I hope olympiacos is our last euro tie this season

houseboy · Post by **houseboy** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:49 pm

claretnproud wrote:Why has my post been twisted by so many readers. It seems a few understand my views but not all. Once the next couple of weeks are over we will have had a nice european trip and a decent home game. If we go further than olympiacos then many many fans will not be able to afford the away trips.In my opinion we arent strong enough to progress a long way in this competition so lets give a good account and losing the tie could be the best result for the club we all love. I want the best for our club and of course support them wholeheartedly home and away but bigger and stronger squads than us have had real problems in this competition so why do some fans think its such big thing. By nature I am an idealist but in this case we need to be realistic and if there is a 10 percent chance that this competition could put our premiership place in doubt then I want out. Its that simple. I would be amazed if Dyche doesnt feel the same way. No, of course he wont say it but he can think it.

So you have just said what you said in the OP. Why? What is this PL obsession some have? Are we going to win it? No. Are we going to trouble the top 6? Almost certainly not. Could we win the Europa? Maybe not but we have more chance than winning the PL. So it stands to reason that you should go for that which you have more chance of winning, unless, of course, your only motivation is money, in which case go and support your local bank.

scouseclaret · Post by **scouseclaret** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 2:51 pm

Dyched wrote:No there isn’t. People use it as a **** poor excuse. Everton were struggling massively last season. Not because they were in the Europa but because they were ****. That’s it.

Teams in the Football League don’t make up excuse when they play sat/tues. We never did.

Don’t recall Everton being a whole lot better after they got knocked out either.

jrgbfc · Post by **jrgbfc** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:15 pm

Yeah I can't wait till we're knocked out of Europe so we can all look forward to scrapping our way to 40 points and finishing 17th. Seeing our end of year balance sheet would really be something to look forward to. Much better than potential games against AC Milan, Sevilla etc.

TopCat · Post by **TopCat** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:49 pm

I am not going there hoping we lose.
I want more of this.
Chances of seeing this again.......slim to zero.

Nonayforever · Post by **Nonayforever** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 8:37 pm

Every team that we meet in Europe will have the same dilemma as Burnley re their respective league, so don't see a problem with being in Europe.

Two games into the season and on the whole we have played better football than quite a few games last season although the results haven't been what we wanted.

I want to stay in Europe, get into the group stage and see the results flow when Brady is fit and the team gel.

ontario claret · Post by **ontario claret** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:42 pm

I can hear the sirens in the background from over here in Canada.

Bfcboyo · Post by **Bfcboyo** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:15 am

claretnproud wrote:many will have lived the dream and seen us play in europe. We simply cannot afford to have a load of euro games to cope with now we have let slip 5 points against teams we perhaps needed 3 or 4 points from. I believe this is a realistic assessment of our current situation. We are not the surprise package any more and teams will have worked us out. sad but true.

Everybody is different. Those with belief courage and ambition.

Then those who settle for less and mediocrity.

With realists sat in the middle.

You I'm afraid just threw the towel in before round 1. Fell overboard and drowned after 30 seconds, shot in the back for desertion before the battle, buried ones head firmly in the sand and had a violent nervous diarrhoea attack.

Stop panicking and enjoy.

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:26 am

I personally have never wanted to be in Europe. My personal private opinion and the reason I voted out in referendum

CrosspoolClarets · Post by **CrosspoolClarets** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:41 am

Top Claret wrote:I personally have never wanted to be in Europe. My personal private opinion and the reason I voted out in referendum

I personally have never wanted to be in the EU. My personal private opinion and the reason I voted out in referendum. I do however adore Europe and European people which is why I am enroute to Athens now.

(Just a slight difference Top Claret

)

gtclaret · Post by **gtclaret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:54 am

Even S D said we need 4 players, that's in addition to Defour and Brady. We got 2,as another goalkeeper wasn't required at the time. We don't have enough players to cope with European and Premier football.

Clarets4me · Post by **Clarets4me** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:07 am

This post's even got a mention in Martin Samuel's " Daily Mail " column today !!

