Chelsea manager, David Burns, has backed France to win the International Cup during his weekly press conference at Cobham.
"I think they have to be the favorites to win the cup. If it was early in the year, say a few months ago, I dont think it would even be close. But since then, the gap between the "big three" (managers) and the rest of the league has significantly closed. In 6 months time football has come second and pace and c**k have proved to be the go to tactics for the smaller clubs."
The Germans have already scheduled a few friendlies with England but Burns seems to think that the tune up matches will prove useless.
"No one has really played France or Arsenal in any friendlies this year. There have been many of opportunities to join in parties and play matches but it clearly isn't a priority for the two teams. The Germans will be going into this game blind. I suppose they could scour Xbox Live searching for the lucky 13 year olds who have had the opportunity to play France and discuss strategy with them."
Burns has indicated that wing play has become the key to winning FIFA and gives the French the edge because of their pace out wide.
"Traditional wing play isn't needed to win matches. Its all about getting the ball out wide as quickly as possible are pushing it hard down the field. France has fantastic wide players and I'm not sure the Germans will be able to contain them. One man counter attacks killed Chelsea against Palermo the other night and France is very comfortable using the tactic."
"It would be a victory for football if the Germans won, but I just have the feeling that FIFA will conquer all once again. It really is a shame."
To be fair the gap between the "Big Three" hasn't closed, but the top two have started pulling away from the third.
ReplyDeletePruitt has had a few games in which he has struggled a bit. Football no longer gets you wins like it did when the game came out. It took 6 months for them to master "FIFA"
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't about points but more about performances.
DeleteMy league trophy begs the differ
DeleteYep. You benefitted the most from the 4 month lay off between games. I stopped my title push once I was forced to stop playing league games regularly and Pruitt has had a slight dip in form as well (not half as bad as mine).
DeleteSo if its not my tactics, its my wingers.
DeleteIf it's not my wingers, it's my keeper.
If it's not my keeper, it's the season length
Maybe I'm just pretty good?
Yes you're good Ian. But you also have the two best wingers and best keeper in the league. You also got some help for the lengthy delays. You deserved to win the league but if we would've finished 3-4 months ago like it should've, it would've been a lot tougher for you. Maybe even more rewarding. We'll never know
DeleteHow did I benefit from lengthy delays? I beat you 12-1 (9-1 before OGs) in the beginning of the season when games were flowing. And I beat Liverpool earlier in the season if I remember correctly.
DeleteIf I remember correctly that 9-1 game was in the league cup against my b squad... You thrashed me with your a squad on several hilarious over head goals.
DeleteOlić is not on my A squad and I specifically remember him scoring. And "several hilarious over head goals" means I still had at least 4 or 5 non-hilarious overhead goals. A pretty dominating performance.
ReplyDeleteI had a b/c squad out there because I was resting people to play in my next league game. We played tight in every other game in which both squads were at full strength. You understand that we can go back and look at this stuff right?
DeleteI'm not worried about it bc I know my goal d against you is astronomical. We cam go back and look. It changes nothing
DeleteAnd your "B" squad is comparable to most everyone else's A squad. See Torres as your "B" striker
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAnother thing..how is the delay an advantage? You were constantly playing friendlies against the best player in the league. How were you out of practice?
ReplyDeleteShipping 5 to Holland : "I hadnt played with Ireland in forever."
ReplyDeleteChelsea drop in form after long layoff : "bayern didn't benefit from long delays."
Liverpool 7-3 bayern : "I beat Chelsea by a lot early in season, I've dominated the whole time."
Pruitt and I rarely play with club teams. Look at the table in the first half of the year before the league stopped moving. Our games were all close against each other in the league and in the champions league.
DeleteDominated chelsea* sorry
DeleteI find it really sad that the excuses for losing and others success has now come down to, "well, if the season was played in a shorter amount of time, you wouldn't have done so well."
ReplyDeleteThat is such a sad and pathetic excuse for losing and shows such poor sportsmanship as a sore loser. The past winners just wanna point fingers and find reasons outside of themselves for why they were not as successful. Be man and take some damn ownership when you lose.
If we really wanna play some football, I demand we switch to PES 13. Way better simulated. No matter what though, you David, are clearly the type of person that will still find something to place the blame on if you are unsuccessful.
I guess you missed the part where I told Ian he was a very good player and deserved to win the league and merely suggested that if games were played more consistently early on then the top of the table would've ended up a lot closer.
DeleteInteresting how you overlook those statements ingo. Please stop acting my character and start reading things a bit closer.
PES is an awful game. Even Pruitt who loved the franchise will admit that.
DeleteI'm not "pointing fingers" just pointing out inconsistencies in testimony.
