AARoads Forum

Is anyone else in here following the USA Mens' National team?

They just peeled off another win, USA 1:0 Honduras, at Rio Tinto Stadium in suburban Salt Lake City on Tuesday evening to take a commanding lead in their group in qualifying for next year's World Cup.  They now have 13 standings points, three points ahead of Costa Rica and five points ahead of third-place Mexico (who I consider to be in serious danger of missing the World Cup), with four games to go.

They have been doing very well, indeed, since Jürgen Klinsmann took over as head coach two years ago.

:cool:

Any thoughts?

Mike

Does Klinsmann still slide on his belly when he scores? that was everyone's favourite goal celebration when I was growing up: score a tap in in a 'jumpers for goalposts' situation and it was almost expected that you would shout "Klinsmann" and bellyflop to the floor.

CONCACAF get three places, plus a playoff verse New Zealand.

The run in is as follows:
USA (13): Costa Rica (A), Mexico (H), Jamaica (H), Panama (A)
Costa Rica (11): USA (H), Jamaica (A), Honduras (A), Mexico (H)
Mexico (8): Honduras (H), USA (A), Panama (H), Costa Rica (A)
Honduras (7): Mexico (A), Panama (H), Costa Rica (H), Jamaica (A)
Panama (6): Jamaica (H), Honduras (A), Mexico (A), USA (H)
Jamaica (2): Panama (A), Costa Rica (H), USA (A), Honduras (H)

USA and Costa Rica are going to qualify, Jamaica not. Mid-table is where the action is.

Mexico will beat the All Whites, so we're looking to see if Mexico will come 5th. All three play each other, but Panama is away for both their games. Mexico plays the other two at home, but plays the top 2 away. Mexico doesn't get Jamaica, but the worst that can happen is that Jamaica don't play when out of the competition, and Honduras put several past them, forcing Mexico into the playoff.

Mexico will be in Brazil next summer, unless something serious happens. They are not in serious danger, though they do have to 'par' their remaining matches. Lose their next one, then there's some serious danger.

Quote from: mgk920 on June 19, 2013, 11:50:55 AM
Is anyone else in here following the USA Mens' National team?

No, the Stanley Cup is on.

Absolutely following the soccer, although I missed the game at Jamaica because we don't get the channel on which it aired (beIN Sports). I thought last night's game was one of those where the US team was a lot more dominant than the stat sheet would show. But the most important thing is that no US player who entered with a yellow card got a second one. The next game (at Costa Rica) is going to be a nasty enough scene as it is, probably worse than usual because they think they were screwed by playing that game in the snow (but it's their own fault for not following the correct protest procedure), and it would have been that much more difficult had we lost guys to card-related suspensions.

I don't think I'd ever seen a Real Salt Lake game on TV. The field at that stadium last night looked absolutely magnificent, especially compared to the chopped-up surface in Seattle last week.

Surprised to see "fútbol", as "football" is spelt in my language, in the thread title. "Football" is what soccer is called anywhere in the world, your "football" is called "American football" anywhere.

Too bad my hometown team was demoted from 2nd division last season :(. OTOH, Spain is now playing the Confederations cup, they have beaten Uruguay 2-1 and tomorrow will play against Tahiti. They got 3rd place in South Africa after losing to USA in semifinals.

Quote from: Brandon on June 19, 2013, 02:36:13 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on June 19, 2013, 11:50:55 AM
Is anyone else in here following the USA Mens' National team?

No, the Stanley Cup is on.

Really? I've been seeing lots of soccer and baseball on sports center, and the NBA finals are of course the major sporting event going on right now, but I don't think I've seen a single hockey clip or overheard a single discussion about hockey in a long while. Who's playing? Why are they playing in June?

The USA mens' national team defeated Belize 6-1 in a CONCACAF Gold Cup first round match on Tuesday night in Portland, OR, in a kind of a lack-luster game (they looked like they were at practice) and it should have been a bigger blowout.  They play Cuba on Saturday late afternoon in suburban Salt lake City (Sandy, UT).

OTOH, Mexico lost to Panama 2-1 on Sunday (their first-ever loss to Panama) and Canada, eh?   :-P

The Mexican national team is having a dreadful year so far (IIRC, they are now 2-3-8 so far in 2013) and from what I am hearing, the locals are not happy about it.  They play Canada, eh?, tonight (Thursday, 2013-07-11) in Seattle in another Gold Cup first-round match.

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on July 11, 2013, 11:47:09 AM
The USA mens' national team defeated Belize 6-1 in a CONCACAF Gold Cup first round match on Tuesday night in Portland, OR, in a kind of a lack-luster game (they looked like they were at practice) and it should have been a bigger blowout.  They play Cuba on Saturday late afternoon in suburban Salt lake City (Sandy, UT).

OTOH, Mexico lost to Panama 2-1 on Sunday (their first-ever loss to Panama) and Canada, eh?   :-P

The Mexican national team is having a dreadful year so far (IIRC, they are now 2-3-8 so far in 2013) and from what I am hearing, the locals are not happy about it.  They play Canada, eh?, tonight (Thursday, 2013-07-11) in Seattle in another Gold Cup first-round match.

Mike

CAN-MEX will hopefully be a good game.

Is CUB any good this year? I'm hoping for more excitement than the game on Tuesday.

The USA Mens' national team is on a continuing TEAR with their 5-1 blowout win v. El Salvador in their CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final match in Baltimore on Sunday (2013-07-21) - and are now riding a team-record nine-game winning streak.

Their next game is Wednesday night for their semi-final match v. Honduras at Cowboys' Stadium in Arlington, TX.

In their quarter-final match, Mexico's woes continued as they just barely eeked out a win v. Trinidad and Tobago, 1-0, on a late goal.

MIke

USA is in the Gold Cup Final! 3-1 win over Honduras (EJ, LD x2) and a sending off for Klinsmann.

Dammit, I forgot about the game!

Yepper, 3-1 USA National Team win v. Honduras and Jürgen Klinsmann questionable for Sunday's championship game in Chicago.  He was *LIVID* about the officiating!

And Mexico, losing to Panama 2-1!  :wow:   Things are not going well there at all - look for Jose Manuel de la Torre to be gone as head coach in the near-term future.

BTW, the USA National Team is now riding a team-record ten-game winning streak.

:cool:

Mike

Wake me up next year when national team (level) soccer will matter to most in this country again.

More great news: DC United are getting closer and closer to their new stadium at Buzzard Point. Here's the render released by the club's website:

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1074838_10151731490128887_122098518_o.jpg)

HUGE REMINDER: The Gold Cup Final (US v Panama at Soldier Field) will be on FOX, beginning with a pre-game show at 3:30pm Eastern/12:30 Pacific. Help boost TV viewership for soccer in America!

^^^
Good for them! I've never been there in person but I've heard nothing but bad things about RFK Stadium. Is Buzzed Point still within the District or are they moving to the 'burbs?

Quote from: realjd on July 25, 2013, 11:30:19 PM
^^^
Good for them! I've never been there in person but I've heard nothing but bad things about RFK Stadium. Is Buzzed Point still within the District or are they moving to the 'burbs?

Assuming that that is Nationals Park and S Capitol St in the background, that would certainly be in the 'District'.

Mike

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

Quote from: realjd on July 25, 2013, 11:30:19 PM
^^^
Good for them! I've never been there in person but I've heard nothing but bad things about RFK Stadium. Is Buzzed Point still within the District or are they moving to the 'burbs?

Buzzard Point is a creepy industrial area across South Capitol Street from the baseball stadium. The soccer stadium will be two blocks from Nationals Park and will go a long way towards improving Buzzard Point, which hasn't seen redevelopment from baseball because most fans arrive from the other side of the ballpark.

Only downside for me is that when I go to Nationals games I park at the 12-hour parking meters back there for very cheap prices, and now that option is bound to disappear. Too bad. Driving to games is much faster and more pleasant than the Metro.

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

The English call it 'football' ('soccer' is short for 'association football', the formal English-language name of the sport, which, like golf, was developed in the UK) and if you don't like to watch it, then don't watch it - and there is no need for your to trumpet your choice to the rest of the World, nor to spam-up a forvm for those who do.

Mike

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

Can you give some examples of it being boring/sucky? Soccer is a game of constant flow and build-up, IMHO, which can deter American viewers expecting action broken up by commercial breaks...

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/goldcup/story/concacaf-bans-usa-manager-jurgen-klinsmann-from-gold-cup-final-vs-panama-072613

<sigh....>

:no:

Mike

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
Soccer (not "futbol" as that is not the English word) is boring and sucky.  I'd almost rather watch golf or reality TV.

American football is boring and sucky. But I'm really tired of football (what your guys call "soccer"), in my country media is almost the only sport in existence.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 27, 2013, 04:51:22 AMin my country media is almost the only sport in existence.

Well you need to be better at other sports!

Here's the item/two taking the title page of the sports section of one British paper over the last two weeks:

Athletics - Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium and assorted stuff (eg drugs clampdown) x3 (24, 26, 27)
Soccer - Suarez transfer saga (25); Rooney transfer saga (17, 18)
Tour de France - Froome in a car picture (23)*
Cricket - some Aussie attacks his country's dire batsmen (23)*, England coach defends England player from Richard Dawkins'^ moralistic tirade (16), England win having made it look closer than it should have been (15), How close it is on the final day: England needing 4 wickets, Aussie needing 137 runs and how it won't take long to get a result (14)
Golf - picture of British golfer x5 (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)*# Picture of Tiger Woods (16, 17).

So Golf wins, but only as it seems to be photogenic and only gets half a page on all but one day. Cricket wins in picture and article volume on the front pages, but I imagine that the Tour de France wins in column inches over the two weeks, narrowly beating the Cricket.

*note that TdF and the Ashes (cricket) took over most of the sports sections these days, plus got into the main news bit, hence why Golf gets the main page.
#Rory McIlroy talking to the press (18), Rory McIlroy looking sad (19), Lee Westwood looking happy (20, 21), Lee Westwood looking sad (22).
^OK, not specifically Dawkins, though he was the most moralistic and priggish, and the most offended, by the incident that was nothing special and other players did a couple of times in the match as well without incurring the ire of others.

^^^
Suarez to Arsenal, Roony to Chelsea. Both are looking more and more likely.

So...uh...we got Dempsey. He's going to start playing on August 25th against the Timbers in front of 67k at CenturyLink Field. It's going to be amazing!

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1098445_10151585592568589_1596705705_n.jpg)

They must be offering Dempsey serious bank for him to leave Tottenham. No offense to the Sounders but it's not exactly a lateral move on his part.

Quote from: realjd on August 05, 2013, 06:39:59 PM
They must be offering Dempsey serious bank for him to leave Tottenham. No offense to the Sounders but it's not exactly a lateral move on his part.

According to NBC ProSoccerTalk (http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/02/clint-dempsey-seattle-sounders-transfer-latest-news-rumors-tottenham-spurs-usmnt-usa/), the transfer fee is $9 million, paid for by the league, and the Sounders have "guaranteed the 30-year-old attacker $32 million over the next four seasons". That comes out to $8 million per season.

In other news, here's the full timeline/saga (http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/8/2/4583798/clint-dempsey-rumored-to-be-sounders-newest-designated-player) from SounderAtHeart, by far the best Sounders news source. Deuce's home debut will be against Portland in front of over 66,000 (http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/8/6/4595878/centurylink-field-capacity-expanded-for-clint-dempseys-home-opener), filling CenturyLink Field to capacity as the second highest standalone game in league history. Also, this happened on the Timbers' sister fan site (http://www.sounderatheart.com/2013/8/6/4595144/moments-in-unintentional-trolling-history).

Quote from: realjd on August 05, 2013, 06:39:59 PM
They must be offering Dempsey serious bank for him to leave Tottenham. No offense to the Sounders but it's not exactly a lateral move on his part.

He was also going to face an increasingly uphill battle for pitch time at Spurs. I imagine he is smart enough to have seen the writing on the wall, and this way everyone can win: Spurs get paid, Dempsey gets paid, and gets to play out his career in his home country as a superstar rather than as a bit part. It's just a shame he was cheated out of the chance to appear in the UCL.

A bit belated, but the USA National Team won their 12th in a row on Wednesday, an international 'friendly' v. #13 ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina at Sarajevo (the USA was ranked #19 in the World going into that game).  The USA spotted B-H two first half goals and then stormed back with four of their own in the second half, including a hat trick by Jozy Altidore.  This was despite the fact that several of the team's best players, including Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, did not make the trip.

:cool:

Mike

How's NBC's Premier League coverage (which must be in it's second week)?

Looking at their ads on youtube, there's an awful lot of Italian singing being used to promote English football - eg "Forget Downtown Abbey. Real English Drama. Every Match. Every Week. Every Team." with Pavarotti singing 'Nessun Dorma' as the soundtrack.

Congrats to newly-promoted Cardiff (as in Wales, UK), for their first WIN in the English First Division (now the Barclay's Premier League) in 51 seasons. Their first victim since 1962? Manchester City - winning 3-2 on Sunday, 2013-08-25!

:-o

BTW, The Seattle Sounders (MLS) drew 67K+ fans to their game v. Portland Timbers on Sunday, winning 1-0.  Clint Dempsey has had an amazing effect on fan interest in the Pacific Northwest, indeed!

Mike

Quote from: english si on August 24, 2013, 11:43:16 AM
How's NBC's Premier League coverage (which must be in it's second week)?

Crap, but only beacuse they don't insist that affiliates and cable companies not center crop the match from 16:9 to 4:1 (for non-HD feeds) cutting off part of the score box/ important game footage.

Quote from: mgk920 on August 26, 2013, 02:03:24 AM
BTW, The Seattle Sounders (MLS) drew 67K+ fans to their game v. Portland Timbers on Sunday, winning 1-0.  Clint Dempsey has had an amazing effect on fan interest in the Pacific Northwest, indeed!

It wasn't all Clint. Mostly Portland hate that fuels the large attendance.

Anyway, the Sounders won 1-0 in Columbus after a two-hour weather delay and going down to 10 men in the 7th minute. Amazing stuff.

Dos a cero! Clap clap clap-clap-clap!

And a trip to the 2014 World Cup!

:cheers:

BTW, Mexico is still not out of it yet, but things are not looking good at all for 'El Tri' this time around.

Mike

USA are through and top of the qualifying table...and Dempsey definitely missed the penalty on purpose to preserve Dos a Cero numero 4.

Is there a luckier team in all of sports right now than the Mexican National Team?

:sombrero:

They were less than two minutes away from missing the World Cup on Tuesday night (2013-10-15), when the USA (who had absolutely nothing to play for - they had a 1st seed in the WC group draw and first place the qualifying group already sewed up regardless of the outcome of their game) pealed off two goals in second half stoppage time to defeat Panama 3-2 in Panama City, knocking Panama out of the World Cup and keeping Mexico's hopes alive.  Mexico had earlier lost their game 2-1 to Costa Rica in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Mexico will now play New Zealand in a two game home-and-home total score playoff in mid November for the trip to Brasil.

Amazing!

:wow:

And yes, it was a totally DEVASTATING loss for Panama, it would have been the country's first-ever appearance a World Cup had their score held and they then had won the subsequent home-and-home playoff v. New Zealand.

Mike

I meant to post this last week...

The final hurdle was cleared last week for Orlando's new downtown soccer stadium. This means that division 3 Orlando City will move up and become the newest MLS team, most likely in 2015!

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/10/22/orange-county-approves-funding-downtown-orlando-soccer-stadium

There's talk that Miami will be getting a team as well. In their case, it won't be a minor league team moving up; it will be a brand new expansion team.

Any thoughts on Friday's World Cup group draw?

Said to be the 'Group of Death' (Group G), the USA is paired with Germany, Portugal and Ghana - a very tough grouping, to be sure, but the USA is definitely good enough and well enough coached to advance from it.

Mike

There's several groups of death in the World Cup draw: B and D, as well as G. A looks like it might be - everyone but Brazil should have strong doubts about their getting through - and Brazil should not be confident of an easy three games, though home advantage (and not having qualifiers has lowered their ranking) will see them through. C, E and H look to be where the softer teams in each pot ended up.

Hard groups D and G, will at least have an easier second round game than they might have had.

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Iran, Nigeria
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, United States
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea

The Netherlands, and Italy, must be kicking themselves for having friendlies against poor opposition (Indonesia and San Marino respectively) just before the World Cup Draw. They both lost out on the seedings to Switzerland by 2 points. If they had played the team one rank higher in the world rankings than the ones they did, they'd have gained 3 extra points. Instead they played friendlies with friends and got stuck in groups of death, with a higher-ranked team in there too :pan:

Wow, the final match of last World cup will happen again in Brazil. But at first round instead.

PS:

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 27, 2013, 04:51:22 AMAmerican football is boring and sucky.

I jumped the gun too early. I have watched some American football, and is not that boring and sucky as I thought.

Quote from: mgk920 on December 07, 2013, 11:07:27 AM
Any thoughts on Friday's World Cup group draw?

Said to be the 'Group of Death' (Group G), the USA is paired with Germany, Portugal and Ghana - a very tough grouping, to be sure, but the USA is definitely good enough and well enough coached to advance from it.

Mike

The idea behind the seeding should be closer to how the NCAA does it - with eight groups, you have your world rankings 1-8, 9-16, 17-24, and 25-32 (out of the 32 qualifying teams). Each group gets one random pick from each of those four pools.  That way, you don't have a group of death where the combined additive ranking of all four members is less than 50.

Remember that one of the driving priorities, in addition to splitting apart powerhouses, is that each group have geographic diversity, this so that, for example, you don't have a group with four South American teams and/or a group with four European teams.

Mike

^^ yes, each group has 1 or 2 European teams, 1 South American team and 1 or 2 other teams...

Time for a flashback moment when the defunct Cleveland Crunch in the MISL in 1994 won a championship. First championship in Cleveland since 1964.

With just over two weeks to go before the start of the 2014 World Cup (already?!?!?!  *YIKES*!!!   :wow: ), what's going to happen in Brasil this time around?  How far will the USA get into it?  Will there be a home-team winner?  Etc?

:hmmm:

:nod:

Mike

I go with Spain due to obvious reasons :sombrero:. But they won't win the World Cup again, I think.

The Spanish league got a thrill ending with FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid having a direct match for the championship. A triumph of either team gave it the league, if a draw occurred then Atlético won (They had three points more than Barça). On the first half Atlético got two players injured, and to make things even worse Barça scored a goal. On the second half Atlético reacted and scored, and then managed to keep that scoreboard of 1-1 to break the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barça and clinch its 10th league trophy.

Next week the Champions League Final Match took place in Lisbon, with both teams hailing from the same city: Real Madrid and Atlético (again). The latter scored on the first half and was already chhering for having won the European Cup for the first time... when at the last minute Real Madrid tied the match. They had to go to overtime, where Real Madrid scored three more goals and therefore clinched its long awaited 10th European Cup.

And that's all from the other side of the pond.

Quote from: mgk920 on May 28, 2014, 02:41:55 PM
With just over two weeks to go before the start of the 2014 World Cup (already?!?!?!  *YIKES*!!!   :wow: ), what's going to happen in Brasil this time around?  How far will the USA get into it?  Will there be a home-team winner?  Etc?

:hmmm:

:nod:

Mike

I'd be very surprised if the US makes it out of the group stage. We did not get lucky with the drawings this year.

The groups were nice and fun, weren't they - all the rubbish-sounding teams together and all the cool teams together.

That said, some of these rubbish-sounding teams are good and some of the good-sounding teams aren't as good as they could be.

I'm surprised that some of the English Newcastle players didn't try to injure Suarez. That said, there aren't many.

What do people think of the World Cup early on? Surprisingly little talk of it on here.

Don't ask me. The Netherlands have taken a revenge from us. And we scored first...

Some of the pitches are awful, and the refs even worse, but it's much much better than South Africa - only Cameroon haven't been playing positive attacking football for at least some of the match.

Only Greece and Cameroon haven't scored, every game has had three goals (Mexico having two stolen by the linesman) or more. No draws (something that would appeal to the US audience).

Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 14, 2014, 04:35:00 PM
What do people think of the World Cup early on? Surprisingly little talk of it on here.

"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN2H3--1aw)

More seriously, we took over a conference room on Friday and watched the ESP/NED game (1-5, bit of a shocker for Spain). Beautiful header goal that will be in the highlight reel for the entire Cup.

I have money on Deutschland, though.

As for the USA, they did well in the Nigeria warm up game, so I have to think they can beat Ghana, which is similar in style.  The best that can happen is if USA beat Ghana and Portugal and Germany draw (something that hasn't happened yet at this World Cup).

Quote from: kurumi on June 15, 2014, 03:05:50 PM"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN2H3--1aw)

Moss from The IT Crowd: better punditry than ITV (the British network showing half the games, sharing with BBC).

Well, that's how you do try and get a country bothered about soccer!

Despite having a German coach, the Americans still can't play an Euro-style quality passing game as seen in the possession time and there is way too much room being left in front of the goal and goalie for some opposing striker to sneak in and score.  Talent-wise the USA team is as good as anyone but they aren't playing well as a team IMO.  They got lucky to get past Ghana.  Given the population and wealth disparity plus the millions of kids who have been hauled to practice and play soccer for decades, we should be beating the Ghanas of the world 10-0.

Oh well, the real 11 on 11 sport here is FOOTBALL!   

Rick 

Quote from: nexus73 on June 16, 2014, 09:50:17 PMDespite having a German coach, the Americans still can't play an Euro-style quality passing game as seen in the possession time

They were ahead in under a minute, playing decent enough opposition, and lost their playmaker to injury. Soaking up pressure, as they did in the second half was a sensible tactic in the circumstance. That they could pounce and score a second in response quickly shows that they knew what they were doing. There was a need to win, there wasn't a need to win big: perhaps the first winning side to play a bit cagey and safe in the opening match here, but doing just enough is a common enough tactic. You reduce the effort needed if you aren't bombing forward all the time, you avoid further injuries, you still get three points and you are fresher for next time.

Plus a counter-attacking USA side is good practise for the next two games!

Quoteand there is way too much room being left in front of the goal and goalie for some opposing striker to sneak in and score.

You're holding the attacking players back in the middle third, else they'd be offside. You are giving yourself time to recover from a mistake, and one-on-one against the keeper isn't as easy as it seems. Playing a high line is a sensible tactic and what the USA did was create a wall with their two banks of four being fairly close together. It was breeched on lots of occasions, sure, (mostly on the wing) but they had the time to get back before a shot was sensible or a cross into the box happened.

QuoteTalent-wise the USA team is as good as anyone but they aren't playing well as a team IMO.

IMO they are a team with some decent players, but they play above their weight as they play well as a team. Just because their style isn't Spanish (it's more like a traditional German style, which makes sense) doesn't mean they aren't playing as a team.

QuoteThey got lucky to get past Ghana.

Maybe, 2-1 was a fair result as Ghana didn't do much with the ball - the Ghana of 4 years ago would have won with that possession, but then again the USA wouldn't have given that much possession away if Ghana were actually scoring with it (you'll note that after Ghana equalised, they didn't see anywhere near as much of the ball as the USA stopped letting them have it).

QuoteGiven the population and wealth disparity

But these are nonsense criteria.

Wealth has little to do with it - many the best players in the world grew up in slums in Brazil developing excellent skills as they were playing with cans on crappy surfaces, rather than balls on decent pitches.

And population - Ghana lives football, the US doesn't. Soccer is the 5th sport in the US, but first by a long way in Ghana. Population doesn't matter when people want to play football with their hands, or shoot some hoops, or use bats and sticks to hit balls, rather than have a kick about...

Quoteplus the millions of kids who have been hauled to practice and play soccer for decades

Hauled? don't get much football played at recess or in other non-formal settings then? no kick about with 'jumpers for goalposts'? They may play soccer, but they don't live it, unlike Ghanians.

Quotewe should be beating the Ghanas of the world 10-0.

"Team America - fuck yeah!" view of the world there.

10-0 is rather rare - the other team has to be awful, which Ghana isn't, and your team has to want it. I'm pretty sure that, despite teams like Liechtenstein, Malta, San Marino, Faeroe Islands, Andorra, etc in European qualification for the World Cup, we don't often see them conceding more than 8 (and typically only 5 or 6), even against the Germanys, Englands, Frances and Spains. England-San Marino, which I saw at Wembley (with more than the population of San Marino in the ground) was only 5-0 as England didn't play with much energy as they didn't need to (also, San Marino were given the ball a lot, though they only got through England and into the final third once). OK, these tiny countries are as-rich/more rich than the big ones, but they aren't concede double-digit countries (unlike some Pacific island nations).

Population gives your country strength in depth, if more of your potential squad gets injured before the tournament. Uruguay is a small country, but one that can bring 23 players of decent-enough quality to Brazil: who cares that England left Ashley Cole, Michael Carrick, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe, John Terry, etc at home - all of which have the quality to play in Brazil if there weren't a limited number of places, we're not playing "all your guys verses all of ours", but 11 v 11 with 3 subs.

Quote from: english si on June 17, 2014, 06:00:33 AM

Quote from: nexus73 on June 16, 2014, 09:50:17 PMDespite having a German coach, the Americans still can't play an Euro-style quality passing game as seen in the possession time

They were ahead in under a minute, playing decent enough opposition, and lost their playmaker to injury. Soaking up pressure, as they did in the second half was a sensible tactic in the circumstance. That they could pounce and score a second in response quickly shows that they knew what they were doing. There was a need to win, there wasn't a need to win big: perhaps the first winning side to play a bit cagey and safe in the opening match here, but doing just enough is a common enough tactic. You reduce the effort needed if you aren't bombing forward all the time, you avoid further injuries, you still get three points and you are fresher for next time.

Plus a counter-attacking USA side is good practise for the next two games!

Quoteand there is way too much room being left in front of the goal and goalie for some opposing striker to sneak in and score.

You're holding the attacking players back in the middle third, else they'd be offside. You are giving yourself time to recover from a mistake, and one-on-one against the keeper isn't as easy as it seems. Playing a high line is a sensible tactic and what the USA did was create a wall with their two banks of four being fairly close together. It was breeched on lots of occasions, sure, (mostly on the wing) but they had the time to get back before a shot was sensible or a cross into the box happened.

QuoteTalent-wise the USA team is as good as anyone but they aren't playing well as a team IMO.

IMO they are a team with some decent players, but they play above their weight as they play well as a team. Just because their style isn't Spanish (it's more like a traditional German style, which makes sense) doesn't mean they aren't playing as a team.

QuoteThey got lucky to get past Ghana.

Maybe, 2-1 was a fair result as Ghana didn't do much with the ball - the Ghana of 4 years ago would have won with that possession, but then again the USA wouldn't have given that much possession away if Ghana were actually scoring with it (you'll note that after Ghana equalised, they didn't see anywhere near as much of the ball as the USA stopped letting them have it).

QuoteGiven the population and wealth disparity

But these are nonsense criteria.

Wealth has little to do with it - many the best players in the world grew up in slums in Brazil developing excellent skills as they were playing with cans on crappy surfaces, rather than balls on decent pitches.

And population - Ghana lives football, the US doesn't. Soccer is the 5th sport in the US, but first by a long way in Ghana. Population doesn't matter when people want to play football with their hands, or shoot some hoops, or use bats and sticks to hit balls, rather than have a kick about...

Quoteplus the millions of kids who have been hauled to practice and play soccer for decades

Hauled? don't get much football played at recess or in other non-formal settings then? no kick about with 'jumpers for goalposts'? They may play soccer, but they don't live it, unlike Ghanians.

Quotewe should be beating the Ghanas of the world 10-0.

"Team America - fuck yeah!" view of the world there.

10-0 is rather rare - the other team has to be awful, which Ghana isn't, and your team has to want it. I'm pretty sure that, despite teams like Liechtenstein, Malta, San Marino, Faeroe Islands, Andorra, etc in European qualification for the World Cup, we don't often see them conceding more than 8 (and typically only 5 or 6), even against the Germanys, Englands, Frances and Spains. England-San Marino, which I saw at Wembley (with more than the population of San Marino in the ground) was only 5-0 as England didn't play with much energy as they didn't need to (also, San Marino were given the ball a lot, though they only got through England and into the final third once). OK, these tiny countries are as-rich/more rich than the big ones, but they aren't concede double-digit countries (unlike some Pacific island nations).

Population gives your country strength in depth, if more of your potential squad gets injured before the tournament. Uruguay is a small country, but one that can bring 23 players of decent-enough quality to Brazil: who cares that England left Ashley Cole, Michael Carrick, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe, John Terry, etc at home - all of which have the quality to play in Brazil if there weren't a limited number of places, we're not playing "all your guys verses all of ours", but 11 v 11 with 3 subs.

"Team USA" kicks butt in the Olympics.  Notice the other athletic powers chasing us are also Big Nations, not tiny bits of territory which are hard to find on a map with fewer people than Los Angeles County has.   This is hardly "nonsense criteria" as you put it.  We have a ton of high school programs feeding colleges which in their turn feed the pros.  There's more invested in athletics in the USA in one year than the entire GDP of Ghana for a decade.  That's why American teams generally do so well in global competition...we spend the money on it and have lots of people involved!

You lost track of what I said about the space in front of the goal.  I am referring to the American goal.  Having watched Paraguay last year demonstrate such a paragon of perfection for defensive play, the American setup is swiss cheese in comparison.   

Ahead or behind, if a team can maintain possession with quality passing, they will.  The American team did poorly with that.  You think because we got lucky in the last few minutes that the USA can just turn it on.  I beg to differ.  Had the Americans maintained possession with the same grade of play as the Spanish show, Ghana would not have even gotten the goal they did.  By giving the Ghanians all those chances with the ball it was almost inevitable that the African side would score.  They did.  We just got lucky.  In soccer you get several chances to kick or head in the ball but not many of those go in.  Counting on "one last hurrah" is a sure way to turn W's into ties and L's. 

In the end the Americans still show they're not up to snuff with the elites but it could be worse, we could be the Iranians and Nigerians...LOL!  That 0-0 match was the most dismal display of soccer I have seen on the World Cup level.  If so many people in so many nations dedicate their all to playing the game, you would think they would at least learn how to play it properly.  The NFL offers the highest level of play on the planet and even the weakest team can beat the strongest team on any given Sunday due to the structured-in parity.  Soccer?  Not so much even with the rest of the world being entranced with and invested in the game.

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on June 17, 2014, 03:19:32 PM"Team USA" kicks butt in the Olympics.  Notice the other athletic powers chasing us are also Big Nations, not tiny bits of territory which are hard to find on a map with fewer people than Los Angeles County has. This is hardly "nonsense criteria" as you put it.

It is for soccer, where there's a global network of talent scouts and a ton of money spread across the world.

QuoteWe have a ton of high school programs feeding colleges which in their turn feed the pros.

Really, you still keep the American Sports Model for Soccer? You don't do club academies, etc?

Sure, the USA might have better facilities for training and a larger population, but that leaves out the fact that we're talking about a nation where soccer is only just starting to break into the big time, due to other sports dominating, and a nation where it is basically the only sport and is well established.

QuoteYou lost track of what I said about the space in front of the goal.  I am referring to the American goal.

So was I - you want that chuffing space between the goal and the defence, you want to not have much space between defence and midfield, so the gap between them cannot be exploited by 'hole' players and you have time to deal with attacks. You make a wall of players and you try to stop the other team's players getting through, and if they do, several players can get back and defend in the time you have before the shot gets off (plus the keeper is given breathing room to deal with shots).

Yes the USA weren't amazing at this, but they were reasonably good at it, forcing Ghana to attack along the wings and make crosses into a well defended box, rather than being able to run past them and have some decent chances. See this from The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/17/usa-ghana-jozy-altidore-michael-bradley):

But while Beasley was stretched at times, and occasionally needed interventions from the players around him, he was far from carried by those players — if anything he consistently reminded them of one of the macro strategies teams should remember when facing Ghana: if you can isolate the supply through the middle to Gyan, and force them out wide to deliver their crosses, they can be frustrated.

Atsu at first looked confident as he ran at Beasley, then gradually looked puzzled as he was repeatedly forced wide then back inside to deliver balls into the box that the USA defence were able to deal with fairly comfortably.

Eventually it was Atsu rather than Beasley who was subbed out. Ghana had sent in 30 crosses, mostly from areas the USA would have chosen as the least worst option. Atsu may have repeatedly run at Beasley, but he rarely ran past him.

QuoteAhead or behind, if a team can maintain possession with quality passing, they will.

And likewise quality teams can let the other team hold possession and not mind. These tactics against flowing attacking play can work very very well, as Chelsea know to both its joy (getting to Champions League Final in 2012, their away games against big Premier League clubs this season just gone) and it's annoyance (West Ham this year, with their 'bus').

Add to it that you didn't want more injuries nor needed to score another goal until the wall was finally breached, the let-them-have-possession-that-amounts-to-nothing tactics of the second half made sense for the Americans.

(Possession means nothing - I once saw Arsenal play a decent Roma side in Rome. OK, they had Thierry Henry at his peak, but with 30% possession, they won 3-0 as they simply were happy to let Roma kick the ball about but only threaten the goal on Arsenal's own terms, and pounce maybe 5 or 6 times, getting decent opportunities to score with each counterattack).

QuoteThe American team did poorly with that.

They played it right, kept it pretty tight, didn't worry about possession stats, and got the only stat that mattered - 3 points.

QuoteYou think because we got lucky in the last few minutes that the USA can just turn it on.  I beg to differ.

That they scored (it was hardly lucky but reliant on the tactical substitution made a couple of minutes before conceding, and the change in tactics made after conceding) shows they could just turn it on against Ghana. They only did when the needed to, and that's what is upsetting you - they didn't care about looking dominant.

