Soccer Thread 2020-2021 - Page 7

sovereignstar v2 · 04-20-2021, 06:26 PM

Dola

AC Milan out

sovereignstar v2 · 04-20-2021, 06:30 PM

Just your typical lunch in New York on a fall day three years ago. Years to plan, days to fall apart.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-20-2021, 06:53 PM

Arsenal defender Rob Holding posted a video of himself playing the Champions League anthem shortly after the club announced they will not participate in the Super League �� pic.twitter.com/hCvo6HSME2
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 20, 2021

GrantDawg · 04-20-2021, 07:59 PM

The 6 team Super League made a statement saying they are going to press on, and while they did it two more teams announce they are leaving.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

miami_fan · 04-20-2021, 09:03 PM

I really don't want to be that guy but I am struggling to understand what the thought process is for the founding members.

Is it possible that they were surprised by the reaction of the non-European markets?

Here is my reasoning.

I am sorry. I don't believe for a second that the owners of these clubs would expect anything but the reaction they got from their local supporters. The European Super League has been talked about for decades. Every time it was brought up, this was the reaction they were told would come from the local fan bases. I believe they knew this was coming and did not care.

The consensus is that this proposal was designed to advantage of the global appeal of these individual clubs and was directed at non European markets. We, the people outside of Europe (including ex pats), are supposed to be the suckers who would rush to snap up the TV packages to see the European elite face the European elite without the distraction of the smaller clubs. That was the sell. Has anyone seen, heard or talked to anyone who has approved of this proposal but specifically anyone outside of Europe? I did a good bit of driving around today and I listened to Sirius FC all day. I did not hear one positive call about it. I have not seen a positive post on message boards filled with American fans of European clubs. Over 109,000 people showed up to watch a friendly between Manchester United and Real Madrid in Michigan Stadium a few years ago. Shouldn't one of those people be willing to say that they would support this if it was going to be so popular here?

Again, I am admittedly clutching for answers. I am not trying to give anyone outside of Europe credit for the current state of the European Super League. I just can't believe the founding members would make such a horrible miscalculation. It just feels like the founding members were in a tag team wrestling match getting their asses kicked by their opponents (the local fans). They reached out to their partner (the overseas fans) for a tag to get them out of trouble, only for their partner to pull back their hand, drop off the apron and walk away from the ring leaving the founding members to be finished by the opponents.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-20-2021, 09:32 PM

I don't believe one iota that they care for the fans, so something else spooked these clubs. I certainly don't believe Chelsea fans caused the dominoes to fall lol. We only got a glimpse of what some of the managers were thinking, but players have been pretty quick to hop on social media and let their feelings known once they got the go ahead (or no longer gave a f**k). It's possible they wised up to the possibility of some kind of strike. We've heard that the UK government were going to explore whatever means they could to stop it as well.

I really hope we learn a lot more in the next days, weeks, and months. There should be plenty of juicy stuff out there for journalists to hunt down.

JonInMiddleGA · 04-20-2021, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Ed Woodward has resigned as United's chairman. The news keeps getting better!

To be fair, it's reported that he was leaving at the end of the year anyway, this simply accelerated it.

JonInMiddleGA · 04-20-2021, 09:45 PM

And, after speaking of "fair" in two other posts, another "fair" kinda hits me.

If those with major $$$$$ sunk into those twelve clubs want to divest themselves of the investment by whatever means available, nobody gets to bitch at them for doing so.

(Obviously I doubt the fans of other clubs would complain but fans of those twelve don't get to gripe if the flow of cash suddenly becomes short and they turn into mid/bottom table clubs long term)

RainMaker · 04-20-2021, 11:41 PM

Wouldn't it make more sense to expand the current Champions League? Not in members but in matches played. Always found the knockout stages to be a little odd. What about instead of a 16-team knockout stage, you split into two groups of 8 and play a home and home with the winner of each group playing in a championship match. Or 4 groups of 4 with a home and home and the 4 winners make the semi-finals.

I'm sure there are many ways you can expand the number of matches between top European teams without hurting the domestic league.

