Has football ever been better?

[chris lee]

I see posts regularly about how this and that is broken and how to save the game. But imo the sport is the greatest in the world and at its pinnacle.

Sure we will always have gripes, especially about refs! but I like the the fact that we leave some stuff open to interpretation more than any other sport, it provides great talking points and debates.

We have Messi and Ronaldo fighting for the GOAT.
Premier League cementing itself as the greatest league in the world ( 4 clubs in both euro finals)
Following Cardiff in the last decade has been better than probably any other, multiple promotions and cup finals. I especially enjoyed the DJ years due to the pure lunacy of it all.
Welsh National team reaching semi- finals and so much talented youth coming through atm.

I am as addicted and excited by football right now than I ever have been, I am currently subscribed to about 4 different footy podcasts I listen to regular,and just loving all of it!

[jamieccfc]

What I will say about refs is watching the champions league and premier league the difference in class is ridiculous the European refs are far better they really need to look at the system here

[William Treseder]

Credit where it’s due. English teams are bossing it at the moment.

[bobh]

Credit where it’s due. English teams are bossing it at the moment.

Pity about English refs.

[chris lee]

I agree they do seem a lot better, have a reputation for being a bit softer, but do get most of the big decisions correct. Although the spurs ref tonight played on through some big challenges which I appreciated.

Is there a reason why we can not poach refs from abroad? I know the EFL recently took a very well respected ref from the Aussie Leagues, but why is it not done more.

[Bluebina]

Credit where it’s due. English teams are bossing it at the moment.

Yes with a Spanish, German and Argentinian Manager.............

[City123]

Yes, 2008-2011

Otherwise known as the Enckelman-Johnson-Quincy-Taiwo glory years

[Freitag 4.17]

Yes, 2008-2011

Otherwise known as the Enckelman-Johnson-Quincy-Taiwo glory years

I agree, that Taiwo performance against BrIsTOl in the snow is single handedly the most beautiful thing I've witnessed on a football pitch.

[insider]

Imo Football is at it's shittest pinnacle ever.
Diving cheating and bent to fack by the billion pound industry it has become.
It's just become like motor racing whoever's got the best car/most money wins.

[Harry Monk]

Imo Football is at it's shittest pinnacle ever.
Diving cheating and bent to fack by the billion pound industry it has become.
It's just become like motor racing whoever's got the best car/most money wins.

Just about sums it up I think. The media hype is duping people into thinking its at its best.

[Bluebina]

Just about sums it up I think. The media hype is duping people into thinking its at its best.

This is my view generally, but those two games have caused me a bit of an issue, they were fantastic games !!!

[The Lone Gunman]

The media hype is duping people into thinking its at its best.

Perhaps people are forming their opinions based on what they're seeing with their own eyes.

I'm greatly amused by the fact that there are those who apparently haven't enjoyed the glorious football we've witnessed this season, though. If they think it's shit, I'd love to know what they think is good.....

[jamieccfc]

Perhaps people are forming their opinions based on what they're seeing with their own eyes.

I'm greatly amused by the fact that there are those who apparently haven't enjoyed the glorious football we've witnessed this season, though. If they think it's shit, I'd love to know what they think is good.....

http://www.ccmb.co.uk/showthread.php...0%92s+football

See gringo’s link in thread

[Harry Monk]

Perhaps people are forming their opinions based on what they're seeing with their own eyes.

I'm greatly amused by the fact that there are those who apparently haven't enjoyed the glorious football we've witnessed this season, though. If they think it's shit, I'd love to know what they think is good.....

Perception and taste. I enjoy watching my team win. I don't enjoy watching them lose. I don't watch football on TV, so my only experience is watching Cardiff City and Wales live, in a stadium. If either of them lose, it isn't an enjoyable day.

[The Lone Gunman]

Perception and taste. I enjoy watching my team win. I don't enjoy watching them lose. I don't watch football on TV, so my only experience is watching Cardiff City and Wales live, in a stadium. If either of them lose, it isn't an enjoyable day.

That’s unfortunate. I guess you must have had a dismal season. Sounds to me like you’re not a football fan as such, but rather you enjoy the lifestyle of supporting a football club. I can associate with that as there was a lengthy period when things were similar for me, although even when I was at my most obsessive I always watched a bit of football on TV and used to go to the occasional game that didn’t involve City.

[BlueArmy 86]

I see posts regularly about how this and that is broken and how to save the game. But imo the sport is the greatest in the world and at its pinnacle.

Sure we will always have gripes, especially about refs! but I like the the fact that we leave some stuff open to interpretation more than any other sport, it provides great talking points and debates.

