Soccer Thread 2015-16

[ISiddiqui]

Eh.. I prefer not to go the illegal or quasi-legal route.

[Grover]

If Time Warner carried Extra Time in my area it wouldn't be an issue.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by Grover

If Time Warner carried Extra Time in my area it wouldn't be an issue.

I don't get an "extra time", but I can stream all games online or on my ipad through the NBC Sports App. Do you have that? As a TWC customer, you should.

[MizzouCowboy]

Pretty cool ending to a League 1 game

I think this is how everything goes down if you don't want to follow the link (MLS site).

During injury time a Bury player gets hurt so when play resumes Doncaster does the right thing and kicks the ball back to Bury, except the Doncaster player kicks it over the keepers head for a goal. The Doncaster manager basically begs the ref to not allow the goal but he won't have any of it, the goal stands. Doncasters manager then instructs his players to allow Bury to walk the ball into the net for the equalizer.

[MIJB#19]

The Goal of the Season in the Eredivisie was already scored today, by Martin Hansen from ADO Den Haag against reigning champions PSV. Definitely worth googling.

[The Jackal]

Wow, that was nice, from a keeper too.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by MizzouCowboy

Pretty cool ending to a League 1 game

I think this is how everything goes down if you don't want to follow the link (MLS site).

During injury time a Bury player gets hurt so when play resumes Doncaster does the right thing and kicks the ball back to Bury, except the Doncaster player kicks it over the keepers head for a goal. The Doncaster manager basically begs the ref to not allow the goal but he won't have any of it, the goal stands. Doncasters manager then instructs his players to allow Bury to walk the ball into the net for the equalizer.

And meant to comment on this, good sportsmanship for sure.

[Grover]

West Ham have avoided a Joey Barton shaped bullet.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Grover

West Ham have avoided a Joey Barton shaped bullet.

Go Swarm Intelligence

[Grover]

I just thought it was a bizarre pairing to begin with. Gold even remarked in 2013 that he'd give Allardyce a few days off for his own mental wellbeing.

So... glad it's not happening.

[whomario]

Meanwhile in the German Cup there was a match terminated due to the referee being struck and blodied with a lighter and the team bus of Hertha Berlin was shot at straight through the windshield from a motorcycle, drivy-by-style... Luckily no one was hit.

[miami_fan]

Am I a bad person if I hope that a Chelsea player gets seriously injured this weekend and is worse off because the medical staff took too long to go on the field?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Am I a bad person if I hope that a Chelsea player gets seriously injured this weekend and is worse off because the medical staff took too long to go on the field?

Kind of? Unless it's John Terry, then absolutely not.

[britrock88]

Shakiri to Stoke!

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

I just watched the Tivo of Liverpool and Stoke.

I'm definitely not sold on Liverpool's attack. Aside from being saved by Coutinho, they looked hard pressed to crack through Stoke's well organized defense. While Coutinho saved the day with his strike, it seemed to me that LFC ran their offense through him almost exclusively, and he didn't seem any more capable of orchestrating a breakthrough today than he did during the lambasting last season.


Stoke looked far more impressive at both ends in my book. But it might have been Liverpool's lack of polish that made that impression.

Agree. It was a frustrating result.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Grover

Kind of? Unless it's John Terry, then absolutely not.

I completely forgot about the John Terry angle. Okay, now I feel much better. Thanks for the pick me up!

[whomario]

Zlatan Who ?



From the german 3rd division


and from Serbia the bicycle kick that shames all others:

[AlexB]

Back to the top of the league, until tomorrow at least. 28 points out of the last 33 now, slightly surreal!

More realistically, we're 15% towards our target after just two games.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wow! Unbelievable comeback by Sporting KC to keep their run going at home. Three goals in the last 20 minutes to come back from a 3-1 deficit.

[whomario]

The Bundesliga is off and running I read somewhere that the league is the "the most exciting foregone conclusion" or sth with Bayern as the sure fire champion (seriously, their roster is amazing again with Douglas Costa looking like an upgrade over Ribery, not just a replacement).

Anyway, while Bayern fullfilled expectations with a 5-0 over Hamburg at home, my boys from Dortmund also got off to a stellar start, beating last years 3rd place team Mönchengladbach 4-0 and it could have easily been 6 or 7 nothing. Really dominant performance and the new coach is already making his presence known. I will never say a bad thing about Klopp and his style of play was amazingly brilliant and super exciting (and heck, last season was bad luck as much as anything else). But that being said: It seems that they still retain that but play much more patient offensively when the initial through ball is not there, sort of a hybrid approach between the Klopp style and a Tiki-Taka type game.

Mkhitaryan is looking world class at the moment, the guy is the perfect Attacking Midfielder on paper, now he is showing it in games. And Aubameyang is unfair at times. A player with that sort of speed is not supposed to also easily control high 50 meter passes or have a top notch heading game.

