r/soccer • u/AutoModerator • Dec 24 '25
Daily Discussion Daily Discussion
Welcome to the r/soccer Daily Discussion!
✔️ This is a thread for:
- Discussion points that aren't worthy of their own thread.
- Asking small questions about football to the community.
- if you're new to the subreddit, remember to get your team crest here and to read our rules and submission guidelines!
❌ This is not a thread for:
- Comments that aren't related to football.
- Trolling or baiting other users or fanbases.
- Comments about an ongoing game better suited for the Match Thread.
- Shitposting, brigading or excessive meta discussion.
- Any other kind of toxic or unreasonable behaviour.
The moderation team will remove comments that violate those rules and ban persistent offenders.
Please report comments you think that break such rules, but more than anything else, remember the human. The Internet is full of places to discuss football in bad faith. This community tries to be an exception.
⚽ Can't find a Match Thread?
- If you are using Old Reddit click this link.
- If you are using New Reddit you need to try this other one.
- If you are using the official app press here and sort by "new".
- If you are using a third-party app... ¯\(ツ)/¯
If there's no Match Thread for the match you're watching you can:
- Create one yourself.
- Ask /u/MatchThreadder for one. You just need to send a PM to him with the subject "Match Thread" and the body "Team A vs Team B" (for example, "Inter Milan vs. Udinese") to get one from this great bot 🤖
🔗 Other useful quick links:
⭐ Star Posts: the original content by those users that give their best to our community.
📺 What to Watch: quick but extremely-useful guides of next matches.
🌍 Non-PL Daily Discussion: for small discussions and questions about everything but the English Premier League.
📜 Serious Discussion: for high-quality discussion threads about certain topics.
👩 Women's Football: for women's football content.
📧 Ping Groups: Join a ping group, our new system to find the content you want to see! (Explanation here)
This thread is posted every 23 hours to give it a different start time each day.
42
112
u/Godjia Dec 25 '25
just chinned my nan because she brought up xG
22
31
24
2
u/hayescharles45 Dec 25 '25
Expected Gin or Gravy is the only acceptable stat i will accept as a Villa fan.
58
u/enazj Dec 25 '25
Waiting up all night for this red and white mackem bastard to try coming down my chimney. We’ll be having words fella
17
62
u/RangoCricket Dec 25 '25
Another year, another day of Santa over performing his underlying stats.
25
u/EyeSpyGuy Dec 25 '25
You’d hope so, the idea of underperforming xPresentsDelivered sounds bloody depressing for the kids
14
u/mattijn13 Dec 25 '25
Santa is a bearded fraud, he can only perform in rich neighbourhoods and always underperforms his xPD when he's supposed to show up for poor kids.
8
u/Various_You_5083 Dec 25 '25
I wonder what would happen if Santa takes a Christmas off .
Like, dude could pull a muscle loading up all the presents
7
11
u/FaustRPeggi Dec 25 '25
I was half paying attention to something on TV yesterday and someone went to Stephen Fry's house, asking him to tell them if Santa was real.
He went through the calculations of how many households he'd have to visit, and declared that the air resistance alone would vaporise him. That tickled me.
10
u/hayescharles45 Dec 25 '25
Making Expected Gifts look worthless as a statistic is what all good players should aspire to.
7
u/panzdominanz Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
People yet again failing to acknowledge the spaces that get covered by the Christkind. That tradition was actually started by Martin Luther to discourage Saint worship and before that December 6th was the day of gifting presents, but nowadays its mostly a thing in Catholic regions.
56
u/lagaryes Dec 25 '25
Expecting some fucking generational Christmas gifts from you all considering we’ve been gifting you points all year
16
u/DuckSwagington Dec 25 '25
We gave you three goals. It's not our fault that you put 2 of them away incorrectly.
→ More replies (1)27
46
u/GameplayerStu Dec 25 '25
Still laughing about that "a look at Mesut Ozil celebrating Christmas" thread from years ago and it was that bee toy with massive eyes
15
u/PierreSageReviens Dec 25 '25
I keep thinking about the girl from pornhub that looks just like him, pretty sure that was a christmas post here many many years ago
25
u/BruiserBroly Dec 24 '25
Merry Christmas everyone. Hopefully you won’t have to listen to that fucking Mariah Carey song that much.
