Date published: Wednesday 17th June 2020 2:31
Thanks for your mails. Keep them coming to theeditor@football365.com…
The perfect tonic!
The world is a horrible place. The last few months have been a struggle for me on a mental basis and will probably only get worse (I am getting help). The Tories will probably get away with it. Trump might well get reelected. Victims will probably still get shot and killed while those accountable will just eat on their word salad. People will still squabble as they seek the ‘win’ on social media while the real world sinks.
Thank Christ football is back where just for one evening I can just hope for an Arsenal win against City and nothing more. Even if it’s a 2-1 loss, I’ll just be happy to forget it all. Just for one day.
Hugh, Cork/Dublin (it’ll be 0-0 won’t it)
Merseyside derby
Wondering if (without the rabid fans in the stadium) whether tempers will flair on the pitch when Liverpool visit Goodison this Sunday. I’m sure both sets of players will be up for it fighting for local pride, but perhaps without a baying crowd there won’t be (as many) high-two-footed tackles going in. Of course if (and a big if) Man City lose to Arsenal, it would meaning Liverpool would be playing for the title and Everton would desperate to make sure it doesn’t happen on their home soil, perhaps it could be a bloodbath instead?
R.
The second team…
JP, Birmingham (kro), is not alone in choosing a second team, when I was young my first love was AC Milan, before I settled with Chelsea as I felt living in the UK I needed to support a UK based team, but however Milan still hold a place in my heart as without them I would not have discovered football the way I did and fall in love with the game.
But this brought an interesting question to my mind “How should you choose a second team?” now for me it should always be a team that is local to your actual area, naturally if that team is still your main one then select a team which is non-league, go to the games, dive and absorb the local vibes and atmosphere these games come with and support the local community, non-league games are some incredible spectacles and nowadays with the fitness regimes and tactics are quite good watches.
Mikey, CFC
Matchday experience…
Mark, MCFC, makes an interesting point regarding the value clubs might find in not needing to manage the match day experience. Even if his maths added up, the fact is the crowdless experience is very much a shadow of the real thing. In the same way that numerous zoom meetings try to mimic face to face interactions in the workplace, it isn’t quite the same, and things begin to drop off. So while the world will be tuning in as the Premier League kicks off again – the crowdless experience will diminish the value of the game to fans, sponsors and broadcasters, and will eventually erode the profitability of the enterprise.
Tim (Australia has sporting crowds from July) LFC
F**k you, Matt…
So Mat Stead calls me an idiot on the football365 show how very mature Mat if I’m an idiot I guess you want to tar everyone who does not share your opinions with the same brush since someone obviously died and made you the supreme football authority. I’d like to point out to Mat that as Mark thankfully made a point of, I was actually talking about the players in the league that when deployed as a defensive midfielder would be the best in that position. I’m sorry that instead of understanding that you decided to insult me instead especially when you then go on to agree that yes Kante was one of the best Dm’s in the world before Sarri started medling with it. You also agree about Ndidi being one of the best in the league.
While if you don’t believe that Fernandinho when deployed in defensive midfield is also among the best then your newfound status as supreme leader of football may have to be called into question. Non of this how ever matters as only the loyal readership of the mailbox will get to see my defence of myself to your accusations of being an idiot while you use your f365 YouTube platform to call me an idiot, unless you plan to adress it in a future show which I seriously doubt will happen. I have read every article this website has produced since I was 16 ten years ago, I have been a regular contributor to the mailbox for many years also. So from a loyal long-time reader of f365 and your many great articles I say f**ck you Mat! It takes a big man to use his platform to attack those without an equal platform for response.
Aaron. CFC. Ireland. (Aaron Grimes) p.s eat sh!t Mat.
Rashford and Spurs
Firstly, well done Marcus Rashford; a fine example to young players everywhere.
Secondly, enjoyed reading your Club/Covid-19 article, but there are some glaring omissions in the Spurs section. Whilst the club rightly deserve to be pilloried for their initial attempted furloughing of non-playing staff and their lockdown breaches, you completely missed out that they are providing their stadium underground carpark as a drive-through covid-19 testing centre, and storage areas for the London Food Alliance. They are also providing their above-ground facilities for womens’ outpatient clinics for the North Middlesex Hospital while the hospital itself concentrates on dealing with covid-19. That’s not to forget players like Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld making large charitable donations. By all means make a big thing about the club’s failings, but at least report the good side as well.
James (Brackets)
J.League
Dear MC,
This week the J.League announced its fixtures for the rest of the 2020 season, and everyone’s going to be pretty busy. J1 and J2 played one game before the postponement, but the league is committed to playing every game and finishing the season in December, which means another 33 matches for J1 teams starting on 4th July and including a few midweek matches. There’s also the much-maligned League Cup and, for some, the Asian Champions League if and when that gets restarted.
J3 hasn’t started yet, but they begin on 27th June and will also have a few midweek matches along the way. FC Tokyo have withdrawn their under-23 team due to fixture congestion, but Gamba Osaka under-23s and Cerezo Osaka under 23s are staying in, making 18 teams.
It’s going to be very tough for J2 teams, though: they have another 41 matches to play, which basically means they’ll be playing twice a week almost every week from 27th June. The first few matches will be between teams that are geographically close, to reduce travel and the associated risks, and there won’t be any crowds for the first couple of weeks, before a limited number will be allowed to attend. Every match from all 3 divisions is streamed on DAZN here in Japan, though, so people will still be able to watch.
There have been a few rule changes for this season and next. There’ll be no relegation from J1 or J2, but there will be a maximum of two teams promoted from J2 and J3 (depending on whether they have the required licence for the higher division). That of course means J1 and J2 will be expanded for 2021 to accommodate the extra teams, before presumably things return to normal in 2022. For this season at least, teams can use up to five substitutes in every match. The Emperor’s Cup has gone to completely amateur until the semi-final stage, when two J1 teams will enter to steal the glory.
For people in the UK, FreeSports is showing live and delayed J1 matches. For anyone who wants to know more about Japanese football I recommend the J-Talk Podcast (@jtalkpod on Twitter), which is J1-focused, and its sibling J-Talk Extra Time (J2- and J3-focused). The hosts know their stuff and they get plenty of knowledgeable guests on each week too, so they’re worth a listen.
Regards,
James T, Ishikawa, Japan
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