Facts about football that shouldn't be true - but are

Chipper

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Not in a Premier League game he didn't. That was our last season in the old First Division.
There was no mention of it having to be in a Premier League game in sentence I was replying to. After all, Ronaldo's hat-rick wasn't in the Premier League either!

Salah was the first ever opponent player that scored a Premier League hat-trick against ManUtd at Old Trafford

Under Fergie, Brazilian Ronaldo was the only player that scored a hat-trick against ManUtd at Old Trafford

Under Fergie, only 4 players scored Premier League hat-tricks against ManUtd - Bentley, Lukaku, Etoo, Kuyt
 

stefan92

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I can't believe that was allowed
Why shouldn't it be allowed? Both can start in the cup, and it wasn't allowed that they meet each other, but if both reach the final you can't prevent it anymore. Similar things happen elsewhere, in 1993 Hertha BSC II reached the German cup final (their first team exited quite early).
 

horsechoker

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Why shouldn't it be allowed? Both can start in the cup, and it wasn't allowed that they meet each other, but if both reach the final you can't prevent it anymore. Similar things happen elsewhere, in 1993 Hertha BSC II reached the German cup final (their first team exited quite early).
It feels like a massive conflict of interest. While they might play for professional pride it would be very easy to corrupt the reserve side.
 

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There was no mention of it having to be in a Premier League game in sentence I was replying to. After all, Ronaldo's hat-rick wasn't in the Premier League either!
OK. I thought the poster specifically said Premier League. I misread the sentence.
 

Chipper

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Cool stat, but those first two seem very hollow. He must have met league rules eligibility requirements for a medal, whatever they are but he didn't really contribute to PSG being champions.

Still, it's a fact and it's true.

12/13 played 3 minutes in a 3-2 defeat, neither side scored while he was on the pitch.

13/14 - 2 appearances.
- 8 minutes in a 2-0 win (2-0 up when he came on)
- 27 minutes in a 4-0 win (3-0 up when he came on in the last game of season when they were already champions before the match even started)
 
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giorno

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I can't believe that was allowed
Castilla would be the reserve team basically, my guess is nobody thought it was possible for a team made up of 18-20 year olds to go that far. Afaik B teams were excluded from the competition afterwards, because yeah, a team facing their B team is iffy, especially when they can just call up the best players from the B team to play for the main team for the game....

Btw when did Eto'o scored a hat trick against Fergie's United???
 

Acrobat7

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Cool stat, but those first two seem very hollow. He must have met league rules eligibility requirements for a medal, whatever they are but he didn't really contribute to PSG being champions.

Still, it's a fact and it's true.

12/13 played 3 minutes in a 3-2 defeat, neither side scored while he was on the pitch.

13/14 - 2 appearances.
- 8 minutes in a 2-0 win (2-0 up when he came on)
- 27 minutes in a 4-0 win (3-0 up when he came on in the last game of season when they were already champions before the match even started)
And that is all this thread is about ;)
 

Siorac

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Castilla would be the reserve team basically, my guess is nobody thought it was possible for a team made up of 18-20 year olds to go that far. Afaik B teams were excluded from the competition afterwards, because yeah, a team facing their B team is iffy, especially when they can just call up the best players from the B team to play for the main team for the game....

Btw when did Eto'o scored a hat trick against Fergie's United???
Fergie's United? Never. He scored a hat-trick against Moyes' United in 2014, playing for Chelsea.
 

Chipper

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And that is all this thread is about ;)
Oh of course, I'm not disagreeing that it's true or trying to correct you.

Just having a bit of a whine about the fact that it is true. I don't think players should really get medals or be called a winner of something for doing so little. They could have brought me on as a substitute in those matches instead of him and it wouldn't have changed the outcomes.
 

sugar_kane

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Van Persie had a better goals per game ratio under Moyes than Fergie

Fergie - 30 in 48 (goal per 1.60 games)
Moyes - 18 in 28 (goal per 1.56 games)
 

Morty_

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That you have these big strikers, like Lukaku or Haaland, who have all the makings of being target men, but yet are terrible at it.

How difficult is it, if you have a big body, to use it to shield the ball, and get it to a teammate? Obviously you also need a great touch to do that role well, so you need to be technically sound, but some of these big strikers aren't even good at using their bodies or winning headers either.

Its just kinda bizzare to look at imo.
 

Ole'sgunnarwin

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Nobody has ever been suspended on 4 different occasions in one season. That's one Casemiro can break when he returns.

Ronaldo scores more hattricks in his second stint than his first. He also went 4 years playing in the Champions League without scoring.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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It feels like a massive conflict of interest. While they might play for professional pride it would be very easy to corrupt the reserve side.
If they both play a final then their interests are fulfilled whether they win or lose. The interest is: for the club as an institution to win a trophy. The conflict of interest would be more if they meet in the knockout stages, as the first division side has higher chance of advancing throughout the competition.

