Soccer Thread 2024-25 Edition

[miami_fan]

Women's Bronze Medal game
Men's Gold Medal
Eredivisie
Turkish Super Lig
The Lower Divisions

And that is just tomorrow!:popcorn:

[SirFozzie]

EFL Championship, etcetera. This is where ESPN+ and Paramount+ start earning their subscription fees.

[MIJB#19]

Men Under-23's Gold Medal
Fixed that for ya.

[miami_fan]

I'll give Spain the U23 designation but not France despite what the rules say. Can't have 50% of your U23 team's goals in the tournament by men OVER the age of 23.

[Ksyrup]

Well, EPL starts this weekend and from what I've read, Leicester is an easy relegation candidate. And then I see Daka is out for several months and of course Vardy is out for a while. Long season coming, it sounds like.

[flere-imsaho]

I believe the decision on the points deduction is still pending, right?

Without the points deduction it's going to be tough, given the personnel and basically an inability to strengthen the squad. With a points deduction it's a foregone conclusion, sadly.

[Ksyrup]

Interestingly, one of the articles I read said they had money for players but were bidding for players against the teams they had previously been matched up against during their last EPL run, and lost out on all of them - and, it was doubtful they had the money to pay those transfer fees. Instead, they should have been focusing on battles for players against the bottom tier teams that they will be fighting to stay up against.

[miami_fan]

After watching the EPL and a few of the Pokal matches involving the top German clubs, I think these players need another 2-3 weeks of actual preseason work to get them ready for the new season.

[sovereignstar v2]

They play too many dang matches. I don't think Rodri will even be in the squad tomorrow. Looking forward to that club world cup next summer and I'm sure all the players are too

[sovereignstar v2]

Erling B. Haaland

[Ksyrup]

In terms of pure action/excitement, Wolves/Chelsea 1st half is one of the best soccer games I've watched in a long time.

[Lathum]

In terms of pure action/excitement, Wolves/Chelsea 1st half is one of the best soccer games I've watched in a long time.

Figures I decided to watch the Newcastle game

[Ksyrup]

Well the action has continued in the 2nd half; the suspense not so much.

[Lathum]

and the Newcastle game has gotten VERY entertaining

[sovereignstar v2]

How is that goal disallowed. PL officiating is so shockingly bad

[Lathum]

How is that goal disallowed. PL officiating is so shockingly bad

Not only was that absurd but clotheslining the keeper only gets you a yellow card?

[whomario]

World's biggest document scanner was just build in Madrid. Hearing it will be multi-purpose and also play host to Real Madrid matches.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GV1fQjVW4AEpq-X?format=jpg&name=small

[JonInMiddleGA]

World's biggest document scanner was just build in Madrid. Hearing it will be multi-purpose and also play host to Real Madrid matches.

USB or Bluetooth?

[Ksyrup]

Probably will get more use as a document shredder.

[sovereignstar v2]

Haaland

[flere-imsaho]

Again, the football equivalent of a war crime.

Although, it does show rather dramatically how much benefit there is to actually having the summer off from football.

[Ksyrup]

Re Man U's coaching situation... sometimes your first instinct is the right answer.

[sovereignstar v2]

Just needs a little more time and another transfer window

[miami_fan]

Re Man U's coaching situation... sometimes your first instinct is the right answer.

If we are being honest, their first instinct is to re-hire Sir Alex. It might be a better answer but I don't think it would be the right answer.

[cuervo72]

We have the NWSL on because there is ABSOLUTELY nothing else on (good job, again, NFL for wasting the weekend). Two impressions.

One, I was made to understand that the league was having boffo turnouts? The game in Cary, NC looked like a high school crowd. (I know, same could be said for the A’s.) This LA game is a little better…kind of like a midweek MAC game or something.

Two, I know, tradition and all that. It just seems ass stupid to keep a running clock for the five minutes it takes to evaluate a player for a concussion, then two more for a video review…just stop the damned clock.

[cuervo72]

Also, wife just asked: “Is this in Chicago?” No, it’s in LA, they just list the home team first because reasons, I guess.

[cuervo72]

Seventeen minutes of extra time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

One, I was made to understand that the league was having boffo turnouts?

Yeah, that's a pretty popular, but utterly false, narrative.

2-3 draw relatively okay (five figure averages, though often buffed by one big game), the rest hover around 5,000 at most.

And that doesn't take into consideration any "creative accounting" that could take place to fluff those numbers.

[flere-imsaho]

Just needs a little more time and another transfer window

Another 115, maybe.

If we are being honest, their first instinct is to re-hire Sir Alex. It might be a better answer but I don't think it would be the right answer.

I think that was the problem. The Glazers kept trying to hire another Sir Alex, not realizing that the day of just hiring the Great Man and letting him make all the decisions has passed on into history. Klopp was a great manager, but FSG had a whole infrastructure built to support him. Guardiola is a great manager, but famously CFG put a very specific infrastructure (imported from Barcelona) to support him. Ditto Arteta at Arsenal. Even Levy at Tottenham kind of gets this.

Hopefully Ratcliffe understands this, and certainly the appointments over the summer point in that direction, but the club is simply rotten to the core and just like trying to transform any large organization, it's going to take a lot of time.

[miami_fan]

Two, I know, tradition and all that. It just seems ass stupid to keep a running clock for the five minutes it takes to evaluate a player for a concussion, then two more for a video review…just stop the damned clock.

Seventeen minutes of extra time.

Don't trust the match official to add the proper amount of extra time I see:lol:

[miami_fan]

I think that was the problem. The Glazers kept trying to hire another Sir Alex, not realizing that the day of just hiring the Great Man and letting him make all the decisions has passed on into history. Klopp was a great manager, but FSG had a whole infrastructure built to support him. Guardiola is a great manager, but famously CFG put a very specific infrastructure (imported from Barcelona) to support him. Ditto Arteta at Arsenal. Even Levy at Tottenham kind of gets this.

Hopefully Ratcliffe understands this, and certainly the appointments over the summer point in that direction, but the club is simply rotten to the core and just like trying to transform any large organization, it's going to take a lot of time.

You can definitely blame the Glazers but I also don't see anyone inside or outside the Manchester United organization being accepting of that new structure ESPECIALLY right after Sir Alex retired. Arsene Wenger said this in May 2017

"What is [a] director of football? I don't know what it means," he began. "Is it somebody who stands on the road and directs play right and left? I never could understand what it means. I am manager of Arsenal football club, and as long as I am, I will decide what happens on the technical front, and that's it."

Remember how much ridicule Liverpool's "Moneyball transfer committee" got after Brendan Rogers got fired and everyone claimed that Klopp should not take the job if he and he alone was not allowed to make the decisions on which players to bring in. I would argue that it wasn't until Pep came in and won it in 17-18 that the English football community began accepting that such a structure would be successful in the EPL.

[cuervo72]

Don't trust the match official to add the proper amount of extra time I see:lol:

Oh, that was a function of the player who was checked the first time hitting her head AGAIN, necessitating a second prolonged injury stoppage. It still seems like a silly construct.

Actually...even more silly when I look at the final -- it looks like they didn't stop the clock during the lengthy weather delay either. 90+98'. Wonder what they do if a game needs to be resumed at a later date.

[miami_fan]

Leicester win appeal, will avoid Premier League points deduction - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41110325/leicester-win-appeal-avoid-premier-league-points-deduction-psr)

Congratulations Leicester Fans!

The relegation was worth it?

[AlexB]

Rhetorical question I’m guessing, but I’ll answer anyway - no.

Although we escaped a direct punishment for what would have been a clear breach, relegation, selling all our best players last year, selling KDH this year, and not being able to compete in the market this summer because of the uncertainty are all indirect punishments that have hamstrung us: Forest and Everton are (or maybe should be in Everton’s case!) in much stronger positions than us.

Relegation may have meant we dodged a points deduction, but we’re still much worse off than if we’d have stayed up, so those who are saying we have gotten away with it scot free are very mistaken.

[Ghost Econ]

San Marino got their first non-friendly win.no longer worth managing on FM.

[miami_fan]

Rhetorical question I’m guessing, but I’ll answer anyway - no.

Although we escaped a direct punishment for what would have been a clear breach, relegation, selling all our best players last year, selling KDH this year, and not being able to compete in the market this summer because of the uncertainty are all indirect punishments that have hamstrung us: Forest and Everton are (or maybe should be in Everton’s case!) in much stronger positions than us.

Relegation may have meant we dodged a points deduction, but we’re still much worse off than if we’d have stayed up, so those who are saying we have gotten away with it scot free are very mistaken.

It was not rhetorical tbh. I don't think that there was a conscience decision by the club owners to get the club relegated to avoid punishment. I did wonder if it provided the fans with a small respite from losing in the PL every week to winning in the Champ most week while also providing the owners a scapegoat to point and blame for the club's uncertain financial position.

[miami_fan]

San Marino got their first non-friendly win.no longer worth managing on FM.

I wonder if that is the real reason why SI made international management unplayable in FM25:confused:

[AlexB]

It was not rhetorical tbh. I don't think that there was a conscience decision by the club owners to get the club relegated to avoid punishment. I did wonder if it provided the fans with a small respite from losing in the PL every week to winning in the Champ most week while also providing the owners a scapegoat to point and blame for the club's uncertain financial position.

Last season was definitely more fun, but relegation is rarely worth it!

[miami_fan]

Was Mauricio Pochettino at the US-Canada match yesterday?

