Controversial football opinions

That's getting added to my "Big Bumper List of Things Said In The Bear Pit That Proves Many Rangers Fans Know Zero About Football", alongside such greats as:

"Xavi doesn't deserve to be anywhere near an all-time Champions League XI"
"Iniesta wasn't known for his dribbling"
"Gazza was better than Michael Laudrup"
"Michael Laudrup wasn't a genius"
"Gascoigne is in the top 5 players of all time"
"Richard Gough was better then Sergio Ramos"

Can you please add "Luis Suarez is an average footballer" (posted in Summer 2020 before he went onto win La Liga with Athletico) by FF's favourite FM2020 resident... Scaramanga.
 
I know what you mean. I’d love a more competitive league. One where we don’t have 3 stands at away grounds. Where points can be dropped anywhere. Teams of real quality. I’m only 31. If I ever see another team win the spl it’ll be because a billionaire bought them for some reason.
It will happen sooner rather than later IMO. A lot of billionaires buy clubs as pure vanity projects and to be adored by fans. If an investor came in and built Hibs or Hearts for example into a league winning team they would go into Edinburgh folklore.

I can see it happening. I’m sure there are ambitious investors who are genuine football enthusiasts try to take on that sort of challenge and become “legendary”.
 
So just have players camped out at the opponents 18 yard box?



Ronaldinho walks into just about any team in history. He'd be the first name on any team sheet of today's teams.

Football nowadays is far too over-coached, meaning there are less flair players like Ronaldinho. That's not necessarily a good thing. But he absolutely walks into any team, as can be seen more recently with guys like Neymar.
I think to get in he has to change his game. I absolutely loved Ronaldinho, the first proper world class player that caught my imagination, but I think if he wants to get in that City team for instance he has to work a lot harder, be tactically more aware and live a better lifestyle when it comes to partying. There's a reason his peak was so short.

Edit, meant to say about your over coaching comment. I think its more to do with that than Ronaldinho himself that he would struggle at the top level today. Everything is managed down to the minute detail that some managers wouldn't want him strolling about taking the piss. Would he be capable/willing to do the donkey work that even Messi did in his time at Barcelona?
 
My controversial/unpopular opinion would be that the clock should be stopped when the ball is out of play (a bit like happens in rugby).

It is not uncommon for the ball to be in play for as little as 60 minutes out of the regulation 90. We all know that there are various tactics teams can employ in order to waste time, and the way in which this is refereed is pretty inconsistent. 3/4/5/6 minutes of stoppage time rarely bear any resemblance to the actual amount of time the ball has not been in play

The only issues I can see with this are that the regulation length of a match would probably need to be reduced down from 90 (or else most games would end up lasting more than 2 hours). This of course might have an impact upon tv deals etc (although if rugby manages to make it work, why not football too?)
 
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So just have players camped out at the opponents 18 yard box?



Ronaldinho walks into just about any team in history. He'd be the first name on any team sheet of today's teams.

Football nowadays is far too over-coached, meaning there are less flair players like Ronaldinho. That's not necessarily a good thing. But he absolutely walks into any team, as can be seen more recently with guys like Neymar.
I think football with no offside would be utterly shite too watch, would just be a total free for all.
 
Absolutely agree mate. People complain about why you don't get players like Ronaldinho anymore. He was outstanding to watch but was very much of his time. There's no way teams at the top end carry a player like him any more. It's all about the team unit now rather than individual superstars. I could never imagine him in a Pep or Klopp team for example. Especially with his off field lifestyle.

I actually wouldn't disagree with much of this and it pains me to say that. Football now vs football 10/15 years ago is far less entertaining because today's football is driven primarily by sports medicine, tactics and player athleticism and I honestly don't think any of that is an exaggeration.

There will be certain countries where the above is far less prominent, but to your point the top teams in the World will take all of the above more seriously now than they did 10/15 years ago and that's resulting in players like Ronaldinho, Del Piero, Totti etc etc. being phased out of the game.
 
Absolutely agree mate. People complain about why you don't get players like Ronaldinho anymore. He was outstanding to watch but was very much of his time. There's no way teams at the top end carry a player like him any more. It's all about the team unit now rather than individual superstars. I could never imagine him in a Pep or Klopp team for example. Especially with his off field lifestyle.
Agree to an extent, due to the cohesive nature of systems now you very rarely see a maverick, obviously you still see flair players but not to the same degree.
 
Just watched the Carlos Alberto goal and can confirm the OP is talking rubbish.

I really don’t get why it’s so special. Better goals are scored every week.

The Italians are walking knackered about and apart from a wee step over the rest of the move is a clip up the line then a pass inside then shot. Even San Marino nowadays would defend better. That goal doesn’t happen in modern football
 
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I am not convinced that this would work. On paper it does make sense, but when you start to look at the practicalities of it, I think it starts to fall apart. In reality, people who follow these types of club are not really motivated by success or prestige - they just like following their local team.

