Soccer Thread 2017-2018

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Watched the replay. Feeling like Palace really let one go tonight. Should have had 3, but I'll take the point.



He goes down easy, but he's pretty lightweight and does go down easy, but doesnt get most of the calls, so when we do get a call, it doesnt bother me in the slightest.

It may be semantics but when I watch him, I feel like he takes advantage of his lightweight status to go down easy as opposed to going down easy because of his lightweight status.

[sovereignstar v2]

Karma's a bitch.

[kingfc22]

So much for keeping our young talent: Jonathan Gonzalez chooses Mexico over United States say sources

[digamma]

Thanks Obama

[BishopMVP]

Unfortunate, but it happens. The pressure on any dual national playing in Liga MX to choose Mexico must be absurd.

[ISiddiqui]

Haha!! Landon Donovan unretires to join Club Leon in LigaMX. After looking like it was a prank, it turns out that it's actually real!

Who's the retirement league now (I say this as someone who watches some LigaMX matches)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[miami_fan]

Anyone have an explanation for Man City signing Mix Diskerud to a 4.5 year contract?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Anyone have an explanation for Man City signing Mix Diskerud to a 4.5 year contract?

I guess he has a relationship with them since NYCFC is part of the organization & they're just doing it to give him a place to train (with the reserves, not 1st team) until they can sell or loan him to another smaller club.

But yes, the EPL leader signing MLS rejects does write its own jokes.

[sovereignstar v2]

Just going to put this here.



3rd or 4th time a challenge has been made like this on a City player this season alone. Some have been yellow cards, others just a whistle.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I guess he has a relationship with them since NYCFC is part of the organization & they're just doing it to give him a place to train (with the reserves, not 1st team) until they can sell or loan him to another smaller club.

But yes, the EPL leader signing MLS rejects does write its own jokes.

There is also speculation that ManCity is doing this to get him off NYCFC's books, freeing up some TAM money.

Speaking of interesting signings relating to MLS, it appears Zlatan to LA Galaxy is gaining some wings... as a TAM PLAYER, not a DP... but other sponsors will make up the difference, which seems like a not ok way to get around the DP rules.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Just going to put this here.



3rd or 4th time a challenge has been made like this on a City player this season alone. Some have been yellow cards, others just a whistle.

Yes it was a cynical foul, and yes that photo looks horrendous, but having played for years I’m 99% sure that he meant to trip him and take the yellow, not to ‘do’ him.

It didn’t look like a red at the time on the high central coverage, and only when slow motion and stills like this did it look worse than it was.

Having said that, it could be classed as dangerous play and a red card because of the impact, and he couldn’t have had any complaints.

But the lad’s been castigated unfairly in my view, accused of trying to ‘do’ Sane, when it was a mistimed trip.

And there will be challenges that City players have made that are poor too, I can think of one by Fernandinho recently, another by Delph, there was one by Otamendi, but I couldn’t swear that was this season.

It’s not exclusively against City, and it just makes fans sound immature and irrational when 3 or 4 tackles in a season is taken as a vendetta.

[ISiddiqui]

And Miami (aka Beckham United) finally gets their MLS team.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Yes it was a cynical foul, and yes that photo looks horrendous, but having played for years I’m 99% sure that he meant to trip him and take the yellow, not to ‘do’ him.

It didn’t look like a red at the time on the high central coverage, and only when slow motion and stills like this did it look worse than it was.

Having said that, it could be classed as dangerous play and a red card because of the impact, and he couldn’t have had any complaints.

But the lad’s been castigated unfairly in my view, accused of trying to ‘do’ Sane, when it was a mistimed trip.

And there will be challenges that City players have made that are poor too, I can think of one by Fernandinho recently, another by Delph, there was one by Otamendi, but I couldn’t swear that was this season.

It’s not exclusively against City, and it just makes fans sound immature and irrational when 3 or 4 tackles in a season is taken as a vendetta.

Not 3-4 bad tackles, 3-4 HORROR tackles. Cardiff were kicking the shit out of City like many a shit British sides have been doing all season long.

[miami_fan]

Zaha is absolutely abusing DeAndre Yedlin.

[MrBug708]

Anyone following the election?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Anyone following the election?

I did click on the headline about the results.

Honestly, the outcome seems rather comical. Still no reason to hope for a move toward relevance but apparently that's the way 2/3rds of the membership wants it so I'd be inclined to leave it with 'em & let 'em wallow.

