Controversial football opinions

On the standard of Football in the past.
I'm not sure re the quality of players.

What I am certain of is the standard of goalkeeping from the mid 90s to now is miles ahead of anything pre mid 70s. Keppers were almost universally awful with a couple of exceptions.
 
Champions league for champions only.
So be it if Real Madrid draw Linfield or whatever. Unseeded 2 legged matches right through to the final then a 1 leg match.
Like wise for a cup winners cup competition.

I have absolutely no interest in watching a champions league match unless we were involved.

Probably says more about my interest in football outwith us.
 
It’s difficult to argue that Scottish football is better than it’s given credit for when Kilmarnock lose to the Connahs Quay nomads in the European qualifiers.
It's an easy argument when your point against is based on a single 90 minute game.
 
What I am certain of is the standard of goalkeeping from the mid 90s to now is miles ahead of anything pre mid 70s. Keppers were almost universally awful with a couple of exceptions.

I think it’s like when you were young and playing with your mates, the worst players always got stuck in goal. Then translate that through the years. Worst player in the school team gets put in goals, then because he’s used to it, he plays in goals for a junior team. Then gets picked up by a professional team. Boom, he’s a goalkeeper now. The better ones get bought by the better teams but it’s still just the worst player in the team in goal.

This theory is based on pre 1980’s football :D
 
If the Edinburgh teams got into the Europa Conference League, they'd get to the knockout round.

Scottish football is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be.

Hmmm, I agree Scottish football isn't as bad as made out but other Scottish clubs are given the chance to qualify for European competition and they fail every year. If they can't even qualify it's incredibly unlikely they'd get out of a group.
 
The offside laws are a joke. If you are anywhere on the pitch, you are involved in play.. end of discussion.
 
Hmmm, I agree Scottish football isn't as bad as made out but other Scottish clubs are given the chance to qualify for European competition and they fail every year. If they can't even qualify it's incredibly unlikely they'd get out of a group.
I agree, but I think there are slightly mitigating circumstances.
1. European football starts during our pre-season. Same for other countries I suppose, so that's tenuous.
2. The provincial clubs are on the back of a good season so in all likelihood lose their better players before the new season. (I don't think that happened with Hibs this season right enough)

So, yeah I completely agree
 
It's an easy argument when your point against is based on a single 90 minute game.

There's more than one game as evidence tbh.

Outwith us and them, Aberdeen were the last team to go an acceptable distance in the Uefa Cup at the time reaching the last 32. That was in 07-08 so circa 13 years ago.

In that time, the likes of League of Ireland teams and Cypriot teams have went further than the other Scottish clubs.
 
Scottish football is generally terrible and way behind its peak in 80s or 90s when even the sheep had £1m players. Look at 96 Hearts team we battered 5-1 in Laudrup final....not one current Hearts player would get on the bench.
 
Countries that had overseas empires and large colonies have an unfair advantage today because migrants from those vast lands have moved to the mother countries, so they get to play their offspring in their national teams. I suppose Scotland and Wales benefit to a small extent, but England have hit the jackpot because most of these migrants settle in England. Other nations that benefit are France, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy amongst others.
 
There's more than one game as evidence tbh.

Outwith us and them, Aberdeen were the last team to go an acceptable distance in the Uefa Cup at the time reaching the last 32. That was in 07-08 so circa 13 years ago.

In that time, the likes of League of Ireland teams and Cypriot teams have went further than the other Scottish clubs.
To be fair, it was easier to qualify then as teams like Aberdeen need to play more qualifiers against better quality of teams due to Rangers being out the league and not aiding the coefficient.

Aberdeen for example, have beaten a few fairly respectable teams in the qualifiers but inevitably failed to make the grade due to the sheer volume of games.

The fact a 3rd Scottish side will get into the ECL groups next season, mines you’d expect better results going forward.
 
Diego Simone is highly overrated manager and Athletico would do better if they got rid of him for a more offensive manager.

This is just a bit of a mental take. He took Atletico and won the league against prime Barca & Real teams including the likes of Messi and Ronaldo. Also took them to a Champions League Final.

Agree on the Zidane volley. Good finish but there have been many better goals scored in European finals.

How many scored with the players weaker foot on the volley?
 
Seems mine isn't that controversial going by some comments in here but Scottish football is far more entertaining on and off the field than Champions League and English Premier League.

I say more entertaining rather than better but I would rather watch an entertaining game with two shite teams than a boring match with two good teams.
 
Not a patch on the legend Juninho Pernambucano :D

"Between 2009 and 2018, the Portuguese star scored 33 free-kick goals in 444 attempts for Los Blancos – which equates to a conversion record of 7.3%.

For Juventus, his record of one goal "from 72 attempts equates to a 1.4% conversion rate.
It was like a penalty for Lyon when they got a free kick round the box. I remember the time we horsed them they got one just right on HT and it looked in all the way, the crossbar must still be shaking! Fortunately we didn't concede any other free kicks around the area.

