Fútbol chatter

[Bruce]

Messi has announced his intention to join Inter Miami, but negotiations are ongoing. If the other rumors of Busquets and Suarez wanting to join are true, the club will need to offload their current DPs or pull out some MLS rulebook trickery to get everyone in. Apparently Messi's deal is also being funded with some incentives from Adidas and Apple (to no one's surprise).

I'm bummed that we won't be able to see Messi play in Seattle (due to the unbalanced schedule and likely avoidance of turf), but it will be funny to see his home stadium be a cobbled together set of bleachers next to an airport.

[Bruce]

The U.S. will be hosting the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, for which the Seattle Sounders have already qualified.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37905292/united-states-host-expanded-32-team-club-world-cup-2025

This sets up a long streak of soccer summers in this country:

2023 - Gold Cup
2024 - Copa América
2025 - Club World Cup & Gold Cup
2026 - World Cup
2027 - Women's World Cup (still in bidding process)
2028 - Summer Olympics in LA

[NWI_Irish96]

Speaking of the Gold Cup, the US is fielding a squad without Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, McKennie, Musah or Dest.

[Bruce]

Speaking of the Gold Cup, the US is fielding a squad without Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, McKennie, Musah or Dest.

Pretty normal for an "off" year Gold Cup. Typically the US fields their A team in the more important of the two summer tournaments to give players a break.

In years past, the "off" Gold Cup would be the same year as the Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers.

[Bruce]

Double feature tomorrow:

USWNT begin their Women's World Cup title defense in New Zealand against Vietnam at 6 pm Pacific.

Lionel Messi makes his MLS debut for Inter Miami against Mexican legends Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup at 5 pm Pacific.

[Bruce]

The scriptwriting is pretty lazy, but given the strike I think they're using non-union talent.

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1682574365341171717

[NWI_Irish96]

US knocked out of the World Cup by Sweden on penalty kicks. Sweden keeper made a few amazing saves during the run of play to preserve the 0-0 tie.

Rapinoe one of the US players to miss a PK. Rough way to end a remarkable career.

[CoreySamson]

Sweden was the team that prevented the USWMT from winning the Olympic gold a couple years ago, weren't they? I seem to remember USWMT having trouble against them for years.

[JayhawkCO]

Since Premier League starts soon, I figured it was time for predictions again.

Recap of my guesses last year:

Correctly guessed City to win it all.

Overly confident on Liverpool (as was most everyone else) and my Spurs (didn't see the Conte meltdown happening).

Correctly predicted Chelsea's drop, although not as far as they actually did.

Whiffed on all three relegation teams.

Let's try to do better.

1. Manchester City
2. Manchester United
3. Arsenal
4. Tottenham Hotspur
5. Liverpool
6. Aston Villa
7. Newcastle
8. Chelsea
9. Brighton
10. Brentford
11. Burnley
12. West Ham
13. Crystal Palace
14. Bournemouth
15. Fulham
16. Everton
17. Sheffield United
18. Wolves
19. Nottingham Forest
20. Luton Town

This is easily the most competitive top 8 I think the Premier League has ever had, and I can see the difference between 2nd and 8th being less than 10 points. I don't think the middle of the league is all that strong this year compared to previous years, and I think I'll actually nail some of the relegation fodder this year as I just can't see Luton staying up. Admittedly, I'm probably overestimating my Spurs again, but I'm bullish on the new manager and approach and think we have just as much, if not more, talent than any club outside of City.

[mgk920]

Sweden was the team that prevented the USWMT from winning the Olympic gold a couple years ago, weren't they? I seem to remember USWMT having trouble against them for years.

Well, seeing as some of the off-the-field headcase players will be gone for next time, I am already expecting better.

Mike

[thspfc]

1. City
2. Liverpool
3. Arsenal
4. United
5. Tottenham
6. Chelsea
7. Villa
8. Wolves
9. West Ham
10. Leicester
11. Southampton
12. Newcastle
13. Brighton
14. Forest
15. Everton
16. Palace
17. Fulham
18. Leeds
19. Bournemouth
20. Brentford

Got champions City, 3 of the top 4 (missed #5 Liverpool), and had Chelsea 6th so that's actually not bad at all. The rest of it was a mess but once you get into double digits the margins are so slim that it doesn't really matter. Correct on Leeds.

Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Ah, shoulda taken it 

Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

Don't think there will be any takers after this weekend. 

Honestly, losing 4-0 to Brentford in week 2 and still finishing 3rd is remarkable.

Newcastle rocketing up to the top 4 in their first full season under the ownership of Saudi oil moguls, after being a perennially average club for nearly a century prior, is just gross. Obviously oil money controlling the sport isn't anything new, but Newcastle is perhaps the second most blatant example after Man City due to the immediate timing of their rise. I didn't watch much soccer last season but I'm sure I would have been rolling my eyes at the pundits crediting Newcastle for their "sudden good form". Though I suppose they're still less talented on paper than 3 of the teams that finished below them.

For this year:

1. Man City
2. Man United
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Newcastle
7. Chelsea
8-17: whatever
18. Bournemouth
19. Nottingham Forest
20. Luton

[JayhawkCO]

Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Ah, shoulda taken it 

Yes you should have. We turned into defensive garbage with the players not giving a shit. Man U actually got some decent players in that cared.

Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

Don't think there will be any takers after this weekend. 

Honestly, losing 4-0 to Brentford in week 2 and still finishing 3rd is remarkable.

Ten Hag >>> Most of the recent Man U managers

Newcastle rocketing up to the top 4 in their first full season under the ownership of Saudi oil moguls, after being a perennially average club for nearly a century prior, is just gross. Obviously oil money controlling the sport isn't anything new, but Newcastle is perhaps the second most blatant example after Man City due to the immediate timing of their rise. I didn't watch much soccer last season but I'm sure I would have been rolling my eyes at the pundits crediting Newcastle for their "sudden good form". Though I suppose they're still less talented on paper than 3 of the teams that finished below them.

They got a little lucky last year I think with Almiron going on an insane run and scoring something stupid like 10 goals in 8 matches. I don't see it happening that way this year. They'll drop off a bit.

[NWI_Irish96]

For Top 4 I'll go Man City, Arsenal, ManU, Tottenham
For Bottom 3 I'll go Wolves, Sheffield United, Luton Town

[Bruce]

There will be a new Women's World Cup champion, since all the remaining teams have yet to win the competition.

[JayhawkCO]

For Top 4 I'll go Man City, Arsenal, ManU, Tottenham
For Bottom 3 I'll go Wolves, Sheffield United, Luton Town

I'm glad you're optimistic about my Spurs even when Kane is gone now. Almost no journalist is, but I don't think they realize how much impact our new manager has.

[NWI_Irish96]

For Top 4 I'll go Man City, Arsenal, ManU, Tottenham
For Bottom 3 I'll go Wolves, Sheffield United, Luton Town

I'm glad you're optimistic about my Spurs even when Kane is gone now. Almost no journalist is, but I don't think they realize how much impact our new manager has.

I think there's a clear Top 3 and I was considering a few teams for 4th.

I'll still be watching Chelsea some this season, but with Pulisic now in Milan, I'll be watching some Serie A as well.

[Bruce]

It took all of 7 matches for Messi to turn the worst team in MLS into a champion (of the Leagues Cup). Miami will be playing in the Champions Cup next year, alongside 9 other MLS teams because of the way that qualification works. Liga MX fans are furious and making all sorts of excuses, per usual.

[NWI_Irish96]

For Top 4 I'll go Man City, Arsenal, ManU, Tottenham
For Bottom 3 I'll go Wolves, Sheffield United, Luton Town

I'm glad you're optimistic about my Spurs even when Kane is gone now. Almost no journalist is, but I don't think they realize how much impact our new manager has.

I think there's a clear Top 3 and I was considering a few teams for 4th.

I'll still be watching Chelsea some this season, but with Pulisic now in Milan, I'll be watching some Serie A as well.

Watched Pulisic's first game with AC Milan. He played a fantastic game and had a goal.

[JayhawkCO]

Yeah. His shot was a laser and he got the hockey assist on the first one.

As for my boys, Spurs managed to beat Man U 2-0 this weekend, confirming my perception that the new manager was making a pretty immediate impact in the club. It's not often that you lose your best player and then go onto beating a top-3 team from last year all while running a completely new system and having five starters in the side that didn't start more than 3 games last year for Spurs combined.