QuoteHad the Americans maintained possession with the same grade of play as the Spanish show

You'd have ended up losing 5-1 ;)
OK, Ghana aren't the Netherlands, but the USA aren't Spain either. In both cases, roughly the same teams as narrowly lost 4 years ago won this time around.

You seem obsessed with Spain being the paragon of how to play football - they aren't, at least some of the time those tactics are wrong - they would have been against Ghana.

QuoteGhana would not have even gotten the goal they did.

No, Ghana would have been able to exploit it when you conceded possession, like you did successfully against them.

I guess they'd have not got the goal they did as Gyan would have run down the middle a couple of times and get a few shots in, playing to their strength...

QuoteBy giving the Ghanians all those chances with the ball it was almost inevitable that the African side would score.

Yes and no - you gave them chances, but not good ones.

Tactically the USA got it right, even if they were far from perfect in the execution of those tactics.

QuoteIn soccer you get several chances to kick or head in the ball but not many of those go in.

Only if the chances aren't good - like the ones you gave them, rather than like the one they let you have after conceding.

QuoteCounting on "one last hurrah" is a sure way to turn W's into ties and L's.

Yes relying on one last hurrah is bad, but you were one goal up for 80+ minutes and weren't relying on it until the last 8 minutes.

If Ghana had scored at 63 minutes, and the USA retook the lead 4 minutes after that, rather than all that happening 20 minutes nearer the end of the match, we'd not be talking about it being a last hurrah, would we?

Well English Si, you make some good points.  Unfortunately soccer games don't have that many of 'em...LOL!  Today's matches I saw were Mexico-Brazil (0-0) and Russia-South Korea (1-1) and both were well-played.  I really appreciated the discipline of play shown by the Russians and Koreans and wish the Americans did the same. 

As we saw in the NBA Finals, the greatest player is not going to get the trophy, it will be the greatest team and San Antonio schooled the Heat as a result.  That's the kind of quality of play I want to see from all teams but very few deliver the goods despite the huge investment of money, time and energy.

The American who scored the first goal so quickly against Ghana was a tremendous 1 on 1 (or more) player but if he had been playing football or basketball, he would have been getting fed the ball lots to see him do it over and over and over again until the other side showed they could stop him.  His injury was just a broken nose.  In American football that doesn't even come close to being "injured".  Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps? 

No wonder the Germans lost two World Wars...LOL!  They showed the same mentality at Bastogne when six of their divisions had the 101st Airborne and one artillery brigade surrounded.  Time was short, the Germans needed to get to the fuel dumps behind the Allied lines ASAP and all the Germans could do was push one division at a time at the Americans.   The 101st held, the skies cleared, our bombers and ground attack aircraft got into the battle, the Germans ran out of fuel and the 1944 Ardennes winter offensive collapsed all because of overly cautious play.  That is NOT the American way!   

Anyways, thank you for an enlightened discussion of sports.  It has been a pleasure to do so :-)

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on June 17, 2014, 09:33:17 PM
The American who scored the first goal so quickly against Ghana was a tremendous 1 on 1 (or more) player but if he had been playing football or basketball, he would have been getting fed the ball lots to see him do it over and over and over again until the other side showed they could stop him.  His injury was just a broken nose.  In American football that doesn't even come close to being "injured".  Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps? 
Rick

Clint Dempsey is most definitely not a weakling.  Comparing soccer to American football is stupid, too.  Having a broken nose may not be being "injured", but it most definitely hurts and I would think breathing properly is a prerequisite to playing professional sports at its highest level.

As for Spain, what in the world happened to them?  Did they all get old at once?

Quote from: nexus73 on June 17, 2014, 09:33:17 PM
Well English Si, you make some good points.  Unfortunately soccer games don't have that many of 'em...LOL!  Today's matches I saw were Mexico-Brazil (0-0) and Russia-South Korea (1-1) and both were well-played.  I really appreciated the discipline of play shown by the Russians and Koreans and wish the Americans did the same. 

That Mexico-Brazil was one of the most exciting so far IMO. It was very different from the Iran-Nigeria 0-0 snoozefest.

Quote
The American who scored the first goal so quickly against Ghana was a tremendous 1 on 1 (or more) player but if he had been playing football or basketball, he would have been getting fed the ball lots to see him do it over and over and over again until the other side showed they could stop him.  His injury was just a broken nose.  In American football that doesn't even come close to being "injured".  Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps? 

And in soccer it didn't come close to being "injured" either. Notice how he wasn't subbed out and kept playing the rest of the game? I fail to see how his playing out the rest of the game with a broken nose makes him a "weakling" as you put it. And you rarely see a broken nose in American football because the players are covered up with pads and a helmet.

The reason he wasn't fed the ball over and over is that the US changed tactics. Of course a forward isn't going to see as much action if the team is playing in a defensive posture.

Quote from: realjd on June 19, 2014, 01:08:51 PM
That Mexico-Brazil was one of the most exciting so far IMO. It was very different from the Iran-Nigeria 0-0 snoozefest.

And in soccer it didn't come close to being "injured" either. Notice how he wasn't subbed out and kept playing the rest of the game? I fail to see how his playing out the rest of the game with a broken nose makes him a "weakling" as you put it. And you rarely see a broken nose in American football because the players are covered up with pads and a helmet.

The reason he wasn't fed the ball over and over is that the US changed tactics. Of course a forward isn't going to see as much action if the team is playing in a defensive posture.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbuck.com%2Fnashvillewebdesign%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F06%2Ffacebook_like_button_small.jpg&hash=8aff1b3153dd021487f6f39f0121fcb9ef14fc69)

Quote from: DandyDan on June 19, 2014, 12:36:15 AMAs for Spain, what in the world happened to them?  Did they all get old at once?

Most of the team are around their peak age - only 2 are over 30, and they aren't kids no more.

Maybe their long Champions League runs/Spanish Cups Runs/etc caught up with them? especially as the top Spanish players have them every season. That's often an English excuse when our players look tired, and the one the British TV pundits were using. Thierry Henry said that season after season of 50-game seasons do wear you out come the summer.

But the non-Spanish players who play for Madrid teams/Barca/etc haven't had this (just as the non-English players who played for top English sides didn't have it in 2010 when pundits used that as an excuse, and were called out on it). OK, you can add in the World Cup, Euros and Confederations Cup runs in the summers of 2010, 2012 and 2013, but...

Yeah, Spain is now out of the World Cup, and the match against Australia isn't going to be interesting either. At least it brings good news to me, as media won't be filled up with (Association) football...

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 19, 2014, 04:27:24 PMYeah, Spain is now out of the World Cup, and the match against Australia isn't going to be interesting either.

Spain have been pretty boring, and now they are out, losing to Australia (as they will, given how the Socceroos have been unlucky to lose both their games, where as Spain have been far the weaker side) won't be interesting.

Plus Cahioill is suspended, so no more of his flashes of brilliance.

Quote from: realjd on June 19, 2014, 01:08:51 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on June 17, 2014, 09:33:17 PM
Well English Si, you make some good points.  Unfortunately soccer games don't have that many of 'em...LOL!  Today's matches I saw were Mexico-Brazil (0-0) and Russia-South Korea (1-1) and both were well-played.  I really appreciated the discipline of play shown by the Russians and Koreans and wish the Americans did the same. 

That Mexico-Brazil was one of the most exciting so far IMO. It was very different from the Iran-Nigeria 0-0 snoozefest.

Quote
The American who scored the first goal so quickly against Ghana was a tremendous 1 on 1 (or more) player but if he had been playing football or basketball, he would have been getting fed the ball lots to see him do it over and over and over again until the other side showed they could stop him.  His injury was just a broken nose.  In American football that doesn't even come close to being "injured".  Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps? 

And in soccer it didn't come close to being "injured" either. Notice how he wasn't subbed out and kept playing the rest of the game? I fail to see how his playing out the rest of the game with a broken nose makes him a "weakling" as you put it. And you rarely see a broken nose in American football because the players are covered up with pads and a helmet.

The reason he wasn't fed the ball over and over is that the US changed tactics. Of course a forward isn't going to see as much action if the team is playing in a defensive posture.

Parse my words more carefully please.

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on June 20, 2014, 01:09:49 AM

Quote from: realjd on June 19, 2014, 01:08:51 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on June 17, 2014, 09:33:17 PM
Well English Si, you make some good points.  Unfortunately soccer games don't have that many of 'em...LOL!  Today's matches I saw were Mexico-Brazil (0-0) and Russia-South Korea (1-1) and both were well-played.  I really appreciated the discipline of play shown by the Russians and Koreans and wish the Americans did the same. 

That Mexico-Brazil was one of the most exciting so far IMO. It was very different from the Iran-Nigeria 0-0 snoozefest.

Quote
The American who scored the first goal so quickly against Ghana was a tremendous 1 on 1 (or more) player but if he had been playing football or basketball, he would have been getting fed the ball lots to see him do it over and over and over again until the other side showed they could stop him.  His injury was just a broken nose.  In American football that doesn't even come close to being "injured".  Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps? 

And in soccer it didn't come close to being "injured" either. Notice how he wasn't subbed out and kept playing the rest of the game? I fail to see how his playing out the rest of the game with a broken nose makes him a "weakling" as you put it. And you rarely see a broken nose in American football because the players are covered up with pads and a helmet.

The reason he wasn't fed the ball over and over is that the US changed tactics. Of course a forward isn't going to see as much action if the team is playing in a defensive posture.

Parse my words more carefully please.

Rick

Reading it again, what did I get wrong? I agreed with you in the first block, disagreed in the second.

Here's your clue:

"Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps?"

If you can't figure it out now I'm sorry to say I can't help you.

Rick

Well fuck.

Quote from: nexus73 on June 20, 2014, 09:46:26 AM
Here's your clue:

"Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps?"

If you can't figure it out now I'm sorry to say I can't help you.

Rick

This type of post is non-productive. Either explain yourself or remain silent. This antagonizes people and will not be tolerated.

Quote from: Alps on June 22, 2014, 09:13:33 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on June 20, 2014, 09:46:26 AM
Here's your clue:

"Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps?"

If you can't figure it out now I'm sorry to say I can't help you.

Rick

This type of post is non-productive. Either explain yourself or remain silent. This antagonizes people and will not be tolerated.

It was a "non-productive" post that showed me the poster didn't grasp what I said that led to me answering the way I did.  Hey, it's sports...LOL! 

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on June 20, 2014, 09:46:26 AMIf you can't figure it out now I'm sorry to say I can't help you.

He did, and said in reply

Quote from: realjd on June 19, 2014, 01:08:51 PMThe reason he wasn't fed the ball over and over is that the US changed tactics. Of course a forward isn't going to see as much action if the team is playing in a defensive posture.

Netherlands won 2-0 over Chile today. Spain won 3-0 over Australia (although that game didn't really matter, both teams are done I believe). Later Brazil plays Camaroon which should be an easy win for Brazil. Mexico and Croatia will probably be the most exciting game today. I will pick Mexico to win (and I hope they do), but if Croatia won I wouldn't be surprised.

Quote from: nexus73 on June 23, 2014, 11:33:20 AM

Quote from: Alps on June 22, 2014, 09:13:33 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on June 20, 2014, 09:46:26 AM
Here's your clue:

"Since he was nonproductive the rest of the way I wonder if this player is just a weakling or if the coach is afraid to play his trumps?"

If you can't figure it out now I'm sorry to say I can't help you.

Rick

This type of post is non-productive. Either explain yourself or remain silent. This antagonizes people and will not be tolerated.

It was a "non-productive" post that showed me the poster didn't grasp what I said that led to me answering the way I did.  Hey, it's sports...LOL! 

Rick

I did understand what you were getting at, or so I thought. I just decided it wasn't worth continuing the discussion if you weren't going to try to clarify.

Then I replied with a "Well fuck" after Portugal scored their goal last night.

I'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

As for today, I'm betting on Messi singlehandedly beating the Netherlands.

Quote from: DandyDan on July 09, 2014, 08:01:34 AMI'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

Makes Ghana (who drew with them), Algeria (who managed 90 minutes without conceding and then went out 2-1 after extra time), France (who only conceded one), USA (who, while it didn't really matter too much, still only conceded one) and even Portugal (who 'only' conceded 4!) look rather decent. Especially the Africans!

Brazil hadn't really performed all tournament and without both their captain and their star player, who carried most of the other players in the other matches, they weren't likely to win. That they gave up for 10 minutes after the second went in gave them the much-needed massive defeat that will be a helpful corrective to illusions of quality than their narrow wins against Colombia, Chile, Croatia, etc.

David Luiz must feel like this, though he, along with Oscar and Caesar, at least showed some signs of belonging in a Brazilian national team (it's Scholari's fault he picked rubbish players, not the player's fault they are rubbish!):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FRSOUOj8H9A3Xq%2Fgiphy.gif&hash=dc9c275aab987946e0ba12e4820b2ef7b31e8f44)

I don't like this idea that one star basically walks the team through - and Brazil basically got a lesson in why you can't just rely on one or two superstars last night (Team USA showed how a team is more than the sum of the parts, and the German team play will almost certainly win the trophy on Sunday), and while Argentina have more than Messi, and Netherlands a lot more than Robben, I'd hate to see it as a battle of the superstars. Though Messi (who stays up) over diving Robben any day, if it does come down to that. Though I'd rather that the team that relies least on one amazing player goes through - not least as it would make a better final, rather than an a German exercise in neutralising the star and then dominating - as they did against Portugal (and would have done against Brazil if they had someone worth neutralising, like Neymar).

The Denver Broncos showed up in Brazil...LOL! 

Rick

Quote from: DandyDan on July 09, 2014, 08:01:34 AM
I'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

As for today, I'm betting on Messi singlehandedly beating the Netherlands.

Not so fast. I think Netherlands wins today 4-3.

Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

Quote from: DandyDan on July 13, 2014, 03:08:05 AMI'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.

And yet, despite a poor Messi, they are through to the final? Argentina, like Germany, and, unlike Brazil, is a team - and as such functions better than the sum of its parts.

However, Germany winning 2-1 is a good prediction - while teams like Ghana and USA gave them momentum, Argentina have been nervy (their semi-final was play for penalties from both teams from the first whistle and teams like Iran have nearly stopped them winning) and will be more tired thanks to 120 minutes playing against actual opposition a day after Germany played just 90 minutes against 11 men who couldn't be bothered. Plus Germany will be on a high from the high score of the semi-final, even though it told us little about how good Germany were and much much more about how lucky Brazil were to get out of their group, let alone beat Chile and Colombia to get to the semis!

Two goals that would have counted if it wasn't offside...

Quote from: DandyDan on July 13, 2014, 03:08:05 AM
Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

Maybe Pope Francis will pray really hard ;)

AND GERMANY WINS!

Quote from: US71 on July 13, 2014, 03:56:35 PM

Quote from: DandyDan on July 13, 2014, 03:08:05 AM
Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

Maybe Pope Francis will pray really hard ;)

His predecessor Benedict apparently prayed even harder!

One new thing that I noticed in this World Cup is the referees drawing those foam lines on the field during free kicks.  From what I am aware of this is a USA innovation, first used by MLS back in the late 1990s - the league's earliest days.

Interesting.

:nod:

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on July 14, 2014, 06:58:32 PM
One new thing that I noticed in this World Cup is the referees drawing those foam lines on the field during free kicks.  From what I am aware of this is a USA innovation, first used by MLS back in the late 1990s - the league's earliest days.

It slowly migrated northwards, from Argentina through Mexico, before arriving in the MLS quite recently.

109K fans in the Ann Arbor, MI 'Big House' to watch Manchester United defeat Real Madrid 3-1 on Saturday?

WOW!    :wow:

(Is this a record 'fan in the stands' attendance for either or both teams?  It did break the 101K USA record for game attendance that was set at the Rose Bowl for the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal game.)

Mike

Probably this match wins - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_FA_Cup_Final (there's also a cool story about a police horse that controlled the 300k unofficial crowd figures and got them off the pitch in a calm way).

The Maracana had an official attendance of 173,850 for the 1950 World Cup Final (and an unofficial one of just under 200k) - that's the highest official figure for a soccer match.

Spanish news doctored a photo of all those fans so that the ratio (like the score, about 3:1 United:Real) was made to look like more people were wearing white shirts.

Quote from: english si on August 04, 2014, 10:05:19 AM
Probably this match wins - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_FA_Cup_Final (there's also a cool story about a police horse that controlled the 300k unofficial crowd figures and got them off the pitch in a calm way).

The Maracana had an official attendance of 173,850 for the 1950 World Cup Final (and an unofficial one of just under 200k) - that's the highest official figure for a soccer match.

Spanish news doctored a photo of all those fans so that the ratio (like the score, about 3:1 United:Real) was made to look like more people were wearing white shirts.

That 1923 game was between the Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.  It would be interesting to go back through the annals to see what each teams' (Man U and Real Madrid) top crowds were.

I saw that doctored image, BTW.   :meh:

Mike

The Seattle Sounders took home their 4th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the 101st final tonight, a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FfAJyo48.jpg&hash=c13e18542a413c9404ddb2f865a915b6dbe94f1a)

Here's a map of Open Cup championships by state, updated for tonight's result:

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FTt9pzSw.png&hash=e398ca24e6bae508ab7ddd1510c052f741b73ac1)

Am I the only one here who has been finding ManU's total implosion this year to be surprisingly satisfying? They're not my least favorite team by far but I've been enjoying watching the train wreck.

Quote from: realjd on September 22, 2014, 06:00:58 PM
Am I the only one here who has been finding ManU's total implosion this year to be surprisingly satisfying? They're not my least favorite team by far but I've been enjoying watching the train wreck.

I'm finding it interesting, at least - just a few more losses away from the 'R'wordzone, too.

:wow:

Speaking of surprises - Howabout SC Paderborn? They're freshly promoted to the Bundesliga and LEADING it as of this typing.  And did anyone else catch that 93rd minute goal by Moritz Stoppelkamp against Hannover 96 over the weekend, giving SC Paderborn a 2-0 win?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xme73rY0TpI

:cheers:

Mike

I'm annoyed United came back from losing 4-0 in the League Cup to MK Dons to beat QPR - then again, despite a relatively strong side being thrashed by a League 1 side, the 4-0 win against Quarter-Pound-of-Rubbish (as they have been all season - how they got promoted last year beats me!) shows that they aren't a bad side, just a side with tons of potential and class that they aren't living up to - which reflects poorly on the new gaffer (and well on Moyes, whom I've always liked). I might be persuaded to prefer that to a team that can't win at all!

Speaking of the League Cup, last night Liverpool got through to the next round by the skin of their teeth - they were 2-1 up at Anfield against Championship side Middlesbrough in injury time at the end of extra time. 31 penalties later (one in the last second of the match proper, 3 missed), and they finally won 2-2 (14-13 on penalties). It's not quite the English record, but 30 penalties to settle a tie after extra time is a very rare event.

Now that the round of 32 matches of the King's Cup (Copa del Rey, as we call it, and we've got a brand new King since last final) have been drafted, both Real Madrid and Atlético will have to play against minor teams in the Barcelona metropolitan area (UE Cornellà and Hospitalet respectively), while FC Barcelona ('Barça') will pay a visit to... my hometown!!! SD Huesca, which managed to get through by forcing an overtime at last minute and then scored, got lucky and will play in the Camp Nou (lit. 'New Field', despite its name is not that new) by mid December.

The Seattle Sounders came back from 2-0 to tie LA 2-2. This means that with a win or draw, they can clinch the MLS Supporters' Shield (trophy for the regular season winner) on Saturday, the final matchday, in front of 60,000 at CenturyLink Field. No better way to end the regular season.

The Seattle Sounders have won their Supporters' Shield by beating the LA Galaxy with two late goals from Marco Pappa.



Here's some pictures I took from Section 323 at the south end's upper deck:

Someone brought a Landon Donovan pinata for the kids at Occidental Park, which was the highlight of the festivities there, if you could call it that.

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5610/15441861038_880d9d1117_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pwxziq)
Landon Donovan pinata (https://flic.kr/p/pwxziq) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

Spotted the Seattle flag two-pole while marching down Occidental, a personal favorite of mine.

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5609/15007815833_c5f79cd2c6_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/oSbYMp)
Seattle flag two-pole (https://flic.kr/p/oSbYMp) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

Prematch ceremony for breast cancer awareness, unfortunately part of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I'd donate to just about any other breast cancer charity in the world.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3941/15628841912_935f97d048_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pP4UcA)
Prematch Ceremony for Breast Cancer Awareness (https://flic.kr/p/pP4UcA) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

The ECS didn't bring out a tifo, but there were plenty of flags:

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/15007234304_e13bf0694e_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/oS8ZV3)
ECS flags (https://flic.kr/p/oS8ZV3) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

And the sun did briefly make an appearance in the 17th minute of play

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5599/15441880428_0d798c4b64_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pwxF4J)
Sunshine (https://flic.kr/p/pwxF4J) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

The problem with the sun's appearance was the visibility of faded Seahawks/football markings on the turf.

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3956/15441880818_70a21ae945_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pwxFbs)
Faded Seahawks logo on the field (https://flic.kr/p/pwxFbs) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

After the second goal:

(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3941/15442416320_17ea5ff466_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pwAqnf)
After the 2nd goal (https://flic.kr/p/pwAqnf) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/people/70175722@N04/), on Flickr

What a crazy week it's been. DOJ/FBI and the Swiss arrest several FIFA execs, CONCACAF gets raided, Blatter gets re-elected and then resigns today.

And, far more interestingly* there was the end to many European football seasons this weekend, eg Arsenal retaining the FA, Rangers failing miserably to get back into Scottish top flight football, etc. And last Monday had the highest prize single-game in World Sport: the Championship Play Off Final, with Norwich winning an estimated £120 million ($186m) prize of Premier League football next season.

Probably more important too - as the British pundits said: the fans don't care about the politics anyway - they are happy about the destruction of FIFA, but wouldn't care enough to boycott it - the most you'd get out of them is banners and chants against FIFA/Blatter (like the 'Kick Racism out of Football: Kick Blatter out of Football' ones that happened once).

*It was funny to watch football programmes all day Saturday with the FA Cup coverage - all the talking heads stuff had to discuss FIFA, but they got it over with quickly as it was basically "same old, same old", "glad the arrests have finally happened - well done the authorities for finally doing it", "Blatter's reelection was predictable given the system" and "we need a rival to FIFA/World Cup, but I can't see it getting the critical mass of sponsors, teams, etc" with different sets of heads and some brief discussion. 3 minutes and done per programme - on average the same amount of time they gave to Man United not being about beat Cambridge in Cambridge in January - the same amount of time that 'Billy' the White Horse of the 1923 cup final got.

Quote from: Bruce on June 02, 2015, 04:31:40 PM
What a crazy week it's been. DOJ/FBI and the Swiss arrest several FIFA execs, CONCACAF gets raided, Blatter gets re-elected and then resigns today.

There were some reports that Sepp Blatter is still under the FBI radar for corruption. Also the Qatar Stadium in question have a large amount of Human rights abuses at the construction site. I don't think FIFA management will be indicted for that but the contractors I'm not sure about that one.

The 2014-15 UEFA Champions League has come to an end with Barcelona as champion of European football.

The match was fairly exciting, but didn't really feel 100% like a cup final.

Pretty good way to kickoff (pun intended) a day of soccer. Next up is the Women's World Cup opener (Canada vs. China) and that's followed up by MLS.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/united-passions-film-review-fifa-reaches-a-new-low-with-laughably-awful-film-about-its-history-10302294.html





FIFA movie gets bad reviews.

Lost in all of this is the Women's World Cup... USA had a great game with Australia; after coming out slow in the first half and Hope Solo salvaging a 1-1 tie, they broke it open in the second half and ran circles around the Matildas. Sweden game is at 20:00 EDT/19:00 Winnipeg local on Friday, and I plan to watch.

... Anyone else remember when women's soccer was cool? Mid 90s? Ish? I still think it's cool.

I don't know if anyone knew, but the stadium in Winnipeg where they play is right next to the University of Manitoba. Since I'm attending classes there, traffic has understandably been backed up in the evening. Security is a bit tight of course, and roads have been closed off. Makes it a bit of a pain to get home from school, but it's a massive sporting event, so, what are you going to do.

Always interesting seeing the different licence plates on the vehicles parked in the one parking lot though. That, and the continuous amount of buses streaming in all at once.

Quote from: SignGeek101 on June 09, 2015, 11:15:54 PM
I don't know if anyone knew, but the stadium in Winnipeg where they play is right next to the University of Manitoba. Since I'm attending classes there, traffic has understandably been backed up in the evening. Security is a bit tight of course, and roads have been closed off. Makes it a bit of a pain to get home from school, but it's a massive sporting event, so, what are you going to do.

Always interesting seeing the different licence plates on the vehicles parked in the one parking lot though. That, and the continuous amount of buses streaming in all at once.

Is that the same stadium where the Blue Bombers play their home games?

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on June 09, 2015, 11:29:39 PM

Quote from: SignGeek101 on June 09, 2015, 11:15:54 PM
I don't know if anyone knew, but the stadium in Winnipeg where they play is right next to the University of Manitoba. Since I'm attending classes there, traffic has understandably been backed up in the evening. Security is a bit tight of course, and roads have been closed off. Makes it a bit of a pain to get home from school, but it's a massive sporting event, so, what are you going to do.

Always interesting seeing the different licence plates on the vehicles parked in the one parking lot though. That, and the continuous amount of buses streaming in all at once.

Is that the same stadium where the Blue Bombers play their home games?

Mike

Yup, it's called Investors Group Field. Although they covered that name with a Fifa banner for the events.

Watching the France-England game, I noticed that this clash of two mid-tier teams with wealthy home nations and lots of ties to Canada couldn't fill up the 10000 seat stadium (the smallest by some way) at Moncton.

Then I realised that early afternoon on a Tuesday is not the best time to be attracting locals.

Quote from: english si on June 10, 2015, 04:29:45 AM
Watching the France-England game, I noticed that this clash of two mid-tier teams with wealthy home nations and lots of ties to Canada couldn't fill up the 10000 seat stadium (the smallest by some way) at Moncton.

Then I realised that early afternoon on a Tuesday is not the best time to be attracting locals.

And, honestly, Canada is more known for its hockey as most people know. I think there is a little bit of a lack of interest here, compared to Europe or Asia. You don't see flags on people's cars for a particular soccer (football) team very often. It depends on where in Canada too I guess.

http://www.businessinsider.com/report-fifa-sepp-blatter-might-not-resign-2015-6


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/sepp-blatter/11673751/Sepp-Blatter-considering-staying-on-as-Fifa-president.html


Sepp Blatter Might keep his Fifa Seat.

Once again, bad luck has struck Real Zaragoza, a Spanish 2nd tier team, which will have to face SD Huesca next season. Back in 2008, they had made a team which was intended to get them to Europe... only to be relegated, and then SD Huesca made through the play-offs and got promoted, so they had to face each other. This time, though, another team got even worse luck: Girona FC. They had direct promotion in their hands, however Lugo tied their match at the last moment and relegated them to the promotion play-offs, benefiting Sporting in the process. So Girona FC and Real Zaragoza, which managed to qualify despite having 21 points less, had to play each other. Girona FC won the first match 0-3, and when Las Palmas advanced to the play-off final, a TV news showed this...
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHej7zfWUAAnmhJ.jpg:large)

... but that match never happened, as Real Zaragoza managed to top the previous result defeating Girona FC by 1-4 (the aggregate results in a tie, however Real Zaragoza advanced by virtue of having scored more goals away). But then the same thing happened to them, they won Las Palmas by 3-1 but then lost 2-0, forcing them to stay one season more in 2nd tier. And SD Huesca has just get promoted (after being given a 2nd opportunity in the play-offs), and this means a regional match will be held next season.

A little late, but here are my pictures from the Seattle-Portland match at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on August 30. 64K in attendance on a day with some shifting weather (downpour during the March to the Match and sunshine during the match itself).

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5790/21209024615_f3110fa99a_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/yjaN7c)
Seattle skyline from CenturyLink Field (https://flic.kr/p/yjaN7c) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/626/21020925570_3d77318115_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/y2xJPd)
King Street Station and Union Station complex (https://flic.kr/p/y2xJPd) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/620/21198678082_6b128babe0_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/yifLrG)
Seattle skyline from CenturyLink Field (https://flic.kr/p/yifLrG) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5699/20587602853_f9cd0b5194_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/xnfR4T)
March to the Match at Occidental Park (https://flic.kr/p/xnfR4T) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/698/21198380902_e79121b709_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/yief6U)
ECS member holding Supporters Shield (https://flic.kr/p/yief6U) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/577/20586278394_56d4582fbc_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/xn94mo)
Sounders-Timbers from Section 324 (https://flic.kr/p/xn94mo) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/601/21022183519_f19b83901c_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/y2EbKZ)
Attendance: 64,358 (https://flic.kr/p/y2EbKZ) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5741/21209000235_fe973db5af_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/yjaERR)
Flamethrowers at full time (https://flic.kr/p/yjaERR) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/618/21021876269_8ac79cee6d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/y2CBqz)
Sounders fans leaving north gate (https://flic.kr/p/y2CBqz) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/576/21182723826_e35b35fef8_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ygQZNj)
CenturyLink Field panorama from Section 324 (https://flic.kr/p/ygQZNj) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

Time to revive this thread.

Gianni Infantino has been elected as the new president of FIFA, marking the end of Blatter's reign of corruption (one would hope). In the same meeting, a huge reform measure was approved and will dissolve the Executive Committee and re-form it under a larger council that will try to lessen the role of the president. There's a ton of other initiatives in the reform measure, explained by this animated video below:



Also, candidate Tokyo Sexwale (yes, that's his real birth name) resigned on stage after giving his speech. A fitting end.

Any thoughts about Leicester City now being 8 standings points up in the Premier League as of this typing with three games to play (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw)?  Second place Tottenham Hotspur plays game 35 of their 38-game season against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night (mid afternoon, USA time).

BTW, 4th place Arsenal was mathematically eliminated from championship contention today with their scoreless draw v. Sunderland (that point may have saved Sunderland from relegation) and Leicester City's 4-0 win v. Swansea.

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on April 24, 2016, 10:34:31 PM
Any thoughts about Leicester City now being 8 standings points up in the Premier League as of this typing with three games to play (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw)?  Second place Tottenham Hotspur plays game 35 of their 38-game season against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night (mid afternoon, USA time).

BTW, 4th place Arsenal was mathematically eliminated from championship contention today with their scoreless draw v. Sunderland (that point may have saved Sunderland from relegation) and Leicester City's 4-0 win v. Swansea.

Mike

Thoughts: What the hell happened this season?

Quote from: Alps on April 24, 2016, 11:13:49 PMThoughts: What the hell happened this season?

A team with amazing form to pull off a great escape kept going and stayed with that 9-game form for the whole next season? Quite why the odds were 5000/1 at the beginning of the season (the highest winning odds for any single sporting feat*), beats me. It was unlikely, but not that unlikely.

They won promotion from the Championship on April 5th 2014, and clocked up 102 points - which is very good form and should have meant midtable finish in the Premier League the season later. April 5th 2015 saw them 7 points below the 19th placed club and then they won seven out the last 9 to double their points tally and come 14th (which was roughly where everyone placed them at the beginning of the season). On April 5th 2016 they were were 7 points above 2nd place and (unlike Barca) have kept their lead (OK, it's now 5 points if Spurs win their game in hand as they dropped points at West Ham).

Arguably, the best thing about it isn't that the underdogs doing well getting their just reward (English culture's wet dream), but that Americans have worked out how to pronounce Lester and we'll hear Lie-ces-ter Square no more! ;)

And, after about 5 years of just scraping through by managing to rack up enough really boring 0-0 draws, Villa are down! Very happy about that! The two-from-three fight to avoid the remaining relegation places is heating up - Sunderland and Newcastle getting draws against top clubs making it incredibly close. That fighting for survival is something American sports miss out on. There would be nothing to care about at the tail end of the season, but some cup finals and whether Leicester can get 5 points from 3 matches. But instead we have three teams trying to be the one that avoids the drop that means they are going off to spend next season playing tons of games with the likes of Burton Albion, Rotherham, Huddersfield, etc with a lot less money floating around.

Sadly Stoke and Everton collapsing will keep Chelsea in single digits (though, barring a drop of form of the teams above them, it looks like 9th). I know the form under Mourinio was shocking, but they got to mid-table with a short run of wins, and have stayed there ever since. If they hadn't had that dip in form, they would only really be at Liverpool's level - which is poor, though shows how vital Hazard is to them.

The Leicester fairy story has overshadowed Bournemouth's far bigger one. A tiny club who, just 7 years ago, were facing relegation from the football league and going out of business. They took a 31 year old former player (injury cutting short his career) who was the youth coach and made him manager. They got to safety, and despite the transfer embargo (for financial issues), he got them promoted (attracting a lot of attention, though he turned them down until Burnley called. He laid down a foundation for them to stop falling) and they stayed up in League One on the foundation he gave. He returned and they got promoted again, and the next season finished 10th in the Championship - which is hard enough even when you haven't just come up to the big boys table. The next season and they got to the Premier League, earning him all sorts of awards for his management (baring in mind he's incredibly young for a top manager), including 'Manager of the Decade', an award invented for him, who hasn't even been managing for a decade. They are safe and merely coasting to the season's end, but next year they could get top half.

*Given someone is skipping my birthday party to go to the Lane to watch Spurs tonight, I'm assuming the Karma Police will be there and the Baggies will win, giving Leicester just needing two more points in three games - something that is inevitable.

Quote from: mgk920 on April 24, 2016, 10:34:31 PM
Any thoughts about Leicester City now being 8 standings points up in the Premier League as of this typing with three games to play (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw)?  Second place Tottenham Hotspur plays game 35 of their 38-game season against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night (mid afternoon, USA time).