DeleteWe are saying there would have been a closer title race with consistent play. Look at the table when we were playing regularly for evidence.
Pes has been pony. Especially the online component. Believe me, I've tried every year.
But why is this even necessary to bring up? Why not let sleeping dogs lie? Because you are both bitter that someone else won the league...er you both LOST the league because no one else can win it, it's only Chelsea or Liverpool's to lose.
DeleteBitter and poor sportsmanship that can't seem to point the finger at themselves.
David, look at the comments after what you wrote. I'm clearly not the only one that read it the way that I did. In fact, the guy you congratulated had some words about your remark. What you said is the definition of a passive aggressive comment. Yes you gave Ian his due credit, but you just couldn't shut up after that. You had to add that little jab to give one other reason for his success. Look at your past comments for the last few days now. The brunt of them are excuses to why Ian won and others like Pruitt or yourself didn't win. His wingers, his goalie, the delay. Let me ask you this, if Ian has the best wingers and goalie, who then has the best strikers and midfielders? Why didn't they win? Or if Ian has the best team, and he is the favorite to win, then didn't it play out just right?
ReplyDeletePruitt, I get what you are saying about early in the season competitiveness, but that's why we play a full season. In every single sport and competition of course it's tight in the beginning. It takes a season to separate the strong vs the weak. Also, with a new game and some new squads, it's take time for managers to get a feel for their team and also how others will play. Myself as an example. I started with a 4-4-2 and got cut through like you know what. I learned I couldn't match up man to man and switched to putting up a wall and trying to score on a counter. Granted, I still will lose but I can at least compete. Far less 3+ goal losses.
Also David, you mentioned losing to me last night from a one man counter attack style. I scored with two different people and although I have no evidence, there was a good dozen times Mr. Drogba had the ball alone up front about 25yds out taking on my defense by himself.
Ian and I have exchanged text messages because, like you, he misread some of what I wrote. I have told him that I thought he played the best this year. One man counter attack implied that you only used one man to take the ball up the field. You are very good in these situations. You have learned how to take on 2 or 3 guys with just one. Yes didier had the ball up the field a few times but also slowed up play and waited for support. My goal came on a counter attack that I held up and let guys get into the box. I told you last night I thought you would've scored several more against me if you would've done the same.
DeleteSi si si, señor. I simply would have preferred the season to ebb and flow on a regular scale. Premier league doesnt play every Saturday for a month then take a month off then play 4 times a week. That kind of inconsistent pace skews results based upon form fitness (mental fitness in our case).
DeleteWhen the league moves at a consistent clip (which it will next season), we will see true manifestations of form and confidence impacting results.
Yes, but that means the delay benefits the less better team? The playing field is still even. Sure you can say that the delay affects your form. Does it not for the other teams? Consistent play leads to two teams playing in our league in top mental form. Even pitch. A delay leads to two teams playing in our league in poor mental form. The pitch is still even. A delay doens't lead to one team in poor mental form and the other in good mental form. How's is a delayed match between a poor mental form bayern vs a poor mental form liverpool different from both teams being in top mental form?
DeleteDon't get me wrong. I do love flow and consistent play. We all play better and it doesn't feel like you have to slightly rejust and get the feel of playing a simulated sports game. Jumping from skyrim and other games for a month and then going back to FIFA after not playing for some time can be awkward, but it's the same for both teams. Plus, friedlies are always available for those who wait
DeleteNot sure what "friedlies" are but they sound delicious
DeleteAll your talk of "benefit" and which team is better for having a long layoff is not relevant to my arguement. I have not assigned a "good" or "bad" value to the league table and results this season. I've merely stated it is not the same league table we would see with consistent play.
DeleteDifferent is not inherently good or bad. You and Ian are projecting.
The only reason this point was brought up is because you didn't win the league. Lose with some dignity.
DeleteStop wasting your time Ingo, they are bitter because someone else was crown and will never accept that someone outplayed them for a season.
ReplyDeleteThank you for proving my point about projecting. Read my words for what they are not what you hear in your windswept cranium.
DeleteOk, I understand that you've never finished outside of the top 1 in the league before this year, so it might be uncharted waters for you. But I ask why does this new excuse need to be brought up? Please answer that and sweep my cranium off my shoulders.
DeleteNo one said anything about you not deserving to win the league. We are suggesting that things may have been different of the league had a better flow. The beginning of the season had decent flow and things were supper close. That's all. Stop being such a baby.
Delete"excuse"?
DeleteThere is nothing being excused. Merely a discussion that the league would play differently with a rigid schedule.
