Fútbol chatter

[Bruce]

FC Cincinnati played its first home MLS game last night to a full house of 32,500 at Nippert Stadium. They demolished MLS Cup runners-up Portland in style.

[nexus73]

FC Cincinnati played its first home MLS game last night to a full house of 32,500 at Nippert Stadium. They demolished MLS Cup runners-up Portland in style.

Portland has had a sucky start.  Most surprising!  If the Cincy crowds are that large, the franchise should look to moving their games to the Bengals' stadium.  Seattle can draw in the 60K's at the same stadium the Seahawks play in, which makes it funny to think the LA Chargers play in a smallish soccer stadium...LOL!

Rick

[mgk920]

Eventually, the North American league schedule will be harmonized with the FIFA league schedule.

Mike

That's unlikely to happen. Latin American leagues are quite content with the Apertura/Clasura schedule, while the colder climates for a good majority of cities in the US and Canada requires MLS to use a summer schedule. Playing in the snow is something that should not normally occur in soccer, which is why Scandinavian leagues use a summer schedule and Russian leagues have a long winter break that pretty much emulates the Apertura/Clasura.

I'm thinking more on the lines of more home games being scheduled in northern cities early and late in the season and more home games being scheduled in southern cities during the middle of the season.  Besides, obviously, many northern cities getting uncomfortably and even unbearably and dangerously cold during the winter months, many southern cities can and do get uncomfortably and even unbearably and dangerously hot and gooey during the summer months, too.

The end of season period in May should be OK all around for playoff action.

Mike

[Bruce]

I'm thinking more on the lines of more home games being scheduled in northern cities early and late in the season and more home games being scheduled in southern cities during the middle of the season.  Besides, obviously, many northern cities getting uncomfortably and even unbearably and dangerously cold during the winter months, many southern cities can and do get uncomfortably and even unbearably and dangerously hot and gooey during the summer months, too.

The end of season period in May should be OK all around for playoff action.

No team likes an extended road trip, and they usually result in losing streaks for leagues where home-field advantage is more important (like MLS). During the summers, games can be rescheduled further into the night to avoid the worst of the heat, but the same can't really be done for cold weather. Not to mention that winter does a number on the playing surface, which is really really important in soccer...complaints about turf are louder in soccer for a reason.

MLS also has another key reason to stay on the summer schedule: interference with other sports. It only has to share spring and summer with baseball in terms of outdoor competition, which is easier than competing with NFL. The MLS playoffs already see a bit of interference from NFL and CFB, but it's easier to get networks to give up decent national slots for the playoffs than it is for regular season games.

[Bruce]

Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

[thspfc]

Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

I'm guessing it's supposed to look like Bayern's ground? It looks nice. If MN United ever finds a good squad I might have to see some matches there.

[thspfc]

Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

If you want to hate on soccer, that's fine, just stay off the soccer board and don't ruin it for those of us who do like the beautiful game.

[thspfc]

Speaking of domination by one country, the UEFA Champions League has turned into the EPL Invitational somewhat.  Both Manchesters, Liverpool, and Tottenham comprise half of the round of 8.

Go Spurs! With the way they've been playing recently I'm not to hopeful against City, but if they can keep a clean sheet in the first leg and score in the second, they might be able to scrape by.

[Bruce]

Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

I'm guessing it's supposed to look like Bayern's ground? It looks nice. If MN United ever finds a good squad I might have to see some matches there.

Considering the demand (with only 19K seats), the only time to see the team is when they're crap and ticket prices are a little lower.

[thspfc]

Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

I'm guessing it's supposed to look like Bayern's ground? It looks nice. If MN United ever finds a good squad I might have to see some matches there.

Considering the demand (with only 19K seats), the only time to see the team is when they're crap and ticket prices are a little lower.

I looked on MN United's website and right now, 2 weeks away, it's $87 for their first match at the new stadium against NYCFC. $87 isn't too bad for one person going to one game.

[Bruce]

$87 is really expensive for MLS. Typically, prices are around $30-50 for big teams.

[thspfc]

That's good, I thought it was more expensive.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

That's just going to make 94 and Snelling Ave suck even more ass. Yay.

[Buck87]

Crazy game in Columbus tonight on a completely soaked field in a driving cold rain. The ball was constantly stopping short of normal, with players overrunning it. The Crew defeated Atlanta 2-0.

Here's a funny highlight of a Crew player trying to keep the ball off the turf:
https://twitter.com/Interpearsonal/status/1112164293007626240

[mgk920]

Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

If you want to hate on soccer, that's fine, just stay off the soccer board and don't ruin it for those of us who do like the beautiful game.

As the O.P. of this thread, I called it 'Fútbol' to differentiate it from the version of 'Football' that is usually played here in North America.



