"FA Premier League" - those thread titles always annoy me. I don't think Charles and Diana's divorce was finalised when it was last called that.
Things about football that get you unreasonably annoyed…
- Thread starter sugar_kane
- Start date
The English FA Barclaycard Premiership
It was last called that in 2007.
"The FA Carling Premiership" read in the voice of the guy who used to do the classified football results on Grandstand
The robotic way people talk about football by throwing all sorts of stupid stats into the discussion.
Xpsg xag xg cxpfs who fecking cares. Use your eyes and talk about what you see like how it user to be, back when people could have a debate about sport like humans instead of spreadsheets
Xpsg xag xg cxpfs who fecking cares. Use your eyes and talk about what you see like how it user to be, back when people could have a debate about sport like humans instead of spreadsheets
The obsession with saying "If they had taken their chances, the result would be different" or "If that went in, the scoreline would be different".
No shit, Sherlock. The whole point of the game is that you're never going to have a 100% success rate at anything you do; that's what makes the game human.
No shit, Sherlock. The whole point of the game is that you're never going to have a 100% success rate at anything you do; that's what makes the game human.
Adding to this: people using ”the eye test” instead of just saying ”I saw”.
There was someone saying something like ”He pressed really well, at least to the eye test”.
1) just say you saw something happen
2) it’s like what people think what they saw isn’t valid without backing it up with a stat so it has to be qualified with something that sounds like a metric.
Referees trying to manage and control players in the area just before a corner is taken.
Let them get in with it and call for the foul once the ball is in play.
After a couple of weeks of many penalties, the players will be forced to stop by thier managers.
Let them get in with it and call for the foul once the ball is in play.
After a couple of weeks of many penalties, the players will be forced to stop by thier managers.
Exactly this. Couldnt agree more.
That stupid xg stat boils my blood everytime I hear it.
Fans that pretend to like a band because they’re local and/or have members that support their club.
I don’t get how that plays a part in music tastes yet going through the motions to pretend you like the Stone Roses in case someone else gets upset is something far too many of us have done than will care to admit
I don’t get how that plays a part in music tastes yet going through the motions to pretend you like the Stone Roses in case someone else gets upset is something far too many of us have done than will care to admit
When a team miss three chances in quick succession and someone says "They could have had 3"
Well, no. Because had the first chance gone in the match would have restarted. They wouldn't have just given it to the striker inside the 6 yard box. That's not how it works. If the first goal went in we don't carry on and see how many more they can score.
Well, no. Because had the first chance gone in the match would have restarted. They wouldn't have just given it to the striker inside the 6 yard box. That's not how it works. If the first goal went in we don't carry on and see how many more they can score.
Outside of just a handful, I'm finding a real lack of quality strikers around nowadays kinda annoying.
It makes so much sense to just stop the clock during pauses and reduce the match length to 60 mins to reflect average ‘in-play’ time, but it probably won’t happen because purists will consider it too drastic a change, or someone will scream about americanisation even though Rugby uses the same system.
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I feel like this is influenced by tv viewing. I don't think I have ever been to a live game and feel like the 90 minutes is too long or get annoyed by in-play vs out-of-play time.
I think of it as a better solution to timewasting than vague stoppage time. I’m the same as you with generally not being bothered about either of those two things you mention.
Dumb feck articles like that of Tom Garry, Guardian talking about the ‘Unequal Game’ because Levvy paid himself more than the entire women’s set up last season
Do they really not understand the relativity of it all.
Tottenham women get an average attendance under 5k
The WSL TV viewing figures are atrocious
Despite the push to throw it down our throats. Not many people really give a feck
Girls football is having a boom at grass roots level and long may it continue
But can we please stop with ridiculous articles like this from Tom Garry
Do they really not understand the relativity of it all.
