Mails: Which is better – fourth or a trophy?
Date published: Friday 2nd December 2016 2:54
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
Trophy > fourth
I have to admit, I’m dismayed at the result of your poll. You pose a tough question, but how can anyone swap winning something tangible for coming fourth?
What happened to the charm and allure (felt around the world) of the FA Cup? Arsenal really have broken English Football. Of course I’d rather be in the Champions League than Europa, but if you win the Europa you qualify for the Champions League anyway.
I think on balance, if winning the league is out, I’d rather focus on the cups and earn the right to play in the Champions League by being Champions of something. If United won the Europa, I’d not really be fussed where we came in the league. But maybe it’s easy to say as a fan of a team that’s won it recently.
That has to be better than a cabinet full of imaginary fourth place trophies, doesn’t it?
Guy S
What would you rather?
- Win the EFL Cup or FA Cup but finish outside top four
- Finish in top four but win no cups
Bloody 3pm kick-offs
I have been at least a thrice-daily reader of your website for roughly a year now, and must first express my gratitude for providing a guaranteed delight in an otherwise mundane working day.
This is my first time I have felt compelled to write in, and I do so in anger.
Having meticulously planned my Saturday sporting entertainment, I was thoroughly looking forward to the seamless transition from one battle of the titans to another, from Man City/ Chelsea to El Classico.
Above all, the drama of the latter is probably the game I look forward to the most in the sporting calendar, with sporting, political and social ramifications in abundance.
However, thanks to the powers that be (and I’m sure initially for good reason), I will not be able to witness the spectacle of the Catalonians facing off against their fiercest rivals due to a ban on broadcasting ban on UK television for live football matches between the hours of 2.45pm and 5.15pm.
This is an issue that has been addressed before, and for the purposes of the domestic game I understand the reasoning.
However, when such a tasty encounter appears in a foreign league, surely the rule could be flexed to permit this (and also give the British PFM another reason to gripe about the foreign game getting preferential treatment.
Until next time, I hope you all have a delightful weekend, and as a parting request, more regular literacy genius from the Cheeky Punter would be glorious.
Scott (Another Painful Season for the Minster Men), York
Leave Jesse alone
Jesse Lingard reminds of a young Freddie Ljungberg. Limited technically in comparison to his peers, but his off the ball movement and space finding is second to none. Give him time to improve his composure and finishing and he could end up being a top, top player. Keep blaming him for United’s inadequacies and watch another English talent go down the drain. He is evidently a late developer, so let him develop people. Patience is sadly a lost art in today’s game.
He has his place in this United team. Maybe not our strongest XI, but he should start his fair share of games. He could end up as a big a part of our team as Ljungberg once was for Arsenal.
The Prince
Big Weekend‘s little brother
Stoke City-Burnley. What do you do when your team is super-duper-mega impossibly abject when away from home? If your opponent is Stoke, you work on set pieces, because the Potters are behind only the Pardews in goals conceded. You look at an opposing midfield that might still be missing Glenn Whelan, and get ready to attack down the middle. You drill a back line that largely surrendered to West Bromwich Albion two weeks ago. You hope Tom Heaton and Dean Marney are fit, because Johann Berg Gudmundsson isn’t. You send subliminal messages through Mark Hughes’s smartphone to start Jonathan Walters instead of Wilfried Bony, like he did last week against Watford. You learn Dutch swear words to distract Bruno Martins Indi, the in-form defender. You search YouTube for inspirational videos. And, hopefully, you play some football.
Stat: Michael Keane leads the league in shots blocked, with 24.
West Ham–Arsenal. A fixture averaging 4.0 goals over its last six times out. A large banana skin for Arsenal: they’ve been picking up points without playing terribly well, and West Ham, even with new injury questions, almost have to be better than against Manchester United midweek. No way to predict who the wheel of fortune will select in Arsenal’s midfield, but I’d include Francis Coquelin to blunt the Hammers’ attack. There’s usually plenty of space behind Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble, and since last year Alex Iwobi delivered two assists from that very spot, he should be in the lineup as well. But last year a certain Andy Carroll scored a hat trick from far post crosses, so the Gunners need to get close to their men on the wings. West Ham gambled a bit in the midweek game and got overrun, so perhaps we’ll see a more cautious approach. But let’s hope for the usual allotment of goals.
Stat: Arsenal have 12 different players with assists this season, most in the league.