And I agree, if you don't like it, that's your problem, not ours.  I'm not a fan of some other sports (ie. golf, tennis), but I never go ragging on them.

Mike

[CNGL-Leudimin]

However fútbol is Spanish. It should be "Association football", as I call the sport here to differentiate from what I call "American football". The term "football" is rather ambiguous here.

[hotdogPi]

Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

If you want to hate on soccer, that's fine, just stay off the soccer board and don't ruin it for those of us who do like the beautiful game.

As the O.P. of this thread, I called it 'Fútbol' to differentiate it from the version of 'Football' that is usually played here in North America.



And I agree, if you don't like it, that's your problem, not ours.  I'm not a fan of some other sports (ie. golf, tennis), but I never go ragging on them.

Mike

And the quote is from 2013.

[Bruce]

That's good, I thought it was more expensive.

MLS is probably the cheapest major league out there. Even the price of a seat in the MLS Cup final doesn't reach above the cost of a basic season ticket on the secondary market.

[english si]

Both Manchesters, Liverpool, and Tottenham comprise half of the round of 8. 

Also happened in 2008 and 2009 (Arsenal and Chelsea, rather than City and Spurs). Spain have only managed to get 3 out of 4 through to the quarters, but did so every year from 2012 to 2018.

We'll have to lose 1, as City and Spurs play each other, but 3 out of 4 semi-finalists is a rare feat - only 6 times before: Spain (17 and 00), England (07, 08 and 09) and Italy (03).

Add in that we could be looking at an all-London Europa League final (Chelsea have the easier side of the draw with Slavia Prague and then either Benfica or Frankfurt, with Arsenal having Napoli and then either Villarreal or Valencia). English teams are clearly doing well in Europe this season, with only Burnley out so far (losing to Olympiacos in the play off round of the Europa league).


Hopefully City get stopped in their quadruple-quest. Other than Chelsea in the League Cup final (who were especially lacklustre on the day - playing for penalties and not getting a shot on target in 120 minutes), they haven't really played any top sides in their domestic cup runs (Leicester perhaps?), and have had similar good fortune in getting lower-ranked clubs than they might have (even factoring in the seedings that take place) in the UCL - Spurs are obviously quality, but they are who City would have wanted. First number in brackets is where the club finished last season, second is where they are now (English comps only):
League Cup - Oxford (60/56), Fulham (23/19), Leicester (9/8), Burton (43/55), Chelsea (5/6)
FA Cup - Rotherham (48/42), Burnley (7/17), Newport (79/79), Swansea* (18/35), Brighton (15/15) - not yet played and either Watford (14/10) or Wolves (21/7) in the final
Champions League - Lyon, 1889 Hoffenheim, Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke 04, Tottenham (to be played). Playing Ajax or Juve in the semi is, while we're looking at serious threats, easier than Barca, United or Liverpool on the other side of the draw.

*Swansea made City look rather naff and would have won but for two incidences of terrible refereeing favouring City - a Sterling penalty that was a fair challenge, and an offside goal. OK, they weren't as awful as the Cardiff-Chelsea decisions yesterday, but City didn't get through on merit at all.

[thspfc]

Did anyone else see the terrible goal Spurs conceded (or scored on themselves rather) to lose to Liverpool? Trippier left Salah wide open at the back post 

[Bruce]

Sporting Kansas City has lost 5-0 to Monterrey in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal.

Barring a miracle in Kansas City, MLS has once again fallen short of the Champions League final.

[thspfc]

Sporting Kansas City has lost 5-0 to Monterrey in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal.

Barring a miracle in Kansas City, MLS has once again fallen short of the Champions League final.

"champions league"

[Bruce]

MLS has a new stadium: Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN. Debut game ended in a 3-3 draw with some hilarious moments, though I feel like things would be dramatically different if the snow had continued to pile up.

https://twitter.com/MNUFC/status/1117066156509208577

https://twitter.com/thesoccerdon/status/1117174205819379713

[thspfc]

How about Barcelona choking for the second year in a row! Last year, they lost a 4-1 first leg lead, and this year lost a 3-0 lead. Barcelona is cursed in the Champions League.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

This year will see a Champions League winner not to hail from Spain for the first time since 2013. At the time SD Huesca got relegated from the 2nd tier, they have just been relegated from the top flight. They dropped to the bottom of La Liga too soon, to the point it was said they were out already by Christmas. But they have fought hard, having only dropped out last Saturday with two matchdays remaining. Instead of being booed and having to play in an almost empty stadium like other teams would have to face they were met by loud cheers, despite the fact they won't play in La Liga next season.

Update: It's now clear the Champions League winner will be English.