1.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 07:37:51
Bloody stupid England fans being daft, they make us as a country look absolutely pathetic (doesn't take much mind) . Fools.

Anyway, Ed thank you mate, hope you have a top day.

{Ed001's Note - people in general seem to have a problem gathering in large numbers without trouble to be fair. It is not just England fans.}


2.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 08:08:03
I do wonder whether many countries Europe in general are going more right wing.
I also wonder what ‘Generation Brexit’ will come to think of Europe.
Although we joined the Common Market (as it was then) when I was a child, our generation was raised on war comics and films and Europe was, well, foreign.
Look at 1970s and early 80s Liverpool games in Europe, the amount of Union Jacks on show is surprising.
It’s a shame that insularity is in vogue again?


3.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 08:53:50
True Ed, I think it's a problem in sport, in general isn't it mate, constant hassle from the thugs when the majority just want to go to a football game and enjoy it, there's always one group who will start trouble, it's like they get a kick out of it but like you say it's not just here, it's all over.

{Ed001's Note - sadly it is the way of the world.}


4.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 09:22:05
Thanks for the review as always, Ed.
I hope I got your point correctly in my response here:
Regardless of how soft the game is at the top, no way can women compete to a reasonable standard against professional level males. The physical differences, namely size, speed and aggression, between the two genders are too large to overcome. You only have to look at the Australian/ USA women’s teams getting thrashed by under-15 age schoolboys teams to know that banding together the gender formats is not a good idea, and would effectively end women’s participation in professional viable. I’m all for letting the women’s game stand on its own two feet, as most indicators would suggest it cannot be sustained as a professional sport anyway, but putting women together with the men would unquestionably halt any progress made altogether.

{Ed001's Note - would it? How slow is Busquets? He manages ok. Zola was small, not that quick and had almost no aggression. Did he manage ok or not? Putting them in with better team-mates and better opponents will improve the ability of women far more than just leaving it as is.}


5.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 09:22:36
Looks like Arda Turan might be spending a bit of time in jail? I know if it was one of us we certainly would, will be interesting to see how different the law is for the rich.


6.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 09:56:48
He'll get away with it Den, usually the case mate if you have a few quid.


7.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 10:36:34
Thanks Ed. Daniel Levy can't be serious. On the surface it seems that the stadium has clearly adversely affected transfer activity for Spurs. I hate the spin, either be honest, or don't comment. Maybe I'm wrong and they have cash stored up to buy Messi, I don't know. But your point about them not spending at all is either due to the fact that they have no money to spend or they felt they had the squad already to win a title and didn't need to add anyone. But, again, what do I know. Have a great day everyone.

{Ed001's Note - it was down to them not having enough money to buy the players they wanted and being unable to sell the players they expected to sell to raise more. They were trying all summer to buy Jack 'Overrated' Grealish but couldn't meet the asking price.}


8.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 11:20:23
Ed,
Busquets lack of speed only becomes apparent at the top level of the men’s game. He has still has other physical attributes that have allowed him to thrive at Barca. Zola was not the strongest or fastest, but he would have still been faster and stronger than most female professionals.
Men have denser, heavier bones and much bigger joints to withstand strong tackles more easily than women.
You also have to consider how slower, weaker players would be targeted, and think of a male’s reaction to putting in a heavy challenge on a woman when he would not normally do so.
You make an interesting point about putting a woman amongst male team-mates to improve through acclimatization, by that logic you could throw a few women in the octagon with Khabib and over time they should be able to improve. (That is not meant to be facetious! )

{Ed001's Note - and a number of women have trained with Khabib for exactly that reason. Having denser, heavier bones and bigger joints is irrelevant now. This is not the 60s, players are so protected now skill is the important thing and there is absolutely no reason a woman cannot match a man's skill.}


9.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 12:33:15
Look, I’m no voice for equality, but I also believe that women having the same rights as men should be a given, not a right. It should just be. However, we do have to realise that men and women are not the same. I’m sorry but you can train as much as you like with Khabib but if you’re a female and thrown in a competitive ring with him, even after years of training with him, you’re still going to get your ass handed to you with very little effort. Men and women are just built differently.

What about tennis, as an example, where funding for the female game is just as high as the men’s and has been for a while with acces to the same coaching and treatments etc. Does anybody seriously think any of the top ladies would have a chance against the men? Would anyone even break the top 100? I seriously doubt it.

I know all these sports require different attributes, but in a world where no female sportsperson would beat the top male in their field (can anybody name one other than conkers or whatnot? ), would integrating the two into a sport like football really be the way forward?

