Soccer Thread 2022-2023

[HomerSimpson98]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

I think Lampard can actually do well at Chelsea - unfortunately. There is lots of attacking talent to work with there, and thats what he wants to do. Couldnt do it at Everton because we have barely any.

And I wonder why i cant ever get out of mid-table in the National Leagues in FM. Oof

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

City are 2 points behind, have 2 games in hand, and are +13 in GD over Arsenal. Their remaining league opponents are Fulham, West Ham, Everton, Leeds, Chelsea (twice?), Brentford. It's over.

Yep. Yesterday's result was always the likeliest of outcomes. Arsenal lost the league in the three prior matches. Blowing two 2-0 leads and then only managing a draw against Southampton at home. Ballgame

[miami_fan]

Any ideas as to the reasoning behind the Spurs player not allowing the ball to go out for the corner before the Rashford goal?

[sovereignstar v2]

I suppose Perisic thought they still had numbers or an advantage of some sort.

[Ksyrup]

Groundhog's day for Tottenham?

[miami_fan]

Well they did a bit better from last week so far.

[Ksyrup]

What a comeback.

[Ksyrup]

And all for nothing. Good lord.

[Ksyrup]

And Klopp pulled a hammy running to yell at the side ref. Lol

[miami_fan]

Brutal injury for Coleman

[Ksyrup]

Leicester is going to blow this. Could easily be 4-1.

[miami_fan]

On the other hand, the Leicester keeper has probably saved three probable goals himself.

[sovereignstar v2]

wtf are you doing, Pickford?

[HomerSimpson98]

Entertaining game. Neither team is very good, unfortunately. Leicester goalie made some incredible stops

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

On the other hand, the Leicester keeper has probably saved three probable goals himself.

Although he wasn't the biggest issue, they finally benched Ward about 3 or 4 games ago and the new guy has proven he deserved a chance much earlier in the season.

That was a weird game. They got outplayed and should have lost, yet they should have had at least a 3-1 lead at half, 4 if Vardy doesn't hit the crossbar.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

He's so old he's dead.

Oh wait, the other guy. I don't know English soccer, I just know that there are apparently 30 managers for 20 teams and if you fire your guy you have to pick from the approved list. I'm surprised Kevin Loughery and Dick Motta weren't called.

This is so false....

In unrelated news Leeds is turning to Big Sam in an attempt to keep them up!

[miami_fan]

It does not seem like a good idea to ask Liverpool FC to play "God Save The King" at Anfield before any home match. It seems like a really bad idea to do so two weeks or so after the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

It does not seem like a good idea to ask Liverpool FC to play "God Save The King" at Anfield before any home match. It seems like a really bad idea to do so two weeks or so after the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

My travel soccer team was actually on a tour in England when this happened, and our parents knew we were going to a pro game. Obviously it being 1989 they knew we were going to a game but likely not which game. I remember we all had to call home and tell our folks that wasn't the game we were at.

[sovereignstar v2]

Chelsea are an absolute shambles

[sovereignstar v2]

"Not in my lifetime."

[sovereignstar v2]

Weston McKennie on long throw duty for Leeds today

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Chelsea are an absolute shambles

This aged well.

Though overall I actually agree with you.

[Critch]

Three cheers for good King Charles.

It's three games in a row for the Coronation Bank Holiday.

[Ksyrup]

I could have managed this Leicester team into the ground for a few thousand dollars. Just sayin'.

[HomerSimpson98]

LOL. Leicester trying to make this a game. Unreal

[HomerSimpson98]

Fuck yeah Toffees.

[miami_fan]

Southampton is definitely going down to the Championship and I think that West Ham is safe. That leaves four clubs for two relegation spots: Nottingham Forrest, Everton, Leicester City and Leeds United. I don't have a big desire for any of those clubs to go down.

I kind of want Forrest to stay up because for all the talk about bringing in 30 players since the summer window, they actually are only a plus 4 because of all the loan players that left from the team that won promotion. That is a hell of a coaching job by Steve Cooper. I also would like to see a club with that sort of history get at least one more year instead of dropping right back down.