It's not a big deal if he wasn't but I kinda want to see him around the US matches and more importantly US training. I don't think it is some major insult to Mikey Varas's training sessions or game management if Poch was an observer this international break before he officially takes the job.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't think it is some major insult to Mikey Varas's training sessions or game management ...

Do those exist?

[sovereignstar v2]

Another masterclass from a "top" English referee

[cartman]

got my ticket for the 12th to see the Pochettino era begin for the USMNT in Austin

[flere-imsaho]

This is potentially a game-changing ruling for world soccer, especially in Europe, on a level with the Bosman ruling which allowed (mainly) players to move for no transfer fee once their contracts were up.

Diarra verdict a landmark day which could alter balance of football power | Fifa | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/oct/04/lassana-diarra-fifa-verdict-landmark-day-alter-balance-of-power-analysis)

There's a lot of complexity here, and there are still some court cases to come, but essentially this ruling could make it so players can terminate their contracts at will and go play for another club, more-or-less bringing them into the same employment rules as pretty much any other worker in the EU.

I don't know if I agree with the most dire assessments, but at the very least this ruling is likely to result in a big change to the way we see transfer fees. Their possible elimination would be significant.

[sovereignstar v2]

oops

archive.ph (https://archive.ph/NndOh)

[Ksyrup]

Interesting news that MLS is apparently considering flipping its schedule after the 2026 WC to a fall-spring season so it can compete better in the transfer market. Makes sense. I don't really follow MLS but occasionally during the summer I'll catch a game or 2 if I'm bored. I don't see that happening (or at least less often) when they'd be competing with so many other sports beyond basically just baseball. Although apparently it would mean less competiton for the playoffs which is where the money's at. And then there's weather considerations in some cities, I imagine.

Sounds Iike lots of competing interests so certainly not a slam dunk decision.

[flere-imsaho]

Smart move: global warming will take care of those weather considerations.

[sovereignstar v2]

Real Madrid are a pathetic excuse of a football club

[flere-imsaho]

They've won 14 more European Cups than your club.

[sovereignstar v2]

Theatre of dreams

[flere-imsaho]

Pep's going to retire before you get to 20 EPL titles, you know that, right?

[Ghost Econ]

So they're building a $100 million, 10,000 seat in Greenville for the local USL 1 team. If fbref is accurate, they average a little under 2,000 fans per game. I've been, 2k is definitely generous. The good news is it seems to mostly be privately funded, but it seems like a colossal waste of money.

And I type this while wearing a Greenville Triumph kit.

[GrantDawg]

Funny stat. Atlanta United knocked off Inter Miami in the round one of the MLS playoffs. Lionel Messi's salary is more than the whole Atlanta United team's.

[Ksyrup]

Nice first game at the helm for Ruud and a desperately needed 3 points for Leicester.

[flere-imsaho]

How many losses will Man City tolerate before they sack Guardiola?

[sovereignstar v2]

Probably a lot after winning the treble and six of the last seven PL titles

[Ksyrup]

He just signed a 1-year extension in the middle of all this too, I'm pretty sure.

[MIJB#19]

How many losses will Man City tolerate before they sack Guardiola?For the scumbag club that Machester City is, I think it's admirable they haven't given up on their manager after this hiccup. 4 out of 5 clubs would have panicked and kicked their manager out 2 losses earlier.

[sovereignstar v2]

I don't think that word means what you think it does. A scumbag would be someone like Steven van de Velde

[miami_fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Club Statement<br><br>West Ham United can confirm striker Michail Antonio has today been involved in a road traffic accident.<br><br>The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the Club are with Michail, his family and friends at this time. <br><br>The Club will issue an update in due course. <a href="https://t.co/v3ZNyR80fd">pic.twitter.com/v3ZNyR80fd</a></p>&mdash; West Ham United (@WestHam) <a href="https://twitter.com/WestHam/status/1865433805609205801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

There are pics on the web of a silver sports car(Porsche?) with the front half of the car caved in.

[MIJB#19]

FIFA back at it, pushing through with their 3 continents World Cup 2030 to make sure they can force their continent rotation into 2034 Saudi Arabia. Playing the first three matches of a World Cup in Spain and Portugal in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay makes total sense. :rolleyes:

[flere-imsaho]

I mean if you're going to be evil, you might as well lean into it. The least carbon neutral WC followed by one in Saudi Arabia. Plus, the 2026 WC will be held in N. America so we'll have orange cheeto palling around with Gianni.

[flere-imsaho]

No sarcasm: I'm watching the MUTD vs. Man City game just now and realized I do enjoy Grealish as a player. He always has a smile when he comes on the pitch and just generally plays like he loves playing the game.

Conversely, you can imagine my disappointment, seconds later, to see Amorim sub Antony on. :(

@sov: you can expect some sort of sarcastic comment from me once the game is concluded.

[flere-imsaho]

dola, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[flere-imsaho]

double dola: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[flere-imsaho]

Plucky Mid Table Side Take 3 Points Off Of Fading Champions

[flere-imsaho]

Amad is what Antony could be if Antony would stop faffing about on the ball.

[Ksyrup]

Got back from a run about 12:45 and after showering, decided to watch the end of this game instead of the beginnings of a bunch of meh NFL games. My decision was rewarded.

[bronconick]

Netflix secures U.S. broadcast rights for 2027, 2031 Women’s World Cups - The Athletic (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6009284/2024/12/20/netflix-womens-world-cup/)

That should go over well.

[GrantDawg]

Guess I won't be watching.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[MIJB#19]

How many losses will Man City tolerate before they sack Guardiola?Apparently it wasn't quite over, it's now 1 win and 2 draws in the last 12 matches. Looking at their schedule in the next 4 weeks it'd be normal to see them win 6 straight. But then comes a series of 6 to 9 matches (providing they win in the 3rd round of the FA Cup and they finish in the top 24 of the Champions League) in January and February that will make or break their season.

[miami_fan]

Josh Windass just scored from about 10 yards inside his own area in the match between Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County. Yes just like that Beckham goal way back when.

I can't imagine the feeling of dread the opposing keeper must feel as the ball is floating over their head on a shot taken from beyond the half way line.

[flere-imsaho]

"What, he shot it?"
"Meh, it's fine, I have plenty of time."
"Uh, wait a sec, I'm not going to get this."
"ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit"
"Just sub me out, coach."
*deletes social media*

[MIJB#19]

FC Barcelona's breech of financial fair play got overturned by the Spanish sports court, as far as I can understand with the logic the punishment isn't in the best interest of the club, the to be disallowed to play players and as a side-effect the Spanish national team. To me, that makes no sense at all, by that logic every kind of punishment isn't in the best interest of FC Barcelona (because any kind of fine isn't helping a team that's cheating with their financial numbers) and why wouldn't a free transfer of said players be in the better interest of themselves than being part of a financially unhealthy football club? *facepalm*

[AlexB]

Football karma is often swift.

Havertz dives to win a penalty (no VAR)
Arsenal miss the pen
Havertz misses two golden chances to win the game
Havertz is the only one who misses in the penalty shootout
Arsenal lose

Well played football gods, well played

[miami_fan]

Football karma is often swift.

Havertz dives to win a penalty (no VAR)
Arsenal miss the pen
Havertz misses two golden chances to win the game
Havertz is the only one who misses in the penalty shootout
Arsenal lose

Well played football gods, well played

Despite VAR not being in use, we still ended up seeing a hundred replays to tell us that it was definitely not a penalty, show that Havertz deserved to be booked. If we are not using or getting rid of VAR, the broadcast shouldn't get to use their own version of VAR either.

[Ksyrup]

Huge win for Leicester today against Tottenham. Only took a 5 minute run to net 2 goals and then hang on for the next 45+ minutes.

On the other side, Pasta - coglu... el dente, or fully cooked?

[flere-imsaho]

Ange's fall from grace has been pretty dramatic.

[miami_fan]

Either Edserson or Rico Lewis have to be on the take with defending like that on the last Real Madrid goal. Beyond school boy.

[sovereignstar v2]

No mention of Kovacic on that last goal?

[miami_fan]

Sure. Kovacic's pass was brutal. But once that pass is made Lewis HAS to fully commit to clearing or take the man down. And once Ederson makes the decision to comes out he HAS to clear that ball. Not saying that he staying back guarantees saving the goal but he did have a defender coming back with Vinicius.

[sovereignstar v2]

I can agree with all of that. Ederson started it with a shit pass. Kovacic should have hoofed it. Ederson has always had issues with decision making when it comes to coming out. I think there will be a new #1 keeper next season.

[miami_fan]

I love this story so much.

How the Jude Bellingham red-card debate took over Spain: ‘F*** off’, ‘f*** you’ and TV language lessons - The Athletic (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6141540/2025/02/17/jude-bellingham-red-card-swearing/)

Here is the short version.

Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham received a red card for swearing at the match official. This has led to Real Madrid supporters arguing with the rest of La Liga's other club supporters as to why "Fuck Off" is not a big deal compared to "Fuck You".

[21C]

I'm surprised that nobody had posted about the remarkable promotion to the English Championship for Wrexham. Three successive promotions from level 5 to level 2 has never been done in this part of English football. I know that it is partially due to the backing of their Hollywood owners but it is historically significant nonetheless. Well done to the players and the coaching staff for the effort on the field and congratulations to the long suffering fans who last saw their team in the second tier in 1982.

[miami_fan]

I'm surprised that nobody had posted about the remarkable promotion to the English Championship for Wrexham. Three successive promotions from level 5 to level 2 has never been done in this part of English football. I know that it is partially due to the backing of their Hollywood owners but it is historically significant nonetheless. Well done to the players and the coaching staff for the effort on the field and congratulations to the long suffering fans who last saw their team in the second tier in 1982.