BTW, 4th place Arsenal was mathematically eliminated from championship contention today with their scoreless draw v. Sunderland (that point may have saved Sunderland from relegation) and Leicester City's 4-0 win v. Swansea.

If Tottenham losses, Leicester will be only one point away from the title. BTW, I'm not surprised about Arsenal's placement, they always seem to get 4th place.

Quote from: english si on April 25, 2016, 07:51:25 AM
On April 5th 2016 they were were 7 points above 2nd place and (unlike Barca) have kept their lead (OK, it's now 5 points if Spurs win their game in hand as they dropped points at West Ham).

What has happened to Barça is really crazy. Just before El Clásico, they were leading with 9 points over Atlético and 10 points over Real Madrid, and as such many said they had already clinched the league. But then they lost three consecutive matches, so both Atlético and Real Madrid have caught up. Even worse, Atlético sent them home in the Champions League after making a comeback in the return match. Barça has scored 14 goals in the last two games (!), but Atlético (tied) and Real Madrid (one point behind) are holding up. And there are only three games left...

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 25, 2016, 10:31:26 AM

If Tottenham losses, Leicester will be only one point away from the title. BTW, I'm not surprised about Arsenal's placement, they always seem to get 4th place.

Technically it's two because Spurs could still get to 77 and if Leicester only pick up one point in their last three games, Spurs would win on goal difference. Before tonight's fixture, Leicester's magic number was 5 points for the title. One of the most thrilling aspects being a Chelsea supporter is that we get to play role of spoiler as we're the only common opponent left. (We host Tottenham next week and Leicester in the final game of the season.)

EDIT: And now Leicester only need a win, a Spurs loss, or both sides to draw to take the title since West Bromwich Albion were able to equalize and hold for a draw tonight.

^^ no Spurs players scored (Dawson getting both the goals - in common parlance 'at both ends of the pitch', but as they were in different halves, it was the same end). Doesn't bode well for them picking up the 7 points they need in three games to what they need to.

I'm sure several Chelsea players will happily make 'mistakes' (like Spurs players did in 99) to make sure that their local rivals don't win the league if the side they are playing aren't up to the task of beating them.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on April 25, 2016, 10:31:26 AM
What has happened to Barça is really crazy. Just before El Clásico, they were leading with 9 points over Atlético and 10 points over Real Madrid, and as such many said they had already clinched the league. But then they lost three consecutive matches, so both Atlético and Real Madrid have caught up. Even worse, Atlético sent them home in the Champions League after making a comeback in the return match. Barça has scored 14 goals in the last two games (!), but Atlético (tied) and Real Madrid (one point behind) are holding up. And there are only three games left...

So... this is really arcane, but is it Barca or Barça in common parlance? I always assumed the former, but there is no parlance stateside.

It's Barça, pronounced 'barsa'. It's also the most hated team by me, to the point the term 'Barça' has become synonymous with 'shit' :sombrero:.

In English it's "Barca" as we have soft-c sounds and don't really do accents.

Quote from: english si on April 26, 2016, 10:05:17 AM
In English it's "Barca" as we have soft-c sounds and don't really do accents.

I think it has more to do with many people not knowing or caring how to type the "ç" character. A tangent to this is my slight annoyance when people mispronounce "Blue Curaçao" with a hard C on the last syllable, despite the fact that the cedilla is on the bottle.

Quote from: rawmustard on April 26, 2016, 12:01:27 PMI think it has more to do with many people not knowing or caring how to type the "ç" character.

That's not doing accents!

Leicester's title lap of honor has hit the first hurdle - down to 10 men for a fairly harsh second yellow (though they got away with the foul being in the box with it being given just outside), but they just have to weather this storm and get a cheeky injury time goal and it is theirs.

And Leicester City are champions of England! Spurs just couldn't hold their two-goal lead at halftime, and thus are held to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

LGLS991

Heck, Leicester City was in Champioship (tier 2) just two seasons ago. I like how they got promoted by a manager with last name Pearson... the same season I befriended a little kid who had the misfortune of suffering from Pearson syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_syndrome). Also that same season Atlético won La Liga, and they could win it again.

And now I mention Atlético, they have just got into the UEFA Champions League final after losing 2-1 to Bayern but having won 1-0 in the first leg. Even though the aggregate is a draw, Atlético qualified thanks to the goal they scored away. If Real Madrid also gets to the final (due to be played in Milan, Italy on May 28 at 2:45 p.m.) Atlético could take a revenge from what they did two years ago.

Have yall been checking out any of the Copa America matches?

I'm more interested on Euro 2016, which starts Friday.

Finally there were no surprises in La Liga and Barça (boooo) again won the title, with only one point over Real Madrid. Atlético fell after losing to already relegated Levante. At least this is not France, where PSG's domination is such Olympique Lyon (the runners-up) actually ended closer to relegation. Then there was the Champions League final, a repeat of 2014, but this time Real Madrid defeated Atlético on penalty shootouts. I was rooting for Atlético there.

Quote from: brownpelican on June 07, 2016, 09:49:42 PM
Have yall been checking out any of the Copa America matches?

Would like to, but my work schedule doesn't help matters much.  USA did beat Costa Rica 4-0 yesterday.

Quote from: brownpelican on June 07, 2016, 09:49:42 PM
Have yall been checking out any of the Copa America matches?

I caught the opening match but did not watch last night. I do want to catch some of Euro, but obviously most of those matches are scheduled during my work hours.

Mexico loses 7-0, while USA pulls through to the semis.

It's been a good week in the Copa!

Quote from: rawmustard on June 08, 2016, 08:13:20 AMI do want to catch some of Euro, but obviously most of those matches are scheduled during my work hours.

Ditto Europe - well, a third of the games before today anyway with kick offs at 1500 CEST. I gather that the England-Wales match at 2pm on Tuesday meant half the country just took long late lunch breaks while the other half were simply allowed to watch it at school/work*.

*Lucky, as I had an England-Brazil quarter final at Japan/Korea in 2002 clash with an important exam (GCSE English). I gather some schools came up with a system that allowed them to begin the exam late so they could watch the last half hour under supervision so that they couldn't get messages about content from other takers of the exam, and then take the exam a little bit later. We were invited to watch the first half at school or could watch it at home, then come in at 9am (when the second half started) to be ready to start the exam at 9:15, with the second half being shown to us on tape delay after the exam. Some troll who was one of the first out of the exam when it had finished, found out the score on his phone (which was some effort, given he had to get it out of his bag, turn it back on, text someone who wasn't the same age as us, and get a response within about 30 seconds) and then preceded to tell everybody that we'd lost.

Quote from: brownpelican on June 07, 2016, 09:49:42 PM
Have yall been checking out any of the Copa America matches?

Si! There was the Copa de America Chile vs Colombia (won by Chile) match in Chicago's Soldier Field...something tells me Chile can come out as this year's champs. The rest of the southern cone of South America (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay) always seemed the world's best. Euro 2016 news: Poland first in the quarterfinals, then keep your eyes out on the advancing teams England, France, Germany (my prediction they win the finals), Italy, Portugal and Spain (edit: eliminated).

With Euro 2016 and Copa America 2016 (its centennial) in the sports pages, what about MLS and other pro soccer leagues in the US and Canada? In southern CA, we have the LA Galaxy and the new LA Football Club ("Wings"), and the new California Sunshine in Long Beach, Orange County Blue Stars, San Diego Sockers and Temecula FC ("Quails") in the semi-pro level.

The MLS currently has 24 teams, but they could expand again by the end of this decade. Maybe 32-34 teams (their conferences can hold up to 16-17 each) with new teams in CA, TX and FL - the Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa or St. Petersburg teams can be revived to honor the 1970s NASL and 1990's teams: the FL or Miami Strikers/Fusion and Tampa Bay Rowdies/Mutiny.

And the lesser leagues are continuations of some NASL teams: the Rochester NY Rhinos/Rampage, Tacoma (or Seattle) Stars, and Wichita Wings/Aeros, to name a few. In the 1990s, there was the Continental Indoor Soccer League fielded teams come to mind like the Anaheim Splash in the Honda Center (then called the Arrowhead Pond), Sacramento Knights in the old Arco Arena, San Diego Sockers and San Jose Gold when the HP Center first opened.

if North American soccer worked more like a traditional soccer league, rather than the US sports' franchise system, then there's no reason why there couldn't be 48 pro teams in the US+Canada in three divisions of 16 (one top one, two lower ones divided by geography with a play off system to decide promotion/relegation*) that also take part in an FA cup-style cup contest that also includes college teams, etc.

That's 30 league games each season, maybe 4 play off games, and say 6 cup ties (should they be in the lower divisions and play an extra round). Perfectly doable.

*designed to keep it fluid and the gap small, with say 6 teams switching, with top two of E/W divisions going up, bottom two of top division going down and 4 teams from each division having 4-match (home and away with two other teams) mini leagues with winners playing in the top division next season and the other two playing in the second tier divisions.

Quote from: english si on June 26, 2016, 11:34:27 AM
if North American soccer worked more like a traditional soccer league, rather than the US sports' franchise system, then there's no reason why there couldn't be 48 pro teams in the US+Canada in three divisions of 16 (one top one, two lower ones divided by geography with a play off system to decide promotion/relegation*) that also take part in an FA cup-style cup contest that also includes college teams, etc.

That's 30 league games each season, maybe 4 play off games, and say 6 cup ties (should they be in the lower divisions and play an extra round). Perfectly doable.

*designed to keep it fluid and the gap small, with say 6 teams switching, with top two of E/W divisions going up, bottom two of top division going down and 4 teams from each division having 4-match (home and away with two other teams) mini leagues with winners playing in the top division next season and the other two playing in the second tier divisions.

Soccer isn't the #1 sport in the US/Canada, then I realize there's plenty of room to double the MLS from 24 to (good lord) 48 teams, include Mexican professional leagues or teams to the lineup. Regional cups, for example, the Cascadia cup, can work in other regional rivalries, as stated in my post on the Sports Realignment thread. The "Southland Cup": the LA Galaxy and Wings and fictitious San Diego, "NorCal Cup": San Jose, Sacramento and who knows Fresno, "Texas Cup": Fort Worth-Dallas, Houston and Austin and "Southwest Cup" : the fantasy expansion El Paso, Las Vegas and Tucson teams.

48 pro teams isn't that hard - in fact, excluding explicit reserve sides that I spotted (there's probably a few I missed), we can get 60 - perhaps 4 divisions of 16 are possible - especially given the expansion rate of the existing leagues:
1) Chicago Fire
2) Columbus Crew
3) D.C. United
4) Montreal Impact
5) New England Revolution
6) NYC FC
7) NY Red Bulls
8) Orlando City
9) Philadelphia Union
10) Toronto FC
11) Colorado Rapids
12) FC Dallas
13) Houston Dynamo
14) LA Galaxy
15) Portland Timbers
16) Real Salt Lake
17) San Jose Earthquakes
18) Seattle Sounders
19) Sporting Kansas City
20) Vancouver Whitecaps
21) Carolina RailHawks
22) Edmonton
23) Fort Lauderdale Strikers
24) Indy Eleven
25) Jacksonville Armada
26) Miami FC
27) Minnesota United
28) New York Cosmos
29) Ottowa Fury
30) Puerto Rico FC
31) Rayo OKC
32) Tampa Bay Rowdies
33) San Fransisco Deltas
34) Atlanta United
35) Minnesota United
36) Los Angeles FC
37) Bethlehem Steel
38) Charleston Battery
39) Charlotte Independence
40) FC Cincinnatti
41) Harrisburg City Islanders
42) Louisville City
43) FC Montreal
44) Pittsburgh Riverhounds
45) Richmond Kickers
46) Rochester Rhinos
47) Wilmington Hammerheads
48) Arizona United
49) Colorado Springs Switchbacks
50) Oklahoma City Energy
51) Orange County Blues
52) Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
53) Sacramento Republic
54) Saint Louis FC
55) San Antonio FC
56) Swope Park Rangers KC
57) Tulsa Roughnecks
58) Austin Aztex
59) Reno 1868
60) Nashville

^^ 27 and 35 are the same.

Replace 35) with El Paso (apparently, Austin's is called Aztex, in my version the Tejano, the Aztex name for El Paso). 60 teams is a crowd, I'm sure there are up to 90 men's pro and semi-pro, and 10 women's teams (National Women's soccer League) in the US/Canada. 16 team divisions? Then you expanded it by 4 more: "New" Memphis Rogues, Mobile Bucs, Tacoma Stars and Wichita Aeros as reincarnations of NASL teams of the 1970s-80s.

Quote from: Desert Man on June 26, 2016, 06:52:43 PM60 teams is a crowd

I went through and listed current and future (confirmed) pro-teams from wikipedia. I know MLS does expand to take in new teams (and presumably can chuck out really bad teams?), but as someone used to the way it is done everywhere else, the closed-shop nature of it is baffling to me, and remodelling the leagues - while I'm doing it just as a thought experiment - seems a bit fairer and adds more importance to not finishing bottom (there's no draft is there, like in NFL, where teams that are come bottom get rewarded with choice draft picks?)

So how about England losing to Iceland 2-1?  Maybe in the future, the Vatican can get a team and beat England.

Quote from: DandyDan on June 28, 2016, 06:14:12 AM
So how about England losing to Iceland 2-1?  Maybe in the future, the Vatican can get a team and beat England.

Well if we play with the nonsense tactics that didn't work against Russia (the most populous country, but worst team of the tournament) in the opening match, let alone the better Iceland, then maybe the Vatican wouldn't get thrashed.

But then again, I was in Wembley when a lacklustre (I nearly fell asleep so dull and uninspired were England) England put 5 past San Marino (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29454223) without trying, and with similar tactics of having 3 up front, 2 very attacking players just behind, 1 defensive midfielder and 4 at the back that really functioned like 4 up front, 1 just behind, 2 at the back with 1 just infront and 2 wingers running back and forth. Iceland and Russia weren't massively terrible, hence why they qualified for the tournament, but England treated both teams as if they were one of the filler teams in the qualifiers.

Iceland beat Portugal in their group's standings (and should have beaten the team themselves) and yet we treated them as if they were Macedonia or something - we underestimated them hugely and paid the price. We lost it at the team announcement - I groaned massively half an hour before the start, losing all hope, and it was only that we did create something and win a penalty that I held out hope of an England equaliser for the last 70 minutes. Also Rashford came on too late - he was creating some spark, and with three times longer on the pitch (15 instead of 5 minutes) the story might have been different.

Iceland's first goal was from a throw-in. They stood exactly the same place as they always do, and somehow little Rooney was marking a tall Icelandic player. The pundits were saying that there were another two mistakes in it, all of which were so stupid as to suggest that something was badly wrong on the training pitch and we prepared poorly for the game.

Iceland-Wales final ;) OK, that's a little unlikely, but:
- Italy will beat Germany as they always do.
- France who (despite having a sensible time to recover from their previous match, unlike Ireland) looked ordinary against Ireland will struggle against Iceland, and the only thing that might get them across the winning line is that they are hosts.
- Iceland, having beaten England and France, would certainly give Italy a run for their money and while it is two tight games, a final place is far from impossible (see also Greece in 2004)
- Wales have a seemingly easier draw than Iceland to get to the final, though still not an easy one: Belgium (who didn't beat Wales in qualifying, but are favourites) and either Poland or Portugal (who looked a lot better at the back with Fonte helping Pepe, but they really aren't creating chances at the other end unless the other team lets them). Again, it's doable, but double underdogs.

Spain is also out, so media now won't be filled with (association) football. They referred to England's elimination as 'brexit'. I'd like to see England beaten by either Gibraltar, Montserrat, or American Samoa.

Germany has won against Italy, despite three missed penalties (the first in a shootout for them since 1982). An amazing finish to the game.

Also, no mention of the Copa America Final and the Argentinian fallout that followed?

Wales is now in semi-finals :-o, as they topped Belgium. Today is the last match of quarter-finals, France-Iceland, at 9:00 p.m. local and my time (3:00 p.m. Eastern). I really want a Wales-Iceland final.

Quote from: Bruce on July 02, 2016, 05:57:17 PMGermany has won against Italy

Shock result! Though Germany do tend to win on penalties when it comes to that.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 28, 2016, 05:09:34 PMThey referred to England's elimination as 'brexit'.

That joke was tired in the UK and thankfully didn't happen - not only did we have "that's the second time this week Wales have taken Northern Ireland out of Europe" with the Round of 16 game, but Liverpool's and Man City's woeful performances in the Europa League final* and Champions League semi-final second leg respectively meant the UK was treated to referendum flavoured jokes about how those teams wanted to leave Europe, etc.

*And on the last day of the Premier League season too for Liverpool, IIRC - Liverpool had three games where not losing would give them European football last season - the Carling Cup final and last game of the season (a win would have put them 6th) would have put them in the Europa League, and the Europa League final would have put them in the Champions League. They lost all three without putting up a fight.

Whoever wins Euro 2016 finals is projected to play the Copa America winner Chile in the 2018 World Cup. Just saying the two best teams in the world can go far in the next soccer tournament. My prediction is DEUTSCHLAND! (Germany) beats Cymry (Wales, the UK) in the Euro 2016 final.

And back to US soccer teams, you have regional rivalries in smaller soccer leagues: Detroit MI vs. Toledo OH vs. Windsor, Ont (think of it as the Michigan-Ohio war or the US-Canadian war), Lincoln NE vs. Omaha NE (the Nebraska civil war) and Yuma Az vs. Mexicali BC (the US-Mexican war). Remember, it's only a game, but Europeans display national pride in soccer matches and sometimes, like observed in Euro 2016, fan riots uses nationalism as an excuse for violence.

Quote from: english si on July 03, 2016, 01:17:41 PM*And on the last day of the Premier League season too for Liverpool, IIRC - Liverpool had three games where not losing would give them European football last season - the Carling Cup final and last game of the season (a win would have put them 6th) would have put them in the Europa League, and the Europa League final would have put them in the Champions League. They lost all three without putting up a fight.

Now that is bad luck. And Sevilla clinched its third Europa League in a row! They were put on the Champions League after last year's win (thus marking the first time ever five teams from a single country were competing there), but somehow managed to get back to their 'home' Europa League.

Another team struck by bad luck was Real Zaragoza (again). Despite having a good opportunity to qualify for promotion play-offs as regional rivals SD Huesca had beaten Osasuna, they lost 6-1 to an already relegated Llagostera, forcing them to stay another season in Segunda División La Liga 2. All other times Real Zaragoza and a team from Huesca (UD Huesca back in the 50s, SD Huesca in recent times) met during the season the former got promoted. Eventually Osasuna made it through the play-offs and got promoted back to La Liga.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on July 04, 2016, 09:09:10 AM(thus marking the first time ever five teams from a single country were competing there)

When Liverpool won it in 2005(?) and finished outside the CL qualification places they were allowed to defend their title by kicking a team out of the first qualifying round of the CL into the Europa League.

Initially Welsh Team (from about 45 miles away - Liverpool being the nearby big city and big football club) TNS offered a play off with the winner getting the CL qualifying round 1 place that TNS earned and the loser getting the UEFA Cup spot that Liverpool had earned. Who did Liverpool draw in the first qualifying round? That's right, TNS.

That year there were 6 English teams in the CL, as TNS play their games in England (Oswestry - it was a merger of a Welsh team and an English team that took the English team's stadium and Welsh team's league position) ;). 5 English league clubs though.

Today at 9:00 p.m. local (and my) time (3:00 p.m. Eastern) is the Euro 2016 final. Spain will be succeeded by one of its neighbors. Who will win? Here are the anthems of the finalists.
Portugal - A Portuguesa


France (host) - La Marselleise (Only the first verse is sung)


Now I think, when Wales played England and Northern Ireland, was God Save the Queen played twice? Or only one anthem was played?

Wales has its own anthem: Hen Wlad fy Nhadau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kUnCwV3AYE

NI and England football teams use GSTQ, but most other sports where England and NI compete see the teams use a different anthem. Jerusalem is what English (and the England and Wales Cricket team) teams that aren't football currently use, though in the past Land of Hope and Glory has been used (and while it's jingoist claptrap, it's still a bazillion times better than that awful song Jerusalem that somehow the public loves and thus it wins polls despite being terrible). Northern Ireland uses Londonderry Air at the Commonwealth Games and perhaps some other times (but I'm not sure what NI has it's own team for other than the Commonwealth Games and Football).

And, for the record, the Scottish have Flower of Scotland, though Scotland the Brave has been used in the past.

Portugal wins 1-0, off an Eden goal (that was unlikely...) and Ronaldo went off injured but stayed active on the sideline the entire match like a true leader.

The AFC Cleveland Royals of the NPSL (a minor soccer league https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Premier_Soccer_League ) bring another championship to Cleveland.
http://afccleveland.com/news/story.php?id=149
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/08/soccers_royals_bring_cleveland.html

Meanwhile, La Liga (the Spanish association football league) has kicked off. As always I'm rooting for 18 teams (Everyone but Real Madrid and FC Barcelona), with a special mention to Atlético. However the team I root the most is not among them, as it's SD Huesca, currently playing in La Liga 2 (2nd tier). They will be playing against regional rivals Real Zaragoza on the third matchday (September 4th)!

The Olympic final of Brazil vs Germany with the Brazilians getting revenge for their blowout loss in World Cup play via penalty kick shootout was the perfect capper for this sport in 2016.  Even Hollywood could not have written a better script!

Rick

The Phoenix Rising MLS expansion team bid failed, but that's a really cool team name. Phoenix, AZ is the largest North American (US/Canada) city without a MLS team. The 5th largest US city as well, could there be 2 MLS teams in the Phoenix metro area, like Mesa AZ (pop: over 500,000) can have one too? The Mesa Gold? Mesa Miners? or Los Mexicanos del Mesa? even Mesa Mormons, due to the city has one of the oldest LDS church temples.

If I was a FIFA official, I would vote the US to host the 2026 world cup, the 2nd in US history (1994) and knowing the US has a following in soccer, notably MLS founded 1996. Canada seeks to host the FIFA world cup as well, this is going to be tough because Canada rarely had an appearance in FIFA world cup history. Time to bring out my "crystal ball" of future FIFA world cups, still held every four years, respecting regional championship events, like Euro Cup and Copa Americas, as well in Asia, Africa and Oceania/Australia.

2026 USA, 2030 Argentina/Uruguay (world cup centennial), 2034 Australia, 2038 Canada, 2042 Sweden/Norway, 2046 India, 2050 Netherlands/Belgium, 2054 China, 2058 Morocco (past African cup host), 2062 Colombia (failed to keep the 1986 world cup, given to Mexico, hosted in 1970) and 2066 England/Wales (millennium anniversary of England, as well United Kingdom of Great Britain). 

Quote from: Desert Man on August 25, 2016, 10:51:42 PM2066 England/Wales (millennium anniversary of England, as well United Kingdom of Great Britain).

100 years between holding World Cups too. Which is outrageous given that England could hold one easily (without needing Cardiff's stadium) now and has a wealth of fans and so on that would make it one of the best off-the-pitch World Cups.

And, of course, it's not the millennial anniversary of England*. And the UK of GB was founded by the Act of Union 1707, so what anniversary are you talking about?

*Millennial anniversary of the death of England, maybe - the last truly English king died, the Norman yoke thrown over us. The half-Norman king we started the year with is seen as English as he (and his Danish-Norman half-brother who preceded him, and even his Danish step-dad who was king before that) didn't completely rewrite English law, customs and change the entire ruling class (and the country's religion) unlike Guillaume le Bâtard. It's been 1000 years, 4 months and 3 days since the throne of England last passed between two Englishmen. Every monarch since Edmund Ironside, save Harold Godwinson, has had at least some non-English parent or grandparent. But, lets ignore all that: England had been united in 937, give or take a few rebellions.

The group stage of both European competitions (Champions League and Europa League) have kicked off. Following what I did with the March Madness I decided to mock-up both, replacing all eighty teams with ones based mostly in places with funny names. I've also grandfathered what I call the 'Pearson trio' (ADPI Rivas, UD Ariza and Rosales CF replacing Barça, Atlético and Real Madrid respectively, the first two are real teams playing at regional level, the other is completely made-up) into the Champions League, as these had already appeared as part of mock-ups of some well-known matches: The Clásico was referred to me as being contested by ADPI Rivas and Rosales CF, and the derby (no longer Madrid derby as now both teams are in Zaragoza province) was between the latter and UD Ariza.

The 2016 MLS Eastern conference final will be all-Canadian between the Montreal Impact vs the Toronto FC.

The aforementioned Eastern Conference final featured quite the hiccup, a 30-minute delay due to the markings on the field being too small (specifically, the 18-yard box). So, ESPN and an audience of 1 million Canadians tuned in to watch paint being dried by leafblowers.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/nov/22/mls-playoffs-montreal-beat-toronto-in-thriller-after-wrong-lines-painted-on-pitch

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/801232240374063104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Toronto won the 2nd game 5-2 and there the 1st Canadian team to go to the MLS finals.

Last Saturday a Barça-Real Madrid match (The Clásico) took place and ended with an 1-1 tie. And of course it was parodied by me into ADPI Rivas vs Rosales CF, the former featuring a team full of corrupt politicians against a team of diseases :sombrero:.

The last week or so has been pretty interesting for soccer, both at home and abroad.

The crash in Colombia (and subsequent outpouring of support), the sex abuse scandal in England, and the implosion of NASL in the United States (along with the rise of a new Canadian league).

And tomorrow, the MLS Cup will be awarded to a first-time winner. Either hosts Toronto or everyone's favorite Seattle will be able to hoist their first league championship in what will likely be the coldest MLS Cup final played yet, in front of 36,000 at BMO Field.

Sounders win the cup! An amazing save by Stefan Frei and a good penalty shootout that went to extra rounds!

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/807794848354988032

First team to win the MLS Cup with 0 shots on record...against a 3-defender Toronto. Haha.

MLS preseason begins today!

Some news from our defending champions Seattle: Clint Dempsey has been cleared to practice after ending his season early last year because of an irregular heartbeat. Many feared that his career would be over. http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sounders/sounders-forward-clint-dempsey-medically-cleared-to-return-to-practice/

CONCACAF decided to change the format of the Champions League, moving US, Mexican and Canadian teams into the knockout rounds directly and having Caribbean/Central American teams play in a qualification tournament. The Sounders and other MLS entrants will play next March in the new format, a full year after qualification.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Group-Holds-Rally-San-Diego-Plans-Stadium-412189083.html

San Diego now a bargaining chip city for the MLS

Quote from: bing101 on January 30, 2017, 08:17:27 PM
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Group-Holds-Rally-San-Diego-Plans-Stadium-412189083.html

San Diego now a bargaining chip city for the MLS

That's not quite accurate, as San Diego is not being targeted for team relocations (which is what the term is meant for, see NFL and LA prior to 2015). San Diego is merely one of several candidates (and arguably one of the stronger ones) to get the few remaining expansion franchises.

After MLS bloats up to 32 teams, who knows if the league will turn into an NFL-like ransomer. I hope not, as soccer doesn't need to be tied up in messy political battles over public financing for stadiums.

Has a defending EPL/First Division champion ever been relegated before?

Starting to look like a very real possibility this year.

Quote from: Buck87 on February 12, 2017, 01:03:28 PM
Has a defending EPL/First Division champion ever been relegated before?

Chelsea ran it close last season!

Man United were relegated in 1937, with Man City champions, but the blue half of Manchester's joy was shortlived - their team the next season were top scorers, but let in lots (though still 3 less than they scored) and were relegated having lost 20 games. To add insult to injury, United were promoted back to the top flight in second place.

----

Anyway, I'm currently enjoying perhaps the most 'mismatched' game in FA Cup history - there's a big upset as Arsenal have just beaten Sutton 2-0. :P

It's somewhat flattering to Arsenal - Sutton have been good for a goal, and Arsenal (playing with a stronger team than the one that beat Southampton's third team in the last round) haven't been obviously superior, despite being 105 league places above.

Full credit to Arsenal for using the dressing room (http://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3guBp9WEAAhggl.jpg)  (the home dressing room is the same, but painted a more pleasant white), putting big names out, and taking the game seriously. Full credit for Sutton for hitting the bar and deserving more, having Arsenal's first goal nearly a third of the way through the game being against the run of play, being more able to keep up with Arsenal than Arsenal were able to keep up with Bayern Munich last Tuesday, not dropping physically despite being part-timers who only train twice a week.

Sutton, who won the National League South (tier 6) last season played so well against a team who came second to Leicester last season that their manager had to say that he was glad his team was mentally fit else they wouldn't have won..

Next in Arsenal's easiest FA Cup draw ever* - non-league Lincoln, who beat EPL Burnley and head to the Emirates as their reward.

*other than better league's teams entering later in the competition, the draw is random.

Wow, Lincoln City has made it to quarter finals! That's incredible for a non-League team, especially considering that no teams from League Two (tier 4) remain (And potentially no teams from Champioship, as Huddersfield Town has to replay Manchester City - Millwall from League One, tier 3, is still alive).

^^ Huddersfield are replaying Man City.

If Sutton had won tonight, it would have guaranteed a non-league team in the semi-finals. Lincoln and Sutton joined Colchester United (1948), Yeovil Town ('49), Blyth Spartans ('78), Telford United ('85), Kidderminster Harriers ('94), Crawley Town ('11) and Luton Town ('13) in making it to the 5th round from outside the League since '45.

Blyth took Wrexham to a replay and lost 2-1 at home, Kidderminster lost 1-0 at home to West Ham, Crawley Town lost 1-0 away to Man U - Sutton's 2-0 loss at home is amongst these better results. Lincoln's 1-0 win away against Burnley (who are a team strong at home) is the first non-league team through to the sixth round (never 'quarter finals' for the FA Cup) since QPR in 1914.

MLS has started up again, to great fanfare.

Atlanta United had 55,297 show up for their debut in their temporary home.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fn6RoW1w.jpg&hash=c4d6fbf07026842ba53be4657a1a2b4895ec50eb)

Orlando City opened their new stadium to a full crowd of 25,527:

(https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53309541/C4_DWDfWAAAdy1u.0.jpg)

Crowd shot (https://www.kickstothepitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-03-08-18.18.24.jpg) (Warning: Large image)

Minnesota United has already sold 30,000 tickets to their home opener (also in temporary accommodations) this weekend, so things are going to keep looking good for the league.

Quote from: english si on February 20, 2017, 07:06:14 PMBlyth took Wrexham to a replay and lost 2-1 at home, Kidderminster lost 1-0 at home to West Ham, Crawley Town lost 1-0 away to Man U - Sutton's 2-0 loss at home is amongst these better results. Lincoln's 1-0 win away against Burnley (who are a team strong at home) is the first non-league team through to the sixth round (never 'quarter finals' for the FA Cup) since QPR in 1914.

Any round with eight teams left is always quarter finals for me, regardless if it's officially called Sixth Round, Elite 8, Division Series or whatever.

Anyone catch last weekend's F.C.Barcelona @ Paris Saint-Germain UEFA game?

:wow:

Mike

It was mid-week, and it was in Champions League. And in Europe we list the home team first, so I always reverse the order in the Big Four. Anyway, I was so sure FC Barcelona was out, I had to eat that statement with potatoes. But didn't last long, they lost in La Liga to Deportivo.

some of the Barcelona players did some good auditions for the high board on the swim team, and I'm sure some casting directors will be ringing some of them too.

But it's something we've not seen in the Champions League for years, if ever. Liverpool's win in the 2005 final, coming back from 3-0 down is up there though.

I was watching most of that game, but had to be somewhere and left while Barcelona was still down 5-4 on aggregate in like the 89th minute. I figured PSG had it made, especially with the away goal advantage....and was a bit shocked when I saw the final result later on.

I've booked my first trip to Europe, which is during the international break, but I will still be able to take in two football matches in both England and Germany. AFC Wimbledon and Hertha BSC are both gaining one American supporter for the week.

Quote from: Bruce on March 15, 2017, 02:23:33 PMAFC Wimbledon

Good choice sir. And the fans will be extra buoyant given that just 15 years after they were founded in a pub, they beat Franchise FC in the league last night to go 6 points above them with 9 games to go*. Not bad given AFC Wimbledon had to start at the bottom of the football pyramid, but MK Dons got Wimbledon FC's league position. And a major rebuke to the idea that SW London was less able to support a decent team than Milton Keynes (which could have made its own team and worked their way up, rather than steal somewhere else's) if AFC Wimbledon can make it those last 9 games.

Also, once a Womble, always a Womble. They will gain you for life, even if you are afar (if you ever lapse, you will be reminded to Remember You're a Womble (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIxkqoNi8I4)). You'll also like Haydon as he's named after a station (the one near the old Wimbledon FC one that is now used for Greyhound racing) named after a road.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fstaticarchive%2F2cb5ac619ee8b53d5bfb51dcf0e11211d0615b8f.jpg&hash=a96391b21d4b7fffd5c1b18c35abede06979be8e)

*Presumably you are seeing them later this month, as that's when the next international break is, and there's not another until June (when the domestic season is over) and next season won't have fixture lists so you won't know if AFC Wimbledon are playing. In which case: pint? suggestions for cool stuff for road-and-transit geeks to see in London? both?

Much like the March Madness, both the Champions and the Europa leagues are being mocked-up by me. This time no team changes its name, instead there is a twist in the rules: The last who scores wins. Thus, I have a Northern Irish team (Linfield) in the Round of 16 of the Europa League, and I had an Estonian one (Infonet Tallinn, now FCI Tallinn) up to the Round of 32. Last year was even better, with a team from San Marino (Folgore) making it to the group stage of the Champions League.