If for example Alloa & Stirling Albion were to merge, lets be realistic - the resulting club would still be an absolute minnow, and would p iss off fans of both of the legacy clubs. Same could be said if any of the following were to merge -

Forfar, Arbroath & Montrose
Cowdenbeath & Kelty
Raith & East Fife
Annan & Queen of the south
Albion Rovers & Airdrie Utd

not to mention the fact that other clubs who are even more small and pointless than any in this list would potentially be spared the ignominy of being merged just because there are not any other clubs geographically close enough to them for it to be viable (Elgin, Stranraer, Peterhead)

Lets also not forget the roles which smaller provincial clubs play in their local communities in terms of youth coaching, school visits, community trusts etc. Merging clubs would likely lead to these sorts of thing being spread a lot thinner.

The argument that merging together smaller clubs to make stronger & better supported teams is to me a bit like saying "lets merge Rangers & Celtic/ Hearts & Hibs / Dundee & Dundee United to create stronger clubs" - we all know that this idea is a non-starter because the OVERWHELMING majority of supporters of these teams would rather stay at home or go to the shops with the missus than watch some sort of frankenstein club. I don't see any reason to assume that supporters of small clubs would view things any differently

That's why it's an unpopular opinion :)
 
My controversial/unpopular opinion would be that the clock should be stopped when the ball is out of play (a bit like happens in rugby).

It is not uncommon for the ball to be in play for as little as 60 minutes out of the regulation 90. We all know that there are various tactics teams can employ in order to waste time, and the way in which this is refereed is pretty inconsistent. 3/4/5/6 minutes of stoppage time rarely bear any resemblance to the actual amount of time the ball has not been in play

The only issues I can see with this are that the regulation length of a match would probably need to be reduced down from 90 (or else most games would end up lasting more than 2 hours). This of course might have an impact upon tv deals etc (although if rugby manages to make it work, why not football too?)
Rugby culture is different and there is very little "gamesmanship" going on in general. You also have the fact that the rules are clear and very little is at the ref's discretion. Finally, the referee's authority is respected by everyone - you don't see many players arguing with a ref and any that do so are binned or at the very least concede a penalty against their team.

Personally, I don't have any issue in reducing the game time should a stop-clock be introduced. I'd rather see 60, 70 or 80 minutes of the ball actually in play than a 90-minute game where the best part of 30 minutes could be "dead-time". I'd go further to say that timekeeping at the elite level should be taken out of the referee's hands and be under the control of the 4th official.
 
Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts aren't small diddy teams and actually do alright for a country the size of Scotland. Give them the cash the teams in the EPL get and they'd be just as big as half of them.

Folk moan about a league challenge and only us or them winning the league (WTF by the way).
La Liga has had 4 winners in the last 20 years.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga 9 years in a row.
Serie A has had 3 winners in the last 20 years.
It's not only in Scotland that certain teams dominate the league.
 
Haven’t gone through the whole thread so apologies if it’s been mentioned but...

The Spanish World Cup winning team were horrendous to watch. Only two games in the whole tournament where they scored more than one goal
 
Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts aren't small diddy teams and actually do alright for a country the size of Scotland. Give them the cash the teams in the EPL get and they'd be just as big as half of them.

Folk moan about a league challenge and only us or them winning the league (WTF by the way).
La Liga has had 4 winners in the last 20 years.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga 9 years in a row.
Serie A has had 3 winners in the last 20 years.
It's not only in Scotland that certain teams dominate the league.

Aye but Scotland has only had about 5 different winners in 50 years.
 
I can only think of a single Italian player that has come from their 'Empire' and that is Gentile, but he was ethnically Italian.

Guys like Ogbonna and Balotelli are from Nigerian backgrounds rather than Libyan, Somali or Ethiopian ones.
I probably shouldn't have included Italy if I mean players from former colonies. If I was to say the Italian Diaspora then we could include lots of Argentinian, Brazilian, and Uruguayan born Italian caps because there was widespread Italian immigration to those countries, but I didn't state that so, of course, you're right to question it.
 
So you think the South American football association decided to have more tournaments in the hope that Messi would win one? Nothing to do with it being their centenary year or the fact they changed the format so it was aligned with the Euros going forward.



Difference is in the Copa America and in South American qualifying for the World Cup, you don't really get any easy games. You'll never be in a group with the likes of San Marino or Andorra where you can gub them 10-0.

Argentina's opponents in Copa America 2021:
- Uruguay (17th)
- Paraguay (43rd)
- Chile (24th)
- Bolivia (77th)
- Ecuador (46th)
- Colombia (16th)
- Brazil (2nd)

Europe obviously has stronger top teams, but it also has a lot of guff along the way.
I’m not sure why you quote the world rankings as if they mean something. The fact Belgium have been at the top for so long is testament to the fact they mean %^*& all and the greatest minds in science couldn’t work out how they grade the points.
 
