Soccer Thread 2014-15

[miami_fan]

Premier League could be victim of Europa League arrogance - ESPN FC

Time to appreciate the Europa League.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Premier League could be victim of Europa League arrogance - ESPN FC

Time to appreciate the Europa League.

I actually remember the days when the Eredivisie was ranked ahead of the Premier League. Admittedly, that was in the previous century (the mid and late 90's), before European laws voided all foreign-player limitations, followed by the Bosman case, etc. Fluctuations are of all times, but that top three spot certainly appears to be at risk next seasons, although there still is a 3-point cushion on Serie A. Plus, that so called arrogance also applies to the Spanish and Italian clubs. Even clubs in leagues in the bottom of the top10 are guilty of fielding backups.

Additionally, I was tempted to respond with how the Premier League's Fair Play Award ticket in Europa League could hurt the Premier League even more. I did the math (and foolishly forgot to save my research) that showed that over the past 20 seasons (I had to stop tracking at some point), the fair play award teams on average actually improve the league's coefficient. Basically, they accumulate enough points in the early qualifying stages to make up for the increased denominator, especially teams from leagues with higher standards, because they are seeded teams throughout those qualifying stages.

[cartman]

Jack Warner bought time on Trindad and Tobago TV to state his case.



John Oliver then bought time as well, and issued a rebuttal:

[cartman]

Oof. Hungary and Serbia were tied in the 119th minute of their U20 World Cup match, and headed for PKs. That is, until a brutal own goal by Hungary gave Serbia the 2-1 win.

Terrible 119th Minute Own Goal Eliminated Hungary From U-20 World Cup | The Big Lead

[SirFozzie]

Klinsmann haters are frantically looking for recipes to make eating crow palatable as the USA MNT beats Netherlands and Germany in the space of a week.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Klinsmann haters are frantically looking for recipes to make eating crow palatable as the USA MNT beats Netherlands and Germany in the space of a week.

You're right. Surely these victories will prove invaluable in getting to the next round of WC qualifying. Oh what, they're friendlies and don't mean a thing? Yup.

[ISiddiqui]

A very, very good goal from Bobby Wood there. Wow!

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

You're right. Surely these victories will prove invaluable in getting to the next round of WC qualifying. Oh what, they're friendlies and don't mean a thing? Yup.

Not entirely worthless. These wins will result in a lot of points for the FIFA ranking, because of the rankings of the respective opponents.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Not entirely worthless. These wins will result in a lot of points for the FIFA ranking, because of the rankings of the respective opponents.

No, they aren't worthless, but they're not really of tremendous value either. FIFA rankings are about as much crap as FIFA itself at the moment, really, and the games literally do nothing to qualify the team for any tournament whatsoever.

I'm not a Klinsmann hater at all. I think he does some very good things, and then there are some faults he needs to shore up. I'm just pointing out that SirFozzie's point is patently ridiculous when you consider what was on the line in these games (nothing, really).

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Not entirely worthless. These wins will result in a lot of points for the FIFA ranking, because of the rankings of the respective opponents.

IIRC playing literally any friendlies lower our ranking overall because they are worth less than our competitive games within the confederation. We get penalized in friendlies simply by being part of CONCACAF.

I'm 99% certainly it's been shown mathmateically that if we really wanted to maximize our ranking (and therefore shot at the #1 pot in World Cup) that playing literally zero friendlies would be better.

It's a completely broken system.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

IIRC playing literally any friendlies lower our ranking overall because they are worth less than our competitive games within the confederation. We get penalized in friendlies simply by being part of CONCACAF.

I'm 99% certainly it's been shown mathmateically that if we really wanted to maximize our ranking (and therefore shot at the #1 pot in World Cup) that playing literally zero friendlies would be better.

It's a completely broken system.

Let's ask Jack Warner for some help.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

No, they aren't worthless, but they're not really of tremendous value either. FIFA rankings are about as much crap as FIFA itself at the moment, really, and the games literally do nothing to qualify the team for any tournament whatsoever.

I'm not a Klinsmann hater at all. I think he does some very good things, and then there are some faults he needs to shore up. I'm just pointing out that SirFozzie's point is patently ridiculous when you consider what was on the line in these games (nothing, really).

Bitching about beating Germany and The Netherlands...

[EagleFan]

Rather slow start for USWNT tonight. The refs don't seem to want to call a PK as each team should have had one by now.

[Easy Mac]

A firefighter from Gibraltar just stopped a German PK. maybe the US win was overrated.

