Anybody else peeved at Champions World for blatantly promoting top players from Euro2004 and Copa America when the knew many of them would not play? For example, there was picture of RVN on their website last week, even after it was clear that Ruud would not show.
Champions World Tour means I get to see Man Utd a good month earlier than I otherwise would. Quite frankly, I'm excited to see the reserves, whom I won't get to see later in the season. I can see how it's disappointing for the non-Man Utd soccer fan, however.
I am a Man Utd fan. I didn't pay $100 for a ticket to see a bunch of reserves try to impress SAF. Bring on the big boys. Man Utd and Champions World are making a bundle off of this tour. They should produce the big names.
They should sacrifice actual competitiveness to entertain you ? You chose to buy the ticket. You must have known what would happen. Or otherwise, you're a moron, quite frankly. It's selfish to want your team to exhaust its players just so you can see them in person.
thats a damn selfish quote nicky butt considering the amount of games man utd have to get thoruogh this season! - would u rather they be exahausted and fail in everything just to entertain u fo one day!
United has a big enough squad to keep you happy. Whilst you won't get to see the likes of Ruud, Scholes, Ronaldo, there is an excellent chance you will see Howard, Giggs, Smith, and plenty of people who did not play in Euro2004.
I think people that are upset that they'd pay 100+ dollars for a ticket to see the superstars and end up with basically the "B" team have every right to complain. Try to remember that professional football is, at its most root level, entertainment. They wouldn't be professionals if people weren't paying to watch them. With Nike being sponsors of Ruud (not to mention being a U.S. company), you'd figure there should be at least a cameo appearance or two.
You should've thought about all of that before u went out and spent your hard earned cash on it. You knew that their would be major summer international tournaments, and u could've put 2 and 2 together and figured that most of the stars wouldn't be at the Champs world tour because they need rest. Try playing like 50 games in a season, then a major summer tournament and see how tired you'd be. They need at least a month's rest therefore ruling them out of appearing. They're not machines, and you should've known this would've happened this year so oh well...
The circus comes to town! Only the elephants are replaced with donkeys, and the lions and tigers have lost their teeth. But don't worry, the clowns will be there, laughing at all the money the rubes fork over. Enjoy the show.
In theory I agree. But I say to myself, how much more "rest" are they going to get staying home?? Hell, use the trip to the US as a vacation, and play a 1/2 each game. playing a half isnt going to wear them out, and it keeps us fans happy... I say they should bring the whole damn squad and play the euro 2004 guys sparingly....
Ever heard of jet-lag? Just seen them leave Manchester Airport. It will be about 7pm UK time when they arrive. Around 2pm your time. Which means, by the time they get to the hotel, do press calls, eat, and so on, it'll be about 8 or 9 your time. Or, 2 to 3 in the morning for them. It usually takes a couple of days to get over the jet lag once they arrive. Then, play in a few games, train in between. Fly home. Take a further couple of days to recover. This means they lose 5 to 6 days from training and/or travelling, and 4 days to jet lag. Thats 10 days of absolute rest they could have had at home. Also, there is the risk of injury. Which SAF is not willing to chance so close to the start of the season. As to the influence of sponsors. Unlike in US sports where sponsorship is king, SAF has the absolute and final say on what his players do. The board can arrange for all sorts of stuff for the players to do. Sponsors can request use of the players in adverts. If SAF says no, then its tough. the sponsors can go take a long walk off a short pier. SAF is willing to be helpful, but the team and its success has, and allways will, come first. If something has the potential to jeapordise it, he will not allow it to go forward.
Please, jet lag will last for 2 days.. If injury was such an issue, he wouldn't bring any of the players over at all.. Plenty of "rest" can be gotten during down times during the tour.. You make these players sound like the biggest bunch of pansies on earth. Playing a half of a game isnt going to hurt them... I say leave it up to the players (euro 2004 ones). Let them decide whether or not to visit..
