Futbol Talk

[Hards Alumni]

LOL.

I don't disagree on the politics involved in FIFA (which honestly and frankly precedes either Trump administration), but to pretend the thread would be blissfully untouched otherwise is just silly and detached from what the Superbar has been. It's not like it's the normal posters in this thread have added nuanced discussion about the political implications to other soccer talk.  It's just another tired political snark pile on.  You don't have to tolerate this administration, much less like or support it, to be exhausted by the need to gripe about it, or make the same genre of cracks about it, in every thread.

Yes, politics is inherently part of FIFA.  So when it gets brought up, begging that it shouldn't be talked about is silly crap. 

[panda]

Yes, politics is inherently part of FIFA.  So when it gets brought up, begging that it shouldn't be talked about is silly crap. 

Move along and start your own thread about it.

[Hards Alumni]

Move along and start your own thread about it.

[MU82]

Show me the link where I declined?

OK.

panda, what are you a doctor of?

I sent wades a private message as I do not feel the need to discuss my personal life on this forum.

[panda]

OK.

lol - the that's your smoking gun here? Despite not agreeing with wades much recently, I respect him and trust his judgment hence why I direct messaged him to answer is question. My choice is to not share much of any personal information on this forum.

You on the other hand are an absolute squid who I wouldn't trust with any information hence why I ignored you. That decision is further vindicated with you attempting to mock me in some odd cringeworthy fashion.

[The Sultan]

Yes, politics is inherently part of FIFA.  So when it gets brought up, begging that it shouldn't be talked about is silly crap. 

This is really a cop out. There is zero reason to bring up politics here right now.

[MU82]

lol - the that's your smoking gun here? Despite not agreeing with wades much recently, I respect him and trust his judgment hence why I direct messaged him to answer is question. My choice is to not share much of any personal information on this forum.

You on the other hand are an absolute squid who I wouldn't trust with any information hence why I ignored you. That decision is further vindicated with you attempting to mock me in some odd cringeworthy fashion.

"Smoking gun?" What are you talking about? In a discussion about injuries, you presented yourself as a medical professional, so I asked you a serious and legitimate question about your field of expertise. You chose not to answer it, as was your right. Then, in this thread, you asked for evidence of you choosing not to answer, which I just provided.

If the subject of a discussion is nuclear war and a Scooper presents himself or herself as an expert on nuclear war, I would expect some Scoopers to ask what makes him or her an expert. There's no "smoking gun." Don't be an absolute squid.

[panda]

"Smoking gun?" What are you talking about? In a discussion about injuries, you presented yourself as a medical professional, so I asked you a serious and legitimate question about your field of expertise. You chose not to answer it, as was your right. Then, in this thread, you asked for evidence of you choosing not to answer, which I just provided.

If the subject of a discussion is nuclear war and a Scooper presents himself or herself as an expert on nuclear war, I would expect some Scoopers to ask what makes him or her an expert. There's no "smoking gun." Don't be an absolute squid.

You missed the point yet again.

I'm not being elusive with you for any other reason than for what I stated above. You are a squid. I don't trust you with information personal to me. I private messaged wades because I believe he would be respectful the information I shared with him.

To keep it painfully simple for you - I don't trust you or like you so I don't owe you anything.

[Hards Alumni]

This is really a cop out. There is zero reason to bring up politics here right now.

[Jockey]

Please let's stick to the facts about soccer.

Here's one that is indisputable - trump is the 1st convicted sexual predator to win the FIFA Peace Prize.

[MU82]

You missed the point yet again.

I'm not being elusive with you for any other reason than for what I stated above. You are a squid. I don't trust you with information personal to me. I private messaged wades because I believe he would be respectful the information I shared with him.

To keep it painfully simple for you - I don't trust you or like you so I don't owe you anything.

Correct, Dr. Squid, you don't owe me or anybody else anything.

I have no animosity toward you whatsoever, but I do get a kick out of your dopey posts and your make-believe insider knowledge on everything. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[Its DJOver]

Salah and Slot it a power struggle on Merseyside. My money's on Slot right now. If Salah isn't sold in January it'll surely be next summer. The Saudis will still offer 100+ mil for him.

[JWags85]

Salah and Slot it a power struggle on Merseyside. My money's on Slot right now. If Salah isn't sold in January it'll surely be next summer. The Saudis will still offer 100+ mil for him.

Absolutely love Mo and always will.  He's a Liverpool legend and always will be, no matter when or how he leaves, he should be praised and adored permanently on Merseyside.

That being said, his legs are gone. He's still good enough to dominate in Saudi, but he's not the player to carry a club to a title anymore, and it's kind of crazy how quick that flipped.