ISiddiqui · 04-20-2021, 11:42 PM

If you didn't hear of anyone outside of Europe being for it, I may say you weren't listening enough. For as much of a shit stirrer he may be, Alexi Lalas seemed it wasn't a bad idea. And of his responders on Twitter seemed to think it a fine gamble (while an equal number hatred it). There were a few others who seemed to open to it as well, maybe with some tweaks here and there but definitely not with any vitriol.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

sovereignstar v2 · 04-21-2021, 12:07 AM

While the shitshow was going on UEFA actually passed some measures to change the format in 2024. There will be more teams and more matches. Now the PL probably should bin the League/Carabao/Man City Cup and there needs to be less god damn international friendlies or get rid of that new nations league. The schedule is already ridiculously condensed and with the summer tournaments the players are horses ready to collapse at any moment.

Quote:

Format details

Taking the total number of teams from 32 to 36 in the UEFA Champions League, the biggest change will see a transformation from the traditional group stage to a single league stage including all participating teams. Every club will now be guaranteed a minimum of 10 league stage games against 10 different opponents (five home games, five away) rather than the previous six matches against three teams, played on a home and away basis.

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stage, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.

Similar format changes will also be applied to the UEFA Europa League (8 matches in the league stage) and UEFA Europa Conference League (6 matches in the league stage). Subject to further discussions and agreements, these two competitions may also be expanded to a total of 36 teams each in the league stage.

Qualification for the UEFA Champions League will continue to be open and earned through a team’s performance in domestic competitions.

One of the additional places will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the UEFA national association ranking. Another will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called “Champions Path”.

The final two places will go to the clubs with the highest club coefficient over the last five years that have not qualified for the Champions League group stage but have qualified either for the Champions League qualification phase, the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.

All games before the final will still be played midweek, recognising the importance of the domestic calendar of games across Europe.

MIJB#19 · 04-21-2021, 12:20 PM

The thing is, and has been these past days, these 12 clubs already knew of those 2024/25 plans from UEFA and somehow thought they had to revive the old "super league" idea yet another time, which means these 12 clubs were not happy about the new format one way or another.

Set your clocks, this plan Super League plan will show up in 5 or 10 years once more, probably with some other clubs involved, depending on which clubs feel elite enough to jump in or had a recent oil money injection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

While the shitshow was going on UEFA actually passed some measures to change the format in 2024. There will be more teams and more matches. Now the PL probably should bin the League/Carabao/Man City Cup and there needs to be less god damn international friendlies or get rid of that new nations league. The schedule is already ridiculously condensed and with the summer tournaments the players are horses ready to collapse at any moment.

Maybe you should actually read the content of my posts, rather than jumping to conclusions. I posted a link to UEFA's plans 2 days ago.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-21-2021, 12:40 PM

Okay. I can't quote on my phone using Tapatalk so it probably wasn't obvious, but that was a reply to RainMaker's post about adding UCL matches.

MIJB#19 · 04-21-2021, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Wouldn't it make more sense to expand the current Champions League? Not in members but in matches played. Always found the knockout stages to be a little odd. What about instead of a 16-team knockout stage, you split into two groups of 8 and play a home and home with the winner of each group playing in a championship match. Or 4 groups of 4 with a home and home and the 4 winners make the semi-finals.

I'm sure there are many ways you can expand the number of matches between top European teams without hurting the domestic league.

Not per se a response to you, but more general.

There's too much going on that this is never going to be solved.
The main problems are "rich get richer", "too many matches" and UEFA struggling to find ways to keep shady clubs from overrunning the competitions.

The Champions' League has substantially turned into a money grab event that makes the rich get richer, and then some. 20 years ago it was already an issue, 10 years ago a major problem and today it's escalated even further. Gripes about some of the old guard are very reasonable, punished cheaters like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus feel that they always deserve to be in the CL and want a guarantee to share in the wealth, even after finishing 3rd in their national competition. Frowned upon clubs like Chelsea, Paris SG and Manchester City bought their way into the semi-elite through oil money and feel they also have the rights to get that investment back and get a a fair share of the big bags of money as long as they play well too.

The "Champions' League" has expanded to include non-champions as a compromise to the Super League clubs back in 1998. Went from a 16-team group phase, to 24-team, to 32-team, from letting a lot of champions play, to now handing out 19 (potentially up to 21) of the 32 spots to the big 5 (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France). Meanwhile the league champions of 37 of 54 UEFA countries have to survive at least 4 knockout stages to get into that field of 32. This imbalance has shifted slowly over the last 15 years.