Tottenham women get an average attendance under 5k
The WSL TV viewing figures are atrocious
Despite the push to throw it down our throats. Not many people really give a feck
Girls football is having a boom at grass roots level and long may it continue
But can we please stop with ridiculous articles like this from Tom Garry
I think it's the complete opposite of that. I never notice time-wasting or the constant dicking around when I'm not at the game and watching on TV.
But on the other hand I never miss a game at Old Trafford unless I'm on holiday, and I spend 80% of the game getting wound up at time wasting. Goalkeepers on goal kicks and full backs on throw ins on their own half have the referees on strings, they never get booked and adequate time is never added on, they're rewarded for ruining the spectacle of the game.
It's the number one worst thing in football for me. Last night just when United has a head of steam up Kamada goes down with cramp, in 30 years watching this game I'm still yet to see a player on a losing team get cramp, the ball is dead for 4-5 minutes (felt like 35 in the ground) and United lose all momentum they'd got in the game. Yes, it's sour grapes because of a poor performance but it's also indicative of a much wider issue in the game. To then really rub salt into it, he went down 15 yards from the far touchline and the ref allows him to limp right back to the dugout on the opposite side, another minute wasted.
Drives me insane.
This whole issue regarding players going down “injured”. Get the fecker off the pitch. He won’t die, even if he is injured. Rarely is a player seriously injured that can’t be stretched off and no harm done, if you really want to protect the player.
Starting to become irrational annoyed by any variation of the following;
"It of course looks worse in slow motion"
"It of course looks worse in slow motion"
It should be stopped for var only
Things about football that get you unreasonably annoyed: People using rugby, the world’s shittest sport, as some kind of marker for what football should do…
The Europa League final being played before the Conference league final. Surely they should just be played in sequence on the Thu, Fri, Sat of the same week.
The fact that we never really hand out historical thrashings to the other top teams, like they do to us. This is something that used to bother me even under SAF. We were, of course, very successful and had a winning record against pretty much every other team. But it was still rare, for instance, that we'd win by three or more goals. The only notable ones that come to mind are the 8-2 against Arsenal (basically their B team full of kids), a 4-0 against Liverpool in 2003 (when they finished fifth), and another 4-0 against Arsenal in the FA Cup. This was even worse against Chelsea, who more often than not had our number, even under SAF. We had the famous 3-0 win in 2009 (the infamous Ronaldo header which was disallowed from a quickly taken corner), but other than that it was almost always a gritty, tight game.
On the other side, even under SAF, we had some big losses - 5-0 against Chelsea, 5-0 against Newcastle, 6-1 against City... even Arsenal beat us 3-0 a couple of times during the treble season.
This has gotten even worse post-SAF.
Liverpool have their 7-0, 5-0 and 4-0 wins. City routinely win 3-0, 6-3, 4-1, etc. Chelsea have thrashed us 4-0. Arsenal have a 3-0, and even Spurs have mauled us 6-1.
Since 2013, the only time we've beaten the traditional top six by three or more goals are;
3-0 against Spurs in 2015 (the Rooney knockout celebration)
4-0 against Chelsea in 2019 (Ole's first game of the season in 2019-20)
3-0 against Spurs in 2021 (the game immediately after the Liverpool 0-5)
4-1 against Chelsea in 2023
The annoyance stems from the fact that that there have been several games where we've been vastly better than teams, but the scoreline doesn't reflect the dominance. The 4-2 game against City under LVG and 2-1 Juanfield come to mind. Plus, Carrick's first game in charge this year, when we won 2-0 but it really should've been at least 5-0 or 6-0.
On the other side, even under SAF, we had some big losses - 5-0 against Chelsea, 5-0 against Newcastle, 6-1 against City... even Arsenal beat us 3-0 a couple of times during the treble season.
This has gotten even worse post-SAF.
Liverpool have their 7-0, 5-0 and 4-0 wins. City routinely win 3-0, 6-3, 4-1, etc. Chelsea have thrashed us 4-0. Arsenal have a 3-0, and even Spurs have mauled us 6-1.