I feel like Leicester would benefit from going down. I don't mean that in a negative way. I just think that relegation would allow the club to do things like reorganize, cut the wage bill etc. to put the club in a better position without the pressure of keeping up with the rest of the EPL.

Sorry HomerSimpson98, but I kinda wanna see what would happen if Everton went down. Nothing against Everton but it is more of a gawking at the car crash situation. Everton have been in the top flight of English football since 1954. They have suffered only two relegations since 1887! The idea of that club inviting a club like Rotherham United to Goodison Park for a league match would be interesting.

As far as Leeds United goes, yeah I just don't like Sam Allardyce and I definitely don't like the idea of him just coming in for four matches.

As I think about it more, I definitely want Leeds to go. If Everton or Leicester City could drag West Ham into one of the relegation places that would be great. West Ham going into a Europa Conference League Final with a chance to win a European title and a spot in the next year's Europa League one week after getting relegated from the EPL? Sign me up!

[Ksyrup]

I don't see any way Leicester stay up. Ink up losses to Liverpool and Newcastle the next two weeks and that leaves West Ham last game of the season to pull it out. But WTF do Maddison, Barnes, Iheanacho, etc., care when they are leaving/getting sold one way or the other? And by then, if things break like they did today, even 3 points on the final day may not matter.

[HomerSimpson98]

I think its Saints, Leeds, and Leicester.


Heartbreaker for Saints last night but i agree miami_fan, Cooper has done a remarkable job at NF getting points. That is not a good team but they're in a position to escape. Will be cool to see what happens if they can stay.


Leeds and LC are similar - no defense. Hate to see them both go down but I agree it could be for the best for them. Leicester has to be infuriating as a fan because there's just too much talent to be this bad.



Can't feel good about Everton even after a big 3 points with City coming to Goodison. Only hope is that they get battered today by Real Madrid and Pep starts the kiddie lineup against us. Goodison should be rocking.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't see any way Leicester stay up. Ink up losses to Liverpool and Newcastle the next two weeks and that leaves West Ham last game of the season to pull it out. But WTF do Maddison, Barnes, Iheanacho, etc., care when they are leaving/getting sold one way or the other? And by then, if things break like they did today, even 3 points on the final day may not matter.

I joke about teams getting relegated but the ripple effects throughout a club that is relegated does affect most of the first team squad.

First, yes certain guys are getting moves to other clubs but many may not. Outside of maybe Maddison and maybe Barnes, those that won't be moving at the price or worth the contract the player wants to move for either. How good could a guy like Iheanacho be if the club he was playing for got relegated and he only scored eight goals as a center forward? Is he worth a €17.00m transfer fee and whatever Leicester paid him this year? Also while some will leave, most will probably stay and be playing eight more games for less money in front of smaller crowds in the second division. They no longer will be a part of a Big 5 league, no longer be a Big 5 league player, and no longer playing in "the best league in the world".

Second, I get it. We view most of these guys as mercenaries who don't give a shit about anyone else at the club. However, we saw during the lockout how most players took paycuts to ensure that the people that work at the club still made their usual salaries or close to it. The players know that if the club is relegated, people at the club will lose their jobs. The people we don't think about but people who the players will know more intimately then we do. The kit men, the folks that work in the ticket office, the cafeteria or the ticket office etc. Many of those folks will be unemployed at the end of the season if the club is relegated. For a guy like Harvey Barnes has been at the club since he was 10 or Jamie Vardy who has been at the club since 2012, knowing the lady who has cooked your meals during that whole time or the guy who worked in the laundry room lost his or her job and knowing intimately what that loss of income will do to them and their family because you and your teammates sucked on the pitch can't feel great even if you are heading off to play for a Big Six team next year. That does not include all the other businesses around the town who depend on Premier League crowds 9-10 months out of the year and people learning about Leicester City because the football team playing on international TV every week to stay afloat. The players and their families go to those businesses. I think this would be more of a thing for a club like Leicester City given the great relationship that it has with the city. I know it sounds corny but not too many players avoid the stench of being on a team that has been relegated even if they move on to bigger and better things.