UEFA tried a 2 group phases format in the earl 00's, which was later on abolished because it overpopulated the calendar. This newly proposed 10-game format will increase the number of games back to that 17 games to go from guaranteed spot to winning the final. But 15 to 17 games doesn't feel too much of a change to me. The number of reserved dates won't actually increase, as the round of 16 is currently split into two sets of 8.

Lastly, sports technically and tv ratings technically, groups of 4 with just the winner getting a reward isn't going to be good for tv ratings, it will mean that half the field will be demotivated after 3 of 6 games being virtually eliminated already. But that tv ratings problem is already there now, usually on the 6th game day(s) of the group stage, half of the 16 games have no effect on which 16 teams go into the second round, the 3rd place battle into the consolation Europa League competition are still contested.

Eventually, the problems all continue to maintain and keep snowballing.

Nobody outside of Czechia, Croatia, Belgium or Austria will be interested to see Sparta Praha vs Croatia Zagreb or Club Brugge vs Red Bull Salzburg (for example), despite that these could potentially be the champions of leagues that are roughly 10-15th best in Europe. And while they do participate, they have a rich get richer luxury inside their own league, while in the European scale, they continue to fall behind.
At the same time, nobody but their own fans will be interested to see Tottenham vs Atlético Madrid, there's barely a market for a match like that. And these are two of this time of year's "super league". Just look 2 pages back, I posted links to 2 of of the more notorious previous attempts, unsurprisingly Real Madrid was the most vocal club in the process back then as well.

It's rinse and repeat.

BishopMVP · 04-21-2021, 07:00 PM

It's amusing to see all the monsters talk about how much debt they're in when they're primarily in so much debt because they've been astronomically raising transfer fees & salaries for elite players by competing against each other for them.

pantera · 04-21-2021, 07:30 PM

The Old Elite (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus, Liverpool, Milan etc) feel threatened by the current state-owned/oil/oligarch moneyed clubs (Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG) and any new such clubs that will inevitably spring up in the next decade. They hoped UEFA -- an incredibly corrupt organization -- would actually implement a meaningful FFP that would stop unlimited investment by these upstarts. Manchester City was caught red-handed....and given a slap on the wrist. It was a joke. Thus plans for a Super League sped up as the furious Old Elite calculated that they could rein in the upstarts themselves if they were babysat in this Super League that promised riches for them all.

The participants made one huge mistake in my opinion. Instead of being secretive, they should have collectively launched a non-stop media assault against the evils of UEFA and FIFA and the sins of Manchester City, Chelsea and PSG. And marketed their new Super League as a home for the world's most famous clubs and best players, a league that would have strict financial rules, & one that would filter down a good portion of its riches to smaller clubs. They should have signed up sponsors and TV partners from around the world. They should have made sure to get approval and inclusion from Bayern Munich and Dortmund, and included a couple of old powers like Ajax/Porto etc.

They could have succeeded if they had a decent marketing strategy. But they were arrogant and miscalculated the uproar from fans and -- most importantly -- the media companies they should have nurtured to be on THEIR side. Instead there was a 24/7 barrage from Sky and every important newspaper in England.

This isn't over. As others have said, we'll see a different attempt in 5-10 years.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-21-2021, 07:42 PM

Old Elite is right.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-21-2021, 10:38 PM

Florentino Perez on the Super League: "One of the six*#PL*clubs was not really convinced of the project, and it became contagious to the rest of them..."

Florentino Perez: "The Manchester owners have started a campaign of manipulation, that we will end the leagues. I will not say which club."

"Someone in the English group was not that interested and that was contagious, others showed fear and backed off ("City?", the presenter asked, not denied by FP who adds, "they were never interested")

miami_fan · 04-23-2021, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And, after speaking of "fair" in two other posts, another "fair" kinda hits me.

If those with major $$$$$ sunk into those twelve clubs want to divest themselves of the investment by whatever means available, nobody gets to bitch at them for doing so.

(Obviously I doubt the fans of other clubs would complain but fans of those twelve don't get to gripe if the flow of cash suddenly becomes short and they turn into mid/bottom table clubs long term)

Ligue 1 club Bordeaux enter administration after U.S. owners King Street pull out of investment

I attached this to Jon's post just because he mentioned the risk of losing the financial backing of an owner who is looking for more and more of a return on investment. Now French football in general and Bordeaux specifically have a lot of issues that led to its current situation. That does not make losing the major money any easier though.

miami_fan · 04-23-2021, 02:44 PM

Am I the only one who is looking at the protest outside the Emirates and waiting for what the response will be?