We have Messi and Ronaldo fighting for the GOAT.
Premier League cementing itself as the greatest league in the world ( 4 clubs in both euro finals)
Following Cardiff in the last decade has been better than probably any other, multiple promotions and cup finals. I especially enjoyed the DJ years due to the pure lunacy of it all.
Welsh National team reaching semi- finals and so much talented youth coming through atm.

I am as addicted and excited by football right now than I ever have been, I am currently subscribed to about 4 different footy podcasts I listen to regular,and just loving all of it!

I can’t disagree with you, it just keeps delivering.

Worth noting that only 2 English teams are currently in euro finals. After the last two nights you can’t guarantee nothing for tomorrow night.

Agree about Cardiff as well. I tell a lot of my plastic fan mates..it’s been much more exciting following us than them the past 10 years.

[El Gwapo]

It may be two "English" teams in the final, but in reality its two teams from the richest league in the final. They are hardly littered with English players

[The Lone Gunman]

It may be two "English" teams in the final, but in reality its two teams from the richest league in the final. They are hardly littered with English players

Does that mean Cardiff City don't classify as a Welsh club but merely as a club from the richest league?

[life on mars]

Credit where it’s due. English teams are bossing it at the moment.

With foreign players and managers and coaches, you could say occupied clubs , are bossing it .

[NYCBlue]

No. Players are now true athletes. 30 years ago they were smoking and drinking. Now they run for miles and don't stop. Also the technical abilty they have is outrageous. Every single player is so confident on the ball. The game has always had drama. But the football we have witnessed in the last 48 hours has been breathtaking.

[William Treseder]

With foreign players and managers and coaches, you could say occupied clubs , are bossing it .

Our club must be one the biggest “occupied” clubs then. Malaysian owner, English manager. How many Welsh players were in our starting line up against Crystal Palace?

[thehumblegringo]

I don't like some of the money and commercial aspects but the game itself is brilliant

[Organ Morgan.]

Football's just one of many circuses that's overhyped by corporate media to dumb us down further and distract us as we become ever poorer while the surveillance matrix grows more invasive and former freedoms and liberties disappear. The lead story on Good Morning Britain - ITV's shite breakfast show - on every news bulletin today and yesterday involved Liverpool and Tottenham's victories to imply they were the most important happenings worldwide, when in reality one group of millionaire bag o' wind hoofers overcame a similar group of entertainers.

Returning to the Scouse b'stards win, I don't recall Sludge being as animated as he was yesterday when I visited his Cowbridge hovel. As I approached the property he was almost hanging out of an upstairs window with a red and white scarf tied 1970s style around one wrist as he screamed banshee-like indecipherable but clearly joyous slogans. I had to endure his celebrations, which involved him trying to tap dance later on, without complaint as I had previously insisted they had no chance of progressing after their 3-0 first leg thumping.

[CardiffIrish2]

Football's just one of many circuses that's overhyped by corporate media to dumb us down further and distract us as we become ever poorer while the surveillance matrix grows more invasive and former freedoms and liberties disappear. The lead story on Good Morning Britain - ITV's shite breakfast show - on every news bulletin today and yesterday involved Liverpool and Tottenham's victories to imply they were the most important happenings worldwide, when in reality one group of millionaire bag o' wind hoofers overcame a similar group of entertainers.

Returning to the Scouse b'stards win, I don't recall Sludge being as animated as he was yesterday when I visited his Cowbridge hovel. As I approached the property he was almost hanging out of an upstairs window with a red and white scarf tied 1970s style around one wrist as he screamed banshee-like indecipherable but clearly joyous slogans. I had to endure his celebrations, which involved him trying to tap dance later on, without complaint as I had previously insisted they had no chance of progressing after their 3-0 first leg thumping.

Genuine question re your first paragraph, do you take pleasure in anything if indeed you hold football in such contempt?

Second paragraph very funny mind 😂

[the other bob wilson]

A change in attitude that has seen attacking play favoured a bit more by officials has played a part in turning good defensive play into something of a lost art. Is Virgil Van Dijk really as good as everyone says he is or is he benefitting from being an excellent defender at a time when there are so few of them about?

The upshot of this is that the game has improved as a spectacle, but, as someone who grew up in the 60s and 70s, I liked it when the old style First Division was almost as hard to predict as the modern day Championship.

The top sides in the Premier League have improved this season and whoever finishes second can take some very small consolation in the knowledge that they are a far better team than many who have won it in previous years, but Leicester's fantastic triumph apart, the domestic game is much too predictable and there are far too many mismatches for this to be seen as some sort of football golden age.

As for the "Champions League" - I make it that the sides contesting the Final this year haven't been Champions for a combined total of eighty seven years!