Middlesbrough-Hull City. What looks like a Monday night borefest is one of the more intriguing games of the week. For the first time this season, Boro will be a clear favorite, going up against a team likely to sit back to frustrate them. Do they have the passing talent and the nous? With Dieumerci Mbokani suspended, Mike Phelan is probably back to one available striker, Adama Diomandé. But Hull’s 4-5-1 may frustrate Boro’s wing attackers, so Adam Forshaw needs to be effective in the middle. Will Aitor Karanka instruct Adama Traoré to come inside as well? Hull have been mostly a right-sided attacking team, but with Andrew Robertson available again they could attack more up the left, to go at Boro’s weak point, right back Antonio Barragan. For a tight game, let’s think set pieces: Hull have scored six and allowed six, Middlesbrough have scored three and allowed three.
Stat: Middlesbrough lead the league in tackles per game, with 21.2, but are last in shots on target per game, with 2.46.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA
Was it a rant or was it brilliant management?
Something I think gets overlooked in the whole fact rant debacle is what had happened just before that.
If you cast your mind back to December 28th 2008 LFC had just beaten Newcastle 5-1 away from home and afterwards Stevie G had a rather unpleasant altercation with a DJ.
All the talk afterwards was of how Gerrard, our captain/talisman/God, was facing up to five years in prison for GBH and how he’d single handedly messed up our best chance for a title in donkeys years.
Then out comes Rafa a week later and all of a sudden the narrative switched and all talk of Gerrard stopped and the focus was on Rafa.
It always struck me as extremely odd that nobody seems to want to mention this and that it’s been used as a stick to beat Rafa in the intervening years, but then again history is written by the winners and so this has gone down as Fergie getting Rafa to start cracking up.
Vinnie, Phnom Penh
A quick thought on Rafa/Rant/Facts something which I’m surprised Gerrard didn’t mention in his autobiography…
28th December – Liverpool beat Newcastle at St James’s Park
29th December – Gerrard arrested for an alleged assault, the case drags on until July
9th January – Rafa has his ‘rant’ everyone then concentrates on Rafa and his cracking up, taking a lot of attention from Gerrard for the next couple of months
I’ve always thought Rafa was doing everything he could to deflect attention from Stevie.
Daniel, LFC (Ben Woodburn makes me feel scarily old), Norwich
We need more David Platts
It’s Friday morning here in China, I’m doing my best impression of someone typing a business email while sipping coffee and shaking my head at some of the football merch on sale (love the Steven Chicken articles, keep em coming).. My personal best/worst purchase was an official, and indeed horrific, Newcastle United denim jacket, ordered over the phone having thumbed through the club merchandise catalogue (remember them?)… Anyway…
After reading the mailbox, and noticing Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London’s mention of David Platt, I recalled how I’d seen an amusing clip of him scoring for Sampdoria and celebrating like a nutter on a VHS copy of Nick Hancock’s Football Nightmares. THEN, I realized that, as I was young and not interested in Arsenal, I didn’t know too much about him and his playing career.
For those younger mailboxers, Platt (prior to now looking like almost every middle-aged dogwalker ever) managed to accrue over 20 million pounds in transfer fees, spanning spells with Bari, Juventus and Sampdoria (after much prodding from one Roberto Mancini). First, I want to point out that, despite not sounding like a great deal of money by today’s standards, that is still some going. Second, I think its brilliant that not only did he go abroad to hone his skills, but also that he stuck it out, it wasn’t a one-season out of the spotlight with little to show for it, he made a significant impact and more impressive still, he learned the language too.
It’s been said by many, but I really wish that more players would take the opportunity to play abroad, not only play abroad but REALLY immerse themselves in the new culture so that they actually get something out of the experience. Take Ravel Morrison at Lazio, started training with em in Feb 2015, by JUNE was already reported as ‘unsettled’- at least give it a go lad.
If England is to become a ‘force’ in world football, more players (early or mid 20s, doesn’t matter) need to be willing to play abroad. Teams like Spain or France for example have very good squads with players plying their trades in different leagues aside La Liga and Ligue Un and they reap the benefits of that. Granted, Spain has some brilliant players that would be great in any league, but they also have players like Cazorla, Fabregas, Costa etc. who play in the Premier League and therefore are better equipped to deal with a variety of tactics that one might face against different countries in WC’s or the Euros.
I really hope to see more players like Ryan Gauld (Dundee to Sporting Lisbon), Oliver Burke (RB Leipzig), in the near future give other leagues a go and hopefully then England will be able to benefit (I realize both aforementioned examples are Scottish, best of luck to them, god knows Scotland need some quality 😉 ).