JonInMiddleGA · 04-23-2021, 03:09 PM

And by "attacks" they mean being physically confronted by angry supporters when they returned after an away match loss.

Schalke players may skip remainder of season after relegation attacks, says club chief

MIJB#19 · 04-23-2021, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And by "attacks" they mean being physically confronted by angry supporters when they returned after an away match loss.

Schalke players may skip remainder of season after relegation attacks, says club chief

"supporters"
So much for being supportive...

sovereignstar v2 · 04-24-2021, 02:10 PM

English refs at it again. West Ham player gets a straight red for catching a player after clearing the ball. Absolutely ridiculous.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-24-2021, 02:12 PM

That’s never a red card for Balbuena. Completely accidental connection when he follows through after clearing the ball #WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/H7ynqr5vwn
— Gary (@SedentaryGary) April 24, 2021

bhlloy · 04-24-2021, 02:33 PM

Pretty much the most ridiculous decision I’ve ever seen... but by the letter of the law it’s correct. This is Pandora’s box that was inevitably going to be opened once you put VAR in place.

GoldenEagle · 04-24-2021, 02:34 PM

That is 100% a red card... it's not even a question.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-24-2021, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

That is 100% a red card... it's not even a question.

You are the first person out of a hundred to say that. 100% chance his ban will be overturned.

AlexB · 04-24-2021, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

That is 100% a red card... it's not even a question.

Seriously mate, if you think that’s a red card, you need to find a new sport!

GoldenEagle · 04-27-2021, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexB

Seriously mate, if you think that’s a red card, you need to find a new sport!

There is never a reason to get your studs into the back of someone's leg. That is how serious injuries happen.

miami_fan · 04-27-2021, 03:30 PM

Not sure how to handle spoilers as I know some are recording to watch later but OMG!

AlexB · 04-27-2021, 05:44 PM

Justice is at least retrospectively done - one of the biggest joke decisions VAR has led to onfield so far.

West Ham's Balbuena has Chelsea red card rescinded

sovereignstar v2 · 04-27-2021, 05:50 PM

Defenders rejoice as they learn they are free to clear the ball once again.

SirFozzie · 04-29-2021, 04:53 PM

Someone at Man Yoo got hold of the cheat codes at halftime. Five second half goals???

sovereignstar v2 · 04-29-2021, 04:57 PM

The state of Serie A...

MIJB#19 · 04-29-2021, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

The state of Serie A...

More like the state of the Premier League. We could be headed for two All English finals. Again. Just like the last pre-COVID-19 season. Last summer we had the non-English finals though to even things out a little bit.

sovereignstar v2 · 04-29-2021, 05:41 PM

Roma were terrible.

Ghost Econ · 04-30-2021, 02:19 PM

This Sheffield - Ipswich Youth Cup match will end up with 30+ minutes of added time due to injuries in each half. Dont know that I've ever seen that much total time added.

Ghost Econ · 04-30-2021, 02:32 PM

Dola.

With a goal in the 101st minute, we're now going to extra time!

Ghost Econ · 04-30-2021, 03:10 PM

Heartbreak for Sheffield. Own goal in the 129th (really 149th) minute from a dude who's been bleeding from a head injury 2 hours ago in the 2nd minute of the game. Then Sheffield hit the crossbar in the 131st minute.

miami_fan · 04-30-2021, 03:34 PM

Is is time to start questioning how good Ralph Hasenhüttl is as Southampton manager? I think he is good but damn if this team is trying to convince me otherwise.

MIJB#19 · 05-05-2021, 12:33 PM

Yesterday I watched the last 20 minutes of Manchester City - Paris SG. Well, I mean, you can't call what was happening football. The Paris SG players were all doing their best to get sent off (only one actually succeeded) and showed terrible sportsmanship. After the match the complaints were about the referee. Well, yeah, they do have that right: the referee should have sent off at least 2 more PSG players.

sovereignstar v2 · 05-05-2021, 01:10 PM

Their sportsmanship was terrible the entire match. They were flopping from the first minute. Then they managed to get a usually strong referee to call a penalty for a handball that was very obviously not one (thankfully it was overturned). Neymar is very much a spiritual captain for the squad, which means anything underhanded is fair game.

sovereignstar v2 · 05-05-2021, 04:44 PM

I don't think this Real Madrid team would finish in the top six of the Premier League.

miami_fan · 05-05-2021, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I don't think this Real Madrid team would finish in the top six of the Premier League.

