27 May 2018 02:00:15
Question - which side is greater:

Zidane’s real
Guardiola’s barca

Difficult one but I think zidane’s real shade it for me. Unbelievable achievement of 3 champions leagues. And adding la decimal under Ancelotti; 4 champions leagues in 5 years. Utter dominance and cementing then as one of the true great teams of all time.

Personally, I loved our 08 united team and if we had kept hold of Ronaldo and Tevez then I think we would have two or three more champions leagues. That was my favourite side and I think they could have rivalled the two mentioned above.

1.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 05:37:11
I think the champions league has lost a bit of its pizzazz. If you asked me at the start of every season what would you like to win, it would be the league all day long.

The European cup has a special place in everyone's heart but I don't think it's the be all and end all of football anymore.

When you won the European cup you were recognised as the best team in Europe, but over the last 10 or 15 years that clearly isn't the case.

Liverpool won it in 2005. Where they the best team in Europe that year? They weren't even the best team in Liverpool with Everton finishing above them. Poor teams have won the competition.

The great European team's win the champions league and their domestic league in the same season. Us in 99 and 08. Bayern doing the treble in 13, barcelona 09, 11 and 15 Madrid in 17.

That Barcelona team would play this Madrid off the park. In terms of decent teams, I think the last couple of years have been quite weak in terms of quality.

2.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 06:05:28
Mumbles I agree fully with you.
I think the main and major objective of the club is to really win the League before anything else. That is the sole reason of the existence of the club. Then we can prioritize other competitions like FA Cup and the rest of local competition. The last would really be CL I feel.
Mind you this is not being sour grapes or what. Rather I feel a question has to be asked of all the British clubs including the City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spursand etc. Try should be measured on their being which position in the table. Of course the PL title would be the best and that should encourage other clubs to try harder for the title and local competitions. After all that then perhaps CL will be challenged . Of course in terms of priority perhaps CL comes after the PL title. What’s big deal if you win CL and end up 6-8 position in table? I feel the club would look a little ridiculous winning Europe title but lost out in local competition. Just doesn’t makes sense for me.
My view is the following in terms of achievements:
1) PL title
2) CL title
3) FA Cup
4) Carabao Cup
I know some will strongly disagree. I will accept that as different people will view different titles/ cups with different priorities. I love to hear opinions.

3.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 08:05:19
The last time a team that was not necessarily a ‘big’ name won it was Porto in 2004 and since then it has become a smaller and smaller group competing for the prize. The League format favours the very big teams as they can slip up but still qualify for the knock out stages. It is all about money and trying to fend off the clubs creating their own European Super League.

Look at the decade before the Champions Legaue when it was still the European Cup. Bucharest, Eindhoven, Hamburg, Red Star Belgrade all won it and Sampdoria, Marseille, and Benfica all reached the final. I will bey you whatever sum you want that none of those teams will win the Champions League in the next 30 years.

As I’ve said several times I am slowly but surely falling out of love with this game. Ultimately it is a sport but t has been swallowed by corporate greed. The prices Liverpool fans had to pay for tickets and accommodation were obscene. The fees players get bought for, the wages they earn, the endless sponsorship with anyone who will cough up a fee, agents, kick off times, the list goes on. Sadly the game is governed by people with vested interests, is there a more corrupt organisation than FIFA?

We’re all doomed.

4.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 08:44:18
Valverde's Barcelona have just finished 14 points above Zidane's Real Madrid in La Liga.
Pep won 14 major trophies in four seasons.
Zidane though has won 8 in two seasons! And he gets criticized!
It's amazing when you think of their ability and mentality to win those trophies.
We can dream I suppose.
Worth noting that Premier League/ La Liga winners receive approximately ten times more than Champions League winners in prize money.
The Champions League is a bit of a bizarre sideshow to the normal league season. The format is odd. It takes a certain kind of mentality and skillset to win it. Real Madrid have got it down to a tee.

{Ed002's Note - Nonsense - where do you get this from about the winnings. Twitter I suppose. You would do best to avoid things you don't understand.}

5.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 08:51:55
Mumbles and Tony have got it spot on. I actually don't like the competition at all. I much prefer winning the PL. The CL has become a showcase for the elite teams in Europe. The surprise element has gone out of it.

6.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 09:12:24
Tony, funny you should say that about falling out of love with the game. My dad said the same to me many years back. And last night, i was discussing this with another old friend, and we said the same. I think we're turning into our fathers!
Park, i really enjoy reading your posts as they're balanced. But I'm afraid we're nowhere near challenging City. We are so weak in so many positions. Cb, rb, lb, cm (need two), rw and another cf. That's an outlay of more than £400m. Then Mourinho has to change his tactics and gel the team, something he's not been good at in the two years he's been here. So i think, it is City's title again with ourselves, liverpool and chelsea playing for other top4 places.

7.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 09:31:07
This next season has to be the key one for Jose.
He has to buy a couple of defenders and strengthen that and mount a strong challenge or win the PL. barring that he has to consider his future at ManUtd.
There isn’t only so much patience in everyone.

8.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 09:45:22
Got to say mumbles I actually agree with you I would much rather win the league than the champions league. When we were winning leagues for fun under sir alex it seemed like a formality but now I am desperate to win the league again. Especially with there being potentially 6 teams which can win it, the stakes and bragging rights are much higher. Champions league used to be the ultimate prize for me but it does seem that only a handful of teams are winning it with ease.

AAA perhaps you are right I would say city are outright favourites next season. But I do feel with a new defence we will close the gap considerably. I feel city’s ceiling is much smaller than ours because we have so many areas we can improve whilst they are closer to the finished article. Teams will now know somewhat how to play against them so I expect them not to have it all their own way. Apart from a handful full of our players, the majority massively under achieved so if we get them playing to their potential we will have a very decent team. I do see where you are coming from and perhaps I am being a deluded optimist! We shall see where we are in December because I may well be on the Jose out wagon 😂.

9.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 09:45:25
Got to be honest I don't think Madrid looked all that good last night .

10.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 09:45:46
Pep Barcelona would stuff them imo.

11.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 10:07:09
Jred it felt like this real side is coming to the end of the cycle. Great individuals but this team needs fresh blood in attack and midfield. Think they will have a huge spree this summer. I actually think city would have beaten them if they got to the final.

12.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 10:13:33
Good to see you back Ed 002, sorry if I did my maths wrong but I genuinely thought Real Madrid pocketed £15M for winning last night and City won £150M go winning the Premiership. If I've got the numbers wrong, maybe you could tell me who won what etc as I'd be interested. Maths was never my strong point. I've never used Twitter or anything like that but I do like coming on here for a bit of banter and interesting information.

{Ed002's Note - I am not going to ex

13.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:15:10
Jred I thought Real were very good last night. It was a very classy and accomplished performance in my opinion. Funny how people view the same game so differently.

14.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 12:04:26
I think prize money alone they'll receive around £45m. Then you must consider extra gate money for the extra games. Potential sponsorship clauses being triggered for reaching final and other money I'm sure.