Soccer Thread 2015-16

[flere-imsaho]

As I think Marc pointed out (perhaps in this thread), EPL prize money now exceeds UCL prize money. If that continues (and I see no reason why it wouldn't), we're going to have an interesting dichotomy where EPL owners prioritize the EPL over the UCL while their fans (ostensibly) look for more balance.

[flere-imsaho]

Here's some data, at least:

UEFA Champions League Prize Money 2015-16 Breakdown

Premier League Prize Money Table 2015 (Confirmed)

But basically, QPR, who finished 20th in last year's EPL and were relegated, made 65M (pounds) from prize money & tv money.

Barcelona, for winning last year's UCL, made 58M (euro) from prize money & shared tv money (Juventus actually made more - 64M (euro).

At current exchange rates 58M euro is roughly 42M british pounds.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Nice work, MIJB!

Actually, it looks even better now after adding colors.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

As I think Marc pointed out (perhaps in this thread), EPL prize money now exceeds UCL prize money. If that continues (and I see no reason why it wouldn't), we're going to have an interesting dichotomy where EPL owners prioritize the EPL over the UCL while their fans (ostensibly) look for more balance.

Well, a lot of the owners that actually compete in the CL are in it for prestige instead of being concerned about the most fiscally responsible path. And I don't think an EPL title will ever be more prestigious than a CL one.

Like most have pointed out, it's not the CL performance that's going to cost England a spot, it's Europa League performance, which doesn't have much prestige at all.

[ISiddiqui]

It's not necessarily all about prize money, of course. Champions League gives you a much greater impact in terms of worldwide recognition and has great impacts on merchandising and the tons of money made there.

[Ryche]

Garry Monk officially fired from Swansea.

Swansea City part company with Garry Monk

[murrayyyyy]

Originally Posted by Ryche

Garry Monk officially fired from Swansea.

Swansea City part company with Garry Monk

Not pleased about this but looks like the old girlfriend will be back in town. I think they locked up Brendan Rodgers before they made the move.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by murrayyyyy

Not pleased about this but looks like the old girlfriend will be back in town. I think they locked up Brendan Rodgers before they made the move.

Sounds like he has a big money offer from somewhere in the middle east so probably won't be him. No idea who I want that's realistic

[MIJB#19]

Euro2016 draw is in.

Group A: France, Romania, Albania, Switzerland
Group B: England, Russia, Wales, Slovakia
Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Northern Ireland
Group D: Spain, Czechia, Turkey, Croatia
Group E: Belgium, Italy, Rep. Ireland, Sweden
Group F: Portugal, Iceland, Austria, Hungary

I'm still working on a Euro2016 modification to my World Cup/Euro spreadsheet. Complicated part being the various possibilities for the four best third placed teams placing orders.

[MrBug708]

Group E...uggh

[bob]

It seems like Poland always gets drawn into the same group as Germany.

[miami_fan]

I wish we could see what the great managers of the past and present (Fergie, Busby, Shankly, etc) would do with this Aston Villa squad for the rest of the season. They might be in 18th place right now. Brutal

[flere-imsaho]

Here's the full draw for the first knockout round of the Europa League:

Valencia v Rapid Vienna

Fiorentina v Tottenham Hotspur

Borussia Dortmund v FC Porto

Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moscow

Anderlecht v Olympiakos

Midtjylland v Manchester United

Augsburg v Liverpool

Sparta Prague v Krasnodar

Galatasaray v Lazio

Sion v Braga

Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke

Marseille v Athletic Bilbao

Sevilla v Molde

Sporting Lisbon v Bayer Leverkusen

Villarreal v Napoli

Saint-Etienne v Basel

[flere-imsaho]

Here's the draw for the knockout round of the Champions' League:

Ghent v Wolfsburg

Roma v Real Madrid

Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea

Arsenal v Barcelona

Juventus v Bayern Munich

PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid

Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg

Dynamo Kyiv v Manchester City

[flere-imsaho]

Given that Manchester United fluffed a very easy group, I'm looking forward to them getting knocked out 0-1 on aggregate in Denmark.

[flere-imsaho]

I feel bad for Arsenal. Having a pretty good season, and it's going to come to an end against the MSN juggernaut.

