Your unpopular footballing opinions Mod warnings - post#128

Turtyturd

OdgeXD wrote: »

Unpopular opinion: Messi will never be as good as what Ronaldo is right now.

The retired one or the one who never showed up at the World Cup?

marienbad

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

No we dont lose anyway? We were actually fairly successful with Trap, got to a World Cup playoff that we were cheated out of by France. And qualified for the Euros. We would not have achieved that trying to go out and play good football against superior footballing sides that we played in them campaigns: Italy, Bulgaria (yes they were most definitely better than us), France and Russia.

Yeah we did poor in the Brazil World Cup qualification but thats such a stupid thing to say ... ''we lose anyway''

Awful attitude.

I think hindsight is going to show Trap's way of playing was dead right. I so so badly hope it doesnt and I hope we can qualify playing good football, but I think it will.

No it is not stupid to say it, sooner or later we will have to do or we will just get more and more hammerings a la Spain and Germany.

If Costa Rica ,U.S.A. etc can do it so can we .

And on top of that we would be better off concentrating everything on the L.O.I and homegrown players and invest everything we have in that from the grassroots up and stop this dependence on overseas journeymen from a league that underperforms anyway.

bucketybuck

Skylinehead wrote: »

So basically you're judging players entire, 15-20 year careers on the basis of a month-long tournament.

Ok then.

Maradona is a better player than Lionel Messi.

Billy86

OdgeXD wrote: »

*Conspiracy theory* FIFA are desperate for Messi to win a WC.
Unpopular opinion: Messi will never be as good as what Ronaldo is right now.

Here's my conspiracy theory... watch the refs (again) side with Brazil against Germany, and if they win also for Argentina against the Dutch for a Brazil/Aren't a (Messi) final.

HOWEVER... if the Germans still manage to win despite the ref, then watch for there to likely be a massive tilt toward the Dutch in the other semi, for a European rivalry final/1974 replay.

Also, Beckenbauer in my mind has to be on par with Maradona and Pele for greatest ever, attacking bias be damned. Bayern became a force with him (as opposed to being one before him), winning 3 straight CLs, the 72 Euro's and the '74 WC as captain. He was probably their best player in 1966 when they only lost the final in extra time at just 21, plus only losing out in the' 70 semis in injury time as well, and finally losing the 1976 Euro final on penalties. Defenders have only won the Ballon d'or four times... two were Beckenbauer, whose career from 1966 - 76 was just extraordinary. To cap it off he changed how the game was played in his part of the pitch and contributed beyond his playing days, managing Bayern to a UEFA Cup and Blundellsands title, and Germany to another WC in 1990.

Skylinehead

bucketybuck wrote: »

Maradona is a better player than Lionel Messi.

Bit fat these days no?

But in all seriousness, do you want to actually respond to my post?

CSF

bucketybuck wrote: »

Maradona is a better player than Lionel Messi.

I dunno man, I'd say he has lost a tiny bit of sharpness.

SM01

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

It would also allow the opposition players to crowd out your GK much like on corners, and would make the scramble after the FK alot more dangerous than an actual FK itself.

Fair point but I disagree with it creating a more dangerous scenario ie. a goal being scored. I have no stats to hand so this is purely my (refutable) perception: Last season watching someone like Suarez taking free kicks, he seemed to convert more often than not. Someone like Beckham in his prime seemed even more clinical.

Crowding out the penalty area with bodies (including opposition players) may lead to an unsightly scramble and there's potential for deflected goals but I feel the the end would justify the means, and while not perfect, would reduce the amount of goals conceded from free kicks.

dinorebel

Lostman1990 wrote: »

Between 2000-2006, Robert Pires was a superior player than Ryan Giggs....

Most of Giggs career consists of him being the 2nd or 3rd best in his position his longevity is confused with greatness IMO.

Ken Shamrock

SM01 wrote: »

Fair point but I disagree with it creating a more dangerous scenario ie. a goal being scored. I have no stats to hand so this is purely my (refutable) perception: Last season watching someone like Suarez taking free kicks, he seemed to convert more often than not. Someone like Beckham in his prime seemed even more clinical.

Crowding out the penalty area with bodies (including opposition players) may lead to an unsightly scramble and there's potential for deflected goals but I feel the the end would justify the means, and while not perfect, would reduce the amount of goals conceded from free kicks.

With all due to respect i'm sure your not the first person to think of this, if a manager (someone with 100x more exp knowledge than us 2) thought this was plausible i'm sure they would try it. If they tried and it worked, you would prob see it 2day.

