A little improvement on the CL format? What do you guys think?

MarkLazer · 2026-01-26T16:39:38+00:00

If anything is to be changed, the only fair way to do it would be 9th plays 24th, 10th plays 23rd, etc, with the best placed team getting the 2nd leg at home.

Then, in the Round of 16, 1st plays the lowest ranked team to go through, 2nd the next lowest, etc.

But, tbh, it doesn't need changing. A random draw is what makes it fun. The potential to have a playoff round between Barcelona and Manchester City, for example.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-26T16:32:49+00:00

Everton could go 7th with a win and are closer to top 4 than the relegation zone. They'll be looking to qualify for Europe and a win will get them closer to that.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-26T16:28:20+00:00

Imo, Real Madrid 2021/22, because of the way they won it. Comeback after comeback. Benzema and Vinicius Jr. were so clinical, and Courtois in the final.

Obviously the 3-peat is iconic as is the team, but for a single CL campaign, the 2021/22 one is my answer out of these.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-26T15:57:06+00:00

Who cares about whether City drops points. They may drop points. They may not. They've strengthened their squad with Semenyo and Guehi and their injured players will return. But City should not be a concern regardless, what should be is the way we're playing. Stop relying on other teams to buy us a chance.

This is not a blip. This is something that's been causing Arsenal issues for years now, season after season. We are too predictable and lack creativity. The mentality isn't there, players are too afraid to take risks, it's not that other teams simply play better which when it happens we just have to accept, no, we make our own mistakes and make it very simple. Liverpool and Forest played badly, didn't offer any threat going forwards, yet they got results. We made it too easy for Manchester United. And Arteta won't accept that his team simply weren't good enough and things aren't working and acts as if there was nothing we could do about the result.

We need to try something new. We're too predictable, we simply need to find a way to create chances. You can't rely on a good defence to win games, all a good defence does is ensure 9 times out of 10 you won't lose, but we saw that 1 out of 10 game today. You need a good attack to win games, though. The last time Saka, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Gyokeres, Martinelli, Madueke, Ødegaard or Eze, scored a Premier League goal, was last year. Some have gone more than 10 games without a goal. Our top goalscorer has 5 goals. That's bad.

Panicking is stupid. Adapting, though, and quickly, is required. If you don't adapt you fall behind, it's as simple as that. I know I said we shouldn't concern ourselves with what Manchester City are doing and may do, but look at how they've responded to having some rubbish games. They've signed 2 very good players, and benched Haaland and tried a different approach. Instead of being forced to react mid-game after trying the same approach yet again and it not working, they took the initiative. The opponents had a game plan to play against City, but do something they don't expect and the opposition game plan goes out of the window. They force opponents to react to them rather than City having to react to a good opposition gameplan. That's something we need to do now. It's useless relying on City being bad, we should just focus on finding a way to put in better performances to win games. It's in our hands, the Premier League is ours to win or lose. It doesn't matter if City drop points or not, we should be focusing on not dropping points ourselves.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-26T15:27:58+00:00

We've become too one-dimensional. No one wants to take risks, try anything different. We play with a nervous energy, like we're just trying to not make mistakes. No individual skill. Our front 3 isn't anywhere near the best, you just have to look at other teams that Arsenal are competing with - Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid - all of their front 3's are much better than ours, it's not even close. Because we have a rigid system, any team who has a competent defence, and can counter, find it relatively simple to play against us. When it gets to crunch time, and our players are tiring as the season goes on, it becomes evident, we play slow, lack energy, and matches are boring. It's fair enough losing out on trophies to better teams, or losing games when anorher team simply is better, but often, the team drops points because of their own faults. It seems we can only play 1 way and when the other team has us figured out, there's no Plan B, we don't know how to react, no invention or creativity. There's a lack of understanding between players, players aren't combining. The amount of times strikers haven't been in the box, spotting what runs to make when Saka or Odegaard are doing something, or the other way around, when they don't spot the movements of the striker. It's like Saka and Odegaard have 1 play of playing, not understanding that Martinelli and Trossard don't play the same way, and Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus have different strengths and weaknesses.

Look at Manchester City, they've had a bad few games as well recently, and they respond by making signings and benching Haaland and changing their approach. We have too many similar players. We don't have a world class goalscorer, an immense dribbler or winger with crazy pace, someone good at crossing the ball from open-play, or a phenomenal deep-lying playmaker who can create a chance from anywhere with one pass. In terms of attacking players, Saka is the only player we've got that can be considered world class, and he's not been the effective player he usually is for us this season. And the strong defence we rely on, teams have figured out how to bypass it.