Ronaldo is absolutely garbage at them. When he was at Madrid they allowed him to overrule Bale who was far superior at them
 
The individual quality of players has decreased massively in the last decade, driven by the manufactured hype of bog standard players by the media.

Scottish football is no where near as bad as made out.

The Champions League is a significantly more boring tournament than the Europa League

Every record broken is utterly meaningless now because of the change of the game and the amount of matches played and it makes players who would get ignored at any other time into undeserving legends.
 
Two terrible opinions OP btw.

I think mine is that being a linesman must be hard as f*ck and they are bound to get calls wrong.
Butt should have done better with Zidane’s goal.

I should point out I love Zidane and have him right up there, but Bale’s goal was absolutely incredible.
 
Football is basically just rubbish now. I used to be obsessed and love it, I would watch every and any game I could, tried to watch every match at major tournaments, etc, now, I just follow Rangers.
I still love football but having to give up Sky Sports and BT whenever finances require it is somewhat less of a hassle than it was.

I’m almost getting to the point where I get more enjoyment from following coverage and analysis of football via highlights and (decent) podcasts through the week rather than sitting down and watching three games at the weekend.

That may partly be down to having a 3 year old, but still.
 
I don’t even know if it’s controversial or not, but I’d rather watch the likes of Ronaldinho, Zidane and Ronaldo at their peaks well before Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano I'd agree with, but Messi at his peak is as good as it gets.

Here's one...Paul Scholes was completely overrated. Gets better every year since his retirement yet when he was playing I think he was only ever Man Utd's player of the year once (Gabriel Heinze won it ahead of him), he was rarely in the EPL team of the year, never anywhere near a Ballon d'Or podium (whereas Lampard & Gerrard have been 2nd and 3rd). If he was as good as they say, why did nobody ever vote for him?
 
Cristiano I'd agree with, but Messi at his peak is as good as it gets.

Here's one...Paul Scholes was completely overrated. Gets better every year since his retirement yet when he was playing I think he was only ever Man Utd's player of the year once (Gabriel Heinze won it ahead of him), he was rarely in the EPL team of the year, never anywhere near a Ballon d'Or podium (whereas Lampard & Gerrard have been 2nd and 3rd). If he was as good as they say, why did nobody ever vote for him?
Paul Scholes himself admits he wasn’t as good as everyone claims him to be. He’ll be the first to tell you that he quit England because he was shite for them.

Although we did, somehow, let him score two headers in that playoff for Euro 2000.
 
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To be fair, it was easier to qualify then as teams like Aberdeen need to play more qualifiers against better quality of teams due to Rangers being out the league and not aiding the coefficient.

Aberdeen for example, have beaten a few fairly respectable teams in the qualifiers but inevitably failed to make the grade due to the sheer volume of games.

The fact a 3rd Scottish side will get into the ECL groups next season, mines you’d expect better results going forward.

If the Scottish league was good though, Aberdeen and co would have held up the coefficient in our absence. Our absence meant more immediate European places for the diddy teams based on our recent performances. Dundee Utd the following year got beat 7-2 on aggregate off Dynamo Moscow.

That season Aberdeen had to qualify past Dnipro to make the group stages. Scottish teams have lost numerous times to teams of a similar level in recent years. That season Aberdeen also beat FC Copenhagen 4-0, drew with Lokomotiv Moscow and got a draw against Bayern Munich at home.

They probably will get better results in the Europa Conference League against the guff that's at the bottom of the current groups. However there's other teams who are at the same level or better than the ones that pap them out in qualifying. Example being Qarabag who hammered Aberdeen this season.

I think the number of games is a bit of an excuse, they invariably lose to teams who are better than them. If outwith us and them Scottish football was good it would definitely show in the European results over a 15 year period.
 
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The Europa League is more exciting than the Champions League.

The vast majority of time spent watching football is actually quite boring but we all continue for the infrequent moments that get you on your feet.

The amount of coaching that youngsters get these days has improved technique beyond all recognition from 80s & 90s but has dramatically reduced invention and individual decision-making and taking of responsibility.

My papa was was ahead of his time when he told me in the 1990s that football had been ruined by money. I didn’t see it then but I wholeheartedly agree with him now.
 
The Europa League is more exciting than the Champions League.

The vast majority of time spent watching football is actually quite boring but we all continue for the infrequent moments that get you on your feet.

The amount of coaching that youngsters get these days has improved technique beyond all recognition from 80s & 90s but has dramatically reduced invention and individual decision-making and taking of responsibility.

My papa was was ahead of his time when he told me in the 1990s that football had been ruined by money. I didn’t see it then but I wholeheartedly agree with him now.
Latter stages of the CL are when it gets good.
 
Latter stages of the CL are when it gets good.
The CL feels like it’s typically a bit of a procession towards 2 out of the top 6 or so richest clubs being in the final.

In the Europa you find clubs who are aspiring to improve, or which are familiar old names coming up against each other and it has a hunger about it that I think has been sucked out of the CL.
It’s got something less predictable about it.
 
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