Random Thoughts* (after watching the game more closely for 6-1/2 years).

As I type this, I'm watching Bayern mop up the pitch at Wolfsburg, 5-nil in the 85th minute (probably a replay).
BREAKING NEWS: 6-nil, putting the hosts in relegation danger on goal difference. This, and some recent results in other leagues has me pondering...taken as a whole, this game is a capitalist whore. The Bundesliga. You've basically got Munich and everybody else. Dortmund compete with them some seasons, but mostly, they're a perennial runnerup. A few clubs, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen and Hamburg, take turns finishing behind those two, sometimes pipping Dortmund in an off year. LaLiga. You've got Barca and Real Madrid...and everybody else. Atletico are a perennial third to those two, if they're stringing together a good run of seasons. Bilbao and Valencia take turns behind those three, getting lucky every 20 years or so, and everybody else just tries not to get embarrassed when the they play the Messis and Ronaldos (see Wednesday's 7-1`demolition of Osasuna by Barca at the Camp Nou). Atletico snuck in and won the league in 2013-14 but before that, the last side NOT nicknamed Barca or Blancos to win it was Valencia in '03-'04. Ligue 1. Despite Paris Saint-Germain's rise stemming from their purchase by Qatar Sports Investments in 2012, the French league appears to be the most "democratic" in Europe (irony can be pretty ironic, sometimes). Les Parisiens are seventh in a list of eight that have won the league title at least six times. Saint-Etienne lead the way with 10, but have not won since 1980-81. Mareseilles, Nantes, Monaco and Lyon have all won more than PSG, but none since Marseilles in '09-'10. It's been all PSG since Lille won in '10-'11. When they signed Zlatan Ibrahimović in 2012, zoom, away they went. Serie A. It's Juventus and everybody else. Milan and Inter take turns following and occasionally pipping them for the trophy, but it's Juve's to lose most seasons. Makes Fulham's miracle run to Hamburg in 2010 past them all the more amazing. MLS. Support your local side. The Galaxy run appears to be over. Did you have the Sounders last season? The Timbers the season before? How about Sporting KC in 2013? Don't lie. Except for LA's recent run and D.C. United's mid to late 90's run, it's a toss up. Who do you like this season? Exactly.
Now. It's 2017. Enough with the running clock already. We have the technology. We can stop it. And start it. And stop it. And start it. Easily. Again and again and again. Put 45 minutes on the clock at the beginning of each half and STOP IT WHEN SOMEBODY GETS HURT OR THERE IS A SUBSTITUTION. THAT'S IT! No more fake injuries to buy a blow. No more bloody diving. No more arbitrary, uneven, ridiculous sums of time "added" on to the end of halves. No more imcompetent referees determining when the actual added/injury/extra time is up. When the clock hits bloody zero, THE MATCH IS OVER. PERIOD.

Thanks for reading...

 

But James, what would happen to 'Stoppage Time brought to you Lexus'??

 

stoppage time needs to be sponsored by an automotive brake company - stoppage time, brought to you by Bendix...

 

or stoppage time brought to you by Brakeway.

 

I've never done any sort of actual study, but I always laugh to myself at the ridiculously lopsided amounts of added time for each half. Case in point...
I'm sure most of you watched the USMNT WC qualifier against Mexico a couple weeks ago. In the first half, there were two goals, two vicious elbows resulting in a stoppage of play, the injury cart made its way on to the pitch twice, and there was one substitution. The result? 2 minutes of stoppage time. During the second half, there were no goals and no injuries that required a stoppage of play. There were, however, 5 substitutions and the usual slow restarts by some (particularly Guzan). The result? 3 minutes of stoppage time. 1 more minute for half the activity.

It never makes sense. Does anyone know if there is even official guidance or wording based on what events should trigger added time?

 

With respect to the top leagues, did anyone take a good look at the final Premier League table? The big four have turned into seven and everyone else is fighting for 8th place. This season, there was a 15 point difference between 7th and 8th places.

Highlights for the top 7 teams. Every team

• won at least 6 more matches than they lost
• had at least a +18 goal differential
• scored at least 54 goals
• conceded no more than 44 goals

And only 1 team in the top 7 had double digit losses, while every other team had at least 16 losses.

Contrast that to the remaining 13 teams.

• all lost at least 4 more matches than they won
• all had no better than a -7 goal differential
• only 1 team scored at least 54 goals (AFC Bournemouth - 55)
• all conceded at least 48 goals

It'll be different when Fulham get back but, right now as a neutral observer, I'm not that interested in watching the PL.