Weekend Predictions: NUFC to stuff Forest tonight, Chelsea to beat Citeh, Burnley to beat Stoke, Bournemouth to nick a point at Lpool.
Jon (searching fervently for my Nick Hancock videos, just classic), NUFC, Guangzhou
Irrational dislikes
As it’s Friday, I’d like to suggest a mailbox game. We’ve all talked about why certain things annoy us; half and half scarves, for example, because they represent the commercialisation and the concept of ‘fans’ over ‘supporters’. The ‘Last Defender’ series has been good for reconsidering some of those views.
But what about the completely irrational dislikes? Players, stadia, etc.? Sometimes you just can’t justify why you feel a certain way about something. Some friends are I were talking during the Chelsea/Spurs game last week, and I realised how much I dislike Willian. I’ve no idea why. He seems a nice bloke; rarely does anything considered a ‘dark art’ on the pitch or makes ‘bad’ fouls. Perhaps it’s his broccoli-like barnet? Maybe he looks a bit gormless and it upsets me that he will earn more money this year than I will in a lifetime? I just don’t know.
I also hate the ‘hands behind the ears’ celebration, primarily because it makes me think of a poorly judged tribute to Gary Lineker.
Happy Friday all.
Stu, Southampton
To Brian (laughing at Liverpool)
I’m sure you’ve had replies to Brian, LFC who wants everyone to join in with him laughing at United for being happy at Wednesday’s result.
Hey Brian, if it stops you feeling the butthurt over the fact that most of football have been laughing at your club for at least a decade whenever we hear “Next Year Is Our Year” then go on, laugh heartily away. Just a few things to remember:
Your clubs recent history is defined by win on penalties over a decade ago by your arguably greatest player who couldn’t lead you to the promised land you are STILL seeking eleven seasons later.
We all still remember the meme you were all sharing where your two legendary managers were offering advise from above to Brenda before Slippy G threw it all away.
And most importantly you are where you are this season, just as where you were in the season of Crystanbul One because last season your team was sh*t. Not regular fighting for places sh*t, but so sh*t you failed to qualify for Europe. That’s just how sh*t you were in the league. Right now you (and Chelsea) are reaping the rewards for being totally sh*t the season before, but I would say that looking at Chelsea they will be able to handle the full load of games next year to challenge in Europe and go for the title. Your lot? Recent history is not on your side.
So laugh away Brian. Laugh heartily. Afterwards go find a chair and sit the f*ck down.
Israel, (Not giving any chills) MUFC
To Brian (Lovely, lovely stuff) LFC. To quote one Liverpool hero (Dalglish), pulled from this recent article from f365 – “The more others speak about Liverpool then the more worried they are.” The article is centred around the fact another Liverpool hero (Benitez) didn’t heed Dalgish’s warning, so keep sending in the emails mate. Let’s us United fans know all is not lost.
J Barber
In between your uncontrollable fits of mirth, please consider that the last trophy Liverpool won was the 2011/12 league cup, prior to that it was the 2005/6 FA cup. Your last league win was in 1989/90. Can I now take a minute to laugh at Liverpool? You have remained ‘fallen’ for a lot longer than United have. Although I’m sure this year will be your year ….
Kind regards,
Paul (yes, I bit), Man Utd
The post shot horror tackle
Just in response to Rob Melia’s mail on tackles going unpunished, the one that really grinds my gears is the Adrian chop on Zlatan. I wholeheartedly agree that Adrian should have been reprimanded for this but it seems that if a player gets a shot away the defending player has a free pass on delivering a shocking tackle.
I have noticed this happening on a lot of occasions where if the attacking player (in this case Ibra) tried to pass the ball or round the keeper instead of a shot it would have been a stonewall penalty and more than likely a sending off. But because he got the shot away anything that happens after the shot is fair game.
The one example that always stuck in my head was a game between United and Chelsea. Hernandez took a shot from about 6 yards out. As Hernandez was a little off balance he plants his foot into the turf and Ashley Cole, in a vein attempt to block the shot, decides to instead put in a horror tackle and nearly breaks Hernandez’s leg. The shot went wide, there was no penalty and the game went on. Ashley Cole may have got a booking which is even more bizarre as it means the referee (Phil Dowd) saw the tackle but decided not to award a penalty. Again if Hernandez opted to try to pass or round Cole it would have been a penalty and a booking or a sending off.
This happens quite a lot and I feel referees should be more aware of post shot tackles as they seem to have a blind spot for these incidences. I can’t think of any more examples but it is quite frequent.
