Soccer Thread 2023-24 Edition

[SirFozzie]

So, having MLS and the Leagues Cup has been quite nice (especially with that new Argentinian signing), but the fact it's been locked away on Apple Pass is a bummer. But that and all the friendlies is no substitute for a season in full flow.

ESPN+ will be earning its keep.

Going to watch the Championship game that just finished, then the community shield and a couple of Belgian games on Sunday, maybe then over to Paramount+ for Scottish games (and maybe a random Brazillian or Argentinian game).

Then, next week, the EPL and La Liga.

The week after that, the Bundesliga and Serie A

It's official, Eurofooty is back.

[miami_fan]

Way too early first impressions.

10+ minutes of extra time is the norm.

[SirFozzie]

yeah, they mentioned a couple things so far on the EFL broadcast:

the English officials found they were only awarding something like "50%" of the time they should be adding on.

and new rule, anyone who goes off the pitch for treatment must stay off the field for at least 30 seconds.

[flere-imsaho]

Fivethirtyeight did an analysis a few years ago and found that "added time" was something like 75% less than what actual time should be added on.

[sovereignstar v2]

I thought I would miss de gea. Perhaps not


https://twitter.com/ManUtd_lndo/status/1687970654463877120?t=otukewohsE2ZwtkSuOQaOw&s=19

[miami_fan]

Anybody wanna guess which U.S. outlet is going to be showing the Saudi league this year? Is beIN Sports still a thing in the US?

Saudi Pro League confirms global broadcast deals in UK, Canada and more - The Athletic (https://theathletic.com/4762126/2023/08/09/saudi-pro-league-tv-streaming-live-uk-canada-usa/)

[miami_fan]

It does not seem like a good strategy to sell the best player on your team three days before your first match and three weeks before the window closes.

[bhlloy]

Counterpoint is you are barely a Europa Conference League side even with him in the squad, he’s aging and going to be out of contract and that’s a lot of money. I think it’s clearly the right decision. Timing could be better but equally, they’ve got a lot out of Bayern by waiting.

[miami_fan]

Now reports are saying that Kane will not go to Bayern. If true, it will curious to see what conclusions are drawn from this and in the future, especially if he leaves next year on a free instead of resigning with Tottenham.

[bhlloy]

Interesting. I think the only logical conclusion is he's signing a new contract. Although anything is possible, I think he loves the club too much to walk without any compensation.

[miami_fan]

Interesting. I think the only logical conclusion is he's signing a new contract. Although anything is possible, I think he loves the club too much to walk without any compensation.

Agreed. I just think it makes Bayern look like a small club IMO. Why make a bid for Kane without some assurance from Kane that he is coming to Munich.

[miami_fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨 Harry Kane has reached an agreement to join Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur. Personal terms in place for 30yo to sign a 4yr contract. England captain awaiting green light from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/THFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#THFC</a> to travel for medical + complete transfer <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthleticFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthleticFC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCBayern?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FCBayern</a> <a href="https://t.co/LPAkVUiF9E">https://t.co/LPAkVUiF9E</a></p>&mdash; David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1689768970784591872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[sovereignstar v2]

HAALAND

[miami_fan]

Already? Jeez.

[sovereignstar v2]

HAALAND

[miami_fan]

I appreciated the delay of the Arsenal match so I can stayed locked in on the ENG-COL match. I want to believe it was intentional.:D

[Ksyrup]

That spinning back heel pass from Martinelli to set up a goal was a thing of beauty.

[flere-imsaho]

Counterpoint is you are barely a Europa Conference League side even with him in the squad, he’s aging and going to be out of contract and that’s a lot of money. I think it’s clearly the right decision. Timing could be better but equally, they’ve got a lot out of Bayern by waiting.

This is my take, especially since it's for 100M (or roundabouts, depending on your currency of choice).

[sovereignstar v2]

Only took the first weekend.

Referee, VAR taken off Prem duty after Onana penalty error - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38195447/referee-var-taken-prem-duty-onana-penalty-error)

[miami_fan]

Because we are all still wondering how Chelsea is doing it.

Why Chelsea believe their £900m transfer spending is within FFP rules - The Athletic (https://theathletic.com/4775684/2023/08/15/chelsea-spending-money-ffp/)

Also, the EPL is considering closing the FFP loophole that Chelsea has been exploiting following UEFA's lead from two months ago.

[miami_fan]

USA coach Andonovski steps down after World Cup exit - sources - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38202378/usa-coach-andonovski-steps-womens-world-cup-exit-sources)

[sovereignstar v2]

Former City transfer target Lucas Paqueta looks to be in some big trouble. People connected to him in Brazil opened up new betting accounts and put large sums of money on him and another Brazilian (in La Liga) both getting booked back in March.

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[SirFozzie]

Wrexham with a 5-5 draw. Yeesh. Crazy stuff.

And over at the expanded Anfield, Mac Allister was not Mac Lovin' it. In his debut, he got a lovely card. From the referee. It was Red.

[SirFozzie]

Liverpool Penalty? The Liverpool haters are going on and on about how VAR is a shambles, the refs are bought, yadda yadda yadda..

MacAllister's Red? The Liverpool supporters are going on and on about how VAR is a shambles, the refs are bought, yadda yadda yadda

All fans after the game: The refs are shite, VAR is even more shite, and fuck everything.

[sovereignstar v2]

Former City transfer target Lucas Paqueta looks to be in some big trouble. People connected to him in Brazil opened up new betting accounts and put large sums of money on him and another Brazilian (in La Liga) both getting booked back in March.

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">West Ham's shirt sponsor Betway were responsible for reporting the suspicious betting patterns that caused the collapse of Lucas Paqueta's proposed £85m transfer to Manchester City this week amidst a corruption probe. <br><br>Bets came from his birthplace, Paqueta Island.<a href="https://twitter.com/MailSport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MailSport</a> <a href="https://t.co/mRVMabZj8Q">pic.twitter.com/mRVMabZj8Q</a></p>&mdash; West Ham (C)entral 🏆 (@WestHam_Central) <a href="https://twitter.com/WestHam_Central/status/1693007269133160643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[miami_fan]

England can't sit off Spain passively and allow them to just control the ball. Spain want to remain in possession and are talented to do so but England is not forcing them to work hard to keep possession. Once England do get possession, the counter attack has to be much quicker.

The downside for England? The back to back Ballon d'Or and the FIFA Best Player Alexia Putellas is still on the bench for Spain.

[miami_fan]

Yeah, I think that is a penalty.

[miami_fan]

Outstanding shithousery/gamemanship by England during the run up to that penalty.

[miami_fan]

Absolutely strange celebration. Players only celebrating with other players. Coaches only celebrating with coaches. The hate is real for the players towards the coach.

[sovereignstar v2]

I have this sneaky suspicion that Salah moves to KSA in the next several weeks. Their transfer window extends well into next month.

[Ksyrup]

I haven't been paying much attention to the first couple weeks with everything going on with my dad but I just checked the scores as games are winding down and they are clearly serious about extending stoppage time. It looks like if in a previous year every game had a medivac injury.

[Ksyrup]

Nevermind, the Score app appears to be having problems. Every damn game is +20-25 past FT and that's clearly wrong.

[Ghost Econ]

So if I've got this right, the Spain FA is going to withdraw from UEFA, sue a player, and is having an 80+ year old woman go on a hunger strike because their President kissed a woman without permission on live TV and wouldn't say sorry.

This shit is crazy.

[miami_fan]

So if I've got this right, the Spain FA is going to withdraw from UEFA, sue a player, and is having an 80+ year old woman go on a hunger strike because their President kissed a woman without permission on live TV and wouldn't say sorry.

This shit is crazy.

Also:

1. Luis Rubiales the Spanish football federation President was suspended by FIFA because of the kiss.

2. The regional presidents of the Spanish football federation have demanded he resign.

3. The Spanish governement filing a complaint with Spain's Administrative Sports Court to get him removed.

4. Spainish prosecutors said they have opened a preliminary sex abuse investigation into the Rubiales incident.

[whomario]

5) All the players including a bunch of possible alternates are boycotting (first WNT Matches after the WC coming in 3 weeks)
6) all coaching staff except the head coach resigned after he didn't resign and Rubiales/FA made female staff sit up front for the assembly to project a favourable image when he went all woe is me instead of resigning as was expected.

It also really kicked off with the FA pretty much making up a statement by Hermoso.

[RainMaker]

Pretty remarkable interview with Luis' Uncle (his former chief of staff) who says that Luis was using FA money to host orgies with underage girls and a bunch of other corrupt shit.


<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">��Extraordinary interview with Juan Rubiales, uncle of Luis. “All of our family stands with Jenni.” Calls his nephew “a cowardly man.” Juan adds: “He is obsessed with power, with luxury, and with women. He needs re-education on how to treat women.”<a href="https://t.co/nbBL2tDWEC">https://t.co/nbBL2tDWEC</a></p>&mdash; Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Millar_Colin/status/1696941640286441917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

[Ghost Econ]

Well great, now his abuela is going to have to go on a hunger strike.

[Ghost Econ]

Also, his mom had gone to the hospital due to her hunger strike.

[Ghost Econ]

So Champions League, Group F is insane and City/Barca can send their women's team and still make it out of their groups. United guaranteed to lose away to Copenhagen and beat Galatasaray at home thanks to a Fernandes pernalty.

[miami_fan]

Happy Transfer Deadline Day!:party:


Over €1 billion spent by Chelsea since May 2022! -€747 million net spend!

I am pretty sure I asked in another thread but what pejorative are we calling Chelsea FC for their spending under the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital ownership?

I really need MLS to step up their quality of play to match the top leagues in Europe. I want to see a Chelsea or Real Madrid submit a $150 million bid for the best player on a MLS Cup favorite's best player and see if they and their supporters would sacrifice the chance at an MLS title for the money.

[flere-imsaho]

Liverpool reject a $190M offer for Salah from Saudi Arabia. I'm actually surprised, to be honest. That's a lot of money for a 31-year old, even if Salah is going to be one of the biggest reasons they contend (if they contend) at all this year.