I have a similar idea to you that i think would be interesting. When taking indirect free kicks, why do the back line not simply run out when the taker is going to kick the ball making all opposition players offside, now i know some lines step up, but i mean run, make it an easy decision for the linesman. I don't think it's that unrealistic, however once again if it worked i'm sure someone would be doing it.

bucketybuck

dinorebel wrote: »

Most of Giggs career consists of him being the 2nd or 3rd best in his position his longevity is confused with greatness IMO.

Its actually Giggs longevity that has diminished his greatness. If you made that statement in 2000/01 when he was actually in his prime you would be laughed out of the room.

bucketybuck

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

I have a similar idea to you that i think would be interesting. When taking indirect free kicks, why do the back line not simply run out when the taker is going to kick the ball making all opposition players offside, now i know some lines step up, but i mean run, make it an easy decision for the linesman. I don't think it's that unrealistic, however once again if it worked i'm sure someone would be doing it.

Get every player on the defending team to stand behind the free kick taker. At the minute he touches the ball he and everybody ahead of him will be in an offside position. :pac:

(yes I know it wouldn't work)

tastyt

English supporters of their team laugh and ridicule Irish day trippers but put up with it because they are lashing money into the club and locals.

Do ye think that a guy from London who comes over to watch the dubs in an all Ireland or championship match in croke park is as big a fan as the one who is in Parnell all year round?? Honestly??

drumswan

tastyt wrote: »

English supporters of their team laugh and ridicule Irish day trippers but put up with it because they are lashing money into the club and locals.

Do ye think that a guy from London who comes over to watch the dubs in an all Ireland or championship match in crime park is as big a fan as the one who is in Parnell all year round?? Honestly??

What if he really, really, really, really wishes he could be in Parnell all year round? Does that help?

Iused2likebusts

Billy86 wrote: »

Here's my conspiracy theory... watch the refs (again) side with Brazil against Germany, and if they win also for Argentina against the Dutch for a Brazil/Aren't a (Messi) final.

The problem with this is that it goes against the other great boards conspiracy theory that Fifa want brazil to stay in the competition to keep the peace in brazil. A brazil argentina final in brazil would be the biggest test possible for fifa/brazilian police to manage to keep the peace. The four semi finalists are no great shock replace spain with holland and its what a lot of people wouldve predicted.

elefant

Barcelona need another David Villa to be untouchable again. He (and Eto'o too at first) was vital to their years of domination. Shutting down Messi and watching the rest pass the ball endlessly is not as effective when you have such a supreme goal scorer to also keep an eye on.

I suppose the same could be quite true for Spain.

OdgeXD

Turtyturd wrote: »

The retired one or the one who never showed up at the World Cup?

The one who played all of last season and the world cup while getting painkilling injections and was still far anf away the best player in the world. The one who single handedly dragged portugal to the world cup and was a lot more involved in the games he played than what messi has been (other than scoring his goals)

Iused2likebusts

OdgeXD wrote: »

The one who played all of last season and the world cup while getting painkilling injections and was still far anf away the best player in the world. The one who single handedly dragged portugal to the world cup and was a lot more involved in the games he played than what messi has been (other than scoring his goals)

Have you actually watched the games?
Ronaldo was better than messi last season for the first time in 4/5 seasons. Messi offers far more than scoring goals he has better control, better short one touch passing, better vision, better dribbling and is a better finisher than ronaldo. Ronaldo is class but messi is a far more complete footballer and the greatest player of his generation.

SM01

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

With all due to respect i'm sure your not the first person to think of this, if a manager (someone with 100x more exp knowledge than us 2) thought this was plausible i'm sure they would try it. If they tried and it worked, you would prob see it 2day.

I have a similar idea to you that i think would be interesting. When taking indirect free kicks, why do the back line not simply run out when the taker is going to kick the ball making all opposition players offside, now i know some lines step up, but i mean run, make it an easy decision for the linesman. I don't think it's that unrealistic, however once again if it worked i'm sure someone would be doing it.

The concept of "if it worked everyone would be doing it" is flawed.

Periodisation training really does work in reducing injury over the course of a season but it's not employed by a load of clubs. In treating T2 diabetes LCHF diets have demonstrated good glycaemic control but are rarely recommended to patients. Without wanting to go off on non-football related tangents, there's loads of examples in every walk of life where humans make sub-optimal choices.

Back to free kicks, it really does depend on the player taking the free. David Luis nearly always thumps it and as a result it hits the wall regularly (goal vs Columbia notwithstanding) and so there a big wall would suit. Do you believe the traditional wall with keeper on the line is the gold standard for defending against a direct free kick and can't be improved on?