Here´s the 4 goals:

[MrBug708]

Coquelin should have been tossed. Ah well, playing one of the big boys today

[The Jackal]

Coquelin's yellow was a stretch, but I agree I thought that second foul was probably deserving of a yellow. Maybe the ref figured those two combined weren't worth a red.

[The Jackal]

What a first half to watch, though. Palace is a fun team.

[TroyF]

Coq scares the hell out of me. Arsenal need his physicality, but he comes close to crossing the line a lot. Thank God for a win after the disaster of last week. Palace is a good team.

I'd be stunned if there is an incredibly violent challenge in this City/Chelsea game. The ref refuses to give a card for any offense. (both teams at fault, Silva and Costa both should have yellows and there could have been others)

It's shocking me how easy it has been for City to break down the Chelsea defense and get in for goal scoring chances. The keeper has been fantastic and a little bit lucky. Chelsea should probably be down 2 goals right now.

[kingfc22]

Mourinho is delusional. No Jose your team was not the best side in the second half. Not even close.

[MizzouCowboy]

Wow. Glad I went fishing this morning rather than watching Chelsea get drilled.

[sovereignstar v2]

City attack will unstoppable when De bruyne joins.

[sovereignstar v2]

Holy crap, sounds like otamendi is definitely on too.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

City attack will unstoppable when De bruyne joins.

City have been unbelievable, but I think I can speak for most that of the big 4, the only one that frightened me with them running away was Chelsea. City are great and if Toure and Kompas play the way they did today, they could win the entire thing.

But I would be devastated had Chelsea started off with 6 full points, I'm only frightened City did. .

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Mourinho is delusional. No Jose your team was not the best side in the second half. Not even close.

Jose and Costa and Terry. And. . . I love it when that team loses.

No, Jose, your team was not the better team in the second half. Your team was destroyed. They had one incredible chance to get to 1-1. Hart saves it, City scored a minute later and you were done. Chelsea might have been the better team for a five minute stretch in the second half. Beyond that, no.

[Grover]

I had to rewind and replay/pause to get this shot.

[Grover]

Otamendi is going to be Mangala Part 2. Hugely overrated. No idea where he got the reputation in Spain after seeing him play with Porto.

[miami_fan]

Full props to the Spanish FA for banning Pique for four games. Just make sure it is the same for all players this season.

[sovereignstar v2]

Lol otamendi was in the la liga team of the year last season. Had Messi in his back pocket. And Mangala will be just as good in a couple of years.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Lol otamendi was in the la liga team of the year last season. Had Messi in his back pocket. And Mangala will be just as good in a couple of years.

I always have to remember that defenders primes are usually later than a strikers and young kids usually get better. I REALLY have to try to remember that with Mangala because he has never impressed me in the least, even for flashes.

I think Otamendi is a good player, but as with every player, we'll need to see how he translates to the EPL. Some guys come right in and shine (see: Alexis Sanchez) Some guys take time, especially defenders. I remember how many Arsenal fans wanted to hang Kolechlny on a stick after his Arsenal start.

Whatever happens, if Arsenal doesn't win the title, it needs to be you guys. Please, for the love of everything sacred, make it you guys.

[whomario]

Dortmund down 0:3 after 20 minutes (first goal after 13 seconds), then hitting the woodwork 4 times and still comes back to win 4:3 in Norway against Odds BK. Felt like playing FM

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by whomario

Dortmund down 0:3 after 20 minutes (first goal after 13 seconds), then hitting the woodwork 4 times and still comes back to win 4:3 in Norway against Odds BK. Felt like playing FM

Say what!? We were briefly watching that game, saw BVB was down 3-1 and figured: that ain't gonna be worth watching. Shame on us...

[Neuqua]

Newcastle has spent the 4th most of anybody in Europe this transfer window.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Say what!? We were briefly watching that game, saw BVB was down 3-1 and figured: that ain't gonna be worth watching. Shame on us...

It was basically the most spectacular mix of high class athletes and Sunday League behavior you will ever find, totally bizarre game including the fact that it ended up with a kinda normal outcome despite all that Everything about that game was funky.
Goal after 13 seconds, Dortmund hitting the woodwork after 90 seconds, Odds nailing a 30+ yard Free Kick, Dortmund missing a great chance to a brilliant save, then scoring a vital 1:3 5 seconds later from a massive blunder of the keeper... Dortmund hitting the 2:3 60 seconds into the 2nd half, then hitting the woodwork 3 more times and then ultimately winning on a late header.
In the end it could have been 10-3 as well, Odds players were tired as hell towards the end. They played a style of play that is way beyond their weight class and it showed towards the end. Still, fun team (very young as well, played a 17 year old on the left wing and a trio of 19/20 year olds in goal/defense).

[Neuqua]

Apparently my ugly face showed up on TV during halftime of the Newcastle/Manchester United today on NBCSN.

[MrBug708]

Good win for Palace today

[ISiddiqui]

Nice, Neuqua . Good result as well.. so close to 3 points at the end...