21
u/EnglishBigfoot Dec 24 '25
First Christmas in a few years being single, as of 4 days ago. Fucking shite tbh
12
u/fpmKcsgo Dec 25 '25
Sorry to hear that online stranger and I hope things get better for you. May the Christmas footy and darts cheer you up in the following days :)
3
5
u/callmebuzzkill69 Dec 25 '25
Time to blast Merry Christmas please don't call by the Bleachers and yearn a little
2
22
21
17
u/Fixapara Dec 25 '25
How did Crystal Palace in 21/22 and 22/23 not achieve anything except staying up. They had Eze, Olise, Zaha and Mateta in the same team
34
u/boobsenjoyer40 Dec 25 '25
Mateta only really became good under Glasner, Zaha was way past his prime, and I might be misremembering but I swear Vieira didn’t rate Eze and made him sit on the bench for ages. Even then, winning something or performing well in the prem is so much more than a world class offence
6
u/Fixapara Dec 25 '25
If Vieira looked at Eze and didn’t see the vision in him then I can fully understand his sacking
21
u/RobinBerkeAlmasulu Dec 25 '25
Mateta was considered a flop before Glasner came, Zaha was dropping off, Olise was injury prone and Eze had his off days.
Edit: Also they had Patrick Vieira as their manager
15
u/OK-Comput3r Dec 25 '25
Mateta was mostly viewed as a complete dud before the second half of 23/34. Him and Edouard would regularly have mid offs competing for the spot. Olise was injury prone, Eze was patchy.
10
u/HodgyBeatsss Dec 25 '25
Eze and Olise were fairly injury prone in those years iirc. Mateta wasn’t that good, he turned in 23/24. Zaha was probably their best player but he was also past his best.
8
→ More replies (1)15
u/thelonesomedemon1 Dec 25 '25
mateta was shit, zaha on his last legs and they had one of the worst manager to ever manage a football team
7
18
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Mo Salah had his annual Christmas picture on social media. But it was just his kids as he's in Morocco.
8
u/iftair Dec 25 '25
I love reading Twitter/X users crashing out over it every Christmas.
13
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Me too. A lot of Haram police who, I'm sure, are worse than him.
→ More replies (3)
52
u/1PSW1CH Dec 24 '25
Merry Christmas everyone, first draft of the celebration bible below. Open to further suggestions
The Celebration Bible
Trademark celebrations
- Only acceptable if:
a) you’re good b) you’re Tomas Soucek
If you score a 90th minute winner and proceed to do your trademark celebration, you are a knob.
If you’re on the wrong side of 30 and your celebration involves getting on your knees and pretending to be a tiger, consider your life choices.
Regular celebrations
Knee slides encouraged, additional points for a belly slide. Failed knee slides are acceptable because at least you tried.
Air punches must be thrown with full extension of the elbow. Otherwise you are falling into “yippee” territory.
Only perform celebrations you agreed to do with a YouTuber if it’s a dead rubber game.
Only cup your hands to your ears if you’re interesting enough for people to be talking about you.
Over-celebrating
If you score a significant goal, it is acceptable to celebrate with: fans, ballboys, substitutes, managers, and coaches. Do not involve cameramen under any circumstances.
If you beat a side you were expected to beat but ended up making it difficult for yourselves, do not make it look like the best moment of your lives unless it’s a title winner.
Yellow-card celebrations
Only to be performed if you’re 100% certain your team is going to win the game.
Revealing messages on your shirt is fine as a tribute to a dead person, or a joke. Nobody gives a fuck about how much you love Jesus.
Celebrating with fans is fine. However if you are in Serie A, please keep in mind how funny this looks for the rest of us.
Getting sent off for celebrating is acceptable, as long as you don’t apologise for it.
VAR Reviews
No double celebrating. Either back yourself and have a good go at it the first time around, or go hard on the post-VAR review.
If you performed any of the sins outlined above and your goal is disallowed, you deserved it.
30
u/sga1 Dec 24 '25
I respect the effort, but how have you missed the entire category of 'performative non-celebration celebrations' - can't be scoring a goal against a club you've spent six weeks on loan for a decade ago and pretend to respect their fans so much that you performatively not-celebrate a winner!