[thspfc]

As for my boys, Spurs managed to beat Man U 2-0 this weekend, confirming my perception that the new manager was making a pretty immediate impact in the club. It's not often that you lose your best player and then go onto beating a top-3 team from last year all while running a completely new system and having five starters in the side that didn't start more than 3 games last year for Spurs combined.

I was at the game, incredible experience. Spurs looked great offensively, but I'll continue to be cautious until the defense is figured out. Gave up two goals to Brentford and despite the clean sheet it absolutely was not figured out on Saturday.

- Rashford and Fernandes missed completely free headers from 6 yards out. The defending on those two plays (23' and 36') would have been embarassing at the U14 level.

- In the second half Van de Ven was caught ballwatching and facing the wrong way which allowed Antony to come within two inches of scoring.

- Not long after that Casemiro had another free header which was brilliantly saved by Vicario.

- Fernandes of all people somehow ran past the backline and both CBs made unsuccessful desperation slides. If Bruno had taken an extra touch he would have been one-on-one with Vicario. Even still Vicario had to make another excellent save.

- After the second goal there were at least two more instances of lackluster marking on crosses (86', 90'). If the crosses were better placed by Bruno they both could have easily resulted in goals.

xG supports this assessment, giving Man U a 2.01. It gave Spurs 1.58 which seems low. To me, the two teams were exactly on par with each other except for finishing. Martinez had a rough night, though unlucky to be fair. Anyway, my point is, Spurs fans should not be going nuts and Man U fans should not be calling for their manager's head. The reaction from Spurs fans seems fairly reasonable aside from ignoring awful defending, while United fans want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[JayhawkCO]

As for my boys, Spurs managed to beat Man U 2-0 this weekend, confirming my perception that the new manager was making a pretty immediate impact in the club. It's not often that you lose your best player and then go onto beating a top-3 team from last year all while running a completely new system and having five starters in the side that didn't start more than 3 games last year for Spurs combined.

I was at the game, incredible experience. Spurs looked great offensively, but I'll continue to be cautious until the defense is figured out. Gave up two goals to Brentford and despite the clean sheet it absolutely was not figured out on Saturday.

- Rashford and Fernandes missed completely free headers from 6 yards out. The defending on those two plays (23' and 36') would have been embarassing at the U14 level.

- In the second half Van de Ven was caught ballwatching and facing the wrong way which allowed Antony to come within two inches of scoring.

- Not long after that Casemiro had another free header which was brilliantly saved by Vicario.

- Fernandes of all people somehow ran past the backline and both CBs made unsuccessful desperation slides. If Bruno had taken an extra touch he would have been one-on-one with Vicario. Even still Vicario had to make another excellent save.

- After the second goal there were at least two more instances of lackluster marking on crosses (86', 90'). If the crosses were better placed by Bruno they both could have easily resulted in goals.

xG supports this assessment, giving Man U a 2.01. It gave Spurs 1.58 which seems low. To me, the two teams were exactly on par with each other except for finishing. Martinez had a rough night, though unlucky to be fair. Anyway, my point is, Spurs fans should not be going nuts and Man U fans should not be calling for their manager's head. The reaction from Spurs fans seems fairly reasonable aside from ignoring awful defending, while United fans want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I think Spurs fans know we're still a work in progress. But to play attacking football as opposed to this defensive smash and grab stuff we've been playing under Mourinho, Nuno, and Conte is going to make the fans happy no matter what. After all, the club motto is "To Dare Is To Do". I don't think anyone has said that the defending hasn't been bad, but now we have Vicario instead of an aged Lloris, so we'll stop a few more shots. Van de Ven has only been practicing for three weeks with us now. Romero has looked confident and Udogie has looked great. We do need to sign one more player for depth.

[thspfc]

As for my boys, Spurs managed to beat Man U 2-0 this weekend, confirming my perception that the new manager was making a pretty immediate impact in the club. It's not often that you lose your best player and then go onto beating a top-3 team from last year all while running a completely new system and having five starters in the side that didn't start more than 3 games last year for Spurs combined.

I was at the game, incredible experience. Spurs looked great offensively, but I'll continue to be cautious until the defense is figured out. Gave up two goals to Brentford and despite the clean sheet it absolutely was not figured out on Saturday.

- Rashford and Fernandes missed completely free headers from 6 yards out. The defending on those two plays (23' and 36') would have been embarassing at the U14 level.