[AlexB]

Well that escalated quickly. Thought we were doing OK by half time, changed formation, never got going in the second half and got thumped...

[sovereignstar v2]

[Young Drachma]

USSF votes for more of the same, picking Gulati's VP as the new head of the org. Not a surprise. Those SUM cabal checks are too good to give up to some upstart amateur.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

USSF votes for more of the same, picking Gulati's VP as the new head of the org. Not a surprise. Those SUM cabal checks are too good to give up to some upstart amateur.

It's better than Wynalda or Solo I guess, but yep, the corruption runs deep. And for comment on this establishment candidate winning a borderline rigged election, let's go to his biggest supporter, Donna fucking Shalala! Smh.

[Chief Rum]

Why should I expect anything to change with this guy? I am guessing that is the consensus? That we just got Gulati II?

[ISiddiqui]

I was never all that into the we need to burn everything down mentality that some had. We missed the World Cup due to terrible managerial selections. Assigning a GM of soccer rather than having the President determine head coaches (advocated by Carter and Cordeiro) would alleviate that issue. In addition having the President not be as powerful as under Gulati would help as well. More consensus based decision making should be applauded.

We've made amazing strides as a soccer country in the last 10 years. A few tweaks is all that is required right now, IMO. I'm fine with Cordeiro (he was my 2nd choice).

And it really was, in the end, the Athlete's Council that swung the election for Cordeiro. And the change candidates didn't really get any sway from the voters. Even on the first ballot it was over 60% for Carter and Cordeiro.

[Arles]

Yeah, I'm not as upset as others. Cordeiro doesn't seem to want to roll back a lot of Gulati's decisions either. There is some help he can be better at making the WC pitch, getting corporate sponsorship and building the business of US soccer. Without more cash, there's no way to improve the youth system and deal with the extremely corrupt club scene.

I also think it would be tough to completely ignore the wishes of the players and go with an unknown. The key, really, is coming up with a good manager and plan for development/style of play. We shall see how he does here.

[Critch]

This looks interesting, and not sure if it belongs in here or in the "What to Watch on Netflix" thread.

First Team:Juventus

Season 1 turns up on Friday.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Critch

This looks interesting, and not sure if it belongs in here or in the "What to Watch on Netflix" thread.

First Team:Juventus

Season 1 turns up on Friday.

Interesting. Amazon have been filming City for a prime exclusive due to be released sometime this year.

[SirFozzie]

The funniest thing about this clip is not that it was part of a game that saw NINE players get sent off, the final of which caused the game to be abandoned 11 minutes from full time...

It's because this game was billed as the "Peace Derby" as it was the first time in quite some time that both teams fans were allowed to attend the game.

Punches fly in Brazilian match as ridiculous number of red cards are dished out | JOE.co.uk

[miami_fan]

Wigan, with a dose of help from a horrendous tackle from Delph, leave Man City with only the hopes of the treble.

[AlexB]

I’m sure Man City fans will be objective and agree it was a terrible tackle, and just as bad as the ones they claim are only made on them

[sovereignstar v2]

Which tackle are we talking about?

[AlexB]

Yup. Knew it.

[whomario]

Goal of the year in the 2nd german division:

Do you ever just forget you're playing football? Because same. pic.twitter.com/A6NxYQpxNN

— FourFourTwo ⚽️ (@FourFourTwo) February 24, 2018

When you are thirsty, you are thirsty. Screw the game around you

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by whomario

Goal of the year in the 2nd german division:

Do you ever just forget you're playing football? Because same. pic.twitter.com/A6NxYQpxNN

— FourFourTwo ⚽️ (@FourFourTwo) February 24, 2018

When you are thirsty, you are thirsty. Screw the game around you

That is crazy! I have never seen that before

Just hope its plain stupidity rather than anything sinister

[whomario]

Originally Posted by AlexB

That is crazy! I have never seen that before

Just hope its plain stupidity rather than anything sinister

Some context . His team had seemingly just scored, even the goal music played, but the ref whistled it dead. So yeah, just really bad timing. Goalie also saved a penalty and was otherwise flawless and they won the game

[BishopMVP]

I've seen solidarity payments mentioned here, and this article on the agent behind Pulisic's move to Dortmund touches on the double edged sword they can be for American youth development.

he actual tension between Moore and the U.S. Soccer community is less about bruised egos than it is about the structures of American soccer. For Moore’s business to succeed, he needs the U.S. to remain as open a soccer marketplace as possible. Now, when a European club signs a young American player, it is not required to compensate that player’s youth club with a fee known as training compensation. This is not true anywhere else in the world. For instance, if Pulisic had been a youth player at Bayern Munich’s academy and Dortmund wanted to sign him, Dortmund would be obligated to pay Bayern a fee to remunerate the club for their investment. But since Pulisic was coming from the States, Dortmund did not have to pay Pulisic’s youth club, the Pennsylvania Classics, any fee to compensate the club for their eight years of investment in the young American.