[Easy Mac]

This Gibraltar-Germany match on FS2 is quite exciting. Gibraltar could honestly have 2 goals right now, but they're down 1-0. And it's amazing how easy it is to see the immense talent gap.

[Easy Mac]

Triple Dola

This Gibraltar keeper is playing like a giant killer. He would be carrying a 9.2 at the half in FM.

I greatly regret telling my wife I am going to Costco for her.

[bhlloy]

Day late on this but Wales are so close to qualifying now we can taste it - will be vacationing in France next year assuming it happens. An incredible effort against a really good Belgium team

[SirFozzie]

The Faroe Islands have beat Greece.

Again!

[cartman]

That was an epic quarterfinal match between Serbia and the USA in the U20 World Cup. Went 9 deep in penalties where Serbia scored and won. The US goalie made some awesome saves, but the scorers didn't take advantage.

[EagleFan]

Two of those use takers went completely brain dead. The very first one stopping right before kicking; that left him with zero power on his kick and an easy save. The last one barely jogging up and had no power on his kick for another easy save. Especially when the Serbia keeper was about a yard in front of the line before every kick (which I thought was supposed to be an illegal move). Shame for the US keeper because those two saves he made were fantastic.

Felt bad for the defender who skied his kick, he was a little out of his element there and he had played a GREAT game, glad the keeper came up huge with save next. Then the other player was about 2 inches from a perfect PK but instead he hits the corner and comes up empty.

[ISiddiqui]

Yay US women! Though we totally didn't look impressive... I fear how we'll play against Germany... who we may meet in the Semis.

[cubboyroy1826]

Yeah todays game was just so so. It seems like everyone but the US coaches knew that the US should pack the box on the corners just like Sweden did against Nigeria. We just seemed a little out of sync with passes going to long and players not communicating very well. Alas a win is a win.

[SirFozzie]

Clint Dempsey? He mad, yo.

The Portland-Seattle game.. got out of hand, the Sounders ended the game with 7 players, including Clint Dempsey grabbing the referee's card book and ripping it up

Livestream: 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup - Round 4: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Portland Timbers - YouTube

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by cubboyroy1826

Yeah todays game was just so so. It seems like everyone but the US coaches knew that the US should pack the box on the corners just like Sweden did against Nigeria. We just seemed a little out of sync with passes going to long and players not communicating very well. Alas a win is a win.

Oh, I'm not saying the win isn't nice. But other teams in the tourney have impressed. We haven't. I don't think we'll actually go very far playing this way.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Eastside Hockey Manager (Early Access) is $10 until noon today.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Eastside Hockey Manager (Early Access) is $10 until noon today.

I think you meant this for the Steam thread maybe? Either that or this is the weirdest threadcrap ever.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Oh, I'm not saying the win isn't nice. But other teams in the tourney have impressed. We haven't. I don't think we'll actually go very far playing this way.

+1

[SirFozzie]

Dempsey got three games for ripping up the ref's notebook. Kinda surprised, the minimum punishment for assault (which includes "Destroying or damaging the referee's equipment") is six games. Eligible for the Gold Cup, let's see what Klinsi does.

[cartman]

Parma failed to find a new investor (evidently the Mike Piazza thing never materialized), and have been kicked down to Serie D.

[ISiddiqui]

Well, it looks like Pirlo to NYCFC is a go. The team has started playing better recently, so I'm not sure they needed to pull a retirement player to keep fan interest going (esp with Lampard coming over soon as well - though I think NYCFC is much happier getting Pirlo this Summer than Lampard over what happened with him this Spring).

[whomario]

Originally Posted by cartman

Parma failed to find a new investor (evidently the Mike Piazza thing never materialized), and have been kicked down to Serie D.

That will be a popular pick in FM 16 then (in all seriousness, thats a shame. One of the teams that have regularly been of interest to me, especially as a youngster in the late 90s and early 00s)

[cartman]

Inter splashed out 40 million Euros to get Geoffrey Kondogbia away from AS Monaco. That is a steep price to upgrade their midfield.

[sovereignstar v2]

Nice that UEFA is going to relax the FFP rules so that the Milan clubs can start splashing the cash.

[SirFozzie]

If USA win tonight, half the quarterfinalists will be english speaking nations (Canada, US, England, Australia).

3 of the four could make the semifinals (Germany-France is the only non-English speaking quarterfinals, Canada plays England).

Fox must love the way this is turning out (Barring US loss)

[MizzouCowboy]

Red card on the Columbia keeper and Wambach (I think) misses from the spot.
This US team looks terrible. Giving up possession constantly, and I have no clue what the plan of attack is.