- In the second half Van de Ven was caught ballwatching and facing the wrong way which allowed Antony to come within two inches of scoring.

- Not long after that Casemiro had another free header which was brilliantly saved by Vicario.

- Fernandes of all people somehow ran past the backline and both CBs made unsuccessful desperation slides. If Bruno had taken an extra touch he would have been one-on-one with Vicario. Even still Vicario had to make another excellent save.

- After the second goal there were at least two more instances of lackluster marking on crosses (86', 90'). If the crosses were better placed by Bruno they both could have easily resulted in goals.

xG supports this assessment, giving Man U a 2.01. It gave Spurs 1.58 which seems low. To me, the two teams were exactly on par with each other except for finishing. Martinez had a rough night, though unlucky to be fair. Anyway, my point is, Spurs fans should not be going nuts and Man U fans should not be calling for their manager's head. The reaction from Spurs fans seems fairly reasonable aside from ignoring awful defending, while United fans want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I think Spurs fans know we're still a work in progress. But to play attacking football as opposed to this defensive smash and grab stuff we've been playing under Mourinho, Nuno, and Conte is going to make the fans happy no matter what. After all, the club motto is "To Dare Is To Do". I don't think anyone has said that the defending hasn't been bad, but now we have Vicario instead of an aged Lloris, so we'll stop a few more shots. Van de Ven has only been practicing for three weeks with us now. Romero has looked confident and Udogie has looked great. We do need to sign one more player for depth.

Yeah, I'm confident things will get ironed out as the backline gets more minutes together, but they've got a long way to go. Hopefully we can win more than our share of 3-2 shootouts.

[NWI_Irish96]

Champions League draw was yesterday. Group F is the "group of death" with seeded PSG drawing Dortmund, AC Milan, and Newcastle.

My predictions for 1st-2nd in each group plus the championship:

A - Bayern Munich, Manchester United
B - Sevilla, Arsenal
C - Real Madrid, Napoli
D - Inter Milan, RB Salzburg
E - Atletico Madrid, Lazio
F - AC Milan, PSG
G - Manchester City, RS Belgrade
H - Barcelona, Shaktar Donetsk (sentimental pick)

Final: Manchester City over AC Milan

[JayhawkCO]

A) Bayern, Man U
B) Arsenal, PSV
C) Real, Napoli
D) Inter, Benfica
E) Feyenoord, Atleti
F) PSG, Newcastle
G) City, Leipzig
H) Barca, Porto

Final: City over Bayern

[Bruce]

The MLS regular season is over and new attendance records have been set: an average of 22,111 (overtaking 22,106 in 2017) and total of 10,900,804.

The Messi bump can be credited for six away matches (which averaged over 45,000 since July), but the real story is a good number of increases for various teams and a strong debut for St. Louis City (with 22,423 per match).

A full list by team with their 2023 and 2022 averages:

TEAM 2023 AVG. (2022 AVG.)
1. Atlanta United 47,526 (47,116)
2. Charlotte FC 36,337 (35,260)
3. Seattle 32,161 (33,607)
4. Nashville SC 28,257 (27,554)
5. FC Cincinnati 25,367 (22,487)
6. Toronto FC 25,310 (25,423)
7. LA Galaxy 24,106 (22,841)
8. New England 23,940 (21,221)
9. Portland 23,103 (23,841)
10. St. Louis City 22,423 (first season)
11. LAFC 22,155 (22,089)
12. Austin FC 20,738 (20,738)
13. Orlando City 20,590 (17,261)
14. Columbus 20,314 (19,237)
15. NYCFC 19,816 (17,180)
16. Minnesota United 19,568 (19,560)
17. Real Salt Lake 19,429 (20,470)
20. Philadelphia 18,907 (18,126)
21. Sporting KC 18,616 (18,365)
22. San Jose 18,412 (15,260)
21. FC Dallas 18,220 (16,469)
22. Chicago 18,170 (15,848)
23. NY Red Bulls 17,786 (17,002)
24. Inter Miami 17,698 (12,637)
25. CF Montreal 17,552 (15,769)
26. D.C. United 17,540 (16,256)
27. Vancouver 16,745 (16,399)
28. Colorado 15,409 (14,473)
29. Houston 15,029 (16,426)
2023 AVERAGE: 22,111