Liverpool FC Forum

by **Big Niall** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:33 pm

just watching football matters on setanta ireland (no idea how that differs to setanta britain) and the bald headed guy that used to do italian football is saying peter cech is back in form because he saved a penalty.

putting chelsea feelings aside, i think he was one of the best goalies around a few years ago but he got that head injury (and i believe his brother died from a head injury) and he is shaky since.

I feel really sorry for the guy as it isn't a loss of form but a fear over his health. anyway i have to think these guys on tv are idiots. they are generally ex footballers with more talent than us but do they know more.

I think footballers aren't that bright about football. what did rafa, mourinho, wenger etc do as players - nothing.

by **yolz** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:29 am

I think ex-footballers are brought in more for an entertaining value than anything else
Much as I appreciate Martin Tyler's insight, there are days when Alan Hansens ravings against the opposite side or a good jibe makes my day!

by **bigmick** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:22 am

In many cases pundits don't really know that much I don't think. I even think that in many cases managers don't know much either. To plot how to get the best out of each individual player and in while you're doing it form a pattern of play, improving the team dynamic takes intelligence for a start and many of them aren't that bright. Many of them were excellent footballers but almost because of that they have little or no appreciation of the mechanics of the thing, simply because they never had to concern themselves with such nonsense due to their ability.

Very often pundits bandwagon jump in order to sound lintellient, it's extremely rare that you hear an original thought out of them. As managers, people such as Bryan Robson lack basic intelligence so how on earth chairmen think he is going to be able to plot a method of improvement is totally beyond me to be honest. Some of the lads who are given multi million pound jobs running big clubs wouldn't get a job as a duty manager in the local Macdonalds in real life, and you only have to hear them talk to know it.

I know this post is coming accross that I'm a know all c..., and in many ways I am. Obviously I couldn't manage a football league club because the players would simply turn around and say the same as many on here say, "what the feck does a dildo seller know about football". I'll tell you this for free though, there are people on this forum who know more than 90% of the silly feckers you see with a microphone stuck in front of their mouth on the telly. Blokes such as paul Merson, smashing player and all that but much like mathew Le Tissier, if you asked him actually how he did it, he probably wouldn't know. Ask Ronald Koeman how comes he could strike it so well and he probably wouldn't know. It's everybody else who's looked at slowmo's of him striking it who know, because they couldn't do it themselves. Very often they've got a better chance of coaching somebody else into doing it.

Perhaps the answer is a figurehead, a Bryan Robson character to show the players the medals while behind him there are a couple of analysts quietly plotting away, looking at patterns and the like. If any chairman are closet Liverpool fans and read this forum, I'm very cheap :;):

.

by **Sabre** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:34 am

Just for wearing the football boots during a decade, they know more about football than 80% of the fans.

I mean, it's always interesting that an ex-striker or an ex-CB explain certain actions, or explain how a footballer may feel under a certain situation. They have the experience, and it's interesting they share those experiences.

The problem is when they're asked too much and are asked to make footie analysis as a whole, that's where they talk bóllocks often.

In a nutshell they have knowledge, this knowledge can be used, but they can't be asked everything about the game, and they shouldn't get too carried away. English pundits in particular are quite annoying to me. Masters of stating obvious, they comment how Liverpool are struggling and when Liverpool scores they comment how Liverpool is clicking.

by **tubby** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:38 am

I love talking about fooall but to hear the players themslvew talk about the actual game is even better. Some pundits do talk :censored:

though.

by **babu** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:26 pm

consider this:

Have you ever seen NFL or NBL pundits? They make me cringe.

Pundits are just talking heads, there to hype the mundane and analyse the obvious.

At least its not as bad as the states....yet.

by **stmichael** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:30 pm

Anyone remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHTM-abNEyk

:kungfu:

by **tonyeh** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:45 pm

I think Dunphy is too harsh on Gerrard and his opinion has certainly changed in the last couple of years, but I do remember those games as being tedious borefests.