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:23 am

CrosspoolClarets wrote:I personally have never wanted to be in the EU. My personal private opinion and the reason I voted out in referendum. I do however adore Europe and European people which is why I am enroute to Athens now.

(Just a slight difference Top Claret )

Wrote in Jest.. Unfortunately I can't make Athens, off to Spain tomorrow for a month.

Enjoy yourself out there and bring back a win

UTC

scouseclaret · Post by **scouseclaret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:38 am

Clarets4me wrote:This post's even got a mention in Martin Samuel's " Daily Mail " column today !!

Uncomfortable as it is to be complimentary about that Rag, Samuel’s piece is spot-on. This time is about building memories for when the more difficult times inevitably return.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:47 am

The article in the Mail:

"Why Burnley must embrace Europe"

Well, that didn't take long. Burnley lost at home on Sunday, so the Europa League is to blame. That only five players — including Joe Hart, the goalkeeper — started against Watford and the previous Thursday against Istanbul Basaksehir is seemingly irrelevant.

Burnley, apparently, cannot remain competitive on two fronts. They are in the Premier League to fulfil fixtures and no more.

On a fans' forum the post: 'I hope Olympiakos is our last Euro tie this season' is being hotly debated. Some supporters genuinely want Burnley's first European campaign since the UEFA Fairs Cup in 1966-67 to be over before the end of August.

To do what, focus on a mid-table finish at best? Where is the fun in just hanging around, unless it leads to somewhere — like the Europa League?

Eventually, Burnley will go down. Not because they're rubbish, just because they're Burnley. It happened to Stoke, to Middlesbrough, to West Brom, to Aston Villa.

There are clubs that move between the divisions, up and down. Some stay longer than others, but the rise and fall is inevitable.

A good manager leaves, players are sold, or some signings fail — there are plenty of reasons why a club gets relegated. Then what is there to remember? Not all those years of finishing 17th or even seventh, but those standout campaigns, a final or a rare night in Europe.

Burnley, managed by Sean Dyche, play Olympiakos, 44-times champions of Greece, on Thursday. Win over two legs and they could face one of the great names of European football: AC Milan, Lazio, Sporting Lisbon, Celtic. Burnley in the San Siro, imagine that?

or the majority, being in the Premier League is a means to that end, a door to something even better, something more exciting for your club. If you don't want that thrill, what is there? You really have only come to see United.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:58 am

Spot on that article. It’s about memories you make. Football to me is far more than the result. Meeting friends, few beers, good laugh. The results are secondary to me. As it says “imagine Burnley in the San Siro”.

GodIsADeeJay81 · Post by **GodIsADeeJay81** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:41 am

Hilarious that the paper that most on here hate and refuse to read is clearly reading this forum and using it to write an article.

You can't even claim it's lying when it's got the information straight from here

Lancasterclaret · Post by **Lancasterclaret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:44 am

Hilarious that people still don't see that the sports pages of all newspapers are worth a read, while they print total ******** on the front.

Nothing wrong with a European run, and nothing wrong with rotating the squad to be competitive in both.

kentonclaret · Post by **kentonclaret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:58 am

No surprise that the Daily Mail is using this forum to write articles about Burnley Football Club.

The alternative would be to employ some proper sports journalists and that costs the paper money.

tiger76 · Post by **tiger76** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 12:59 pm

Spijed wrote:The article in the Mail:

"Why Burnley must embrace Europe"

Well, that didn't take long. Burnley lost at home on Sunday, so the Europa League is to blame. That only five players — including Joe Hart, the goalkeeper — started against Watford and the previous Thursday against Istanbul Basaksehir is seemingly irrelevant.

Burnley, apparently, cannot remain competitive on two fronts. They are in the Premier League to fulfil fixtures and no more.

On a fans' forum the post: 'I hope Olympiakos is our last Euro tie this season' is being hotly debated. Some supporters genuinely want Burnley's first European campaign since the UEFA Fairs Cup in 1966-67 to be over before the end of August.

To do what, focus on a mid-table finish at best? Where is the fun in just hanging around, unless it leads to somewhere — like the Europa League?