The reason this is being discussed now, since you ask, is because a couple of the managers this season have been less than prompt with their fixtures.
It is certainly coming across to others as an excuse.
DeleteThey have been less than prompt with their fixtures and there is a whole other posting for that with a Poll in place. The issue has been settled on the other posting. The reason that this is being brought up here, in this posting, is so that you can try to justify that there were other reasons that I won the league.
Ingo is right, pathetic sore losers who make playing in this league a chore for fear of actually winning and being berated for doing so.
And David you are the baby who can't accept defeat.
DeleteSee any match that you are not playing well in.
Rodding the match, putting in own goals, red card rodding all because you can't point the finger at yourself.
Ok so the discussion is that the league would simply play out different. I can agree with that if you can agree that by different, Ian could have won by an even bigger margin. Different, yes. But to say it would have been tighter and that Liverpool and Chelsea would have been closer to the title is to say that you two would have played better and Ian would have played worse or not had an "advantage". Acknowledge that the results could have also swung in the opposite direction that you proposed and this discussion is over
DeleteHey everyone. I'll be emailing you info later today about the parade I'm trying to organize for Ian winning the league. I just need to know a good weekend for everyone do we can all sing Ian's praises together. Apparently a few texts and congrats on the blog isnt enough. Let's do this right. What do ya say?
ReplyDeleteBecause that's what I've asked for. Next comment.
DeleteAgree entirely with ian's last two comments. These guys are so bitter about not winning that they try to make it less enjoyable for those that actually have success. We almost don't want to win at this point Bc we'll just be berated for c*ck tactics regardless of how we truly played. It's a lose/lose for most in the league but the most do enjoy playing against each other and win/lose with dignity.
ReplyDeleteGood lord. Will no one read what I'm saying? You sheep are just going to keep acting like I've made any judgement on Ian's league title aren't you?
DeleteThe only issue I have is the pace of this season. That's all I've been discussing, you mongs. But if you'd like to keep commenting as if I've treated you with contempt then go right ahead.
Are you reading what I'm writing? I've said that there is no point in this argument being brought up by you/burns.
DeleteWe already have a posting up for the delay in
matches.
The only reason that it was brought up is becasue you didn't win and can't handle it.
You and burns argue -> you make tenuous points -> I explain how said points are a bit of a stretch -> ingo exacerbates arguement -> I continue to explain my point in calm manner -> "bitter" and "can't handle it" get thrown around -> repeat last two three-seventy more times
DeleteYou lot are tiresome today. Keep your quarrels with the right people. If you fancy a proper arguement then start one. Don't shoehorn your own made up assessments into my calm discourse.
Of course it could. I'm even talking that the manager that shows steady improvement with each match but loses rhythm every time we take a month sabbatical could have given you a proper relegation battle as well.
ReplyDeleteEvery competition would have shaped up differently. I want to know what kind of form my opponent is in before I play them. Not how many hours on skyrim they've logged in the month since his last match.
Ireland doesn't concede five to holland in a consistent league nor does Chelsea concede 9 to Liverpool.
"most enjoy playing against each other"
ReplyDeleteThis explains all the friendlies you play with Ian, Cushing and Ing right? Oh that's right you barely play everyone in your league games. There have been plenty of times that you don't even get in the party with us when we're all on and playing team FIFA or friendlies amongst ourselves. So don't give us that line of bull shit Tindle.
If you want an example of this- see Ireland v France. My keeper had a great match which, against some would've been construed as "c*ck." instead, we both enjoyed the match and gave credit for a gritty semifinal.
ReplyDeleteI've got nothing else here. Just want to acknowledge that I read your comment Pruitt. We do aim for a true experience and I'm all for more consistent play. It could have swung either way, but yes it could have swung in favor of Pool and Chelsea as well or even Borussia to exit relegation. It could have made things more distant as well. As much as it sucks that we will never know, these issues will be addressed in the next season for a more fitting flow of competition.
ReplyDeleteYes! Someone who wants to act sane!
DeleteI'm surprised you saw my point through all my "bitterness" and lack of "handling it."
Had to dig pretty deep.
DeleteImplying that we are insane because you and/or burns made back handed remarks on the validity of my championship.
DeleteAnother big move from a big man
Just because you haven't come out and said it doesn't mean we knew exactly what you both meant by bringing this up.
You didn't win, you have a chance to win 4 other trophies. Get over it and stop making excuses for not winning the league.
We are "making the excuse" that the reason we lost the league is because of something that you and your fellow bottler Tindle do nothing but make excuses for.
DeleteNot sure how many times we have to say it but the league was much tighter at the top between the 3 of us when matches were played regularly. Could've gone either way but things were closer when we were consistantly playing competive games.