Konate turning into a pumpkin this fall hasn't helped either

[The Sultan]

Absolutely love Mo and always will.  He's a Liverpool legend and always will be, no matter when or how he leaves, he should be praised and adored permanently on Merseyside.

That being said, his legs are gone. He's still good enough to dominate in Saudi, but he's not the player to carry a club to a title anymore, and it's kind of crazy how quick that flipped.

Konate turning into a pumpkin this fall hasn't helped either

Kinda think this is a case where a player gets his "retirement contract" and downshifts a little.

[Shaka Shart]

Hardooooooo

Buddy - let's talk about the footy and keep it to the footy. It keeps bozos like mu82 etc. out of one of the last pure threads on this site.

Hard onnnnnnnnnn

[Shaka Shart]

Lotta contrarians here jumping on the "let it go" pogo stick when it suits them. Finally it's disgusting.

 We can't be letting go just how disgraceful it is what arsenal just did.

[panda]

I think the bigger issue is Trent leaving completely changed the dynamic of the squad both tactically and intensity wise.

Slot doesn't press as much as klopp, Diaz leaving leaves much more defensive responsibility further up the field for salah, which doesn't suit his game. Without Trent, he doesn't have that same outlet option to run onto balls and get in behind the defense.

Bringing in wirtz and playing him as a 10 made things more difficult as well. I would much rather see him on the left with Gakpo on the bench and DS playing in the pocket behind Ekitike/Isak. That would relieve wirtz/salah of a lot of the higher pressing responsibilities out of possession.

All of this seems to be moot as the intentions seem he will be gone following afcon in JAN.

[MU82]

FIFA has been accused of a �"monumental betrayal" by fan �representatives after it emerged that the cheapest tickets for next summer's World Cup final will cost more than £3,000.

Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fans across the �continent, described the prices as "extortionate" and called for an immediate halt to ticket sales after a day when England fans �discovered that tickets to follow their team through the tournament could cost up to $16,590 (£12,375) in the top categories.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/dec/11/world-cup-2026-ticket-prices-fifa?

[Shaka Shart]

FIFA has been accused of a �"monumental betrayal" by fan �representatives after it emerged that the cheapest tickets for next summer's World Cup final will cost more than £3,000.

Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents fans across the �continent, described the prices as "extortionate" and called for an immediate halt to ticket sales after a day when England fans �discovered that tickets to follow their team through the tournament could cost up to $16,590 (£12,375) in the top categories.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/dec/11/world-cup-2026-ticket-prices-fifa?

That's cute that they're using the World Cup final in the calculus for how much it would cost to watch England

[panda]

That's cute that they're using the World Cup final in the calculus for how much it would cost to watch England

The English cannot stand the commercialization of the game and are always appalled when seeing American stadium prices for tickets/concessions. They have a very socialist perspective on the economics of the game so it's no surprise they are upset with the ticket cost.

Having said that, 3rd party ticket agencies are the absolute worst. The price fixing through the apps for events needs to be stopped. It is criminal what has happened over the last 10 years.

[Hards Alumni]

The English cannot stand the commercialization of the game and are always appalled when seeing American stadium prices for tickets/concessions. They have a very socialist perspective on the economics of the game so it's no surprise they are upset with the ticket cost.

Having said that, 3rd party ticket agencies are the absolute worst. The price fixing through the apps for events needs to be stopped. It is criminal what has happened over the last 10 years.

Oy vey, yeah that's why there is such parity in the EPL lmao

[Shaka Shart]

I was just trying to make an England soccer failure joke. Jesus.

[JWags85]

The English cannot stand the commercialization of the game and are always appalled when seeing American stadium prices for tickets/concessions. They have a very socialist perspective on the economics of the game so it's no surprise they are upset with the ticket cost.

Having said that, 3rd party ticket agencies are the absolute worst. The price fixing through the apps for events needs to be stopped. It is criminal what has happened over the last 10 years.

The funny thing is that, while it's true that season tickets in England for the EPL are very reasonable, getting tickets to a match as an outsider can be just as expensive as most US sporting events. I've seen Liverpool matches at Stamford Bridge and Selhurst Park and both times ended up paying close to $80 each for decent seats on the secondary market. And that secondary market was a local friend getting them on a Chelsea/Palace ticket exchange.  Looking on a ticketing site was close to double that and if we wanted to sit in the visiting end, closer to 3-4x.

But when Brits complain about US sporting prices (which I'll concede are much pricier, that's undeniable) they make it seem like you can just rock up to an Arsenal or City match on a Saturday for 20 quid each

[jesmu84]

Prices this time are ridiculous even when comparing to prior US hosting

[Shaka Shart]

Prices this time are ridiculous even when comparing to prior US hosting

At least hosting in the US will silence the soccer haters who complain there isn't enough shooting