[flere-imsaho]

Zlatan 8 - 0 Chelsea, anyone?

[ISiddiqui]

Soo... what's exactly going on with Newcastle right now? I'm pleasantly shocked... though I imagine that won't last long.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I feel bad for Arsenal. Having a pretty good season, and it's going to come to an end against the MSN juggernaut.

I guess the best news for England is that Juve drew Bayern. That Fiorentina-Spurs draw also could be really huge now - I'm sure somebody somewhere actually has started breaking down coefficients and figuring out exactly what England needs vs. Italy's results going forward.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Soo... what's exactly going on with Newcastle right now? I'm pleasantly shocked... though I imagine that won't last long.

Talent wise, there is no reason why Newcastle should be in the relegation zone.

Now Chelsea on the other hand...

It really is startling to see that the defending champions of England are one point above the relegation zone. The transfer window is going to be very interesting.

[sovereignstar v2]

Mourinho to United is starting to align perfectly.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Talent wise, there is no reason why Newcastle should be in the relegation zone.

Now Chelsea on the other hand...

It really is startling to see that the defending champions of England are one point above the relegation zone. The transfer window is going to be very interesting.

I think you meant:

It really is wonderful to see the defending douche bags of England are one point above the relegation zone. The transfer window is going to be very interesting.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Mourinho to United is starting to align perfectly.

I would so love to see that train wreck happen.

Mourinho is a fantastic manager who is melting down this year. On the other side, what would he do that is all that different than their current manager? Park the bus, play boring football and lack weapons needed to really win the title. Most United fans would vomit at that thought.

They want Pep. (I know you want Pep too and I'll admit that I would like him too) If not Pep, they want someone who will play decent football.

[AlexB]

I missed the game today (in New Zealand for a while) but catching up on the live reporting I'm actually welling up a little! Still unbelievable, but sooner or later it can't be seen as a coincidence that almost every team seems to have an off day against us, maybe just maybe it is as much to do with how we play... Not sure I believe it myself just yet, but it's certainly not all one way.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Mourinho is a fantastic manager who is melting down this year.

I thought his tactical switch was a good one and it definitely got them back into the match - unfortunately they were two down and it was too little too late ...

That being said Leicester deserved the win, they worked immensely hard defending from the front and played some really nice football at times - I love the way they run at defenses its refreshing to watch

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by TroyF

They want Pep. (I know you want Pep too and I'll admit that I would like him too) If not Pep, they want someone who will play decent football.

The better manager for United would have been Klopp - much closer in alignment of philosophy to Ferguson than Van Gaal (or Mourinho, for that matter). Yes, eventually Van Gaal will turn over enough of the playing and non-playing staff that his philosophy will sink in, but will he get enough success in the meantime to actually stick around?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

The better manager for United would have been Klopp - much closer in alignment of philosophy to Ferguson than Van Gaal (or Mourinho, for that matter). Yes, eventually Van Gaal will turn over enough of the playing and non-playing staff that his philosophy will sink in, but will he get enough success in the meantime to actually stick around?

Klopp is potentially perfect for United, however the Liverpool fans will adore him also if he brings any semblance of success to the club and his personally meshes well with the English soccer attitude generally imho.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I thought his tactical switch was a good one and it definitely got them back into the match - unfortunately they were two down and it was too little too late ...

That being said Leicester deserved the win, they worked immensely hard defending from the front and played some really nice football at times - I love the way they run at defenses its refreshing to watch

The problem with that is he's used many of the same tactics the entire year and it is still not working.

At any rate, his meltdown has little to do with tactics. We are watching a guy with a large ego simply break down mentally before our eyes. He demotes the team doctor because she went onto the pitch and said nothing about the player who requested medical help.

Then we get into his conspiracy theories with the refs. (Seriously, the only reason they beat Arsenal was because the ref didn't do his job and didn't send Costa off 3 different times before he finally sent Gabriel off. It was the single worst mistake any EPL ref has made this year)

He's a brilliant manager. . . but he is seriously losing it and has been all year. His paranoia is catching up to him. I can't even imagine what it is like to be in the Chelsea facility now. Part of what makes him good is his refusal to fail, but the same part causes him to go off a cliff anytime that failure happens. (see locking a reporter in a room for hours at Real Madrid for further proof of this)

[flere-imsaho]

In manager news:

Guardiola to confirm his future by next week, but reports indicate he won't be re-signing with Bayern and the long-held rumors of a move to Man City will be confirmed. Ancellotti in the frame to take over at Bayern.

