Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - The Slotification of Liverpool is nearly complete

[Mané Swagincha]

Roque Santa Cruz sighting

We’re up 2-0 at halftime in Paraguay

 

[hood b. goode]

 

[phcitywarrior]

Boniface abeg stay fit this season

Man just having fun out here

x.com

x.com

 

[Yehuda]

Only 55,000 tickets had been sold, 16,000 fewer than for last Saturday’s Serie A game against Venezia. It is not quite the image Uefa had in mind when the draw brought two of the continent’s three most-decorated institutions together on the opening matchday.

The first act of a transformed competition should bring a breathless atmosphere of renewal, not a bleak sense of ennui. But the abiding impression of Liverpool’s routine 3-1 victory, at the expense of a fabled enemy, is that Uefa has watered down the ingredients vital to the Champions League’s allure.

Take jeopardy, for instance. Under the old six-game group-phase format, teams would have a fair idea in September that 10 points would all but guarantee qualification for the knockout stage. Now they have no clue – with a sprawling mini-league lasting until late January and only 12 of 36 teams eliminated without the chance of a play-off – how many will be sufficient. And so, just as Liverpool’s win was light on outright euphoria, Milan’s defeat could hardly be considered terminal. Such is life under this strangest of systems, where the imponderables outweigh the certainties.

But something else is detectable in the swathes of empty seats: a sense that even Milan fans, desperate to end a 17-year wait without European glory, have had their fill of being fleeced. Pitchside tickets are £295, double what they were 12 months ago for a Champions League night. And so the rossoneri disciples decide that there must be cheaper ways to watch at home. It does not help, naturally, that their team are already teetering towards crisis, with two points in their first three domestic games leaving them 10th in the table. Usually San Siro is febrile for Liverpool’s visits. This time the only roar was that of the increasingly croaky stadium announcer, screaming Christian Pulisic’s name for all he is worth.

Uefa’s calculation is that this year’s shake-up will produce more of the marquee match-ups that everybody will clamour to see. But it turns out that even a repeat diet of Milan versus Liverpool, the Champions League final in 2005 and 2007, can give the audience indigestion. It creates a resentment that not only is there too much football, but that people are being coerced into paying over the odds to watch it.

San Siro’s bleak ennui shows Uefa has diluted Champions League allure

 

[Jean toomer]

too low

I never realized how disturbing this man’s nose is

 

[hashmander]

I never realized how disturbing this man’s nose is

"Rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone"
that almost happened to him.

 

[African_brehda]

I’m at a local game. The African game is truly fukked.
Imagine playing a forward pass on this “pitch”. Ball bounces all over the place, no possibility for a decent first touch. Hoof ball only

 

[Yehuda]

I’m at a local game. The African game is truly fukked.
Imagine playing a forward pass on this “pitch”. Ball bounces all over the place, no possibility for a decent first touch. Hoof ball only

Regular real-life shyt.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Obviously losing Neymar, Mbappe and Messi was going to shed some dikkriders but the roster is deep and they are playing better together than they did with all those egomaniacs running around

 

[phcitywarrior]

I’m at a local game. The African game is truly fukked.
Imagine playing a forward pass on this “pitch”.

I’ll say this. The use of turf is getting more and more popular, but of course that’s within the wealthier, more urban spots.

Used to play at this spot in Lagos back in the day. When I return I usually drop in to grab a game.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/TFpKe89N1Y1oZUePA?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Abuja has some good turfs, too. Especially the ones with cork that don’t bake under the hot sun.

 

[OneManGang]

Playing on that type of pitch is where ballers are made

All that pristine turf perfect shyt is for the big leagues producing robots

 

[hood b. goode]

 

[hood b. goode]

 

[Jean toomer]

Always bet on yourself

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Thought y'all tried to tell me nobody goes to Saudi League Games. That place looks pretty packed @MikelArteta