Eventually, Burnley will go down. Not because they're rubbish, just because they're Burnley. It happened to Stoke, to Middlesbrough, to West Brom, to Aston Villa.

There are clubs that move between the divisions, up and down. Some stay longer than others, but the rise and fall is inevitable.

A good manager leaves, players are sold, or some signings fail — there are plenty of reasons why a club gets relegated. Then what is there to remember? Not all those years of finishing 17th or even seventh, but those standout campaigns, a final or a rare night in Europe.

Burnley, managed by Sean Dyche, play Olympiakos, 44-times champions of Greece, on Thursday. Win over two legs and they could face one of the great names of European football: AC Milan, Lazio, Sporting Lisbon, Celtic. Burnley in the San Siro, imagine that?

or the majority, being in the Premier League is a means to that end, a door to something even better, something more exciting for your club. If you don't want that thrill, what is there? You really have only come to see United.

A lot of the content in this article is accurate,we likely will return to the 2nd tier at some point (hopefully not to soon) even in the post-war years we yo-yoed between the top 2 divisions,i do take amusement in Celtic being dubbed one of the great names of European football though.

CrosspoolClarets · Post by **CrosspoolClarets** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:06 pm

Briliant article. When we go down we can hang on the back of this for years, the further we progress the more the memories sustain us.

quoonbeatz · Post by **quoonbeatz** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 2:47 pm

the racist shitrag has always had a decent sports section despite it being the paper of *****.

article is spot on. i want us to go as far as we can in europe.

Vino blanco · Post by **Vino blanco** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:05 pm

If it's such a 'shitrag', why is it the most read newspaper in the UK?

jrgbfc · Post by **jrgbfc** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:19 pm

Not a massive fan of Martin Samuel but that article is spot on. I get the feeling in general the fans who don't want to be in Europe haven't sat through the rubbish of the 80s and 90s and will gradually disappear when the bad times return.

jrgbfc · Post by **jrgbfc** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:20 pm

Vino blanco wrote:If it's such a 'shitrag', why is it the most read newspaper in the UK?

Because the UK is full of morons.

Vino blanco · Post by **Vino blanco** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:22 pm

Fair enough, I didn't realise that was the reason. Thank you kindly for educating me.

deanothedino · Post by **deanothedino** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:22 pm

KRBFC wrote:Leeds are top of the Championship right now, they hardly imploded.

And for the previous decade...

deanothedino · Post by **deanothedino** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:24 pm

houseboy wrote:Perhaps you could show some evidence for that scenario?

I can't give you evidence for something that hasn't happened yet.

I simply find the suggestion you'd pick relegation given the choice weird. Our Premier League status is essential. Let's take the Europa League game by game. I certainly don't want to deliberately lose but I don't want to start resting players in the league in order to progress in it.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:30 pm

The point about the article is that when the likes of Huddersfield, Brighton, Cardiff etc. get relegated what have they got to show for their efforts in the PL? A few games against Man City, Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal.

To date, In addition to those we can say we've played Aberdeen, Istanbul Basaksahir & Olympiakos in a European competition. Something that will be etched into our history forever.

Vino blanco · Post by **Vino blanco** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:39 pm

So will be being in the PL for several seasons for a club of our size. If we come out of the Europa Cup tomorrow, I woldn't care less. I would like to stay in the PL a bit longer though, and I feel our manager and Board of Direcors will feel the same.

Grumps · Post by **Grumps** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:44 pm

When do we train and prepare for the Fulham game? Last season we would have had 7 days, this year? Don't tell me that doesn't have an effect.....

CottonopolisClaret · Post by **CottonopolisClaret** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 5:48 pm

Spijed wrote:The article in the Mail:

"Why Burnley must embrace Europe"

Well, that didn't take long. Burnley lost at home on Sunday, so the Europa League is to blame. That only five players — including Joe Hart, the goalkeeper — started against Watford and the previous Thursday against Istanbul Basaksehir is seemingly irrelevant.

Burnley, apparently, cannot remain competitive on two fronts. They are in the Premier League to fulfil fixtures and no more.

On a fans' forum the post: 'I hope Olympiakos is our last Euro tie this season' is being hotly debated. Some supporters genuinely want Burnley's first European campaign since the UEFA Fairs Cup in 1966-67 to be over before the end of August.

To do what, focus on a mid-table finish at best? Where is the fun in just hanging around, unless it leads to somewhere — like the Europa League?

Eventually, Burnley will go down. Not because they're rubbish, just because they're Burnley. It happened to Stoke, to Middlesbrough, to West Brom, to Aston Villa.

There are clubs that move between the divisions, up and down. Some stay longer than others, but the rise and fall is inevitable.

A good manager leaves, players are sold, or some signings fail — there are plenty of reasons why a club gets relegated. Then what is there to remember? Not all those years of finishing 17th or even seventh, but those standout campaigns, a final or a rare night in Europe.

Burnley, managed by Sean Dyche, play Olympiakos, 44-times champions of Greece, on Thursday. Win over two legs and they could face one of the great names of European football: AC Milan, Lazio, Sporting Lisbon, Celtic. Burnley in the San Siro, imagine that?

or the majority, being in the Premier League is a means to that end, a door to something even better, something more exciting for your club. If you don't want that thrill, what is there? You really have only come to see United.

What else is there but to dream of glory? How sad the lives of those must be who aim but to survive! UTC

GodIsADeeJay81 · Post by **GodIsADeeJay81** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:46 pm

deanothedino wrote:And for the previous decade...

They've provided a lot of amusement for that previous decade

Interestingly Leeds have spent more time outside of the PL than they have in it since 1992.
Yet people still claim Leeds have a right to be in the PL

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:40 pm

deanothedino wrote:And for the previous decade...

They had a short spell in League One, I wouldn't say teams in the 2nd tier have ''imploded''.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:55 pm

tiger76 wrote:A lot of the content in this article is accurate,we likely will return to the 2nd tier at some point (hopefully not to soon) even in the post-war years we yo-yoed between the top 2 divisions,i do take amusement in Celtic being dubbed one of the great names of European football though.

As Celtic won it in 1967 they are one of the greats tbf.

deanothedino · Post by **deanothedino** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:01 pm

KRBFC wrote:They had a short spell in League One, I wouldn't say teams in the 2nd tier have ''imploded''.

So you’d say QFs of the Champions League to 3 years in League One and no finish higher than 7th in the second tier since is okay when you’re one of the best supported teams in the country?

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:08 pm

deanothedino wrote:So you’d say QFs of the Champions League to 3 years in League One and no finish higher than 7th in the second tier since is okay when you’re one of the best supported teams in the country?

Fans don't win you football matches, they were in the CL 18 years ago if you use their modern day high and compare it with their modern day low then yeah they've gone backwards but with they money have available and the players they have, I'd say 2nd tier is about right for them.

GodIsADeeJay81 · Post by **GodIsADeeJay81** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:17 pm

KRBFC wrote:They had a short spell in League One, I wouldn't say teams in the 2nd tier have ''imploded''.

Financially they imploded, they were a proper mess.

ecc · Post by **ecc** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:41 pm

Were people saying "I hope we don't qualify for Europe" last season?

houseboy · Post by **houseboy** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 9:26 am

deanothedino wrote:I can't give you evidence for something that hasn't happened yet.

I simply find the suggestion you'd pick relegation given the choice weird. Our Premier League status is essential. Let's take the Europa League game by game. I certainly don't want to deliberately lose but I don't want to start resting players in the league in order to progress in it.

