Are you still in love with footie?

Originally Posted by believe

I’ve actually been thinking about that this morning. I reckon some of our dads/grandads said the same thing when the PL started and I imagine theirs millions of kids that absolutely love everything about the game now and could tell us every player in the French league.

I've got one here with me

Knows every player in the game

Mainly down to FIFA and FPL though.....

Originally Posted by Rorschach

No.

Modern top level football is full of entitled, cheating #@&%!s earning ridiculous money and represented by scum.

Players spend 90(+) minutes trying to deceive the referee for every single decision and we end up with the worst non-solution ever: VAR, which sucks they joy out of the game.

We have nation states buying clubs and setting up leagues and ruining the last pretence of competition. The upshot is nobody cares what city win or that PSG have won their Nth ligue A in a row. Big whoop.

United are owned by the biggest bunch of @#%&!s, who stole the club in a manner that has *finally* been outlawed. Our decline under their stewardship and that of their appointees is undeniable - even to the most ardent "wait-n-see" advocates.

I jacked my ST in 6 years ago and really don't miss it. But my love for United is eternal. It's part of who I am. The club isn't the owners, the manager, the players or the stadium - it's the fans. Particularly those who still get off their arse and attend matches. I love still being part of that. I made some of my best friends and enjoyed ridiculous misadventures following United.

But apart from 2 or 3 trips to OT a season, when the KO times suit me and not some @#%&! in Malaysia, I mostly attend games watching Macc and Irlam. I might give Bury a look this season.

Repped.

Originally Posted by Rorschach

No.

Modern top level football is full of entitled, cheating #@&%!s earning ridiculous money and represented by scum.

Players spend 90(+) minutes trying to deceive the referee for every single decision and we end up with the worst non-solution ever: VAR, which sucks they joy out of the game.

We have nation states buying clubs and setting up leagues and ruining the last pretence of competition. The upshot is nobody cares what city win or that PSG have won their Nth ligue A in a row. Big whoop.

United are owned by the biggest bunch of @#%&!s, who stole the club in a manner that has *finally* been outlawed. Our decline under their stewardship and that of their appointees is undeniable - even to the most ardent "wait-n-see" advocates.

I jacked my ST in 6 years ago and really don't miss it. But my love for United is eternal. It's part of who I am. The club isn't the owners, the manager, the players or the stadium - it's the fans. Particularly those who still get off their arse and attend matches. I love still being part of that. I made some of my best friends and enjoyed ridiculous misadventures following United.

But apart from 2 or 3 trips to OT a season, when the KO times suit me and not some @#%&! in Malaysia, I mostly attend games watching Macc and Irlam. I might give Bury a look this season.

All true, but what’s the alternative?

Owners have mostly always been money-making rich @#%&!s. Players have been called 'greedy' ever since Johnny Haynes took 100 a week. Players have been called 'cheats' since Franny Lee was Grealishing about. My dad said the game was gone when teams started having companies names on their shirts.

It's inevitable that things evolve in the game and create changes that I don't like and I accept that but VAR can £#%&! off.

Also uncomfortable every time I see the thread title. "Footie" ffs.

Genuinely think it has gone a bit - and more than just the generational shift. Changes happening now are more frequent and more seismic.

Just like music. It is demonstrably getting worse.

Originally Posted by RedNick80

just like music. It is demonstrably getting worse.

"it's just noise"


"during the war..."


Explains the 80.

Yes but it’s an abusive relationship now.

As said elsewhere… a lot of £#%&!ers in the game.

Dislike/ ambivalent towards most of our players

But…..

Nothing else - even Wrestlemania - comes close to a United game for awakeneing things in my body.

Of course, it’s partly a generational thing but more than that. Big changes at all levels, terraces, agents, diving, cheating, sports washing, pundits, media, corrupt authorities at the highest levels, var, and of course refs who think they are the star the show. “The best ref is the one you don’t notice “.. try and find one. Money, money and money. The game has always been far from perfect but few who follow the game at the highest levels can honestly deny the game really look like an implosion will happen eventually. The lads that go home and away are the real core and spirit of game, still - and the ones that (deservedly) get the most enjoyment.

Originally Posted by dunk

All true, but what’s the alternative?