Bielsa to Swansea? Woah.

No shocker Benitez likely to be sacked at Real Madrid. Back to Mourinho?

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by TroyF

The problem with that is he's used many of the same tactics the entire year and it is still not working.

As you say, though, it's not really to do with tactics.

I think what's happened is pretty straightforward. He wore the team out physically and then mentally.

In 2014/15, basically 19 players (including Cech & Courtois) played all the league games: 2014–15 Chelsea F.C. season - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's simply not sustainable, especially for an EPL club that's also competing in 3 Cup competitions.

Once the performance dipped, Mourinho kept the pressure on his team, belatedly realized they needed a break, and has now doubled-down on the pressure, and appears to have lost the team in the process.

While this seems like a surprise for a manager with such a reputation for motivating players, it's not unlike the breakdown he had at Real Madrid where he lost the locker room.


Assuming he gets sacked (and I think it's a given that any manager of the EPL's "Big 4" gets sacked if they can't even qualify for the Europa League), the more interesting question is who picks him up. He has a deserved reputation as a title-winner. He figures out how to win fast. But at this point any appointment is for the short-term. There are plenty of owners out there who will take that, of course.

[miami_fan]

There are rumblings of a managerial change at Stamford Bridge

[flere-imsaho]

Chelsea sack manager José Mourinho after disastrous start to title defence | Football | The Guardian

[flere-imsaho]

I would imagine both Guardiola and Ancellotti's phones are blowing up right now.

[kingfc22]

Booooo. I was really enjoying watching this pompous ass make a fool of himself.

[ISiddiqui]

Men in Blazers is agitating for a new USMNT manager:

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I would imagine both Guardiola and Ancellotti's phones are blowing up right now.

I would imagine that both already know where they are going.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Assuming he gets sacked (and I think it's a given that any manager of the EPL's "Big 4" gets sacked if they can't even qualify for the Europa League), the more interesting question is who picks him up. He has a deserved reputation as a title-winner. He figures out how to win fast. But at this point any appointment is for the short-term. There are plenty of owners out there who will take that, of course.

1. PSG
2. United

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm expecting Chelsea to announce Guardiola as the new manager in the next day or so ..

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I'm expecting Chelsea to announce Guardiola as the new manager in the next day or so ..

Yeah right. He wouldn't touch that job with a 10 foot pole.

[sovereignstar v2]

The only appealing thing about that job to Pep would be that it's in London. Brentford is in London too.

[BishopMVP]

USA playing in Santa Clara, Chicago and Philly for this summer's Copa America. Couldn't find the date for when the rest of the draw happens.

https://ca2016loc.app.box.com/s/2ia2...xc75lldgkgai6f

[miami_fan]

@ChelseaFC We've received a CV from Mr Jose Mourinho. He's applied for a job as pizza chef. Please can you send through a reference. Thanks.

— Pizza Hut UK (@pizzahutuk) December 17, 2015

[MIJB#19]

Guus Hiddink has been spotted in London...

[flere-imsaho]

Guus Hiddink holding talks with Chelsea over caretaker role | Football | The Guardian

[ISiddiqui]

Is it just me, or does Guus Hiddink sound like a character from Harry Potter? Or is that just all Dutch names?

[miami_fan]

With Mourinho gone, the focus goes back to the squad. I am assuming they are going to want to play a bit more of an open style similar to the one they played at the beginning of last season. However, that back four has not shown an ability to cope on their own or just with Matic in front of them.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Is it just me, or does Guus Hiddink sound like a character from Harry Potter? Or is that just all Dutch names?

Ridikkulus!

[MizzouCowboy]

Chelsea couldn't have asked for a better start.

[sovereignstar v2]

Hire Mourinho United. Do it.

[sovereignstar v2]

OptaJoe ✔ @OptaJoe
7 - Manchester United have hit a total of seven shots on target in their last four Premier League home games. Dour.
10:54 AM - 19 Dec 2015