How a Man United fan can enjoy the Champions League final

Joe Williams

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How a Man United fan will enjoy the UCL Final
As a die-hard Man United fan, it will be hard to see Liverpool lift the Uefa Champions League trophy. So here’s what to do…

Stake my house on Liverpool to win the damn thing…
If they win I get a big payday to dry away the tears
Or laugh my arse off when they inevitably fail…
I’ll be homeless, but the joy in my heart will make me feel like I’m living in a mansion…

How’s everyone else planning to enjoy the spectacle?
Keg Breezy (Soon to be living it rough) Somewhere, haha

 

Planes and Automobiles
About 5months ago, My wife (bless her) booked our holiday

Its half term so its the only time we can go away

We fly Saturday evening! We hire a car from the airport to drive 1.5hours to our destination

Yes.. Thats correct. I will be travelling for the whole bloody match!

I understand the the BT Sport app wont work abroad

I am going to have to record it.. gutted. Truly gutted

I have never looked forward to going on holiday less, despite working for myself and only having had 3 holidays in the last 18yrs..

Hoping  to watch it all when I get home without the nerves and a smile on my face (I know its not the same but what are ya gonna do)
Al LFC. Miserable but excited in a weird way, Its a funny feeling…

 

Hurrah for Unai
I am delighted that Arsenal have confirmed today that Unai Emery is our new Head Coach.  Though I would have happily stood behind any new appointee, this seems like an intelligent and measured decision (despite the media’s desperate attempts to convince us otherwise).

He is young but has experience across multiple countries, has worked in different leagues and, crucially, has actually won meaningful trophies.  By all accounts he will take a completely different approach to Arsene (actually employing something called “tactics”) and that will be hugely refreshing for those of us who have had to watch the same scenarios being played out time after time after time over the last few years.

I am ridiculously excited that we are at the start of a whole new era for my beloved Gunners.   All that we need now is for the halfwits who inhabit what has become laughingly known as “Arsenal Twitter” to try and get in touch with their inner football club supporter, and put their considerable weight behind the new man.  Welcome Unai, I for one look forward hugely to watching you transform our club.
Carolyn, (for the first time in about eight years, optimistic) South London Gooner.

 

What are people smoking?
Bloody hell some of my fellow Gunners are pessimistic, aren’t they?

“won the odd cup”. That’s the Europa League…3 years in a row. Winning the odd cup gets you into the Champions league, and a big difference between Sevilla and Arsenal is that we have the name and budget to attract bigger players (quiet down at the back) rather than being a stepping stone a club like Sevilla seems.

Having a manager for Arsenal described as “a cost effective option with good pedigree and all the right credentials” makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, certainly not underwhelmed. He’s a manager, not a striker!

Emery lost out to an incredible Monaco side in his first year at the club, and responded exactly as required by winning the league the following year. His track record in the Champions League is not great, but Arsene’s record for the last decade isn’t exactly glowing either. Get us back into the CL and Unai would already have done something Wenger couldn’t.

Emery has managerial experience in different leagues, a history of winning, and has shown he can work under a tight budget. You know who doesn’t have any of that? Mikel Arteta.

I cannot understand how anyone thinks the club has got this appointment wrong.
Matt Wright, Gunner in Aus.

 

All Emery has to do is make us better than Wenger did
These idiots running down Emery before he even begins…Adonis Stevenson ‘I’d have rathered Arteta and his Bastardosity…’ Arteta was a mediocre soft touch for us, nothing of a Simeone/Barton about him, and as a manager he is an unknown quantity in the dugout.

When Wenger left I saw 6 names repeatedly linked and I ranked them as my preference to be Ancellotti, Allegri, Emery, Jardim, Benitez (I started getting desperate) and then Rodgers.

I’ll happily take Emery.  He’s won trophies, and seems to have a game plan other than ‘Give it to Ozil/Sanchez’.

Anyone who said they thought it was going to be Arteta when Wenger announced his departure is full of s**t, and just guilty of following a bunch of media ITK’s.

Whilst he’ll probably excel when Guardiola leaves Man City, Arteta at Arsenal would have been very much like Wenger, and would he have retired/sold some of his mates….i doubt it.  Critiscism of Wenger was his loyalty to players, and lack of defensive qualities…employing an assistant who is currently coaching a side that attacks loads, but not so much the defending, and is mates with the current Arsenal players isn’t going to fix things.

All Emery has to do is make us better than Wenger did, and he will have achieved.  Sad but true.  We are just building towards something better.