Would Firmino’s goal against City last season have even stood, for example? Or, assuming he is comfortable with barging into a woman with that type of force, when Steph Houghton goes flying across the turf do people not accuse him of some kind of assault instead of saying the defender needs to be stronger? No, we just need to make the game even less of a contact sport. It would just be inevitable.

Like I said, I’m all for equality, but in some circumstances, just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.


10.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 10:54:19
Perhaps the first time I disagree with ed, but combining the men and women's games would eliminate so many women from being able to make a professional career out of it.

If Serena Williams were on the Men's tour she'd be ranked 100+, she's admitted this herself. The difference is massive, in reaction times, acceleration, speed, strength. The average difference in the mens game between a match winner/ losers serves are only 2/ 3 KMPH. The difference in serve speed between men/ women at the top level is 20/ 30 KMPH and they play three fifth's of the sets.

In games where speed doesn't particularly matter women still struggle. Golf for example - the few elite women that have managed to get on a Men's PGA event haven't succeeded - Annika Sorenstam a superstar at the time, failed at colonial.

Cyborg in the UFC, a known steroid user and perhaps the scariest looking women this side of Ann Wolfe would get decimated by any of the top UFC fighters at her weight (and below) . The same with double Olympian Nicola Adams who I have great admiration for, she's a brilliant athlete, person and fighter but would be a club level boxer in the men's game. Football is not unique in that regard and it is still an athletic game, despite it now being softer.

The separation of the sexes has allowed women to forge their own career, sponsorships and inspire lots of other women. Merging the two would likely get rid of most if not all the women at the top level in football.

{Ed001's Note - they are all individual sports you are referring to and so absolutely irrelevant to a team game.}


11.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 11:43:37
Of course they have - in practice. In a contest they would be brutalized more effortlessly than most men are, just look at cowardly Fallon Fox’s ridiculous career spent beating up women.
Further, speed is a huge element of the game and will remain so.
As for the skill element, I can’t disagree strongly as I see no reason for it not to be the case either. But female tennis has had the same platform as the men’s game for years and years now, and the gap between the sexes remains beyond a mere physical one.

{Ed001's Note - again all you talk about is individual sports, utterly irrelevant.}


12.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 13:18:05
Has Arda Turan always been this much trouble? I remember a number of years back he was quoted as being a huge Liverpool fan. Was a hell of a player at atletico, all seems to have gone downhill. fast.

{Ed001's Note - yes mate, he has always been known for arrogance.}


13.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 14:03:56
Angry Bardzo, do you seriously believe that players like Serena Williams (especially when she was in her prime) could not break into the top 100? What exactly does she lack that means she can't beat Yuki Bhambri or Mirza Basic?


14.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 15:13:01
Yes I do, Zpecialone. Her game is based around dominating her opponents physically and playing big winners, controlling matches from the baseline, that is if her opponent manages to get a rally going against her. She is not suited to the more athletic style of the men’s game. She may win a few matches here and there, I am sure, but certainly not enough to be anywhere close to being a top player on the mens side. No way to prove it, just my (and evidently her) opinion.

What difference does it make if these are individual or team sports ed? Individual physicality and skill is very important to whether you are good enough to be a professional sports person in any discipline. Even the physically strongest female footballers would struggle to match up to the weakest male footballers (professionals at least), so the skill level would have to increase so much for that to happen. Or the sport would have to change to accomodate. As Imred said, you just wouldn’t get the numbers of Women making the grade.

Mixed Futsal, maybe. Mixed football, no chance.


15.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 17:51:30
Cheers for that ed, to be honest on the women’s football, I think there is far more money to be made with two separate entities across the board. I think the point could be discussed in a few decades when the women’s sport has had a chance to catch up on the men’s game. The women’s game has come on leaps and bounds thanks to a fraction of funding so I see great things to come, I look forward to the day when it’s closer to tennis for drawing power.


16.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 17:54:07
Barzdo Serena Williams would give a lot of the male proffesionals a good game.

Of course men, on a whole are stronger. Which is why men race men and women box women. That is not to say there is a difference in skill. I actually prefer to watch women's tennis, nice bums, groaning and long rallies.

20 years ago ladies football was a bit of a joke, I used to watch it knowing I could easily participate in this match. But now that is not the case, the improvement has been staggering which just shows what a bit of money and effort can make. I guess that the standard will only get higher. Good move by eufa.


17.) 16 Oct 2018
16 Oct 2018 18:36:45
She may give them a good game, Mane man, but would still lose the vast majority. She (or any other of the top females) would have to change their style vastly to compete for much more than a few points. Not to mention that Serena’s first serve is slower than most of the men’s second serve. The men would have little difficulty in returning her serves where even one of the slower men would seem like Ivo Karlovic compared to what she was used to.