[lokken]

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood

To be honest I reckon chelsea easily could adapt to that style. The fact they haven't even bothered trying and have actively gone out and pursued a dull and grinding side makes the game uninteresting. There's a reason all the neutrals wanted to see Utd play roma ahead of chelsea play valencia tonight.

I wasn't fussed, the first was bound to be a goal fest, the second was a challenge where the away team was going to have to be smart to get through. Given how Lampard was average playing that way and that Chelsea really don't have any wingers who track back to any degree, I think they could do it but they wouldn't be as successful as they are now with the squad they have.

I don't either and I do as well. However without both you might as well be playing curling or some god forsaken sport.

I'm just willing to accept that sometimes you have to sacrifice one for the other, but in a game where the objective for a team is to win, entertaining at the expense of losing isn't what teams aim for.

How did you interpret that? You're obviously saying "do whatever including foul the opposition relentlessly and deliberately is fine".

If they know the penalties, work out the cost within the rules, then yes they should play the system as it's another way of winning football matches, however unpopular it is. If you can win by giving away fouls that are pretty cheap from your point of view, then if I was a manager I would happily tell my team to do it if I felt it was the only way of succeeding in a match. This kind of tactic has to be played clever as go over the top, you get players sent off. This is not something I see as cheating - it is playing by and very much accepting the rules of the game. Like in Planetarion, if people become unhappy, the rules will change.

Sure, but you said if they lost 1-0 they wouldn't deserve a bean. I'm pointing out how silly a statement that is.

I just pointed out that teams that are cynical (for example, Milan as an Italian side) are playing purely for the likelihood of certain events falling in their favour and they don't particularly care except to increase their chances of winning on that basis. A bad decision is something teams have no control over and it's just something that can turn a game. It's part and parcel of football and sometimes works for and against teams.

I'd agree with your first three lines but I don't think football boils down to everything you said there. Above all else you have to be there to play football. I think this reflects itself in the fact that teams who play the most exciting football, as well as battle with the best of them, get the most respect.

Teams who play the most exciting football (Barcelona and Arsenal) only become arrogant and believe that they deserve to win matches because they play a certain way. It's a sure fire way to flag up your limitations and get beat. When Rijkaard frowned and said Liverpool weren't progressive at the Nou Camp you knew they'd been bettered by a defensive style of football that had been executed in a more superior fashion. It's the quality of execution that we should judge, not the way teams decide to play.

From 78 to 91 four sides won the league. From 93 to 06 four sides won the league. While I would agree this doesn't tell the whole story any side can still beat any side really and there is excitement in every aspect of the league, champions, champions league spots, uefa cup spots, relegation battle.

The difference between the former and the latter is how much you get bankrolled. There are probably 15 teams in the premiership who will never win the title for 50 years the way it is going.

Well zonk, I was expressing a personal opinion. What on earth else would we be talking about? How having more than three negros in your team means you should be docked five points in the league? I'd rather see sides strive to play better football and achieve better results to be honest.

No you're making unreasonable demands on teams to play the way you want them instead of playing in a way that suits them and they feel they can win games of football if they do it well enough. If a team does that consistently, they will be playing good football. Even Bolton.