[cartman]

Mexican footballer shown straight red card for poking finger into bum of opponent - Daily Star (https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/omar-mendoza-mexico-red-card-30836559)

[Ghost Econ]

Cheeky

[sovereignstar v2]

Chelsea look like they might need to strengthen in January

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[SirFozzie]

Brentford are still your Premier League Lineal Champions, but that has to be in jeopardy in two weeks when they take on Newcastle

[flere-imsaho]

At least Chelsea's American owners are trying. They may be insane and not know what they're doing, but the evidence indicates that at least they give a fuck.

Compare that to the Glazers and I know which I'd prefer.

Brighton's owners. Brighton's owners are the ones I'd prefer.

Can't wait to reach the year anniversary of them announcing they were putting the club up for sale....

[flere-imsaho]

dola - Erling Haaland continues to be the soccer equivalent of a war crime.

[miami_fan]

Absolutely strange celebration. Players only celebrating with other players. Coaches only celebrating with coaches. The hate is real for the players towards the coach.

He gone! part 1

Vilda fired as Spain boss in Rubiales unsolicited kiss fallout - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38283613/vilda-fired-spain-boss-rubiales-unsolicited-kiss-fallout-source)

[miami_fan]

Federal judge throws out convictions of former Fox executive and marketing group in FIFA case | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/soccer-fifa-bribery-trial-tv-6d7a615e1d875cf703b6bb9ab1027bdf)

[Ghost Econ]

Thank God, I was beginning to worry. I guess they can just overwrite Antony in the database.

Football Manager to reinstate Mason Greenwood | Eurogamer.net (https://www.eurogamer.net/football-manager-to-reinstate-mason-greenwood)

[flere-imsaho]

Pfft, hold Man Utd's beer: Manchester United invited convicted paedophile Geoff Konopka to WSL game | Manchester United | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/07/manchester-united-invited-convicted-paedophile-geoff-konopka-to-first-wsl-match-at-old-trafford)

Manchester United invited a convicted paedophile to be a special guest at the biggest women’s football match in the club’s history, after failing to conduct the appropriate checks despite his position as a former coach at the club.

Geoff Konopka was the manager of Manchester United Ladies between 1983 and 2001, but was sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 and put on the sex offenders register for a decade after being convicted of offences of indecent assault and gross indecency against girls aged under 16.

[Ghost Econ]

My nephew is a Man City fan so to wish him a happy birthday I sent him a gif of Antony (#21) dancing over a football.

[SirFozzie]

Everton look to have a new majority owner soon. However, they still will have the same majority awful team

[GrantDawg]

Soccer city! If you would have told me twenty years ago that Atlanta was going to be a big-time soccer town, I wouldn't have believed you.
<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">������������ ���� ��������������<br><br>U.S. soccer to build National Training Center in Metro Atlanta with initial funding from Arthur M. Blank to help grow soccer ecosystem nationally» <a href="https://t.co/L6KusFjbug">https://t.co/L6KusFjbug</a> <a href="https://t.co/nirw5QOsAq">pic.twitter.com/nirw5QOsAq</a></p>&mdash; U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) <a href="https://twitter.com/ussoccer/status/1702714106334040241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>

[sovereignstar v2]

Proper domestic assault of United by Brighton

[GrantDawg]

Yesterday afternoon, you couldn't get in the building for Atlanta United match versus Inter Miami for less than $150. Now that it was announced Messi didn't even fly to Atlanta for the match tickets are $40.

[miked]

Yesterday afternoon, you couldn't get in the building for Atlanta United match versus Inter Miami for less than $150. Now that it was announced Messi didn't even fly to Atlanta for the match tickets are $40.

I have season tickets in the 200s, sold them a few weeks ago for about $300 a pop because I don't really care THAT much. Glad I did, but missed a good game as ATLUTD put up 5 on Miami.

[SirFozzie]

File under "Only in MLS"



Player for Montreal FC, fed up with his playing time (only eight substitute appearances this season), decides he needs playing time, and plays three games for a friend's amateur league team (under a fake name), cops an indefinite ban for punching another player out, gets caught, and gets fired. Although he CAN point out he scored six goals in those three games...



Matko Miljevic: MLS sacks player after fake name and ban claims - BBC Sport (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66849573)

[GrantDawg]

File under "Only in MLS"



Player for Montreal FC, fed up with his playing time (only eight substitute appearances this season), decides he needs playing time, and plays three games for a friend's amateur league team (under a fake name), cops an indefinite ban for punching another player out, gets caught, and gets fired. Although he CAN point out he scored six goals in those three games...



Matko Miljevic: MLS sacks player after fake name and ban claims - BBC Sport (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66849573)
That is actually a fantastic story.

[miami_fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Even by ordinary South American football standards, this tackle from Honduras is something to behold <a href="https://t.co/yQAHgTadaG">pic.twitter.com/yQAHgTadaG</a></p>&mdash; GOLAZO (@golazoargentino) <a href="https://twitter.com/golazoargentino/status/1703577576621461946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I think this is what one might be described as a tackle with a bit of bite.

[SirFozzie]

Just to follow up on that story...

My brother, a former referee; now a high school JV coach; had a similar story. This was an U-14 Div 2 Promotion/Relegation game. One team slipped an illegal player onto the field. (After checking the players cards, unbeknownst to my brother, the coach switched the uniform of one player with the illegal player.)

At halftime, my brother's AR gets a call from the fed.. Apparently the team's manager had called them warning them that they were going to do this, so they had my brother stop the game, have the coach rehand out the player cards, and one by one brought them to the center of the field and asked them to confirm their name, and birth date. One kid gave the wrong info, and the jig was up.

Apparently, as a result, the coach was banned for life, and the team disbanded.

[miami_fan]

Goalkeeper goal!

[miami_fan]

I have tried to keep up with USWNT and the NWSL after the end of the World Cup. Overall, I can't say I have really been impressed with I have seen. After reading this article and others on the NWSL setup, there may be more dark times ahead if forward looking planning in all of these basic areas has not already begun.

After USWNT's poor World Cup, the NWSL needs big changes - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38508023/after-uswnt-poor-2023-world-cup-nwsl-needs-reforms)

[flere-imsaho]

US Soccer (the organization, not the concept) is an inbred mess of sycophants installed/promoted solely on the basis of networking, not capability, that avoids the type of attention they might get in other countries because soccer is a journalistic afterthought in the United States.

While those idiots were collecting checks and avoiding real work, the rest of the world caught up and there's probably no way back to dominance unless the network of European clubs/leagues suddenly collapses.

I love soccer, and I love refereeing, and I love being involved at (obviously) the lower youth levels of it all, but developmental soccer in this country, men & women, is a complete shitshow dominated by a profit motive above all else and I don't see any obvious way back.

[MIJB#19]

While those idiots were collecting checks and avoiding real work, the rest of the world caught up and there's probably no way back to dominance unless the network of European clubs/leagues suddenly collapses.I don't see that last part happening. The rich European clubs have dollar signs in their eyes and finally understand that having a women's team is better for their image. European women love to play for famous brands like Arsenal, Bayern München, FC Barcelona and Liverpool, they feel no shame in playing for Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United or Paris SG either. Playing for such brands is their confirmation that they are catching up (with men). A long road stil to go is getting paid close to the same amounts, eventually leading to another semi-retired footballers league in Saudi Arabia?

[flere-imsaho]

Yeah, I don't see it happening either (a collapse of the European women's leagues).

The point is that the U.S. had a huge advantage in player development (again, for women) for decades due to the college model. That's now been usurped by a superior development model (this is true on the men's side, too), while at the same time everything else about under-18 soccer in the U.S. has regressed into a shitshow focused on making money with actual talent identification and development being an afterthought.

But hey, we're still #1 in American Football, <s>Basketball (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_FIBA_Basketball_World_Cup)</s>, <s>Baseball (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_World_Baseball_Classic)</s>, and <s>Ice Hockey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_2022_Winter_Olympics)</s>, right?

:D

[SirFozzie]

Refs fucked Liverpool today. So badly, they admitted it.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool: PGMOL admits 'significant human error' over disallowed Luis Diaz goal - BBC Sport (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66973987)

[flere-imsaho]

PGMOL seems bound and determined to implement & execute VAR in the worst way potentially possible.

[miami_fan]

I missed everything football related this weekend. I really look forward to seeing how bad this whole thing was.

[MIJB#19]

I missed everything football related this weekend. I really look forward to seeing how bad this whole thing was.It was similar to what happened every other weekend in the Premier League prior to VAR was - and why it was - introduced.

The way I've understood it, the fuck up here was that the VAR thought he was supposed to confirm it was not offside, while the call on the field was actually (wrongfully) offside and VAR's job was there to overturn it. It was so obviously not offside, it took just seconds to judge the situation and call: "check is over". As soon as the referee on the field blew his whistle for the free kick, VAR was no longer allowed to interfere and correct calling "yes" where "no" was in place.

[sovereignstar v2]

https://i.imgur.com/56rGG9z.png

[JonInMiddleGA]

It was similar to what happened every other weekend in the Premier League prior to VAR was - and why it was - introduced.

The way I've understood it, the fuck up here was that the VAR thought he was supposed to confirm it was not offside, while the call on the field was actually (wrongfully) offside and VAR's job was there to overturn it. It was so obviously not offside, it took just seconds to judge the situation and call: "check is over". As soon as the referee on the field blew his whistle for the free kick, VAR was no longer allowed to interfere and correct calling "yes" where "no" was in place.

Basically, I think.

The mistake was The VAR Darren England incorrectly thought the on-field decision was "goal." While he quickly identified that Díaz was onside, he told the referee "check complete" -- which mistakenly told the on-field team the offside flag was correct.

And from today's official release with the transcripts
In a lapse of concentration and loss of focus in that moment, the VAR lost sight of the on field decision and he incorrectly communicated "check complete", therefore inadvertently confirming the on-field decision. He did this without any dialogue with the AVAR [Assistant VAR].

