How Should Soccer be Played?

Yeah, but neither can any other player on the american football field minus the quarterback, so i dont feel so bad.

 

So if Stoke are not capable of defending against Man United's £500 million of talent, they should just concede the game before kickoff in case Ronaldo gets a bruise on his shin or breaks a nail?

 

I won't go as far as to say it's a cancer but the lack of quality English managers has hurt them. Not only that, clubs are more than happy to invest on foreign players than to improve their youth systems. Like you said though, it's the continental style that has helped these teams progress. It would be too hard for some players to play in a team that plays in a traditional English style because they don't have the attributes to fit into the style completely.

 

The ref should be aware of their tactics early and be quick to draw yellow and red cards. Football is meant for smart offense and smart defense, as soon as it starts becoming too aggressive and players are getting seriously injured, that is not football anymore and its the ref's job to be harsh on those calls. I'm not saying there should be no physical play but it's obvious when the team is playing hard and smart vs reckless and dangerous.

 

why do you assume Stoke are reckless and dangerous?

Tony Pulis has a reputation of building teams with a big physical presence, but that doesn't mean they are a dirty team - just packed with players who can keep the ball at least 6 foot above the pitch at all times, where the more skillful players aren't quite so good.

 

It's absolutely fair enough for Stoke to use any class of tactics to try and beat ManU considering the enormous difference in resources between the two. I personally however find it quite worrying though that in the CL, supposedly the highest level of football, there is a trend for teams to play defensively. That'd piss me off if I was a fan of one of those teams but that's probably my Dutch upbringing. In the NL it is considered embarrassing to play defensively at home, even for a relegation candidate. At home you try to entertain the fans with attacking football at my neck of the woods. But again, I'm sure many other fans would feel just fine with defensive football and that's none of my or anyone else's business.

 

So if PSV went up against Barca, you would want them to open the game up?

I was slightly disappointed when we went to the Nou Camp and set up shop, but I being cautious in that game was eventually the right thing to do. See CL trophy.

 

I really, really wish that Newcastle played more defensively on Sunday. We should have been tight, agressive and stifling. Instead, we allowed the Scouse time on the ball, didn't do enough fouling and allowed them to paly through our attacking formation.

We got beat 5-1 by the way. I would much rather play negatively and get 1-1.

 

PSV v Barcelona is about the same as Stoke v Man United - same humongous difference in resources. Im talking about even the super rich (Liverpool, Real, Chelsea a year ago, what have you) playing defensively even against lesser opposition. That is just embarrassing considering the quality they've got.

In terms of the Dutch league, PSV played one lone striker up front against Twente at home just last week. You only need to read the PSV fan forums to know that PSV fans found that hugely embarrassing and rightly so as far as I'm concerned.Again tnat's just Dutch football culture and what Dutch fans want to see. What fans in other countries and of other clubs want is none of my business.

 

there is a difference between aggressive challenges/physical play and malicious intent.

soccer is a full contact sport. i did not see the particular game in question, but i imagine if there were no reds shown, it was more in the realm of aggressive then malicious.

 

Apart from Liverpool and Chelsea, I dont see many top teams playing negative in the CL later rounds. Arsenal vs. Liverpool wasnt exactly one of those games. The final definately wasnt one of those games. The second leg of our semi final vs. Barcelona, we opened up the gamne at home, and Barca are always going to attack. Us against Roma. Real Madrid vs. Roma, the year before last, Utd vs. Milan both legs of the semi final. Juve certianly did not play negative during the group stages.

 

Actually, there was a red card.

 

then i have no idea.

 

I wasnt referring to Stoke in particular, I am saying generally, if a team feels like it needs to injure players to have a chance then that should not be tolerated and it's the ref's job to punish those tactics.

 

and which clubs play like that?

 

no one over an entire season, but blackburn used to play recklessly physical often, and real madrid just a couple of weeks ago against messi is the type of gameplan that should not be tolerated. Sometimes it's not a whole team agenda to play as physical to injure players (like they used to with pele), but individual thugs that teams place on the field, ie Materazzi

 

Italian National Team

 

possession, creativity, individual genius, and focus on winning and succeeding together as a team.

 

Soccer is played the most beautifully by Brasil , Argentine , Portugal and Spain.
So thats how it should be played , but everyone has its own style , this is just what I prefer.

 

That's a bit meaningless as with the four different styles of football these play you've basically got every style under the sun covered.

 

Personally I like to see football played with the ball on the deck, two touch and the ball doing all the work. Of course a bit of individual flair does not go amiss either! The Valencia Villarreal game last Saturday was one of the most entertaining games I’ve seen in years. Both teams going for it and the football was top class. I’d like to watch football like that every week.

As for watching Rangers. I do not give a flying ******** as long as we are winning. But the best football I’ve seen us play was when Advocaat was our manager.

 

Have you actually ever played football at a decent level? Tell me. What would you do if you were playing against someone like Lionel Messi. I know first thing on my list would be to put in as heavy at tackle as soon as possible. Make sure I get the ball, but make sure I get a bit of him as well just so he knows.

 

Actually, I completely disagree, you should not be allowed to foul players like Messi intentionally in order to stop him. Only very few teams have players anything like him and those teams, as well as the teams who are fortunate enough to have defenders who can mark him, should be allowed to profit, rather than have their best attackers kicked off the pitch in one case, and in the other case, having their best defenders' effectiveness muted because any average Joe can foul.

 

Also, LOL @ the person who cited FIFA. They are just a bunch of slightly above-average intelligence officials who don't even have extensive managerial experience. The only people who are qualified to say how football should be played, are the ones with the most experience in football, as well as the most intelligence. Unfortunately, because of the nature of sports themselves, there are not too many intelligent people in football. Football intelligence for the players yes, but not overall intelligence. And it is classic IQ that determines who makes a good tactician, even more so than managerial experience.