OdgeXD

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

Have you actually watched the games?
Ronaldo was better than messi last season for the first time in 4/5 seasons. Messi offers far more than scoring goals he has better control, better short one touch passing, better vision, better dribbling and is a better finisher than ronaldo. Ronaldo is class but messi is a far more complete footballer and the greatest player of his generation.

Of course I have and Ronaldo gave everything in all the group games he played, apart from popping up with his goals and the flashes of brilliance Messi has been next to anonymous. Ronaldo has been better than Messi for a few years now, Messi has just played in a far superior team(unpopular opinion thread, remember )

Where Messi is a naturally gifted genius Ronaldo has worked incredibly hard to be where he is and for me, that makes him a better player and more deserving of the title of best player in the world.

May aswell continue annoying people: With how football has advanced Maradona doesn't even compare to Messi or C. Ronaldo, they're already the two greatest players in history.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Players should have to declare the country they want to represent internationally before they turn 18 and they can't change their mind once they declare for a country.Its a complete joke that Diego Costa,Marcos Senna,Deco ,Pepe etc have played for countries through residency and it ruins the integrity of the international game.

Paully D

I hate this argument and have never gotten involved in it on here as of yet, but:

I really like Ronaldo, being honest he's probably my favourite player in the world, but I can never understand people ranking him above Messi.

They're the two best players in the world no doubt, but Messi is certainly #1 for me and that's coming from someone who doesn't even like Messi and would probably be termed as a Ronaldo "fanboy" by the masses.

The "if he didn't score about 50 goals a season he would be useless" argument which seems to be breaking out over the last few pages is unbelievable. It's a bit like saying "if my team had won all our games we'd have won the league" :pac:

Ronaldo's by far my personal favourite of the two players, but on purely playing talent alone I'd take Messi all day long.

thelad95

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Players should have to declare the country they want to represent internationally before they turn 18 and they can't change their mind once they declare for a country.Its a complete joke that Diego Costa,Marcos Senna,Deco ,Pepe etc have played for countries through residency and it ruins the integrity of the international game.

This happens in every sport not just soccer. Ireland's cricket team is mainly made up of foreigners and I predict our rugby team is also heading that way.

I think it's effective as it gives more people a chance to participate in international football. For example, if a player can't make it for Ireland but they have a Finnish grandfather, they can then play for Finland.

However there are obvious abuses of the system. I remember an interview Ray Houghton did, he said the first time he played for Ireland was against Poland. He didn't realise which anthem was which so he just stood respectfully for both :pac:

Nuri Sahin

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Players should have to declare the country they want to represent internationally before they turn 18 and they can't change their mind once they declare for a country.Its a complete joke that Diego Costa,Marcos Senna,Deco ,Pepe etc have played for countries through residency and it ruins the integrity of the international game.

Reckon that would be considered a popular opinion more so than unpopular.

eyescreamcone

The Fai in conjunction with the senior team management need to look to foreign leagues for eligible players. The MLS league in the USA and the A league in Australia are prime examples of where we could find players to improve the team. If 6 or 7 of our team are "foreigners" so be it.

No international players will come directly from the LOI. They will need to play in a higher league first.

SantryRed

OdgeXD wrote: »

Of course I have and Ronaldo gave everything in all the group games he played, apart from popping up with his goals and the flashes of brilliance Messi has been next to anonymous. Ronaldo has been better than Messi for a few years now, Messi has just played in a far superior team(unpopular opinion thread, remember )

Where Messi is a naturally gifted genius Ronaldo has worked incredibly hard to be where he is and for me, that makes him a better player and more deserving of the title of best player in the world.

May aswell continue annoying people: With how football has advanced Maradona doesn't even compare to Messi or C. Ronaldo, they're already the two greatest players in history.

If Ronaldo had given everything as you said, Portugal could have beat Ghana by enough goals to pip the US and get out of the group. Pity he couldn't put that ball in the net until it was handed on a plate for him by the Ghana keeper.

8-10

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Players should have to declare the country they want to represent internationally before they turn 18 and they can't change their mind once they declare for a country.Its a complete joke that Diego Costa,Marcos Senna,Deco ,Pepe etc have played for countries through residency and it ruins the integrity of the international game.

Ok well I'll be the one to disagree with this one and be the unpopular opinion!

I don't think this should be a decision made before turning 18. In most western countries you can't make decisions before this time, voting in elections, enlisting in the army etc etc

I think declaring allegiance to a country should only be made after the age of 18 and from that point it is decided (playing in friendlies or not)

So you can essentially play for any country of eligibility up to u-18 but the first game after your 18th birthday (even if it is still an u-18) should be a declaration of allegiance.