[flere-imsaho]

Yep, that's exactly what happened. Time for referee teams (including VAR) to implement Crew Resource Management: Crew resource management - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yep, that's exactly what happened. Time for referee teams (including VAR) to implement Crew Resource Management: Crew resource management - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management)

I think the new rule going forward is for VAR guy to never talk to the refs until after he's confirmed what he's going to say with the VAR asst.

[miami_fan]

All this hysteria because of plain ol' human communication error?

Weren't we suppose to be understanding humans will get things wrong and things will even out in the end?

[flere-imsaho]

I think the new rule going forward is for VAR guy to never talk to the refs until after he's confirmed what he's going to say with the VAR asst.

I honestly don't understand why the VAR just isn't pitchside with a monitor (or just down the tunnel or something). It's not like they can't afford to have a VAR at every match.

All this hysteria because of plain ol' human communication error?

Weren't we suppose to be understanding humans will get things wrong and things will even out in the end?

miami_fan are you new to planet Earth? :D

[MIJB#19]

Yep, that's exactly what happened. Time for referee teams (including VAR) to implement Crew Resource Management: Crew resource management - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management)Yeah. That's the thing I don't understand: why would you instruct a person to call "check complete"? I'd suspect it would be so much better to grasp to call as you see it: "onside, goal". Because then, when the referee made a mistake, he'd call the VAR back and say: wait, it was onside, not offside? etc.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yeah. That's the thing I don't understand: why would you instruct a person to call "check complete"? I'd suspect it would be so much better to grasp to call as you see it: "onside, goal". Because then, when the referee made a mistake, he'd call the VAR back and say: wait, it was onside, not offside? etc.

I suspect the answer to that lies in how VAR is structered. This 2019 article with VAR Lead Neil Swarbick (https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/club/neil-swarbrick-answers-your-questions-on-var/)mentions how the process would work

The bolded part is my emphasis

A Video Assistant Referee can only advise the on-field referee and not overrule them directly. They may only get involved if the referee has made a clear and obvious error.

Below, a ‘check’ refers to any decision assessed by VAR and ‘review’ means a decision the referee is consulted on which may be overturned when play is stopped

My guess is that they don't give a clear terminology ruling (like "goal" or "no goal") because they really don't have the authority to make that call, they only have the authority to "check" what was ruled on the pitch. They are "reviewing" or "checking", they aren't deciding anything themselves.

That was probably done to keep referee egos from being even more bruised by VAR.

[SirFozzie]

File under Harsh but fair

https://twitter.com/worldsoccertalk/status/1710004149750808966

[sovereignstar v2]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/12j2Esnn-eY?si=DYijPoTqnJlwMfPm" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Ksyrup]

The Twitter handle is "out of context" so does anyone have the actual context that makes this look any better? I don't even know when it happened, could be years ago.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/hpLBRMM93n">pic.twitter.com/hpLBRMM93n</a></p>&mdash; Out of Context Human Race (@NoContextHumans) <a href="https://twitter.com/NoContextHumans/status/1710256178503078299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ghost Econ]

Dida banned over Celtic theatrics | Soccer | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/oct/12/newsstory.championsleague)

[miami_fan]

More context.

A couple of years earlier, Dida was hit by a flare in a Champions League derby against Inter Milan.The match was abandoned and Milan moved on as they were already winning 1-0 in the match and 3-0 on aggregate at the time. Oh and this happened a couple minutes before. Basically the soccer version pulling up with a bad hammy after being burnt on a deep TD pass.:lol:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iLZ8qgalHhQ?si=MRW48F6E14ZUrj1W&amp;start=37" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[miami_fan]

Luca de la Torre coming on for Gio Reyna was the obvious change. Other than winning a free kick and not engaging Leroy Sane in the buildup to the German goal, he did little in the first half. The back line is still crap though.

[whomario]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is the best post-match manager reaction I've ever seen <a href="https://t.co/kgeJPwkFyp">pic.twitter.com/kgeJPwkFyp</a></p>&mdash; Sammy James (@MrSammyJames) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrSammyJames/status/1713301916359291218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[miami_fan]

I bring more context this time for that post match interview. That is Marc White. Who is Marc White you ask?

Marc James Warren White (born 1 October 1973) is an English businessman who is best known for being founder, owner, chairman, former player and football manager of National League club Dorking Wanderers.

In other words, what would a 50 year old Jerry Jones had said if he also was the official head coach of the Cowboys.:D

[Ksyrup]

Someone in last season's thread mentioned that Leicester going down might be a blessing in disguise and they might the able to come up quickly and it'll be more fun to follow them when they are winning more consistently.

Well, Leicester is doing really well. I believe I heard they are the first Championship team to win 12 of their 1st 13 games in a season. I watched today's game while flying and they didn't look great but they didn't need to be. Seems like they might be up in the PL again next year.

[whomario]

Not a fan of either team but Galatasaray vs Bayern was a pretty damn fun game with a crazy atmosphere. Galatasaray had 16-3 shots in the first half which is kinda mental

[sovereignstar v2]

https://twitter.com/slbsn/status/1718684152445202811?t=utpo-QMsu3-XBr2IeaFIzw&s=19

[flere-imsaho]

Also, I believe Haaland has scored as many league goals as Man Utd.

[AlexB]

Someone in last season's thread mentioned that Leicester going down might be a blessing in disguise and they might the able to come up quickly and it'll be more fun to follow them when they are winning more consistently.

Well, Leicester is doing really well. I believe I heard they are the first Championship team to win 12 of their 1st 13 games in a season. I watched today's game while flying and they didn't look great but they didn't need to be. Seems like they might be up in the PL again next year.

Our start, and Ipswich’s TBF, is unbelievable.

To give an idea, the team in 5th after 13 games is the same number of points away from a relegation spot as they are from top. (After 12 games, that was true of the team in 3rd)

[miami_fan]

USWNT set to appoint Chelsea's Emma Hayes as head coach - source - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38814932/chelsea-manager-hayes-leave-club-end-season)

The U.S. Soccer Federation's Board of Directors has approved the hiring of Chelsea manager Emma Hayes as the new head coach of the U.S. women's national team, a source with knowledge of the vote confirmed to ESPN.

A formal announcement of her hiring as Vlatko Andonovski's replacement is set to follow.

Sources also confirmed a report from The Athletic that Hayes' contract will be a record for women's soccer. A source confirmed to ESPN that making Hayes' salary equal to that of U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter was going to be a topic of discussion at the Board meeting.

I would think this is a big deal.

[flere-imsaho]

Agreed.

[Ksyrup]

Watching a VAR session and a soccer game broke out.

[SirFozzie]

Chelsea and Tottenham players will be stuffed in pairs into those "Get Along Shirts" for the rematch.

[miami_fan]

I just tuned into the Napoli v. Union Berlin match. Is it me or does it look and sound like they are playing the match during COVID when they piped in crowd noise and just had members of the club staff and stadium staff in the crowd?

[SirFozzie]

I think we have a winner for "Most petty way to deny opponent's celebration"

In the second leg of the Peruvian championship final,, the home team was confident of a victory, having drawn the first leg away to their rival, 1-1. However, things they did not go their way, and they lost the second leg, 2-0 (and 3-1 on aggregate).

The opposing team however, did not get a chance to celebrate on their rivals turf, as moments after the final whistle, the lights in the stadium went completely out, except for the LED advertising boards. The general belief is that it wasn't a "power outage", but someone backstage furious that their hated opponents were going to celebrate the title on their pitch.

If so, they did get their wish, as the post-match celebration was cancelled due to the "power outage" (and as fighting broke out between rival fans).

Universitario left dancing in the dark to celebrate Peruvian title | Soccer | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/09/football-daily-email-universitario-alianza-lima-peru?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

edit: Now that I think about it, this does have some upsides, in that it allows the team to officially raise the trophy at home with their supporters this weekend, but kinda unfair that they didn't get to celebrate on enemy turf.. I think before the next derby between the two teams at that stadium, they should be allowed to reenact the trophy celebration, complete with confetti cannons, etcetera.

[Ghost Econ]

This is like how Mizzou will probably get their season vacated because Michigan cheated.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/everton-deducted-ten-points-by-the-premier-league-2q6hf3p6v

[MIJB#19]

This is like how Mizzou will probably get their season vacated because Michigan cheated.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/everton-deducted-ten-points-by-the-premier-league-2q6hf3p6vThe good news is that the Premier League is still taking action. The bad news is that they apparently can only punish clubs that are transparent about their financial situation, still struggling to get a strong case against the other clubs that are obviously cheating.

[Critch]

Belgium v Scotland in the European U21 qualifying turned out one of those results that would make you throw your laptop out the window if it happened in Football Manager.

Belgium had 75% possession and outshot Scotland 26-2, but Scotland won 2-0.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Umm ... WTF

USMNT coach Berhalter calls Dest red card 'dumb mistake' - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38948421/usmnt-coach-berhalter-calls-dest-red-card-dumb-mistake)

[miami_fan]

Is that question for Dest or Berhalter? It is definitely an appropriate question to ask Dest. A better one might be why should Dest be given a chance to pull on the national shirt again. You can't get two yellow cards for that childlike behavior in middle school much less in international soccer. It is not like the ref missed some studs up ankle breaking tackle that was done to Dest. He got muscled off the ball in the final third with the U.S. up 1-0 and looking comfortable. Maniac behavior.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Is that question for Dest or Berhalter? It is definitely an appropriate question to ask Dest. A better one might be why should Dest be given a chance to pull on the national shirt again. You can't get two yellow cards for that childlike behavior in middle school much less in international soccer. It is not like the ref missed some studs up ankle breaking tackle that was done to Dest. He got muscled off the ball in the final third with the U.S. up 1-0 and looking comfortable. Maniac behavior.

Oh I meant Dest. ESPN is to blame for the headline.