But where would they finish in the ESL?

sovereignstar v2 · 05-07-2021, 03:59 PM

Doesn't seem like Leicester want to run away with that automatic UCL group stage spot....

AlexB · 05-07-2021, 05:52 PM

It’s a shit game anyway

miami_fan · 05-08-2021, 09:09 AM

I may be the only one that cares but this Derby v. Sheffield Wednesday match is insane!

SirFozzie · 05-08-2021, 02:14 PM

Same here, but Cambridge United is going UP!

SirFozzie · 05-13-2021, 07:40 PM

Oh, and in NUMBERS news.. brace yourself.

LaLiga's eight year deal with ESPN is worth... $1.4 BILLION dollars.

That's $175 million a year, or currently almost $10 million more than the English Premier League is getting from NBC on a year to year basis.

My reaction: Holy shit, the rights train money isn't stopping after all. I think we all thought with the pandemic and digital encroaching, the exponential growth of Soccer rights would slow down. Nope. CHOO CHOO, motherforkers. If LaLiga gets 175 million a year, what is the EPL worth? $250 Million?

https://awfulannouncing.com/soccer/....in-sports.html

AlexB · 05-14-2021, 05:46 PM

FA Cup Final tomorrow... two Leicester stats of note:

We currently have the most final appearances without winning the Cup (4),

But most amazing:
Jamie Vardy will become the first player to play in all 13 rounds of the FA Cup

That is mindblowing - the first time it has happened in 139 years, and in the modern era it is arguably less likely than in yesteryear. I think he will be in an exclusive club of one forever on that

04-20-2021, 06:53 PM	#303
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Arsenal defender Rob Holding posted a video of himself playing the Champions League anthem shortly after the club announced they will not participate in the Super League �� pic.twitter.com/hCvo6HSME2 — ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 20, 2021

04-20-2021, 09:03 PM	#305
miami_fan Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Land O Lakes FL	I really don't want to be that guy but I am struggling to understand what the thought process is for the founding members. Is it possible that they were surprised by the reaction of the non-European markets? Here is my reasoning. I am sorry. I don't believe for a second that the owners of these clubs would expect anything but the reaction they got from their local supporters. The European Super League has been talked about for decades. Every time it was brought up, this was the reaction they were told would come from the local fan bases. I believe they knew this was coming and did not care. The consensus is that this proposal was designed to advantage of the global appeal of these individual clubs and was directed at non European markets. We, the people outside of Europe (including ex pats), are supposed to be the suckers who would rush to snap up the TV packages to see the European elite face the European elite without the distraction of the smaller clubs. That was the sell. Has anyone seen, heard or talked to anyone who has approved of this proposal but specifically anyone outside of Europe? I did a good bit of driving around today and I listened to Sirius FC all day. I did not hear one positive call about it. I have not seen a positive post on message boards filled with American fans of European clubs. Over 109,000 people showed up to watch a friendly between Manchester United and Real Madrid in Michigan Stadium a few years ago. Shouldn't one of those people be willing to say that they would support this if it was going to be so popular here? Again, I am admittedly clutching for answers. I am not trying to give anyone outside of Europe credit for the current state of the European Super League. I just can't believe the founding members would make such a horrible miscalculation. It just feels like the founding members were in a tag team wrestling match getting their asses kicked by their opponents (the local fans). They reached out to their partner (the overseas fans) for a tag to get them out of trouble, only for their partner to pull back their hand, drop off the apron and walk away from the ring leaving the founding members to be finished by the opponents. __________________ "The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946

04-20-2021, 09:32 PM	#306
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	I don't believe one iota that they care for the fans, so something else spooked these clubs. I certainly don't believe Chelsea fans caused the dominoes to fall lol. We only got a glimpse of what some of the managers were thinking, but players have been pretty quick to hop on social media and let their feelings known once they got the go ahead (or no longer gave a f*k). It's possible they wised up to the possibility of some kind of strike. We've heard that the UK government were going to explore whatever means they could to stop it as well. I really hope we learn a lot more in the next days, weeks, and months. There should be plenty of juicy stuff out there for journalists to hunt down. Last edited by sovereignstar v2 : 04-20-2021 at 09:33 PM.*

