tournament: great teams, great host. I'm gonna go ahead with my predictions:
GROUP A: Germany, Switzerland and Scotland
GROUP B: Spain, Italy and Croatia
GROUP C: England and Denmark
GROUP D: France, Netherlands and Austria
GROUP E: Belgium, Ukraine and Slovakia
GROUP F: Portugal and Czech Republic

Spain will have a great tournament, I think they have the quality to win it. Austria or Ukraine are my candidates to take out a big team in the knockouts. Netherlands go out in the round of 16 and Germany in the quarter-finals.
 
ryudek said:
Can't wait... almost all groups are interesting/competitive. I think it's gonna be a great tournament: great teams, great host. I'm gonna go ahead with my predictions:
GROUP A: Germany, Switzerland and Scotland
GROUP B: Spain, Italy and Croatia
GROUP C: England and Denmark
GROUP D: France, Netherlands and Austria
GROUP E: Belgium, Ukraine and Slovakia
GROUP F: Portugal and Czech Republic

Spain will have a great tournament, I think they have the quality to win it. Austria or Ukraine are my candidates to take out a big team in the knockouts. Netherlands go out in the round of 16 and Germany in the quarter-finals.
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I think England, France or Germany will win it. I’ve never said England will win any tournament before so I’m not getting caught up in the excitement which a lot of people will, and rightly so but with the quality we have I think it’s our best chance for sure. My only concern is left back. Not too sure about that.

France are going to give a good showing as always and Germany are hosts which always seems to push a team a little bit further.

I think Hungary will be the team that will surprise people.

Of course we could both be completely wrong and fail miserably with predictions. This is football and anything can happen!!
 
I must say that, since it was expanded to 24 teams, it's become less interesting for me (16 is perfect). The tournament now really drags — it's a lot of matches to eliminate a third of the teams. I'd almost prefer the Euros to expand to 32 and have no third-place teams advance.

Saying that, I think it's going to be a France-Portugal final with Les Bleus lifting the trophy.
 
Silverdome94 said:
I must say that, since it was expanded to 24 teams, it's become less interesting for me (16 is perfect). The tournament now really drags — it's a lot of matches to eliminate a third of the teams. I'd almost prefer the Euros to expand to 32 and have no third-place teams advance.

Saying that, I think it's going to be a France-Portugal final with Les Bleus lifting the trophy.
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I like that it’s more competitive international football. I would agree with you if it was a regular tournament but it’s once every 4 years so the more the better imo.
 
But there's very little jeopardy in the first round if four of the six third-place teams advance. We have a group in this tournament with Spain, Italy and Croatia in it, and all three of them are all but certain to go through; if it was only two advancing, that would make for much more compelling television.

It's a fine tournament, but it doesn't exactly explode out of the gate like a World Cup does or the previous Euros did.
 
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