[cartman]

Yeah, I was watching the game, and couldn't figure out what in the hell set that off

[SirFozzie]

Paths (mostly) set for the playoff draw


Path A: Poland, Wales, Estonia

Path B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel

Path C : Georgia vs. Luxembourg, Greece vs. Kazakhstan

Why does Path A only have 3, Path B 2, and Path C 4? Because three teams need to be sorted to see what team will join Path A, and what two teams are in Path B. That draw will be on Thursday (Thanksgiving US) at 11 am GMT


Part of me wants to quip that if Ukraine gets put in Path B, the Israel v Ukraine game will decide who gets US aid first.

Meanwhile, here are the Pots for the draw (6 groups, each group will have one team from each Pot)

CONFIRMED EURO 2024 DRAW POTS

Pot 1: Germany, Portugal, France, Belgium, Spain, England

Pot 2: Hungary, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Romania, Austria

Pot 3: Netherlands, Scotland, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia

Pot 4: Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Playoff A, Playoff B, Playoff C

Group of death would be: Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Italy.

[SirFozzie]

and dola: Mexico advances on penalties. Of course, no one's going to mention the refs literally let them play until Mexico scored the equalizer in the 11th minute of second half stoppage time, sending off two Honduras players after that, and then forcing retakes of penalties until the third attempt was scored.

[MIJB#19]

Paths (mostly) set for the playoff draw


Path A: Poland, Wales, Estonia

Path B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel

Path C : Georgia vs. Luxembourg, Greece vs. Kazakhstan

Why does Path A only have 3, Path B 2, and Path C 4? Because three teams need to be sorted to see what team will join Path A, and what two teams are in Path B. That draw will be on Thursday (Thanksgiving US) at 11 am GMT
It's somewhat complicated, but it's cut and dry to me.
Path A is for Nations League A teams
Path B is for Nations League B teams
Path C is for Nations League C teams
The best 4 unqualified teams go into each playoffs path.

If for whatever reasons there would be less than 4 teams unqualified from any league, Estonia (as League D winner) was the wild card to get thrown into the highest open spot first. If there's still an open spot, next would be the next best starting at League A and going down to League B.

For Path B, you're missing Finland and Ukraine and for Path A you're missing Iceland.

[MIJB#19]

It's somewhat complicated, but it's cut and dry to me.
Path A is for Nations League A teams
Path B is for Nations League B teams
Path C is for Nations League C teams
The best 4 unqualified teams go into each playoffs path.

If for whatever reasons there would be less than 4 teams unqualified from any league, Estonia (as League D winner) was the wild card to get thrown into the highest open spot first. If there's still an open spot, next would be the next best starting at League A and going down to League B.

For Path B, you're missing Finland and Ukraine and for Path A you're missing Iceland.Or I must have misread UEFA's regulations, becasuse they changed it once again, and they somehow decided to throw Finland in Path A and Iceland in Path B. :confused:

[sovereignstar v2]

Joke of a disallow

[AlexB]

Joke of a disallow

He had his hand on the GK arm: certainly won’t be overturned by VAR as the ref gave it. Might have stood if it was given a goal, but even though I hate VAR, I do like them sticking with the on field decision if 50:50

[sovereignstar v2]

Hope this is true. Barco is a very interesting prospect.

https://twitter.com/City_Xtra/status/1728720210692055276?t=jOUnN6prFq7dDtLvZwl7rw&s=19

[sovereignstar v2]

Another corrupt official outed

https://twitter.com/Priceless_MCI/status/1731379199888285997?t=h8bSUHbK24F1n6SyYqwm-Q&s=19

[flere-imsaho]

Yeah, that decision makes no sense. Can't wait to hear the explanation. My best guess is that he figured Grealish was offside so wanted to give City the free kick instead of getting nothing, but....

FWIW, I don't think EPL officials are corrupt, I think they're suffering from a mixture of a) not being very good and b) the implementation of VAR warping their understanding of how to call a match.

[GrantDawg]

The new US soccer training facility is going to be located near the home of Marvel and Walking Dead.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[sovereignstar v2]

PSA: Studs up two footed tackles now allowed

[kingfc22]

LOL. Really stretching the definition of two footed tackle there. Yellow card would have been justifiable but there are always tackles worse than that each week that also draw no cards

[sovereignstar v2]

You love guys leaving their feet and landing on opposing players. Presenter on Sky Sports agreed it was a red

https://i.imgur.com/ZDsOmfL.jpg

[sovereignstar v2]

Reasonable Arsenal fan, rare

https://twitter.com/BigRedArsenal/status/1733872489149632576?t=5DnXSM2xL623vanqEeBzOg&s=19

[flere-imsaho]

LOL from the Guardian write-up of Man City vs. Luton:

On this pitch – it is regulation size but the bulk of so many home players gives the illusion of pokiness – before these fans, Luton have been very good at thwarting more gifted and glamorous opponents. “Conference champions, you’ll never sing that,” the Luton fans chanted – although given the 115 charges against them, City are arguably closer to winning the National League than any other current Premier League side.

[flere-imsaho]

PSA: Studs up two footed tackles now allowed

While that's not the standard example of a "studs up two footed tackle" it's certainly at least a yellow for a very reckless challenge. At game speed I can see not initially calling it a red, but not to call a foul at all?

And here's, again, the problem with VAR:

Remarkably, referee Tim Robinson did not even blow a foul, while the VAR – Australian Jarred Gillett – reviewed the incident and did not rule it a clear error or worthy of a red card.

The video assistant cannot recommend a yellow card – only a send-off – so Brown’s dangerous tackle received no punishment.

1. Can't believe the VAR can't recommend a yellow here. That's pants-on-head stupid.

2. When I reviewed it in slow motion, easy red. I thought this was the whole point behind VAR. Mistakes will be made / things missed at game speed, but if you get to see some of these instances in slow motion, you can make the right call.

[miami_fan]

FWIW, I don't think EPL officials are corrupt, I think they're suffering from a mixture of a) not being very good and b) the implementation of VAR warping their understanding of how to call a match.

From a fan's point of view, Part b just tells me you have weak minded officials which would lead to part a. Correct me if I am wrong but the only part of the on field officiating that has been adjusted for VAR are the assistant referees being told to delay putting up their flags for offsides. Other than that, I don't see why VAR would warp their understanding.

The expectations is for the on field officials to call the match and receive assistance from VAR. Take the incident from the City/Luton match this weekend. I also think it was a yellow, not a red for me. However, according to the EPL VAR rules, if the ref saw it, does not think it was a foul and most importantly is clear to everyone involved that he saw the incident clearly then that is that. The match official had the final say. It is also the reason VAR can only recommend actions outside of offsides

[flere-imsaho]

I think the implementation of VAR is making themselves doubt themselves through a combination of overthinking (because of what can and cannot be done by VAR) and second guessing.

You can call that weak minded, but there's a certain amount of career / money / pride at stake here. They're already in a challenging position and the way the EPL has implemented VAR is making it worse.

[Ghost Econ]

Man' I can't believe a ref would give a yellow for a studs up, DOGSO tackle. Emerson has to protect himself, shouldn't even have been a foul.

Blocked (https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/18ju07u/ederson_yellow_card_vs_crystal_palace/)

[flere-imsaho]

That "tackle" is pretty much the dictionary definition of Serious Foul Play. Ederson should have been sent off.

[flere-imsaho]

I'd be pretty disappointed by that draw, Liverpool.

[MIJB#19]

The verdict is out, FIFA and UEFA have lost the case, as predicted, there's nothing they can legally do to stop any Super League kind of ideas (blame ESPN for the auto-loading video if that bothers you as much as it bothers me): Top EU court rules UEFA, FIFA ban on Super League illegal - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39159778/top-eu-court-rules-uefa-fifa-ban-super-league-illegal)

[MIJB#19]

Reportedly Paris Saint Germain rigged the Ballon d'Or election in 2021 to make Lionel Messi win it ahead of Robert Lewandowski. So shocking for PSG to do something like that, that's so uncharacteristic for that club. :rolleyes:

[Ghost Econ]

Sadio Mane married an 18 year old. But don't worry, he didn't approach her until she was 18... although he did court her in secret, which is totally different.

Senegal star Sadio Mane marries longtime girlfriend Aisha Tamba - Businessday NG (https://businessday.ng/news/article/senegal-star-sadio-mane-marries-longtime-girlfriend-aisha-tamba/?amp=1)

[SirFozzie]

We nearly had a Chapecoense situation as the Oxygen failed on a flight carrying Gambia's national team to the African Cup of Nations, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing after some players fell unconscious due to lack of oxygen:


The Gambia (you have to say "The Gambia", right?) officials then tried to put them on the very same small propeller-based plane for the trip again, claiming the problem had been fixed.


Needless to say, the players said "FUCK NO" to that.


Gambia players, staff say oxygen failed on plane to AFCON - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39285300/gambia-players-staff-say-oxygen-failed-plane-afcon)

[sovereignstar v2]

Five crazy good goals in the City-Newcastle match today

[miami_fan]

Wow! I would say this is a surprise when I can post a link from CNN.

Jürgen Klopp to step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season | CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/sport/jurgen-klopp-liverpool-spt-intl/index.html)

[flere-imsaho]

That's a big blow and a big surprise, but it sounds like he was starting to burn out, and you like to see people leave before that happens, given the toll it takes on them and others.

Now let's watch Liverpool do succession planning like 1000% better than Man Utd.

[Critch]

Putting two and two together, Klopp is burnt out by club football and the Germany coach Nagelsmann is only contracted until the end of the Euros in the summer, so Klopp for Germany.

And some more guesswork, Xabi Alonso is doing great at Leverkusen and he's ex-Liverpool. So succession plan is in place.

[whomario]

Still wouldnt count out them finding creative ways to bottle it but Leverkuse beat Bayern 3-0 and is now up 5 points.