There isn't. And that's what is so heartbreaking.

Originally Posted by Fat Al

There isn't. And that's what is so heartbreaking.

As above, love it, but very weary with it all now, especially at the top level.

Will always be United, went from 1988-2005 and been all over Europe following us

Also watched Blackpool on and off from 91 and enjoy going with my son now. Probably wouldn't be as bothered about the game now if it wasn't for him tbh. All my football knowledge comes from conversations and WhatsApps with him now

Dipped into kids coaching, just level 1. Enjoy it and will probably carry it on.

98/99 will never be topped for me. I was 18 when we won the treble and only missed 2 games home and away all season. Spoiled.

United

Originally Posted by Jack Duckworth

/99 will never be topped for me. I was 18 when we won the treble and only missed 2 games home and away all season. Spoiled.

Yep, me too (although only went to half a dozen games). 18 and that happening. It doesn’t get better

Clubs have become teams, squads have become rosters and fans have become punters.

State and hedge fund ownership, competing to become the Harlem Globetrotters of 'soccer'.

Its £#%&!ing rank.

Yeah, it's neo-feudalism but global instead of local. People like Jack Walker have been replaced by nation states.

Can't stand it, tbh, and definitely no longer in love with it. The charm of the game that I grew up watching (90s era) is completely dead today. A sport played by @#%&!s, watched by @#%&!s, talked about by @#%&!s, and now completely owned and ran by @#%&!s.

As a sport its been hijacked by money men and repackaged as a grotesque product used as a vehicle for arguments on Twitter between teenage virgins in India and professional car washers in Uganda. Globalisation of the game is where the money is, and that's the direction it will continue to go.

Its an absolutely sickening spectacle, and there is barely anything I actually enjoy about it anymore. Last proper goon was probably Rashford's penalty in Paris, and the only genuine happiness I've seemed to get from it in more recent years has been watching a homegrown player like Greenwood in full flow with the ball at his feet, and we all know how that ended, and Ronaldo's return, which resurrected some of my old nostalgic passion for the game.

I used to live for weekends and big Wednesday night Champions League games to see United. Nowadays, I'm tempted to give games the full swerve, although I never do. The game is gone, and it will never be what it once was. I'm glad I got to experience it before it went completely to shit, and I'm sure its only a matter of time before it fully implodes on itself.

The World Cup was the last aspect of true footballing purity IMO, and the one remaining link that traced the game's roots back over a century to its more innocent past. But Qatar ruined all that; Messi draped in that frock, with a grinning Arab hanging over him like some Lucefarian demon symbolised the complete and final death of football, for me.

Originally Posted by Neo

Can't stand it, tbh, and definitely no longer in love with it. The charm of the game that I grew up watching (90s era) is completely dead today. A sport played by @#%&!s, watched by @#%&!s, talked about by @#%&!s, and now completely owned and ran by @#%&!s.

As a sport its been hijacked by money men and repackaged as a grotesque product used as a vehicle for arguments on Twitter between teenage virgins in India and professional car washers in Uganda. Globalisation of the game is where the money is, and that's the direction it will continue to go.

Its an absolutely sickening spectacle, and there is barely anything I actually enjoy about it anymore. Last proper goon was probably Rashford's penalty in Paris, and the only genuine happiness I've seemed to get from it in more recent years has been watching a homegrown player like Greenwood in full flow with the ball at his feet, and we all know how that ended, and Ronaldo's return, which resurrected some of my old nostalgic passion for the game.

I used to live for weekends and big Wednesday night Champions League games to see United. Nowadays, I'm tempted to give games the full swerve, although I never do. The game is gone, and it will never be what it once was. I'm glad I got to experience it before it went completely to shit, and I'm sure its only a matter of time before it fully implodes on itself.

The World Cup was the last aspect of true footballing purity IMO, and the one remaining link that traced the game's roots back over a century to its more innocent past. But Qatar ruined all that; Messi draped in that frock, with a grinning Arab hanging over him like some Lucefarian demon symbolised the complete and final death of football, for me.

And it's live!

Originally Posted by windy waffles

And it's live!

Originally Posted by windy waffles

And it's live!

Originally Posted by windy waffles

And it's live!

Originally Posted by windy waffles

And it's live!