Since 2013, the only time we've beaten the traditional top six by three or more goals are;
3-0 against Spurs in 2015 (the Rooney knockout celebration)
4-0 against Chelsea in 2019 (Ole's first game of the season in 2019-20)
3-0 against Spurs in 2021 (the game immediately after the Liverpool 0-5)
4-1 against Chelsea in 2023
The annoyance stems from the fact that that there have been several games where we've been vastly better than teams, but the scoreline doesn't reflect the dominance. The 4-2 game against City under LVG and 2-1 Juanfield come to mind. Plus, Carrick's first game in charge this year, when we won 2-0 but it really should've been at least 5-0 or 6-0.
This is a very good point. I hate how we’ve never really seemed to thrash our rivals.
I’m sure we also beat Liverpool 3-0 at home during the LVG years.
Walloped Arsenal 6-1 in 01.
Who really cares about winning big, 3pts is 3pts.
Utd may have suffered the rare big defeat, but the head to head records against all those teams were in Utd's favour for years.
The straight on shot of the goal during a penalty shootout. The normal camera position is much better, the other one messes with my depth perception
We did, and LVG was undefeated against Liverpool in the Premier League, he won all 4. (but lost and then drew against them in the Europa League).
In the Fergie years, there is also the 3-0 at Chelsea in 2001/02. A fair payback for them doing exactly the same to us at Old Trafford that season.
I will also add the 6-2 beating of a very good Newcastle side, at St James', in 2003 is one of THE iconic United performances.
I take your point... if it helps, think of all those late winning goals that made Fergie's United so special. I'd argue that's a better feeling than a battering.
In that regard, the last minute winners vs Liverpool by Rio at Old Trafford and O'Shea at Anfield. Not sure I would trade those feelings for a 5-0... which would also be nice to experience that in my lifetime, I will accept!
It is really annoying as it's basically saying just because it happened too fast to realise it was a brutal challenge it should be let go.
Also won 3-0 at Old Trafford v Liverpool, Nani scored that nice goal from outside the box. Yeah beat Newcastle 6-2 when they were decent at SJP, also beat them 6-1 when they were not so decent.
I’ve said this before, but it’s extra relevant today: Mikel Arteta’s stupid face.
The constant misrepresentation of VAR in football discourse. After all these years, you still have even ex-players and journalists not knowing how it works. People saying ‘how can VAR overturn that, it’s not a ‘clear and obvious’ error’. ‘VAR is not there to re-referee the game’. The ‘clear and obvious’ thing is a completely made up threshold that is repeated weekly. As is the notion that VAR ‘overturns’ anything.
The only decisions made by VAR are surrounding offsides. Any other decision is made by the referee. VAR didn’t award Cunha his goal on Sunday. Michael Salisbury did. Allowing a ref the opportunity to look and be sure of his decision cannot be a bad thing in principle. There’s no law that compels refs to change their minds, and whatever final decision is made is the decision of the referee, not of VAR. If the refs are too weak, that is a ref issue, not a VAR issue.
If the ref goes to the screen and decides that the ridiculous handball pen given to PSG against Bayern is a handball, then that’s choice.
The only decisions made by VAR are surrounding offsides. Any other decision is made by the referee. VAR didn’t award Cunha his goal on Sunday. Michael Salisbury did. Allowing a ref the opportunity to look and be sure of his decision cannot be a bad thing in principle. There’s no law that compels refs to change their minds, and whatever final decision is made is the decision of the referee, not of VAR. If the refs are too weak, that is a ref issue, not a VAR issue.
If the ref goes to the screen and decides that the ridiculous handball pen given to PSG against Bayern is a handball, then that’s choice.
Whenever there's a final rather than stick with the commentary after the final whistle - that has the best atmosphere sounds - they always throw it back to the studio panel where the sound is completely different and it makes what is quite a loud, raucous atmosphere sound quite dull and muted because the sound is set up differently.