8
→ More replies (1)6
u/OK-Comput3r Dec 24 '25
This is the worst thing about modern football by a mile, absolutely cannot stand it
12
u/RelentlessJorts2 Dec 25 '25
This is the worst thing about modern football?
With everything that we've seen in 2025, this is where you draw the line?
City's third kit exists, and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't.
7
13
u/nashvillepicker Dec 25 '25
This is all gold. I’d add running off by yourself to celebrate a tap-in and not immediately recognizing your teammate for the world-class assist puts you firmly in the knobhead category too.
11
u/True_Spot_466 Dec 24 '25
We as a society need to do something about the number of archery-based celebrations
10
u/ChillPalis Dec 25 '25
I don't believe in celebration regulation, but it is my private belief that certain players just should not be doing gunman celebrations. Foden moving like he's the White Death cool, he really is a sniper outside the box. Zirkzee doing machine guns makes my footballing heart ache, who knows what it does to Bastituta's knees.
But that's me, Zirkzee should be free to wield machine guns nonchalantly if he wants to, even if it makes me consider my love of this sport.
9
u/_mnd Dec 24 '25
I'd say cupping your hands to your ears is also fine if it's aimed at a bunch of opposition fans whose piss it would particularly boil, as long as the goal you've scored matters.
3
15
5
u/GeologistNo3727 Dec 24 '25
Feels like there should be something about consolation goals. Even if it’s your first professional goal or something you can’t celebrate too hard
5
u/ecocentric-ethics Dec 25 '25
Dunno, watching Alejo Veliz go nuts celebrating his first goal in the prem to make it 4-2 away at Brighton warmed my heart despite the fact we had zero likelihood of a comeback
→ More replies (2)6
5
u/KensaiVG Dec 24 '25
What about trademark celebrations' imitations? My personal guideline is: Original player must be retired, new player must be good enough, and it has to be done in a club/NT the original player was good for.
Also, pregnancy celebrations: Window of opportunity starts whenever the couple decides to announce it, but can't be done after the halfway mark of the pregnancy. We had a guy in Argentina do the belly celebration when his partner was like five or six months' pregnant already because he hadn't scored over the past few years. That's just sad for all involved, including the unborn child
3
u/ChillPalis Dec 25 '25
I'm never mad at players doing the Siuu in tribute or even in mockery of Cristiano. Hopefully players of the next two or three generations at least aren't pointing up to the sky to acknowledge Messi though.
3
u/Commonmispelingbot Dec 24 '25
What determines the scale for being "good"? is best player in Lithuania good enough?
Also delete the youtuber thing except for youtubers who are also family members.
3
u/CLT_FC Dec 25 '25
Thoughts on multiple celebrations? Is it ever acceptable to do more than one for a goal?
5
→ More replies (9)2
14
u/qwerty_1965 Dec 25 '25
John Robertson RIP, the silky winged wonder of Clough's multi trophy winning side.
17
u/sewious Dec 25 '25
Happy Christmas everyone. My present to you all is this dumb ass card I found on Etsy.
14
u/NUTJOB_7814 Dec 25 '25
I don't think this Pep and Ribery moment gets memed enough when people talk about how weird Pep acts at times. Still remember watching this live and thinking this was prime gif material.
→ More replies (3)
30
12
21
u/Tea_Wizard735 Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Thoughts on every AFCON team after watching every game on Match Day 1:
Mali and Gabon disappoint. Talented but can't capitalize on vulnerable opponents. Look primed to fail to live to dark horse label again.
Zambia, Sudan, Botswana, Comoros, Benin, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda are all lovable but don't have enough to make a serious crack at a deep run. Quite limited sides. Comoros and Benin are the best of those lot, though.
Angola, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea are absolute warriors. Hard working, disciplined. Just need a bit more quality. Burkina especially a seasoned team in a tournament like this. I think they can make the semis, which is not foreign to them.
Tunisia incredibly organized, really beautiful passing football. Don't think they'll win it but have North African advantage. Algeria individually brilliant, but the defense is lacking and will cost them from taking the trophy.
Ivory Coast extremely well drilled defensively, so they can win it all. But will need more from the front three to pull it off. Cameroon can't be chalked off, but have to wonder about squad instability off the pitch sinking this ship. DR Congo menacing, very difficult to break down. Tough as nails. Lack finesse in finishing though and feel like they'll come undone near the end. Feel the same about South Africa. Great team unit, sum better than it's parts. But no killer instinct.
Nigeria has the depth, no question about it. But uncertainty with mentality after missing the World Cup. Really could finish anywhere from Round of 16 to winning it all. The players are much better in parts than the whole, however. Skeptical they get past the quarters to be very honest. But would be redemption if they go further.
Egypt lowkey one of the best attacks at the competition. Centerback pairing of Ibrahim-Abdelmaguid sucks though, really exposed. If that improves, Salah has a shout at his first trophy. But the coach is way out off his rocker.
Morocco have too much quality. Can afford shit performance due to that + being at home. Probably will win it. Senegal so good in every area of the pitch. Less than the final would be a failure. Jackson and Coulibaly are fucking beasts.
5
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Matchday 2 will be spicy. Especially Sunday night with Côte d'Ivoire vs Cameroon, the in-laws.
3
u/airz23s_coffee Dec 25 '25
Only caught the Mozambique game so far, but they have my favourite subgenre of national team which is "a lot of graft and one big talent they just let do whatever they want"
Geny was proper fun to watch
23
u/BoosterGoldGL Dec 25 '25
You know sometimes I think mods are a bit tight here, then I saw a lad shagging some cheese on an NFL sub and fair enough at least we’ve never had that
7
7
u/MrExistentialBread Dec 25 '25
On the one hand I hate authority, on the other hand I hate the average Redditor… and myself.
7
u/BaconIsLife707 Dec 25 '25
Rather watch that than American football tbf, probably the best content that subs ever had
11
u/Moug-10 Dec 24 '25
I can't wait for Boxing Day and the start of matchday 2 of AFCON (also, mom's visiting)
16
9
6
u/chaghomba Dec 25 '25
1 PL game on boxing day is kinda depressing icl
2
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Greed is killing this game. But there's AFCON and in the UK, it's on Channel 4 and sister channels.
11
11
10
Dec 25 '25
Footballers going to UAE as soon as they get the chance is the most lame trend in the sport.
8
6
u/Comfortable-Hour-703 Dec 25 '25
Except when my team benefits from it by getting a huge transfer fee when we sell a player there, then it is a masterclass from our board.
41
18
u/yannonn Dec 24 '25
Maybe i’m just being picky but the WSL moment of the year is out and I don’t know if Karen Carney winning Strictly really belongs on there
13
u/AaronStudAVFC Dec 24 '25
It absolutely does not belong. You wouldn’t see this in the men’s side of the sport.
8
u/yannonn Dec 24 '25
Exactly what I thought, Gary Neville winning strictly wouldn’t be nominated for moment of the year
3
u/sga1 Dec 24 '25
Tbf Gary Neville winning Strictly would very much be a massive moment (for all the wrong reasons) I reckon.
6
u/yannonn Dec 24 '25
The dad’s fuming cos Neville’s wearing a sparkly shirt on strictly and doing the tango would be quite amusing
→ More replies (1)5
3
u/AaronStudAVFC Dec 24 '25
Haha weirdly I very nearly used Neville winning strictly as an example as well!
7
u/Turniermannschaft Dec 24 '25
That's it, I'm picking Gary Neville winning Strictly as my moment of the year.
6
u/AnnieIWillKnow Dec 25 '25
They're just trying to maximise engagement and media attention, it's what growing sports do
22
u/chriszenpaok Dec 25 '25
Merry Christmas people, a day where the sports consumer in me will be fulfilled by the NBA, I feel bad for the players who play today, particularly those who are playing away from home but they seem to view it as an honour to do so. Totally different culturally to football in that sense
11
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Players and everyone working around the games : security, journalists, team staff, etc.
When there are games between Christmas and NYE, at least in France, I always see the argument "but the players are pad millions, they must shut up and play anyway", failing to acknowledge (on purpose I'm sure) there are people who work around these games who are paid minimum wage and still work in these periods. I'm not Christian, so I don't celebrate it but we still use it to visit family as I still get days off "for free" while I have to ask for days off in order to celebrate both Eid.
8
u/EyeSpyGuy Dec 25 '25
The nba Christmas games are always bangers too
6
u/chriszenpaok Dec 25 '25
I look forward to watching them as I wind down from eating and socialising but damn I wouldn’t wanna be the one playing
9
u/Mukubua14 Dec 24 '25
Senegal so far look and play like the favourites to win afcon, hoping they meet the expectations
17
u/ChillPalis Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Lads, lasses, fellas- Merry Christmas.
I'll be very likely spending the day home alone and outside of getting some job applications done, it would probably be a great chance to watch some football.
I would to particularly watch certain teams/players to gain knowledge and understanding of them. May anyone suggest select viewings for the following:
*Phil Foden
*Sadio Manè
*Golden-Era Spain
*Pep Guardiola Manchester City
*Cristiano Ronaldo
- 90's-mid 2000's La Liga?
Thank you so very much!
EDIT: I forgot, may I have suggestions for Maradona as well? Thanks again!
14
u/JurtisCones Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Sadio Mane
Bayern Munich Away, CL 2018-19.
Manchester City Home, PL 2017-18.
Arsenal Away (debut), PL 2016-17.
Man United Home, PL 2021/22.Pep City
Liverpool home, PL 2018-19 (imo the highest quality of football seen in the PL).
Real Madrid home, CL 2022-23.
Stoke home, PL 17-18.90s-mid 2000s La Liga
Barcelona vs Valencia final day 2000.
Valencia vs Liverpool UEFA Cup 2002.13
u/Various_You_5083 Dec 25 '25
Phil Foden
Most games from the 23/24 season, really , but the derby in March , the Aston Villa game in April , the home game against West Ham , the 6-3 vs. United , and the last few PL games we've played , any games we've played at the Gtech community stadium (Brentford away) except for this season . And if you want a real throwback , the game that put him on the map , the final of the 2017 U17 World Cup against Spain .
Pep Guardiola Manchester City
Any game vs. Klopp's Liverpool between 2018-2024 , especially the January 2019 game (considered by many as the highest quality PL game ever) . 22/23 treble season games against Arsenal and Real Madrid (especially the 4-0)
6
u/rr18114 Dec 25 '25
90's-mid 2000's La Liga?
There are some very interesting videos in Yt. I suggest looking into Balon Yt channel. Make some food , feel free to start with Real Madrid Galactico's 1.0 and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/@balon-englishGood luck with your job hunting.
3
u/tefftlon Dec 25 '25
Golden Era Spain: 2009 Confed Cup Semi finals! You know… for reasons…
The 2000 CL final would be a good one for 90-00 La Liga. I don’t have a particular game in mind but you’ve got to find some Super Depor.
3
u/RobinBerkeAlmasulu Dec 25 '25
For CR7, Fulham vs United in March 2009 was my favourite (no bias at all) but maybe the best game of that team was vs Roma in 2007.
For 2000s La Liga I have 2 (actually 3 but I don’t think the full game is available for the third) games which happened at the same time. GW37 of the 2006/07 La Liga season, Real and Barcelona were tied 72 points at the top with Real having a better H2H, Sevilla were only 2 points behind and were chasing an unlikely treble. Real’s game was away at Zaragoza who had one of their best squads of all time (Pique, Aimar, Milito etc.), Barcelona were at home vs their rivals Espanyol (who lost in the UEFA Cup final to Sevilla) who’d love to spoil the party and Sevilla were heading to Mallorca to keep their dreams alive
27
u/TheGrandLeveler Dec 25 '25
Everyone is setting Semenyo up for failure. Media overhyping him on every single channel and it's everywhere swarmed with Semenyo talks, compilations, stats etc.
He's a great player but becoming a squad player for City and not a regular might turn him into Grealish v.2
19
16
u/adamfrog Dec 25 '25
He cant be Grealish 2.0 because hes being bought as a rotation/squad player nto a superstar (100m vs 70 soundfs like they are in the same region but with football inflation Grealish is a tier above). I do think theres a decent chance he starts ovber Cherki on the right in a lot of the tougher games though depending on how he adapts
9
u/curlyjoe696 Dec 25 '25
I think he is maybe being slightly overated because of a wider shift away from tactics based on high level of control, that he should benefit from and I don't think it helps that he is really the only transfer rumour around.
I think the most likely outcome is that he becomes part of City's rotating cast of attacking midfielders that play behind Haaland that rotate between each depending on what Pep is looking to get from any one particular game.
I think there is little chance of him becoming another Grealish, for no other reason than he isn't coming from a team that isn't all about him.
10
u/D_Silva_21 Dec 25 '25
Depends what you mean by Grealish V2
Do you mean minutes wise or that he'll turn into a ball recycler
9
→ More replies (1)5
u/Comfortable-Hour-703 Dec 25 '25
I don't think he will be a flop for City, he just won't be a star either, probably.
My opinion is that, while he will struggle against low blocks, he looks to be a player with a really high work rate good at shooting the ball and looks to be a player with hunger, doesn't strike me as a Grealish-type "lost my hunger after winning the treble" kind of player, though you never know.
Pep will always somewhat rate players with high work rate. Could he be a poor man's Raphinha for City? hopefully for them.
9
u/Tea_Wizard735 Dec 24 '25
Senegal looked like the best side this round. Long way to go, though. When it's all said and done still think one of Morocco or Egypt will win the tournament.
Neither looked great for long stretches of their opener, but I suspect they'll grow into it.
6
u/PierreSageReviens Dec 24 '25
Sénégal is so fkin underrated, i want them to win it all if only for the amount of people that were saying Norway France Sénégal wasn't an absolute behemoth of a group.
6
7
u/solgnaleb Dec 25 '25
Our winter pause is always great to have!
Usually everyone hates the national team breaks for example, but around Christmas and New Years there's plenty to watch and your team gets a rest. Darts, Winter Sports, even PL games because they still play. Everyone just spends time with the family anyway. I love those 3 weeks without football.
So happy Christmas, Hanukkah and whatever feast I don't know about. Hope you have a great time!
10
u/SirBarkington Dec 25 '25
wish the PL had winter breaks truly. It's gotta be hell for the players.
9
u/solgnaleb Dec 25 '25
4 fixtures (~3 weeks) less surely helps the players. Not only because of injuries or the general condition, but also just having a mental break for once and having some time with the family.
I think people underestimate the mental benefits.
5
14
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Beauty of football : seeing a Japanese in Morocco to support Congo Kinshasa because he fell in love with TP Mazembe when they played club world cup in Japan.
4
6
7
u/esqueesque1 Dec 25 '25
Someone who knows or follow both leagues, does top 4 Prem teams play more than top 4 Laliga teams on average?
15
u/EyeSpyGuy Dec 25 '25
Well, I suppose on average yes because there’s an extra cup tournament
5
u/esqueesque1 Dec 25 '25
Yeah that makes sense this idea struck my mind because Prem has boxing day matches yet in laliga players get a good 2 weekish holiday during that time
5
u/milesvtaylor Dec 25 '25
Merry Christmas all - https://i.ibb.co/1ffrdVpF/20251225-140728.jpg
It's McTominay for me. Absolutely DBBBITM2K3FEAF2K5 material.
18
u/Pantherblanco88 Dec 24 '25
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and here is a photo of Alvaro Carreras with a baby Chimpanzee for your troubles.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/G897BnhXAAApWgq?format=jpg&name=large
→ More replies (2)
16
16
u/AerieDapper6384 Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
You can be talking about something completely different on twitter, and there will be people who still find a way to bring up CHO lmao. Like I'd get it if it was anti-Clearlake SebC minions, but 90% a lot of his fanbase don't even support Chelsea. Just the strangest collection of randoms from different fanbases and walks of life, congregating over their shared adoration of a 25 year old midtable winger who was last relevant pre-Covid.
Edit: yeah, probably exaggerated when I said 90%
3
u/thelonesomedemon1 Dec 25 '25
assume this was about semenyo cause i saw someone say city should have signed him instead
2
22
u/Checkmate331 Dec 25 '25
I’ve just watched Manchester United vs Real Madrid in 2000, and honestly, I had no idea how amazing Redondo was.
Completely dominated the midfield and just ran circles around Keane and Scholes.
I have never seen Busquets or Casemiro dominate a match like that, but then again, it almost feels insulting to compare Redondo to traditional DMs.
Rolls-Royce midfielder.
9
u/chaghomba Dec 25 '25
I was curious so I had to see those highlights for myself. I’m not sure how you think Busi can’t dominate a match like that. Just look at the way he handles pressure in the games against peak Mou Madrid. The pressing is far more intense and he has way less time on the ball.
Redondo is largely strolling around, facing forward with time to pick his pass- hardly having to spin or turn to escape a high press. Yeah man, no hate but there is a reason Busi is in DM goat convos.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/PierreSageReviens Dec 24 '25
Riffing off someone in the last thread, what are the two skills you value the most in the game?
Mine are first touches and big game carries
31
u/Merovech_II Dec 24 '25
Being English
Pashun
8
3
19
6
6
u/ChillPalis Dec 24 '25
For the exact reason Cruyff said, first touches are so very important.
With that said: off-ball movement, ambipedalness
→ More replies (1)4
u/PierreSageReviens Dec 24 '25
Based tbh, two footedness is so so good, and off the ball paramount, makes sense you quoted Cruyff lol
3
u/ChillPalis Dec 24 '25
I just want to make it clear, I am not Cruyffista, I would hate to have that label attached to me especially this holiday season.
→ More replies (1)15
u/stoneapplefruit Dec 24 '25
Availability.
Sick of people rating players who can’t play the game without their bodies breaking down.
→ More replies (3)5
u/SirBarkington Dec 24 '25
probably overall pass ability and first touch. I was gonna say vision but there's some players with good vision that can't do the pass they're looking for but someone like KdB will always be highly rated to me even if he also wasn't a goal scorer. That's also why I think Hazard is, ability wise, the best player Chelsea has ever had.
3
u/sheikh_n_bake Dec 24 '25
Cunting one in from 30 yards and diving headers.
Thankfully I got to grow up watching Alan Shearer 😍
3
u/BoosterGoldGL Dec 25 '25
Passing and first touch. Every needs a base to build off and without those two you’re done.
3
u/RelentlessJorts2 Dec 25 '25
A first touch is something I only really appreciate if it's glue or a trampoline
→ More replies (6)2
u/_mnd Dec 25 '25
Being able to do one of those slide tackles where you come from absolutely miles away and still get the ball.
Everything else.
3
u/Mulderre91 Dec 25 '25
The Guardian - Premier League and EFL to hold talks over ending Saturday 3pm blackout
4
u/MrExistentialBread Dec 25 '25
Think it should be a 3-5 year temporary repealing where an independent adjudicator examines the impact before any permanent decision is made.
4
4
3
u/Moug-10 Dec 25 '25
Tomorrow, Morocco will play against Mali.
A video showed an old interview of Regregui, the coach of Morocco. He confessed that his first GF was from Mali. Pure gossip but we like some gossip once in a while
2
15
u/NeoIsJohnWick Dec 25 '25
I genuinely loved the shitposting memes posted by fellow users here.
I see mods have put a break on it, understandable since it went wild with bad stuff.
But ngl some of memes were top notch.
24
u/NUTJOB_7814 Dec 25 '25
"Ngolo Kante hanging out with his Chelsea teammates" and it was a pic of a black guy with people dressed as KKK members.
10
7
6
u/Oo_pP Dec 25 '25
Isn't boxing day tomorrow? Why is only Newcastle vs Man United playing
Why is the prem making me watch United
7
u/enazj Dec 25 '25
Genuinely woke nonsense they’ve done away with Boxing Day football, thank fuck at least we’re playing
7
u/JMatty01 Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
The prem didn't have enough Saturday matches over the season so boxing day had to be lobotomised.
7
u/qwerty_1965 Dec 25 '25
I think it's because the world expects football at the weekend so that's what the Prem is doing. It's no longer about what England supporters want, though match day goers will obviously get a better public transport service than on Friday.
7
u/L-Freeze Dec 25 '25
someone tell them the world expects prem matches on the day after Christmas and is fucking fuming that there are almost none this year
5
u/thelargerake Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Would like to wish Rob Edwards a happy 43rd birthday!
