Why football would be better off without penalty shoot-outs

Here’s the take:  Deciding football matches by penalty shoot-outs spoils football matches and the only solution is to get rid of them.

Here’s why…

The purpose of a penalty shoot-out is to provide a result to a game where neither side scored a winning goal during the allotted time.  The argument being that teams could just play forever and not score.  The problem is they’re fundamentally unsatisfactory and make the football beforehand a worse spectacle.

City and United treble talk makes for surprising comparison

With City chasing a treble, there have been inevitable comparisons with the United side of 1999. Inevitably there’s a romanticised look back to Fergie’s team, with it viewed as a purely footballing triumph, while City’s bid is often viewed as something more. A state backed, money no object, inevitable conquest played out on an uneven playing field. Guardiola may be a great coach, but his triumphs come with the asterisk of money (or Messi).

Back in 1999, City and United were in different financial worlds, but what about United and their rivals for trophies? A quick look at the Deloitte Money League comparing then and now makes for interesting viewing.