[whomario]

Only at AFCON ... Ivory Coast, hosting the tournament, lost 2 games in the group Stage, sacked the coach, still ended up advancing somehow and ... Win the title. And scoring the winning goal was Haller, who hadn't scored a single goal for Dortmund this season after being at the centre of last seasons last game choke (missing a penalty), while before that he was playing amazing in his return from cancer treatment.

[whomario]

Well that escalated quickly

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Um9actvvZ3w?si=g5ZdmL9dbWxyhdq8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Austria after 6 seconds

Florian Wirtz erzielt das schnellste Tor der DFB-Geschichte! 🤯 | sportstudio | #shorts - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pbostyMb2cU)

Germany after 8

[MIJB#19]

Well that escalated quickly

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Um9actvvZ3w?si=g5ZdmL9dbWxyhdq8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Austria after 6 seconds

Florian Wirtz erzielt das schnellste Tor der DFB-Geschichte! 🤯 | sportstudio | #shorts - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pbostyMb2cU)

Germany after 8I know what you're trying to share here (two goals on one night in friendly matches with a goal after 7 seconds), but the first link is somebody random playing a simulation and the second one is a link without video.

[whomario]

I know what you're trying to share here (two goals on one night in friendly matches with a goal after 7 seconds), but the first link is somebody random playing a simulation and the second one is a link without video.

Wasn't when i posted. The pitfalls of avoiding copyright infractions for the first link i guess ... (2nd still works for me, maybe a region thing as it's from the german official broadcaster of that game)

[SirFozzie]

Berhalter haters are in shambles today after yet another dos a cero.

[cartman]

that Tyler Adams goal right before halftime was amazing

[whomario]

Leverkusen will (likely...) really win a title. Just after Alonso announced he's staying they win another one late (from 0:1 at 87 minutes to 2:1) and Bayern looses at home to Dortmund for the first time in 10 years.

Leverkusen is 13 points up with 7 games left.

[miami_fan]

Having a panenka saved really looks painful for the taker.

[sovereignstar v2]

That wasn't a paneka. It was just a shit penalty down the middle. No idea what he was thinking there

[flere-imsaho]

One hundred and fifty-five financial violations only buys you one UCL trophy, apparently.

[sovereignstar v2]

Pretty ballsy for a United fan to be trolling

[sovereignstar v2]

32 matches into the 2023-24 Premier League season and Manchester United have a goal differential of -1

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/12j2Esnn-eY?si=JY8T5wTbzLddodNL" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[sovereignstar v2]

Zoinks Scoob!

Demo-economic analysis of player transfers (2014-2023) - CIES Football Observatory (https://football-observatory.com/monthlyreport87)

https://i.imgur.com/CwD6dUk.png

[flere-imsaho]

I was looking to trigger you and you delivered beyond my expectations. Thank you.

Also:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaNwrU2X0AY5fRR.jpg:large

[MIJB#19]

Those football clubs from Manchester - and from England in general - sure know how to quickly burn all that money given by their foreign sugar daddies.

[miami_fan]

This seems like lawsuit words to me.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept. <br><br>We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. <br><br>NFFC will now consider its options.</p>&mdash; Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFFC/status/1782056187652960764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[miami_fan]

I am not sure I have ever seen anything like the aftermath of the Manchester United v. Conventry match.

[sovereignstar v2]

Put United in the Championship and they probably don't get promoted right away

[RainMaker]

I am not sure I have ever seen anything like the aftermath of the Manchester United v. Conventry match.

Missed the start of the comeback but that was incredible. Shame about VAR ruining a really cool moment.

[Ghost Econ]

Leverkusen are you fucking kidding me?

[Ksyrup]

So Leicester appears to have withstood a poor second half of the season to secure promotion back to EPL and likely to win the EFL title outright (they lead today 3-0 with about 20 minutes left and with a win would secure the title).

I don't know (or care to know) much about soccer's various rules and such, but an article I mostly read a week or so ago (until my eyes glazed over) suggests that they are in big trouble for next year - so much so that it seems like another year or two in EFL to sort their crap out might be preferable to instant promotion. Apparently they are in violation of financial rules and based on precedent, likely looking at starting next year more than 4 points in the hole. And based on whatever rules are in place, they may be precluded from signing any of their players whose contracts will be up at the end of this year - including Jamie Vardy. Further, either finances or penalties are going to restrict them from signing too many players before next season starts and may require that they sell off their best remaining players (like Dewsbury-Hall).

That all seems like it puts a big, fat damper on promotion.

Anyway... congrats?

[flere-imsaho]

Promotion is still better than non-promotion, even if they go back down again, because they'll get a slice of EPL money at some point that they would not have gotten if they were in the EPL.

But still, not a good situation. It's too bad, because the owners seem to really care and to be really involved, but boy howdy did they make some poor financial decisions (or took some pretty big financial risks, depending on how generous you want to be about it).

[AlexB]

So Leicester appears to have withstood a poor second half of the season to secure promotion back to EPL and likely to win the EFL title outright (they lead today 3-0 with about 20 minutes left and with a win would secure the title).

I don't know (or care to know) much about soccer's various rules and such, but an article I mostly read a week or so ago (until my eyes glazed over) suggests that they are in big trouble for next year - so much so that it seems like another year or two in EFL to sort their crap out might be preferable to instant promotion. Apparently they are in violation of financial rules and based on precedent, likely looking at starting next year more than 4 points in the hole. And based on whatever rules are in place, they may be precluded from signing any of their players whose contracts will be up at the end of this year - including Jamie Vardy. Further, either finances or penalties are going to restrict them from signing too many players before next season starts and may require that they sell off their best remaining players (like Dewsbury-Hall).

That all seems like it puts a big, fat damper on promotion.

Anyway... congrats?

Reports are that the embargo is an EFL embargo, so once we are officially an EPL team (6th June) we can sign/resign as normal…

Except we still need to make savings by 30th June to avoid more breaches of the EPL PSR rules.

What it will likely mean is that we will sign Fatawu, Vardy will likely move on unless he takes a significant drop in wages, and KDH plus others will need to be sold.

And -6 seems to be the consensus starting position

Staying down wouldn’t have worked, as it would have just been kicking the can down the road on the PL punishments, while the EFL embargo and future breach of their rules would have meant more significant and immediate penalties there, massively reducing the likelihood of being competitive

What hasn’t been clarified (as we haven’t officially broken any EFL rules yet, hence one of the legal challenges- we are likely to, but haven’t actually failed yet) is what happens if/when we get relegated agin: will there be future EFL deductions? Probably

[Ksyrup]

Thanks for the info. Like I said, I don't pretend to understand (or want to) all of the rules but it's kind of a crappy situation either way - although one I guess they are responsible for, so they can only blame themselves. With potential future EFL penalties out there, that makes it even more imperative that they get this next squad right and at least tread water around 15th for a couple of years, rightsize things, and begin to build back a team like they had 5 years ago.

[miami_fan]

Has anyone seen justification for why LFC's last two years in the PL are counted in the EFL's profit and sustainability three year calculations? The two leagues have different limits for profit and sustainability.

[AlexB]

Has anyone seen justification for why LFC's last two years in the PL are counted in the EFL's profit and sustainability three year calculations? The two leagues have different limits for profit and sustainability.

It’s one of the aspects that is causing the whole thing to be reevaluated - generally teams who get relegated have an inkling it could happen, and can build in mitigation plans

However LCFC (presume you meant Leicester City rather than LFC (Liverpool ;) ) had been challenging for CL and European football in recent years, and were not seen as a risk to be relgated.

Added to the fact that it was completely unexpected, even to the club until it was much much too late, turns out we were massively overpaying players across the board - our wages:turnover ratio was something like 116%.

So it was a horrible mix of paying players to stay who really wanted to leave and didn’t give 100% (Tielemans, Soyuncu, Ndidi), and Top (the chairman) being too loyal and nice and paying bang average squad players far too much (Chouhury, Albrighton, Amartey, Mendy) plus average at best recruitment (Ward, Daka, Soumare) all combing into a gradual seemingly unnoticed slide into mediocrity, all with a massive turnover.

Then Tielemans and Soyuncu go for free at the end of the contract, as will Ndidi this summer, who could have been sold for a combined £100m plus (others on a free this year such as Iheanacho, Westergaard, Praet are less flagrant examples of a number of the above)

Then add in the fact that not only are the loss levels different, but so are the timelines: the EFL try to take proactive measures with accounts from the previous years and forecasts for the current in November, which was when LCFC kicked back essentially with your point: saying we were nothing to do with you until four months ago, and therefore we are only bound by your rules after a full year, effectively giving the middle finger to submitting the November forecast.

So the rules don’t match, and it has been shown to be an issue (as have the rules themselves, and are to be completely reworked for the 25-26 season, but that’s another topic!)

However, underlying all of this is that the club has been mismanaged, and we would have failed the PL rules quite badly too, even with their higher limits, so it’s hard to be angry TBH.

The PL rules are likely changing to allow a max spend of (probably) 5x the lowest club’s revenue, which we (along with all bar Chelsea) would have been within: it’s not case that the club is in danger, the owners have plenty of cash (not as much as MCFC or NUFC, but plenty enough), but I’m one for if there are a set of agreed rules and you break them, you get what you deserve.

But FFP/Profit & Sustainability has been shown to be flawed this year, to the point where they are changing the rules so that effectively no-one fails them!

[miami_fan]

Webb: Premier League referees set to explain VAR decisions - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40056058/howard-webb-premier-league-referees-set-explain-var-decisions-crowd)

In an effort to improve communication with fans, chief refereeing officer Howard Webb has said Premier League referees could soon announce to stadium crowds and television audiences why they have changed their decisions after visiting the VAR monitor.

Explanations would only be announced when a referee has visited the pitch-side monitor and not VAR checks which do not result in the on-field decision being overturned.

[miami_fan]

It’s one of the aspects that is causing the whole thing to be reevaluated - generally teams who get relegated have an inkling it could happen, and can build in mitigation plans

However LCFC (presume you meant Leicester City rather than LFC (Liverpool ;) ) had been challenging for CL and European football in recent years, and were not seen as a risk to be relgated.

