The Football Thread 2021/22: England thrown to Hungary lions

[Rocsteady]

Any journalist with any integrity should absolutely refuse to report from - or anywhere near - St. James' Park.

In that case, they should be doing the same for Man City, Chelsea, and a few other clubs.

[Dig Dug]

Thinking aloud here but the last 24 hours have brought me to a crossroads I feel like.

My enthusiasm for football has been waning for years now and maybe this is a good time to get off the gravy train as far as the professional game is concerned.

The truth is I’ve known this for a while but I carried on supporting Everton and watching games from the PL, CL etc.

What’s happened at Newcastle is less of a line crossed and more of a wake up call for me that this sport is almost completely detached from the people at the professional level and that I should get out if I am not okay with that.

Supporting the EPL means being okay with the payouts and rights deals going into the likes of Chelsea, City and Newcastle when I know damn well who their owners are. There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism and all that but businesses like sports live and die over the number of eyes locked onto them. With that said, maybe it is time to avert my eyes away from the big leagues.

I’ve found a lot in football from joy to extreme emotions I’ve rarely ever felt elsewhere but doing so means pushing everything off the pitch out of my mind which is wrong and I know it’s wrong.

That all said there’s a Phoenix club back in my hometown that needs to climb up 4 tiers of welsh football to get where it ought to be so maybe I should focus on that from now on even if it isn’t as big or glamorous as what I’m used to.

I’ll never abandon Everton but as a club they are part of the same machine which enabled the current climate and that’s a truth which can’t be ran away from no matter how much good Everton in the Community do off the pitch.

You can still follow your club, check scores, be happy if they are doing well etc. I’m not going to begrudge Newcastle fans or expect anyone to hold the standard I’m considering holding myself to.

In the grand scale I think we as fans all stand to lose out in some form due to how the sport is now.

[Imrahil]

With the amount of betting money pouring into clubs, both from direct sponsorship and via Sky payments, modern football is already utterly unethical. It's why I haven't batted an eyelid at the Newcastle takeover. It doesn't change anything, or set them apart from other clubs.

The amount of lives ruined by betting companies, the related suicide rates, etc, and football clubs already profit directly from this.

To follow modern football in general, you need to leave your conscience behind I think.

[KingK]

Not sure how to link a Tik Tok video (if that’s possible?) but saw one D-list “celeb” Mark Wright (@wrighty_) shared last night which looked like someone had made in a Fifa game engine..... a players line up at the start of a match all wearing Newcastle tracksuits whilst the UCL music plays.

The team was Salah, Messi, KDB, Neymar, Haaland, Mbappe, Son, Benzema (I think), Lewandowski, CR7, Kante (in GK kit!), It’s like Kevin Keegan’s mid 1990s approach to playing! All out attack

[hamm sandwich]

The way Newcastle’s season is playing out they could be cut adrift at the bottom of the league by the time they’re able to invest in the squad and make a difference. The pressure from the fans to sack Bruce will probably intensify now too. It’s been sobering to see Chelsea and Man City win most domestic honours for the last 15 years, it would bring me great pleasure to see this fail.

[Preezy]

Ballon d'Or nominees (not a single Newcastle player on the list ffs )

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea, Spain)
Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, Italy)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus, Italy)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Italy)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal)
Phil Foden (Manchester City, England)
Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway)
Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
Harry Kane (Tottenham, England)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)
Simon Kjaer (AC Milan, Denmark)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France)
Lionel Messi (PSG, Argentina)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal, Spain)
Mason Mount (Chelsea, England)
Neymar (PSG, Brazil)
Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City, England)
Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid, Uruguay)

Who gets your vote?

[Tomous]

So obviously Newcastle's LGBTQ supporters group will condemn the takeover

twitter.com/UtdwithPride/status/1446430202947674113

Oh

[Drumstick]

Ballon d'Or nominees (not a single Newcastle player on the list ffs )

Who gets your vote?

Lewandowski.

[Rex Kramer]

Kjaer

[BOR]

Ballon d'Or nominees (not a single Newcastle player on the list ffs )

Who gets your vote?

Lewandowski.

Agreed.

[Preezy]

The random use of capital letters in that statement was almost as bad as the message.

[Herdanos]

The random use of capital letters in that statement was almost as bad as the message.

Bit harsh, they're all at the front of the players forenames and surnames. Though I agree that Mount's inclusion is contentious.

[Tomous]

I hope Lewandowski wins it. He would have won last year if the French weren't sulking and hadn't called it off.

[Herdanos]

I genuinely am surprised Foden is in there, ahead of some particularly big names (Neymar is the 'biggest' omission that springs to mind)

[Herdanos]

Ballon d'Or nominees (not a single Newcastle player on the list ffs )

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea, Spain)
Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, Italy)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus, Italy)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG, Italy)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal)
Phil Foden (Manchester City, England)
Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway)
Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
Harry Kane (Tottenham, England)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)
Simon Kjaer (AC Milan, Denmark)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan, Argentina)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France)
Lionel Messi (PSG, Argentina)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal, Spain)
Mason Mount (Chelsea, England)

Who gets your vote?

Wait is this the full list? Messi has said he plans to vote for Neymar

EDIT:

Neymar, Pedri, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez

Are the other nominees

[Preezy]

Hmm, don't know why they didn't copy across, I'll update my list.

[Jenuall]

Mount and Foden?

[Drumstick]

Some of those nominations are baffling.

[Tomous]

Some of those nominations are baffling.

It's certainly not its strongest year ever is it?

[Drumstick]

Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan, Italy)
Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)

Would probably be my shortlist.