I can really identify with AFC Wimbledon's relocation struggle, given that Seattle lost the Supersonics (NBA) in a similar, brutal fashion.

I'll be in town for the Rochdale United match, and then Hertha-Hoffenheim the same week.

The U.S. has risen from the bottom of CONCACAF qualifying to an AFC play-off spot in qualification with a 6-0 win over Honduras. Clint Dempsey with a hat-trick and Christian Pulisic with a ton of assists.

I am so excited.

Madrid really put on a clinic that second half. Well deserved repeat.

The 2016-17 UEFA Champions League is over... and before this month is over the 2017-18 one will kick-off. It will be back in three and a half weeks, with the first leg of the First Qualifying Round, featuring teams from Northern Ireland, Estonia, Armenia, Faroe Islands, Malta, Wales, Gibraltar, Andorra, San Marino and Kosovo :sombrero:.

So La Liga 2 (Spanish second tier) is over... and SD Huesca is going to play the promotion play-off!!! If they make it through that will mean Real Madrid and Barça (among others) would have to play them.

BTW, using the "last who scores wins" rule, the Champions League winner would have been Bayern, and the Europa League winner would have been Braga (which IRL was out after the group stage)

Huge 1-1 draw for the USA down in Mexico City. There's more assurance that the team won't be missing out on the World Cup next year.

Second-division USL team FC Cincinnati beat the Chicago Fire (2nd place in MLS Eastern Conference right now) in the U.S. Open Cup last night, in front of 32,000 fans and taking it all the way to penalty kicks. (Full highlights (https://streamable.com/p7urn))

https://twitter.com/fccincinnati/status/880239240294129665

Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made three saves in spectacular fashion.



They go on to play Miami FC, in the second-division NASL, in the next round for a chance to be the first non-MLS semifinalist since 2011.

Cincinnati has been an amazing story so far, with crowds of over 30,000 for most of their regular season matches over the last two years. They're bidding for the next round of MLS expansion, and the league would be stupid to pass them up.

I may be dreaming right now, but I am very much thinking about the sports excitement that would be seeping through the Cincinnati area if, in addition to that US Open Cup win, FC Cincinnati could be playing for a promotion spot for MLS.

:nod:

Mike

The U.S. are out. For the first time since 1986, they will not be playing in the World Cup.

Burn it all to the ground. That includes Mexico for screwing the U.S. over and not being grateful for their 2014 bailout.

Quote from: Bruce on October 10, 2017, 10:11:21 PM
The U.S. are out. For the first time since 1986, they will not be playing in the World Cup.

Burn it all to the ground. That includes Mexico for screwing the U.S. over and not being grateful for their 2014 bailout.

No one owes anyone anything. If we lost to Trinidad, we deserve it. I'll support Iceland.

However Iceland has made it! The least populated country ever to qualify for a World Cup, it has even less people than any of the host Russian cities. They made it to quarter-finals in the Euro last year.

In other news, I decided to change my parody of overrated teams, and regional football has gave me a surprise, as the team I used to replace Atletico got promoted and now plays in the same league as another that almost matches the one which replaced Barça. They will play against each other in November.

A 2nd major soccer league for North America is a possibility, already 22 (soon 24) in MLS (Major League soccer). My fantasy league is called Super League Soccer with around 20 teams - all in the US, unless El Paso are included in "Mexico".

Current MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New York "Cosmos", New York Red Bulls, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, (Washington) DC United, Toronto "Canadians" (or "Reds"), Impact du Montreal, Columbus Crew, Atlanta "Five Stripes", Orlando City, Miami Sol, Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City, Minnesota "Loons", Dallas "Burn", Houston Dynamo, Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles Galaxy, Los Angeles "Wings", San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps.

Update: Columbus Crew relocates to Austin, Texas...and could be replaced by FC Cincinnati "Kings".

MLS is going to expand to 28 far before a stable 2nd division (either USL with some  NASL ex-pats or an entirely new USSF league) can gain traction. That wipes out a few teams.

Plus, your MLS nicknames don't make much sense or conflict with real ones. The Cosmos brand is never going to be in MLS's hands, as the owners and fanbase hate the league with a burning passion. Toronto is already the "Reds", Minnesota the "Loons", and Atlanta the "Five Stripes". Not to mention you forgot quite a few major 2nd division-ready teams like Cincinnati, Nashville, and Birmingham.

(Also, American teams cannot play for Mexican leagues per FIFA rules. Canadians can compete in MLS because they lack their own 1st division league)

The new USL Division 3 is also starting up in 2019, with plenty of cities interested. And a separate Division 3 league, the NISA, is also planned to begin in 2018 or so.

Once the current round of expansions dies down around 2022 or so, I think the pyramid will look something like this (new teams in bold):

Major League Soccer (Division 1, 28 teams)

Eastern Conference (14): Atlanta United FC, Chicago Fire, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew SC (#SavetheCrew), D.C. United, Miami FC, Montreal Impact, Nashville FC, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, Toronto FC

Western Conference (14): Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United FC, Portland Timbers, Phoenix Rising, Real Salt Lake, San Diego Mission, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, Vancouver Whitecaps

League 2 (Division 2, 20 clubs) - merger of NASL and independent USL clubs

Birmingham, Charleston, Charlotte, Detroit, Edmonton, Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, New York (Cosmos), New Orleans Oklahoma City, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Rochester, Sacramento, San Antonio, St. Louis, Tampa

USL (Division 3) - plus MLS affiliated teams

Albuquerque, Boise, Chattanooga, Columbia, Dayton, Des Moines, Fayetteville, Fort Wayne, Fresno, Grand Rapids, Knoxville, Lexington, Little Rock, Milwaukee, Omaha, Reno, Richmond

How about the Denver Omelettes?  :colorful:

Quote from: 1 on October 30, 2017, 10:39:48 PM
How about the Denver Omelettes?  :colorful:

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Good one!:D

I wonder if a minor league structure for soccer similar to baseball with AAA-AA-A and Hockey (AHL-ECHL-SPHL) could work?

And will indoor soccer will catch as well? The Milwaukee Wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Wave is the oldest soccer team still in operation (created in 1984).

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on October 31, 2017, 09:26:20 AM

Quote from: 1 on October 30, 2017, 10:39:48 PM
How about the Denver Omelettes?  :colorful:

:-D :-D :-D :-D

Good one!:D

I wonder if a minor league structure for soccer similar to baseball with AAA-AA-A and Hockey (AHL-ECHL-SPHL) could work?

And will indoor soccer will catch as well? The Milwaukee Wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Wave is the oldest soccer team still in operation (created in 1984).

*Oldest professional team.

I think indoor soccer is doomed to stay small time, due to the association it has to soccer as an offshoot rather than an independent sport.

I'd rather have some form of promotion-relegation (a hot button issue in U.S. soccer), with hard barriers between the professional system (MLS and 2 top divisions) and the amateur/semi-pro/reserve system (USL/PDL and the like).

Quote from: Bruce on October 30, 2017, 07:49:22 PM
MLS is going to expand to 28 far before a stable 2nd division (either USL with some  NASL ex-pats or an entirely new USSF league) can gain traction. That wipes out a few teams.

Plus, your MLS nicknames don't make much sense or conflict with real ones. The Cosmos brand is never going to be in MLS's hands, as the owners and fanbase hate the league with a burning passion. Toronto is already the "Reds", Minnesota the "Loons", and Atlanta the "Five Stripes". Not to mention you forgot quite a few major 2nd division-ready teams like Cincinnati, Nashville, and Birmingham.

(Also, American teams cannot play for Mexican leagues per FIFA rules. Canadians can compete in MLS because they lack their own 1st division league)

The new USL Division 3 is also starting up in 2019, with plenty of cities interested. And a separate Division 3 league, the NISA, is also planned to begin in 2018 or so.

Once the current round of expansions dies down around 2022 or so, I think the pyramid will look something like this (new teams in bold):

Major League Soccer (Division 1, 28 teams)

Eastern Conference (14): Atlanta United FC, Chicago Fire, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew SC (#SavetheCrew), D.C. United, Miami FC, Montreal Impact, Nashville FC, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, and Toronto FC.

Western Conference (14): Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United FC, Portland Timbers, Phoenix Rising, Real Salt Lake, San Diego Mission, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, and Vancouver Whitecaps.

League 2 (Division 2, 20-22 clubs) - merger of NASL and independent USL clubs

Birmingham, Charleston, Charlotte, Detroit, Edmonton, Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Milwaukee Wave (the oldest in existence), New York (Cosmos), New Orleans, New England (Providence, RI-mine), Oklahoma City, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Rochester, Sacramento Republic (mine), San Antonio, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa Roughnecks (mine), West Coast Surf in Santa Barbara (mine), West Palm Beach (mine), and Wichita Wild West (mine).

USL (Division 3) - plus MLS affiliated teams

Albuquerque, Boise, Chattanooga, Columbia, Dayton, Des Moines, Fayetteville (Ark & NC teams?), Fort Wayne, Fresno Fuego (mine), Grand Rapids, Knoxville, Lexington, Little Rock, Los Angeles Lancers, San Bernardino Sockers (mine), Madison Dairyland (mine), Omaha, Reno-Nevada Neon (mine), Richmond, Riverside Blues (mine), San Francisco BayHawks (mine), So Cal Sunshine in Anaheim (mine), Temecula Quails (mine), Topeka Whites (mine), Tucson Clash (mine) and Western NY Wolfpack (mine)-not sure in Buffalo or Syracuse. There is a Rochester Rhinos team in division 2.

Oh, the other NYC team can't be "Cosmos". How about "Empire" as in the empire state? Just a name suggestion they can try. I believe Nebraska (Lincoln-can be the Federals) had a soccer team in the 1980s. And so did Provo, Utah (the Strikers?) in the same decade in the Brigham Young University coliseum. I guess Atlanta is the Stripes, may Nashville be the South Stars?

In the vein of those "A lost to B!" college American football threads, now I present: Real Zaragoza lost to SD Huesca!!! :bigass:

The MLS Cup Playoffs have passed the Conference Semifinals (quarterfinals) stage...and will take a two-week break for international callups.

The final four this year are interesting.

In the East, it's Toronto (1st place) vs. Columbus (5th). Toronto, having lost the MLS Cup at home to Seattle last year, have glided their way to the top of the league, finishing with a league record 69 points and looking nigh unstoppable. Columbus, meanwhile, squeaked in and fought amid their owner's attempt to move the team to Austin. It would be incredibly awkward for the league's office if their defending champions were greeted to empty stands in Ohio AND Texas, so they've attracted a lot of support.

In the West, it's Seattle (2nd) vs. Houston (4th). Seattle, the defending champions who quietly had a good season led by a strict defense, are looking to repeat and maybe score a goal this time (they took 0 shots during the 120-minute MLS Cup thriller last year, so fingers crossed). They are lead by their former assistant coach, who was promoted in place of their long-time coach last July and led them to the cup. Houston, meanwhile, dumped their long-time coach and has been enjoying a surprising amount of success on the field. They overcame a hostile crowd in Portland (albeit against a half-dead team) while missing a few starters.

The Conference Finals are two legs, with games on November 21 (Toronto at Columbus; Seattle at Houston), November 29 (Columbus at Toronto), and November 30 (Houston at Seattle). The MLS Cup final, to take place on December 9, will be hosted by the winners of the East, as both Toronto and Columbus finished higher overall than Seattle and Houston.

Quote from: Desert Man on October 30, 2017, 01:12:02 PM
Modified -
A 4th pro soccer league for North America is a possibility, already 22 (soon 24) in MLS (Major League soccer). My fantasy league is called Super League Soccer with around 20 teams - all in the US, unless El Paso are included in "Mexico".

AMERICAN CONFERENCE
WESTERN DIVISION
El Paso Aztex, San Antonio Tejanos, Fort Worth Sidekicks, Tacoma Stars, and Spokane Sports.

NORTHERN DIVISION
Iowa City or Quad City Pros, Saint Paul Capitals, new Columbus Crew, Cleveland Crunch, and Detroit Safari.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Tampa Bay (St. Petersburg) Rowdies, Fort Lauderdale Fusion, Mobile (AL) Bucs, Memphis Rogues, and Shreveport Champs.

EASTERN DIVISION
New Jersey (Newark) Metropolis, Harrisburg (PA) Heat, Virginia Beach Mutiny, Northern Virginia (Arlington) Fury, and Maryland (Baltimore) Bays. 

Current MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New York "Cosmos", New York Red Bulls, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, (Washington) DC United, Toronto "Canadians" (or "Reds"), Impact du Montreal, Columbus Crew, Atlanta "Five Stripes", Orlando City, Miami Sol, Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City, Minnesota "Loons", Dallas "Burn", Houston Dynamo, Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles Galaxy, Los Angeles "Wings", San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps.

Update: Columbus Crew relocates to Austin, Texas...and could be replaced by FC Cincinnati "Kings".

The USL (division 3) has 30 teams, two more than MLS proposed 28. My additions to division 2 (to make it from 24-30 teams):
Another team in New York City (Brooklyn) "Bridge", Chicago "Winds" and Los Angeles "Olympians" each, Mesa "Saints" in division 2, Virginia Beach or Norfolk "Colony" and Winnipeg "Winning".

Also you mentioned the USL can put a team each in Mesa and Tucson to even the number of teams in the league, but this is a fantasy I have. I don't know if Provo "Strikers" and Lincoln "Federals" are division 3 (again, a fantasy). I guess Buffalo and Syracuse NY can have their own- the Syracuse "Upstate" differ from the Western NY Wolfpack in Buffalo. And again, a team in Los Angeles: the Lancers, and the San Fernando Valley "Suburbia" (part of L.A. city limits). L.A. used to have the Chivas USA in Major League Soccer using the namesake of a Mexican professional soccer team based in the Mexican state of Jalisco. I wonder if the Chivas itself from Mexico play preseason or exhibition games in L.A.   

Chivas USA was owned by Chivas. The parent team played exhibitions in Los Angeles a few times, including a doubleheader with Chivas USA that got 92,500 people to "attend" an MLS match (tickets sold for both games). Overall, it was a failure due to the lack of real marketing to the right demographics, abysmal on-field performances, and general racism from the organization towards non-Latinos.

Italy are joining the USA, Netherlands, et al in not going to Russia!

While Italy won the World Cup just 11 years ago, they only won one game in the tournament-proper since: vs England in 2014, so their decline and their failure (after being put in a qualifying group which wasn't going to be an easy ride to win) to qualify wasn't a huge surprise to the few paying attention.

Of course England only really qualified for 2018 as once again they had a terrible group with little challenge. The last few England games have been so lacklustre that there's now almost a tradition of someone running on the pitch at the hour mark just to liven it up. They get banned from future England games and perhaps spend a night in jail rather than see the last half an hour which is seen as a reward rather than a punishment. If there's a big cheer from the crowd its as a paper plane has flown beautifully from high up in the stands into the goal rather than the team doing anything.

I saw England vs San Marino at Wembley (Euro 2016 qualifier?) and there were bigger cheers from the England fans for the San Marino team getting the ball into the England half than there was for any of the 5 England goals. This was a total mis-match, and if England bothered to get out of second gear, double figures could be had against the part timers, but no, just tick over, do just enough to not be embarrassed. The fans responded to the team's apathy in kind.

The response to the Young Lions' second World Cup win of the year (under-17s joining the under-20s) beyond the congratulations was 'oh great, another generation with loads of promise that'll be beaten out of them by the adult national side.'

At least Italy might learn from this failure. At least Italian media won't hype up the nation for the summer in order to get them to watch as their football team ekes out a boring 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia, draws against Panama and sneaks through to the second round on goal difference. And then lose thanks to a terrible referee howler (that draws the blame away from the bad playing) against Greece or something. England won't learn as their failure is hidden in success, and the media circus will roll out again with the team just being terrible, but not terrible enough for radical changes.

Italy's first failure to qualify since 1958. Ouch.

Chile is the other big team to miss out on this World Cup. I guess FIFA really had good foresight in proposing a 48-team tournament...the "smaller" nations are now good enough to knock off some established names.

Speaking of Italians, there's a professional soccer teams already in Brooklyn in the NPSL.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Italians

I like to see divisions 2 and 3 have 32 teams each - adding the Italians in division 2.

And Oxnard CA has a team named for Guerrero, Mexico - Los Guerreros del Oxnard.

Add them in division 2 - which means Southern CA has 12 professional soccer teams:
MLS - LA Galaxy and "Wings", and San Diego Mission.
Div 2 - LA Olympians, Oxnard (Guerreros), and Santa Barbara Surf.
Div 3 - Riverside, San Bernardino, San Fernando Valley, So Cal (Anaheim), Temecula and LA Lancers. 

And a California (CA US & Baja Mexico) League:
Albion FC in San Diego, Bakersfield Bulls or Bullets, Daly City FC (San Francisco), Los Sentinels (Mexicali), Oakland Bucs or Pirates, Golden Bay Blue in Palo Alto, Los Chivas USA (San Diego/Tijuana), Santa Rosa Crushers, Salinas-Santa Cruz Peppers, Stockton "1849", Tucson or Arizona Copperheads, Yuba City Bears. Note San Francisco and Fresno in Division 3.

There's a move to bring the Desert United in Palm Springs. Nearest rival is Los Soles (Yuma AZ).

Along with MLS' San Jose Earthquakes and the proposed Sacramento Republic, there are 12 professional soccer teams in Northern CA: a total of 24, plus 4 in nearby areas (can be 28).

https://deadspin.com/american-soccer-needs-to-burn-to-the-ground-1820488165

And now this comes out on the state of Soccer in the USA.

Quote from: Bruce on November 13, 2017, 07:43:20 PMI guess FIFA really had good foresight in proposing a 48-team tournament...the "smaller" nations are now good enough to knock off some established names.

Sweden and Spain, who knocked out Italy aren't really "smaller" and France and Sweden were those who knocked out the Netherlands. OK, Panama are smaller... ;)

It's good that qualifying knocks out decent teams - even big names. Else qualifying is a big joke designed to give teams like San Marino, Kazakhstan, Timor-Leste, Samoa and Cayman Islands games against big boys that actually count for something as they get thrashed. The USA treated qualifying this time as such a joke, and thus failed. Had there been an extra 16 teams, they'd have been one despite their current naffness and articles like the one above wouldn't be written - they wouldn't improve (just as England qualifying while terrible won't help them sort stuff out).

The European Championship expanded to 24 teams from 16 last year - and wasn't the all-killer/no-filler tournament of yesteryear. Sure, there's always been a tradition of smaller teams doing well by being overly defensive and boring, but the group stages had a bit of a preliminary feel to them as instead of 4 teams with not miles between them competing for 2 spaces, it was 4 teams of wider divergence competing for 3 spaces (OK, worst two third place teams didn't get through). It wasn't hard to get through it. Plus qualifying was easy for all the big teams - instead of the competition always missing at least one of the bigger names due to failure to qualify, they all did easily as there was no real competitiveness in qualifying.

Quote from: bing101 on November 18, 2017, 12:38:09 PM
https://deadspin.com/american-soccer-needs-to-burn-to-the-ground-1820488165

And now this comes out on the state of Soccer in the USA.

Take everything Deadspin says about American soccer with a huge grain of salt. They have a comical anti-MLS bias and would rather see no American league exist at all to "taint" their idea of a perfect, Euro-centric vision of soccer.

Quote from: Bruce on November 18, 2017, 04:19:18 PM
Take everything Deadspin says about anything with a huge grain of salt.

Fixed.

There's one reason I really love Cup competitions: upsets. The smallest (populated) island of the Balearics (Spain) is Formentera, and its team (which last got promoted for the first time ever to Segunda B, 3rd tier) progressed far enough in the Copa del Rey to get matched with a La Liga team playing European competition, in this case Athletic. After drawing 1-1 in the first leg (played in Formentera), on Wednesday they headed to Bilbao... and scored at the very end of the match, thus taking Athletic out of the cup. Now that is something. The same day, Lleida eliminated Real Sociedad (the team from San Sebastian).

The MLS Cup is set: Toronto vs. Seattle, for the second year running. Shouldn't be a scoreless draw to attrition like last year's final, though similar (cold) weather is expected.

Toronto FC won their 1st MLS cup title. https://www.tsn.ca/tfc-captures-first-mls-cup-title-in-team-history-1.939378

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on December 10, 2017, 07:44:17 AM
Toronto FC won their 1st MLS cup title. https://www.tsn.ca/tfc-captures-first-mls-cup-title-in-team-history-1.939378

First the Argos and now Toronto FC, Toronto is having a good year!  :cheers: Now we just need the Leafs to break their 50-season Stanley Cup drought.

Quote from: 7/8 on December 10, 2017, 09:25:33 AM

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on December 10, 2017, 07:44:17 AM
Toronto FC won their 1st MLS cup title. https://www.tsn.ca/tfc-captures-first-mls-cup-title-in-team-history-1.939378

First the Argos and now Toronto FC, Toronto is having a good year!  :cheers: Now we just need the Leafs to break their 50-season Stanley Cup drought.

I could do with another Blue Jays World Series title too.  Maybe they just need to relocate to BMO field for a season?

Couple of big matches today in the EPL: The Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton, and the Manchester Derby between City and United.

Merseyside even at 1 after a Wayne Rooney PK on a questionable call.

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 10, 2017, 10:51:38 AMCouple of big matches today in the EPL: The Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton, and the Manchester Derby between City and United.

Don't forget Soton-Arses. Annoyingly the Gunners equalised at the end, as the Saints deserved the win.

Liverpool-Everton is a terrible result for both of them. I guess the Toffees can take heart with a point, but the manner in which they got it suggests that they haven't turned around and they'll have a 5th season outside the top flight (in 120) - their first since '53-54.

And if City don't win the league, it's as they have lost it rather than someone else won it - City are so far ahead now. I'm at the point where I'd be surprised if they lose a game in the league, and - if they hadn't lost in the dead-rubber against Donetsk mid-week - they could have gone unbeaten all season.

Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on December 10, 2017, 10:35:09 AM
I could do with another Blue Jays World Series title too.  Maybe they just need to relocate to BMO field for a season?

Don't forget the Raptors who still try to get their 1st NBA championship title. Their farm-team the Raptors 905 won the championship of the NBDL aka D-League and now known as G-league last season.

Quietly here (at least stateside), the Noisy Neighbors are doing something incredible. Undefeated after 20 games and 58 of 60 possible points.

Beyond the usual big six clubs that rarely ever change, it's a nutso season in the EPL. The eighth-place team (Leicester) are closer to the drop zone than they are to a Champions League spot.

Quote from: Road Hog on December 29, 2017, 09:53:22 PMBeyond the usual big six clubs that rarely ever change, it's a nutso season in the EPL. The eighth-place team (Leicester) are closer to the drop zone than they are to a Champions League spot.

That's pretty typical - a pack of about 7 or 8 march forth, one or two teams fall back from the herd but the rest are a pack. It's like a cycle race with a peleton.

It's more pronounced in the Championship though - with maybe only 3 teams pulling away at the front. Even as late as Easter, there's only a handful of points between relegation and the play offs. No UEFA money to exacerbate the top, unlike the EPL.

While, obviously, there's the Top-5 big teams, it is interesting how smaller teams can break into it for a season or two (Leicester, Southampton, Burnley are good exceptions from recent/this seasons), and even teams like Crystal Palace at their lowest ebb can beat a Chelsea. This is what makes the EPL good - there is theoretically more differentiation between the teams than in the US with it's socialist sports, but there's enough strength in depth that no game is easy, unlike other European leagues. Of course, however, it does harm the European prospects of the bigger clubs, what with having lots of games and most of them non-trivial. Oh what, you are playing Real Madrid next week? Have an attritional game in Stoke four days before and home game against Everton 4 days after.

I like how a blue-maroon team I hate is leading La Liga and a blue-maroon team I love is leading La Liga 2 (2nd tier). I want this season to end as it stands now so I could see stars like Cristiano and Messi in my hometown :sombrero:.

Just in: Leganes has beaten Real Madrid and advances to semi-finals of the Copa del Rey! If tomorrow Espanyol manages to hold against Barça (they are leading 1-0) the final won't feature either Real Madrid or Barça for the first time since 2010.

The CONCACAF Champions League has resumed, under a new format.

Colorado and Toronto will play each other tonight in below-freezing temperatures of 17 degrees F (https://theknow.denverpost.com/2018/02/19/coldest-mls-match-colorado/176935/) (-8 C), which would be among the coldest professional soccer games played in North America.

Quote from: Bruce on February 20, 2018, 08:12:25 PM
The CONCACAF Champions League has resumed, under a new format.

Colorado and Toronto will play each other tonight in below-freezing temperatures of 17 degrees F (https://theknow.denverpost.com/2018/02/19/coldest-mls-match-colorado/176935/) (-8 C), which would be among the coldest professional soccer games played in North America.

Next week's game will thankfully be in tolerable conditions, I plan to go. As an aside, I believe the temperature in Denver is sitting around -11 C, so low 10s in F.

I was at Leg 2 of the Toronto FC vs Colorado Rapids "eighth final"

And the match ended scoreless meaning that Toronto FC moves on to the quarterfinals and will be facing the current champions of the Mexican League, Tigres UANL.

The quarterfinals for the CONCACAF Champions League is set. 3 MLS teams survive and will face 3 of the 4 Liga MX teams.

(https://i.imgur.com/ypIxL53.png)

Seattle came back from losing the first leg 2-1 to winning the series 5-2 on aggregate, thanks to four second-half goals.



I attended, since it was a weeknight and the tickets were super cheap (only $7 for two seats a few rows above the field). About 30,000 people, which is lower than an MLS match but still very well-attended.

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/39691634795_47404e6691_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/23tq1bX)
Sounders vs. Santa Tecla (CCL) from SW corner (https://flic.kr/p/23tq1bX) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/39691638395_2a8e90f012_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/23tq2g2)
Sounders vs. Santa Tecla (CCL) panorama (https://flic.kr/p/23tq2g2) by SounderBruce (https://www.flickr.com/photos/sounderbruce/), on Flickr

The unrest at West Ham United has been pretty impressive (http://www.espn.com/soccer/west-ham-united/story/3414088/west-ham-fans-invade-pitch-confront-players-and-call-for-board-to-quit-during-burnley-game). Multiple pitch invasions, target chants directed at the club's owners, and lackluster performances on the field by players. Moving to Olympic Stadium seems to have been the worst decision the club has ever made.

I think they should be docked points. Mostly as Southampton are dangling over the drop zone, and having West Ham below them and providing a cushion would be very welcome.

They, like everyone else, were unhappy with the move to the Olympic Stadium. Everyone else was pissed as the taxpayer bore the brunt of their move - and Leyton Orient and Spurs were angry at the move 2.5 miles WNW closer to their patches (Orient's ground is just 1.5 miles from the Olympic Stadium, White Hart Lane just 5 miles) as well as being overlooked in the competition to take over the stadium. The Hammers were annoyed as the Olympic Stadium is a terrible stadium for football (especially as they have kept the ability to do athletics), too big (including the pitch itself not being suited to West Ham's style of play) and echoing with a lack of the 112 year history that the Boleyn Ground had. There were protests and complaints last season (https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/may/04/west-ham-first-season-london-stadium-slaven-bilic). They not only lost the home advantage, but it became a disadvantage. I'm surprised it took another 15 home league games before it bubbled over into mayhem. Perhaps the move cemented the change in the club to drop the more rough supporters?

Van Dijk clearly worth the ridiculous amount Liverpool paid for him - the difference between Soton with him playing and Soton without him playing was clear last season for those paying attention - over a season it is the difference between pushing for Europa League or fighting for Premier League. And Lovren can stop trying to tank the Scousers from within - there's no chance Saints will finish above them this year. ;)

Atlanta has broken the MLS single-match attendance record, which it had set in October.

https://twitter.com/SoccerInsider/status/972973767063494657

Also of note: all three MLS teams in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League managed to win their first legs. That includes the Red Bulls playing in Tijuana, Toronto hosting Tigres (the Liga MX champions), and the Sounders hosting Chivas.

Quote from: Bruce on March 11, 2018, 08:14:24 PM
Atlanta has broken the MLS single-match attendance record, which it had set in October.

https://twitter.com/SoccerInsider/status/972973767063494657

Also of note: all three MLS teams in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League managed to win their first legs. That includes the Red Bulls playing in Tijuana, Toronto hosting Tigres (the Liga MX champions), and the Sounders hosting Chivas.

Wow, surprising Seattle does not hold this record. Tough for them to beat since they don't have a large enough stadium.

Quote from: Alps on March 12, 2018, 12:20:47 AM
Wow, surprising Seattle does not hold this record. Tough for them to beat since they don't have a large enough stadium.

Seattle was never able to break the original record (set in 1996) because the stadium didn't hold enough people. The Sounders did, however, take up the lion's share of >60K matches (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_attendance#Individual_game_highest_attendance).

Both Red Bull New York and Toronto FC move on to the semis.

As for Toronto FC, they advanced on away goals rule in a game they should have clearly "won"  tonight. They advanced but it doesn't really feel like a victory tonight.

The first ever "El Trafico" derby between the LA Galaxy (actually from Carson) and Los Angeles FC was played today and was quite a thriller.

LAFC took a 3-0 lead in the first half and the Galaxy were playing sluggishly.

The Galaxy took a gamble and substituted on their new superstar, Zlatan Ibrahamovic, and it paid dividends.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/980184040362860544

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/980186716060315649

I think Zlatan will love the MLS - the attritional physical game of the EPL was perhaps too much for him. He 'only' scored 17 in 33 appearances for Man U (though his Barca record is similar), whereas at Galaxy he can go back to the nearly a goal per game average that he got at PSG!

Quote from: english si on March 11, 2018, 05:46:50 AM
I think they should be docked points. Mostly as Southampton are dangling over the drop zone, and having West Ham below them and providing a cushion would be very welcome.

It doesn't matter now - West Ham have come together after the fan unrest and look as if they will get the points to take them out of trouble. Southampton have given up. Hopefully they don't end up in League 1 like last time (when they got relegated in 2005).

Why did Soton hire Mark Hughes? He'd not long been sacked from Stoke for leaving the other red-and-white striped team slightly below Southampton in great danger of being relegated. At least we ended League 1 leaders Wigan's cup run that saw them beat Man City, West Ham and Bournemouth, but a cup semi-final is going to be a distraction.

And David Moyes won't take two teams out of the EPL while still in his initial Man U contract period. :(

Quote from: english si on April 01, 2018, 04:15:14 AM
I think Zlatan will love the MLS - the attritional physical game of the EPL was perhaps too much for him. He 'only' scored 17 in 33 appearances for Man U (though his Barca record is similar), whereas at Galaxy he can go back to the nearly a goal per game average that he got at PSG!

MLS is a fairly physical league, in the sense that there's little emphasis on midfield control and more on end-to-end counterattacks. Pirlo complained about this when he was at NYCFC and some older European players have struggled.

I think Zlatan will thrive in MLS, thanks to his willingness to work and stay fit. Plus his personality will be a huge hit with the American sports media, even if they do eventually butt heads.

Dang it, I wanted to watch a local match, only to arrive and find the pitch in bad condition, causing the match to be postponed. Well...

Quote from: Bruce on April 01, 2018, 04:32:37 PM

Quote from: english si on April 01, 2018, 04:15:14 AM
I think Zlatan will love the MLS - the attritional physical game of the EPL was perhaps too much for him. He 'only' scored 17 in 33 appearances for Man U (though his Barca record is similar), whereas at Galaxy he can go back to the nearly a goal per game average that he got at PSG!

MLS is a fairly physical league, in the sense that there's little emphasis on midfield control and more on end-to-end counterattacks. Pirlo complained about this when he was at NYCFC and some older European players have struggled.

I think Zlatan will thrive in MLS, thanks to his willingness to work and stay fit. Plus his personality will be a huge hit with the American sports media, even if they do eventually butt heads.

I notice you're awfully quiet since you've been knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League.....shall I remind you that we are in the final?

Quote from: MisterSG1 on April 14, 2018, 03:15:13 PM

Quote from: Bruce on April 01, 2018, 04:32:37 PM

Quote from: english si on April 01, 2018, 04:15:14 AM
I think Zlatan will love the MLS - the attritional physical game of the EPL was perhaps too much for him. He 'only' scored 17 in 33 appearances for Man U (though his Barca record is similar), whereas at Galaxy he can go back to the nearly a goal per game average that he got at PSG!

MLS is a fairly physical league, in the sense that there's little emphasis on midfield control and more on end-to-end counterattacks. Pirlo complained about this when he was at NYCFC and some older European players have struggled.

I think Zlatan will thrive in MLS, thanks to his willingness to work and stay fit. Plus his personality will be a huge hit with the American sports media, even if they do eventually butt heads.

I notice you're awfully quiet since you've been knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League.....shall I remind you that we are in the final?

Yeah, I heard. I wrote up the Wikipedia entry for the final in the hour after the second leg, and will be rooting for you guys to take down Chivas.

It never hurts to be beaten by the best MLS team ever in the cup final, then the second-best team on the continent in the Champions League. Especially when you've had injury problems through both competitions!

Quote from: Bruce on April 01, 2018, 04:32:37 PMMLS is a fairly physical league, in the sense that there's little emphasis on midfield control and more on end-to-end counterattacks.

But it's nowhere near as attritional as the EPL which couples that with a relative lack of restbite between games, and few easy games.

Quote from: english si on April 15, 2018, 04:35:21 AM

Quote from: Bruce on April 01, 2018, 04:32:37 PMMLS is a fairly physical league, in the sense that there's little emphasis on midfield control and more on end-to-end counterattacks.

But it's nowhere near as attritional as the EPL which couples that with a relative lack of restbite between games, and few easy games.