Ha! I don't think I have called them Leicester City since they last won the Championship. So in my head they are just Leicester FC or the Foxes lol. Is that a big deal for Foxes supporters? The reason I asked is I have friends who are Leeds supporters who had to make it very clear to me years ago that using United to refer to Manchester United no matter how well intentioned I was being would not be tolerated in their local pub.:p

However, underlying all of this is that the club has been mismanaged, and we would have failed the PL rules quite badly too, even with their higher limits, so it’s hard to be angry TBH.

The PL rules are likely changing to allow a max spend of (probably) 5x the lowest club’s revenue, which we (along with all bar Chelsea) would have been within: it’s not case that the club is in danger, the owners have plenty of cash (not as much as MCFC or NUFC, but plenty enough), but I’m one for if there are a set of agreed rules and you break them, you get what you deserve.

But FFP/Profit & Sustainability has been shown to be flawed this year, to the point where they are changing the rules so that effectively no-one fails them!

Oh I am not saying they are not deserving of punishment for breaking the rules. It would be different if these were English FA rules that governed the Prem, EFL and the National League.

[SirFozzie]

Leverkusen now four games away from the COMPLETE invincible season. (No losses in league OR in Europe)

Two more in the Bundesliga, the 2nd leg of the Europa League semi-final, and the final

edit: Forgot about the DFB-Pokal final as well, make that five

[AlexB]

Ha! I don't think I have called them Leicester City since they last won the Championship. So in my head they are just Leicester FC or the Foxes lol. Is that a big deal for Foxes supporters? The reason I asked is I have friends who are Leeds supporters who had to make it very clear to me years ago that using United to refer to Manchester United no matter how well intentioned I was being would not be tolerated in their local pub.:p .

Oh no, Leicester, or City/The City (pronounced Citeh) if in the Leicester area are fine (outside of Leicestershire everyone thinks you mean Man City), nobody actually says Leicester City out loud in conversation.

But when abbreviating, it’s always LCFC to avoid confusion with Liverpool

[miami_fan]

:lol:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Turns out Jamie Vardy’s daughter is a legend as well 🤣🤣<br> <a href="https://t.co/qJGVJ5USjb">pic.twitter.com/qJGVJ5USjb</a></p>&mdash; Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) <a href="https://twitter.com/secondtierpod/status/1787188292993061182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[sovereignstar v2]

MAN U

[miami_fan]

Real Madrid just being Real Madrid. That's all this game came down to.

[miami_fan]

Real Madrid just being Real Madrid. That's all this game came down to.

Ditto 2023-24 Bayer Leverkusen just being 2023-24 Bayer Leverkusen.

[flere-imsaho]

And each without 155 charges of financial impropriety. Crazy.

[sovereignstar v2]

Theatre of Dreams

[SirFozzie]

Games of Soccer are played over 90 minutes, or until Leverkusen are no longer losing...

edit: Any more Leverkusen improbable comebacks this year, and they'll start comparing to Roller Derby

(Xabi Alonso is Little Ralphie Valladeres)

[flere-imsaho]

Theatre of Dreams

Isn't Man City's stadium named after one of the sponsors implicated in the financial improprieties?

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExM2lrb3F1OW41dXo4M2xoNzc3dXQ2YXQ2ajhuYmVjYmE5cmRmdzM1ZyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/HTkQXTBHzAjpS/giphy.gif

[miami_fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is what promotion meant to Gabrigol last night<br><br>It’s getting dusty in here…<br><br>🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/Lega_B?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lega_B</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Como_1907?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Como_1907</a> <a href="https://t.co/T86aG1RGtD">https://t.co/T86aG1RGtD</a> <a href="https://t.co/kraGtPekMK">pic.twitter.com/kraGtPekMK</a></p>&mdash; Calcio England (@CalcioEngland) <a href="https://twitter.com/CalcioEngland/status/1789197142906519748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Alessandro Gabrielloni signed for Italian club side Como 1907 as a semi-pro in 2018. He began his Lariani journey in Serie D. With 7 seasons, 2 promotions and 64 goals already under his belt, he and his club are now in the top flight of Italian football.

For a rough comparison, this would be like 2018 National Premier Soccer League National Champions Miami FC 2 making it to MLS this year.

[cartman]

https://fxtwitter.com/Dominos_UK/status/1788314036599156965

[Lauriaferge27]

I believe the implementation of VAR is causing officials Buy Premium Weed Seeds Online | Top Strains | Secure Deliver (https://greenleafguru.com) to doubt themselves due to a combination of overthinking (considering what VAR can and cannot do) and second-guessing their decisions. Some might call this weak-minded, but there's a significant Premium Cannabis Seeds for Sale - Order Online Securely Now! (https://herbalhighsociety.com) amount of career, money, and pride at stake. Officials are already in a challenging position, and the way the EPL has implemented VAR is exacerbating the issue.

[miami_fan]

I hate the camera shots of supporters whose club is being relegated on the final day. But shots of supporters who are watching the title slip away? It is not personal Arsenal fans, those shots are priceless.

[sovereignstar v2]

Not in my lifetime

[cartman]

Leverkusen's unbeaten run has come to an end. 51 straight

[Ksyrup]

One of the few live sporting events Ive been able to watch while in London.

[SirFozzie]

Guys, the new poster in here is editing spam links in, I've tried reporting it but no response (in fact, more links are being added)

[AlexB]

Rumours that the Leicester manager Enzo Maresca could get the Chelsea job.

I have my doubts about the validity of these rumours, but TBH that might be the best thing for us: I remain unconvinced by him, especially how his style will work when we don’t have the best squad in the league….

And if he goes, we can get some cash from Chelsea to help our FFP issues.

TBH I really want him to go!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Guys, the new poster in here is editing spam links in, I've tried reporting it but no response (in fact, more links are being added)

And it's a stealth bot account :(
(meaning it registered more than 90 days ago and therefore dodges the one touch ban & clean )

[miami_fan]

Rumours that the Leicester manager Enzo Maresca could get the Chelsea job.

I have my doubts about the validity of these rumours, but TBH that might be the best thing for us: I remain unconvinced by him, especially how his style will work when we don’t have the best squad in the league….

And if he goes, we can get some cash from Chelsea to help our FFP issues.

TBH I really want him to go!

So they are not going to their feeder club on the south coast to poach their manager? Oh wait, he left already. ;)

I agree with your concern though I think there is enough EPL talent in the squad to survive next season.

I wonder if this is going to be the thing for clubs that are promoted as champions. Outside of Fulham , the champions of the Championship seem to get severely exposed when they are in the EPL at least recently. Burnley, Norwich City twice, Leeds all were overwhelming go forward in the Championship and within two season in the EPL they were struggling to score goals and fighting relegation.

Burnley scored thirty more goals(87-57) than Luton Town in the Championship. Luton scored 11 more goals (52-41) in the Prem. But I don't think the calls for Vincent Kompany to have Burnley more like Luton Town would have worked either.

[cartman]

wow, ManYoo actually held on and won a trophy this season

[flere-imsaho]

MAN U

.

[AlexB]

Lol ��

[flere-imsaho]

I wonder if this is going to be the thing for clubs that are promoted as champions. Outside of Fulham , the champions of the Championship seem to get severely exposed when they are in the EPL at least recently. Burnley, Norwich City twice, Leeds all were overwhelming go forward in the Championship and within two season in the EPL they were struggling to score goals and fighting relegation.

Championship to EPL has to be one of the hardest jumps in world football. Most leagues there's some amount of overlap. For instance, I'd bet the top half of L2 is probably competitive with the bottom half of L1. Maybe the top quarter or third of L1 is competitive with the bottom quarter of the Championship, etc....

Increasingly, there's almost no overlap between the EPL & the Championship. And it's very, very difficult to make up that gap in your first year. Your commercial revenue might increase, but only a little in your first year. You'll get more from TV, but not until the transfer window is basically over. And prize money won't help you at the outset of the year either.

So, you take a club that was likely pummelling other clubs for an entire year, then ask them to spend the next year trying to eke out 40-ish points when they have:


likely had to make significant tactical changes due to the change in competition
possibly had their coach poached
likely had a bunch of their good players poached and not necessarily replaced
maybe had an owner buy a whole bunch of players who need time to gel as a team


It's really, really difficult. It requires not just a good team, but a good organization behind it. One that started looking in January for replacement players for those it was likely to lose in the close season. One that has a running shortlist of "next up" first team coaches. One that is able to immediately make commercial hay (and thus revenue) from getting to the EPL.

Given the way a lot of these clubs are run, that's a pretty tall order.

[miami_fan]

That all makes sense flere. But why would that be a problem for the dominating champion and not the team that finished between 3rd and 6th in the final table and went up in the playoffs?

18/19 Champion- Norwich on 94 pts, got relegated in 2020
18/19 Playoff winner- Aston Villa, finished 5th in final table, 76 pts. Has stayed in the Prem ever since.

19/20 Champion- Leeds on 93 pts, got relegated in 2023
19/20 Playoffs winner -Fulham, 4th, 81 pts, got relegated in 2021

20/21 Champion- Norwich on 97 pts, got relegated in 2022
20/21 Playoffs winner- Brentford, 3rd, 87 pts, Has stayed up since.

21/22 Champion- Fulham, 90pts, has stayed up since.
21/22 Playoff winner- Nottingham Forest, 80 pts, has stayed up.

22/23 Champion- Burnley, 101 pts, relegated in 2024
22/23 Playoff winner- Luton Town, 80pts relegated in 2024 but finished 2 points above Burnley and scored more goals than Burnley.

I fully admit to this being a small sample size and it is too early to draw strong conclusions. The fact is teams that don't know if they will be promoted to the Prem until late May seemed to do a better job in the Prem that the teams who knew they were up by late April if not earlier.