---

Landon Donovan had the tweet of the day:
Landon Donovan on Twitter: "Love hearing all the @premierleague commentators talk about the "brutal heat" in the games today. Try playing @HoustonDynamo in August 😂😂🔥🔥"

Love hearing all the @premierleague commentators talk about the "brutal heat" in the games today. Try playing @HoustonDynamo in August

They were talking about how hot it was in Norwich, 30 Celsius, which may have required a water break... I was like 30 C is what... 86 Fahrenheit?!! What? That's nothing! I can only imagine if MLS games took water breaks for every game where it was over 86... just about every game during the summer would have one!

[miami_fan]

Yeah Pedro can do it on a cool,wet Sunday afternoon at the Hawthorns but can he do it on a cold, wet Wednesday night at Stoke?

[cthomer5000]

LA Galaxy looking positively OP in the West right now. On their day they are easily the best in the league, but they are thinnest at the positions most likely to cause them to implode - GK an CB.

I would put money on them to in the cup this year (and maybe the Supporter's Shield as well).

They are absolutely collecting scalps at this point. Most of the biggest blowouts this year have been by them.

Keane-Zardes-Dos Santos-Gerrard-Llegett is just outrageous in attack. And when you look at their regular 18, the subs would be starting for almost any team in the league. It's probably been 5 years running where you could seriously ask if the Galaxy team was the best all-time MLS team.

[ISiddiqui]

You know, I would have said similar at CB, but Leonardo has impressed me quite a bit lately.

And yeah, there is no answer for Keane-Zardes-Dos Santos-Gerrard-Llegett at this point. And then you add in there Juninho and Rogers making overlapping runs... yikes!

And Llegett is making me wonder why in the world West Ham didn't play him more. He actually did quite well when he did play for them, and he's showing that he definitely has great talent and decision making ability - what an acquisition by LA.

The other thing was that in the commentary, Taylor Twellman was right on point when he mentioned that LA is a great lesson in how to do Designated Players, where NYCFC isn't. He pointed out (and I forgot) that LA brought Keane in when he was 31 and while Gerrard is older, he's only on an 18 month contract. Dos Santos is in his 20s. NYCFC, on the other hand purchased old DPs from the start (though arguably David Villa is on the line of "old" - he definitely has a few really good years still in him).

I have been thinking of a while that what MLS teams should do with their DPs is bring in younger players who have great talent but have fallen out of favor in their clubs, or can't crack the starting lineup regularly for any host of reasons. That was what Toronto did with Giovinco. That's what Seattle did with Oba Martins. Arguably that's what LA did with Keane.

[TroyF]

I womder if Jose will bring up Arsenals game today whenhe talks about jis conspiracy theories. Clearly onside goal taken away (note, this one isnt even debateable) Arsenal loses two points.

Cech was amazing. Walcott has to play more. We need more goals.

If we are looking for the opposite of aggreived teams this year, it is Liverpool. They have got just about every major decision go their way so far this year.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I womder if Jose will bring up Arsenals game today whenhe talks about jis conspiracy theories. Clearly onside goal taken away (note, this one isnt even debateable) Arsenal loses two points.

Cech was amazing. Walcott has to play more. We need more goals.

If we are looking for the opposite of aggreived teams this year, it is Liverpool. They have got just about every major decision go their way so far this year.

Agree with the Ramsey goal, but Arsenal looked way better with Giroud up front than with Walcott. Giroud was at least in the right areas, Walcott was literally no threat at all.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Agree with the Ramsey goal, but Arsenal looked way better with Giroud up front than with Walcott. Giroud was at least in the right areas, Walcott was literally no threat at all.

I'm not even saying Walcott has to play up top as a striker. I just prefer it when he plays. His speed does things to opposing defenses when he's attacking. I love Giroud. Still, something is missing with the attack right now and it needs to be fixed.

I know, I'm overreacting a little bit after one horrid game and a game that we won yesterday if the refs do their job correctly. This team has far too much talent to be shut out twice in three games.

[The Jackal]

I do want to see more of Theo and Ox, but against a team that just sits back (as a lot of teams will do against us), Theo is going to be largely ineffective as a lone striker.

Ramsey being shunted to the right just makes everything weird, though he's had some very good performances there lately.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I womder if Jose will bring up Arsenals game today whenhe talks about jis conspiracy theories. Clearly onside goal taken away (note, this one isnt even debateable) Arsenal loses two points.

Cech was amazing. Walcott has to play more. We need more goals.

If we are looking for the opposite of aggreived teams this year, it is Liverpool. They have got just about every major decision go their way so far this year.

They're running a fine line by not playing Ox more because when he's coming on he's now trying to "show something" and isn't doing a lot of passing. I know they're both playing well but he needs on the field for either Carzola or Ozil. Both of those guys play well but they are not really dynamic and offer no real goal scoring threat.