I have avoided the whole Wrexham thing TBH. To me, it felt like in order to totally engage with the stuff on the pitch, I had to engage with the stuff off the pitch. It was similar to not wanting to watch a movie if I had to read the book to get the full movie experience. Of course I am aware that was never is not the case. Well done to them.

[miami_fan]

Yeah. it probably has been better for them to have fans in Anfield to celebrate winning the Prem.

[flere-imsaho]

It'll be interesting to see how they adjust to the Championship, which is a major, major step up from League One in terms of competition.

[bhlloy]

Lamine Yamal has a very good chance to become one of or even the greatest footballer of all time. Cristiano and Messi weren't doing this in these kind of games for another couple of years, I'm not sure another 17 year old has ever had this kind of profile since Pele?

Absolutely unbelievable player, good lord.

[sovereignstar v2]

I was doing so well without Ray Hudson in my life

[sovereignstar v2]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Breathtaking that own goal by Sommer!

[Passacaglia]

Fibonacci Sequence: Mathematicians Spot Something Odd After Liverpool Win Premier League | IFLScience (https://www.iflscience.com/fibonacci-sequence-mathematicians-spot-something-odd-after-liverpool-win-premier-league-78986)

Mathematicians noticed something unusual had been completed, after this result. With two wins to Liverpool's name, the top seven Premier League title wins make a very familiar pattern.

Football club Number of Premier League title wins
Blackburn Rovers 1
Leicester City 1
Liverpool 2
Arsenal 3
Chelsea 5
Manchester City 8
Manchester United 13

[sovereignstar v2]

….

[miami_fan]

Absolute insanity!

[miami_fan]

So we are coming around as a community to the idea that the whole "give the champions a guard of honor" is a silly and unnecessary endevor that does not actually show the champions any respect?

[sovereignstar v2]

English referees proving again they have no idea what the fuck they are doing

[flere-imsaho]

You mean De Bruyne's fould on Eze, right? Should have been a yellow.

[miami_fan]

I'll give you what you need to hear Sov and also what I actually believe.

I am okay with the refs giving Crystal Palace in general and Dean Henderson specifically the benefit of the doubt today. I don't have any need to want City to lose unless they are playing Fulham. I wanted to see Palace win their first major trophy in their 164 year history. Congrats to them.

[MrBug708]

Palace! Wooo!

[flere-imsaho]

OK, as much as I like to give sov a hard time, that's a handball outside of the penalty area that denies a goal scoring opportunity and thus should have been a red for Henderson and a FK at the edge of the area for City.

Since I don't care about City losing, the most important part of this is that it shows exactly how broken the EPL's (or PGMOL's) implementation of VAR is.

The root cause of the problem here is that VAR, apparently, can only rule yes/no on a red card offense. Can't bring it back to a yellow.

So here's what happens. In real-time it looks like a handball outside of the area that denies Haaland a goal scoring opportunity, or at least close enough that it warrants a video review. Fine, no problem, that's why we have video review.

VAR, somehow, decides it's borderline. Maybe they don't have the right angles to show the point of contact (replays now make it clear it was). Maybe they're unsure if, without Henderson's intervention, Haaland would really have had a good shot on goal, because, maybe, they couldn't see exactly where the ball would have gone, etc.... To me, having watched the replay, that seems wrong, the ball looked like it would still be in a very playable spot for someone of Haaland's skill and physical ability, but whatever.

But let's say VAR has enough doubt about the red. The red results from both handling outside the area and denying a goal-scoring opportunity. Either of those on their own, however, are yellow card offenses. But that's not an option for VAR. So basically the punishment went from 200% to 0%, which is, to use an actual IFAB phrase used in referee training "not what football expects".

Unless we believe that all on-field EPL refs are useless (and you can believe that if you want) it continues to boggle my mind that TV can have replay angles available more-or-less instantly in these cases that the Centre Ref apparently can't consult? It also boggles my mind that they can't just let an incident happen, call for review, and look at the incident from first principles with no restrictions.

What should happen in that after the whistle blows, the CR should be able to go to the monitor, see whatever angle he wants to see from the likely 20-30 cameras around the stadium, and then call whatever he feels is best regardless of what he did or did not originally call.

[bhlloy]

Please no. That’s the wrong direction to go in, if not for the fans on TV at least think about the fans in the ground who have to sit around for 5 minutes every time that happens.

VAR should be used for black and white decisions with a time limit on what a clear and obvious error is, and anything else we just need to accept that mistakes happen on judgement calls and nothing will ever be perfect. A ref can view something from 6 angles and still decide that in his opinion it’s not a goal scoring opportunity and another would think it is, and you can’t change that.

[sovereignstar v2]

VAR bottled it. Everyone knew it was the wrong decision and it’s an obvious case of not ruining the spectacle with an early sending off.

Congrats to Palace

[miami_fan]

Please no. That’s the wrong direction to go in, if not for the fans on TV at least think about the fans in the ground who have to sit around for 5 minutes every time that happens.

VAR should be used for black and white decisions with a time limit on what a clear and obvious error is, and anything else we just need to accept that mistakes happen on judgement calls and nothing will ever be perfect. A ref can view something from 6 angles and still decide that in his opinion it’s not a goal scoring opportunity and another would think it is, and you can’t change that.

If football supporters specifically, sports fans (human beings?) in general could do the highlighted part, we wouldn't have a need for VAR/instant replay at all. We also wouldn't have the decades of dross over big club bias, lunatics searching for what club the ref supports and why that guaranteed them being biased, chasing the refs from the field, etc.

The other side of saying that nothing will ever be perfect is that it does not allow for proper criticism of match officials and VAR officials. Officials can make mistakes AND they do get things wrong AND some are just incompetent and should not be in the job. There are differences among the three IMO. All involved in the game should be able to say the ref made a mistake and move on while taking steps to avoid such mistakes in the future. All involved in the game should be able to acknowledge that the ref got things wrong and move on while taking steps avoid and be reprimanded for getting things wrong. Finally, all involved in the game should be able to acknowledge that the ref has proven to be incompetent for the job.

I agree with you that the in stadium experience with VAR is horrible. However, that is a result of the authorities' belief that the in stadium audience are too immature and too prone to violence to actually view replays on the big screens in the stadium or any sort of in depth knowledge of what the officials are reviewing.

[Ksyrup]

It's impossible to unwind what we can see. You can't show the TV audience evidence of an incorrect call and just expect everyone to be OK with it.

The only reason we have human referees/umpires is that organized sports began long before the technology existed to render them unnecessary. We're now struggling with trying to implement that technology within the framework of other humans with access to that technology having to sit in judgment of (and giving proper "deference" to) the on-field humans which has put us in a sort of limbo/purgatory that sucks for all involved. We've all seen multiple instances, in all sports, where pretty clear evidence does not win the day because the on-field call matters, and that set-up only exists to justify the fact that people are still on the field making calls to begin with.

There are some calls that are always going to be a judgment call, and human involvement is necessary only to the extent those judgment calls are part of whatever game we're talking about. There are others that can be pinpointed and decided "right" or "wrong" such that the humans need not be involved. For those calls, the important thing is to establish a system as foolproof and accurate as possible. Once that happens, take the zebras off the field or restrict them to calling only certain things.

[MIJB#19]

The real crux here is the VAR had one job (and blew it): spot a possible error by the referee and call him to go watch the screen to give him a chance to judge the situation with additional eyes and images. The referee always has the authority to uphold his earlier decision. This is what VAR is for, on top of the neat split second decision stuff like off side technology and goal line technology.

[sovereignstar v2]

Here is my other fave. The one that caused all sorts of pundits and fans to reinterpret the offsides rule.

Even worse than the decision last Saturday

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HPioZVD8LRM?si=iWEJVkwoPo_eYSbI" 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>

[miami_fan]

The real crux here is the VAR had one job (and blew it): spot a possible error by the referee and call him to go watch the screen to give him a chance to judge the situation with additional eyes and images. The referee always has the authority to uphold his earlier decision. This is what VAR is for, on top of the neat split second decision stuff like off side technology and goal line technology.

The part that is always forgotten. Yes, I know how much courage it would take for a match official to uphold their earlier decision in the face of a call from VAR especially if you are found to be 100% wrong afterwards. I don't blame them for not doing so as 99.9% of the world would do exactly the same if placed in the same position. Unfortunately, the rules and the cowardly 99.9% hold them to a higher standard.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Here is my other fave. The one that caused all sorts of pundits and fans to reinterpret the offsides rule.

Even worse than the decision last Saturday

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HPioZVD8LRM?si=iWEJVkwoPo_eYSbI" 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>

Okay, watching this (or even hearing about it) for the first time, rewound it about three times to see wth.

I have no clue what was called on the pitch, no clue how it resolved, and no dog in the fight.

I understood (I believe) the commentary and why there was no offside for the bulk of the play. And I was on board with possibly believing that was a rather fortunate clean goal ... until the next to last moment change of direction of the ball, which tells me it WAS touched while in an offside position, negating the ball ending up in the back of the net.

How'd I do?

[flere-imsaho]

Well done, Jon.

There's disagreement as to whether Rashford touched the ball before Fernandes' shot, mainly. I don't think he did, but I think the problem with the play is more fundamental.

As I wrote at the time: (https://forumsold.operationsports.com/fofc/fofc/showpost.php?p=3390450&postcount=676)

Even ETH said (or at least intimated), when interviewed after the game, that he was surprised they got that call (or non-call, as it were).