For the commentary mics they mix in crowd noise. For the studio panel - even if they're on the side of the pitch - they mix it out. So you end up missing out on the atmosphere of fans celebrating and instead have to listen to Owen Hargreaves droning on in that melancholy, depressive tone he has. I don't get why they do it.
The series of on-field interviews whatever her name was with TNT Sports last night. Just absolutely dreadful. The coverage sucked every inch of joy out of that moment.
"How does it feel you must feel amazin"
Er...yeah to be honest....yeah
"Tell me, how amazing does it feel?"
Like I said it's.....hasn't sunk in yet?
"So to clarify how amazing does this feel? Oh wait here's another player, other player: you must feel amazin!"
Awful. I think one of the players made passing reference to Emery being calm and she started the interview with the next player "How is it? Emery was calm the day before?"
For the commentary mics they mix in crowd noise. For the studio panel - even if they're on the side of the pitch - they mix it out. So you end up missing out on the atmosphere of fans celebrating and instead have to listen to Owen Hargreaves droning on in that melancholy, depressive tone he has. I don't get why they do it.
The series of on-field interviews whatever her name was with TNT Sports last night. Just absolutely dreadful. The coverage sucked every inch of joy out of that moment.
"How does it feel you must feel amazin"
Er...yeah to be honest....yeah
"Tell me, how amazing does it feel?"
Like I said it's.....hasn't sunk in yet?
"So to clarify how amazing does this feel? Oh wait here's another player, other player: you must feel amazin!"
Awful. I think one of the players made passing reference to Emery being calm and she started the interview with the next player "How is it? Emery was calm the day before?"
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Don't forget the 8-2.
The rash of twitter posts containing long, obviously fake, AI-generated quotes, all in the same format and tone.
Modern wide players. Not all, but more than there should be.
Delay, delay, delay, delay. Oh no, chance gone! Square pass.
The urgency to get the ball into the box and make the most of the striker finding space isn’t there. The priority is holding onto the ball or beating someone even if there’s a direct line to get the ball to the forward without doing so. We’ve been terrible at it in recent years and with multiple players.
By the time the ball does go in the chance will inevitably have gone, the striker who just spent the last five and a half hours completely unmarked in the box is now surrounded by three defenders so it’s either a nothing square pass back or it’s rolled to Dalot on the edge of the area.
Delay, delay, delay, delay. Oh no, chance gone! Square pass.
The urgency to get the ball into the box and make the most of the striker finding space isn’t there. The priority is holding onto the ball or beating someone even if there’s a direct line to get the ball to the forward without doing so. We’ve been terrible at it in recent years and with multiple players.
By the time the ball does go in the chance will inevitably have gone, the striker who just spent the last five and a half hours completely unmarked in the box is now surrounded by three defenders so it’s either a nothing square pass back or it’s rolled to Dalot on the edge of the area.
Annoying as it is, this is more due to the coaching and tactics than it is to the players, modern football is about percentages, coaches, and some fans to a degree, want control, you don't get control if you are only going to suceed 30% of the time, they want 60% or something similar
Players not putting the ball in the quadrant for corners and then acting surprised when told to put it back in. Stop being a fecking twat. What is even the the point of hanging the ball a quarter millimetre outside the quadrant?
The idea you could play poorly but still get a goal, assist or achieve something such as “90% aerial battles won” - never used to be controversial up until two or three years ago.
“He got on the scoresheet, but didn’t have a good game overall” - nobody would blink an eye.
These days it’s the case that someone must have had a good game BECAUSE they got a goal/assist/won all aerial battles, etc.
You see it everywhere, threads, social media. Utter bewilderment if you don’t think someone had a good game if they scored etc
“He got on the scoresheet, but didn’t have a good game overall” - nobody would blink an eye.
These days it’s the case that someone must have had a good game BECAUSE they got a goal/assist/won all aerial battles, etc.
You see it everywhere, threads, social media. Utter bewilderment if you don’t think someone had a good game if they scored etc