I think this gets cancelled out by MLS's travel schedule. An away stand can absolutely drain teams, who have to fly in coach (including layovers and such for some smaller markets) and play in some fairly diverse conditions. One weekend you could be playing at altitude and snow in Colorado, the next under the sun in California or Florida.

True, but as a Man U player, Zlatan had (OK, first class) trips around Europe for Europa League. Thursday games in Istanbul, Luhansk and Rostov (Rotterdam, Brussels and Vigo are a bit easier than far-flung fringes), followed by weekend games is not a pleasant schedule. Add in they played a lot of domestic cup games, further adding to the fixture problem. He wasn't at his best there, not that being the top scorer for a Man U who won two competitions is anything to be sniffed at - MLS will allow him to get back to goal-a-game stuff.

And it's not like Man U can hide behind travel for their fact they gave West Brom what is only their second win since August yesterday - their last match was in Manchester (even though it was away) and a week ago. Yet this top (well second-top) team looked tired. The EPL is draining - you end up playing a minimum of 40 games (2 cups + 38 games) and maybe into the 60s with mid-week games more often than not if you do well in the Cups/Europe - and you can never assume an easy game (even lower-league teams in the cup - City lost to League 1's Wigan and no team likes going to non-league side and playing on a terrible pitch and facing a team who trade in crunching tackles).

...Well that was heartbreaking. Toronto managed to play well despite the condition of their team (with a makeshift backline and gassed players), only to lose on two misplaced penalties. I feel like Bono could have saved one or two of Chivas's shots...or Delgado could have scored that goal.

The MLS curse will continue for yet another year. I think this new format is going to allow teams to make deeper runs, especially if teams decide to sacrifice the early weeks of the season in pursuit of continental glory.

It's now official: SD Huesca has promoted to La Liga for the first time ever!!! They have just defeated Lugo 0-2, and since Sporting lost this means SD Huesca will play in the top flight the next season with two matches to go. Real Madrid, Barça and others will visit my hometown next year.

MLS is set to announce Cincinnati as its next expansion team, to join next season.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/05/24/fc-cincinnati-mls-expansion-berth-announcement-2019-start

So the biggest (financial) game in club football (world sport in fact) has just finished with Fulham regaining Premier League status and getting a minimum reward of $213 million dollars for winning that game vs losing that game.

Now for the biggest (prestige) game in club football... I guess Liverpool would be preferable to Real, as then Southampton get a few more million off Liverpool in bonuses relating to the many ex-Saints players in their line up - but otherwise I'd be cheering for both to lose.

What a final. I feel bad for Karius, who blundered on two goals. Also feel bad for Salah, who is questionable for the World Cup now...

Highlights (without commentary):



Bale's first goal:

https://twitter.com/SouthamptonFC/status/1000479573451173888

Saints also turned Mane (and half the Liverpool squad) into the players they are...  :clap:


I feel most sorry for Sergio Ramos - he's so insecure he has to try and get players of the other team booked by diving as if shot if there's a slight bit of contact even with his team ahead and on course for a third consecutive Champions League trophy. I mean its not as if his plans to take the other team's best player out of the game by fouling him lots, and to spook their weak-link keeper with a cheeky elbow to the face, weren't even more effective than he had dreamed. I guess if you have that much going for you, you might as well see if you can milk the referee for all you can get. I hope he's booked a nice holiday to Egypt this summer - the cheating ass...

In the next hour, MLS is expected to announce FC Cincinnati as its next expansion team. Rumor has it that they will begin play next season alongside Nashville.

Quote from: Bruce on May 29, 2018, 04:41:12 PM
In the next hour, MLS is expected to announce FC Cincinnati as its next expansion team. Rumor has it that they will begin play next season alongside Nashville.

Yep. They'll start in 2019, initially playing at Nippert Stadium (their current home). Eventually, a purpose-built stadium is slated to go in the West End neighborhood near downtown.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/3512103/fc-cincinnati-to-join-mls-as-expansion-team-next-season

A very MLS highlight: a team sends up their goalkeeper for a last-minute corner in a critical playoff-jockeying match, it gets punted back and is left to an aging European star to work some magic.

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1028827728298954752

Quote from: Bruce on August 13, 2018, 02:42:30 AMan aging European star

Aging? He's 32.

Though perhaps I'm in denial as he was in the same school year as me.

Quote from: english si on August 13, 2018, 04:35:18 AM

Quote from: Bruce on August 13, 2018, 02:42:30 AMan aging European star

Aging? He's 32.

Though perhaps I'm in denial as he was in the same school year as me.

I always manage to forget his age, given his looks and how long he's been a professional. But he's definitely past his peak and fits the narrative of the MLS retiree (though he seems to be one of the good ones who puts in a lot of effort, unlike some of the other English imports).

La Liga has already quicked off, and thus far Huesca is the only team that has never lost a match in the top flight :sombrero: (They have only played two matches so far, though, they won against Eibar and drawn against Athletic). However they are visiting Barça next match day. They are yet to play a home match in the top flight, as their home ground is being expanded in order to meet minimum capacity requirements.

A little known fact: Back in 2004 a very young Messi, then in the reserve team of Barça, played (and lost) against Huesca, which back then was in Segunda B (the 3rd tier).

The less that is said about La Liga's money-grabbing "football-spreading" match in the United States, the better.

It makes zero sense and I hope that FIFA and CONCACAF/USSF reject it without second thought. The only competitive matches that should be allowed outside their home countries are supercups (just glorified preseason friendlies).

Yup. That was an unilateral decission by the LFP (Spanish pro league, the two top tiers). Not only fans are against that, even players oppose the plan, and they may go on strike. I hope they reverse that.

The Premier League repeatedly moots having a '39th game' in Asia - ship all the teams out to China (or wherever), they play a game (that I doubt would count) for no reason than money that they already have excesses of!

Friendlies and the World Club Championship should be the only reason to leave the territory of your confederation. Confederation club competitions (eg Champions League, Europa League) and big fish in little ponds*/near border clubs** should be the only reason to leave the territory of your association.

And that last sentence shows how I feel about a European Super League (though my issues are more with the closed shop nature of it and the devaluing of domestic games, rather than the idea of playing foreign teams in a league as well as a cup).

*eg Vaduz in the Swiss leagues or Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport in the English leagues
**eg Owestry-based TNS in the Welsh leagues or Berwick Rangers in the Scottish leagues

And speaking of leaving your confederation: On Tuesday, a rare friendly was played by an American club.

Chicago Fire went to the Allianz Arena to play Bayern Munich in Bastian Schweinsteiger's testimonial (in which he played a half for each club). It's very rare for American clubs to play a European team in Europe, even for a friendly. I can also remember the NY Cosmos (the 2nd division "revival" of the original team") playing at Old Trafford a few years ago as well.

Okay, Huesca has suffered a blowout against Barça. This was expected, however that goal just three minutes into the match was tottally unexpected!

Also, in the midst of the controversy about the possible La Liga matches in the USA Huesca has offered themshelves to cross the pond just to play one. It's all about the money.

Quote from: english si on August 30, 2018, 06:04:40 PM
Friendlies and the World Club Championship should be the only reason to leave the territory of your confederation. Confederation club competitions (eg Champions League, Europa League) and big fish in little ponds*/near border clubs** should be the only reason to leave the territory of your association.

*eg Vaduz in the Swiss leagues or Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham and Newport in the English leagues
**eg Owestry-based TNS in the Welsh leagues or Berwick Rangers in the Scottish leagues

The Vaduz example applies to all teams from Liechtenstein, since that country only has a cup and no league. A different thing are Andorra and San Marino, both with their own leagues but in addition they have one team each in the Spanish (FC Andorra) and Italian (San Marino Calcio) systems respectively. Not to mention they are the biggest clubs in their respective countries.

The UEFA Nations League seems to have worked as hoped - by creating a competition where teams play teams roughly on their level for actual stakes (so not friendlies) they took out the boredom between major tournaments when international breaks roll around. Sure they'd be a qualifying upset where a big team draws against some little team (I remember a big team only winning 1-0 against the Faeroes being treated as some massive upset just to say something) or one where there wouldn't be a mishmash every international break, but that's like a couple of games out of 40+.

I did think that Spain at Wembley on Saturday night was the must-win game for England, but drawing-if-it-wasn't-for-bad-reffing against a team that has just put 6 past World Cup finalists (and 4th-ranked in the world) Croatia, doesn't seem too bad.

CONCACAF is also staring up their own Nations League next year, with the first qualification matches this month. Middling powers like Canada, Haiti and Cuba are being forced to play real minnows like the U.S. Virgin Islands and various Dutch territories, resulting in record wins of 8-0, 11-0, etc. It's been a bit of a laugh.

Goal difference is going to determine which teams can qualify for League A/B and the Gold Cup more than anything, so there's plenty of reason to keep running up the score.

This is getting ridiculous

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45483586

QuoteA third European club competition could be introduced alongside the Champions League and Europa League from 2021, according to the head of the association of Europe's biggest teams.

...

The idea, which could be approved by Uefa at a December meeting in Dublin, would see the Europa League reduced from 48 teams to 32 so that the Champions League, Europa League and the new competition would all have the same number of competitors.

It seems almost no one wants this.

Quote from: wphiii on September 12, 2018, 10:30:27 AM
This is getting ridiculous

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45483586

QuoteA third European club competition could be introduced alongside the Champions League and Europa League from 2021, according to the head of the association of Europe's biggest teams.

...

The idea, which could be approved by Uefa at a December meeting in Dublin, would see the Europa League reduced from 48 teams to 32 so that the Champions League, Europa League and the new competition would all have the same number of competitors.

It seems almost no one wants this.

UEFA used to have three club competitions. Europa League was basically an amalgamation of the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup.

Don't forget the Intertoto Cup (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Intertoto_Cup), which only got merged into the UEFA Cup (turning it into the Europa League) 10 years ago. The Cup Winners Cup was merged into the UEFA Cup without a branding change 9 years before that.

That said, it was basically a bonus qualifying route into the UEFA Cup (up to 12 from group stages) that returned to its 60s roots of a knock-out contest with only a couple of winners (multiple brackets) when UEFA took over in 1995, though 10 years later it lapsed into being about generating 11 teams that weren't called 'winners' for entry into the UEFA Cup, albeit this time by knock out.

Quote from: Bruce on September 11, 2018, 05:11:47 PMCONCACAF is also staring up their own Nations League next year, with the first qualification matches this month. Middling powers like Canada, Haiti and Cuba are being forced to play real minnows like the U.S. Virgin Islands and various Dutch territories, resulting in record wins of 8-0, 11-0, etc.

The CONCACAF one has qualifying? And, looking, the qualifying teams were either automatically qualified (the 6 teams who got to the last stage of the WC Qualifying) or ranked and put into 4 seeding pots for the draw to determine their opponents to see which of 4 leagues they get put into? Seems rather pointless to rank the teams as part of the ranking process and not to leave it there.

And that qualifying involves a load of mis-matches. The first game week provided 3 double-digit scores and 10 out of 17 games being 3-or-more to nil. The problem the Nations League is trying to fix is a (most bad in UEFA) problem of international games normally either being meaningful games in terms of stakes or meaningful games in terms of being a near-equal match. Haiti playing Sint Marteen with stakes is as meaningless a game of football as Haiti playing Trinidad and Tobago (the closest CONACAF team to them in the FIFA rankings) in a friendly.

Thankfully this qualifying looks to be one-off due to the competition itself dealing with team placement next time around. I guess it would give a slightly more accurate assessment of the team's current ability than rankings, but it still seems to be missing the point.

CONCACAF's voting power comes from the smaller Caribbean and Central American nations, which outnumber the powers and thus generally have their way (see: the infamous Jack Warner). They probably demanded a qualification stage to give their nations a small chance of making it to League B and fighting for

Note that this qualification round also functions as qualification for the Gold Cup, which used to be just a pair of knockout tournaments divided by sub-region (and Canada getting an automatic spot).

So since when did TNT get the Champions League? And why did they have Barcelona on early today?

Quote from: DandyDan on September 18, 2018, 05:00:23 PM
So since when did TNT get the Champions League? And why did they have Barcelona on early today?

They acquired the rights for 2018-19 thru to 2020-21 last year. It's going to be a disaster, so I'm sticking to my online streams.

Soccer coverage here is starting to get worse for a lot of leagues, either in terms of partners or availability for the price. I wish we still had World Cups on ESPN, MLS on NBC, and Fox on Champions League.

Tonight's Copa Libertadores final has been postponed to Sunday because of the attack on the Boca team bus.

What a total embarrassment for the sport. River needs to be slapped with a heavy punishment (closed-door games and no international competition for a decade).

The MLS Cup is set for next Saturday: Atlanta United will host the Portland Timbers.

All 70K tickets have already been sold out, so the attendance record set in 2002 (61K at Gillette Stadium) will likely be broken. Given how both teams have played throughout the second half of the season and the playoffs, I'm expecting more than a few goals.

Atlanta United have won the MLS Cup, in their second-ever season, in front of the largest MLS Cup crowd ever (73,019). Pretty great night.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dt8aKMoWkAAoevP.jpg)

The renderings for the proposed new Columbus Crew Stadium look pretty incredible, and it would be in a great location as a natural expansion to the existing Arena district. Hopefully this deal goes through. The vast majority of the project built with private funds provided by the potential new ownership group.

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/12/06/plan-calls-for-230m-columbus-crew-stadium-in-the.html?__twitter_impression=true#g/446854/1

The MLS Cup Playoffs will now have 14 teams (instead of 12), single-match rounds, and fit neatly between the two international breaks.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/12/13/2019-mls-playoff-structure

Quote from: Bruce on December 17, 2018, 05:46:11 PM
The MLS Cup Playoffs will now have 14 teams (instead of 12), single-match rounds, and fit neatly between the two international breaks.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/12/13/2019-mls-playoff-structure

Glad to see the 2 leg series go away. Those make sense in continental competitions with teams from a bunch of different leagues, but not so much for a North American style playoff system where the bracket seeding is determined by a long regular season.

14 of 24 teams seems like a lot, but one year later it'll be 14 of 26 and then eventually 14 of 28. Well, that's assuming they stay with this new playoff system throughout the planned expansion to 28, but I'm guessing they designed this system for 28 and then just started it a few years early. It'll be interesting to what happens if/when they go to 30 or 32 teams.

Sigi Schmid, the winningest coach in MLS history, died on Tuesday at the age of 65.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-sigi-schmid-obit-20181226-story.html

The semifinals for the CONCACAF Champions League are set, with only one American team managing to survive, while three fall to Mexican clubs.

(https://i.imgur.com/RKog63U.png)

MLS teams remain at a disadvantage due to the competition beginning in the middle of preseason, though the new schedule in 2020 will move league games into mid-February and make things only slightly better. Liga MX teams are still in the Clausura, so they remain at a significant advantage.

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. 

Quote from: Bruce on March 15, 2019, 12:03:37 AM
The semifinals for the CONCACAF Champions League are set, with only one American team managing to survive, while three fall to Mexican clubs.

(https://i.imgur.com/RKog63U.png)

MLS teams remain at a disadvantage due to the competition beginning in the middle of preseason, though the new schedule in 2020 will move league games into mid-February and make things only slightly better. Liga MX teams are still in the Clausura, so they remain at a significant advantage.

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

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on March 18, 2019, 09:57:27 AM
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.

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.

Quote from: Bruce on March 18, 2019, 11:37:06 PM
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

Quote from: Bruce on March 18, 2019, 11:34:51 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on March 18, 2019, 09:57:27 AM
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

Quote from: mgk920 on March 21, 2019, 12:11:31 PM
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.

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

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/40458099373_e7aac80952_o.jpg)

Quote from: Bruce on March 22, 2019, 02:16:01 AM
Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/40458099373_e7aac80952_o.jpg)

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.

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
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.

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2019, 12:19:51 AM
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.

Quote from: thspfc on March 30, 2019, 05:56:42 PM

Quote from: Bruce on March 22, 2019, 02:16:01 AM
Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/40458099373_e7aac80952_o.jpg)

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.

Quote from: Bruce on March 30, 2019, 08:09:24 PM

Quote from: thspfc on March 30, 2019, 05:56:42 PM

Quote from: Bruce on March 22, 2019, 02:16:01 AM
Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN is scheduled to open Friday at 11 am. First match is on April 13.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/40458099373_e7aac80952_o.jpg)

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.

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

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

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

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

Quote from: thspfc on March 30, 2019, 06:01:12 PM

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
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.

:nod:

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

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.

Quote from: mgk920 on March 31, 2019, 01:37:15 PM

Quote from: thspfc on March 30, 2019, 06:01:12 PM

Quote from: bugo on July 26, 2013, 01:13:17 AM
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.

:nod:

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.

Quote from: thspfc on March 30, 2019, 10:38:11 PM
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.

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 15, 2019, 12:19:51 AMBoth 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.

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  :banghead:

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.

Quote from: Bruce on April 05, 2019, 03:40:55 PM
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"

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

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.

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.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on May 08, 2019, 09:12:46 AM
Update: It's now clear the Champions League winner will be English.

Yes!
It might be time for my friends to stop telling me Spurs can't win trophies. By tanking in the EPL, Tottenham is in the Champions League Final, at long last.

Two comebacks by English clubs from 3-0 down...the world is truly broken!

The Champions League is really screwed up this year. I'm not complaining though. . .

Manchester City are champions, Liverpool are heartbroken (at least for a few more weeks).

The 84 minutes between goals in the Champions League final was rather boring. Let's not have an all-English final ever again.

Quote from: Bruce on June 01, 2019, 05:17:13 PM
The 84 minutes between goals in the Champions League final was rather boring. Let's not have an all-English final ever again.

I thought it was a good game, though not the 3-2 I predicted.

US Women win 13-0 over Thailand to open their Women's World Cup campaign, setting a new world record for that margin of victory. Alex Morgan bagged five goals. FIVE!

https://twitter.com/FIFAWWC/status/1138549426912419840

Quote from: Bruce on June 11, 2019, 04:52:33 PM
US Women win 13-0 over Thailand to open their Women's World Cup campaign, setting a new world record for that margin of victory. Alex Morgan bagged five goals. FIVE!

https://twitter.com/FIFAWWC/status/1138549426912419840

YIKES
Shows how far the US women are ahead of some of some decent countries in women's soccer.
Now we wait until the day when the men can finally compete with Venezuela.

Today marked 25 years since the start of the 1994 World Cup, hosted by the United States, which smashed attendance and television records and really kickstarted the current era of American soccer.

Quote from: Bruce on June 17, 2019, 11:56:59 PM
Today marked 25 years since the start of the 1994 World Cup, hosted by the United States, which smashed attendance and television records and really kickstarted the current era of American soccer.

Probably what led me and my sister to take up soccer in our youth.

Gyasi Zardes scored a painful goal for the USA to lock up the 4-0 victory over Guyana. https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1546094147814 (https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/video/1546094147814)

USA advance to the Women's World Cup Final for the third consecutive (and fifth overall) time. Some late scares (and dirty play) from England at the end, but it worked out as intended.

https://twitter.com/USWNT/status/1146159958934937601

The United States took home their fourth Women's World Cup (second back-to-back)...that's half of all Women's World Cups ever played.

Match highlights:



Crowd reactions from various watch parties:



Trophy lift:



Highlights from the whole tournament:

I thought that penalty was a bit too much. I've played soccer for almost 10 years and reffed for three, and I would not have called it a penalty.

Quote from: thspfc on July 07, 2019, 06:12:38 PM
I thought that penalty was a bit too much. I've played soccer for almost 10 years and reffed for three, and I would not have called it a penalty.

In my view, a high boot that gets anywhere near the face should be called 100% of the time. It's too dangerous to let go.

After watching this WWC I think I’ve come to the conclusion that Morgan and Rapinoe are overrated. They tend to get all the media attention, but I don’t think I’d consider them the best on the USWNT right now. In my opinion Lavelle, Ertz, Heath, and probably Horan are the best players on that team and don’t seem to get the attention they deserve.

Anyway, now for the CONCACAF Gold Cup this evening, where the US will play Mexico in the final. The USMNT has looked decent in this tournament (at least compared to their performance the past couple years), but I’m not sure if they can pull off a win against Mexico.

Quote from: thspfc on July 07, 2019, 06:12:38 PM
I thought that penalty was a bit too much. I've played soccer for almost 10 years and reffed for three, and I would not have called it a penalty.

Kicking someone in the arm in the penalty box is going to get that penalty called.

Random footnote:
The major European colonizers of land that which now makes up the 48 contiguous United States are also the same four counties the US Women defeated in the World Cup knockout round.

US Women's should play the Men's team, and dominate them  :-D :-D

A team of 15 year old and under boys beat the US Women's team earlier. 

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on July 09, 2019, 02:59:21 PM
A team of 15 year old and under boys beat the US Women's team earlier. 

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

Rick

Oh boy, this article again.

It was a scrimmage, not a competitive fixture or even a friendly. There's no way the USWNT would risk injuring themselves while playing an informal warm-up with an MLS academy team.

Yes, the USWNT would probably not beat a major men's national team, but they wouldn't be demolished. Soccer is less about physicality and more about form and talent (see why the world's best player is the "undersized" Leo Messi).

Speaking of the USWNT, they are earning more revenue for the U.S. Soccer Federation in tickets compared to the men's team. Americans love themselves a winner, while the men's team is still falling behind to Mexico's B-squad (with help from incompetence referees).

Quote from: Bruce on July 09, 2019, 03:31:27 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on July 09, 2019, 02:59:21 PM
A team of 15 year old and under boys beat the US Women's team earlier. 

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

Rick

Oh boy, this article again.

It was a scrimmage, not a competitive fixture or even a friendly. There's no way the USWNT would risk injuring themselves while playing an informal warm-up with an MLS academy team.

Yes, the USWNT would probably not beat a major men's national team, but they wouldn't be demolished. Soccer is less about physicality and more about form and talent (see why the world's best player is the "undersized" Leo Messi).

Speaking of the USWNT, they are earning more revenue for the U.S. Soccer Federation in tickets compared to the men's team. Americans love themselves a winner, while the men's team is still falling behind to Mexico's B-squad (with help from incompetence referees).

Score was kept.  Boys 5  Girls 2.  If the US women's soccer team played a MLS team, the MLS team could name the score.  Physicality counts!  So what if you don't believe that.  Back when I was in high school, 2 boys who were rotational backups on the basketball team played 5 girls.  The 2 boys won with ease.  Had you watched PDX at the NYCFC game in between the World Cup and Gold Cup games, you would see with your own eyes what a mismatch a boys vs girls game would be.  The men are way faster, way stronger and way more aggressive.  The girls would have been left on the turf with tears from the first minute.

Rick

Quote from: nexus73 on July 09, 2019, 06:46:30 PM

Quote from: Bruce on July 09, 2019, 03:31:27 PM

Quote from: nexus73 on July 09, 2019, 02:59:21 PM
A team of 15 year old and under boys beat the US Women's team earlier. 

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

Rick

Oh boy, this article again.

It was a scrimmage, not a competitive fixture or even a friendly. There's no way the USWNT would risk injuring themselves while playing an informal warm-up with an MLS academy team.

Yes, the USWNT would probably not beat a major men's national team, but they wouldn't be demolished. Soccer is less about physicality and more about form and talent (see why the world's best player is the "undersized" Leo Messi).

Speaking of the USWNT, they are earning more revenue for the U.S. Soccer Federation in tickets compared to the men's team. Americans love themselves a winner, while the men's team is still falling behind to Mexico's B-squad (with help from incompetence referees).

Score was kept.  Boys 5  Girls 2.  If the US women's soccer team played a MLS team, the MLS team could name the score.  Physicality counts!  So what if you don't believe that.  Back when I was in high school, 2 boys who were rotational backups on the basketball team played 5 girls.  The 2 boys won with ease.  Had you watched PDX at the NYCFC game in between the World Cup and Gold Cup games, you would see with your own eyes what a mismatch a boys vs girls game would be.  The men are way faster, way stronger and way more aggressive.  The girls would have been left on the turf with tears from the first minute.

Rick

The fact that the U15s and USWNT were playing against each other is a miracle in itself.

Keep it civil.
No, the US women's team could not beat the men's team. Let's just leave it at that?

Quote from: Alps on July 10, 2019, 02:01:00 PM
Keep it civil.
No, the US women's team could not beat the men's team. Let's just leave it at that?

Also, the Mens' team held their own and played a very even game against Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship game at Soldier Field in Chicago later on that evening.  It was just that one of Mexico's shots hit its mark while none of the USA's did.

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on July 11, 2019, 01:00:20 PM
Also, the Mens' team held their own and played a very even game against Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship game at Soldier Field in Chicago later on that evening.  It was just that one of Mexico's shots hit its mark while none of the USA's did.

Eh, Mexico was definitely the better team, but the US might have had a chance if the refereeing had been more fair. Seriously, in what league is grabbing the neck of an opponent not even a yellow card, much less a red?

Griezmann to Barcelona.
:hmmm:

EPL starts back up tomorrow!! Norwich is going to get quite a rude welcoming into the top flight, playing at Liverpool in the opener.

Best use of the field mic in MLS history

https://twitter.com/AndrewGourdie/status/1158172790144434176

The Rapids cancelled their fireworks show because of plague-carrying prairie dogs (https://www.coloradorapids.com/post/2019/08/02/commerce-city-sites-including-areas-around-dick-s-sporting-goods-park-temporarily) and still won 6-3.

Atlanta United and Minnesota United will play in the 106th U.S. Open Cup Final. Both teams entered MLS in 2017 and currently sit in 2nd place for their respective conference. Osvaldo Alonso is playing in his seventh U.S. Open Cup Final in 12 years!

Add the prairie dogs to the "small animals messing with sporting events"  list.

Quote from: Bruce on July 02, 2019, 04:59:13 PM
USA advance to the Women's World Cup Final for the third consecutive (and fifth overall) time. Some late scares (and dirty play) from England at the end, but it worked out as intended.

Hardly dirty play - and what there was was punished.

In England this loss was oddly taken as being disappointing - to keep the game alive right to the end against a team that is a level above everyone else isn't disappointing. I guess fluffing all the chances was. The men get through to the semis and it's treated as a massive achievement to lose to Croatia. The women lose to the USA in the semis and it's an underachievement? Bollocks it is. Add in that while England's mens run did restore some care for the team (and having Nation's League success, albeit on pay channels, helped keep it up) that most weren't fussed about in Euro 2016, the women's run established them as something beyond a niche interest - the semi was the most watched TV programme of the year (I think the Cricket World Cup final beat it - but that's a final with England that was possibly the best one day cricket game ever and word of mouth spread the hype) and it got similar figures to a men's group stage game despite far less promotion or brand recognition.

I see the vocal members of the US women's team were undervaluing their worth to US soccer by saying they should be paid as much as the men - the US women's team is far more commercially successful than the men's so they should be paid more. Club soccer is different of course, but the women's game is far more popular at international level in the US.

----

I think Norwich knew they were going to be destroyed last night - they aren't Spring Chickens at being promoted to the Premier League and then struggling ;)

Quote from: english si on August 10, 2019, 05:25:21 AM

Quote from: Bruce on July 02, 2019, 04:59:13 PM
USA advance to the Women's World Cup Final for the third consecutive (and fifth overall) time. Some late scares (and dirty play) from England at the end, but it worked out as intended.

Hardly dirty play - and what there was was punished.

In England this loss was oddly taken as being disappointing - to keep the game alive right to the end against a team that is a level above everyone else isn't disappointing. I guess fluffing all the chances was. The men get through to the semis and it's treated as a massive achievement to lose to Croatia. The women lose to the USA in the semis and it's an underachievement? Bollocks it is. Add in that while England's mens run did restore some care for the team (and having Nation's League success, albeit on pay channels, helped keep it up) that most weren't fussed about in Euro 2016, the women's run established them as something beyond a niche interest - the semi was the most watched TV programme of the year (I think the Cricket World Cup final beat it - but that's a final with England that was possibly the best one day cricket game ever and word of mouth spread the hype) and it got similar figures to a men's group stage game despite far less promotion or brand recognition.

I see the vocal members of the US women's team were undervaluing their worth to US soccer by saying they should be paid as much as the men - the US women's team is far more commercially successful than the men's so they should be paid more. Club soccer is different of course, but the women's game is far more popular at international level in the US.

----

I think Norwich knew they were going to be destroyed last night - they aren't Spring Chickens at being promoted to the Premier League and then struggling ;)

Can we just forget about the WWC? It was a huge mess.

As for Norwich, they did show signs of life in the loss. I think they can stay up at least one year.

Quote from: thspfc on August 10, 2019, 09:02:03 AMAs for Norwich, they did show signs of life in the loss. I think they can stay up at least one year.

damage limitation for tonight when Spuds kick off yet another trophyless season with newly promoted Villians coming to North London? :P

VAR continuing to take getting used to, but seems to be being done better in the Premier League than the WWC. Still odd - Saints had a red card check (negative) on a challenge, then ten minutes later no check when Burnley player did the same.

City's flattening of West Ham had some VAR issues too.

Good start. It looked ugly down 1-0 for a while, but Kane looks like Kane again, so that's good news.  :wave:

Kane always scores in August. But my jocular suggestions of "damage limitation" were nearly right - Spurs left it late!

Chelsea losing heavily to United suggests that both sides of Manchester are up for it and that the title isn't a two horse race. London's top clubs (all European finalists) showing they aren't up for it and will only really fight for 4th place - Spuds making work of beating Villa, Arses failing to impress against Newcastle and Cheatskis losing heavily.

Quote from: english si on August 11, 2019, 01:04:44 PM
Kane always scores in August. But my jocular suggestions of "damage limitation" were nearly right - Spurs left it late!

Chelsea losing heavily to United suggests that both sides of Manchester are up for it and that the title isn't a two horse race. London's top clubs (all European finalists) showing they aren't up for it and will only really fight for 4th place - Spuds making work of beating Villa, Arses failing to impress against Newcastle and Cheatskis losing heavily.

Chelsea is not a formidable opponent for any of the other big clubs, save for Arsenal, at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody like Everton or Wolves slipped into 6th place ahead of them.

The partisan blinkers might be on, but you are right that Chelsea are unlikely to challenge for 4th.

Everton as 6th? That's not likely. They finished below Watford last year (whose hapless end of season run has continued into this) and don't look any better this.

Quote from: english si on August 12, 2019, 04:22:35 AM
The partisan blinkers might be on, but you are right that Chelsea are unlikely to challenge for 4th.

Everton as 6th? That's not likely. They finished below Watford last year (whose hapless end of season run has continued into this) and don't look any better this.

Even as a Chelsea fan, I'm inclined to agree that they are hamstrung the next few years.

Quote from: Alps on August 13, 2019, 12:51:47 AM
as a Chelsea fan

I wish I could ask you to leave, but you're a mod so I can't.

Hollywood producer Joe Roth has sold his stake in the Seattle Sounders, so a group of 11 Seattle-based families (https://www.soundersfc.com/post/2019/08/13/eleven-families-with-seattle-roots-join-sounders-fc-ownership-group) have joined together to replace him. Adrian Hanauer remains as majority owner alongside existing minority owners Jody Allen (managing the estate of Paul Allen) and comedian Drew Carey.

The new owners are: Macklemore and his wife, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and his wife, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara, and a few other Microsoft executives.

Quote from: thspfc on August 13, 2019, 09:30:44 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 13, 2019, 12:51:47 AM
as a Chelsea fan

I wish I could ask you to leave, but you're a mod so I can't.

I'm also a Yankees fan. Come at me bro.

Best tie in the history of Tottenham Hotspur.

Quote from: Alps on August 14, 2019, 12:52:31 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 13, 2019, 09:30:44 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 13, 2019, 12:51:47 AM
as a Chelsea fan

I wish I could ask you to leave, but you're a mod so I can't.

I'm also a Yankees fan. Come at me bro.

And I suppose you also like Duke basketball and the Lakers?  Those 2, along with the Yankees, complete the Evil Trinity.

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 18, 2019, 06:02:45 PM

Quote from: Alps on August 14, 2019, 12:52:31 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 13, 2019, 09:30:44 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 13, 2019, 12:51:47 AM
as a Chelsea fan

I wish I could ask you to leave, but you're a mod so I can't.

I'm also a Yankees fan. Come at me bro.

And I suppose you also like Duke basketball and the Lakers?  Those 2, along with the Yankees, complete the Evil Trinity.

I thought the Evil Trinity was Red Sux, Pats*, and Puke.

I think nowadays it's Golden State, Patriots, and Duke. A few years ago it was San Antonio Spurs, Seahawks, and Villanova.

Yankees, Lakers, and Trump.

Quote from: 1 on August 19, 2019, 07:52:39 AM
Yankees, Lakers, and Trump "The Squad"

FTFY

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 19, 2019, 09:38:36 AM

Quote from: 1 on August 19, 2019, 07:52:39 AM
Yankees, Lakers, and Trump "The Squad" Politics in a roads forum

FTFY

FTFBOY

I guess this would be a bad time to bring up MLS's bone-headed political messages policy, but I digress.

There's important news for Tuesday: St. Louis is being awarded the 28th MLS franchise. The team will begin play in 2022 and will have 22,000-seater stadium near Union Station.

Quote from: Bruce on August 20, 2019, 01:45:09 AM
I guess this would be a bad time to bring up MLS's bone-headed political messages policy, but I digress.

There's important news for Tuesday: St. Louis is being awarded the 28th MLS franchise. The team will begin play in 2022 and will have 22,000-seater stadium near Union Station.

What is the practical limit for the size of that league?  The promotion/relegation first division leagues in Europe are all much smaller than 28 teams - ie. Ligue1, Serie A, LaLiga and the Premier League each have 20 teams while the Bundesliga has only 18 teams and their schedule formulae are all home/home against all of the rest of the teams in their respective leagues.