F365 said it best, “Arsenal never changed their mind, the media did” – You need to find yourself an opinion that isn’t from the Daily Mirror or The Sun.
Thom, Newport

 

World Cup predictions…
Let’s get some World Cup prediction correspondence going

Qualifiers from the Groups, and then round of 16 onwards

Group A

Winners – Uruguay

R-Up – Egypt

Group B

Winners – Portugal

R-Up – Spain

Group C

Winners – France

R-Up – Denmark

Group D

Winners – Argentina
R-Up – Croatia

Group E

Winners – Brazil

R-Up – Switzerland

Group F

Winners – Germany

R-Up – Mexico

Group G

Winners – Belgium

R-Up – England

Group H

Winners – Poland

R-Up – Colombia

Round of 16

France v Croatia – France

Uruguay v Spain – Spain

Portugal v Egypt – Portugal

Argentina v Denmark – Argentina

Brazil v Mexico – Brazil

Belgium v Colombia – Belgium

Germany v Switzerland – Germany

Poland v England – England

QF

Spain v France – France

Brazil v Belgium – Belgium

Germany v England – Germany

Portugal v Argentina – Argentina

SF

France v Belgium – France

Germany v Argentina – Germany

3rd Place

Argentina

Final

France v Germany – France

Top Scorer – Messi

What does everyone else think?
Ross Hunter

 

Has the Champions League vs the Premier League become a thing?
I’ve noticed when talking to some opposing fans that they’ve started to talk down the potential achievement of winning the Champions League. That because it’s a cup competition it’s somehow easier for teams to win it.

Adeel’s email in the mailbox seems to hint towards this too and states that City’s league win is a bigger achievement.

Has this always been the view or is it a newly held opinion in an attempt to down play Liverpool’s progress?

I mean, as a Liverpool fan who really wants to see my team win a league title for the first time since I was six years old, I would not swap a premier league title for a Champions League title. I know this is subjective to a certain extent but let me spell out why.

IT’S REALLY BLOODY DIFFICULT TO WIN A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE!

It’s quite a rare occasion. You just need to look at all the teams to have won it to see that.

Now, I know comparing the number of Champions League titles to league titles is somewhat flawed as the competitions have been running for different lengths of time and have changed slightly, but a quick glance shows you just how rare it is. Of the 22 different European winners, only Nottingham Forest has won more Champions League titles than league titles. The difference is stark.

The notion that it’s a cup competition and so it’s easier to achieve falls flat on its face when looking at the domestic league to European cup comparison. Even counting for the difference in how far each competition goes back, there is no indication at all that it’s easier to do.

Does it require a different skill set to achieve a league success? Yes, obviously. Is it more difficult to do? Well, it seems, no.

There are also plenty of teams to have won league titles but have no European titles to their name, yet no one to has won a European title without any league titles.

Cup competition or not, it is competing against the absolute cream of the crop and you have to beat them on the way through, with very little space for error. You can’t grind out draws against the bigger teams and punish the weaker teams, you have to beat big teams consistently.

With all this in mind, I’m not saying that one team is better or worse than the other. It’s just a case of debunking that myth that the Champions League is easier to win because it’s a cup competition.
Sam(inho)

 

Lies, damned lies and FACTS
I suspect that Pep Guardiola (and possibly Zidane, and probably the Barca Manager) might want a word with Liv_Red regarding his fact based hypothesis that Liverpool have the best attack in world football right now!

Here’s a few facts (that’ I’ve tried to get in to the mailbox a couple of time recently to no avail – F365 bias much?!*):

1) Liverpool have 1 less point in the league than they did last year. Objectively (the difference between objective and subjective should be reviewed by some of your esteemed readers), they are worse than last year.

2) Liverpool scored 10 more goals than Arsenal this year. That’s 1 more goal every, roughly, 4 games. Let’s not get carried away.

3) So far, Liverpool have not won anything. Maybe we should wait till Saturday evening to crown their glorious season.
Alex, (*before everyone sends that mail, this is a joke), Ayr

 

Jonny Nic
Hi everyone.

Last time I wrote in was in response to Johnny Nic’s excellent piece on gambling addiction and how utterly destructive it can be. I have just read the ‘Men, don’t be hard’ article and have again been moved by Mr N’s writing ability as he has absolutely nailed it. Again.

I am working through my own issues brought on by a series of events that have crept on me over the past few years. You don’t see it coming and you think you can cope and to show any sort of weakness is just that – a weakness. Rather than describing it as a weakness though I would suggest embracing it as ‘vulnerability.’ In my work as a leadership coach vulnerability is positioned as a very strong quality and something that is embraced, not frowned upon.

My advice is simple, predictable and prevails in the F365 article – talk to someone. Probably not your close family but talk to someone who is able to listen and able to provide advice, some structure and some real hope for you. Get in from of a psychologist. It doesn’t mean you are going mad it just shows you care enough about the people around you to do something about it and become as Johnny Nic describes it, ‘a nicer, more thoughtful, more gentle and open man.’ Oh, and those who love you will love you even more for it.

Thank you JN and much love to you all who are struggling right now.
James (Sydney, Oz. OTBC)

 

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