In saying that, given the choice between watching RTE's commentary and anyone elses, they'll win hands down every time.

by **tonyeh** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:56 pm

This was even better...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsuovF1pzJ0&NR=1

by **zarababe** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:25 pm

bigmick wrote:I know this post is coming accross that I'm a know all c..., and in many ways I am. Obviously I couldn't manage a football league club because the players would simply turn around and say the same as many on here say, "what the feck does a dildo seller know about football".

If any chairman are closet Liverpool fans and read this forum, I'm very cheap : .

you'd get my vote BM

by **Owzat** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:21 pm

I remember a fair few years ago there was a major golf championship in progress and it was coming up to the last day. I knew a few blokes who played golf, not terribly well any of them, but I don't/didn't. I said Nick Price would win it, he was a stroke or two off the lead, and they made out I didn't know what I was talking about just because I didn't play. Price won, just shows that having skills, having played the game etc doesn't necessarily make you an expert. That claim re Cech being back in form was ridiculous, he has been poor on crosses and even lucky in some of his shot stopping in the past year or so and I don't need to have been a professional goalkeeper to know that.

The football focus and final score mob talk like they are experts, but they too come out with plenty of cr ap. They claimed Arsenal missed Flamini and then presented stats on how Arsenal had conceded more from set-pieces than the rest of the 'big four'. WTF has goals conceded from set-pieces got to do with Flamini's absence?!?!?!? Maybe a CB's absence might have contributed, but a DM?!? They also continue to cite the old line about the side winning the title "can't afford to lose more than 2-3 games". Man Utd lost FIVE last season, the fact is that the side winning most games wins the title. They mostly speculate like the rest of us, they quite possibly see more football than the rest of us and fair play can give a more informed opinion re technical issues etc, but their conclusions are no more fact based than most.

It just shows a lot of people believe based on who someone is and what someone said. I'm not going to suggest I know more than any ex-professional footballer, but I bet most would believe what an ex-pro or sports presenter says before what I say regardless which of us is right. They mostly trot out popular myths, I bet they've never done any research themselves in their lives. I do my utmost to separate my opinion from facts, usually facts can be backed up by stats, for example only six times has a team won the title in a 38 game top flight season and lost three or less games, 20 times the team that won the title lost five or more games - including last season. Yet I can guarantee the line about not losing 2-4 games will be trotted out forever more by ex-pros. I think that might have been Lee Dixon (or Martin Keown), in his Arsenal days that was what he would expect but in 1988/89 and 1997/98 Arsenal lost six games, I expect he fondly remembers 1990/91 when they lost only one.

But for the ultimate example of ex-professionals as pundits, arguably the greatest footballer ever, Pele, predicted an African nation would win the World Cup by 2000. He should have gone for 3000 and even then he might not be right. I will cut him some slack, he may not have believed it but have been saying it to boost African football and other reasons other than true belief

by **Homebooby** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:23 pm

bigmick wrote:As managers, people such as Bryan Robson lack basic intelligence so how on earth chairmen think he is going to be able to plot a method of improvement is totally beyond me to be honest. Some of the lads who are given multi million pound jobs running big clubs wouldn't get a job as a duty manager in the local Macdonalds in real life, and you only have to hear them talk to know it.

PMSL

by **Big Niall** » Tue May 05, 2009 4:49 pm

"he hit the ball too well" - no if he hit it better, he'd score!

"You can only lose 3-4 games to win the league" - no points with the league, not games undefeated

"He will be a great manager due to the leadership qualities he showed as a player" - like Souness,Robson and Keane?

"He'll be disapointed with that" - what dropping the ball through his hands to lose the game? you reckon?

"it's a sleeping giant" - more like a dead one!

"It is better to hit form at the end of the season" - are there bonus points for winning a game in the final stretch?

There are so many pointless comments that many of these brainless fools say and get away with. A bunch of spoofers.

by **Greavesie** » Wed May 06, 2009 3:37 pm

stmichael wrote:Anyone remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHTM-abNEyk

that's is the first time I've seen that. Just put Barca out of Europe and we're sh!t, what a t0sser :laugh:

IT WAS ALL RAFA'S FAULT!

by **maximus** » Wed May 06, 2009 4:54 pm

Laura Esposto - Channel 5 Italian football presenter

Quite frankly I dont give a s.hit what her opinions are, do you?

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