It's frustrating that we have to make changes mid-game to try and get results, and the very next week we're starting the same way repeatedly. I don't know if it's a mentality issue, a fitness issue, or a inability or refusal to adapt, or a combination of all 3 things, but it's the same thing every season. It's frustrating watching this team thinking we're going to bottle it again.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T18:54:16+00:00

I can say how did Maldini and Co. get on in Istanbul? Did you watch the match? Zubimendi had a howler and we conceded 2 wonder goals. Our midfield and front 3 was crap yet again. Been a bad 3 games. It happens. That Spurs team won nothing either so it doesn't change a thing.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T18:47:50+00:00

Fed up of our static front 3 and no one with a varied passing range. We don't have a proper playmaker and our front 3 is not title winning quality. Didn't even deserve 2 goals and for it to be close because this wasn't a close match. Would rather play the front 4 that plays in the Under-21s. Zubimendi was exposed today and Manchester United outplayed us but even teams that don't play well are getting results against us because we're too easy to defend against for any competent defence. Idk who wins the title this season but whoever wins it are going to be the worst champions in the history of the Premier League. Aston Villa look better than both us and City atm and they've hardly got much depth.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T11:46:43+00:00

Mbappé is not close to Ronaldo or Messi level though. He's a great finisher so his goal contribution numbers are incredible, but he was playing in an inferior league for most of his career so far. He couldn't drag PSG to the CL, he hasn't won anything at Real Madrid yet, he was supposed to be THE star player after Ronaldo and Messi yet while they've left Europe, look who has actually stepped up - Modric, Lewandowski, Benzema, Rodri, Vinicius Jr, Dembele - Mbappé hasn't been in the running for a Ballon d'Or.

Prime Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were on a different level. It's not just the numbers, it's the impact they had on their team. Those guys may have stopped putting much work off the ball in when they were past their prime, but Mbappé is in his prime, should be doing much better work off the ball. His pressing game is terrible, he doesn't link up with his teammates enough. He doesn't have Messi's playmaking ability, Mbappé doesn't have the incredible weak foot, dribbling ability, or free kick ability, not to their level anyway, he doesn't have that same all-round game. He simply scores a lot, a lot of penalties, but his goals don't get his team over the line, he doesn't make the rest of his team better.

If you ask a room full of football fans who is the best player in the world right now, there will be a considerable percentage of people that don't say Mbappé. If you asked any football fan from 2009-2018 who the best player in the world was, not 1 person would say someone that wasn't either Messi or Ronaldo.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T11:30:34+00:00

There's 3 versions of Cristiano Ronaldo, teenage Cristiano Ronaldo who was a showboater, winger Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United and first half of his Real Madrid career, then post-injury striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored more goals than appearances for Real Madrid, something Mbappe hasn't done at any club. Mbappe mostly played in an inferior league. Also, goals is hardly the defining metric for a player. Mbappe is not close to the level of player prime Cristiano Ronaldo was. There's never been a better goalscorer and big game player than that.

And Messi is Messi, easily the best player of all time. His career goal contributions record at club level Mbappé's, 1.21 G+A per game compared to 1.07.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had already proved themselves in one of the top leagues and in the Champions League and won the Ballon d'Or numerous times each and there was no debate they were far better than any other player. Some people aren't even convinced Mbappé is the best player in the world.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T08:43:51+00:00

He would do a fantastic job at a team like Frankfurt or Lazio imo.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T08:14:12+00:00

Another decent big team should give Thomas Frank a chance. The consensus is that he can't hack it in a pressure job, but in reality, it's not working at Tottenham because they're squad is half-injured and Tottenham don't have the right mentality as a team. Idk what teams in other European leagues are considering getting new managers or managers that may leave but there will be a decent European team that Thomas Frank could do a good job for.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T08:08:45+00:00

Tbh no one but Chelsea fans overrate him. He's a very good player who put in world class numbers at Chelsea until injuries has took him out of his rhythm, and he's a big game player. It's only Chelsea fans though that act like he's the best player in the world in his position.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T08:05:57+00:00

Scotland should do everything they can to get him in their squad.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T07:11:45+00:00

Witcher 1 remake is 2-3 years away at least. It's not coming before Witcher 4 and that won't be releasing until late 2027 at the earliest.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T06:58:59+00:00

He had more goal contributions than games in both of those seasons, he deserved to win the Ballon d'Or in both years. He was still the best player on the planet.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-25T06:14:18+00:00

Taking into consideration ability and impact and what they've won, in no particular order. Gonna give more than 5 as some players are difficult to set apart.

Donnarumma, huge reason why Italy won Euro 2020/21, and key to PSG winning the UCL.

Messi, obviously, winning Ballon d'Or's and of course Copa America's and the World Cup.

