General Football Thread

[Johnny Drama]

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has asked Bayern Munich honorary president Franz Beckenbauer to come up with an alternative to the "tragedy" of penalty shoot-outs.

Is it possible to be any more blatant in saying "I disliked Chelsea winning the Champions League"?

Can't imagine a magical alternative either. Can't go back to endless replays with the amount that gets invested in the 'event' these days. Coin tosses were even sillier. What else? Play extra time into the middle of the night until there's only one player left standing to score a golden goal?

That is exactly how I read it.

Penalties are a harsh way to end things and having played in various shoot outs myself I have been part of both winning and losing sides but I love watching them and wouldn't change them

[IAceI]

Also without wanting to be seem overly precious, given some of the circumstances we've seen over the past few years it would surely have been wise if Sepp Blatter didn't refer to losing a game on penalties as a 'tragedy'.

[Colly]

It wouldn't be Sepp without a hideously misguided turn of phrase.

[Colly]

Sportsday Live's generating some good suggestions. Judges awarding points, no keeper extra time, and my personal favourite extra time with a bear on the pitch. Someone send Sepp a link.

[stokeriño]

Judges awarding points...for what? Style?

[Colly]

Just says boxing style. I think its tongue in cheek, as is presumably the suggestion of a tug o war.

[Johnny Drama]

Release the bear!

Now that would be entertaining

[IAceI]

I saw a good one whereby a sniper takes out a random player every five minutes until a goal is scored or all players are eliminated. I suppose that doesn't necessarily end the possibility of a draw though, should they all die.

Edited May 25, 2012 by IAceI

[Pesci]

Feeling very sorry for Darlington fans... typical example of how not to run a football club. Just been relegated to the Northern League Division One due to debt. How did that 25,000 seater work out?

[King Ellis]

Added time multi ball!

[Adam]

Feeling very sorry for Darlington fans... typical example of how not to run a football club. Just been relegated to the Northern League Division One due to debt. How did that 25,000 seater work out?

It will soon be rubble, an event that I think everyone but George Reynolds would be happy about.

I suppose this quadruple relegation is in effect the same thing as starting a phoenix club.

[Lineker]

Ellis beat me to it

[Johnny Drama]

It was a ridiculous idea to build the stadium in the first place, either way I feel sorry for the fans. Didn't Reynolds go back inside while still at the club?

[Adam]

Seems I was a bit wrong as they've been demoted to Step 5 whereas teams who go bust mid-season usually get their phoenix clubs admitted straight away to Step 4. Darlo fans have done fundraising all this season to be able to pay off creditors, take on the players' wages and make sure the club could fulfill their BSP fixtures...yet have been demoted to Step 5. What the hell is that all about?

[stokeriño]

Franz Beckenbauer throws his weight behind penalty shootouts

AKA "Shut up Blatter."

[Matt]

Rather unusually, I do somewhat agree with Blatter, penalties are a pretty shitty way to end it. However, there really isn't an alternative. Coin tosses and the sort are clearly retarded, replays aren't feasible (especially for things like the World Cup Finals and the Champions League) and you can't just play extra time forever.

[stokeriño]

An inside sources claims that Chelsea are set to miss out on Battersea Power Station, say Reuters.

Sad face.

[Jimmy]

Proposals to reform youth football across England have been overwhelmingly backed by Football Association shareholders.

Only teenagers will play on full-size adult pitches from the 2014-15 season, with younger children playing in smaller formats of the game on appropriately sized pitches.

Reducing the size of the pitch and the number of players is designed to develop greater technical skills among budding footballers at a younger age.

The plans will see the introduction of a mandatory 5 v 5 format for Under 7s and Under 8s, with Under 11s and Under 12s playing in 9 v 9 games.

Children in the Under 9 and Under 10 age brackets will continue to play in the already-established 7 v 7 format, before they are allowed to play on full-size pitches from Under 13s.

Step forward

"These changes are a massive step forward for the future of children's football in this country."

Nick Levett Quotes of the week

"The main change is to make sure the future of game is more child sensitive than it has been before," said the FA's national development manager Nick Levett.

"There will be a lot more smaller formats of football - Under 7s and Under 8s playing 5 v 5, which means more touches, more shots, more dribbles and a lot more involvement in the game.

"We're trying to stop that jump from 7 v 7 to 11 v 11, where previously we had children playing on massive adult-size pitches, and have 9 v 9. That is the middle ground between the two.

"These changes are a massive step forward for the future of children's football in this country."

Feedback

Eighty-seven per cent of the 778 votes cast by FA shareholders backed the proposals.

Levett added the plans were put forward after feedback from thousands of youngsters across the country.

He said: "They were saying 'why have I got to defend the same size goal as Petr Cech and why have I got to defend goals which adults use step ladders to put up the nets?'

"All those things were really clear for us to do something better to make it appropriate for the kids playing it."

[IAceI]

Smaller pitches, in theory, would hopefully lead to improved ability at retaining the ball, making smart passes and moving afterwards and learning to play with less time to make your choices, and therefore practising making the correct one on a more regular basis. It's a step in the right direction I hope, now if only we had the coaching pool like other nations do to implement it to a broader level.

Regardless it's about time we looked at our youth and identified what is going wrong and why we aren't producing nearly the talented players other nations are, and we should make steps to ensure we are keeping up with the rest of the world in terms of development. Look at a country like Belgium, why is a country with a limited pool of talent capable of producing such talented football players? It's the same in tennis, particularly the women's side, that their development through youth levels aids them in the long run - and while results don't perhaps show at the grass roots level - they do begin to blossom over time. Whereas in England there's a large emphasis on winning and playing on larger pitches than out continental counterparts an over reliance on fast players who can beast their man over a large area of space, or big men who can out muscle not fully developed players their own age and the like.

In short it can surely only be a good thing.

[hugobomb]

Seems I was a bit wrong as they've been demoted to Step 5 whereas teams who go bust mid-season usually get their phoenix clubs admitted straight away to Step 4. Darlo fans have done fundraising all this season to be able to pay off creditors, take on the players' wages and make sure the club could fulfill their BSP fixtures...yet have been demoted to Step 5. What the hell is that all about?

I think it's so the people in charge can show they have "gotten tough" on this sort of thing and to provide us with a clear case of hypocrasy when they fail to punish the bigger sides for it when the Financial Fair Play thing comes into force