I hate to say it, but I think the referee went with the call that would be easier to defend when his bosses from PGMOL call him up later today or Monday. Everything about the call is technically correct, if you go by the letter of the rules (https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/offside/#offside-offence):


Rashford clearly doesn't touch the ball
The defender trailing Rashford was not going to make up the distance, so obstruction doesn't come into play
Fernandes & Rashford converge on the same point when the shot is taken, so it is not as if Rashford's positioning was affecting Ederson's positioning (arguably)
Nothing Rashford does obstructs Fernandes' trailing defender


Having said that, the call absolutely, IMO, goes against the spirit/point of the offside rule. Make Rashford magically disappear just before the forward pass, and those two defenders react a little differently to the situation, and the shot from Fernandes is probably a bit more contested.

For one, Rashford's trailing defender hesitates before accelerating since it's so obvious that Rashford is offside. If Rashford isn't there, he's accelerating towards Fernandes and trying, with the other defender, to box him into a lower xG shot.

For two, I could see Fernandes' trailing defender (Walker, I think) being able to put a (legal) shoulder in without Rashford's involvement. Walker, too, hesitates a bit since it's so obvious that Rashford is offside, but more importantly he plays the space to the left of Fernandes, expecting a centering pass from Rashford or a rebound off of Ederson.

And lastly, it defies reality to believe that Rashford's positioning didn't have some sort of impact on Ederson's decision-making. Even though the two converge on exactly the same spot, Ederson has to position himself to be ready for both a potential shot from Rashford or a centering pass from Rashford in the time between the pass and the two attackers converging. Were it only Fernandes, Ederson could have done something different to narrow the angle further (possibly assuming the aforementioned shoulder challenge by Walker) or come storming out to attempt a clearance.

[sovereignstar v2]

Sorry, that was kind of a poor video choice. I tried to find one that didn't have a bunch of talking heads.

[sovereignstar v2]

Don't forget the 16th-placed team in the PL will face off versus the 17th-placed team this afternoon in the Europa League Final for a spot in the "Champions League". We're a ways off from the European Cup!

[bhlloy]

Absolute travesty that one of those teams gets into the Champions League next season. What an awful advert for football.

Having said that, absolutely hilarious that it's not United. Amorim could have picked any job in Europe this offseason and now he's stuck at a team 2 places above the relegation zone who won't have any money to spend.

[sovereignstar v2]

I’ve got to run, but will share my thoughts…. uh after the weekend

[miami_fan]

Absolute travesty that one of those teams gets into the Champions League next season. What an awful advert for football.

Having said that, absolutely hilarious that it's not United. Amorim could have picked any job in Europe this offseason and now he's stuck at a team 2 places above the relegation zone who won't have any money to spend.

It's all part of the Glazers' master plan to force the MUFC supporters to wish the Glazers were fully in charge once again.

[Ghost Econ]

So seemingly none of the USA's best players will play in the only competitive matches the US plays between now and the World Cup. Seems like the generation is turning into another lost generation. Might as well call up Cavan Sullivan and see what happens.

[MIJB#19]

Absolute travesty that one of those teams gets into the Champions League next season. What an awful advert for football.

Having said that, absolutely hilarious that it's not United. Amorim could have picked any job in Europe this offseason and now he's stuck at a team 2 places above the relegation zone who won't have any money to spend.Reportedly they are about to make a €135M bid on Xavi Simons. That rumor wasn't coming from the blue side of the Manchester money wasting insanity.

[miami_fan]

Cover your eyes and ears Manchester United supporters.

Scott McTominay will be in the UCL next year and is about to lift the Scudetto for Napoli.

EDIT: He was also awarded the MVP award of Serie A

[miami_fan]

So seemingly none of the USA's best players will play in the only competitive matches the US plays between now and the World Cup. Seems like the generation is turning into another lost generation. Might as well call up Cavan Sullivan and see what happens.

Given the fixture congestion in general and this summer specifically with the addition of the Club World Cup, the sort of plan should probably be the blueprint for every national team manager.

[miami_fan]

EFL Championship Playoff Final Day AKA The Richest Game in Football!

Sheffield Wednesday vs. Sunderland for promotion to the Premier League, anywhere from $180 and $295 million in broadcast money alone.

Here's hoping Sunderland wins so we can get a couple of Tyne–Wear derbies and maybe even another season of Sunderland Til I Die.

[flere-imsaho]

Cover your eyes and ears Manchester United supporters.

Scott McTominay will be in the UCL next year and is about to lift the Scudetto for Napoli.

EDIT: He was also awarded the MVP award of Serie A

Happy for him and everyone else who was able to leave this terrible football club and find success elsewhere (also: Antony). Strong rumors that every player is up for sale this offseason, which is fine with me, this is a Frankenstein's monster of a playing staff that I think only Carlo Ancelotti could form into a top-half side.

[sovereignstar v2]

They did it again. This time they fucked Villa

[sovereignstar v2]

No idea if it will pan out, but I am stoked to see City linked with Rayan Cherki. He is a genius with the ball and probably exactly what we need to help break down super defensive teams. Also wrapping up a deal for Tijjani Reijnders, who is very underrated, and Klopps former lieutenant Ljinders is going to be Peps new #2. That’s exciting as I think Pep could use some fresh ideas

[flere-imsaho]

Or, he can step in if Guardiola calls it quits. Succession Planning! Only found on the blue side of Manchester. And the red side of Liverpool. And probably other places. But definitely not on the red side of Manchester.

In other news, it would appear that Mbappe was holding back PSG all those years. Who knew?!

[MIJB#19]

In other news, it would appear that Mbappe was holding back PSG all those years. Who knew?!Yeah, it's ironic that one of the axis of evil clubs wins it all right after their star player did the most Paris-SGy thing a player can do.

[sovereignstar v2]

How are we feeling about Paris FC? Will be in the same division as PSG for the first time in many years. I think they are primarily owned by light-skinned people, so I don’t think they are evil

[flere-imsaho]

Does this mean you hate your own team?

[flere-imsaho]

I think people want to see them as a "community-based" alternative to PSG (similar to FC United of Manchester vs. Manchester United), but they're not really that.

[sovereignstar v2]

Does this mean you hate your own team?

Yep, think I made a mistake not following a grassroots club like Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Bayern. I think half of the clubs in the PL have an American stake in them. I could have picked any one of them and felt a lot better knowing one of the good guys owned the club. Rest assured we know their money came from the purest sources (not a natural resource) and that there are no human rights issues in America.

[Ghost Econ]

So Bruno Fernandes turned down Saudi money cause he wanted to keep playing top tier European football.
Uh, anyone want to tell him....

[flere-imsaho]

1. EPL > Saudi league

2. Apparently his wife also did not want to live in Saudi

[sovereignstar v2]

Rayan Cherki made his French senior debut tonight at minute 60 and almost single handedly brought France level with Spain after being down 5-1

[JonInMiddleGA]

At some point, hard to think maybe coaching ain't the issue for the USMNT.

[bhlloy]

Really underlines the problem with MLS, which is that it still isn't a league that prioritizes playing and developing young US players. The strength in the depth in the squad just isn't there to be close to the top 20-30 teams in the world.

Yeah, it was a decent strength Swiss team and a more understrength US team, but still the best of MLS plus a couple of European players shouldn't be losing 4-0 at home to a travelling European team in a friendly with 0 shots on goal.

If the US continues to rely on a small number of star players in Europe who all need to be healthy, engaged and contributing in the same window, it really doesn't matter who the coach is.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Really underlines the problem with MLS, which is that it still isn't a league that prioritizes playing and developing young US players. The strength in the depth in the squad just isn't there to be close to the top 20-30 teams in the world.

Yeah, it was a decent strength Swiss team and a more understrength US team, but still the best of MLS plus a couple of European players shouldn't be losing 4-0 at home to a travelling European team in a friendly with 0 shots on goal.

If the US continues to rely on a small number of star players in Europe who all need to be healthy, engaged and contributing in the same window, it really doesn't matter who the coach is.

MLS is, however, a business. Last time I checked, most pro franchises kinda need to win, or at least be competitive, to maximize their overall success.

Honestly, I question how much it's even worth worrying about all the international falderall. Given the increasingly unlikely chance of it being much more than an embarassment, maybe just moving on from it and focusing on the business of the pro league(s) is a wiser choice. It doesn't seem like the players here give the slightest damn about it, we seem incapable of solving it, I'm not really sure how much damage would be done by simply ceasing to participate.

[RainMaker]

I don't know how it's the fault of MLS. What are they supposed to do? And does any major domestic league focus on the development of their national team? I don't like how the league is setup but I don't see how they can influence the national team.

The problem is likely more about culture and how US soccer is pay to play at the youth level. Similar to baseball. Not to mention that soccer is just not the sport your best athletes are choosing to compete in.

[bhlloy]

Very few if any leagues (outside of a very recent development in the Middle East) prioritize signing aging stars and big names to satisfy TV and corporate partners though. The US franchise model is it's own beast, but at some point you have to ask if signing the likes of Giroud who comes over, gets paid 50-100x the average salary for a young American player and decides to treat it as a fun end of career holiday is a smart decision.

The Swiss league is an awful standard, I watched a ton of it recently when I lived there for 2.5 years. I can't imagine many of the teams are making any real money. And yet if you look at how many of the Swiss ideal starting 11 got their start as youngsters playing actual games in that league, I think I could only count one who didn't. Compare that to the US national team where maybe half were in a MLS academy at some point but then got shipped off to Europe to hopefully develop and make it over there. I'm sure there's multiple reasons, but part of it is where MLS decides to spend it's money and focus. You just are never going to develop a deep domestic league that way and the national team is going to continue to suffer, IMO.

As for the "our best athletes don't play soccer" argument, there are countries with less population overall than people playing organized soccer in the US who could beat the tar out of this US team. Give me a break.

[BishopMVP]

Very few if any leagues (outside of a very recent development in the Middle East) prioritize signing aging stars and big names to satisfy TV and corporate partners though. The US franchise model is it's own beast, but at some point you have to ask if signing the likes of Giroud who comes over, gets paid 50-100x the average salary for a young American player and decides to treat it as a fun end of career holiday is a smart decision.

The Swiss league is an awful standard, I watched a ton of it recently when I lived there for 2.5 years. I can't imagine many of the teams are making any real money. And yet if you look at how many of the Swiss ideal starting 11 got their start as youngsters playing actual games in that league, I think I could only count one who didn't. Compare that to the US national team where maybe half were in a MLS academy at some point but then got shipped off to Europe to hopefully develop and make it over there. I'm sure there's multiple reasons, but part of it is where MLS decides to spend it's money and focus. You just are never going to develop a deep domestic league that way and the national team is going to continue to suffer, IMO.

As for the "our best athletes don't play soccer" argument, there are countries with less population overall than people playing organized soccer in the US who could beat the tar out of this US team. Give me a break.We were getting better results 20 and 30 years ago when there were no MLS academies, very few players getting European opportunities, and even no MLS period for the start of the career for many, but TBH this isn't even our B team especially if Adams was being rested. Thought there were some weird selections for this roster, I get many of the top players turning it down to rest and don't have a problem with that but I don't know why guys like Joe Scally, Busio, Aidan Morris, Josh Sargent, Brandon Vazquez, Jesus Ferreira weren't on this one, it looks more like a January camp one to me. (Haven't dug deeply, maybe some were hurt or did pass.) If we were going to go this route with so many 1st timers under Poch too Switzerland as the tune up friendly was dumb, they kind of waxed Mexico as well. It's not a long term excuse but one advantage these smaller countries have is so many players have played together on U-whatever teams growing up so there's more chemistry, it's great we can pull in guys like Damion Downs or have guys like Max Arfsten developing outside the system but you throw so many new guys together on the field at once after only a couple days of practice it's not ideal and boy was that not cohesive or ideal.

[RainMaker]

Very few if any leagues (outside of a very recent development in the Middle East) prioritize signing aging stars and big names to satisfy TV and corporate partners though. The US franchise model is it's own beast, but at some point you have to ask if signing the likes of Giroud who comes over, gets paid 50-100x the average salary for a young American player and decides to treat it as a fun end of career holiday is a smart decision.

But doesn't that increase the level of competition? Sure Giroud has struggled, but a lot of these aging stars are flat out better than most of the players in MLS. How do domestic players get better playing against inferior competition? And why is it the job of MLS to develop players for a national team that they have little to no involvement in? They have to sell tickets.

As for the "our best athletes don't play soccer" argument, there are countries with less population overall than people playing organized soccer in the US who could beat the tar out of this US team. Give me a break.

Fully agree, but the amount of resources pumped into the sport still matter. If soccer was as big as football in this country, we'd have the top domestic league and there would be enormous investment in youth development. As it stands now, unless your family has a lot of money to invest in your development, you have some connections, or your parents were stationed in Germany growing up, you don't stand a chance of reaching the highest levels of the sport.

[miami_fan]

MLS is, however, a business. Last time I checked, most pro franchises kinda need to win, or at least be competitive, to maximize their overall success.

Honestly, I question how much it's even worth worrying about all the international falderall. Given the increasingly unlikely chance of it being much more than an embarassment, maybe just moving on from it and focusing on the business of the pro league(s) is a wiser choice. It doesn't seem like the players here give the slightest damn about it, we seem incapable of solving it, I'm not really sure how much damage would be done by simply ceasing to participate.

Cover your ears Euro soccer fans!

I think that the model of a soccer franchise league like MLS and everything that goes with it has been moderately successful but it has a cap as far as growth. The only solution I see to improve MLS with its current format is to buy enough of the clubs in the top five Euro leagues along with other top clubs/leagues throughout the league and force them to take on MLS rules worldwide.

As far as getting rid of U.S. international soccer, I think it might further ostracize the US from the rest of the soccer world. There is no doubt that international soccer has lost a good bit of the appeal that it used to have, but for most other nations, pulling on the national team kit still matters for them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

There is no doubt that international soccer has lost a good bit of the appeal that it used to have, but for most other nations, pulling on the national team kit still matters for them.

And there's the thing: I don't get the sense it matters much to many beyond how it might improve their marketing revenue.

But between the lack of adequate talent, the inability to find a management (overall, manager on pitch and beyond) that works, whatever developmental challenges exist, I just have a tough time imaging the squad being relevant any time soon (and by that I mean most or all of the lifetime I have left at this point).

At what point does the embarrassing performance level do more harm than absence? To me, I feel like that point is certainly within sight at the very least.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, would the real soccer heads around here explain this to me

United States men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said his players "cannot dictate the plan," as he explained why he rejected star winger Christian Pulisic's offer to play in a pair of friendlies ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup but not the tournament itself.

Going with the assumption that the information in that snippet is accurate -- that he actually said "I won't play in the tournament games but I'll come to the friendlies" ... how does that fit with "needed a rest after playing about 120 matches over the past two years "?

What, he's gonna come to the friendlies and half-ass it? Well that's obviously stupid.

So he needs a rest later ... but not as soon as those friendlies? That's kinda stupid too.

There's really not a scenario where offering to play in the friendlies after begging off from the competition itself makes even the slightest sense to me.

[bhlloy]

I have absolutely no idea why he’s decided that would paint him in a better light either. Surely the opposite would be the logical thing, to skip the friendlies and have the understanding he wouldn’t play in the easier group games in the Gold Cup but be available if needed for the latter stages, if he really wanted to be available for his country while maximizing his rest.The whole point of friendlies ahead of a tournament is to prep you for the tournament, it makes absolutely zero sense.

I might get some heat for this but I get the feeling that the USMNT has the big problem that at least two of their best players are precious darlings. I think Poch might be realizing the same thing and I think he’s likely to take the first realistic decent job back in Europe he’s offered.

[bhlloy]

We are going to watch Diego Simeone self combust on live TV

[flere-imsaho]

What, he's gonna come to the friendlies and half-ass it? Well that's obviously stupid.

Pulisic is a 26-year-old male. So, "stupid" tracks. :)


Not to defend him, but maybe to explain him, Pulisic is really the first American player ever (save a few goalkeepers) who has had a significant role on European teams winning trophies at the highest level. With Dortmund he won the league, with Chelsea he won the UCL, and now with Milan he's at a club that generally challenges for trophies.

In comparison his national team has no real hope at the World Cup or the Copa America, and wins the Gold Cup fairly regularly. I can see a certain logic to wanting to focus mainly on my club, especially if my national association was generally a tire fire.

Or it could be "I'm easily your best player and I'll show up when I want and there's nothing you can do about it." There's plenty of precedent for this. Robert Lewandowski, Poland's best player, just got his national team coach sacked by letting it be known that he would not longer play for the national team while that guy was the manager.

[flere-imsaho]

We are going to watch Diego Simeone self combust on live TV

Good.

[Ghost Econ]

Am I the only one that can only think of Simple Jack when I see Cole Palmer?

[JonInMiddleGA]

:(

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, brother die in car crash - Civil Guard - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45654499/liverpool-forward-diogo-jota-brother-die-car-crash-civil-guard)

[miami_fan]

:(

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, brother die in car crash - Civil Guard - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45654499/liverpool-forward-diogo-jota-brother-die-car-crash-civil-guard)

Jota's death comes weeks after he married Rute Cardoso and in a social media post wrote, "Yes to forever." They have three children, the youngest born last year.

RIP

[flere-imsaho]

:(

Lots of stories coming out about how great he was with the fans, too. Such a terrible tragedy.

[bhlloy]

As a Cardiff fan, some really uncomfortable similarities to Emiliano Sala as he was coming back from personal stuff (in this case his wedding a few weeks ago) to report to training. Normally it would have been a quick flight that the club presumably would have put on but due to surgery he wasn't cleared to fly so was driving to catch the ferry.

RIP, always horrible when an athlete is taken young but genuinely seems like he was one of the good guys.

[miami_fan]

Lucy Bronze says she played Euro 2025 with fractured tibia - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45837723/lucy-bronze-says-played-euro-2025-fractured-leg)

So it's Lucy Bronze and Jack Youngblood as far as we know, right?

I'm searching for what an equivalent would be in any American sport. I don't think Trent Alexander Arnold would have been an appropriate equivalent in English football and since it was mentioned recently, this is not Edwin Diaz in the WBC either. Bronze has won 8 top flight league titles with 5 different clubs in three different countries, 5 Champion Leagues and various other honors at the club level. Imagine, that level of male player playing a international tournament with a fractured tibia and hurting the knee on the other leg a month or so before the start of the club regular season.

[Ghost Econ]

Mac Dowman was born 1 day too early to be the first person to play in the Premier League born in the 2010s.

[AlexB]

Not sure if you know who Peter Crouch is, but he was a very good footballer with an even better sense of self deprecating humour.

Due to a lost bet, he was a mascot in a non-league game!

Peter Crouch returns to the pitch... as Farnham mascot! | Football News | Sky Sports (https://www.skysports.com/football/video/12606/13426437/peter-crouch-returns-to-the-pitch-as-farnham-mascot)

[flere-imsaho]

Peter Crouch is great. :)

[Ghost Econ]

They showed Madonna on the Liverpool-Chelsea broadcast and she was eating popcorn out of a Ziploc bag.

I don't feel bad being a cheapskate.

[Ghost Econ]

Arne Slot is the Ed Orgeron of soccer

[Ghost Econ]

I'd give anything to watch a Super Bowl in the snow

- YouTube (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O56wF0Sf4DU&t=260s&pp=2AGEApACAQ%3D%3D)

[Critch]

Now that's a proper betting scandal:

Turkey FA suspends 1,024 players in betting probe (https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn974vdvpnvo)

[SirFozzie]

Turkey says "You're all Suspended. You? Suspended. You? Arrested. You? DOUBLY SUSPENDED"

1,024 players in the professional ranks! To compare that, the TOTAL amount of players who've made at least one Premier League Appearance (as of 2024 ish? 4,776.


Add a club chairman, six officials and an 8th individual arrested.


The third and fourth divisions of the Turkish league have been shut down for two weeks, and Turkey is asking FIFA for an emergency 15 day transfer window to fill all the holes.

[flere-imsaho]

Go big or go home.

[Ghost Econ]

MLS owners are going to vote on aligning the calendar with most of the rest of the world, with a winter break kinda like Germany. Should be interesting and give us some nice snow games while avoiding at least some of the hottest days of the year.

Also proposing a split to 5 regional divisions of 6 teams that play home-away and then playing everyone else once. Probably the best solution if they insist on having a massive league. I'd say ideally they eventually get to 36 teams then split AL/NL style to play home and away in their conference then just have a larger playoff between the sides at the end.

[JonInMiddleGA]

MLS owners are going to vote on aligning the calendar with most of the rest of the world, with a winter break kinda like Germany. Should be interesting and give us some nice snow games while avoiding at least some of the hottest days of the year.
.

I can't fathom MLS drawing crowds in cold weather. Maybe people who would sit in the cold for that product exist, I'm simply not sure how they aren't in facility with nice padded walls.

[cuervo72]

I'm simply not sure how they aren't in facility with nice padded walls.

Nah, MISL was ultimately a failure too.

:devil:

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nah, MISL was ultimately a failure too.
:devil:

Well played actually.

Fun fact: arguably the most intense pro sports environment I'd been in up to that point in my life (circa 1990) was an NPSL match between Atlanta and the (league dominant) Canton (OH) Invaders. Atlanta wins on a goal with under :01 left, and The Omni came unglued (as much as a crowd of maybe 3k can).

I worked for the radio station that was the broadcast outlet for the short-lived club in their two year stint so I saw a lot of them, met quite a few players, etc. All in all a very fun experience as a fan, the very unstable nature of the league & its financials notwithstanding.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Instead of playing snow games, they're going to take a 6-8 week break (mid-Dec to early/mid Feb) just past the halfway point of the season. I'm not sure which of those options sounds like a nuttier idea tbh.

MLS switching schedule from summer to align with world soccer - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46943880/mls-switching-schedule-align-world-soccer)

[sovereignstar v2]

Norway and Erling Haaland are essentially qualified for the WC. Noice

[SirFozzie]

Scott McTierney will never have to buy a drink in a Scotland pub ever again.. Even (Glasgow) Rangers fans will treat him.

[miami_fan]

We are more likely to hear the Spanish commentators on this side of the world but this right here is what international sport is all about. Congrats to the Tartan Army. Hope to see you next summer.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This commentary!!!! UNREAL <a href="https://twitter.com/ScotlandNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScotlandNT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCScotland?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCScotland</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCODEN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCODEN</a> <a href="https://t.co/lV5gdkRMdL">pic.twitter.com/lV5gdkRMdL</a></p>&mdash; Greg James (@gregjames) <a href="https://twitter.com/gregjames/status/1990902589697708422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And who says there should be no cheering in the press box?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sit back and enjoy Steven Thompson and James McFadden going absolutely wild on commentary 😅🎉<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BBCFootball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BBCFootball</a> <a href="https://t.co/oOC5NoxVUY">pic.twitter.com/oOC5NoxVUY</a></p>&mdash; BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCSportScot/status/1990923995441451358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Finally, congrats to Curacao and Haiti for qualifying as well. Curacao is the smallest city by population to make it having about 10,000 more people that Gainesville, Florida.

[Critch]

Scott McTierney will never have to buy a drink in a Scotland pub ever again.. Even (Glasgow) Rangers fans will treat him.

Even two drinks, one for Scott McTominay and one for Kieran Tierney, they both scored :)

I'm way too old to get teary eyed watching a football game but there I was at full time last night. Not helped by the commentary mentioning it was 10,011 days since Scotland's last game at a World Cup final, sounds even longer when it's put in days. I watched that game with my wife in a bar in DC, how did she get so old?

[miami_fan]

Even two drinks, one for Scott McTominay and one for Kieran Tierney, they both scored :)

I'm way too old to get teary eyed watching a football game but there I was at full time last night. Not helped by the commentary mentioning it was 10,011 days since Scotland's last game at a World Cup final, sounds even longer when it's put in days. I watched that game with my wife in a bar in DC, how did she get so old?

It would not surprise you to know that the way I found out Scotland lost on Saturday was through a voice note from a Scot I know who lives in London who was already for preparing himself for Scotland to bottle the match yesterday and any playoffs that might have occurred.

Fast forward to yesterday and I found out the Scotland result via a Facetime from the same Scot, tears running down his face just blubbering "They F-----g Made It!" over and over and over.

That and other reactions that I have seen make it seem like it was much more than just a football match. Enjoy it!

[RainMaker]

Instead of playing snow games, they're going to take a 6-8 week break (mid-Dec to early/mid Feb) just past the halfway point of the season. I'm not sure which of those options sounds like a nuttier idea tbh.

MLS switching schedule from summer to align with world soccer - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46943880/mls-switching-schedule-align-world-soccer)

Dumb question but how do they do things in countries like Finland and Russia? Just play in the snow or are stadiums indoors? Feels like this would have been a good decision to make before all these teams built outdoor stadiums.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Dumb question but how do they do things in countries like Finland and Russia? Just play in the snow or are stadiums indoors? Feels like this would have been a good decision to make before all these teams built outdoor stadiums.

Wiki says "As with certain other cold-climate European countries, league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October.

Russian Premier League schedule runs July 2025- May 2026. I see several roofed / retractable roof stadiums in the league. Looks like they take a break from 12/7 until 2/28

[sovereignstar v2]

Russia must have changed to a summer schedule somewhat recently. I remember they did something closer to MLS when I was playing FM more

[sovereignstar v2]

Of course I look it up and they switched like 13 years ago lol. In my defense I was definitely playing more FM then!

[RainMaker]

Went down a weird rabbit hole trying to find the teams playing in the coldest climates.

- YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/IbSyqp3O6qQ?si=gUgUGwLKrFr3GuX3)

[flere-imsaho]

One of my favorite European matches ever was when Chelsea had to go to Tromso (above the Arctic Circle) for a Cup Winners Cup match in 1997 and promptly lost the first leg 2-3 partly because it was played in pretty heavy snow (they won the home leg handily and moved on in the competition).

Their bald Italian striker Gianluca (recently of Juventus in sunny Turin) bags both of the goals. He died a few years ago, lovely man, wrote a great book about Italian & English football, RIP.

Anyway, makes me nostalgic for 1990s European football competitions when you had something silly like the Cup Winners Cup, which often had two teams playing who hadn't won a cup the previous year because the league Champion did (very common in smaller leagues) and that team was playing in the Champions League.

So you'd have pretty big English teams (or Italian, which was the biggest league in the world at the time) traveling to these tiny teams in places no one had heard of to play on things like sloping pitches, pitches next to oceans, pitches with stands only on one side of the stadium, etc.... Just really fun stuff. OK, going to go shout at clouds now.

[bronconick]

Curaçao is the smallest country (155k) to ever qualify for the World Cup.

[sovereignstar v2]

Maybe they can go to 72 teams next World Cup and we can get some even smaller nations in

[JPhillips]

I saw that Tromso did really well this year and with two games left they have guaranteed qualification into the tertiary Europe league.

[MIJB#19]

Anyway, makes me nostalgic for 1990s European football competitions when you had something silly like the Cup Winners Cup, which often had two teams playing who hadn't won a cup the previous year because the league Champion did (very common in smaller leagues) and that team was playing in the Champions League.Now it feels weird being old enough to remember when the Champions League was abolishes as being limited to champions and the reigning champs. I also remember the controversy over leagues having Cup Winners Cup qualifiers for the two losing semifinalists in a native cup competition.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Maybe they can go to 72 teams next World Cup and we can get some even smaller nations in

Gwinnett County (GA) U18 Blue Lazers can't be that far away
(fictional squad, so don't nobody go poaching players)

[flere-imsaho]

Too late, they're in the FM26 database now.

[MIJB#19]

Blah blah blah. Such cringe nonsense Infantino is blabbing.

[Ghost Econ]

Trump got the prestigious FIFA Peace Prize!!!!

[MIJB#19]

There's so much cringe about this ceremony, I can't put everything in a single post.

[Lathum]

There's so much cringe about this ceremony, I can't put everything in a single post.

I was literally coming here to say this. Even without the trump stuff this is terrible.

[Lathum]

Ok. Shaq next to Kevin Hart was hysterical

[GrantDawg]

Trump and FIFA are a match made in heaven. The two have never seen a bribe they didn't love.

[RainMaker]

So the US draw wasn't too bad it seems. Just have to hope the last team isn't Turkey.

[Arles]

Trump and FIFA are a match made in heaven. The two have never seen a bribe they didn't love.

FIFA: "Hey, USA, we need a lot more money to let you guys host all these games."

Trump: "I'm thinking of starting a FIFA tariff"

FIFA: "I respect your game. How about we give you an award instead?"

[Ghost Econ]

Furman beat Portland last night on a 40 yard bomb to make the College Cup final 4. It also happens we'll be in Cary, NC Friday night for a swim meet, where the final 4 is also being held. I'm still pissed I didn't fly to Orlando for the NCAA basketball tourney game where the beat UVA, so I'm gonna work to convince my wife to sit in the cold to watch kids she doesn't know play a sport she doesn't care about at a time when she's normally in bed.

[sovereignstar v2]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Rayan Cherki: Our No.10. 🤩<a href="https://t.co/ZNR4Oelmio">pic.twitter.com/ZNR4Oelmio</a></p>&mdash; City Xtra (@City_Xtra) <a href="https://twitter.com/City_Xtra/status/1997428779786928523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[MIJB#19]

Having done some further analysis on the WC2026 draw, the idea to put Argentina and Spain in other halves of the playoff bracket only in part has worked out, because in that random process their groups have been tied together for the second round where the #1 and #2 of their respective groups play each other. So, if either Argentina or Spain ends up 2nd in their group and the other one wins, they will face in the round of 32. With Argentina playing in the last group of action, it's not unthinkable they will have the opportunity to calculate what result works best for them for their second round matchup, especially with 3rd place quite likely also being good enough.

The most curious part of the draw is that Algeria and Austria face each other in the last match of the group stage (simultaneously played with Argentina vs Jordan) and it's quite possible that Austria gets a chance to repeat history and in the process make peace with their historic feud with Algeria (dating back to 1982) in the process by playing to a result that puts them both into the second round.

That playing to a result will also come into play in the end games of the groups of Belgium (vs New Zealand and Egypt vs Iran), Portugal (vs Colombia and Uzbekistan vs the playoffs winner of the DR Congo, Jamaica and New Caledonia bracket) and England (vs Panama and Croatia vs Ghana).

[Ghost Econ]

This should be interesting

Iran v. Egypt for Pride Night (https://www.outsports.com/2025/12/7/24123424/world-cup-2026-pride-match-fifa-seattle-egypt-republic-gay-lgbtq/)

[miami_fan]

Chelsea confirm Enzo Maresca exit amid poor Premier League run - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/47469870/chelsea-confirm-enzo-maresca-exit-amid-poor-premier-league-run-breakdown-relations)

Bring back Jose;)

[sovereignstar v2]

What’s going to happen to Chelsea after this most recent illegal invasion?

[sovereignstar v2]

Okay, I can’t hold it in any longer. At the risk of losing the derby against a terrible United side…

https://i.ibb.co/8DFSNXbf/https-forums-bluemoon-mcfc-co-uk-attachments-1000032636-jpg-180219.jpg

[flere-imsaho]

I only need to go back to page two for the last time I got to dunk on you.

[sovereignstar v2]

Easily the worst performance under Pep. And Dalot should have been sent off way before it got so bad.

[flere-imsaho]

Honestly, I feel kind of bad coming here to rub it in....

[flere-imsaho]

https://similarpng.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.similarpng.com%2Ffile%2Fsimilarpng%2Fvery-thumbnail%2F2021%2F04%2FNumber-Two-in-red-color-on-transparent-background-PNG.png&w=1920&q=75

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/number-zero-blue-formed-text-letters-number-zero-formed-text-letters-blue-color-vector-isolated-white-background-119400049.jpg

[flere-imsaho]

You made me do this, sov.

[flere-imsaho]

https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2147782377/photo/manchester-england-manchester-city-manager-pep-guardiola-looks-dejected-during-the-premier.jpg?s=612x612&w=gi&k=20&c=DLmBSygdPm_IIC9umuGrkCiZAFT8Hi_5OhgfYHF8inU=

[flere-imsaho]

Remind me again, how many games has it been since Erling Haaland, arguably the most talented number 9 in the world, has scored from open play for Manchester City?

[flere-imsaho]

Interestingly, the digits two and zero not only describe today's victory, but also make up the titles that Manchester United possess.

[JPhillips]

I saw that Tromso did really well this year and with two games left they have guaranteed qualification into the tertiary Europe league.

Went back and saw Tromso finished third and qualified for the Europa League.

[Ghost Econ]

The USL has released their plan for a 14 team D1 league with promotion/relegation they plan to start in 2028. I'll believe it when I see it, but they also say 5-6 of the new D1 teams will likely be expansion teams. Who would pay the startup costs and franchise fees necessary to compete in a D1 league when there's a decent chance you're going to get relegated in the first or second season?

USL targets 2028 Division I launch with 14 founding teams (http://archive.today/EFZpB)

[Ghost Econ]

If you asked me to pick who I'd let run a country between Amorim and Trump... I would pause for a second.

[flere-imsaho]

HAHA. :D

[flere-imsaho]

Okay, I can’t hold it in any longer. At the risk of losing the derby against a terrible United side…

https://i.ibb.co/8DFSNXbf/https-forums-bluemoon-mcfc-co-uk-attachments-1000032636-jpg-180219.jpg

Since you posted this, Manchested United are 4-0. That's Four Wins and Zero Losses.

I look forward to more posts from you in the future.

[Lathum]

I am not an astute follower of the EPL but I will occasionally watch a game if I am up before my wife on the weekend. I also love going to games when I visit family over there.

When did Tottenham get so bad? Was it when they sold Harry Kane or are there other circumstances.

Didn't they recently build a new stadium? I would imagine getting relegated would be a financial disaster for them.

[flere-imsaho]

Okay, I can’t hold it in any longer. At the risk of losing the derby against a terrible United side…

https://i.ibb.co/8DFSNXbf/https-forums-bluemoon-mcfc-co-uk-attachments-1000032636-jpg-180219.jpg

Since you posted this on January 13th, Manchester United have not lost a game, dropping only 2 points out of a possible 21, and lie in third place (on goal difference, no less, a metric by which they have absolutely sucked for years now).

I would like to thank you, sov, for speaking this resurgence into existence.

[flere-imsaho]

I am not an astute follower of the EPL but I will occasionally watch a game if I am up before my wife on the weekend. I also love going to games when I visit family over there.

When did Tottenham get so bad? Was it when they sold Harry Kane or are there other circumstances.

Didn't they recently build a new stadium? I would imagine getting relegated would be a financial disaster for them.

Kane's brilliance* absolutely papered over a lot of cracks, the main of which were a predilection to change managers often and never really put a serious front office in place.

You've seen similar with Manchester United over the past 10-ish years. Changing managers so often ends up leaving you with a squad of mismatched parts that are harder and harder to mold into a reasonable tactical plan, and the players start making business decisions when it becomes obvious that managers aren't going to last anyway.

They did build a big new stadium (and it produces revenue beyond football), and they have a loyal fanbase, so I expect them to come right back up if relegated, but it'll be a pretty major blow. To get back to some sort of sustained success, they'll need a patient & smart front office to guide the club and pick a good manager and stick with him for a while, and Spurs are known for neither of these things.

*We talk about his goals a lot, but Kane also did a ton of work with link-up play and he was a pretty influential captain on top of it. The fact that he resisted a full court press from Levy and Mourinho so that he could leave for Bayern on a free really says a lot about how little faith the players have in the club.

[Ghost Econ]

We are spending a lot of money to give ourselves a 1 in 47 instead of 1 in 48 chance of winning the World Cup.

https://dpa-international.com/sports/urn:newsml:dpa.com:20090101:260311-99-794864/

But at least Trump got a Peace Prize.

[Ksyrup]

Changing managers so often ends up leaving you with a squad of mismatched parts that are harder and harder to mold into a reasonable tactical plan, and the players start making business decisions when it becomes obvious that managers aren't going to last anyway.

I used to think the way the NBA and NFL (in particular) recycled coaches was a running joke - guys like Kevin Loughery, Jeff Fisher, etc. - but soccer takes the cake. Apparently the only thing that disqualifies coaches from being hired 10+ times in the same league is a death certificate.

[Ghost Econ]

Congrats to Morocco for winning the African Championships. It's every child's dream to win a title not on the field, but in a boardroom.

[AlexB]

It’s a farce, but this should have been the immediate decision at the time

Regardless of how bad the refereeing decisions were, walking off the pitch en masse should have been considered forfeiture of the game there and then

[miami_fan]

It’s a farce, but this should have been the immediate decision at the time

Regardless of how bad the refereeing decisions were, walking off the pitch en masse should have been considered forfeiture of the game there and then

The fact that the referee did not award Morocco the forfeiture immediately is why I believe it is the wrong decision.

Both sides, the referee and most importantly CAF agreed to that match to resuming after the Senegalese team came back on the pitch. If Morocco had refused to play and/or filed a protest immediately because they believe the forfeit should have been awarded, no problem. They decided to decide the match on the pitch and only filed the protest when they lost. CAF should have left the match result as is, sent out their version of the two minute report explaining what should have happened, disciplined Senegal and the match official for their indiscretions and moved on.

[MIJB#19]

The fact that the referee did not award Morocco the forfeiture immediately is why I believe it is the wrong decision. I wonder: is that something a referee can do though? At the best of my knowledge, the only thing the referee could have done is postpone or cancel the match for the fact that one of the two teams refuses to be on the field, but still requiring to talk it over with the local authorities and possibly some CAF officials.

Both sides, the referee and most importantly CAF agreed to that match to resuming after the Senegalese team came back on the pitch. If Morocco had refused to play and/or filed a protest immediately because they believe the forfeit should have been awarded, no problem. They decided to decide the match on the pitch and only filed the protest when they lost. CAF should have left the match result as is, sent out their version of the two minute report explaining what should have happened, disciplined Senegal and the match official for their indiscretions and moved on.The way things went down, this out of nowhere decision to award Morocco the trophy doesn't sound like it will uphold over at the CAS. Sure, Senegal deserves a fine for leaving the field, but they can't be blamed for the game being played out to a real result.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, as childish and poor as it was for Senegal to do what they did, and I want to say it's deserved, it's a really uncomfortable precedent to set that a game that was completed to the referee's satisfaction can then be determined to be abandoned after the fact. It's not hard to imagine any number of scenarios where that can be taken advantage of, in good faith or not.

Of course nobody hearing is talking about the other half of the decision, which is the fines Morocco got for having ballboys interfere with Senegal players and shine lasers at Senegal players during the game got cut in half. And coincidentally the first VP of CAF is Moroccan, of course. Nothing to see there I'm sure.

[miami_fan]

Can we say USMNT have passed Italy as a soccer world power?

Well no but I feel like USMNT has garnered more silverware and progress further in major competitions than the Italians have.

[flere-imsaho]

Uh, Italy have won the World Cup four times, most recently in 2006. They have been runners-up twice and third place once.

They have won the European Championship twice, most recently in 2020, and been runners-up twice.

The best the U.S. have done at the WC was third place in 1930. They made the quarter finals in 2002 and the Round of 16 in 1934, 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022.

They've won the Gold Cup a lot and the CONCACAF three times, but neither of those are close to the level of the European Championships.

So no, Italy remains more accomplished.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So no, Italy remains more accomplished.

But also even less relevant in 2026.

I described their current situation -- a single WC match victory since their WC win -- as being a little disorienting for anyone over the age of 30-35.

[miami_fan]

Uh, Italy have won the World Cup four times, most recently in 2006. They have been runners-up twice and third place once.

They have won the European Championship twice, most recently in 2020, and been runners-up twice.

The best the U.S. have done at the WC was third place in 1930. They made the quarter finals in 2002 and the Round of 16 in 1934, 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022.

They've won the Gold Cup a lot and the CONCACAF three times, but neither of those are close to the level of the European Championships.

So no, Italy remains more accomplished.

Oops, looks like I forgot to add the big caveat of since 2010.

Obviously I was being fictitious. However, since 2010, Italy has finished 26th and 22nd in consecutive World Cups, and missed the next three. They won in 2020 (played in 2021 but do we really count anything that happened during COVID?;) ), were runners up in 2012 and were 7th and 14th in their continental competition held every four years.

USMNT finished 12th and 15th int the 2010 and 2014 WCs and after missing in 2018 finished 14th in 2022. In their continental competition held every two years, USMNT has three titles and been runner up three times.

The commentary is more of a criticism of Gli Azzurri then any sort of praise for USMNT. However facts are facts. Both sides are facing teams of their level given the sport's importance in the confederation. saItaly's tournament record since 2010 has been subpar. If i am being honest, you could go back to after its last WC win in 2006 and the results are even more stark. Italy has won exactly one WC match during that time. USMNT has won three matches at the World Cup during that same time period. Italy has definitely accomplished more overall than USMNT. But over over the last 15 or so years? Not so much.

[flere-imsaho]

Yes, but, in terms of difficulty, it goes like this:

World Cup
European Championship
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Gold Cup
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.CONCACAF Nations League

[MIJB#19]

Can we say USMNT have passed Italy as a soccer world power?That isn't a major achievement, based on the last 4 World Cups, there are 36 countries that can proclaim to be ahead of Italy. Once the World Cup 2026 is in the books, it's fair to assume that Saudi Arabia will join those 36 and something like a surprise R16 performance will lift South Africa, New Zealand or Bosnia-Herzegovina ahead as well.

But Italy did win the European Championships in 2021 and lost the final in 2012 as well. They haven't sucked for 20 years straight.

[flere-imsaho]

You can say that the USMNT is more accomplished, recently, going off of tournaments won. But you can't really say they're better (unless they surprise us this summer, I suppose). That would be akin to saying a perennial national champion in DIII american football is more accomplished than a DI team that makes the college football playoffs every year, maybe wins an SEC or B10 title here and there, but hasn't won a national championship for a while. More accomplished, sure. Better? No.

[Ghost Econ]

Chelsea's next league game is May 4th. They haven't scored a league goal since March 7th. Assuming they score, it will have been almost 2 months.

[GrantDawg]

Happy birthday to me! My son just snagged us tickets to a World Cup match.

[RainMaker]

Happy birthday to me! My son just snagged us tickets to a World Cup match.

How much were they?

I was planning to go but the tickets seemed insanely high priced. Same for the Olympics. They're asking like $1000 for track finals. Even the smaller events were hundreds of dollars when France was charging like $35 to attend.

[GrantDawg]

How much were they?

I was planning to go but the tickets seemed insanely high priced. Same for the Olympics. They're asking like $1000 for track finals. Even the smaller events were hundreds of dollars when France was charging like $35 to attend.

He didntell me, but i just looked and Stub Hub. Looks like they were around $250.

[RainMaker]

That's not bad at all. I was looking to go to a game in Seattle but tickets for Egypt-Belgium were $600 at the cheapest on the secondary markets.

[Ghost Econ]

Well, I hope you're ready to go see Italy instead of Iran.

Keep politics out of sports... I guess....

reuters.com (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-envoy-seeks-replace-iran-with-italy-upcoming-world-cup-ft-reports-2026-04-22/)

[GrantDawg]

That's not bad at all. I was looking to go to a game in Seattle but tickets for Egypt-Belgium were $600 at the cheapest on the secondary markets.
Yeah, I think he was surprised by the price. I had looked earlier and they were much more expensive. Looks like the non-group stage tickets are $700+ at the cheapest. Even the group stage matches with Spain are $550-$750. But all the other group matches start at the $250 range. Not a lot of blockbuster matches in there.

[MIJB#19]

Well, I hope you're ready to go see Italy instead of Iran.

Keep politics out of sports... I guess....

reuters.com (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-envoy-seeks-replace-iran-with-italy-upcoming-world-cup-ft-reports-2026-04-22/)FIFA is broken as hell, but if for whatever reasons Iran gets replaced, it will be a team from Asia and the last team knocked out in qualifiers were the United Arab Emirates.

[flere-imsaho]

Starting to look real hairy for Spurs.

With 4 games left and 2 points off of West Ham in 17th, Spurs final games:

@ Aston Villa (5th)
vs. Leeds (15th)
@ Chelsea (8th, but in free-fall)
vs. Everson (11th)

West Ham's last four games:

@ Brentford (9th)
vs. Arsenal (1st)
@ Newcastle (14th)
vs. Leeds (15th)

Speaking of putative / wannabe members of the "Big 6", quite the fall for Newcastle there.

[GrantDawg]

Yeah! Just read the stadium food prices aren't going up for the World Cup in Atlanta. Everything else might be stupid expensive, but we still get the $2 refillable Cokes and $2 hotdogs.

[miami_fan]

The Nearly Men finally became Champions. Arsenal are Premier League Champions for the first time in 22 years.

Pep is set to manage his final match for Manchester City

There is still a chance Spurs could be relegated this weekend.

And still this might be the most interesting story coming out of English club football over the last 48 hours.

Southampton expelled from Championship playoffs over Spygate - ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48818048/southampton-expelled-championship-playoffs-spygate-middlesbrough)

ESPN gave it the "Spygate" moniker but I can't imagine any scenario where an American sports league pulls a team out of a playoff final due to any sort of rules violation/cheating scandal and replace it with the team that the first team just beat. Especially when the playoff final is less than a week away. Even David Stern couldn't figure out a way to pull that one off. Even though I think it is the correct decision, I can't imagine all the lawsuits that will pop up due to the decision that has been made.

[thealmighty]

I can finally wear my Gunners stuff again... if I can find any of it.

[RainMaker]

The Southampton story is wild and seems fairly unprecedented. But aren't they also giving Manchester City a huge pass for cheating all those years?

[miami_fan]

The Southampton story is wild and seems fairly unprecedented. But aren't they also giving Manchester City a huge pass for cheating all those years?

I think the unprecedented part is that the other clubs and more importantly the Southampton higher ups and fans did not hide behind the "all clubs do it" defense, were willing to make a scene and forced the EFL to deal with this immediately. Leeds did this a few years ago under Marcelo Bielsa. He was upfront about it and technically, there was not a rule in place for spying on a team's practice session. The rule was created because of that incident and that was during the regular season. To do it before the playoffs and for the fans and players to mock Middlesbrough and the rest of the league when they were caught is insane.


The delayed resolution of the Man City charges feel like the NCAA deciding to return the Heisman Trophy to Reggie Bush due to "enormous changes in the college football landscape."

[miami_fan]

You can really tell the English folks who live in the US or have traveled to the US during summertime on a regular basis and those who are don't fit into one of those categories. It was only 92 degrees with 60-65 percent humidity and folks were passed out midway through the first half.

[flere-imsaho]

Local sentiment here in Chicago is that we dodged a huge bullet with deciding not to bid to host any of the WC games.