:hmmm:

Mike

I would assume it ends up being either 30 or 32 like the other major North American leagues, though the current general scheduling paradigm of home/home in-conference plus once against the rest might get unwieldy if they stay with two conferences – at 2x16, you'd be looking at 46 games per season. I suppose that's not impossible, though; the English leagues below the Premier League play that many in their 24-team setups. Still probably not ideal in terms of fixture congestion.

I don't think we'll ever see promotion/relegation in American sports regardless. Our fanbase is just not built that way. We want to root for real times, not minor leagues.

Quote from: Eth on August 20, 2019, 04:32:38 PM
I would assume it ends up being either 30 or 32 like the other major North American leagues, though the current general scheduling paradigm of home/home in-conference plus once against the rest might get unwieldy if they stay with two conferences – at 2x16, you'd be looking at 46 games per season. I suppose that's not impossible, though; the English leagues below the Premier League play that many in their 24-team setups. Still probably not ideal in terms of fixture congestion.

A few years ago I pondered that thought and figured that a 30 team league with two 15 team conferences would work out schedule formula-wise.  What I came up with:

- Home/home v. the rest of the teams in their own conference (28 games)
- One game each season against each of the teams in the opposite conference, with the home v. away determination being formula based, plus home/home v. the team that finished the previous season in the same standings position in the opposite conference (16 games)

Total 44 games.

Remember that in Europe, many/most top flight teams also play many other games throughout the season in competitions other than their own leagues, so a 44 game schedule should not be a burden in North America.

(Note, with a 28 team league in two 14 team conferences I would eliminate the two home/home v. the team that finished the previous season in the same standings position in the opposite conference games, bringing the schedule to 40 games in total.)

-------------------

If, someday, promotion and relegation would be added to the mix, I would relegate the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record).

For promotions, of the three teams going up, the one geographically farthest east would go into the eastern conference, the one geographically farthest west would go into the western conference and the one geographically in the middle would go into the conference that lost the 'wild card' team, where they would remain for their respective tenures in MLS.  Post-season playoffs would continue as they do today.

For the above schedule making purposes, the promoted teams would be assigned the bottom and second from the bottom standings slots based on their relative previous season standings positions in the second division league.

Thoughts?

Mike

Quote from: Bruce on August 20, 2019, 01:45:09 AM
I guess this would be a bad time to bring up MLS's bone-headed political messages policy, but I digress.

There's important news for Tuesday: St. Louis is being awarded the 28th MLS franchise. The team will begin play in 2022 and will have 22,000-seater stadium near Union Station.

Good for St Louis. After the way lying Kroenke treated them they deserve this.

Quote from: Alps on August 21, 2019, 12:56:47 AM
I don't think we'll ever see promotion/relegation in American sports regardless. Our fanbase is just not built that way. We want to root for real times, not minor leagues.

It doesn't work in  MLB, NHL, and NBA because the minor league teams have affiliation contracts with each tiered team, plus in many cases, the major league club owns the affiliate.  Plus, with the disparity in capacities of different levels of the minor leagues and relative market size, it would make it totally ridiculous for the O's to be playing in a 40,000 seat stadium at the AAA level, while, let's say the Gwinnett Stripers are promoted.  Then you'd have 2 MLB teams in the same market which has nowhere near the capability of handling 2 clubs, with one playing in a minor league stadium. 

Quote from: mgk920 on August 21, 2019, 02:03:55 PM
Remember that in Europe, many/most top flight teams also play many other games throughout the season in competitions other than their own leagues, so a 44 game schedule should not be a burden in North America.

Travel is short for European teams, which also have deeper rosters so they can swap out players to keep them fresh. MLS teams have a notoriously hard time in the CONCACAF Champions League because they have to balance the competition with early MLS matchdays while on a thin roster. Usually, an MLS team that makes a deep CL run will crash and burn out of that entire MLS season.

Quote
If, someday, promotion and relegation would be added to the mix, I would relegate the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record).

For promotions, of the three teams going up, the one geographically farthest east would go into the eastern conference, the one geographically farthest west would go into the western conference and the one geographically in the middle would go into the conference that lost the 'wild card' team, where they would remain for their respective tenures in MLS.  Post-season playoffs would continue as they do today.

For the above schedule making purposes, the promoted teams would be assigned the bottom and second from the bottom standings slots based on their relative previous season standings positions in the second division league.

Thoughts?

Mike

European leagues usually have a relegation playoff (one match, lose and you're out) to decide an odd number of teams to go down. I'd rather have that than some arbitrary line (that would also be unfair because of the unbalanced schedule).

Quote from: Bruce on August 21, 2019, 11:33:02 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on August 21, 2019, 02:03:55 PM
If, someday, promotion and relegation would be added to the mix, I would relegate the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record).

For promotions, of the three teams going up, the one geographically farthest east would go into the eastern conference, the one geographically farthest west would go into the western conference and the one geographically in the middle would go into the conference that lost the 'wild card' team, where they would remain for their respective tenures in MLS.  Post-season playoffs would continue as they do today.

For the above schedule making purposes, the promoted teams would be assigned the bottom and second from the bottom standings slots based on their relative previous season standings positions in the second division league.

Thoughts?

European leagues usually have a relegation playoff (one match, lose and you're out) to decide an odd number of teams to go down. I'd rather have that than some arbitrary line (that would also be unfair because of the unbalanced schedule).

Have the two second from the bottom teams play off to decide the third relegation?

:hmmm:

I find the Bundesliga's way of deciding promotion/relegation of the third spot both up and down to be interesting - the third team from the bottom in the Bundesliga and the third team from the top in the 2 Bundesliga (2nd division) play off.  The winner is in the Bundesliga and the loser is in the 2 Bundesliga for the following season.

Mike

Is the MLS political messages policy the same as the FIFA one? Yeah, that's terrible - in the implementation, rather than the blanket ban. Messi can pose with his national team holding a political message calling for continued Argentine warmongering over the Falkland Islands, but his then club boss can't wear a little button hole symbol of Catalan national pride, and the England national team (and Scotland, Wales, etc) had to go to court to have rememberance poppies on their kit on matches played on 11/11.

As for the league - I think 60 matches total is about the maximum English clubs do with league and good runs in both cups (and perhaps Europe too). Travel is, especially at lower levels, done by road. Pretty sure the teams don't charter planes to do Liverpool/Manchester - London journeys. It's only really the North East to the South/London that are done by plane. Journey lengths are thus not really that different. Obviously UEFA competitions mean flying.

As for best Spurs draw, surely the one before against City was better? Higher stakes, etc.

MLS teams have a limited number of charters per year and have to fly commercially the rest of the time. This puts some markets at a huge disadvantage because their local airport may lack robust non-stop connections to cities with other MLS teams (though it goes both ways). It's become a major issue with the upcoming CBA negotiations, with some high-profile incidents where commercial flights with MLS teams have been significantly delayed or cancelled (leading to teams arriving at the stadium directly from the airport to go warmup and play...not ideal at all).

As for the political messages, MLS is doing the old "both sides" thing and banning any slogans that are too far out of what they consider to be mainstream. Given that soccer is primarily a leftist, urban spectator sport in the United States (especially in the demographics that make up supporters groups), this is angering a lot of people. And because of said coverage, some right-wing wackjobs have taken to harassing soccer supporters in Seattle while open-carrying and trying to start fights (with the intention of using said weapons).

The Sounders had to reschedule their match in Denver because of a snowstorm in April (despite the team traveling to the still-open airport).

Now the rescheduled match is being played during an international break, with 10 Sounders players called up to international duty. Roster is skeletal, right in the middle of the big push for the playoffs.

https://www.sounderatheart.com/2019/9/3/20847786/sounders-will-be-extremely-short-handed-for-rescheduled-rapids-game

To make it worse, the playoffs table in the West is extremely tight. LAFC are running away with 1st and all the higher-seeds (who will host) are within 3 points of each other.

(https://i.imgur.com/5nz4Z1q.png)

A good consolation prize for the Montreal Impact who won the Canadian championship. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/soccer-canadian-championship-final-toronto-montreal-recap-1.5297395

The United States has lost to Canada in a men's soccer game for the first time in 34 years.

Truly the darkest times for the USMNT, not helped by the incompetence of the head office.

Quote from: Bruce on October 15, 2019, 09:35:52 PM
The United States has lost to Canada in a men's soccer game for the first time in 34 years.

Truly the darkest times for the USMNT, not helped by the incompetence of the head office.

At least we automatically qualify in 2026.

Quote from: thspfc on October 18, 2019, 08:12:53 AM

Quote from: Bruce on October 15, 2019, 09:35:52 PM
The United States has lost to Canada in a men's soccer game for the first time in 34 years.

Truly the darkest times for the USMNT, not helped by the incompetence of the head office.

At least we automatically qualify in 2026.

With three hosts, that still hasn't been determined. I do imagine the USA will have an easier time getting an automatic bid than Canada and Mexico.

Quote from: Bruce on October 18, 2019, 02:21:15 PM

Quote from: thspfc on October 18, 2019, 08:12:53 AM

Quote from: Bruce on October 15, 2019, 09:35:52 PM
The United States has lost to Canada in a men's soccer game for the first time in 34 years.

Truly the darkest times for the USMNT, not helped by the incompetence of the head office.

At least we automatically qualify in 2026.

With three hosts, that still hasn't been determined. I do imagine the USA will have an easier time getting an automatic bid than Canada and Mexico.

48 countries is already too much. The least FIFA can do is give an automatic bid to the hosts - there will still be 14 more at large bids than in 2018 and 22.

Quote from: Bruce on October 18, 2019, 02:21:15 PM

Quote from: thspfc on October 18, 2019, 08:12:53 AM

Quote from: Bruce on October 15, 2019, 09:35:52 PM
The United States has lost to Canada in a men's soccer game for the first time in 34 years.

Truly the darkest times for the USMNT, not helped by the incompetence of the head office.

At least we automatically qualify in 2026.

With three hosts, that still hasn't been determined. I do imagine the USA will have an easier time getting an automatic bid than Canada and Mexico.

Mexico deserves an automatic bid more than the US does, though...

The new format for the MLS playoffs kicks off today, 14 teams, byes to the top seed in each conference, single elimination

(https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adfadfadfadsfasdfasdf.png?ywqodeW4Ip3vsgdfo5krYtiMLJejngly)

Quote from: Buck87 on October 19, 2019, 12:24:12 PM
The new format for the MLS playoffs kicks off today, 14 teams, byes to the top seed in each conference, single elimination

(https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adfadfadfadsfasdfasdf.png?ywqodeW4Ip3vsgdfo5krYtiMLJejngly)

MLS isn't a sport. It's recreational.

Quote from: Alps on October 20, 2019, 01:15:45 AM

Quote from: Buck87 on October 19, 2019, 12:24:12 PM
The new format for the MLS playoffs kicks off today, 14 teams, byes to the top seed in each conference, single elimination

(https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adfadfadfadsfasdfasdf.png?ywqodeW4Ip3vsgdfo5krYtiMLJejngly)

MLS isn't a sport. It's recreational.

tHe nBA Is MoRe aBoUT MoNEy tHan sPOrTs

Quote from: thspfc on October 20, 2019, 08:10:38 AM

Quote from: Alps on October 20, 2019, 01:15:45 AM

Quote from: Buck87 on October 19, 2019, 12:24:12 PM
The new format for the MLS playoffs kicks off today, 14 teams, byes to the top seed in each conference, single elimination

(https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adfadfadfadsfasdfasdf.png?ywqodeW4Ip3vsgdfo5krYtiMLJejngly)

MLS isn't a sport. It's recreational.

tHe nBA Is MoRe aBoUT MoNEy tHan sPOrTs

Put it this way: soccer in the USA is not a sport. Anyone who's good enough to play internationally is not playing here.

Quote from: Alps on October 20, 2019, 11:03:19 AM

Quote from: thspfc on October 20, 2019, 08:10:38 AM

Quote from: Alps on October 20, 2019, 01:15:45 AM

Quote from: Buck87 on October 19, 2019, 12:24:12 PM
The new format for the MLS playoffs kicks off today, 14 teams, byes to the top seed in each conference, single elimination

(https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adfadfadfadsfasdfasdf.png?ywqodeW4Ip3vsgdfo5krYtiMLJejngly)

MLS isn't a sport. It's recreational.

tHe nBA Is MoRe aBoUT MoNEy tHan sPOrTs

Put it this way: soccer in the USA is not a sport. Anyone who's good enough to play internationally is not playing here.

For a lot of second-tier national teams (especially in the Western Hemisphere), MLS is a dependable source of good players. A week ago, England lost to the Czech Republic in UEFA qualifying, with the winning goal scored by a player from FC Dallas.

Philadelphia got their first MLS playoff win in franchise history, in what was one of 3 different games in round 1 that went to extra time.

Minnesota was making their playoff appearance (in their 3rd season), but got knocked off at home by the LA Galaxy, setting up the first playoff edition of El Tráfico (LAG vs LAFC)

I'll be much more excited about MLS when they become the 'first division' in a promotion and relegation federation.

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on October 21, 2019, 10:17:43 AM
I'll be much more excited about MLS when they become the 'first division' in a promotion and relegation federation.

Mike

Pro-rel would kill American soccer. Not stable enough for teams to survive relegation, especially for likely candidates in older MLS markets that are struggling. The second division has only been the sole second division league for little over four years now, and many of its teams are struggling to keep up with the requirements. Some of their smaller markets could be promoted on merits of performance but disqualified for their stadiums (often MiLB ballparks instead of proper stadiums), financial power of their owners, or being too close to other markets.

El Trafico in the playoffs was amazing and was watched by 660,000. Possibly the last MLS match for Zlatan. No defending, just goals.



The winner of that match (not going to spoil it) will play my dear Seattle Sounders. I watched them defeat RSL to close out the storied career of goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

(https://i.imgur.com/iSLVIyU.jpg)

A perfect hat-trick (left, right, header) for Christian Pulisic to open his PL account.

MLS is a simple league. Fourteen teams enter the playoffs and at the end, Seattle and Toronto play each other in the final.

For the third time in four seasons, the MLS Cup final will be Seattle vs. Toronto. This time around, Seattle gets to host!

(And I'll be on the East Coast...just my luck)

Took an hour for the Sounders to completely sell out of their 69,000 seats, with tens of thousands in queue to buy tickets.

https://www.soundersfc.com/post/2019/11/01/sounders-fc-announces-centurylink-field-sellout-november-10-mls-cup-final-against

Seattle defeated Toronto 3-1 to win their 2nd MLS Cup.

And it was done with some style. 69,274 in attendance, breaking CenturyLink Field's sporting events record (and second only to a U2 concert); it is also the second highest MLS Cup attendance overall, behind last year in Atlanta. There were thousands more on the waitlist, and the tickets had sold out within minutes, so who knows how many could have gone.

(I was in Boston watching at a bar with other Sounders fans, so I've missed out on the parade too)

(https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zRcH4jmpy0f1vbNDH8fjDere1Yk=/0x0:1800x1200/1200x800/filters:focal(759x547:1047x835)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65672594/MLS_Cup-03634.0.5.jpg)

Quote from: Buck87 on November 11, 2019, 12:24:34 PM
Seattle defeated Toronto 3-1 to win their 2nd MLS Cup.

The Seahawks also beat the undefeated Niners. Guess it was Seattle's weekend!

Everyone's favorite disaster-named sports team, the Chicago Fire, has rebranded. Gone is the classic fireman-style insignia and people are upset.

https://twitter.com/ChicagoFire/status/1197621071836536832

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJ74ofbXsAAsMYL.jpg)

In positive news, the 2020 MLS All-Star Game will be played against the Liga MX All-Stars to break up the format. Should be interesting to see if this becomes a regular showcase.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/11/20/mls-vs-liga-mx-2020-mls-all-star-game-presented-target-heads-la

Pochettino's firing was a bit premature, imo. I don't think Mourinho is going to work out very well either for Spurs.

Interesting article about the ineptitude of the USMNT that lead to them missing out on Russia.
https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/5/17428184/2018-world-cup-us-soccer-inside-story-jurgen-klinsmann-sunil-gulati-bruce-arena (https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/5/17428184/2018-world-cup-us-soccer-inside-story-jurgen-klinsmann-sunil-gulati-bruce-arena)

MLS has a few changes in store for the 2020 season. First off, the two expansion teams: Nashville SC will play in the Western Conference and Inter Miami CF will be in the Eastern Conference. This means Chicago Fire (moving back to Soldier Field), a team further west than Nashville, will still remain in the East.

The schedule is also getting tweaked, but remains at 34 regular season games (17 home/17 away). Each team will play the 12 teams in their conference twice (home and away), and one game against 10 of the 13 teams in the opposing conference. For the first time in league history, some teams won't be playing each other.

Regular season begins on February 29, the earliest start ever, and should end in October. MLS Cup should be in mid-November like this year's.

Quote from: Bruce on December 05, 2019, 02:02:49 AM
MLS has a few changes in store for the 2020 season. First off, the two expansion teams: Nashville SC will play in the Western Conference and Inter Miami CF will be in the Eastern Conference. This means Chicago Fire (moving back to Soldier Field), a team further west than Nashville, will still remain in the East.

The schedule is also getting tweaked, but remains at 34 regular season games (17 home/17 away). Each team will play the 12 teams in their conference twice (home and away), and one game against 10 of the 13 teams in the opposing conference. For the first time in league history, some teams won't be playing each other.

Regular season begins on February 29, the earliest start ever, and should end in October. MLS Cup should be in mid-November like this year's.

Inter Miami CF? Ick. Just call it Miami FC or something and be done with it.

Quote from: Bruce on December 05, 2019, 02:02:49 AM
MLS has a few changes in store for the 2020 season. First off, the two expansion teams: Nashville SC will play in the Western Conference and Inter Miami CF will be in the Eastern Conference. This means Chicago Fire (moving back to Soldier Field), a team further west than Nashville, will still remain in the East.

So much for my guess that they'd try to create some sort of Atlanta-Nashville rivalry (given the complete lack of competitiveness in Atlanta-Orlando).

Quote from: thspfc on December 05, 2019, 07:13:31 PM

Quote from: Bruce on December 05, 2019, 02:02:49 AM
MLS has a few changes in store for the 2020 season. First off, the two expansion teams: Nashville SC will play in the Western Conference and Inter Miami CF will be in the Eastern Conference. This means Chicago Fire (moving back to Soldier Field), a team further west than Nashville, will still remain in the East.

The schedule is also getting tweaked, but remains at 34 regular season games (17 home/17 away). Each team will play the 12 teams in their conference twice (home and away), and one game against 10 of the 13 teams in the opposing conference. For the first time in league history, some teams won't be playing each other.

Regular season begins on February 29, the earliest start ever, and should end in October. MLS Cup should be in mid-November like this year's.

Inter Miami CF? Ick. Just call it Miami FC or something and be done with it.

Miami FC was taken by a lower-league team (whose owner is part of the anti-MLS brigade). Inter Miami is a pretty decent name that appropriately references Miami's image of internationalism and its Hispanic population...unlike Real Salt Lake for the opposite reasons.

In other news: Charlotte is expected to be announced as the 30th MLS team soon.

https://twitter.com/JoeBrunoWSOC9/status/1202643857797767168

Quote from: Eth on December 05, 2019, 07:33:25 PM
So much for my guess that they'd try to create some sort of Atlanta-Nashville rivalry (given the complete lack of competitiveness in Atlanta-Orlando).

Nashville in the west is only a temporary thing.

Austin joining in 2021 will likely move Nashville to the east. Well, unless the rumored Charlotte expansion somehow happens as soon as 2021. If that happens, Nashville to the east might have to wait until Sacramento and St. Louis start play in 2022.

I think the MLS is going too quickly with this expansion. I would create a second tier (MLS II or something) and put the expansion clubs in there along with some current USL clubs. That would make things much more interesting.

Quote from: thspfc on December 06, 2019, 05:09:37 PM
I think the MLS is going too quickly with this expansion. I would create a second tier (MLS II or something) and put the expansion clubs in there along with some current USL clubs. That would make things much more interesting.

The kind of owners that MLS wants (billionaires who care) would not pay for a second-division team. The only ones that do turn to second-division teams only do so in order to boost their chances at getting an MLS slot.

The current state of USLC (the second division) is not up to par for anything that could support pro-rel either, so a closed system would be pointless.

Everton became the second club in the past month to see an immediate return after sacking their manager. They embarrassed Chelsea right after firing Marco Silva.

The 2020 CONCACAF Champions League bracket has been set.

https://twitter.com/TheChampions/status/1204237107495129088

The MLS entrants get a fairly good draw, except for LAFC:

Atlanta United FC vs. Motagua (Honduras league champions)
Los Angeles FC vs. Club Leon (Mexico)
New York City FC vs. San Carlos (Costa Rican debutante)
Seattle Sounders FC vs. Olimpia (Honduras contenders - a rematch from the 2015 group stage)
Montreal Impact vs. Saprissa (Costa Rican champions and perennial contenders)

Breaking news: This year's Copa del Rey final will not feature either Real Madrid or Barça for the first time since 2008. Both have been eliminated in the quarter-finals. A positive byproduct of making all rounds (apart from semifinals) single match.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on February 06, 2020, 05:09:54 PM
Breaking news: This year's Copa del Rey final will not feature either Real Madrid or Barça for the first time since 2008. Both have been eliminated in the quarter-finals. A positive byproduct of making all rounds (apart from semifinals) single match.

People complain about the EPL being dominated by 6 teams, yet La Liga is always headed by only two. Real Madrid isn't what they were when they beat Juventus in the UCL final.

MLS and the MLS Players Association have successfully reached an agreement on the new CBA. Among the highlights: more complicated salary rules, a share of media revenue dedicated to the players, requirements for owners to pay up for charter flights, and expanded free agency.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/02/06/mls-mlspa-agree-new-cba-run-through-2024-season

CONCACAF Champions League begins in just under 2 weeks, so it's good to have this squared away.

An amazing season record in European football so far this year - as of this typing, after 25 games in a 38 game season (the schedule formula has their 20 teams playing home/home against each of the other teams in it), Liverpool F.C. has 73 standings points out of a possible 75 in the English Premier League.  That's 24 wins, one draw and no losses, a full 7+ games (22 points) ahead of second place Manchester City, who are 16W, 3D and 6L (51 points).  (3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.)

A 25 game undefeated start, just amazing!

:wow:

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on February 08, 2020, 12:15:55 AM
An amazing season record in European football so far this year - as of this typing, after 25 games in a 38 game season (the schedule formula has their 20 teams playing home/home against each of the other teams in it), Liverpool F.C. has 73 standings points out of a possible 75 in the English Premier League.  That's 24 wins, one draw and no losses, a full 7+ games (22 points) ahead of second place Manchester City, who are 16W, 3D and 6L (51 points).  (3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.)

A 25 game undefeated start, just amazing!

:wow:

Mike

Their EPL undefeated streak goes back to January 3rd, 2019, when they were beaten 2-1 by Man City in what was effectively the championship match last year.

There's some rumors of merger talks between the MLS and the Liga MX (major soccer league in Mexico).
https://www.espn.com/soccer/concacaf-leagues-cup/story/3944473/could-mlsliga-mx-actually-merge-in-the-future-mlb-might-provide-the-blueprint

Quote
MEXICO CITY -- Enrique Bonilla isn't known for being brash. The Liga MX president is more comfortable in the day-to-day decision-making of running Mexico's first division than he is in front of the media. But when it comes to the alliance between Liga MX and MLS, Bonilla is direct: he's adamant that the partnership is going to impact club soccer in North America in a major way.

"A huge success for sports in the United States and a huge success for football in Mexico," is Bonilla's take on what's ahead for the partnership.

The merger has been discussed for a few years, but would not happen until after the 2026 World Cup at the earliest. Liga MX is moving towards a more American model (no pro/rel, franchising), but they'd need to be kept in a separate division.

I'd be strongly opposed to a merged superleague, since it would bring a whole ton of logistical problems mostly for American teams. The financial benefit would be nice, but otherwise watching our teams having to play in substandard conditions at the Azteca outside of CCL would be awful.

MLS returns on July 8!

To backfill the missing regular season games, there will be a special tournament (https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-is-back-tournament) at Disney World for all 26 teams until August 11.

Teams will be seeded into 6 groups, with games counting towards regular season points. The top finishers will advance to a knockout tournament; the winner of this tournament will get a CCL berth.

54 matches, three times per day.

Quote from: Bruce on June 11, 2020, 01:39:23 AM
MLS returns on July 8!

To backfill the missing regular season games, there will be a special tournament (https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-is-back-tournament) at Disney World for all 26 teams until August 11.

Teams will be seeded into 6 groups, with games counting towards regular season points. The top finishers will advance to a knockout tournament; the winner of this tournament will get a CCL berth.

54 matches, three times per day.

This is a brilliant idea. The champion was going to have an asterisk anyways, so why not make it unconventional? Looking forward to this.

My Spurs put forth a solid performance against United today, but I don't think a point is good enough right now. Tottenham will need to go on a remarkable run if they're to play UCL ball in 2020-21.

The NWSL Challenge Cup won't have the Orlando Pride after 6 players test positive for COVID. They apparently went to a bar and caught it there.

All around dumb decisions.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl-womens-league/story/4118894/orlando-pride-pull-out-of-nwsl-cup-after-10-positive-coronavirus-tests

Liverpool have won the Premier League

As there are seven matchdays left in the season, they are the earliest to win it. But since it's already late June (well after the traditional end of the season), they are also the latest to win it.

Quote from: Bruce on June 26, 2020, 01:50:38 AM
Liverpool have won the Premier League

As there are seven matchdays left in the season, they are the earliest to win it. But since it's already late June (well after the traditional end of the season), they are also the latest to win it.

I'm getting tired of the 98-100 point title seasons. I would rather see a team win the title after fighting through a few losses and setbacks than see a team win every game they play.

Hey it's better than Spain where only one of the last fifteen (soon to be sixteen) champions weren't Real or Barca.

Quote from: thspfc on June 26, 2020, 09:23:59 AM

Quote from: Bruce on June 26, 2020, 01:50:38 AM
Liverpool have won the Premier League

As there are seven matchdays left in the season, they are the earliest to win it. But since it's already late June (well after the traditional end of the season), they are also the latest to win it.

I'm getting tired of the 98-100 point title seasons. I would rather see a team win the title after fighting through a few losses and setbacks than see a team win every game they play.

Try MLS, the record is 70 points and the playoff champion is usually not the league leader.

Seattle won it all in 2016 after climbing up from the bottom of the standings in a few months!

Quote from: Bruce on June 26, 2020, 06:50:43 PM

Quote from: thspfc on June 26, 2020, 09:23:59 AM

Quote from: Bruce on June 26, 2020, 01:50:38 AM
Liverpool have won the Premier League

As there are seven matchdays left in the season, they are the earliest to win it. But since it's already late June (well after the traditional end of the season), they are also the latest to win it.

I'm getting tired of the 98-100 point title seasons. I would rather see a team win the title after fighting through a few losses and setbacks than see a team win every game they play.

Try MLS, the record is 70 points and the playoff champion is usually not the league leader.

Seattle won it all in 2016 after climbing up from the bottom of the standings in a few months!

I'll go for the significantly higher quality play of the EPL over some chaos in MLS.

Quote from: Bruce on June 23, 2020, 01:17:47 AM
The NWSL Challenge Cup won't have the Orlando Pride after 6 players test positive for COVID. They apparently went to a bar and caught it there.

All around dumb decisions.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl-womens-league/story/4118894/orlando-pride-pull-out-of-nwsl-cup-after-10-positive-coronavirus-tests

For making dumb decisions, those players should be suspended for a few games even after they have recovered and can return to play

Quote from: ftballfan on June 28, 2020, 02:51:27 PM

Quote from: Bruce on June 23, 2020, 01:17:47 AM
The NWSL Challenge Cup won't have the Orlando Pride after 6 players test positive for COVID. They apparently went to a bar and caught it there.

All around dumb decisions.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl-womens-league/story/4118894/orlando-pride-pull-out-of-nwsl-cup-after-10-positive-coronavirus-tests

For making dumb decisions, those players should be suspended for a few games even after they have recovered and can return to play

They can't be suspended because if they are, they'll complain about sexism, and that's bad for the club.

Quote from: thspfc on July 04, 2020, 11:03:43 AM

Quote from: ftballfan on June 28, 2020, 02:51:27 PM

Quote from: Bruce on June 23, 2020, 01:17:47 AM
The NWSL Challenge Cup won't have the Orlando Pride after 6 players test positive for COVID. They apparently went to a bar and caught it there.

All around dumb decisions.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl-womens-league/story/4118894/orlando-pride-pull-out-of-nwsl-cup-after-10-positive-coronavirus-tests

For making dumb decisions, those players should be suspended for a few games even after they have recovered and can return to play

They can't be suspended because if they are, they'll complain about sexism, and that's bad for the club.

I feel that a male athlete did something similar (going to a bar or club maskless and catching COVID-19), they would likely get suspended or fined after recovery

So the first MLS game of the new tournament was messy.

The 8 minutes of silence at the beginning was a nice touch. The stadium looks interesting for a temporary build (with the main cameras in a temporary tower, drones to provide aerial footage, and bigger walls because there's no ball boys).

The medical team isn't very experienced, given they took 8+ minutes to get an injured player stretchered off the field.

Orlando City was having a drive-in watch party

https://twitter.com/OrlandoCitySC/status/1281049801723990018

Messi is on his way out of Barcelona, most likely. The end of an era in La Liga. Manchester City, PSG, and Inter seem to be the most likely destinations.

Quote from: thspfc on August 25, 2020, 06:06:48 PM
Messi is on his way out of Barcelona, most likely. The end of an era in La Liga. Manchester City, PSG, and Inter seem to be the most likely destinations.

Watch City get them and somehow avoid FFP backlash yet again.  Ugh.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 26, 2020, 02:59:47 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 25, 2020, 06:06:48 PM
Messi is on his way out of Barcelona, most likely. The end of an era in La Liga. Manchester City, PSG, and Inter seem to be the most likely destinations.

Watch City get them and somehow avoid FFP backlash yet again.  Ugh.

Chris

I wouldn't be surprised.  :-/

Quote from: thspfc on August 26, 2020, 03:16:40 PM

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 26, 2020, 02:59:47 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 25, 2020, 06:06:48 PM
Messi is on his way out of Barcelona, most likely. The end of an era in La Liga. Manchester City, PSG, and Inter seem to be the most likely destinations.

Watch City get them and somehow avoid FFP backlash yet again.  Ugh.

Chris

I wouldn't be surprised.  :-/

Oh, also, COYS.  At least we got Hojbjerg. :)

Chris

I'm really liking what the Columbus Crew have been doing so far this season.

Will be interesting to see what the MLS phase 2 scheduling plan looks like.

The MLS final 4 is set:

Columbus vs. New England in the Eastern Conference Final
Seattle vs. Minnesota in the Western Conference Final

Quote from: Buck87 on December 04, 2020, 09:34:30 AM
The MLS final 4 is set:

Columbus vs. New England in the Eastern Conference Final
Seattle vs. Minnesota in the Western Conference Final

What clubs would have been relegated, if MLS were a true 'first division'?

Checking the final table and going on the basis of the three relegations being the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record), they would be:

(Eastern Conference)

- FC Cincinnati (16 points)

(Western Conference)

- Houston Dynamo (21 points)

(wild card)

- DC United (21 points in Eastern Conference)

(Note - Second from the bottom in the Western Conference is LA Galaxy, 22 points and -19 total goal differential, while Real Salt Lake, also with 22 points, has a -10 goal differential.  Those two would 'survive'.)

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on December 04, 2020, 02:48:21 PM

Quote from: Buck87 on December 04, 2020, 09:34:30 AM
The MLS final 4 is set:

Columbus vs. New England in the Eastern Conference Final
Seattle vs. Minnesota in the Western Conference Final

What clubs would have been relegated, if MLS were a true 'first division'?

Checking the final table and going on the basis of the three relegations being the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record), they would be:

(Eastern Conference)

- FC Cincinnati (16 points)

(Western Conference)

- Houston Dynamo (21 points)

(wild card)

- DC United (21 points in Eastern Conference)

(Note - Second from the bottom in the Western Conference is LA Galaxy, 22 points and -19 total goal differential, while Real Salt Lake, also with 22 points, has a -10 goal differential.  Those two would 'survive'.)

Mike

Who would take their place in the next league down?

Quote from: thspfc on August 28, 2020, 06:50:49 PM

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 27, 2020, 01:35:23 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 26, 2020, 03:16:40 PM

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 26, 2020, 02:59:47 AM

Quote from: thspfc on August 25, 2020, 06:06:48 PM
Messi is on his way out of Barcelona, most likely. The end of an era in La Liga. Manchester City, PSG, and Inter seem to be the most likely destinations.

Watch City get them and somehow avoid FFP backlash yet again.  Ugh.

Chris

I wouldn't be surprised.  :-/

Oh, also, COYS.  At least we got Hojbjerg. :)

Chris

COYS!

Turns out the Hojbjerg signing was quite the diamond in the rough!  He's been our best defensive mid since Dembele. 

Chris

Quote from: Alps on December 04, 2020, 04:18:23 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on December 04, 2020, 02:48:21 PM

Quote from: Buck87 on December 04, 2020, 09:34:30 AM
The MLS final 4 is set:

Columbus vs. New England in the Eastern Conference Final
Seattle vs. Minnesota in the Western Conference Final

What clubs would have been relegated, if MLS were a true 'first division'?

Checking the final table and going on the basis of the three relegations being the last place team in each conference plus a wild card (second from the bottom team with the worse record), they would be:

(Eastern Conference)

- FC Cincinnati (16 points)

(Western Conference)

- Houston Dynamo (21 points)

(wild card)

- DC United (21 points in Eastern Conference)

(Note - Second from the bottom in the Western Conference is LA Galaxy, 22 points and -19 total goal differential, while Real Salt Lake, also with 22 points, has a -10 goal differential.  Those two would 'survive'.)

Mike

Who would take their place in the next league down?

I wish that there was pro-rel system here in North America so that there would be worthy second and lower divisions.  I was just positing the likely thing in the top division.  I suspect that those relegation games in the last few weeks of the season would have been seriously interesting and entertaining, too (especially if fans were allowed to attend those games as normal).  As for where the hypothetical 'promotions' would have gone, I would put the geographically farthest west promoting team into the western conference, the geographically farthest east promoting team into the eastern conference and the team that was geographically in the middle into the conference that sent down the wild card, where they would all remain for their tenure in MLS.

Mike

Quote from: mgk920 on December 04, 2020, 06:02:57 PM

I wish that there was pro-rel system here in North America so that there would be worthy second and lower divisions.  I was just positing the likely thing in the top division.  I suspect that those relegation games in the last few weeks of the season would have been seriously interesting and entertaining, too (especially if fans were allowed to attend those games as normal).  As for where the hypothetical 'promotions' would have gone, I would put the geographically farthest west promoting team into the western conference, the geographically farthest east promoting team into the eastern conference and the team that was geographically in the middle into the conference that sent down the wild card, where they would all remain for their tenure in MLS.

Mike

Big market teams make too much of the MLS revenue from both TV and ticket sales, so there's no chance they expose Chicago, for example, to potential relegation.

Quote from: cabiness42 on December 06, 2020, 06:30:25 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on December 04, 2020, 06:02:57 PM

I wish that there was pro-rel system here in North America so that there would be worthy second and lower divisions.  I was just positing the likely thing in the top division.  I suspect that those relegation games in the last few weeks of the season would have been seriously interesting and entertaining, too (especially if fans were allowed to attend those games as normal).  As for where the hypothetical 'promotions' would have gone, I would put the geographically farthest west promoting team into the western conference, the geographically farthest east promoting team into the eastern conference and the team that was geographically in the middle into the conference that sent down the wild card, where they would all remain for their tenure in MLS.

Mike

Big market teams make too much of the MLS revenue from both TV and ticket sales, so there's no chance they expose Chicago, for example, to potential relegation.

If, e.g.  Frederick MD becomes a top tier team, it can be a Baltimore/DC market. Xenia, OH? Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus. Hell, MI? Detroit fans will root for them. Weed, CA? There's a decent chance that Sacramento and Reno will root for Weed, even if the Bay Area doesn't. And this doesn't even include close suburbs that are closer to their main city than Gillette Stadium is to Boston (20 miles), which will probably be much more common than small towns.

Quote from: 1 on December 06, 2020, 07:07:54 PM

Quote from: cabiness42 on December 06, 2020, 06:30:25 PM

Quote from: mgk920 on December 04, 2020, 06:02:57 PM

I wish that there was pro-rel system here in North America so that there would be worthy second and lower divisions.  I was just positing the likely thing in the top division.  I suspect that those relegation games in the last few weeks of the season would have been seriously interesting and entertaining, too (especially if fans were allowed to attend those games as normal).  As for where the hypothetical 'promotions' would have gone, I would put the geographically farthest west promoting team into the western conference, the geographically farthest east promoting team into the eastern conference and the team that was geographically in the middle into the conference that sent down the wild card, where they would all remain for their tenure in MLS.

Mike

Big market teams make too much of the MLS revenue from both TV and ticket sales, so there's no chance they expose Chicago, for example, to potential relegation.

If, e.g.  Frederick MD becomes a top tier team, it can be a Baltimore/DC market. Xenia, OH? Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus. Hell, MI? Detroit fans will root for them. Weed, CA? There's a decent chance that Sacramento and Reno will root for Weed, even if the Bay Area doesn't. And this doesn't even include close suburbs that are closer to their main city than Gillette Stadium is to Boston (20 miles), which will probably be much more common than small towns.

The issue is Americans expect their franchises to be stable. I think soccer only succeeds in this country by avoiding pro/rel.

There's not enough money in the lower leagues to make pro-rel even close to being feasible.

The Sounders are back in the cup final, after rallying from 2-0 down to win 3-2. I love MLS.

The game winner, in which a local Goose slays the Loons:

https://twitter.com/SoundersFC/status/1336171764951392256

And full highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xizixqIi4jM

With Columbus and Seattle advancing, it can now be said that 11 of the past 12 MLS Cup appearances (2015-2020) have been made by either Cascadia Cup or Trillium Cup teams. Atlanta is the one outside team to have crashed that party.

This year's MLS Cup will be the final playoff game at Mapfre Stadium. It could potentially be the final MLS game at Mapfre as well, but that will depend on how soon in the summer the new Crew Stadium will be able to open and whether or not Columbus will be scheduled to play all games on the road before that opening date or just most games on the road before that date.

The Columbus Crew are MLS Cup Champions!

3-0 win over the defending champion Seattle Sounders, which is the largest margin of victory in MLS Cup history.

Quite a story for this team, go go from the brink of relocation to champions in just a few short years.

1,500 people in the stands, more than a handful taking off their masks, and bunching together in groups.

Not a good look for the league. I hope the maskless fans are identified and banned.

If we're down to slightly over 1100 :-o, some of them must have already been banned. You can identify the maskless ones because they still show as emoticons.

Charlotte FC will be the first MLS team to use PSLs and have also set really high inaugural season ticket prices. Fans aren't pleased, obviously, since MLS usually has affordable tickets to drive up support.

(https://i.imgur.com/4iDu4FJ.png)

(Source: Charlotte Observer (https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/article249452735.html))

MLS is back and the Sounders are continuing to break Minnesota's hearts. First goal of the season at Lumen Field was a screamer:

On the other side of the pond, some teams left their current teams to create their own super league.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9484141/FIVE-Premier-League-teams-sign-European-Super-League-snub-UEFA.html

Quote
The big six of English football have joined a new European Super League - scheduled to start 'as soon as practicable' - in a seismic move that has triggered instant war across the sport.

The decision threatens to split England football with the Premier League indicating in a letter to clubs that it would not sanction any such competition - leaving Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham no choice but to back down or break away.

The group have all agreed to be part of a predominantly closed shop league also featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

There's already a Champions League. Why do they need another one?

The Super League is horrible, and here is why, borrowing an analogy to college football I saw used online earlier today: imagine if a select few teams like Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Notre Dame all formed their own conference and didn't participate in any of the college football playoffs or bowl games. That's essentially what is happening here. It's a machine that sucks money out of the smaller teams and dumps it into the big market blue bloods.

I hope FIFA/UEFA/FA/etc. do whatever they can to kill this.

I keep hearing about this league, but one thing I'm not clear on. For these teams, would this super league replace their various domestic leagues, the champions/europa leagues, or both?

Quote from: cabiness42 on April 19, 2021, 07:32:28 AM
I keep hearing about this league, but one thing I'm not clear on. For these teams, would this super league replace their various domestic leagues, the champions/europa leagues, or both?

They wanted it to supplement those other things.  Basically it's the big boys (and Arsenal) saying that they want more of the money since they drive the popularity of the competitions.

It's crappy and I hope they block every bit of it.

That said, today is a good day in football as my club finally got a cancer removed.  (I'm a Spurs fan and Mourinho is, at last, put to pasture.)

Chris

The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

Quote from: thspfc on April 19, 2021, 11:22:42 AM
The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

The more I read about it, the more I'm sceptical about this. Could you imagine if some MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA teams leave their league to create their own league? Althought some teams of the former Arena Football League and various baseball/basket-ball minor leagues teams left their leagues.

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on April 19, 2021, 12:03:03 PM

Quote from: thspfc on April 19, 2021, 11:22:42 AM
The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

The more I read about it, the more I'm sceptical about this. Could you imagine if some MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA teams leave their league to create their own league? Althought some teams of the former Arena Football League and various baseball/basket-ball minor leagues teams left their leagues.

Conference realignment in college sports is the closest North American corollary.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on April 19, 2021, 12:04:14 PM

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on April 19, 2021, 12:03:03 PM

Quote from: thspfc on April 19, 2021, 11:22:42 AM
The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

The more I read about it, the more I'm sceptical about this. Could you imagine if some MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA teams leave their league to create their own league? Althought some teams of the former Arena Football League and various baseball/basket-ball minor leagues teams left their leagues.

Conference realignment in college sports is the closest North American corollary.

Chris

I don't think you get a real close comparison in American football because there is only one competition. We're talking about a superleague that wants to co-exist with regular leagues.

It would be more like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Baylor, Michigan St, Indiana, UCLA, Arizona and Gonzaga deciding to replace the non-conference portion of their college basketball schedule with their own league that would run concurrently with their regular conference, crown its own champion, and not share any of the TV money with their conferences or the NCAA.

Quote from: cabiness42 on April 19, 2021, 12:15:55 PM

Quote from: jayhawkco on April 19, 2021, 12:04:14 PM

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on April 19, 2021, 12:03:03 PM

Quote from: thspfc on April 19, 2021, 11:22:42 AM
The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

The more I read about it, the more I'm sceptical about this. Could you imagine if some MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA teams leave their league to create their own league? Althought some teams of the former Arena Football League and various baseball/basket-ball minor leagues teams left their leagues.

Conference realignment in college sports is the closest North American corollary.

Chris

I don't think you get a real close comparison in American football because there is only one competition. We're talking about a superleague that wants to co-exist with regular leagues.

It would be more like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Baylor, Michigan St, Indiana, UCLA, Arizona and Gonzaga deciding to replace the non-conference portion of their college basketball schedule with their own league that would run concurrently with their regular conference, crown its own champion, and not share any of the TV money with their conferences or the NCAA.

Yeah, I never said it was an exact match, but it's the closest we have here I think.  I did see a (not too serious) proposal for a Champions League type event for college basketball once the Bracket Busters things was cancelled.

Chris

Quote from: thspfc on April 19, 2021, 11:22:42 AM
The most important thing to know is that the owners of the clubs are trying to make it exactly like American sports leagues. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's owner, also owns the Rams. The Glazers (Manchester United) own the Buccaneers. Fenway Sports (Liverpool) owns the Red Sox.

The Glazers being a part of this is the ultimate hypocrisy. In a system where the richest teams get richer at the expense of the others, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers never even think about signing a player like Tom Brady and never, ever sniff a trophy of any kind.

The Super League seems to be falling apart as it obviously should. Chelsea and Man City are already planning to withdraw, Ed Woodward is resigning as Man United chairman over the debacle, and I can't imagine Real Madrid's chairman holding it together given the stark opposition throughout the world. Watching a livestream of the Chelsea protest has rejuvenated me as a supporter again.

Quote from: rawmustard on April 20, 2021, 03:03:40 PM
The Super League seems to be falling apart as it obviously should. Chelsea and Man City are already planning to withdraw, Ed Woodward is resigning as Man United chairman over the debacle, and I can't imagine Real Madrid's chairman holding it together given the stark opposition throughout the world. Watching a livestream of the Chelsea protest has rejuvenated me as a supporter again.

Maybe these chairmen are finally learning that they need to listen to their fans. I think that was probably 50% of the reason Mourinho is out for us.  Fans (and Harry Kane) were getting restless.

Chris

Meanwhile UEFA was able to sneak in their expanded CL format that screws over smaller teams unscathed.

Quote from: Bruce on April 21, 2021, 05:51:24 PM
Meanwhile UEFA was able to sneak in their expanded CL format that screws over smaller teams unscathed.

Why not take the superleague concept and imbed it into the CL? The big money teams want more games against each other rather than lower quality/popularity teams from other countries. The little guys want a better chance to advance.

Take the top 5 from England, top 4 from Spain, Germany and Italy, and the top 3 from France into 4 groups of 5. Eight matches against superteams. Group winners face off with runners up from other groups to narrow it down to 4.

Take the top 20 from the rest of Europe and do the same thing. 4 groups of 5. Get a final four from this flight.

Surviving four teams from each flight are drawn into the quarterfinals, with a random draw and then play it out from there.

Big clubs get more marquee games against each other. Small clubs get half the quarterfinal slots.

Quote from: cabiness42 on April 21, 2021, 08:35:58 PM

Quote from: Bruce on April 21, 2021, 05:51:24 PM
Meanwhile UEFA was able to sneak in their expanded CL format that screws over smaller teams unscathed.

Why not take the superleague concept and imbed it into the CL? The big money teams want more games against each other rather than lower quality/popularity teams from other countries. The little guys want a better chance to advance.

Take the top 5 from England, top 4 from Spain, Germany and Italy, and the top 3 from France into 4 groups of 5. Eight matches against superteams. Group winners face off with runners up from other groups to narrow it down to 4.

Take the top 20 from the rest of Europe and do the same thing. 4 groups of 5. Get a final four from this flight.

Surviving four teams from each flight are drawn into the quarterfinals, with a random draw and then play it out from there.

Big clubs get more marquee games against each other. Small clubs get half the quarterfinal slots.

The magic of the CL is that it is open to every national champion at some level, and theoretically a pub team could make it up there if they win enough matches. Matches between big clubs are supposed to be rare and special occasions, not weekly occurrences.

Of course, I don't watch much of the CL live (because it's at an awkward time on the West Coast and I'm not devoted to a European club), but it is something that should be protected. Perhaps the EU will step in to save what's left of it.

The Columbus Crew are the "Crew" again after a botched rebranding.

May 10: Team announces its new name will be "Columbus SC" with the Crew as a secondary identifier. New crest unveiled to replace the 2014 roundel.

A few reports that fan groups were consulted but their feedback went unused, prompting a backlash.

May 17: Team reverses course, returns to "Columbus Crew SC" and modifies its new logo.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/2021/05/17/columbus-crew-name-changed-back-logo-redone-after-fans-revolt/5137357001/

This is the second time that fan backlash has reversed an awful MLS rebranding, after the Chicago Fire (who have yet to reveal a revised logo). Sadly, it couldn't save the Montreal Impact.

Crazy final day in the EPL. Liverpool complete one of the great never-say-never late season runs in soccer history. My Spurs most likely end the Harry Kane era with a 4-2 victory over Leicester. If he leaves, I will root for whichever team he goes to just as much as I root for Spurs. Call me a fair weather fan, whatever. As a result, Leicester choke on the UCL for the second straight season after top 4 looked like a formality for most of the campaign. Chelsea tried their hardest to lose their place in the UCL, but they couldn't quite get it done, finishing 4th again despite losing to Aston Villa.

Chelsea had a backup plan available as the Champions League winner earns a spot. Europa League winner also gets a spot so Villareal is in if they can upset ManU.

The United States have won the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League by defeating Mexico in a 3-2 thriller that included:

- Two penalties awarded by video replay
- A saved penalty by the U.S. backup goalkeeper, replacing the injured starter
- Bottles and cups thrown at players
- Several uncalled red card worthy tackles
- 5 arrests

Quote from: Bruce on June 08, 2021, 10:17:18 PM

The United States have won the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League by defeating Mexico in a 3-2 thriller that included:

- Two penalties awarded by video replay
- A saved penalty by the U.S. backup goalkeeper, replacing the injured starter
- Bottles and cups thrown at players
- Several uncalled red card worthy tackles
- 5 arrests

Man, have I been out of the loop in sports lately, there was a Mexico-USA match a few days ago (Sunday, 2021-06-06)?!

:-o

Anyways, it was at Empower Field in Denver, CO (home field of the NFL's Denver Broncos) - and Mexico v. USA in mens fútbol remains one of the greatest sports rivalries in the World!

Amazing saves by that backup goalkeeper, too.  Keep an eye on Ethan Horvath, that kid is going places!

:nod:

Mike

The Nations League is a new tournament, so it's caught a few people off guard. The whole tournament exists to replace the meaningless friendlies of years past with something with slightly more meaning.

Horvath is a bit too old to be called a kid (though in goalkeeping terms he's near his prime age). He's going to be out of a contract soon, having ridden the bench at Brugge for a while, so hopefully he can find meaningful minutes in a top European league.

Well, this USMNT squad is very young and has more talent than the USMNT has ever had before (reminisce about Donovan or Dempsey all you want, they're not even close to the trajectory of some of the players that we have now). Let's hope this promising stretch isn't derailed by yet another European club players vs MLS players feud. Seems like every USMNT coach ever has had a bias one way or another in that regard. With all the young talent we have playing in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, etc., it seems like the path between MLS and the national team is getting harder to traverse.

Quote from: thspfc on June 09, 2021, 09:37:23 PMWith all the young talent we have playing in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, etc., it seems like the path between MLS and the national team is getting harder to traverse.

Being at a European club does not guarantee quality. Getting first-team minutes is important, especially if it includes exposure to Central American and Caribbean atmospheres that come in handy when World Cup qualifiers roll around. Being able to play well in spite of the conditions down there is what set the older squads apart from this new generation, who haven't had the full experience of the Hex (now the Ocho).

The current squad is a mix of players developed in MLS or MLS academies who moved abroad, players who developed entirely in Europe, and players who are still in MLS. The domestic league is still the way to go to get noticed easily by the USMNT scouting network.

Right now in Forge Of Empires (an online game), we have the Soccer Cup seasonal event going on. 

Rick

We are in a rare summer of three continental cups: the European Championship (June 11 to July 11), Copa America (June 13 to July 10), and the CONCACAF Gold Cup (July 10 to August 1). And after that we have World Cup qualifying, which will have an extended schedule for the U.S. due to the eight-team format (replacing the six-team "Hex").

Christian Eriksen of Denmark collapsed on the pitch and was eventually resuscitated and brought to a hospital where he is responding.  Big scare there.

Quote from: Big John on June 12, 2021, 02:52:09 PM
Christian Eriksen of Denmark collapsed on the pitch and was eventually resuscitated and brought to a hospital where he is responding.  Big scare there.

I watched it live. Didn't even realize the Euros were going on until I flipped on ESPN this morning and saw the medics giving him chest compressions.

Quote from: Bruce on June 10, 2021, 05:58:24 PM
We are in a rare summer of three continental cups: the European Championship (June 11 to July 11), Copa America (June 13 to July 10), and the CONCACAF Gold Cup (July 10 to August 1). And after that we have World Cup qualifying, which will have an extended schedule for the U.S. due to the eight-team format (replacing the six-team "Hex").

Watching ENG-CRO right now. CONCACAF was smart to push their tournament back a month to avoid being the same time as Europe and South America.

Everyone is hopping on the Sweden bandwagon after they drew 0-0 by a huge stroke of luck against Spain today. When your goalkeeper can make a five minute highlight reel of himself from a single game, that's not a good sign for his team. Sweden really struggled against the low crosses, especially from Jordi Alba on the left side. Yes, Sweden had a couple chances, but Spain had far more opportunities. Spain also had 86% possession. Sure, some of that comes down to their play style, but 86% is off the charts. Sweden couldn't hold the ball for more than like 20 seconds at a time. Parking the bus and wasting time for the full 90 minutes can get you a draw in the group stage, but it doesn't work long term. See: how Sweden fizzled out in the quarterfinals of the World Cup against England.

It's very uncommon to advance to the knockout rounds without winning at least one game in the group stage. I don't think Sweden will win a game with the way they played today.

Takeaway on every team from the group stage of the Euros:

Italy: They have the identity that past Italian teams have not found. I don't think they have the experience to win it all, and it's worth pointing out that their group wasn't exactly the group of death, but they're certainly contenders.

Wales: Somewhat lacking in talent but they always seem to overachieve at the Euros. They got second in the group because Italy scored fewer goals against them than they did against Switzerland, not because they're actually better than Switzerland (in the Wales/Switzerland match it was clear that Switzerland are the better team).

Switzerland: Just mediocre, as their record shows. They can dominate against weaker teams like Turkey, but don't stand much of a chance against the Italys of the world. They have a tall task ahead of them against France.

Turkey: Defense was supposed to be their strength, but their defense was woeful in all three games. Struggled to create chances on the attacking end.

Belgium: This core group of Belgian players has been around for a while now, so we know who they are. We know they can score goals and win comfortably against teams like Russia, Denmark, and Finland, but the knockout stage will be a different matter.

Denmark: They looked very inspired against Russia in front of their home fans. If they can actually finish their chances like they did against Russia (and unlike what they did in their first two games), they have a real chance at making a run.

Finland: Just not enough talent. It's cool that they qualified, but we knew that they wouldn't be good enough to make much of a difference.

Russia: Their 2018 World Cup campaign was a fluke, which tends to happen with host countries. They won the game they were expected to against Finland, but weren't very good in their two losses.

Netherlands: Did their job in the group stage, but haven't faced a real test by any means. They have plenty of offensive creativity and have looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Austria: Similar to Switzerland, they do fine against less talented teams but don't have much of a chance against heavyweights.

Ukraine: They have a nice attacking duo in Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk, but have been prone to defensive mistakes.

North Macedonia: Even in the least difficult group of the tournament, they didn't stand much of a chance. At least they have two goals to show for it.

England: Well structured and very strong defensively. They have loads of offensive talent but haven't figured out how to put it all together. I think going to a traditional 4-3-3 or even a 3-4-3 rather than the more reserved 4-2-3-1 would give players like Sterling, Grealish, Foden, Sancho, Rashford, and Mount more room to play in their unique styles rather than the jumbled-together approach that they're taking now. Two goals in three matches isn't pretty, but they've done what they've been expected to do.

Croatia: Lacked energy and urgency up until the second half of the Scotland game, when they were finally able to assert themselves with their ball skills and offensive quality. The match with Spain will be an interesting one, albeit one that I would be shocked if it's won by Croatia in 90 minutes.

Czech Republic: Very dependent on Patrik Schick, and it showed against England. They couldn't do anything noteworthy for almost the entire game. Nonetheless I'm impressed by their two goal win over Scotland and draw with Croatia.

Scotland: Their chance to have a chance in the tournament was the first match against the Czechs, and when they lost that game, it was pretty much over for them. They deserve credit for their performance against England, but they could have lost that match just as easily as they could have won it.

Sweden: My questions from after the Spain match were answered, though it's worth noting that the 3-2 scoreline against Poland today is deceiving. Safe to say that Sweden wouldn't have scored 3 goals if Poland weren't forced to go all-out in chasing a goal for 88 minutes.

Spain: Most possession, most shots, most chances, but very few goals until the Slovakia match today. They finally figured out how to score with the help of a legendary own goal by the Slovakia goalkeeper Dubravka. It's worth noting that they can't convert penalties to save their lives (0/2 so far at the tournament). That could be a major problem if the finishing struggles that they had against Sweden and Poland resurface in the knockout rounds.

Slovakia: It's obvious that their victory over Poland was a fluky byproduct of Krychowiak's red card dropping Poland down to 10 men. Showed surprisingly little resistance and fighting spirit after falling behind to Spain, which lead to them getting completely humiliated.

Poland: Too little, too late. They were close to equalizing late against Slovakia but couldn't do it. They were lucky to escape with a draw against Spain. Who knows what would have happened had Lewandowski scored from five feet away with the goalkeeper out of the equation in the 17th minute against Sweden.

France: Their depth and skill is unrivaled. The question is if and when they're going to flip the switch like they did in the 2018 World Cup, when they were uninspiring in the group stage but came out flying in the knockouts. He doesn't have any goals, but if the tournament ended today Paul Pogba would be my golden ball winner. His passing has been crazy good. When he's at his best, Kylian Mbappe is pretty much unstoppable, but he hasn't found his best as of yet in this tournament. But the thing that sums up how good this team is is that they just got first place in the toughest group, yet we've still been disappointed with them. They're that talented.

Germany: We saw them in peak form against Portugal. That Germany team is one of the two or three best in the tournament. Then there's the other two games, when they had a lot of possession but didn't really have a plan to score, they were just passing the ball around aimlessly like the Germany of the 2018 World Cup.

Portugal: Overrated. They are really, really bad defensively. If Ruben Dias is the best defender in the world, it certainly has not been showing in this tournament. Their saving grace is that they have this guy named Ronaldo who some say is pretty good at putting the ball in the net. Ronaldo's supporting cast of forwards and midfielders, though, has also been disappointing.

Hungary: Soccer games are 90 minutes long, and Hungary did about 75 minutes of great defending in each of their three games. The 15 minutes when they were sloppy was when Portugal scored three times, Germany twice, and France once. That was the difference between first in the group and last.

14 hours later and I still can't believe that France are out of the Euros. Croatia/Spain was a great game as well, but France/Switzerland was an all-time classic, a match that's going to be remembered for as long as European soccer exists. Maybe the best soccer game I've ever watched.

Quote from: thspfc on June 29, 2021, 07:15:21 AM
14 hours later and I still can't believe that France are out of the Euros. Croatia/Spain was a great game as well, but France/Switzerland was an all-time classic, a match that's going to be remembered for as long as European soccer exists. Maybe the best soccer game I've ever watched.

Sefarovic was on fire.  I got to watch the PKs as I was sitting in a chair waiting for dental surgery.  A nice way to destress before going in.

Hopefully England can actually get some goals scored today, otherwise the football media is going to be insufferable for the next week.

Chris

European champions Chelsea have/had players playing for several countries:
Mount, James and Chilwell for England
Gilmour for Scotland
Kante and Grioud for France
Azpilicueta for Spain
Rudiger, Werner and Havertz for Germany
Christensen for Denmark
Jorginho for Italy
Kovacic for Croatia

Additionally, Silva is playing for Brazil in Copa America and Pulisic is on the US squad for the Gold Cup.

That's going to be a well-worn team when the reunite in August.

Quote from: cabiness42 on June 29, 2021, 10:09:04 AM
That's going to be a well-worn team when the reunite in August.

The question will be how the wear affects them.  Does it make them fit together more? Tire them out? Cause more injuries?  I'm kind of glad my Spurs have a few less internationals than we've had in the previous cycles.  Really only have Hojbjerg, Davies, and Kane playing major minutes, and obviously Kane might not be a Spurs player come August.

Chris

Aye me lads, it's commen home, ya?

Denmark are the little oppressed underdog darlings, so much so that they got completely outplayed for 120 minutes, yet still have the audacity to complain about a controversial, but not necessarily uncommon, penalty call. The game is changing. Defenders have to be really careful in the penalty area. VAR is finally holding referees to the standard of calling the same fouls and enforcing the same rules inside the 18 and out.

If you actually look at the stats and watch highlights for 10 minutes it's obvious that the better team won, controversial penalty or not. If Denmark want to make the final maybe they should work on disciplined, organized defending and creating chances. They were obviously exhausted by about the 60th minute. They stopped defending well. Let England into the penalty area way too easily on many occasions, including the Sterling dribble that led to the penalty. Offensively they looked like they had no interest in scoring for the majority of the game. No penetrating runs, no creative dribbling or passing combinations. They put up barely any fight after falling behind 2-1.

The better team beat the worse team 2-1, more at 11.

Could have very easily been a two or three goal margin.

It's coming home to Rome!

Italy wins the UEFA EURO 2020 championship 1-1 by penalities, giving them their second title (first since 1968)

Meanwhile England is yet to win a EURO. I can't say I was wanting England to win for a simple reason: their fans.

Southgate made some really poor substitution decisions as far as I'm concerned.

So Italy's Jorginho is a double European Champion--Champions League and Euro.

All is right in the world. England really doesn't deserve to win anything until their fans take a lesson or two in humility.

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 11, 2021, 08:36:08 PM
So Italy's Jorginho is a double European Champion--Champions League and Euro.

And should have been red carded as well.

Chris

My Euro 2020 team of the tournament:

Starting 11
GK: Donnarumma
LB: Shaw
CB: Bonucci
CB: Chellini
RB: Walker
CMF: Pogba
CMF: Pedri
CMF: Jorginho
LW: Sterling
RW: Chiesa
CF: Schick

Subs
GKs: Sommer, Pickford
LBs: Jordi Alba, Spinazzola
CBs: Maguire, Stones
RBs: Di Lorenzo
CMFs: Wijnaldum, De Bruyne
LWs: Insigne
RWs: Forsberg
CFs: Ronaldo, Lukaku, Kane, Benzema

Sterling would be my best field player of the tournament.

Penalty kick shootouts are very exciting for fans. But the reality is, they stink. It's almost criminal to decide something that important, with so much money, legacy, happiness, and despair on the line, with just one kick of the ball. But at the same time, games need to be decided somehow. Extra time until a goal is scored (like how it is in the NHL playoffs) is not really an option, as matches can and do go for 90 minutes without a goal. The solution to this problem lies somewhere in the middle. So here's my solution: 3 attacking players start with the ball 30 yards away from the goal. Two opposing defenders start at the top of the 18 yard box, with the goalkeeper in net. From there, it's 3 vs 2. The attackers' objective is to score, the defenders' and goalkeeper's objective is to clear the ball out of bounds or out past where the attackers started with the ball. Each team gets five chances to attack, most goals wins.

Or we just go with NASL/MLS style dribble penalties from 35 yards out instead.

The solution is a game that features nonzero scoring, like hockey.

Outside of actual games, create a test run of 11 vs. 6 and see how long it takes for a goal to be scored on average, making sure the sample size is large enough.

Once this has been figured out, when there's a tie in a game, put that much time on the clock. Flip a coin, and the winner chooses whether they want to be the 11, who has to score, or the 6, who has to run out the clock (or score, but that would be much rarer). The next time it happens, the starting time will be adjusted by a few seconds in either direction, as the sample size has increased by 1.

This is based on this in chess (note that White has a small advantage from moving first):

Quote from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_2018If the blitz matches had failed to produce a winner, one sudden death "Armageddon" game: White receives 5 minutes and Black receives 4 minutes. Both players receive an increment of 3 seconds starting from move 61. The player who wins the drawing of lots may choose the colour. In case of a draw, the player with the black pieces is declared the winner.

The best way to end a tie game in tournaments is to do the penalty shootout before the extra time.  Winner of the shootout wins the tiebreak if it's still tied AET.  Makes the extra time far more interesting.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 12, 2021, 11:29:10 PM
The best way to end a tie game in tournaments is to do the penalty shootout before the extra time.  Winner of the shootout wins the tiebreak if it's still tied AET.  Makes the extra time far more interesting.

Chris

That sounds horrible. It takes away all the tension and makes teams park the bus even harder.

Quote from: Bruce on July 13, 2021, 03:59:52 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 12, 2021, 11:29:10 PM
The best way to end a tie game in tournaments is to do the penalty shootout before the extra time.  Winner of the shootout wins the tiebreak if it's still tied AET.  Makes the extra time far more interesting.

Chris

That sounds horrible. It takes away all the tension and makes teams park the bus even harder.

The opposite.  Currently in extra time, both teams play not to lose.  This way, you'd have one team pushing hard for the winner and the other defending as if their lives depended on it.  If the shootout losing team scores, then those roles reverse.

Chris

Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

No, but it gives one team more incentive to try and score during extra time rather than play defensively. In theory, it ends more games in extra time and reduces the number of shootouts.

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:35:43 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

No, but it gives one team more incentive to try and score during extra time rather than play defensively. In theory, it ends more games in extra time and reduces the number of shootouts.

But you still end up with the same situation we have now, where in the 110th minute, both teams are fine settling for penalties and won't push too far forward and actually create any goal scoring chances.  The team with the 1-0 advantage is happy to go in as the favorite, and the other team would probably rather settle for the luck of shootouts than commit everyone forward trying to get a goal.

Chris

Does anyone have any comments (positive or negative) on my proposal?

Quote from: 1 on July 13, 2021, 09:41:19 AM
Does anyone have any comments (positive or negative) on my proposal?

Feel like it's a little arbitrary.  Why six and not eight for one team?  And it ceases being an actual soccer/football match at that point and becomes "half-court".  Reducing gimmickry is I think everyone's goal, and your plan just changes which gimmick is used.  (I like the thinking out of the box though, so E for effort there.)

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:38:41 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:35:43 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

No, but it gives one team more incentive to try and score during extra time rather than play defensively. In theory, it ends more games in extra time and reduces the number of shootouts.

But you still end up with the same situation we have now, where in the 110th minute, both teams are fine settling for penalties and won't push too far forward and actually create any goal scoring chances.  The team with the 1-0 advantage is happy to go in as the favorite, and the other team would probably rather settle for the luck of shootouts than commit everyone forward trying to get a goal.

Chris

If a 1-0 deficit isn't enough incentive for the other team to press forward, then make it 2-0.

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:56:52 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:38:41 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:35:43 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

No, but it gives one team more incentive to try and score during extra time rather than play defensively. In theory, it ends more games in extra time and reduces the number of shootouts.

But you still end up with the same situation we have now, where in the 110th minute, both teams are fine settling for penalties and won't push too far forward and actually create any goal scoring chances.  The team with the 1-0 advantage is happy to go in as the favorite, and the other team would probably rather settle for the luck of shootouts than commit everyone forward trying to get a goal.

Chris

If a 1-0 deficit isn't enough incentive for the other team to press forward, then make it 2-0.

But then you're severely at a disadvantage.  You worked really hard to tie the game up in regulation and now you're behind the 8-ball by quite a bit.  It would change the rest of the game too because you'd play "not to lose" early in regulation, fearing that giving up a goal first, even if you come back to tie it, will make you lose the game almost certainly.

I think we need to determine what we're trying to get out of this.  For me:
A) Reduce the effect of gimmicks on who wins the game.  It should be primarily based on who plays the best 11 on 11 football (or less people if there has been a red card)
B) Keep the overtime rules fair so that both teams feel like they have pretty equal chances of winning in extra time
C) Keep the play in extra time exciting, so teams will have the desire to go for a goal rather than just saying "we're tired; screw it, let's settle for penalties"
D) If there is some "randomness" involved like the current shootout setup, make it football-related randomness and not coin-related randomness

Obviously others are allowed to disagree (both with my premises and my solution), but I feel like my option ticks all of those boxes.

Chris

I know too well how penalties even out a game that was previously somewhat one-sided. A few years ago in a tournament quarterfinal my team was better than the opposition for the whole game. We must have outshot them 30-5. But the game ended 0-0 and we lost on penalties. Guess who missed a penalty?  :-|

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 12, 2021, 11:29:10 PM
The best way to end a tie game in tournaments is to do the penalty shootout before the extra time.  Winner of the shootout wins the tiebreak if it's still tied AET.  Makes the extra time far more interesting.

Chris

I kind of like this proposal, but it doesn't change the fact that many games are going to be decided on a few kicks of the ball. I disagree with Bruce's comment about "parking the bus" - not because teams won't do it (they will), but because that can be exciting. Bruce obviously hasn't watched the second leg of a Champions League knockout. Juventus vs Porto in March comes to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lfBYyQ2xjo. One of the most entertaining matches I've ever watched.

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:56:52 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:38:41 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:35:43 AM

Quote from: jayhawkco on July 13, 2021, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: cabiness42 on July 13, 2021, 09:20:20 AM
Keep the penalty shootout after extra time, but for any tie other than 0-0, the team that last led in the game gets to start penalty kicks with a 1-0 lead.

Doesn't change the inherent unfairness of losing a game on a "skill" vs. actual gameplay.

Chris

No, but it gives one team more incentive to try and score during extra time rather than play defensively. In theory, it ends more games in extra time and reduces the number of shootouts.

But you still end up with the same situation we have now, where in the 110th minute, both teams are fine settling for penalties and won't push too far forward and actually create any goal scoring chances.  The team with the 1-0 advantage is happy to go in as the favorite, and the other team would probably rather settle for the luck of shootouts than commit everyone forward trying to get a goal.

Chris

If a 1-0 deficit isn't enough incentive for the other team to press forward, then make it 2-0.

Goodness no. It doesn't matter when goals are scored. One goal doesn't count for any more than the next.

More Americans watched the Euros final than the average number across the four NBA finals games so far (9.4 vs 8.9 million). This is both a good sign for soccer and a major problem for the NBA. Thankfully for the NBA their numbers are, at the very least, up significantly compared to last year's abomination that they called the "bubble" .

And then you have the NFL, which frequently draws 20+ million for regular season games and 90-100 million for the Super Bowl . . .  :-o

Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/aug/05/lionel-messi-leaving-barcelona-after-obstacles-thwart-contract-renewal), the only club he's ever known. The two sides wanted to come to an agreement, but it was structurally impossible with Spanish financial regulations. This means Messi can sign with another club on a free transfer.

Quote from: rawmustard on August 05, 2021, 03:24:35 PM
Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/aug/05/lionel-messi-leaving-barcelona-after-obstacles-thwart-contract-renewal), the only club he's ever known. The two sides wanted to come to an agreement, but it was structurally impossible with Spanish financial regulations. This means Messi can sign with another club on a free transfer.

The rumor that part of his issue with the club was that they didn't sign his Argentinian teammate, Cuti Romero, who is signing with my club, Tottenham.  Glad they can ruin someone else's life like they often ruin mine.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 05, 2021, 04:04:49 PM

Quote from: rawmustard on August 05, 2021, 03:24:35 PM
Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/aug/05/lionel-messi-leaving-barcelona-after-obstacles-thwart-contract-renewal), the only club he's ever known. The two sides wanted to come to an agreement, but it was structurally impossible with Spanish financial regulations. This means Messi can sign with another club on a free transfer.

The rumor that part of his issue with the club was that they didn't sign his Argentinian teammate, Cuti Romero, who is signing with my club, Tottenham.  Glad they can ruin someone else's life like they often ruin mine.

Chris

That's fake news.

The financial regulations are the main reason Messi isn't able to remain with FC Barcelona. In fact, he was set to sign a new contract anyway but La Liga (rightfully) won't budge on the salary requirements.

Messi is apparently in negotiations with PSG, which has almost no financial regulations to adhere to. Only the very loosely-regulated FFP.

Yeah, I figured there wasn't much to it.  But it would have been hilarious.  Either way we'll see if Poch can get PSG over the Champions League hump with the legend.

Chris

I don't think he will end up at Manchester City, but if he does, that's game over for the rest of soccer. And then imagine if they also sign Kane . . .
Man City's squad if they got Messi and Kane:

GK - Ederson
LB - Cancelo
CB - Dias
CB - Stones
RB - Walker
CM - De Bruyne
CM - Gundogan
CM - Bernardo Silva
LW - Messi
RW - Grealish
CF - Kane

With Sterling, Mahrez, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Foden, Rodri, and Ferran Torres on the BENCH.

Is that late 2000s/early 2010s Barcelona level?

Quote from: thspfc on August 06, 2021, 09:27:51 AM
I don't think he will end up at Manchester City, but if he does, that's game over for the rest of soccer. And then imagine if they also sign Kane . . .
Man City's squad if they got Messi and Kane:

GK - Ederson
LB - Cancelo
CB - Dias
CB - Stones
RB - Walker
CM - De Bruyne
CM - Gundogan
CM - Bernardo Silva
LW - Sterling
RW - Grealish
CF - Kane

With Mahrez, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Foden, Rodri, and Ferran Torres on the BENCH.

Is that late 2000s/early 2010s Barcelona level?

Pep today said they won't sign him.  He also said he's still in on Kane pending Levy's negotiation tactics.

Bernardo also said he wants to leave per Pep.

Chris

He's gone to PSG on a two-year contract. Maybe after that we could hear a serious attempt by an MLS club to acquire him.

https://twitter.com/PSG_inside/status/1425189199213473798

Quote from: Bruce on August 10, 2021, 10:21:51 PM
He's gone to PSG on a two-year contract. Maybe after that we could hear a serious attempt by an MLS club to acquire him.

Inter Miami seems a likely suspect.  They want to sign all the best players, but they play absolutely terribly together. 

Chris

Gooners do what gooners do.  Arsenal loses to recently promoted Brentford 2-0 in Brentford's first top division match in 75 years.

Chris

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 13, 2021, 05:10:15 PMBrentford's first top division match in 75 years.

Just over 74 years. They went down at the end of the 46/47 season (the first league season after WW2).

Speaking of 74 or 75, I believe 74/75 was the last season Arsenal propped up the table at any point of the campaign. It's been a long time coming, but they deserve that temporary indignity.

I don't know when Brentford were last top of the league, if ever, but it's at least 80 years ago. In 07/08 they finished the season 82nd, and now 13 seasons and a game later they are top of the football pyramid overnight.

Champions League Draw

Group A
Manchester City
Paris St. Germain
RB Leipzig
Club Brugge

Group B
Atlético Madrid
Liverpool
Porto
AC Milan

Group C
Sporting Lisbon
Borussia Dortmund
Ajax
Beşiktaş

Group D
Inter Milan
Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk
Sheriff Tiraspol

Group E
Bayern Münich
Barcelona
Benfica
Dynamo Kyiv

Group F
Villareal
Manchester United
Atalanta
Young Boys

Group G
Lille
Sevilla
Salzburg
Wolfsburg

Group H
Chelsea
Juventus
Zenit St. Petersburg
Malmö

My picks to advance in bold.

Group A clearly group of death with Group B and Group E not too far behind.

Chris

Nice draw for Chelsea, especially with Juventus losing Ronaldo.

Quote from: cabiness42 on August 26, 2021, 01:41:48 PM
Nice draw for Chelsea, especially with Juventus losing Ronaldo.

Still have Juventus as the only Italian team go make it through.  It seems like every Italian side got worse this transfer window:

Inter - Lost Lukaku
AC Milan - Lost Donarumma
Atalanta - Lost Gollini and Romero
Juventus - Probably losing Ronaldo, possibly losing McKennie

Chris

Group A and Group B are the toughest. City/PSG will be awesome. So will Atletico/Liverpool, Bayern/Barca, and Chelsea/Juve if Ronaldo plays.

I could honestly see Dortmund getting last in their group.

All of the Premier League clubs SHOULD advance comfortably. Chelsea and United will be expected to top their group, City could go either way, Liverpool will probably get second after Atletico.

In my opinion the tournament favorites are, in no order, PSG, City, Bayern, United, and Chelsea.

Quote from: jayhawkco on August 26, 2021, 01:58:18 PM

Quote from: cabiness42 on August 26, 2021, 01:41:48 PM
Nice draw for Chelsea, especially with Juventus losing Ronaldo.

Still have Juventus as the only Italian team go make it through.  It seems like every Italian side got worse this transfer window:

Inter - Lost Lukaku
AC Milan - Lost Donarumma
Atalanta - Lost Gollini and Romero
Juventus - Probably losing Ronaldo, possibly losing McKennie

Chris

Conversely three of the four English UCL teams improved, the exception being Liverpool.

Quote from: thspfc on August 26, 2021, 02:16:02 PM
I could honestly see Dortmund getting last in their group.

Any reason why?  Any team with Haaland will be tough.  Sporting finally won their league after 20 years or whatever, but other than Porto doing a little damage in weaker groups, Portuguese teams haven't done much in the Champions League.  Turkish teams are not what they once were.

Chris

Quote from: thspfc on August 26, 2021, 02:17:25 PM
Conversely three of the four English UCL teams improved, the exception being Liverpool.

Liverpool improved just because they have Van Dijk back if nothing else.

Chris

It will be nice to see Inter Milan and Real Madrid going to an unrecognized country (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria) :sombrero:.

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on August 27, 2021, 04:17:17 PM
It will be nice to see Inter Milan and Real Madrid going to an unrecognized country (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria) :sombrero:.

My Spurs played them in Tiraspol in the Europa League a few years back.  Odd little place.

Chris

Arsenal propped the table up once more for a few minutes between them conceding a fifth, and Norwich conceding. But since the forth (cheered by the Gooners) and until Leicester get a second, Arsenal have only escaped being bottom on alphabetical order!

They thrashed West Brom (a mere 3 places below them) convincingly in the League Cup, so there's some hope that Arsenal might score goals in the Premier League. But boy did City make it look like a top v bottom game today.

OK, City and Chelsea was always going to be difficult for Arsenal. It's a shame the Super League didn't happen as then they'd have ended up doing the opposite of the invincibles and won a golden wooden spoon!

Quote from: english si on August 28, 2021, 10:34:14 AM
Arsenal propped the table up once more for a few minutes between them conceding a fifth, and Norwich conceding. But since the forth (cheered by the Gooners) and until Leicester get a second, Arsenal have only escaped being bottom on alphabetical order!

They thrashed West Brom (a mere 3 places below them) convincingly in the League Cup, so there's some hope that Arsenal might score goals in the Premier League. But boy did City make it look like a top v bottom game today.

OK, City and Chelsea was always going to be difficult for Arsenal. It's a shame the Super League didn't happen as then they'd have ended up doing the opposite of the invincibles and won a golden wooden spoon!

Hate to see it. COYS

Chris

USA loses 1-1 to Canada. Those dropped points are going to hurt later in the qualification phase.

And in other WCQ news of the day:

Brazil-Argentina was called off mid-play by Brazilian health officials after they discovered that the Argentine players based in the UK had not completed their required quarantine.

Guinea-Morocco was postponed due to a coup that left the away Morocco team trapped in their hotel room for a bit.

Quote from: Bruce on September 05, 2021, 10:45:40 PM
USA loses 1-1 to Canada. Those dropped points are going to hurt later in the qualification phase.

They just don't want to go to Qatar.

Quote from: Bruce on September 05, 2021, 10:45:40 PM
Brazil-Argentina was called off mid-play by Brazilian health officials after they discovered that the Argentine players based in the UK had not completed their required quarantine.

So many questions here. Are they vaccinated? If not, can't they get tested? Did they get tested? Are they all vaccinated, and all tested negative? If so, why is there a quarantine at all? And if there is a quarantine, is it really that important so as to abandon the game? Not to mention that Covid milder than a slap on the wrist to these athletes. What a joke.

Quote from: thspfc on September 06, 2021, 07:43:32 AM
Not to mention that Covid milder than a slap on the wrist to these athletes.

While it probably won't kill them, it could prevent them from playing while they have it. (This would show itself in a later stage of the tournament, since you don't get COVID instantly.)

There are also the long-term effects, although I haven't heard that much about them recently.

We don't see that often, a player who asked to stop the game to help a spectator who collapsed in the stands.
https://www.sportbible.com/football/sergio-reguilon-explains-heroic-actions-in-helping-newcastle-fan-20211017

QuoteSpurs left-back Sergio Reguilon revealed he told the referee to stop the game as he explained his heroics at St James' Park.

At the end of the first half, the game between Newcastle and Spurs was halted due to a medical emergency.

It later emerged that a fan had collapsed and was taken to a local hospital after being stabilised.

But the quick thinking from Reguilon was absolutely crucial. With it happening in the East Stand on the left side he was playing on, the former Sevilla man alerted referee Andre Marriner as Spurs prepared to take a corner.

https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1449798477651791875

Probably one of the best places around to have a heart attack, given the number of medics at the venue and availability of equipment.

My Spurs fire Nuno (whom they never should have hired) and hire Antonio Conte, one of the top 8 or so managers in the world.  Considering this year has not gone great but we're not that far off top 4, I am mildly optimistic he can make the requisite changes to get us playing well.

Chris

The MLS Cup Playoffs bracket:

(https://i.imgur.com/mYzRCf8.png)

As a weird quirk of this season, the Sounders will join Colorado and New England in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League by taking the slot usually reserved for the US Open Cup. They were chosen as the highest-ranked U.S.-based MLS club that had not already qualified (say that three times fast).

Western Conference Playoff picture:

Texas and California (6 teams) - out of the playoffs

Everyone else (7 teams) - in the playoffs

If SKC gets through to the finals against Colorado, I guarantee you the stadium is filled with more KC fans than Rapids' fans.

Chris

A home World Cup qualifier in Ohio against Mexico?

There was only way it could have ended. Long live Dos a Cero.



(Also, Mexico continues to play the dirtiest form of the sport and get all the leeway from referees.)

CONCACAF absolutely get VAR into its competitions. If other countries can't afford it, then CONCACAF needs to provide it. My guess is that Luis Rodriguez doesn't even try to poke Aaronson in the eye if he knows VAR can review it.

In any case, with half the matches played, its' pretty clearly 4 teams for 3 spots + the playoff spot. I don't see any of the bottom four getting enough points to move up. US plays at Jamaica Sunday, and the best outcome for the US in the Canada-Mexico match in Edmonton is a draw.

USA at Jamaica is Tuesday, FWIW, not Sunday.

Canada moves to the top of the World Cup qualifying table with their 2-1 win over Mexico at the frigid Estadio Iceteca in Edmonton. The US draw in Jamaica, which is an acceptable result given how lucky the team was to get away with a favorable no-call goal.

NBC has won the rights to the Premier League until 2028, at a cost of $2.7 billion.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/11/18/premier-league-broadcast-rights-nbc-usa-tv

Apparently the Fox-Amazon-Warner bid was higher, but the PL decided to go with the network they knew best.

Quote from: Bruce on November 18, 2021, 07:40:34 PM
NBC has won the rights to the Premier League until 2028, at a cost of $2.7 billion.

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/11/18/premier-league-broadcast-rights-nbc-usa-tv

Apparently the Fox-Amazon-Warner bid was higher, but the PL decided to go with the network they knew best.

I'd say this is good news. NBC's EPL coverage hasn't really blown me away over the last seven years, but they've at least made it a clear priority among their programming. I feel like ESPN would have shoved it way to the bottom of their totem pole, especially during the first third or so of the season when college football is also going on. With Fox it would be a power struggle between the EPL and MLS/USMNT.

The MLS Cup Final is set for Saturday, December 11 at 12 Pacific / 3 Eastern.

The Portland Timbers are hosting New York City FC. The Timbers last won in 2015, while NYCFC only entered the league in 2015 and are playing in the final for the first time.

This is the seventh straight year where the Western Conference champion/cup participant is either Seattle or Portland. This year's playoffs didn't feature a single team from California or Texas, despite each having 3 teams and the playoffs featuring 7 of 13 teams in the conference. Pleasingly, they finished clumped together at the bottom by state:

(https://i.imgur.com/2HnVHxQ.png)

Quote from: Bruce on December 07, 2021, 02:24:55 AM
The MLS Cup Final is set for Friday, December 11 at 3 Eastern / best time.

FTFY. Go NY!

NYCFC win their first ever MLS Cup title.

This means they've won the league before the New York Red Bulls, who had a 19-year headstart.

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1469809040188268547

Quote from: Bruce on December 11, 2021, 06:52:07 PM
NYCFC win their first ever MLS Cup title.

This means they've won the league before the New York-New Jersey Metrostars, who had a 19-year headstart.

FTFY

This year saw first time winners of both the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield.

Of the 27 teams currently in MLS, there have now been:

- 14 teams that have won an MLS Cup
- 13 teams that have won a Supporters Shield
- 19 teams that have won at least one of the two trophies
- 8 teams that have won both trophies
- 5 teams that have won both in the same season (2 of which have done it twice)

note: the total number of SS winners is actually 15, but two of those winners are defunct franchises

New Zealand womens' national team defender manages to score three own goals in one match: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iCQy8nfbizQ

First one is an excellent cross and mistimed kick.

Second one is another excellent cross, but her positioning was bad, you never want to be running back towards your net while the ball is played in. And an awful header.

Third one is embarrassing.

Did she have to throw hats into the crowd?

MLS has kicked off with its 27th season. Charlotte FC has joined as the 28th team and the new schedule means that the regular season should wrap up in early October, followed by an earlier playoffs to make room for the 2022 World Cup.

All of the goals for Week 1:

The 2020 Canadian Championship Final, originally scheduled for September 2020, will finally be played on June 4 of this year.

That means the entire 2021 Canadian Championship and most of the 2022 edition will have been played before the 2020 edition had finished.

https://forgefc.canpl.ca/article/forge-fc-to-host-2020-canadian-championship-final-at-tim-hortons-field

New MLS attendance record set by Charlotte FC in their home debut. 74,479 at Bank of America Stadium.

https://twitter.com/ashstro/status/1500277324545236995

Canada have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, their second-ever berth (the first being 1986). John Herdman is now the first coach to bring a women's and men's team to their respective World Cups.

https://twitter.com/FIFAcom/status/1508224429121482755

The United States can qualify tonight with a win against Panama AND Costa Rica's draw/loss to El Salvador.

^^ Costa Rica won and US is up 4-0 at Half Time.

Quote from: Big John on March 27, 2022, 08:07:12 PM
^^ Costa Rica won and US is up 4-0 at Half Time.

As it stands now, Costa Rica would have to beat the US by 5 goals Wednesday to keep the US from qualifying directly and even then they'd be in the playoff against probably New Zealand.

So with the final score of 5—1 tonight, the US goal differential is +13 and Costa Rica's is +3. So Costa Rica need to win by six to send the US to the playoff–they'd be at +9 and the US would be at +7. If Costa Rica were to win by five, both teams would be at +8, so you go to the second tiebreaker, which is goals scored. The US have 21 and Costa Rica have 11, so in that scenario the US would qualify and Costa Rica would head to the playoff.

I can't tell which channel is airing this game. YouTube TV lists both NBC Universo (Spanish) and CBS Sports Network, but most other sources say the CBS English feed will only be on Paramount+.

Quote from: 1995hoo on March 27, 2022, 09:59:15 PM
So with the final score of 5—1 tonight, the US goal differential is +13 and Costa Rica's is +3. So Costa Rica need to win by six to send the US to the playoff–they'd be at +9 and the US would be at +7. If Costa Rica were to win by five, both teams would be at +8, so you go to the second tiebreaker, which is goals scored. The US have 21 and Costa Rica have 11, so in that scenario the US would qualify and Costa Rica would head to the playoff.

I can't tell which channel is airing this game. YouTube TV lists both NBC Universo (Spanish) and CBS Sports Network, but most other sources say the CBS English feed will only be on Paramount+.

I think the English feed is only on Paramount+. The game at Mexico was the only one they showed on CBSSN.

As long as I can watch it without subscribing to another service, I don't much care which language it is. I suppose it bugs me more that it's a US network shunting it off to their pay service–in past years, FIFA's rule that the home country controls the foreign TV rights for a given game has meant US games landing on channels like beIN Sports and some other weird ones. That's a pain, but it's life. A domestic network pulling a stunt like this is sort of like a middle-finger gesture to viewers. They think it'll get them more subscribers because people will sign up and then not cancel, but that seems questionable.

Quote from: 1995hoo on March 27, 2022, 10:24:24 PM
As long as I can watch it without subscribing to another service, I don't much care which language it is. I suppose it bugs me more that it's a US network shunting it off to their pay service–in past years, FIFA's rule that the home country controls the foreign TV rights for a given game has meant US games landing on channels like beIN Sports and some other weird ones. That's a pain, but it's life. A domestic network pulling a stunt like this is sort of like a middle-finger gesture to viewers. They think it'll get them more subscribers because people will sign up and then not cancel, but that seems questionable.

Champions League and Europa league games all the way up through the quarterfinals are also on Paramount+ so a large number of soccer fans in the US already subscribe.

I ended up going ahead and getting it because in addition to the soccer, they have a couple new Star Trek series that I like. Before that, I ended up watching most of the US away matches on Spanish language stations.

I'm just glad to be beyond the days of relying on BeIn Sports for away qualifiers. The clearly-remote-recorded commentary was painful to listen to, at least some of the Paramount+ commentators are on-site or with no noticeable audio delay.

The new TV contract for U.S. Soccer (2023 to 2030) will have all home qualifiers (only applicable to the women's team and 2029 for the men), all friendlies, and U.S.-organized tournaments (such as the SheBelieves Cup) on TNT, TBS, and HBO Max. The World Cup will remain on Fox for the next cycle, as will the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The new MLS contract is also set to take effect in 2023 and is being shopped around to a few networks, rumored to be Turner Sports and ESPN. These would include streaming rights for all local broadcasts too, which would be helpful for some markets but worse than the status quo for others; my dear Sounders have their local matches on Amazon Prime Video and it's worked out decently well.

This morning's newspaper says CBS Sports Network will have tonight's game.

I guess I'll find out shortly before game time. It's sort of like the "blue box method" for determining the weather: Hang blue box on wall. If box is wet, it's raining....

Quote from: 1995hoo on March 30, 2022, 08:01:10 AM
This morning's newspaper says CBS Sports Network will have tonight's game.

I guess I'll find out shortly before game time. It's sort of like the "blue box method" for determining the weather: Hang blue box on wall. If box is wet, it's raining....

My cable guide shows it on CBSSN too.

After a 0-0 half time score, Costa Rica scores 2 early second-half goals.

FIFA has launched their own free streaming platform (FIFA+ (https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/home)), which has live matches not covered by normal TV/streaming contracts, documentaries, and archived full-match replays. The last category is something that's been sorely missing, so being able to watch old World Cups is quite a treat. Sadly the video player itself is pretty awful and I don't think it'll stay free forever.

https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/media-releases/fifa-launches-fifa-to-bring-free-football-entertainment-to-fans-everywhere

Quote from: Bruce on April 13, 2022, 12:26:31 PM
FIFA has launched their own free streaming platform (FIFA+ (https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/home)), which has live matches not covered by normal TV/streaming contracts, documentaries, and archived full-match replays. The last category is something that's been sorely missing, so being able to watch old World Cups is quite a treat. Sadly the video player itself is pretty awful and I don't think it'll stay free forever.

https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/media-releases/fifa-launches-fifa-to-bring-free-football-entertainment-to-fans-everywhere

Current TV/streaming contracts cover:

Premier League
Bundesliga
Serie A
La Liga
MLS
Liga MX (Spanish only)

All CONCACAF competitions
All UEFA competitions
All CONMEBOL competitions

I hope it stays free, because everything worth paying for is already covered.

The Seattle Sounders will face Mexico City's Pumas for the continental title. No MLS team has won it in its current form.

https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1514439413819969540

The Seattle Sounders go down 2-0 in Mexico City and manage to claw their way back thanks to two penalties. The Sounders and Pumas travel to Seattle next Wednesday for a huge second leg, where the winner takes all (since away goals don't apply in the final).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHyvYq3xsQk

SOUNDERS WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

First MLS club to win it properly. Demolished Pumas 3-0 at home in front of a CCL record 68,000 (including myself). Just all around the best night in Seattle sports history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCK9GbOF3Zo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA4fYBDbtco

Congrats! So this means Seattle is going to be facing clubs from around the world the FIFA Club World Cup?

Quote from: CoreySamson on May 05, 2022, 08:08:04 PM
Congrats! So this means Seattle is going to be facing clubs from around the world the FIFA Club World Cup?

They should...but the Club World Cup format has not been announced. FIFA was planning to reform into a four-year tournament with more teams to replace the Confederations Cup's slot, but COVID hit and made them revert to the yearly one-per-confederation format.

If it's the original format, then the Sounders would probably play either the host nation's champion or one of the weaker confederation champions, then get paired with either the Copa Libertadores or UEFA Champions League winner.

For the UCL final I'll take Liverpool 2-1 in extra time.

Quote from: thspfc on May 06, 2022, 08:40:08 AM
For the UCL final I'll take Liverpool 2-1 in extra time.

that's low scoring, given previous results for both teams against big clubs.

Like City, Liverpool defend by dominating the game in the middle of the field, rather than than having a good defence. This is how games between them have seen both teams scoring two this season (Liverpool got a third in the FA Cup semi) and have leaked goals whenever a team has not been dominated by them in midfield (eg City leaking 3 goals against Madrid at the Etihad).

And in the last few weeks, both Barca and City have put 4 past Madrid, and Chelsea 3. That strikes me as something similar.

Liverpool have a tight title race still to win (from a point behind City), as well as the FA Cup Final, to both tire and distract them from the game in Paris. Madrid are champions already and can focus fully on winning the UCL and have the confidence that comes from getting through three huge knockout ties against some of the hardest possible opposition (including last year's two finalists).

It will be close, but 3-2 Madrid is what I'll go with.

I'm rooting for a massive earthquake in that one. I wanted Villarreal to win it all.

Arsenal, so Spursy.

COYS

Quote from: JayhawkCO on May 16, 2022, 04:55:21 PM
Arsenal, so Spursy.

COYS

Sets up a perfect opportunity for Spurs to hopefully not blunder it away against Norwich. Getting back to the UCL would be huge for them.

Quote from: thspfc on May 16, 2022, 05:00:35 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on May 16, 2022, 04:55:21 PM
Arsenal, so Spursy.

COYS

Sets up a perfect opportunity for Spurs to hopefully not blunder it away against Norwich. Getting back to the UCL would be huge for them.

I can see us being Spursy and drawing Norwich, but even that gets us through. Bluntly, I think Everton takes out the Gooners so it'll probably be moot. I was glad Everton lost the other day so they might have something to play for on the last matchday.

---

Now let's spend some money on some proper wingbacks and a better "playmaker" CM (a la Modric or Eriksen) and then we can actually do some damage next year.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on May 16, 2022, 05:04:34 PMI was glad Everton lost the other day so they might have something to play for on the last matchday.

Nah, they are in the same boat as Arsenal are now - the thing that could happen is unlikely.

While people in England are currently laughing heartedly at Arsenal on the cusp of bottling their top four place, they will be annoyed when they realise that the Gunners have a low chance of having something to play for if Palace beat Everton. Everton is the team that most people want to go down (not that anyone other than their own fans would be unhappy with Burnley or Leeds ending their spell in the Premier League) and if they are playing an Arsenal praying for a Norwich win to get Champions League rather than having it in their own hands then that makes Fat Frank going down even less likely.

----

The end of the season does weird things - Man U fans were happy about Man City scoring two late goals against West Ham. Because it not only stopped West Ham going above them and likely getting that Europa League (rather than Europa Conference League) spot, but it made the Liverpool Quadruple less likely. Not only are Liverpool the true enemy rather than the friendly local rivalry with City, but a Quadruple would piss all over the '99 Treble Man U got - it's the stuff of their nightmares.

No discussion about Championship Sunday? It was a crazy day.

• Manchester City went down 2-0 against Villa before scoring 3 goals in less than 6 minutes to win the title.
• Liverpool went down 1-0 against Wolves only to make a comeback themselves to win 3-1, which would have been enough for the title had City not come back.
• Needing only a draw to get Champions League football, my Spurs dominated with a 5-0 victory leaving no doubt. Son Heung-Min (my favorite player) scored two goals late to tie Mohammed Salah for the Golden Boot, although all of Sonny's goals were from open play while a good share of Salah's came from the penalty spot.
• Arsenal, needing to win and then hope Norwich could pull off a miracle against Spurs got their win but no glory as Spurs handled business. Enjoy those fun Thursday night games in Kazakhstan.
• West Ham needed to better the result of Manchester United to get Europa League instead of Europa Conference League. But, despite Man U looking listless in a 1-0 loss to Palace, West Ham gave up an early lead and lost 3-1 to Brighton.
• Leeds entered the day in the relegation zone, but ended up pulling out a 2-1 win over Brentford in order to stay up.
• ...at the expense of Burnley who lost to Newcastle 2-1 despite getting the opening goal, and now they are relegated to the Championship.

LAFC have managed to sign Gareth Bale to a non-DP contract, apparently to keep him match fit for the World Cup.

MLS is going to be pretty spicy this summer.

Quote from: Bruce on June 27, 2022, 05:16:55 PM
LAFC have managed to sign Gareth Bale to a non-DP contract, apparently to keep him match fit for the World Cup.

MLS is going to be pretty spicy this summer.

I'm guessing he's going to play as much as he can for the rest of the year, then go to to World Cup and retire after that. MLS's non-UEFA schedule make sense why he came here instead of going to Cardiff City as rumored.

Interesting facts about the Portland Timbers (seen on /r/MLS):

(https://i.redd.it/xc5ou5gzmqf91.jpg)

In the age of homegrown talents running all over MLS, it's quite unusual for them not to be a key part of a team's roster. Something's up in the so-called "Soccer City".

So the 2022-23 Premier League starts up tomorrow. Figured I'd do some predictions:

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

Golden Boot: Haaland
Golden Glove: Allison

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

Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

fivethirtyeight.com still has Chelsea as the 3rd best team, pretty far behind Man City/Liverpool and pretty far ahead of Tottenham/Arsenal.

They're the very definition of a 3rd place team.

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on August 05, 2022, 10:38:03 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

fivethirtyeight.com still has Chelsea as the 3rd best team, pretty far behind Man City/Liverpool and pretty far ahead of Tottenham/Arsenal.

They're the very definition of a 3rd place team.

538 uses Elo, so it doesn't take into account transfers and such. Tottenham has inarguably improved in the transfer window, Chelsea has... spent some money.

They lost Rudiger, one of the best defenders in the game and picked up Koulibaly, who, while quite good, isn't Rudiger. And then they lost Lukaku and got Raheem Sterling. Net loss there too. Just way overspent for Cucurella from Brighton. He's fine, but not worth the 60 mil they're spending on him.

For Premier League, I'm going to go with Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal as the top four, Southhampton, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth as the bottom three.

For the other major leagues, I'll go with the favorites: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and PSG. Don't see any surprises coming out of those leagues.

I'll take Man City to win the Champions League over a surprise finalist in PSG.

Union Berlin still doing well (mid table)  in the Bundesliga?

:nod:

Mike

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 04, 2022, 05:44:30 PM
Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 07, 2022, 10:57:23 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 04, 2022, 05:44:30 PM
Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

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

With 24-25 matches out of 34 done, the MLS season is really ramping up. The Western Conference has only 4 points separating 3rd and 8th, with the top 7 making the playoffs.

(https://i.imgur.com/h2xnjHW.png)

Since all of these teams will be playing each other on the last day of the season (Decision Day), it could get real crazy.

Is it too early in the season to hope Manchester United gets relegated?

Quote from: skluth on August 15, 2022, 04:22:31 PM
Is it too early in the season to hope Manchester United gets relegated?

Never.

Quote from: thspfc on August 07, 2022, 03:55:25 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 07, 2022, 10:57:23 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 04, 2022, 05:44:30 PM
Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

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

Especially not if the Spurs keep getting gifted points by the officials.

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on August 15, 2022, 04:37:45 PM

Quote from: thspfc on August 07, 2022, 03:55:25 PM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 07, 2022, 10:57:23 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 04, 2022, 05:44:30 PM
Another friendly wager that Spurs will finish above Man U?

Still on offer.

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

Especially not if the Spurs keep getting gifted points by the officials.

Ha. I get that he pulled his hair, but it should have been a yellow. The "foul" leading up to our first goal, he got ball. No foul.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 21, 2022, 11:48:03 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

It's week 3. Of 38.

Quote from: thspfc on August 21, 2022, 11:54:41 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 21, 2022, 11:48:03 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

It's week 3. Of 38.

I'm aware. The trend will continue.

Still. Three goals in three games.

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 21, 2022, 12:08:45 PM

Quote from: thspfc on August 21, 2022, 11:54:41 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 21, 2022, 11:48:03 AM

Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 05, 2022, 09:22:13 AM

Quote from: Alps on August 04, 2022, 11:15:13 PM
you all want Chelsea out of the top 4 so bad, no way

Who are going to score the goals? Losing Marcus Alonso hurts too.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

It's week 3. Of 38.

I'm aware. The trend will continue.

Still. Three goals in three games.

Just saying that one shutout in mid August is a little early to be counting your chickens.