It was tight early in the season when everyone started at 0 points and were still feeling out our clubs. Yep, thank you David, moving on.
DeleteAre you that desperate for me to be distraught over this?
ReplyDeleteI have not once said you would not have won the league had we kept a strict schedule. I have not once implied that. I have only spoken in terms of specific results and effects on manager mentality. The one table reference was in talks of the relegation fight.
Also if you think this is the appropriate tone and topic to be making decision on how "big" or petty someone might be, then I suggest you rethink your priorities.
But the only reason to bring that up is to imply that things would have been differently (You would have won the league)
DeleteWhen Pruitt gets home from work he'll pull up the table for the first half of the season. We were close around 20 points or so I believe not 0 points you arrogant fuck. Sure you don't want that parade?
DeleteNo Ian. We are saying that it may have been closer. Please read!
DeleteIs that really the only reason?
DeleteI only entered this post to point out some holes in your initial arguement. If we would have kept the early season pace there's a good chance I would have finished third.
I understand you believing me to be sat here seething makes your victory more rewarding somehow, but unfortunately my main points all revolve around how strict scheduling creates a better, more competitive league. Something you vehemently oppose.
I don't think you are sitting there seething, nor do I hope for that. But to belittle an accomplishment of a friend for something that could've been different is pretty low. I would never do that outright or make any implication of that.
Delete"Vehemently oppose"? dramatic. Saying that I oppose that at all is dramatic.
And I'm saying what is the point of bringing that up? And the answer is simply you can't handle the fact that I was better than you this season. Be a grown up and accept it.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Pruitt beats me and Tindle he will be 2 points behind me. Pretty fucking close
This is the saddest argument I've seen in a while. Instead of giving someone props for winning a league in which everyone had to deal with the same pacing, you want to make the excuse that it's pacing, of all things, that caused your performance to dwindle. That's a helluva stretch. Of course the table is close early on as teams are jostling for position. You claim to play so many friendlies so why would a gap between games make any difference if you're filling it with those? Pacing has nothing to do with performance-- play on xbox live, career mode, or online friendlies if you seriously want to make that argument. Just a bunch of lame excuses from sore losers..
ReplyDeleteThank you Tindle.
DeleteI feel Ian makes a good point in why was this even brought up especially if Pruitt suggested he may have finished 3rd at consistent pace.
ReplyDeleteDavid still seems to hold the assumption that good flow would lead to a tighter race when Ian and I have brought up good points about teams learning their squads and competition over time.
I say again, it could have been tighter but could also have been more stretched apart. (insert dirty joke). Same as Chelsea could have won or finished 4th or even 5th. To say that good flow and pace would have 100% led to a tighter race is opinion and ignorant. A 100% fact is that we don't know. Again, it leads to ask why was it even brought up an the only logical thought is it's an excuse to feel like said manager was somewhat cheated or at a disadvantage and could have been in the running for a title. You chose to ignore that the opposite could have happened to your team. Also, like Ian said, Pruitt could finish 2 pts back. Pretty damn close if you ask me.
I still would like to see an answer to the question that was asked many times...why was this brought up? It first came in a comment by David and was lightly backed by Pruitt. So I would be looking for an answer from either I guess.
ReplyDeleteWhy was delay of league play brought up?
An answer saying because we want to play our matches on time and in an orderly fashion to feel a good pace of the game is not a good answer because it has nothing to do with Ian winning. It's a seperate topic
I only poked holes. I brought nothing up. But I'm being whined at like I did.
DeleteUnderstand. Reason for my word "lightly". You also acknowledged that it could have been worse for you or that things could have been the opposite of tight. I see it that you entered the convo to stay on top of the pursuit to play our matches with more consistence and flow. Something I back 100%.
DeletePlease take your reasoned discourse and ability to read my words without projecting your own subtext out of this thread. There's clearly no room for that here.
DeleteIf someone could point out where I've "belittled" or "made excuses" then I would greatly appreciate it. Because right now I feel like I'm arguing with people who either aren't reading what I said and are only projecting what they would like to read, or people who are arguing with the wrong person.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tindle, you've clearly already made up your mind that anything I say comes from a place or jealousy or poor sportsmanship, no matter how much testimony or evidence to the contrary; so feel free to skip the search for evidence I asked for, and just write another comment calling me sad and pathetic.
ReplyDeleteOk? Tnx bbz xoxx
I need to at competitive games to stay sharp. So many of friendlies now turn out to be unproductive after the 60th minute. I lose focus and just start messing around attempting hollywood balls and what not.