One thing on your list I know has played a part has been the loss of a champion's good players. But they aren't being poached necessarily. In Burnley's case, they brought in 27 players in 22/23 including 6 loans and 1 free from Chelsea, Man City, Brentford, Southampton Borussia Mönchengladbach, and PSG. This year in the Prem, they brought in another 25
players. They were only able to get the hands one player from Chelsea, two from mid table Ligue 1 clubs and 1 from 7th place Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. Only one of the players they had on loan last season stayed with the club this season. Jordan Beyer cost Burnley €15.00m and played in 15 PL matches.

[whomario]

Re: Overlap between Divisions. Not the biggest sample size either but in Germany the Bundesliga 16th (of 18) are now 13-3 in the Playoff against the 2nd Bundesliga 3rd placed team*. And still i would argue the 2nd Division is very, very strong compared to Italy or Frances.
On the other hand, you obviously do get big success stories early on (long term, also for England, you have to consider that some clubs are just inherently smaller with less ressources than others), this season Heidenheim finished 8th. On the other hand Darmstadt finished dead last by a wide margin.

One thing that's curious is how many big clubs with even european pedigree not that long ago have went down and stayed down: Hamburg, Hertha, Schalke to name a few. The financial crash going down is definitely significant, arguably more than in the EPL (relative to the financials as a whole, not in absolute numbers maybe) with no parachute payments.


*And boy was that the height of insanity this year ... Bochum (where i live and so have some sympathy for and used to go to games every once in a while before tickets became impossible to get lately, even though i'm a Dortmund fan since childhood) fell to 16th on the last day of the season, suspended their GK, lost the first leg at home 0-3 and then yesterday beat Düsseldorf 3-0 away and then won the penalty shootout.
Watching the last Düsseldorf player miss and then collapse crying in a heap had me near tears despite rooting for Bochum. Man, that kid was utterly devastated ...

[AlexB]

Rumours that the Leicester manager Enzo Maresca could get the Chelsea job.

I have my doubts about the validity of these rumours, but TBH that might be the best thing for us: I remain unconvinced by him, especially how his style will work when we don’t have the best squad in the league….

And if he goes, we can get some cash from Chelsea to help our FFP issues.

TBH I really want him to go!

OK, looks like the rumours were legit, so one very happy bunny here :)

[flere-imsaho]

That all makes sense flere. But why would that be a problem for the dominating champion and not the team that finished between 3rd and 6th in the final table and went up in the playoffs?

Small sample size, as you say, but I think then you look at a number of factors, including that some of those playoff teams had to fight a lot harder to get their wins and that carried over, maybe some didn't lose as many players as the clubs that romped, and some just have good ownership or good non-playing staff (i.e. especially football directors).

Brentford is a good example with a smart owner who understands how to make the right decisions and who has stood by a manager who has made decisions good enough to keep them, mainly, out of relegation trouble.

[miami_fan]

OK, looks like the rumours were legit, so one very happy bunny here :)

Have you seen the early candidates?

Marti Cifuentes of Queens Park Rangers- 9/1
Mark Robins of Coventry City and unemployed David Moyes -8/1.
Former Chelsea head coach Graham Potter- 6/1
Carlos Corberan leads with 9/4 odds.

I would go for Potter myself but I am also surprised that Steve Cooper is not on that list.

[AlexB]

Have you seen the early candidates?

Marti Cifuentes of Queens Park Rangers- 9/1
Mark Robins of Coventry City and unemployed David Moyes -8/1.
Former Chelsea head coach Graham Potter- 6/1
Carlos Corberan leads with 9/4 odds.

I would go for Potter myself but I am also surprised that Steve Cooper is not on that list.

No, hadn’t seen that. Don’t think Potter will come given PSR, but agree out he would be my favourite if he was interested.

Moyes might see it as a challenge worth taking, but possibly a long shot. Would likely give us a chance of staying up.

I don’t know the QPR bloke TBH, but given that fact, he or Robins might take it - a shot to nothing for them (and Robins played for us for a season or two)

Corberon might think he has built up a reputation good enough to wait for a better opportunity.

[flere-imsaho]

Congrats to Real Madrid on yet another UCL final win. Nice to Kroos go out in style. Bellingham is one hell of a player. Hard fought by Dortmund, but Madric just own this competition.

[miami_fan]

I feel for you whomario. That is a brutal loss given how Dortmund played in the first half.

[whomario]

I feel for you whomario. That is a brutal loss given how Dortmund played in the first half.

Thanks

Not to be, though considering our stature (at least compared to the true big boys) maybe a 2nd one is just too much to ask for :( Maybe next time the final is in Germany (97 was in Munich, with the goal by Ricken still the most iconic moment in history).

Yeah, definitely unfortunate but that's what happens against Madrid when you don't take your chances. Think the Füllkrug one against the post might have been ruled offside by VAR but the one by Adeyemi ... Great goalkeeping but if he had any trust in his right foot that's an easy run past Courtois on that side with a much better angle. Sucks for Hummels (who had the killer pass to create that one) and Reus especially. Maatsen i hope we can bring back despite that rookie mistake for the 0-2.
Team punched above it's weight in the competition, hope they have a better Bundesliga campaign next year as well though. Happy they are sticking with Terzic as coach. Might not be perfect, but bleeds yellow and black and is a great person.
I do think we'd do well to get some more ouside influences, even though i generally like that so many involved on all levels have been at the club for the long haul or previously.

[miami_fan]

I was going to put this one in the Youth Sports thread cause this is one of the most youth sports-est thing (in a silly way) thing I have seen in pro sports in a while.

Euro 2024: Ian Maatsen's dad drives boots to Germany - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40332527/euro-2024-ian-maatsen-dad-drives-boots-germany)

[MIJB#19]

I was going to put this one in the Youth Sports thread cause this is one of the most youth sports-est thing (in a silly way) thing I have seen in pro sports in a while.

Euro 2024: Ian Maatsen's dad drives boots to Germany - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40332527/euro-2024-ian-maatsen-dad-drives-boots-germany)That's what people from Vlaardingen do for their sport... :crazy:

[whomario]

Happy they are sticking with Terzic as coach.


Well, so much for that ...

Edin Terzic resigns as Borussia Dortmund coach, citing ‘new era’ | Borussia Dortmund | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/13/edin-terzic-resigns-as-borussia-dortmund-coach)

[cartman]

The US beats Brazil 1-1 last night!

[miami_fan]

Well, so much for that ...

Edin Terzic resigns as Borussia Dortmund coach, citing ‘new era’ | Borussia Dortmund | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/13/edin-terzic-resigns-as-borussia-dortmund-coach)

From the outside, this feels like the right move for him and the club. I would have afraid that any early season struggles would have led him being fired 10 matches into next season. It felt like the only reason he kept the job was because of the CL run to the finals not because the board wanted him to stay.

[sovereignstar v2]

From the outside, this feels like the right move for him and the club. I would have afraid that any early season struggles would have led him being fired 10 matches into next season. It felt like the only reason he kept the job was because of the CL run to the finals not because the board wanted him to stay.

deja vu

:devil:

[miami_fan]

Hey Tartan Army! Wake your boys up. The match has started.

[miami_fan]

I really want UEFA and the match officials to be firm with this dissent rule.

[Ghost Econ]

Putin must be watching this match shouting at his generals about how weak the Ukrainian defense is.

[RainMaker]

Oh no Landon


https://i.imgur.com/Csn6Ln8.jpeg

[Critch]

Landon's haircut and Mbappe's nose are two Euro looks that wont catch on.

Julien Laurens (a French sports journalist who is apparently close to Mbappe) says he's in hospital and it's uncertain if he'll play again.

[miami_fan]

Landon's haircut and Mbappe's nose are two Euro looks that wont catch on.

Julien Laurens (a French sports journalist who is apparently close to Mbappe) says he's in hospital and it's uncertain if he'll play again.

As soon as they showed the closeup of Mbappe's nose, I thought it was broken and figured that he would put on the mask and play. The idea he wouldn't play again seems a bit extreme unless there is damage to the orbital area as well.

[JonInMiddleGA]

The idea he wouldn't play again seems a bit extreme unless there is damage to the orbital area as well.

With reports now saying surgery is a real possibility, I suppose it would come down to what they had to do. And, I suppose realistically, what his pain tolerance is.

[sovereignstar v2]

Maybe France can get someone in there that can score a goal now

[MIJB#19]

With this tournament format, France basically only needs one more 0-0 draw to advance to the knockout phase. The risk of Mbappe running his nose into a Dutch or Polish defender, it's just not worth it.

[miami_fan]

Did anyone in the U.S. watch the Turkey v Georgia match this afternoon? I just wanted to know if they just moved Fox's broadcast exclusively to fuboTV similar to the Chiefs v Dolphins playoff game being on Peacock or did they have their own broadcast team like Amazon on Thursday Night?

[miami_fan]

I love to know how it was decided that one child will get the chance to walk out with Cristiano Ronaldo and another kid get to walk out with Joao Cancelo

[Edward64]

I'm guessing the defender (not goalkeeper) was at fault here? Can a soccer player ever recover from something like this? I'm thinking fans of the team (& country) will forever hold this against him.

Euro 2024: Bizarre own goal helps Portugal qualify for knockouts after victory against Turkey | CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/22/sport/czech-republic-georgia-turkey-portugal-belgium-romania-euro-2024-spt-intl/index.html)

Turkey's goalkeeper Altay Bayındır gestures towards defender Samet Akaydin after an own goal in the team's game against Portugal at Euro 2024
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2158166398-copy.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_653,w_920,c_fill/f_webp

[MIJB#19]

I'm guessing the defender (not goalkeeper) was at fault here? Can a soccer player ever recover from something like this? I'm thinking fans of the team (& country) will forever hold this against him.

Euro 2024: Bizarre own goal helps Portugal qualify for knockouts after victory against Turkey | CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/22/sport/czech-republic-georgia-turkey-portugal-belgium-romania-euro-2024-spt-intl/index.html)


https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2158166398-copy.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_653,w_920,c_fill/f_webpNah, this one isn't even in the top5 of bizarre own goals of this tournament. This was the first genuine (non-freak) own goal purely based on a team's own incompetence.