The only exception I would give might be with new nationalities that might require a change but that should be only if you haven't played competitively (for instance if Flanders splits from Belgium in the future and is a separate UEFA nation and a player from Flanders has previously played in a friendly for Belgium, he should not be automatically disallowed from playing for Flanders and forced to play for Belgium because of making the declaration after his 18th birthday but before the split). These would be exceptional circumstances that UEFA would have to give guidance on as they arise.

Turtyturd

SantryRed wrote: »

If Ronaldo had given everything as you said, Portugal could have beat Ghana by enough goals to pip the US and get out of the group. Pity he couldn't put that ball in the net until it was handed on a plate for him by the Ghana keeper.

Or they might have gotten better results in the other two where he was anonymous until his cross against the USA.

The rewriting/down playing of the Madrid team he has played in is also hilarious.

Smithwicks Man

To the people slating Ronaldo, in fairness to him he was injured heading into the competition.

It's gotten to the stage where people either seem to be pro-Messi or pro-Ronaldo and part of being one is downplaying the other.

Overall Messi has been a better play in my opinion, but for the 12-18 months leading up to the competition, Ronaldo was performing much better and that was illustrated in his deserved winning of the Ballon D'or.

Messi is a fantastic player but the fawning over him is embarrassing. The goal Higuain scored against Belgium was a fantastic finish but the first thing the commentators on RTE started talking about was the brilliance of Messi in setting up the goal. They all love seeing him do well and never criticize him no matter what.

Not one mention of Messi's 1v1 miss at the end of the game that could've sealed it for them for example. He is absolutely brilliant but he's not playing his best football and hasn't been for over a year now imo.

Fr Tod Umptious

eyescreamcone wrote: »

The Fai in conjunction with the senior team management need to look to foreign leagues for eligible players. The MLS league in the USA and the A league in Australia are prime examples of where we could find players to improve the team. If 6 or 7 of our team are "foreigners" so be it.

No international players will come directly from the LOI. They will need to play in a higher league first.

I would be interesting all right to see how many MLS or A-league players would be eligible to play for Ireland

A lot of people in both countries with Irish heritage, and possibly a few playing the those leagues, but not sure how many would be 3rd generation or less, i.e grandparent or parent born in Ireland

bucketybuck

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I would be interesting all right to see how many MLS or A-league players would be eligible to play for Ireland

It won't matter for quite a few years yet though, we need the US team to become far more competitive before we can start picking up players that are good enough, but that still can't get into the US national team.

Ulysses Gaze

eyescreamcone wrote: »

The Fai in conjunction with the senior team management need to look to foreign leagues for eligible players. The MLS league in the USA and the A league in Australia are prime examples of where we could find players to improve the team. If 6 or 7 of our team are "foreigners" so be it.

No international players will come directly from the LOI. They will need to play in a higher league first.

Completely agree.

Klinsmann has gone to the Bundesliga to get players eligible for the USA.

We have a dearth of good players at the moment and the lure of playing in Europe for some of the potentials may make them declare (as they'd be playing in European qualifiers for competitions, thus heightening their exposure here)

They need to be better than Joe Lapira though!

Billy86

elefant wrote: »

Barcelona need another David Villa to be untouchable again. He (and Eto'o too at first) was vital to their years of domination. Shutting down Messi and watching the rest pass the ball endlessly is not as effective when you have such a supreme goal scorer to also keep an eye on.

I suppose the same could be quite true for Spain.

That, and a quick reinjection of EPO should do the trick. :pac:

Seriously though, it is kind of telling and hilarious how they almost immediately "ran out of as" the moment the Lance Armstrong/cycling/dodgy Spanish doctors and physicians stuff broke around 18 months ago, when they reportedly had to distance themselves from a number of these types of characters.

Dirty Dingus McGee

eyescreamcone wrote: »

The Fai in conjunction with the senior team management need to look to foreign leagues for eligible players. The MLS league in the USA and the A league in Australia are prime examples of where we could find players to improve the team. If 6 or 7 of our team are "foreigners" so be it.

No international players will come directly from the LOI. They will need to play in a higher league first.

It''s not to difficult to find out where your grandparents are from so really of there are any players eligible through the grandparents rule they should be coming forward and declaring for Ireland because Ireland is the country they want to represent and not being headhunted by the FAI. It should be an honour to play for Ireland you shouldn't need to be persuaded to play for Ireland.

