Soccer Thread 2024-25 Edition
 

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

And that is just tomorrow!:popcorn:

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

Fixed that for ya.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Erling B. Haaland

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

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

and the Newcastle game has gotten VERY entertaining

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?

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?

Probably will get more use as a document shredder.

Haaland

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.

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

Just needs a little more time and another transfer window

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.

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.

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

Seventeen minutes of extra time.

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.

Another 115, maybe.


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.

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

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


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.

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.

Leicester win appeal, will avoid Premier League points deduction - ESPN

Congratulations Leicester Fans!

The relegation was worth it?

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Do those exist?

Another masterclass from a "top" English referee

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

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

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.

oops

archive.ph

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.

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

Real Madrid are a pathetic excuse of a football club

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

Theatre of dreams

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Club Statement

West Ham United can confirm striker Michail Antonio has today been involved in a road traffic accident.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the Club are with Michail, his family and friends at this time.

The Club will issue an update in due course. pic.twitter.com/v3ZNyR80fd

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 7, 2024

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

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:

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.

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.

dola, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

double dola: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Plucky Mid Table Side Take 3 Points Off Of Fading Champions

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

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.

Netflix secures U.S. broadcast rights for 2027, 2031 Women’s World Cups - The Athletic

That should go over well.

Guess I won't be watching.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

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.

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.

"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*

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*

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.

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?

Ange's fall from grace has been pretty dramatic.

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

No mention of Kovacic on that last goal?

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.

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.

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

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".

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.

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

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.

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.

I was doing so well without Ray Hudson in my life

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Breathtaking that own goal by Sommer!

Fibonacci Sequence: Mathematicians Spot Something Odd After Liverpool Win Premier League | IFLScience

….

Absolute insanity!

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?

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

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

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.

Palace! Wooo!

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.

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.

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