Better than the Euro’s, Portugal won that by finishing 3rd in their group drawing 3 games.
How come when you criticise Messi in any minute way someone always pops up greeting about Ronaldo. Can’t we just agree that a tournament that has 4 teams qualifying from a group of 5 is a complete joke of a competition and a waste of everyone’s (Morelos) time

I thought the Euros was class this summer, whereas the Copa America was complete dross, the games had zero entertainment and had 3 weeks of pointless matches before everyone and their granny advanced to the Quarters.

But aye, Ronaldo, or something
 
How come when you criticise Messi in any minute way someone always pops up greeting about Ronaldo. Can’t we just agree that a tournament that has 4 teams qualifying from a group of 5 is a complete joke of a competition and a waste of everyone’s (Morelos) time

I thought the Euros was class this summer, whereas the Copa America was complete dross, the games had zero entertainment and had 3 weeks of pointless matches before everyone and their granny advanced to the Quarters.

But aye, Ronaldo, or something
I prefer Ronaldo over Messi so that argument is pointless to me but I just think the difference between teams in South America isn’t as big as the difference between teams from Europe.
 
I prefer Ronaldo over Messi so that argument is pointless to me but I just think the difference between teams in South America isn’t as big as the difference between teams from Europe.

At club level, maybe. But the standard at the Copa America this summer was poor. A competition like the Euros is on another planet.
 
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.

Did Hibs not get put out in the qualifying round?

Edit: Just saw the argument above, still think they'd struggle in the Group
 
Older matches were more boring than you remember but nostalgia allows folk to have selective memories. Modern football is overexposed, meaning it loses its mystique.

Aye that lazy genius did produce something incredible but you forgot about the 89 minutes of folk constantly punting the ball up the park.
 
You can criticise women’s football without being generally sexist and insulting towards women.

That is controversial, because I think plenty on here aren't intelligent enough to manage it.

The game is poor, but it is in its infancy in a lot of countries. You'd think it was a personal threat to some posters masculinity.
 
Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts aren't small diddy teams and actually do alright for a country the size of Scotland. Give them the cash the teams in the EPL get and they'd be just as big as half of them.

Folk moan about a league challenge and only us or them winning the league (WTF by the way).
La Liga has had 4 winners in the last 20 years.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga 9 years in a row.
Serie A has had 3 winners in the last 20 years.
It's not only in Scotland that certain teams dominate the league.

Those dominant teams do well in Europe against the other big guns though.

We piss a league, then lose to crap teams.
 
The ball should be fully inside the corner arc corner when taking a corner...

I always thought this was a rule and it's only in the last few years that players have stopped doing it?

Older matches were more boring than you remember but nostalgia allows folk to have selective memories. Modern football is overexposed, meaning it loses its mystique.

Aye that lazy genius did produce something incredible but you forgot about the 89 minutes of folk constantly punting the ball up the park.

It leads to people hitting out with crap about how Maradona won the World Cup on his own or how Pele was the greatest footballer of all time for winning 3 World Cups. Whilst that's a valid enough opinion to have - it's not really well informed is it? How many people can say they watched hundreds of games that the likes of Maradona and Pele played in?

Chances are they watched them for a handful of games during the World Cup and came to that conclusion, whereas nowadays you could literally watch every game of a player's career if you wished.
 
I always thought this was a rule and it's only in the last few years that players have stopped doing it?



It leads to people hitting out with crap about how Maradona won the World Cup on his own or how Pele was the greatest footballer of all time for winning 3 World Cups. Whilst that's a valid enough opinion to have - it's not really well informed is it? How many people can say they watched hundreds of games that the likes of Maradona and Pele played in?

Chances are they watched them for a handful of games during the World Cup and came to that conclusion, whereas nowadays you could literally watch every game of a player's career if you wished.
Or the idea of Messi being punted to a midtable Italian side by Barcelona. Hardly suggests they're the greatest player of all time. It's obviously hard to say but some of the older football clips at the top level look like Sunday League (as do some of the player's physiques). My comparison although it's different is tennis. Can you imagine Fred Perry up against Federer? As good as I'm sure he was for the time, I think he'd barely see the ball. :D
 
Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts aren't small diddy teams and actually do alright for a country the size of Scotland. Give them the cash the teams in the EPL get and they'd be just as big as half of them.

Folk moan about a league challenge and only us or them winning the league (WTF by the way).
La Liga has had 4 winners in the last 20 years.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga 9 years in a row.
Serie A has had 3 winners in the last 20 years.
It's not only in Scotland that certain teams dominate the league.
Throw in Portugal; only 3 teams have EVER won their league, except for TWO seasons, in 100+ years.
 
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