Also to me a policy like that would be a massive cop out by the FAI as it should be their job to ensure that there are enough high quality players brought through in Ireland that we don't need to supplement the team with players though the grandparents rule.

Fr Tod Umptious

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

It''s not to difficult to find out where your grandparents are from so really of there are any players eligible through the grandparents rule they should be coming forward and declaring for Ireland because Ireland is the country they want to represent and not being headhunted by the FAI. It should be an honour to play for Ireland you shouldn't need to be persuaded to play for Ireland.

Also to me a policy like that would be a massive cop out by the FAI as it should be their job to ensure that there are enough high quality players brought through in Ireland that we don't need to supplement the team with players though the grandparents rule.

American's regardless of ethnicity are American first, and very proud to be American.
They use their ethnicity to differentiate between themselves and other Americans.
Therefore you ate unlikely to find 3rd generation Americans looking to play for Ireland before the US

marienbad

There are quite a few outstanding teams at this world cup. It is not a case of standards have dropped as most commentators keep saying . It is the reverse standards have risen all across the board, and the cliché that there are no easy matches has a last proved true.

civis_liberalis

Just a random thought, but avid League Of Ireland fans who attend as many matches as they can, but who also are huge fans of Man United or whoever, secretly annoy me.

Omackeral

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Just a random thought, but avid League Of Ireland fans who attend as many matches as they can, but who also are huge fans of Man United or whoever, secretly annoy me.

How come? They're supporting the domestic game which is a lot more than the majority do. Maybe it's an irrational thing? If 50% of people supported one LOI club along with an EPL, the league would be in great shape!

Fescue

I believe technology should not be introduced into football. The mistakes, controversy and subsequent debate are a part of what makes football so popular.

CSF

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Just a random thought, but avid League Of Ireland fans who attend as many matches as they can, but who also are huge fans of Man United or whoever, secretly annoy me.

Yeah that seems nuts to me. Enjoy as much as football as often as you can.

losthorizon

eyescreamcone wrote: »

The Fai in conjunction with the senior team management need to look to foreign leagues for eligible players. The MLS league in the USA and the A league in Australia are prime examples of where we could find players to improve the team. If 6 or 7 of our team are "foreigners" so be it.

No international players will come directly from the LOI. They will need to play in a higher league first.

How many months would you say at this higher level - two months?

eyescreamcone

losthorizon wrote: »

How many months would you say at this higher level - two months?

What I meant was:
LOI players are not good enough for international football.
Some excellent players will leave the LOI and better themselves to international standard elsewhere

Omackeral

eyescreamcone wrote: »

What I meant was:
LOI players are not good enough for international football.
Some excellent players will leave the LOI and better themselves to international standard elsewhere

The Magic Plane that James Mc Clean and Keith Fahey got is it? They became better players a week after touching down on English soil.

eyescreamcone

Omackeral wrote: »

The Magic Plane that James Mc Clean and Keith Fahey got is it? They became better players a week after touching down on English soil.

That's not my opinion!

Smithwicks Man

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Just a random thought, but avid League Of Ireland fans who attend as many matches as they can, but who also are huge fans of Man United or whoever, secretly annoy me.

You see once you support a LOI team and go to the home games or get a 4 hour bus to an away game then you're automatically a proper fan so you can support as many other teams as you want

tombliboo83

eagle eye wrote: »

He has won the Copa Libertadores with two different teams. That in itself is an incredible achievement but to have also won a World Cup and then brought Portugal to a European Championship final makes him a great manager. If he wins this World Cup he will go down as one of the greatest managers of all time


Scolari looking like a genius tonight

MarkSRFC21

The Irish are actually possibly the worst fans in the world

thelad95

Fescue wrote: »

I believe technology should not be introduced into football. The mistakes, controversy and subsequent debate are a part of what makes football so popular.

CSF

eyescreamcone wrote: »

That's not my opinion!

So when do they become good enough? Only after leaving? There are good players in Ireland, naturally they go onto better things, like a lot of better leagues than the Irish league.

CSF

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

You see once you support a LOI team and go to the home games or get a 4 hour bus to an away game then you're automatically a proper fan so you can support as many other teams as you want

Sure you know who the Milan physio was in 1986, how could you not be a real fan!!!

Smithwicks Man

CSF wrote: »

Sure you know who the Milan physio was in 1986, how could you not be a real fan!!!

:pac:

We may call it a day on that disagreement



Here's another opinion I held all week that was more unpopular than I thought it'd be - Thiago Silva will be a bigger loss against Germany than Neymar and he is a better player.

Still think that holds true after tonights display.