When was the last time you flew trans-atlantic? Or are you one of 75% of America who don't actually hold a passport? Since I have travelled to the US on a regular basis, let me enlighten you. Flying from Manchester to New York takes 8 hours. This means leaving Manchester at 10.30am. Landing in New York at 6.30pm UK time. Now, take off 5 hours, this means you land at 1.30pm New York time. Say, have an evening meal at 6, heading back to your hotel room by 8? Your body thinks its about 1 the next day. By forcing yourself to go to bed at a 'normal' time, say 10pm? your body clock thinks its about 3 in the morning. Now, once you fall asleep, your body has no idea what to do. Either let you sleep as you are nackered, or wake you up at 7 in the morning UK time. Therefore, you do not get a good nights sleep. Jet lag occurs because you are forcing your body clock to slow down. Whenever I've been to the US, the first day is allways the hardest. Scientists have PROVEN it takes up to a week for your body to adjust properly to a new time zone. Now, when I/they/you return to the UK, you have to accelarate your body clock to 'catch up' with UK time. Leaving New York on a 7 hour flight at 6pm, means you arrive at 1pm NY time, or 6am UK time. So, what do you do? Try to catch sleep on the flight when ou are not tired? Or stay up? By staying up, you arrive the next morning to find rush hour. Go home, go to bed, get 6 hours sleep, wake up at 2-3 in the afternoon, stay up till 2 at night because you are refreshed, sleep too long, and again, it takes a couple of days to get over the effects. Hence, 4 days lost. With regards recovery time. Again, Scientists at Leicester University (Who happen to be pretty good at sports science, and developing ways of testing for drugs, etc) have found it takes a footballer 3 days for his body to replenish all the nutrients, energy, and so on, back to optimum levels. You talked about 'down time' for the players. Don't forget, half of the time spent will be spent criss-crossing the continental US. Travel takes a lot out of you, such as threat of DVT, dehydration, etc. So, thats that arguement thrown out of the window. OK, so for those who have tickets for the games feel cheated, you have my sympathy. However, if it comes down to commercial commitments in the last big market United have yet to break, or resting up so they are better prepared to win lots of silverware in England? Silverware wins every time. As to the players being treated like pansies? That really is a dumb comment. The players are treated in a manner designed to encourage quick recovery, prevention of injury, and optimising their performance. If that is being treated like a pansy, then I'm sure they all want to be treated as such. Especially if they are bringing home the goods.
You also just can't turn up for a match and play 45 minutes. Without proper training and fitness exercises the players would risk serious injury. Why do a significant amount of injuries occur in training (like Ole's)? Because they are hard sessions, not a jog around the pitch. You really can't argue with Ferguson putting the health and career of the players over anything else. It's not his job to worry about these other issues, that, unfortunately, will affect us all here in the states for this tour.
I think there's a bit of exaggeration going on with both sides of the debate, but both do have a point. Different people react differently in jet lag situations, and it all depends on how large a time difference you are involving. (Referring back to Devil_78's in-depth demonstration of jet lag... man that takes me back ). Usually on a flight to Europe, it takes me about a day to recover. Some people take more time obviously, and while I have a tough time believing a professional athlete would take four days to recover from a seven-hour flight, as getting by on slightly more or slightly less sleep shouldn't really be a problem, its not impossible. And while intra-US travel takes something out of you, the differences in time are probably less pronounced than the differences in weather, which during the summer can really be an issue for players. Of course I also think the threat of DVT is overblown, especially in healthy young people, but that's a discussion for another thread. More than anything, this is about making sure the players have enough of an offseason to heal their knocks and bruises. Over time, if a player isn't allowed a lengthy amount of rest, small, nagging injuries can become problematic and recurring, and that is really what SAF wants to avoid. Injuries really got us last year, and I think he is just going to be that much more cautious this time around.
multiple times. I hold a passport thanks.. throwing out stupid stereotypes like this is along the quality of "75% of brits have poor dental hygiene." Its poor taste. oh please.. Look, I dont want to get into a pissing contest with you, my point is that if the trip is so tiring, the entire team shouldnt come over... fair enough. I'll buy that. Then why do any of the players come over at all? I just dont see what the huge difference is b/w non euro 2004 players coming over and allowing the others too. Many of the players (sans c. Ronaldo) were on teams that failed to advance in the tournament. I agree with this. I never wasn't one of the people complaining. I was simply curious and questioning the reasoning/logic behind it, and made a suggestion.
Yes. They may be scum, but they're our scum. Since I have to choose where to direct a limited resource, I invest it in my home league, rather than waste it on an imported road show.
Try taking an overnight flight. We left at 6:00pm ET and arrived around 6:00am GMT, IIRC. We spent the whole day sightseeing in London and had a good night's sleep and awoke pretty fresh the next day. You save paying for a hotel room for an extra night this way as well.
And that is your choice. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is also nothing wrong with spending a limited resource on a once in a blue moon experience to see a team like Manchester United. It all depends where your allegiances are. I have no problems with the MLS at all. I just prefer the EPL to MLS.
"As to the influence of sponsors. Unlike in US sports where sponsorship is king" Can you seriously write that? - Just look at uniforms of US sports teams and then take a look at European football uniforms - you tell me where sponsors have more influence...
Sponsorship is important here, but its not nearly as important as in Europe. Television advertising is more important in general, and most team-specific sponsorship is tied to stadium naming rights. Other than that, sponsors are related to the league more ("Budweiser is the official beer of Major League Baseball!") I've never heard of a sponsor having influence over a coach or player on the field here, aside from random conspiracy theories such as Nike supposedly persuading Cleveland Cavaliers coach Paul Silas to give LeBron James more playing time. Supposedly...