2016 - 2017 Football Season Discussion Thread

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Mike Thunder

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Sweden beat Belarus 4-0 in a world cup qualifier yesterday. That's great news. Bad news is I was working and only caught the second half on the radio on the drive home.
On another positive Bulgaria managed to upset the Netherlands so Sweden got to pull ahead a bit in our group.
Do you know if Lindelof's injury is serious? We play Porto on the 1st of April and he is a crucial player for us.
 

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Do you know if Lindelof's injury is serious? We play Porto on the 1st of April and he is a crucial player for us.
I have no idea how serious it is. I know he is in doubt for the friendly with Portugal on Tuesday but no more than that
 

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So a very B-sided Sweden managed to play catch up on a 2-0 Portuguese lead (Portugal was also pretty B-sided) to win 2-3 in Madeira. I was happy with a draw but I'm not exactly saying no to a 92nd minute own goal when given one
 

Mike Thunder

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So a very B-sided Sweden managed to play catch up on a 2-0 Portuguese lead (Portugal was also pretty B-sided) to win 2-3 in Madeira. I was happy with a draw but I'm not exactly saying no to a 92nd minute own goal when given one
yeah our players fell asleep in the 2nd half...
:(
 

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yeah our players fell asleep in the 2nd half...
:(
Speaking as someone who just had a similar mentality to his national team. Seemed like Portugal just stopped caring once Ronaldo went off. Like when the big name stepped up they didn't feel as motivated.

Sweden played well in the first half as well and we were almost dead even in scoring chances (difference being actually scoring)
 

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Speaking as someone who just had a similar mentality to his national team. Seemed like Portugal just stopped caring once Ronaldo went off. Like when the big name stepped up they didn't feel as motivated.

Sweden played well in the first half as well and we were almost dead even in scoring chances (difference being actually scoring)
The thing about Portugal is that we always play as well as the team we're facing. It's good when we're facing France, Germany, Spain, etc. but when it's against theoretically weaker opponents it can hurt a lot (Euro 2016 Group Stage, for example).

Hopefully this new generation can help diminish that mentality. Ronaldo still feels like he needs to carry Portugal and we still play like we NEED Ronaldo to suceed, but we don't. We have talented players like Bernardo Silva, João Mário, André Silva, Carvalho, etc.

I honestly believe we have a chance to win the World Cup next year with this generation. Just so much talent in every position.
 

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The thing about Portugal is that we always play as well as the team we're facing. It's good when we're facing France, Germany, Spain, etc. but when it's against theoretically weaker opponents it can hurt a lot (Euro 2016 Group Stage, for example).

Hopefully this new generation can help diminish that mentality. Ronaldo still feels like he needs to carry Portugal and we still play like we NEED Ronaldo to suceed, but we don't. We have talented players like Bernardo Silva, João Mário, André Silva, Carvalho, etc.

I honestly believe we have a chance to win the World Cup next year with this generation. Just so much talent in every position.
Welcome to Ibrahimovic era Sweden. It's the downside of having a massive star. The individual becomes bigger than the collective
 

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The Swedish football season started this weekend and I cannot complain with the results. My team (GIF Sundsvall) started off with a win against newcomers Athletic Eskilstuna with a 3-1 win at home. Only downside was I had tickets but ended up home due to getting sick. We played decently with a shaky start and some rough final 15 when Eskilstuna went hard on the offensive.
Highlights from TV: Sundsvall are in Blue, Eskilstuna in orange


The opening moments for the season kickoff yesterday with Gothneburg (second most ever champs) vs Malmö (record setting champions) was mighty.
 

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Disappointed we didn't beat Atletico, but I guess a draw is better than a loss at the end of the day.
 
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We are so, so close to an (domestically) unbeaten season. Six league games and the semi-finals and finals of the Scottish Cup. Come on bhoys
 
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Good week for my Spurs. Solid 2-0 win at Burnley last Saturday, then the fantastic comeback at Swansea on Wednesday to win 1-3, and then finishing it off with the 4-0 win over Watford on the weekend. Extending our record setting unbeaten at the Lane run to 11. Fitting that we set a new record with this being the last full season at the Lane until the new one is complete.

The only downside was Janssen not getting a goal. He grew tremendously during Kane's recent injury spell and was a key player in both the Burnley and Swansea wins and did a lot of good against Watford as long as he got to play. He had two chances which he should have put in against Watford which were just bad luck combined with some perfect last minute defending by Mariappa and then one were Gomes just did a fantastic save. He still brought a lot to the games with some excellent hold up game and worked well as a targeting forward, opening up spaces for Son, Alli and Eriksen to score in all games. He definitely has value for us and just needs more time (kid is 22.) He'll adapt. And if we gave Lamela 2 years to adapt we can give Janssen the same. And if we are going to do PL, CL and the cups next season we obviously need a secondary striker to allow Kane some more rest time.

Wouldn't say no to getting a third, but I don't want to see Vinnie go.
 
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Didn't watch the game, but I'm glad Juve beat Barcelona.

Hopefully they can preserve that advantage unlike PSG in the previous round.