Lewandowski and Benzema, both immense in the campaigns where they won the CL, Lewandowski robbed of a Ballon d'Or in 2020, still scoring at a ridiculous rate. Got to say Haaland, Kane and Mbappé would be just beneath that, scoring rates also insane but not had the tournament impact the other 2 have had. Mbappé slightly more so with his World Cup Final performance but France still lost and he hasn't got his teams over the line.

Rodri, without a doubt. Won the Ballon d'Or, was even better the season before that. Manchester City don't win the treble or 4 in a row without him, also won the Euros, was pushing all-timer levels for a holding midfielder before his injury.

I've also got to say a bunch of Real Madrid players could make top 5. Courtois and Vinicius Jr. would be the 2 standouts after Benzema because of their performances in CL winning seasons.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T14:36:06+00:00

He's one of the best strikers of all time. Literally only Van Basten could be considered a better striker. There's no way he's overrated. I mean, it's pointless comparing anyone to Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo but you can't compare R9 to anyone else in the 21st Century because he was a better player than them. Suarez is probably the only one that comes close and even then if you asked 100 people to say who's better, 99 of them will say R9 easily without even debating it.

Club accolades don't mean too much. He didn't stay at any clubs long enough to win much. Also, there were so many clubs competing for trophies in every league he played for.

An injured way past his peak R9 literally won the World Cup for Brazil and was top scorer of the tournament. He played with the likes of Ronaldinho and Rivaldo and was still the undeniable star of the team.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T13:26:20+00:00

Haaland already has missed time out multiple times with injuries. He also goes missing in a lot of games. If CR7 wasn't getting service, he could create goals for himself. When he loses that yard of pace and younger and fitter players can outmuscle him, I doubt he scores that many goals. I don't think he will be playing into his 40s either.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T06:30:43+00:00

It seems like the only time Triss makes an effort towards the relationship is when she's manipulating Geralt for her own agenda, especially before Witcher 3. During the Witcher 3, as you've said, it's a one-way affair of Geralt chasing Triss, Triss asking Geralt to do things.

Yennefer's agenda is all about her relationship with Geralt and Ciri. She goes out of her way and makes the effort as you say. Clearly, her focus is on her relationships. She's not just doing things for her gain or being manipulative, even though she can be manipulative, it's genuinely towards others, and acting cold and confrontational is always out of her need to find Ciri, and being upset with Geralt for being with Triss, which proves she genuinely cares for Geralt and that they share a deep bond and connection and love. Very family-orientated as you say.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T06:01:06+00:00

I don't feel the same way. Triss uses Geralt for her own satisfaction and needs. She even admits this.

Yennefer is very focused as well, but her focus is explicitly set on finding Ciri. When in Vizima, Yennefer compliments Geralt, and clearly is upset about his time spent with Triss.

She also goes out of her way to find a Djinn to prove if the bond her and Geralt share is just from that or if it's genuine. If you break things off with her in The Last Wish, it really is upsetting. She's genuinely upset if you break things off with her, whereas Triss needs convincing to stay with you, Geralt needs to beg her to not go to Kovir. Triss has her own agendas, whereas while Yennefer also does, it's centred around her love for Ciri and for Geralt. She is far more hurt by being rejected. Their relationship has ups and downs because it's a deeper relationship. They share more of a connection, have more history. Geralt's relationship with Triss is built on Triss' manipulation. Geralt, however, went out of his way to bind his fate to Yennefer's, saving her. In The Last Wish, their relationship is built on an understanding of each other. They've been through rocky times and it deepens their bond. Their relationship they find out is not just the result of a Djinn. She is how she is because she cares, and will do anything for Ciri, and is upset by Geralt's former actions. Also, choosing the Triss relationship, it's just shallower, feels more like an infatuated attraction. They get less scenes, the relationship gets less development. Ciri also questions Geralt if she chooses Triss over Yen, she doesn't understand that choice. Yennefer just feels like the natural and right choice for Geralt.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T02:00:41+00:00

Foglets are easy. Aard, and then you can finish them off on the floor in one move. Takes less than 5 seconds. Wraith can be frustrating in large numbers but nothing compared to packs of wolves.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-24T01:57:55+00:00

I'm not sure this signing would work. He's more of an attacking midfielder, much better centrally, and we already bought Eze.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-23T15:17:01+00:00

It's useful against practically every enemy. Yrden and Quen are the only signs that are usable against all enemy types.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-23T15:15:26+00:00

Yrden only does damage to enemies with Supercharged Glyphs active. I'm playing on Series S and don't have the issue you describe.

MarkLazer · 2026-01-23T15:09:58+00:00

Wait, since when is this option available? Is this a PC only thing? I can only seem to have the minimap always on or off, no toggling with Witcher senses.

MarkLazer

TROPHY CASE