04-20-2021, 09:45 PM	#308
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	And, after speaking of "fair" in two other posts, another "fair" kinda hits me. If those with major $$$$$ sunk into those twelve clubs want to divest themselves of the investment by whatever means available, nobody gets to bitch at them for doing so. (Obviously I doubt the fans of other clubs would complain but fans of those twelve don't get to gripe if the flow of cash suddenly becomes short and they turn into mid/bottom table clubs long term) __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis

04-20-2021, 11:42 PM	#310
ISiddiqui Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Decatur, GA	If you didn't hear of anyone outside of Europe being for it, I may say you weren't listening enough. For as much of a shit stirrer he may be, Alexi Lalas seemed it wasn't a bad idea. And of his responders on Twitter seemed to think it a fine gamble (while an equal number hatred it). There were a few others who seemed to open to it as well, maybe with some tweaks here and there but definitely not with any vitriol. Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk __________________ "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams

04-20-2021, 06:26 PM	#301
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Dola AC Milan out

04-20-2021, 06:30 PM	#302
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Just your typical lunch in New York on a fall day three years ago. Years to plan, days to fall apart.

04-20-2021, 07:59 PM	#304
GrantDawg World Champion Mis-speller Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Covington, Ga.	The 6 team Super League made a statement saying they are going to press on, and while they did it two more teams announce they are leaving. Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

04-20-2021, 11:41 PM	#309
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	Wouldn't it make more sense to expand the current Champions League? Not in members but in matches played. Always found the knockout stages to be a little odd. What about instead of a 16-team knockout stage, you split into two groups of 8 and play a home and home with the winner of each group playing in a championship match. Or 4 groups of 4 with a home and home and the 4 winners make the semi-finals. I'm sure there are many ways you can expand the number of matches between top European teams without hurting the domestic league.

04-21-2021, 12:40 PM	#313
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Okay. I can't quote on my phone using Tapatalk so it probably wasn't obvious, but that was a reply to RainMaker's post about adding UCL matches.

04-21-2021, 07:00 PM	#315
BishopMVP Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Concord, MA/UMass	It's amusing to see all the monsters talk about how much debt they're in when they're primarily in so much debt because they've been astronomically raising transfer fees & salaries for elite players by competing against each other for them.

04-21-2021, 07:30 PM	#316
pantera n00b Join Date: Mar 2021	The Old Elite (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus, Liverpool, Milan etc) feel threatened by the current state-owned/oil/oligarch moneyed clubs (Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG) and any new such clubs that will inevitably spring up in the next decade. They hoped UEFA -- an incredibly corrupt organization -- would actually implement a meaningful FFP that would stop unlimited investment by these upstarts. Manchester City was caught red-handed....and given a slap on the wrist. It was a joke. Thus plans for a Super League sped up as the furious Old Elite calculated that they could rein in the upstarts themselves if they were babysat in this Super League that promised riches for them all. The participants made one huge mistake in my opinion. Instead of being secretive, they should have collectively launched a non-stop media assault against the evils of UEFA and FIFA and the sins of Manchester City, Chelsea and PSG. And marketed their new Super League as a home for the world's most famous clubs and best players, a league that would have strict financial rules, & one that would filter down a good portion of its riches to smaller clubs. They should have signed up sponsors and TV partners from around the world. They should have made sure to get approval and inclusion from Bayern Munich and Dortmund, and included a couple of old powers like Ajax/Porto etc. They could have succeeded if they had a decent marketing strategy. But they were arrogant and miscalculated the uproar from fans and -- most importantly -- the media companies they should have nurtured to be on THEIR side. Instead there was a 24/7 barrage from Sky and every important newspaper in England. This isn't over. As others have said, we'll see a different attempt in 5-10 years. Last edited by pantera : 04-21-2021 at 07:30 PM.

04-21-2021, 07:42 PM	#317
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Old Elite is right.