But anyway this hasn't been allowed for ages.
 

horsechoker

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If they both play a final then their interests are fulfilled whether they win or lose. The interest is: for the club as an institution to win a trophy. The conflict of interest would be more if they meet in the knockout stages, as the first division side has higher chance of advancing throughout the competition.

But anyway this hasn't been allowed for ages.
It would look terrible for the senior team to lose. The junior team can always be bribed to lose the match. It's a good thing it hasn't been allowed for ages.
 

sugar_kane

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1.6 goals per game under Fergie is marginally higher that 1.56 under Moyes. Its 0.04 goals more in a Fergie team
That is not what the stats say, although I originally read it as that.
Yeah it just means on average it took him 1.6 games to score a goal under Fergie vs. 1.56 games under Moyes.

Or to do the inverse calculation, 0.64 goals per game (Moyes season) vs. 0.625 goals per game (Fergie season)

It's only marginally better, but my memory was always that he had a terrible season under Moyes. Turns out he just played less.

Wish I'd never brought it up now :lol:
 

IrishRick

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Yeah it just means on average it took him 1.6 games to score a goal under Fergie vs. 1.56 games under Moyes.

Or to do the inverse calculation, 0.64 goals per game (Moyes season) vs. 0.625 goals per game (Fergie season)

It's only marginally better, but my memory was always that he had a terrible season under Moyes. Turns out he just played less.

Wish I'd never brought it up now :lol:
Complete misread on my part. That's an amazing stat.I would have said Moyes got him nowhere near his best.

Great stat in all fairness
 

Bubz27

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I'm not verifying this but saw it this morning.

C.Ronaldo has 10 more goals (so far) since turning 30 than Rooney had in his entire career.
 

Peelhead

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Still seems weird to me that a bloke called Matty Cash is playing for Poland. Maybe not weird, but I was surprised.

It shouldn't be in some ways because we obviously have lots of movement of people around the world on a greater basis than we once did. I suppose his Polish connections aren't obvious though. Anglo sounding and looking name and born in England.
I'm going to admit my amazement to this as well as there just seems to be a lot of players around that have very Anglophone names but are playing for teams like Chile, Ben Brereton (Diaz).

I know I shouldn't have any surprise it's just a 'thing' I've noticed!
 

ScholesyTheWise

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Toni Kroos has won more FIFA Club World Cups than any club has (six wins, Real Madrid has five - Kroos was involved in all of them and won another with Bayern)
Very good, had to read it a couple of times to make sure it was logical (obviously is).
 

rio's upper lip

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Football what ifs, that shouldn’t not be what ifs at all, that only when it isn’t not what it ought to be - but is anyway.
 

TheReligion

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Yeah it just means on average it took him 1.6 games to score a goal under Fergie vs. 1.56 games under Moyes.

Or to do the inverse calculation, 0.64 goals per game (Moyes season) vs. 0.625 goals per game (Fergie season)

It's only marginally better, but my memory was always that he had a terrible season under Moyes. Turns out he just played less.

Wish I'd never brought it up now :lol:
I’m glad you posted this as there’s some strange myth on the Caf that RvP was a one season wonder at United.

Its been trotted out a few times when discussing the possibility of signing Kane based on his age.
 

PSV

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I’m glad you posted this as there’s some strange myth on the Caf that RvP was a one season wonder at United.

Its been trotted out a few times when discussing the possibility of signing Kane based on his age.
That's a bit like saying Martial is having a wonderful season this year because he's scoring almost at 19/20-rate.
 

TheReligion

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That's a bit like saying Martial is having a wonderful season this year because he's scoring almost at 19/20-rate.
Not really anything like it tbh. RvP played less games than his first season but nothing line the minutes Martial has given us thus far..

If Martial stays fit now though it’s still possible for him to deliver a positive return.
 

Gazza

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RVP was a game changer for us in his first season. The next season, he was inconsistent and not as good - he also played 17 games fewer in the league for us that season due to injuries. Not really bad, but clearly nowhere near as good as he was in the first season.
 

SirReginald

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Ronaldo scores more hattricks in his second stint than his first. He also went 4 years playing in the Champions League without scoring.
He wasn’t really a goal scorer when he joined you. He was a one trick pony step over merchant who flattered to deceive. Took 5 seasons for him to start scoring consistently and then elevated his game at Madrid. There is a reason they went for Robben before Ronaldo. So these stats match up.
 

lysglimt

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Danny Welbeck has in his last 3 seasons (including so far this season) 24 matches, 6 goals - 25 matches, 6 goals and 25 matches, 6 goals

Now that is being consistent.