DeleteHow many times do we need to say that Ian has deserved to win the league? Earlier in the year I was playing Ian and Pruitt tight in every match. 2 months of meaningless fuck-around games and and I can't get in any consistent form. I'm not very good right now but 3-4 months ago I was.
Tindles point that "earlier in the year" people were close because few games have been played doesn't make sense with our situation. We ripped through the majority of the season (2/3) before everything came grinding to a stop. The top was very close 3-4 league games ago which is 2 months in gimp time.
"Earlier in the year I was playing Ian and Pruitt tight in every match. 2 months of meaningless fuck-around games and and I can't get in any consistent form. I'm not very good right now but 3-4 months ago I was."
DeleteCan't I say the same? It's actually opposite for me. Early on I sucked and got pounded. Now I sneak a win and put teams through a sweat at least even though I lose. My performance doesn't lead to me making the same arugment but I sat out all the time waiting too David. I could easily say the same about 2 months of meaningless games and losing form or not being good (assuming that's how it worked out for me). On top of that, I don't play friendlies and I continued to play better. If it's not a league match, FIFA is not in my box. You and I had these same droughts. My performance finished stronger and yours was finished weaker. I'm not saying that as a jab. It's just fact. The problem is your reasoning for weaker play. I experienced the same time off without friendlies or any FIFA play and I went in the opposite direction as you.
How do you explain that?
Pruitt is sad and pathetic
ReplyDeleteThx bbz xx
DeleteBbm me soon k xoxx
I love how Cush made one little comment in there. You just know he is reading every single word with some popcorn and an ice cold beverage...then drops a one liner
ReplyDeleteJust biding my time. Y'all cray.
DeleteIt's clearly burns who is the one that most have a problem with but, to be fair, pru does feed into him with light backing which means we know the square root of f*** all about what they say behind closed doors though I can only imagine.. Wow, that's a run-on sentence..
ReplyDeleteIan and I exchange texts on pretty much a daily basis. We play FIFA and battle field with other whenever we can.
DeleteIngo and I also share conversations through text and on the box.
Cushing and I play battle field and talk on the box
Pruitt and I discuss real football on a daily basis.
And I hear you once a month complaining about something on the blog. Yes everyone in the league can't stand playing or talking with me...
Again Tindle, if it's so much fun playing everyone but Pruitt and I than why don't you play more than once a month with them?
ReplyDeleteI do
ReplyDeleteThat's laughable. When was the last time you talked to or did anything on the box with anyone that wasn't a league game?
ReplyDeleteWe talked about the state of AFC last night.
DeleteRight during a league match that was required...anytime just for fun?
DeleteWe used to play team FIFA but got banned by EA for using pruitt's racist team name that he forced us to change to
ReplyDeleteSo one night?
DeleteEven so, if he doesn't ever play with us, why is he defending my point so adamantly?
DeleteThe G*** S*** A****** will sail again!
DeleteSo it's not fun to play against Pruitt and I was his main point. My point was it doesn't sound like its fun for you (Tindle) to play against anyone because he never does.
DeleteIs that supposed to be "Gay Straight Alliance"?
DeleteNot enough asterisks. I think Pruitt said "GODS SAVE AMERICA"
DeleteThat's so like him
First comment on this post: "To be fair the gap between the "Big Three" hasn't closed, but the top two have started pulling away from the third."
ReplyDeleteComment #87: "The G*** S*** A****** will sail again!"
This while most of us are at work for the day. Gotta admit this is insane and maddening. An outsider would not get this at all and think we were nerdy idiots who need to get a life. Of course it's to them I hope we can unite and say, "F*** OFF WANKER!"
This is fun and not fun at the same time. Regardless, I love to see the blog alive.
"That's why they play the game!"
Comment #5 by David towards Ian:
ReplyDelete"Yep. You benefitted the most from the 4 month lay off between games. I stopped my title push once I was forced to stop playing league games regularly and Pruitt has had a slight dip in form as well (not half as bad as mine)."
Is it possible that Ian simply played better after a 4 month lay off between games? Why didn't I dip or get worse? Why did I actually get better?
Comment #5 is a direct statement that says Ian would not have finished as well if we kept pace. I say there is absolutely no truth in that.
If we played a game every single day and I progressively got worse, can I argue it's not fair and I'm at a disadvantage because I don't have time to regroup after each loss or I can't mentally deal with competitive game after competitive game. How about in real life?
I don't play as well in the night as I do during the day.
I don't play as well in the rain.
I don't play as well on midweek games.
I'm better in the first quarter than I am in the fourth.
These are all just excuses where we point at something else to claim "foul". Gotta look in the mirror and tell yourself, "Learn. Adapt. Figure it out because my opponent is going through the same thing."