And just like that it's a GOOOOAAAALLLL USA!

[kingfc22]

That is some atrocious goal keeping right there.

[kingfc22]

If you're going to talk shit. You better be able to back it up.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

That is some atrocious goal keeping right there.

It's their 3rd stringer

[cartman]

Every time I hear Tony DiCicco announcing, I have to remind myself that I'm not listening to Jeremy Schaap.

[SirFozzie]

2 weeks to go until meaningful European games start, at least for English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh teams in Europe. Celtic face Stjarnan, who knocked out Motherwell in Europa League qualifiers last year.

Champions League:
(Enters at first round)

The New Saints (Wales) vs B36 Torshavn (Faroe Islands)
Crusaders (Northern Ireland) vs Levadia Talinn (Estonia)

(Enters 2nd Round)
Glasgow Celtic (Scotland) vs FC Stjarnan (Iceland)
Dundalk (Ireland) vs BATE Borisov (Belarus)

(Enters Playoff Stage (4th round))
Manchester United vs ???

Enters Group Stage
Chelsea
Manchester City
Arsenal


Europa League

Enters 1st Qualifying Round
West Ham (England) vs FC Lusitans (Andorra)
Newtown (Wales) vs FC Valetta (Malta)
Glenavon (Northern Ireland) vs Shakhtyor Soligorsk (Belarus)
Linfield (Northern Ireland) vs NSI Runavik (Faroe Islands)
Glentoran (Northern Ireland) vs MSK Zilina (Slovakia)
Shamrock Rovers (Ireland) vs Progres Niederkorn (Luxemborg)
Cork City (Ireland) vs KR Reykjavik (Iceland)
UC Dublin (Ireland) v F91 Dudelange (Luxemborg.. the Dudelange abides!)
St Patrick's Athletic (Ireland) vs Skonto FC (Latvia)
Bala Town (Wales) vs FC Differdange 03 (Luxemborg)
AUK Broughton (Wales) vs Lokomitva Zagreb (Croatia)
Aberdeen (Scotland) vs KF Shkendija (Macedonia)
St Johnstone (Scotland) vs Alashkert FC (Armenia)


(enters 2nd round qualifying)
Inverness Caley Thistle (Scotland) vs Astra Girgliu (Romania)

(Enters 3rd round qualifying)
Southampton (v ???)

(Enters Group Stage)
Liverpool
Tottenham

And my hands hurt typing that all out, and my spell checker has gone on strike.

[MizzouRah]

Wasn't too found of the referring tonight.. but at least we scored on one of the PK's. Don't like not having Rapinoe for the next game.

[RainMaker]

Wambach really looks washed up.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Wambach really looks washed up.

She offers something coming off the bench where she can go 15-20 minutes as much as she possibly can but playing her an entire game is generally a waste. Would rather a younger/faster team in there.

They're just not good enough this go around. They will get past the next game but once they're to the final four, my guess will be they will be the weakest of the four remaining teams.

[CraigSca]

Watching this with my wife (trying to get her into soccer) and, while she's not a soccer fan, her critique has been brutal. As she's said, it seems like the Americans just kick it without thinking and I have to agree. It's almost as if there is no tactical plan. It's not fun soccer to watch.

[ISiddiqui]

Agreed. Jill Ellis is really a bad coach.

[BishopMVP]

Bad coaching, a federation more concerned about politics and marketing than winning, and a domestic abuser starting. I was rooting for the US to lose so they are forced to fix the problems.

[HomerSimpson98]

I think everyone is being a tad harsh, in my uneducated opinion. The short of it was that Colombia simply was not that good. There is not one time during that match that I was concerned about a possible loss. We were bigger, faster, and stronger than they were in all phases. And I think we knew that, so we kinda half-assed it. At least thats what I am telling myself. It was a rough game to watch for sure.

[ISiddiqui]

We've been half-assing it a lot in this tourney then . We may be ok against China, but then either Germany or France are going to kill us.

[Arles]

The US hasn't really been "challenged" yet, so it will be interesting to see how they respond if they go down early in a game. Thus far they've been able to get the result they needed fairly comfortably by coasting. I think they have another gear that we will see starting in the China match. That said, I am not a big fan of Ellis and she might be the one weak link that hurts them down the road.

[ISiddiqui]

Seriously... I think everyone and their mothers is calling for a 4-3-3 formation (ok, 4-2-3-1 may work too) at this point. But it won't happen.