[sovereignstar v2]

Will be amazing if City can overcome yet another terrible European ref

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[sovereignstar v2]

These clubs are so evenly matched. It's going to be a crazy return leg I'm sure

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[JonInMiddleGA]

Rapids suspend Max Alves amid gambling probe - source - ESPN

[Ksyrup]

I saw that. Something about taking a yellow card 2 minutes into a match?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I saw that. Something about taking a yellow card 2 minutes into a match?

Yeah (well, 90 seconds after he entered as a sub), though most of the allegations involve players in Brazil's top league. Also implicated is former Houston Dynamo Zeca who was reportedly due to participate in a match fix scheme on MLS decision day (he's currently signed to a Brazilian 2nd league club)

[MIJB#19]

What do we really expect though?
Turn the semifinal of the Conference League on, you'll witness both West Ham United and Alkmaar Zaanstreek actively promoting gambling/betting with their shirt sponsor. There's quite the perverse contradiction in there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

What do we really expect though?
Turn the semifinal of the Conference League on, you'll witness both West Ham United and Alkmaar Zaanstreek actively promoting gambling/betting with their shirt sponsor. There's quite the perverse contradiction in there.

Is it really contradictory to believe it's fine to gamble but also improper to match fix?

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Is it really contradictory to believe it's fine to gamble but also improper to match fix?

Fair enough, shirt sponsoring isn't a direct tie to individuals being stupid or getting blackmailed into doing silly things that could be bet on. I do believe that it's a terrible signal a football club gives to actively promote gambling on sports matches, including their own matches. Although one could say 50 years ago this was happening under the radar and now it's wide open for everybody to see.

[flere-imsaho]

The tragedy of Leicester potentially going down is that they didn't do something monumentally wrong. They took a gamble after their EPL title to try and establish themselves in the UCL places, and it didn't pay off. And then they had a manager who apparently can no longer succeed at a "selling" club.

Yes, some mistakes were made, but this isn't a tire fire situation like, say, Everton.

[sovereignstar v2]

Silky Ilkay

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[MIJB#19]

Th enough is enough situation in the Eredivisie is going to be one of holding the backs straight and the shoulders up, the absurdity in the KNVB Beker semi final finally made the clubs and association take a stand. The misbehaviour of people in the stands (I refuse to call such people fans), is currently leading to pretty much every game getting suspended and it's becoming standard to have at least one game played out a couple of days later with empty stands. What I do like is the players across clubs are agreeing and downright refuse to play football in front of assholes pretending to be football fans.

[sovereignstar v2]

City have gotten 37 of a possible 39 league points since those ridiculous FA charges were announced. Thanks for galvanizing the club like that!

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[cartman]

Inter through to the Champions League final

[Critch]

Not a bad ending to the Mexican Liga de Expansion semi-final, Celaya v Atletico Morelia:

📹#NoTeLoPierdas

¡G⚽⚽⚽⚽LAZ⚽ de @C_A_Morelia! ⚽🔥

¡De Portería A Portería!

Santiago Ramírez aprovechó que el arquero de los Toros fue a rematar y con este despeje anotó el 1-3 definitivo en el Miguel Alemán.

Global 2-4#Semifinales Vuelta #Clausura2023 pic.twitter.com/YlvRBb7Rhh

— Liga BBVA Expansión MX (@LigaMXExpansion) May 15, 2023

[miami_fan]

Breaking: Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity with immediate effect for eight months, fined £50,000 and warned as to his future conduct for breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.

— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) May 17, 2023

[miami_fan]

Not sure I want to give sovereignstar too much joy but JFC that was a brilliant half by Manchester City.

[sovereignstar v2]

EZ

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm surprised Kyle Walker had room for Vinicius Jr in his pocket with Mbappe being in it already

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I'm surprised Kyle Walker had room for Vinicius Jr in his pocket with Mbappe being in it already

Sent from my CPH2451 using Tapatalk

Well, they have deep pockets at Manchester City.

[sovereignstar v2]

You aren't wrong. Obviously if you generate the most revenue in the world you can spend a lot of that money.