[Edward64]

Nah, this one isn't even in the top5 of bizarre own goals of this tournament. This was the first genuine (non-freak) own goal purely based on a team's own incompetence.

I kinda thought own goals were like once every couple years in the entire soccer world. But holy crap, you're right! Shows you what a fan I am.

Six own goals have been scored during the group stage in UEFA Euro 2024 and there are a lot of matches still remaining: Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Maximilian Wöber (Austria), Antonio Rüdiger (Germany), Riccardo Calafiori (Italy), Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) and Samet Akaydin (Turkey).

[Ksyrup]

Aside from not having Fubo so missing 1/3 of the games so far, I've enjoyed having something live to watch for most of the day the past week (even more now that Copa America has started). But, I see that ends today in favor of doubled up games at 3pm. Why? Because it's Sunday? It's in Germany so 12 here would be late afternoon/early evening there.. Seems like an ideal day for 12/3 games.

[miami_fan]

Aside from not having Fubo so missing 1/3 of the games so far, I've enjoyed having something live to watch for most of the day the past week (even more now that Copa America has started). But, I see that ends today in favor of doubled up games at 3pm. Why? Because it's Sunday? It's in Germany so 12 here would be late afternoon/early evening there.. Seems like an ideal day for 12/3 games.

Blame the 'Disgrace of Dijon' match between West Germany and Austria.

Disgrace of Gijón - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgrace_of_Gij%C3%B3n)

Due to the tiebreaker rules in the group stage, a West German win by one or two goals would ensure that both Austria and West Germany advanced to the next round. West Germany scored the only goal in the first 10 minutes of the match, which progressively deteriorated to a virtual standstill in the second half.[1] Despite widespread condemnation and a formal complaint lodged by Algeria – who was consequently eliminated – FIFA ruled that neither team had broken any rules. Austrian player Reinhold Hintermaier later admitted the match was fixed.[2]

[miami_fan]

Ah, Scotland. Could just make it slightly painful could you. It had to be maximum pain.

[miami_fan]

Who on the USMNT frontline is supposed to be getting a head on all of these floaters?

[RainMaker]

Not a bad half.

[jcard]

If the NCAA ran the Euro Cup, no doubt Argentina and Brazil would have won a couple each by now. Just some minor realignment.

[miami_fan]

Fans being pissed that there is now technology that will let the match official know who touched the ball last before it goes out of play is hilarious.

[miked]

What an unreal ending to the Croatia-Italy game. Literally seconds from advancing, and the Italians with an equalizer at the buzzer.

[miami_fan]

I was just going to give Croatia full marks for not only their last gasp defending but also their offense work. Alas it was all for naught.

Who is going to have the heartbreaking defeat tomorrow?

[MIJB#19]

Blame the 'Disgrace of Dijon' match between West Germany and Austria.

Disgrace of Gijón - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgrace_of_Gij%C3%B3n)Some of us may still remember Euro 2004, the day Italy got knocked out because Denmark and Sweden draw 2-2 and got ahead of Italy on the 3-way tie-breaker on goals scored against one another, regardless the result of Italy against Bulgaria in the other match, played simultaneously. In all fairness, Italy ended up with the worse goal difference over all matches as well. The foreshadowed magic number ended up on the score board: bye bye Italy.


Extrapolating what happened then and there (WC 1982) vs the 2004 events into the ongoing Euro 2024, there's no perfect solution. Basically, they should play all 12 matches at the same time to avoid having teams knowing in advance whether a 0-0 draw will be sufficient te be amongst the better 3rd place teams.

Things won't get any better tomorrow, where it's quite possible Czechia takes a 1-goal lead vs Turkey and (as long as Portugal's B team doesn't let Georgia win) it'll put both Czechia and Turkey through to the knockout phase, because of Turkey's goal difference compared to Hungary's. Which might become moot by that time if in Group E another team (or two) gets steamrolled into a dreadful goal difference and somehow still ends up 3rd.

Group E is the mindfuck of clusterfucks between Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine will be at another level, as they all know that the result at the other game is almost as important as their own, all 4 have a very strong preference of which team wins the other match, whether it be to win the group or, most importantly, not to finish last in the group.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah that makes sense. Annoying as a viewer though.

Today's games were 2 entertaining/must-watch at noon and 2 garbage/boring games at 3.

[MIJB#19]

Yeah that makes sense. Annoying as a viewer though.

Today's games were 2 entertaining/must-watch at noon and 2 garbage/boring games at 3.Oh yeah, they should have made the schedule such that Sunday had 2 games. It should be possible in this format.

[MIJB#19]

How about that, after conclusion of Group E games, Portugal can decide their own opponent by losing (Slovenia) or not losing (Hungary).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, maybe time to start random drug testing the coaches on match day?



Euro 2024: Italy's Spalletti apologises after bizarre rant - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40435747/euro-2024-italy-coach-luciano-spalletti-apologises-bizarre-rant)

[RainMaker]

Seemed fairly tame until that last line which came out of nowhere.

[miked]

Another stunning stoppage time goal, though with bogus 2nd yellow, it was Turkey's to lose.

[cartman]

Sitting in a city park in Porto watching the Portugal v. Georgia match was interesting

[RainMaker]

Another Berhalter masterclass

[SirFozzie]

did gregg berhalter punch a panamanian player in the back of the head?

No.

[RainMaker]

His team lost to Panama at home and won't make it out a group with Bolivia and Panama in it.

[sovereignstar v2]

Going down to 10 men that early in the match is a death wish.

[sovereignstar v2]

So dumb that's a penalty

[AlexB]

VAR ruining a good game again. Danish goal ruled out, for literally a toe being offside, and then a penalty being given to Germany for what should never in a million years be a handball.

It’s just shite

[JonInMiddleGA]

VAR ruining a good game again. Danish goal ruled out, for literally a toe being offside, and then a penalty being given to Germany for what should never in a million years be a handball.

It’s just shite

But is it really VAR's fault that the (offside) rules haven't been adjusted to account for whatever level of inaccuracy everybody seems to want?

It just seems like the same situation MLB has, people don't actually want calls to be truly accurate, but don't change the rules fast enough to do whateverthehell people actually want either.

I know there's at least some soccer people I've seen admit that they don't really want the rule (especially offside) called as its written, that they want more "nuance" or something ... fine, so why not write the rule that way? Of course, the more nuance, the more that inept (or downright crooked) officiating can come into play.

[Ksyrup]

Yep. Soccer's offsides rule is the functional equivalent to baseball's tag rule where the entire game changed from "throw the guy out" to "get the ball there and hold the tag hoping he lifts off the bag for a microsecond so we can challenge and get the out."

I think MLB adjusted the rule? I don't know. But I swear I'm not seeing as many ticky tack challenges like this anymore. Either that, or guys have learned how to slide so they always keep some part of their body on the base. Or the obstruction rules have also helped cut down on it, not sure.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I think MLB adjusted the rule? I don't know. But I swear I'm not seeing as many ticky tack challenges like this anymore. Either that, or guys have learned how to slide so they always keep some part of their body on the base.

I believe it's the latter since I literally just saw an out this way in the past week, no challenge required.

It was always an out too, players/managers just got smarter about insisting it be called. And good on them for doing so, shouldn't have required challenges & replays to get it right in the first place.

[RainMaker]

I'm with Jon on this. If you're going to have VAR, you have to call the rule as it is. If you like the human element, get rid of VAR.

You can't have an instant replay system and then add in exceptions to rules because it's close.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Atlanta United game winner.

Google it.

MLS ... Catch The Fever

[RainMaker]

Page out of Jose Alvarado's playbook. That was really cool.

[AlexB]

I agree to an extent on the offside - yes, the rule needs rewriting, but what was annoying was that they were checking for potential offside on the initial free kick, but then found by accident another reason to chalk the goal off by a toe in the middle phase.

If it was called, fine, or if it was the phase of play they were checking, fine. But the game seen hell bent on finding reasons to disallow goals now.

The handball rule is like the catch rule in the NFL - they’ve tried to define something so much that it’s become unworkable

[miked]

The handball thing was a joke, he did not move his hand and it was in a fairly natural position that did not alter the play. But yeah, we've decided that we want VAR for offsides, so this is what it is.

ATL UTD goal was insane, especially since it was the last seconds of stoppage time and nobody communicated to the goalie.

[MIJB#19]

But is it really VAR's fault that the (offside) rules haven't been adjusted to account for whatever level of inaccuracy everybody seems to want?Exactly, this is the key part.

We all wanted a fair way to measure offside and hands calls for almost a century. VAR is the solution, but now we're coming to understand that we want the rules to be different. Apparently we don't like "offside" to be as strict as a finish photo decision in running and cycling and "hands" to be as strict as a touch call in volleyball.

[JonInMiddleGA]

ATL UTD goal was insane, especially since it was the last seconds of stoppage time and nobody communicated to the goalie.

And by a team that hadn't won at home in 90 days, literally last home win was Easter.

[Ksyrup]

I'm with Jon on this. If you're going to have VAR, you have to call the rule as it is. If you like the human element, get rid of VAR.

You can't have an instant replay system and then add in exceptions to rules because it's close.

I don't disagree but it's undeniable that it changed the way the players played the game, and that's certainly not the intent of replay. Of course those are outs but unless it was obvious before, it never got called. Then with replay that seemed to be the primary way of throwing runners out.

I definitely think we have to learn to live with things like this but it's certainly harder than we probably imagined, and it's definitely robbing games of both exciting plays and causing awkward/delayed celebrations. Although, I think an even stupider rule would be to use replay but with a buffer - so in soccer, even though the right technical call would be offsides, we're giving a 5 centimeter buffer or something along those lines.

Not sure there's a happy medium. Replay is kinda like the sport of baseball as a whole - we have almost too much information that we can't put back into the tube, and the games suffer for it. Kinda like life with the internet/social media as a whole, now that I think about it.