04-21-2021, 10:38 PM	#318
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Florentino Perez on the Super League: "One of the six#PLclubs was not really convinced of the project, and it became contagious to the rest of them..." Florentino Perez: "The Manchester owners have started a campaign of manipulation, that we will end the leagues. I will not say which club." "Someone in the English group was not that interested and that was contagious, others showed fear and backed off ("City?", the presenter asked, not denied by FP who adds, "they were never interested")

04-23-2021, 02:44 PM	#320
miami_fan Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Land O Lakes FL	Am I the only one who is looking at the protest outside the Emirates and waiting for what the response will be? __________________ "The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946

04-23-2021, 03:09 PM	#321
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	And by "attacks" they mean being physically confronted by angry supporters when they returned after an away match loss. Schalke players may skip remainder of season after relegation attacks, says club chief __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis

04-24-2021, 02:10 PM	#323
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	English refs at it again. West Ham player gets a straight red for catching a player after clearing the ball. Absolutely ridiculous.

04-24-2021, 02:12 PM	#324
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	That’s never a red card for Balbuena. Completely accidental connection when he follows through after clearing the ball #WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/H7ynqr5vwn — Gary (@SedentaryGary) April 24, 2021

04-24-2021, 02:33 PM	#325
bhlloy Coordinator Join Date: Nov 2003	Pretty much the most ridiculous decision I’ve ever seen... but by the letter of the law it’s correct. This is Pandora’s box that was inevitably going to be opened once you put VAR in place.

04-24-2021, 02:34 PM	#326
GoldenEagle Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Little Rock, AR	That is 100% a red card... it's not even a question. __________________ Xbox 360 Gamer Tag: GoldenEagle014

04-27-2021, 03:30 PM	#330
miami_fan Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Land O Lakes FL	Not sure how to handle spoilers as I know some are recording to watch later but OMG! __________________ "The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946

04-27-2021, 05:44 PM	#331
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	Justice is at least retrospectively done - one of the biggest joke decisions VAR has led to onfield so far. West Ham's Balbuena has Chelsea red card rescinded __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!

04-27-2021, 05:50 PM	#332
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Defenders rejoice as they learn they are free to clear the ball once again.

04-29-2021, 04:53 PM	#333
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	Someone at Man Yoo got hold of the cheat codes at halftime. Five second half goals??? __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

04-29-2021, 04:57 PM	#334
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	The state of Serie A...

04-29-2021, 05:41 PM	#336
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Roma were terrible.

04-30-2021, 02:19 PM	#337
Ghost Econ College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2020	This Sheffield - Ipswich Youth Cup match will end up with 30+ minutes of added time due to injuries in each half. Dont know that I've ever seen that much total time added.

04-30-2021, 02:32 PM	#338
Ghost Econ College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2020	Dola. With a goal in the 101st minute, we're now going to extra time!

04-30-2021, 03:10 PM	#339
Ghost Econ College Prospect Join Date: Oct 2020	Heartbreak for Sheffield. Own goal in the 129th (really 149th) minute from a dude who's been bleeding from a head injury 2 hours ago in the 2nd minute of the game. Then Sheffield hit the crossbar in the 131st minute.

04-30-2021, 03:34 PM	#340
miami_fan Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Land O Lakes FL	Is is time to start questioning how good Ralph Hasenhüttl is as Southampton manager? I think he is good but damn if this team is trying to convince me otherwise. __________________ "The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946

05-05-2021, 12:33 PM	#341
MIJB#19 Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands	Yesterday I watched the last 20 minutes of Manchester City - Paris SG. Well, I mean, you can't call what was happening football. The Paris SG players were all doing their best to get sent off (only one actually succeeded) and showed terrible sportsmanship. After the match the complaints were about the referee. Well, yeah, they do have that right: the referee should have sent off at least 2 more PSG players. __________________ * 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen * Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail

05-05-2021, 01:10 PM	#342
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Their sportsmanship was terrible the entire match. They were flopping from the first minute. Then they managed to get a usually strong referee to call a penalty for a handball that was very obviously not one (thankfully it was overturned). Neymar is very much a spiritual captain for the squad, which means anything underhanded is fair game. Last edited by sovereignstar v2 : 05-05-2021 at 01:11 PM.

05-05-2021, 04:44 PM	#343
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	I don't think this Real Madrid team would finish in the top six of the Premier League.

05-07-2021, 03:59 PM	#345
sovereignstar v2 hates iowa Join Date: Oct 2010	Doesn't seem like Leicester want to run away with that automatic UCL group stage spot....

05-07-2021, 05:52 PM	#346
AlexB Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Newbury, England	It’s a shit game anyway __________________ 'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports!