Fútbol chatter

[Bruce]

The playoff bracket is also set:



The wild card round is single-elimination between the 8th and 9th seeds. Round One is a best-of-three series, then the rest of the playoffs is single-elimination hosted by the higher remaining seed. All games are on Apple's MLS Season Pass with a few being offered free.

[JayhawkCO]

Sporting KC sneaking in after a horrific start is one of Vermes' best coaching jobs if you ask me.

[Buck87]

Glad to see the Crew back in the playoffs again after 2 years of failing to qualify.

Not a big fan of new playoff format. 18 of 29 teams making it in is a bit much, and the best of 3 thing seems weird when followed by single elimination games after that the rest of the way. Wish they had just kept the previous format that mirrored the NFL's current playoff structure.

[Alex]

Fixed all 653 posts with the botched subject where Fútbol chatter was Fútbol chatter

Carry on!

[Buck87]

After coming back from an 0-2 deficit on the road against their Hell is Real rivals The Columbus Crew are Eastern Conference Champions!

Columbus will host MLS Cup Dec 9th at 4pm, where they will face defending champion LAFC.

Since both teams are previous MLS Cup winners, I can now do my yearly update of the following stats on this thread...

Of the 28 29 teams currently in MLS, there have now been:

- 15 teams that have won an MLS Cup
- 13 14 teams that have won a Supporters Shield
- 19 20 teams that have won at least one of the two trophies
- 9 teams that have won both trophies
- 6 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 16, but two of those winners are defunct franchises

The changes since last year reflect the entry of St. Louis City SC into the league and the Supporters Shield win by FC Cincinnati.

[Buck87]

Columbus has done it again!

With a 2-1 win over LAFC the Crew now have their 3rd MLS Cup, and 2nd in 4 years!

Pixel 7 Pro

[Bruce]

On Friday, MLS announced that it would withdraw from the U.S. Open Cup and instead try to send reserve teams from MLS Next Pro.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/15/mls-us-open-cup/

Absurdly dumb decision to abandon a century-old cup with real history and tons of great stories because some players whined about playing on less-than-ideal conditions (tell that to any away team playing NYCFC). They're also blaming it on "schedule congestion" that was only created due to the Leagues Cup cash-grab.

[JayhawkCO]

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

Let's see how close I was for every team.
1. Manchester City (-)
2. Manchester United (+6)
3. Arsenal (-1)
4. Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
5. Liverpool (-2)
6. Aston Villa (-2)
7. Newcastle (-)
8. Chelsea (-2)
9. Brighton (+2)
10. Brentford (+6)
11. Burnley (+8)
12. West Ham (-3)
13. Crystal Palace (-3)
14. Bournemouth (-2)
15. Fulham (-2)
16. Everton (-1)
17. Sheffield United (+3)
18. Wolves (-4)
19. Nottingham Forest (-2)
20. Luton Town (-2)

So I was way too optimistic on Man U, Brentford, and Burnley. Man U finished last season so strong, I didn't foresee the Ten Hag implosion. Brentford was hit hard by injuries and Ivan Toney's suspension, and Burnley just couldn't keep up their momentum after a huge season in the Championship. I do think it says something that apparently Bayern Munich are still monitoring Vincent Kompany despite getting relegated.

I was too pessimistic on Wolves, but I thought the club would be in disarray when Lopetegui left right before the season started, but Gary O'Neill took over and he did a nice job.

I successfully predicted Chelsea and Newcastle falling away from the Champions League spots, and while I was optimistic on Villa, not quite optimistic enough.

[Alps]

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

Let's see how close I was for every team.
1. Manchester City (-)
2. Manchester United (+6)
3. Arsenal (-1)
4. Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
5. Liverpool (-2)
6. Aston Villa (-2)
7. Newcastle (-)
8. Chelsea (-2)
9. Brighton (+2)
10. Brentford (+6)
11. Burnley (+8)
12. West Ham (-3)
13. Crystal Palace (-3)
14. Bournemouth (-2)
15. Fulham (-2)
16. Everton (-1)
17. Sheffield United (+3)
18. Wolves (-4)
19. Nottingham Forest (-2)
20. Luton Town (-2)

So I was way too optimistic on Man U, Brentford, and Burnley. Man U finished last season so strong, I didn't foresee the Ten Hag implosion. Brentford was hit hard by injuries and Ivan Toney's suspension, and Burnley just couldn't keep up their momentum after a huge season in the Championship. I do think it says something that apparently Bayern Munich are still monitoring Vincent Kompany despite getting relegated.

I was too pessimistic on Wolves, but I thought the club would be in disarray when Lopetegui left right before the season started, but Gary O'Neill took over and he did a nice job.

I successfully predicted Chelsea and Newcastle falling away from the Champions League spots, and while I was optimistic on Villa, not quite optimistic enough.

You didn't successfully predict Chelsea's late resurgence that at least got them Europa League. Hopefully that's a good omen for next season.

[JayhawkCO]

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

Let's see how close I was for every team.
1. Manchester City (-)
2. Manchester United (+6)
3. Arsenal (-1)
4. Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
5. Liverpool (-2)
6. Aston Villa (-2)
7. Newcastle (-)
8. Chelsea (-2)
9. Brighton (+2)
10. Brentford (+6)
11. Burnley (+8)
12. West Ham (-3)
13. Crystal Palace (-3)
14. Bournemouth (-2)
15. Fulham (-2)
16. Everton (-1)
17. Sheffield United (+3)
18. Wolves (-4)
19. Nottingham Forest (-2)
20. Luton Town (-2)

So I was way too optimistic on Man U, Brentford, and Burnley. Man U finished last season so strong, I didn't foresee the Ten Hag implosion. Brentford was hit hard by injuries and Ivan Toney's suspension, and Burnley just couldn't keep up their momentum after a huge season in the Championship. I do think it says something that apparently Bayern Munich are still monitoring Vincent Kompany despite getting relegated.

I was too pessimistic on Wolves, but I thought the club would be in disarray when Lopetegui left right before the season started, but Gary O'Neill took over and he did a nice job.

I successfully predicted Chelsea and Newcastle falling away from the Champions League spots, and while I was optimistic on Villa, not quite optimistic enough.

You didn't successfully predict Chelsea's late resurgence that at least got them Europa League. Hopefully that's a good omen for next season.

Until they just let the manager go that contributed to that late season run...

[SEWIGuy]

Yeah, I have no idea what Chelsea is doing here. They say they want a young manager, but they got rid of Potter last year. They did that because they wanted a more experienced guy, but then they basically fired him because he was rightly pointing out that the organization is an absolute mess.

[JayhawkCO]

Yeah, I have no idea what Chelsea is doing here. They say they want a young manager, but they got rid of Potter last year. They did that because they wanted a more experienced guy, but then they basically fired him because he was rightly pointing out that the organization is an absolute mess.

I think the reason Poch wanted to leave is because Boehly, in his infinite economic wisdom, got Chelsea in Financial Fair Play trouble and need to sell Connor Gallagher this window to get out of it. (Homegrown players count as pure profit.) Gallagher was the captain under Poch and I' m sure having your "favorite player" sold out from under you would not feel like you have much of a say in the future of the club.

[NWI_Irish96]

Euro 2024 kicks off Friday in Germany. I'm really bad at predictions, but here they are anyway:

A: Switzerland, Germany, Hungary*, Scotland
B: Italy, Spain, Croatia*, Albania
C: England, Denmark, Serbia*, Slovenia
D: France, Netherlands, Poland*, Austria
E: Ukraine, Belgium, Romania, Slovakia
F: Portugal, Turkey, Czechia, Georgia

R16 winners: Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Ukraine, France, England, Spain

QF winners: Italy, Netherlands, France, England

SF winners: Italy, France

Champion: France

[NWI_Irish96]

While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and do Copa America

A: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Peru
B: Mexico, Educador, Jamaica, Venezuela
C: Uruguay, USA, Panama, Bolivia
D: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay

QF winners: Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil

SF winners: Argentina, Brazil

Champion: Argentina

I hope I'm wrong about the US, but I see them tying Uruguay and then finishing 2nd in the group due to goal differential, which puts them in a quarterfinal against Brazil.

Argentina only has one team in the top 30 in their half of the draw (Mexico), so it's pretty much a free pass to the finals for them.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Those on the Discord server will know I'm doing a mockup of the Euro 2024, where I make only one town from each one of the qualifying countries to take part. In particular, Aschersleben (the German entry of the "example towns") is serving as host, and I've found enough fields for my version to take place entirely within its limits (I thought there were 12 venues, but nope, there are only 10). For instance, NWI_Irish96's predictions would look like this in my version:

A: Zug, Aschersleben, Göd*, St. Andrews
B: Isernia, Ariza, Krk*, Gjirokastër or Gjirokastra (dang Albanian)
C: Looe, Aabenraa or Åbenrå, Vrbas*, Bled
D: Rombas, Poortugaal, Gniewino*, Leibnitz
E: New York (yes, really), Boom, Cernavodă, Trenčianske Teplice
F: Fail, Zara, Horní Police, Chiatura

R16 winners: Isernia, Aabenraa, Fail, Poortugaal, New York, Rombas, Looe, Ariza

QF winners: Isernia, Poortugaal, Rombas, Looe

SF winners: Isernia, Rombas

Champion: Rombas

I don't see a Roomba winning the Euro 2024, though .

[JayhawkCO]

Group A:
Germany
Switzerland
Scotland*
Hungary

Group B:
Croatia
Italy
Spain*
Albania

Group C:
England
Denmark
Serbia
Slovenia

Group D:
France
Netherlands
Austria
Poland

Group E:
Belgium
Ukraine
Romania*
Slovakia

Group F:
Portugal
Turkiye
Georgia*
Czechia

Croatia vs. Georgia
Germany vs. Denmark
Portugal vs. Scotland
Netherlands vs. Ukraine
Belgium vs. Spain
France vs. Turkiye
England vs. Romania
Switzerland vs. Italy

Croatia vs. Germany
Scotland vs. Ukraine
Spain vs. France
England vs. Italy

Germany vs. Ukraine
France vs. England

Germany vs. England

I know I'll rue picking England, but it's gotta come home at some point, right?

[JayhawkCO]

Group A:
Argentina
Peru
Chile
Canada

Group B:
Ecuador
Mexico
Venezuela
Jamaica

Group C:
Uruguay
United States
Bolivia
Panama

Group D:
Brazil
Colombia
Paraguay
Costa Rica

Argentina vs. Mexico
Ecuador vs. Peru
Uruguay vs. Colombia
United States vs. Brazil

Argentina vs. Ecuador
Colombia vs. Brazil

Argentina vs. Brazil