Listen mate I don't WANT us to get relegated, that would be silly but just explain to me exactly WHY our PL place is 'essential'. It isn't, if we went down the sun would still rise tomorrow and the club would still be in a sound financial position because we haven't been run stupidly. Relegation would not be the end of the world and I would definitely and absolutely take relegation if we could win the Europa. I'm not saying that is going to happen but my philosophy is go for the thing that is the most likely and winning the Europa is far more likely than winning the PL. Do you want Burnley FC to actually win trophies or are you happy to go on winning NOTHING year after year after year just so the PL money keeps rolling in? That is not being a football fan that is worshipping the trophy of money. Life is about risks and the thrill of achieving things. Okay, we have achieved the status (pretty much) of becoming an established PL club (although the fear that many show at the start of each season until we have got '40 points' would suggest otherwise) but do we want to stop there? The PL title, realistically, unless the money situation changes radically, is a step too far for us, as is the Champions League (pretty much) so we have to cast the net wider in order to keep moving on or we will become bored and stale. We have 19/20k fans on average in the PL at the moment, do you think if we are still in the PL in 10 years time having won nothing other than 'achieving' survival every season that we will still have those fans? I think not, they will drift away out of boredom. You have to keep moving forward and we, as a club, won't do that unless we start to look sideways at things to win, that is of course unless you actually believe we are going to challenge the top 6 any time soon, in which case good luck with that one.

deanothedino · Post by **deanothedino** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 9:40 am

houseboy wrote:Listen mate I don't WANT us to get relegated, that would be silly but just explain to me exactly WHY our PL place is 'essential'. It isn't, if we went down the sun would still rise tomorrow and the club would still be in a sound financial position because we haven't been run stupidly. Relegation would not be the end of the world and I would definitely and absolutely take relegation if we could win the Europa. I'm not saying that is going to happen but my philosophy is go for the thing that is the most likely and winning the Europa is far more likely than winning the PL. Do you want Burnley FC to actually win trophies or are you happy to go on winning NOTHING year after year after year just so the PL money keeps rolling in? That is not being a football fan that is worshipping the trophy of money. Life is about risks and the thrill of achieving things. Okay, we have achieved the status (pretty much) of becoming an established PL club (although the fear that many show at the start of each season until we have got '40 points' would suggest otherwise) but do we want to stop there? The PL title, realistically, unless the money situation changes radically, is a step too far for us, as is the Champions League (pretty much) so we have to cast the net wider in order to keep moving on or we will become bored and stale. We have 19/20k fans on average in the PL at the moment, do you think if we are still in the PL in 10 years time having won nothing other than 'achieving' survival every season that we will still have those fans? I think not, they will drift away out of boredom. You have to keep moving forward and we, as a club, won't do that unless we start to look sideways at things to win, that is of course unless you actually believe we are going to challenge the top 6 any time soon, in which case good luck with that one.

I'd rather we put effort into the FA Cup or the League Cup, cups we actually have a chance of winning while consolidating our top ten PL position. Something we've only acheived once and is by no means something we can expect to happen again.

As I've said, I don't want to go out of the Europa League - I certainly don't want to not try to progress but I don't want to see us put out a team that will leave us too weak to compete on a Sunday. I'm pretty happy with how Dyche has approached it thus far.

Hope you feel better after getting that out.

Garnerssoap · Post by **Garnerssoap** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 9:46 am

Not read the thread other than the title. Just set off for Athens!!!!!from Whalley to watch the Clarets. So excited I may **** myself. So the OP is wrong. Just wrong.

THEWELLERNUT70 · Post by **THEWELLERNUT70** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:04 am

Talking of things that need knocking out

GodIsADeeJay81 · Post by **GodIsADeeJay81** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:07 am

ecc wrote:Were people saying "I hope we don't qualify for Europe" last season?

Nope, but they're bored of it now.

houseboy · Post by **houseboy** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:15 am

deanothedino wrote:I'd rather we put effort into the FA Cup or the League Cup, cups we actually have a chance of winning while consolidating our top ten PL position. Something we've only acheived once and is by no means something we can expect to happen again.

As I've said, I don't want to go out of the Europa League - I certainly don't want to not try to progress but I don't want to see us put out a team that will leave us too weak to compete on a Sunday. I'm pretty happy with how Dyche has approached it thus far.

Hope you feel better after getting that out.

Ha ha, no worries mate. We all have our views and I respect yours.

claretnproud · Post by **claretnproud** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:53 am

houseboy wrote:Ha ha, no worries mate. We all have our views and I respect yours.

agreed. we have no chance of winning it and it could do more harm than good. However I am sure the team sheet will show exactly what Dyche thinks are his priority games.
A run in this competition would be brilliant if we could field a team week after week to do us justice but I doubt very much that this will happen.