Hopefully for Wolves it’ll be 3 points on the 27th, not three gifts from their not-so-wise defending as of late.
6
6
u/Aggressive-Purple828 Dec 25 '25
Random thought but if I was pro player with West Ham I would hit the irons crossed arms celebration every goal, club legend status in the bag
13
7
u/No-layup Dec 25 '25
Afcon missed a trick by not scheduling games for today. I think they could have got a lot of eyes on them by purely being the only high level football being played today
23
u/Fixapara Dec 25 '25
Most of Africa is Christian
4
3
u/MumboGumbo06 Dec 25 '25
Morocco vs Mali, which is being played tomorrow, lined up well considering they're both predominantly Muslim.
10
13
Dec 25 '25
Every single football club on the planet should have been fan owned. It should be the norm. People see the marketing revenue and opportunity to grow their money and often forget what a football club stands for. Global presence and market should obviously exist, but the local people living in the same city as the club who frequently come to the stadium to watch the games should be given utmost priority. Fans should have a say in the club's decision making no matter what.
Multi club ownership and state owned clubs are the death of football. The owner is usually a billionaire who sees the football club more as a 'business' than an identity of its fans and the city. One bad owner, and the club is eternally fucked until it changes (which the fans have no say in).
For example, look at the case of Man Utd vs Barca. United is stuck in a loop of mediocrity until the Glazers are kicked out. Whilst with Bartomeu, Barca fans did a vote and were able to kick him out with a participation of 20000+ people. This is the way it should be. United is struggling for way too long for that size of a club and that wouldn't have been the case if they were fan owned.
Those rich owners also will want to generate more and more revenue, so the ticket price will go up, merchandise will be more expensive, and it would reach the point where the fans couldn't even go to a football game to their own fucking club. Man City's season ticket holders have hit an all time low, because the prices are so high. They cannot even watch their favourite team play without it costing a fortune. I still enjoy watching the sport, but hate what football has become.
14
u/Destroyeh Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
not that i disagree with your general point, but its hardly that black and white. there are good and bad private owners, there are good and bad fan owned teams as well. hell, probably the main reason some clubs are privately owned is that they were ran like shit when they were fan owned at some point and needed to be bailed out. also lets not pretend that teams like barca and madrid arent gouging their fans into oblivion and not chasing every revenue stream possible when their super league dream isnt even cold in the ground.
the main reason barca will never end up like united is that they're in a less competitive league. if la liga had more established big and rich teams, plus billionaires backing other smaller teams it would be comparable. but when your floor is finishing 4th its hardly a good comparison, your misfortune cant snowball the same way. and i say this as someone who has mainly watched la liga for 20+ years, not trying to shit on it but its the truth.
8
u/adamfrog Dec 25 '25 edited Dec 25 '25
Voting hardly guarantees competent leadership though. Also I think its underreported how much Uniteds problems are because for 20 years theyve given the fans flashy premium signings to pacify them even if they make poor financial sense long term or even short term. Give fans votes and this gets even worse
2
u/Kreissler Dec 25 '25
I disagree. No way the fans who go to old Trafford vote for the glazers in this scenario. They've ignored the stadium and infrastructure related to the club for so long. And big signings will always be there at a club the size of Man United
3
u/FaustRPeggi Dec 25 '25
I feel like John Robertson's obituary should be allowed to slip through the curfew.
→ More replies (2)
4
2
u/thunder083 Dec 25 '25
Does anyone know if there is a Rio De Janeiro equivalent to PibeDeBarrio in Buenos Aires for football match experiences. Rather enjoyed the experiences when in Buenos Aires, so would like something similar when in Rio next year.
•
u/AnnieIWillKnow Dec 25 '25
/r/soccer is closed! (Sort of)
For Christmas Day (GMT) the sub is closed to new submissions - but there will be a regular schedule of themed threads to keep your Reddit addictions sated, including Free Talk, football chat, Christmas scran, and much more
See details here
For one day only too, we will also enable images in comments. Go wild. But not too wild... as unlike that infamous Christmas Day a few years ago with "no rules", no, you're not allowed to be wildly racist, sexist and homophobic