0% Villa - Falling out of love with NEUTRAL football

[Monty]

I seem like a bit of an exception, I admit, but I'll watch almost anything - though England and English football can be depressing for just so many reasons (ahem Sky ahem). Last night was brilliant, and though I'd kind of like Barca to win out of habit I wasn't really rooting for anyone, but it didn't matter.

[DB]

That game last night was superb, both teams playing the game in the right way, attacking at pace wanting to win. No diving and players wanting to out do each other. I was just thinking how far away we are from either playing that way or playing to those standards, so touch of jealousy.

[lordmcgrath5]

I tend to watch MOTD, though I sometimes wonder why I bother given its focus on the top four and Lawrenson's ramblings.

Didn't bother watching Arsenal Barcelona last night, though both are usually a real pleasure to watch. Missed out there by the sound of things.

I would actually watch more of the Football League show, but it's on too late and I rarely get round to watching it on catch-up.

I gave up watching international friendlies years ago. I'm also unlikely to bother with England again until Poland/Ukraine - the qualifying campaign that preceded the World Cup was very good but we all know what happened when it came to the real thing.

I remember when I used to get really excited about big European games, even if they didn't involve Villa. But that was before the overkill of the Champions League/Europa League format. There's also just far too much football on TV these days - it's not something special anymore.

I did enjoy the World Cup, though. Apart from England's games, obviously.

[lordmcgrath5]

I seem like a bit of an exception, I admit, but I'll watch almost anything

Fair enough. Strangely, I find that I can listen to almost any game at all on the radio (though I sometimes have to turn off Alan Green). Often a better class of commentator and analysis, and you can do other stuff while you listen.

[PaulWinch again]

I'm similar, although I quite enjoy watching some of the Spanish games. I sometimes watch England, although more in the big tournaments. It's only Villa I am interested in really.

[ktvillan]

On a related topic, had a fairly heated exchange on FB last night with a nose about Chumps League versuse European Cup.  He reckons the competition is so much better than it used to be and we would never have had a chance of winning it now.  Typical fucking nose I guess trying to downgrade our achievement.  But am I alone in thinking that having 58 chances to progress in a competition against teams who could have finished as low as 4th in their domestic divisions and include Rangers or Celtic is easier than a straight knockout competition against the champions of every domestic league in Europe.

The CL group stages are a procession and "filler" and I think we'd have cruised something like that back then.

The knockout rounds are harder due to having more of the big boys in there from the big leagues.   

I tend to think Chelsea and maybe Arsenal would both have won it in the original format.  For one thing it would have been rare for them to have been knocked out by other English teams.   

[JJ-AV]

I love all football. I grew up with SkySports and as much as I see how overpriced it is and how they dominate the market, I'd be gutted if we didn't have it anymore.

I don't really mind kick off time changes, and when we don't play on a Saturday I look forward to keeping up with other scores and watching Soccer Saturday all day.

The knockout stages of the Champions League are brilliant, the group stages are awful though.

[lordmcgrath5]

I love all football. I grew up with SkySports and as much as I see how overpriced it is and how they dominate the market, I'd be gutted if we didn't have it anymore.

I don't really mind kick off time changes

Interesting to hear a perspective like that, because I'm one of those who's nostalgic for the pre-Sky era.

[pablopicasso_10]

The CL group stages are a procession and "filler" and I think we'd have cruised something like that back then.

The knockout rounds are harder due to having more of the big boys in there from the big leagues.   

I tend to think Chelsea and maybe Arsenal would both have won it in the original format.  For one thing it would have been rare for them to have been knocked out by other English teams.   

i have had discussions about this with chelsea and arsenal fans who claim they would have won it back then as it was a lot easier to win... my response to that is "if it was easier to win, then why didnt you win it?"

their response to that is usually because winning a competitive league was harder back then... to which my response is "then it wasnt easier to win, as the qualification was a lot harder, so that negates your original argument"...

i usually get an expletive laden "villa iz crap anywayz innit" comment as a response to that...

[WikiVilla]

Wouldn't watch any old game anymore unless totally bored
Last nights game was the best football match I've seen for a while, neutral or villa in terms of technical excellence, attacking endeavour and quality of play

[Meanwood Villa]

I don't have Sky so don't suffer from overkill so I'll tend to watch most games on terrestrial telly. I'm also generally very interested in football & keep up-to-date with all results in all divisions to quite an anorak level. I find the race for the Premiership (C Sky) the least interesting element of it all.

[KevinGage]

Same.

Caught most of the Arsenal/ Barcelona match and the last few minutes of the Tottingham one, but generally can't be arsed with live football if it doesn't involve Villa.

Two reasons; the standard of commentary/ punditry often makes me want to put my foot through the TV (might catch a few more on Sky now that Gray has facked off mind). And the likelihood that watching a decent match for a change might bring home to me just what we're missing out on.

[Shrek]

Not me, I love watching all football.

I get really excited about Champions league football. I love watching England.

I get abit bored sometimes of the games like Wigan vs Wolves but generally watch any game if I'm not busy and the misses isn't moaning (which is rarely).

[Chris Jameson]

Very rarely even bother with MOTD these days, certainly don't watch it on a sunday. Never bothered with International football until it's a major tournament. I don't have SKY so will watch the odd Champions League knockout on ITV, especially if it involves Barcelona.

The most enjoyment I get is watching my 7 year old play, i'll be going to my first Villa match in a year when we come to the Wolves game but to be honest if I didn't take Billy I don't think i'd bother anymore.

[luke25]

I find the excitement of knowing theres a match on tv is usually better than the match itself which after spending a good few hours looking forward too usually turns into boredom if it is'nt an exciting start to the game, i'll watch pretty much any football but must be in the minority here as I still have'nt saw Rooney's goal