CrosspoolClarets · Post by **CrosspoolClarets** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 12:08 pm

deanothedino wrote:I'd rather we put effort into the FA Cup or the League Cup, cups we actually have a chance of winning while consolidating our top ten PL position. Something we've only acheived once and is by no means something we can expect to happen again.

As I've said, I don't want to go out of the Europa League - I certainly don't want to not try to progress but I don't want to see us put out a team that will leave us too weak to compete on a Sunday. I'm pretty happy with how Dyche has approached it thus far.

Hope you feel better after getting that out.

It is true that our odds are lower for the FA Cup but the Europa League favourites are Chelsea and Arsenal so that suggests to me that we could actually have a better chance of winning the Europa League (no City, United, Liverpool, Spurs), plus of course the Europa has a far bigger prize - entry to the Champions League Group Stage.

houseboy · Post by **houseboy** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:00 pm

claretnproud wrote:agreed. we have no chance of winning it and it could do more harm than good. However I am sure the team sheet will show exactly what Dyche thinks are his priority games.
A run in this competition would be brilliant if we could field a team week after week to do us justice but I doubt very much that this will happen.

I wouldn't say we have NO chance of winning it, I agree it's a long shot but my argument is that we have more chance than winning the PL, and even without it our safety in the PL is by no means assured. I still can't get away from the idea that pro footballers can't play two games per week. With what they get paid and the training and dietary advice they have they are in a far better place than footballers of old who used to play 4 more league games without fielding weakened sides in the cups, and that was without replays (no penalty shoot outs then) and efforts in Europe. They also played on pitches that can only be described as paddy fields in the middle of winter, real energy sapping stuff. They just got on with it. I know the game is different now but it is different for everyone so the equation is the same. To me the ONLY danger from being in Europe could be with injuries but they can happen in ANY game. The Europa, after the next round, is a group thing so the emphasis on WINNING every game is not as great, after that it is a knock out and that is anyone's game on the night. There is no reason whatsoever that we cannot do well in both by fielding the best team we can in every game and players (or indeed management) who believe that isn't possible should be introduced to the world of real work. If we leave Europe because of fielding weakened sides my respect for Sean Dyche will drop through the floor, because he will have shown no respect for the fans who pay hard earned (proper hard earned) cash to watch his teams (hopefully) win. I have said this for years, managers who field weakened sides through lack of interest for a competition or respect for the opposition are ripping the fans off and deserve no respect themselves.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:09 pm

The Europa league should only have any effect whenever we travel.

It didn't for the Southampton game and considering we were at home prior to the Watford match it shouldn't have had any effect at all. That was just like a league cup game prior to a league match.

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:15 pm

CrosspoolClarets wrote:It is true that our odds are lower for the FA Cup but the Europa League favourites are Chelsea and Arsenal so that suggests to me that we could actually have a better chance of winning the Europa League (no City, United, Liverpool, Spurs), plus of course the Europa has a far bigger prize - entry to the Champions League Group Stage.

But we have no idea which of the Champions League teams will drop into the Europa League. There can, and probably will be stronger sides than Chelsea and Arsenal in the later stages of the tournament.

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:21 pm

houseboy wrote:I still can't get away from the idea that pro footballers can't play two games per week. With what they get paid and the training and dietary advice they have they are in a far better place than footballers of old who used to play 4 more league games without fielding weakened sides in the cups, and that was without replays (no penalty shoot outs then) and efforts in Europe. They also played on pitches that can only be described as paddy fields in the middle of winter, real energy sapping stuff. They just got on with it. I know the game is different now but it is different for everyone so the equation is the same.

Just because you don't understand why playing 2 games per week doesn't have an effect on performance levels doesn't mean that sport scientists don't. Comparisons with days of old are ridiculous, players used to have a half time pint and fag. You only need to watch clips of football from the 60's and 70's to see that the intensity levels were far lower and players were far less fit. And I'm not sure what a person's salary has to do with their ability to recover from high intensity aerobic exercise.