Oisin NZ (This is the link to the Cole tackle. Poor quality but trust me it was in the six yard box and Fergie was perplexed why we weren’t awarded a penalty)
Doing a Kante
Conor, Mark Schwarzer has just won the Prem with Chelsea & Leicester. Famously (not really) he was given a winners medal by Jose Mourinho despite not actually playing a single game. He also had no game time for Leicester last season, though I don’t know whether they gave him a medal. He’s not eligible for an official medal (you have to play 5 times), Jose apparently had a replica specially made. Because he’s just that lovely.
Stewart, Chicago LFC
In response to Conor (LFC), Michael Laudrup won 4 La Liga’s with Barcelona, and then promptly moved to Real Madrid and won the league.
As Stozza D (are we still doing that, or has he morphed, like Puff Daddy, into a new monikor?) said when describing his passing compilation, “83 minutes of one player passing. Eighty-three minutes. That’s longer than Phone Booth. Yet it doesn’t get boring, instead transfixes you with its many shades of Danish brilliance. It’s like the football YouTube version of The Ring 2, but with a less unhappy ending”. Simply a step above.
Jack (I learnt all of that from his Potrait of an Icon) Manchester
Has a manager done it?
Roberto Baggio: won the title with Juventus in 94-95 and with Milan in 95-96. Remarkably these were the only league titles in his illustrious career.
A follow up question: which managers have done this?
James Bruschini
Mike Dean
Kudos on your comparisons of Mike Dean to a third sheep Morgan Freeman in a nativity play. I laughed out loud spitting coffee on myself. I regret nothing.
Miguel Sanchez, LFC, Eire (If Palace win, will Pardew dance?)
Football, life and death
While not a story about my own family – though maybe in a way it is – Paul reminded me of one chap, James, who used to sit behind my dad and I at Old Trafford. I remember him tapping me on the shoulder one match to wish me a happy 18th birthday. It was obviously quite a moment for him as he began to recall how he’d just turned 18 when he started going to go games, and how little I was then, and how much we’d both grown since. He had a wife now and a young son. I think he’d just turned 30. The seats around us were occupied more or less by the same people even after the 12 years since the Stretford End had been refurbished and we’d all got our season tickets. While we didn’t always know each other’s names, it was pretty much a little community with a revolving cast of family members and friends. Once she was old enough, I began to share my season ticket with my sister. She still goes with my dad, but every now and again – no more than once or twice a year – I’ll catch a game and get a handshake, a pat on the back and a how have you been from familiar faces I’ve known pretty much all my life.
I guess what with his own growing responsibilities James couldn’t go to every match, and often passed on his season ticket to his dad. My own dad noticed one game that James hadn’t been for a while so asked him how James was doing. After weeks of holding it in, his dad choked up, and told everyone that he’d been killed in a car crash. It still gets me this one. It wasn’t long after my own 30th. Those twelve years or so years separating us both had swung around again, cruelly this time. And yet, there’s something about the thought of James that still warms the heart – the idea that a football club is a community, that it isn’t just consuming a product, but living it week after week not just on the football pitch but in the stands too. It’ll be familiar to many who have spent years on the terraces, and I don’t mean that arrogantly. But for all those who don’t get the chance, corporate hospitality, or clubs that define their size and prestige by however many hundreds of thousands of likes they have on Facebook, I can’t help but wonder what we’re losing.
Michael, MUFC
Hello – I wanted to just say how truly sorry I am to have read the sad news about Paul, the Geordie Liverpool fan’s father. I agree with the sentiment from several mailboxers that you should feel free to pass this along to him if you are allowed and inclined to do so.
Paul – Please know that people all over the world read the mailbox and I am sure I can speak for many of them when I say that I cried reading your tragice news. Sadness is sadness and heartbreak is heartbreak. I don’t need to know you to feel truly and deeply sorry for your loss. I hope that this email and the hundreds like it that you may receive help in some small way. In these days of increased tribalism and dislike, that is teetering on hate, towards our fellow man, know that there are decent people in the world (even in crazy American states like Idaho) who feel they are part of a global community and who feel deeply for others, whoever they are and wherever they are.
My sincere and heartfelt condolences, my friend.
You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Nick V. (Liverpool fan, as if it matters) Idaho, USA
Maybe Im too late if so id appreciate this being passed on if I am.
Paul, i lost my dad in similar circumstances in January. It gets easier. It wont go away but it’ll get better.
All the best.
Graham
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