There are no limits to UEFA greed, but it does not mean better when it comes to this format of the Champions League.
The only sense of danger in five months of football came in the last round of accessories, that is not exciting.
He has been bored and boring.
It has been like seeing Coronation Street or Eastenders. Every Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, everything has been the same.
Bean counters will be happy, of course. Liverpool has deposited other £ 82.7 million in prizes, Arsenal, others £ 74.4m. Entrepreneurs who run the clubs will be delighted because their number one priority is always the final result. For them, money always triumphs over quality.
But this greed fed by UEFA is self -destructive.
The new champions League format has been boring and boring due to UEFA greed
There has been a 50 percent increase in the number of games last year: we should be decreasing the load of our teams
The world's greatest show, the Premier League, has suffered as a result of the format
By the time the League phase ended, 144 games had taken place instead of 96 played 12 months ago. That is a 50 percent increase in the number of games last year.
We should be decreasing the load of our equipment.
This is too much football and, consequently, the quality of this is being reduced. Not only in European competitions, the danger is that it has shed in our National League. The best league in the world, the Premier League, has also suffered. There are already signs that it is not the show that we thought we were receiving. Protecting our own national league should be our priority, not an infinite amount of meaningless games, despite the fact that financial rewards are enormous.
The common complaint in recent seasons is that our players play too many games, which have too many injuries. Tiredness has been evident in these games and the public will soon be off.
The essence of the Champions League was always based on the emotion of knocked football. As a player, you knew that a bad moment could cost you the game. In Liverpool, in my seven seasons there were four years in which we did not win it. Dinamo Tbilisi and Nottingham Forest beat us deservedly, but Widzew Lodz knocked us in 1983 Cska Sofía in 1982. The Bulgarian team, we had even defeated 6-2 together the previous year. We were simply not in it against two much lower teams. Obviously, we fell short in our attitude and focus for those games.
There were surprises, sometimes they are not good, but it was more exciting.
Your mentality was 'we have to be in it here' because if you weren't coming out. In this format, without danger, you are not in your advantage. You could say with the behavior of Pep Guardiola after City suffered defeats in Juventus and Paris St Germain, they knew that they would still beat Bruges in their last game and would pass.
No. There are too many meaning games for the sake of money here.
Do not forget that we have seen Aston Villa collect £ 97 for a ticket and arsenal of more than £ 100 for the Games of the Champions League this season. It is a monetized scheme driven by the accountant with little consideration for the supporter or well -being of the players. And this at a time when, not only here in Britain, but in France, Spain and Germany, they are having life -cost fights. It is an unnecessary greed and will be harmful to the game we love.
Aston Villa charged £ 97 for a ticket in the Champions League: it is a monetized scheme
Meanwhile, Arsenal tickets cost more than £ 100, and will be harmful to the game we love
Turn off the phone, Unai!
I would be surprised if Aston Villa allows Ollie Watkins to join Arsenal.
Selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr and then losing its top scorer would also make sense.
Replacing it would cost a premium, trying to get a like that the striker at this time would be almost impossible, defeating the commercial object of selling, and would leave them less targets.
The players with whom they have been linked, Matheus Cunha, Marco Asensio, Joao Felix and Mathys Tel, none is similar to Ollie Watkins, so it would mean that Villa has to change his way of playing. They would not have anyone to lead the line as Watkins does.
It would be crazy to sell, even if it is more than 60 million for a 29 -year -old player.
There is despair in the Arsenal movement. They have spent more than £ 450 million during the time of Mikel Arteta, so this will take them north of half a billion and have not yet found the ender they want.
The consensus is that they will go for Alexander Isak of Newcastle in the summer, which will cost £ 120 million. Are they really going to spend £ 60 million in Watkins from time to time other £ 120 million in the summer with PSR to deal with? It does not seem to me.
Each man and his dog have been telling Arsenal to get a scorer since last summer and have waited until this week to make that movement.
They scored 91 goals in the league last season, and that statistic may have influenced their thinking, but this time they have not had the same distribution of scorers throughout the team.
Among them Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesús have scored 11 league goals, it is clearly not enough if you go for the great trophies. Arteta obviously sees it as the last part of the puzzle for them, but Aston Villa is a rich club. Watkins is hired, if I were Uni Emery, I would turn off my phone until 11.01 pm on Monday.
Unai Emery should turn off his phone until 11.01 pm on Monday, when the transfer window is closed.
Ollie Watkins has been of interest to Arsenal, but none of the Villa players have been linked to the game in the same way
Selling Jhon Duran and Watkins in the same window would make no sense at all
A dark seven days
It has not been a great week for British football.
What does it say about our society when a referee like Michael Oliver needs 24 -hour police protection due to death threats after having delivered a red card?
In the same week, we have support sections, I will not give them the courtesy of appointing their club, effectively rejoicing for the death of our late queen in front of their grandson. Bright, they must be very proud of themselves.
What a deformed walk of society is that acceptable thought?
Is this what our support for football or in fact our country has become?
It has been a poor week for British football, which has included referee Michael Oliver receiving death threats
Arne Slot must enjoy the time while lasting: it could be very different if Liverpool's trio out of the summer in summer
How things change
Arne Slot must enjoy this moment while lasting: Top of the Premier League, Top of the Champions League and after he barely spent a penny.
The Liverpool manager has inherited the most fantastic work where he has a current challenging team for trophies and a group of young players who expect to go to the scene. These first months have given him a perfect opportunity to see what he has and what he needs to do this summer in the future.
However, that work could be very different if Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold decided to leave.
A week is a long time in politics and even more time in football. Things can change very quickly. Salah and Van Dijk Permatals would give them important problems and they won't want them to catch it with their pants as they make plans now.
The slot will pray for both of them to stay because I cannot see where the similar replacements are for those two and, if they were out there, you are talking about a couple of £ 100 million to buy.
Liverpool would not fill his boots so easily. But I think they have a replacement ready for Trent in Conor Bradley, which has been very impressive when I have seen it play
I hope Bournemouth does a real Liverpool test today. A side that plays with great confidence that has had excellent results, and will take after Liverpool. It should be a true cookie.