TalkBass OFFICIAL English Football thread 2012-13: Part 3
 

Well done for keeping this going, boys.

It's nice to see people chatting in here about some truly great football clubs that really have a place in the history of the game. And also Everton, of course.

Link to last bit of old thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f34/ta...l#post13787559

Class, going stronger than ever.

Welcome to extra time first half lads! :-)

Bit Of History
 

Here's a bit of football (and national) history lads...

Pictured from 1952, Arsenal v Aston Villa at Highbury shows Arsenal keeper Jack Kelsey trying to see ...well anything really...match was later abandoned.

What you cant see is that this is the infamous "Great Smog of London" of 1952 -the "fog" is actually sulphorous yellow smog which was caused by a combination of coal fires, coal burning power stations, exhaust pollution, weather conditions and other assorted muck.

During this, 4,000 people died in a four day period with another 8,000 dying in the following weeks and an estimated 100,000 made ill by this filth......unbelievable innit?

And of course, they still tried to play the match.....

Can't say London feels all that clean to me these days when I visit but they've certainly made leaps forward since those days. Now the worst that happens is I blow my nose and what comes out is black... :scowl:

Wow. That's really nasty.

I wonder what players like Robbie Keane think about the smog the first time they get to LA to sign up for the Galaxy? When I visited there it was the first thing I noticed when I got out of the airport.

At the other end of the scale, when I visited Quito about ten years ago, I had a kickabout with some Ecuadorean lads. I was much fitter then than I am now, but still, in that rarefied atmosphere I was breathless after about 10 minutes. For a short time I got a little taste of what the Europeans must have experienced at the World Cup in Mexico in 1986.

dangenewt and the other new guy are conspicuous by their absence :)

How long since you visited LA? There have been strict air quality control laws since the the '90s, and the smog here really isn't anywhere near as bad as it was in the '80s, when the smog reputation developed.

Love random stories like these! Disturbing and sad, but still fascinating.

Totally insane, really.

Actually watched the beginning of that FA Cup match. Pretty brutal defense and goal keeping. Is it safe to assume that LFC wasn't focused on the Cup this year? The League Cup last year was their ticket to the Europa League this year. Now they will have to do it through finishing strong.

I'm still bullish on the Suarez-Stirling partnership - LFC's best football is still to come.

I dunno would I say "not focused", they put out a strong side, and played hard, it just didn't work out, and attempting hoof ball against a team that hoof is probably their bread and butter wasn't too clever.

Last time I was there was 2003. I first visited in 1994. I think you're probably right, the smog on my later visits wasn't as noticeable as it used to be. It was pretty bad on my first visit, though.

Interesting - I wondered why LFC changed up the strategy and was going with more long ball instead of the 1-2 touch short passing game. I like to see the occasional long ball, if only to change things up to keep the opponents honest, but a team shouldn't get too far away from their core strategy. Maybe they thought they could roll the ball out there and run them off the pitch, if so, big mistake. Hats off to Oldham, they capitalized on their chances.

The keeper looked like Roberto Duran out there with Hands of Stone, which if you are a boxer, is a good thing to have, a keeper, not so much. I understand that the backup keeper tends not to play that much, but I figured they could still keep sharp during intrasquad games and drills.

Don't over complicate it. Liverpool were expecting to coast past a third division team with second string players. They were simply out-muscled by their counterparts on the day, who were more up for it.

The disappointing thing for me was Brendan Rodgers public criticism of his young players, and very little grace towards the winning team.

But then, being associated with Liverpool will do that to you. Lack of class, again.

They had Suarez and Sturridge out there at the start, I can understand giving as many starters a rest as possible.

I'm OK with calling out players when they deserve it (our basketball coach does it when necessary with young and old players alike), to play sports professionally at any level is a rare gift, and to play at the highest level is not something to take for granted.

Graceless loser? I've had over a decade of Bill Belichik and the New England Patriots - Rogers has a ways to go before he is in the same ballpark as Coach Hoodie. LFC combines all the best and worst parts of many of my favorite teams. Now if we can just get them to play with the early form of the Bruins (4 wins, 0 losses, and 1 overtime loss which is equivalent to a draw in EPL), we'll have something here.

Only a decade? Liverpools history is steeped in blaming everyone bar themselves. It doesn't matter who is in charge or on the field. It's something that happens to a mans psyche once he signs on at Anfield.

As someone who suffered relentless taunting through the late 70's, I know what I'm talking about. From the Clive Thomas debacle, through Alan 'Handball' Hansen, to Heysel and beyond....they are full of a sense of entitlement, self-aggrandizement and a crushing superiority complex.

One of the reasons most Evertonians don't mind United is our sympathetic dislike of Liverpool. Seeing them fall behind in the 'most league titles' race finally got them to shut the hell up. And don't forget, their European Cup wins were back in the day when they would play some Danish part-time fishermen and before you knew it, they were in a final.

It's also worth remembering that the only reason they exist at all is because we decided to vacate the toilet that was Anfield.

Having said all that, Peter Beardsley is probably the best player I've ever seen in a blue shirt....but then he was never tainted like the rest of 'em'.

I don't mind Everton, for the reasons stated above. I've got a lot of time for David Moyes and can't think of any current players I dislike.

Chelsea? That's a temporary dislike until Ambramovich sells up and they fade back into mid-table obscurity. Arsenal? Those days are gone - I feel pity more than anything now. City, Liverpool and Leeds? That's much more deep rooted and unaffected by relative success or league positions. I'd only want to see any of them win for purely tactical reasons.