Moore sees the relative cheapness of young American players in the world market (they’re basically free!) as a critical factor in his success, and, more importantly, one that he says will benefit American soccer in the long run, allowing more players to develop in ultra-competitive European environments.

“The absolute dagger will start coming in the American context if America ever adopts a system where training-and-development compensation has to be paid,” says Moore, arguing that if European clubs suddenly have to pay around $300,000 in training compensation to a U.S. club in addition to the player’s salary and an agent’s fee for an 18-year-old player “who has never kicked a ball outside of his country,” the pipeline of young Americans to Europe will be reduced to a drip.

“If Christian Pulisic only had a U.S. passport, I’m firmly of the belief — and you’ll laugh at me — that based on history, he would be playing regular minutes in the USL and getting the occasional minutes in the MLS at 18.” —Rob Moore
MLS academies and the other top American youth clubs contend that this reality makes them fundamentally uncompetitive with the rest of the world and disincentivizes them from investing more money into developing young talent. Although MLS owners have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars ($40 million in each of the last two years) into youth development — building new training facilities, paying full-time coaches and technical staffs, covering long-distance travel to tournaments and matches, and more — if a player at 18 decides to go to Europe, there’s nothing an MLS club can do to stop them. When Schalke signed standout U.S. youth national team player Weston McKennie in 2016 from FC Dallas’s youth academy, the MLS club received no compensation for the nine years of investment they had put into McKennie’s development, money they would then have been able to spend to develop the next generation of McKennies.

“We’re a free market and the kids are able to walk, so that is a really big disadvantage to American clubs compared to the rest of the world,” says Bocanegra. “We’re trying to do our best here to make the league and the national team stronger. Ultimately, it would be great to see clubs provided with training compensation, which will help the overall strength of the sport in the U.S. Hopefully we’ll see that happen soon.”

Moore remains steadfast in his belief that for the top American players — his 0.1 percent — a European environment is necessary. “People get defensive when you’re talking about a minute percentage, but these guys need to be developed at a higher level, for their sake, to maximize their potential.”

Moore’s solution to the training compensation conundrum is to have youth clubs compensated later in the process through higher solidarity payments on transfer fees. For instance, if McKennie were eventually sold to Real Madrid for $50 million, Moore would like to see a chunk of that fee make its way to FC Dallas. It’s an issue that arose recently with fellow U.S. national team star DeAndre Yedlin. In 2014, Yedlin was sold from his MLS club, the Seattle Sounders, to Tottenham, but the Seattle-area club where he played youth soccer, Crossfire Premier, received no piece of that transfer fee. Crossfire has recently taken its case to FIFA to try to collect a solidarity payment, and the governing body’s decision could have huge ramifications for the future of U.S. youth soccer.

“We shouldn’t create barriers to entry on the way in, but give the kid every chance to make it, and if he makes it, then you are going to get rewarded,” Moore explains.

[Critch]

Great result for Brighton, not even a friendly ref could save Wenger's Arsenal.

Brighton into the top half of the table, didnt expect that this late in the season.

[kingfc22]

Does Wegner need to burn down the Emirates himself to get fired???

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Does Wegner need to burn down the Emirates himself to get fired???

Burning down the Emirates would be more beneficial to his job security than this news.

Arsenal's operating profits fall by more than 60 per cent after missing out on Champions LeagueÂ*

Arsenal’s operating profits have tumbled by more than 60 per cent as a result of the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League last season.

Someone made the point that Wegner loves the club so much that he has taken it upon himself to handle the decline of the club that usually happens after the legendary manager leaves.

#TrustTheProcess

[miami_fan]

Sad news out of Serie A.

Fiorentina captain Davide Astori dies aged 31 Serie A postponed

[miami_fan]

So why do these VAR decisions take so long in Europe?

That decision in the Sporting KC/ NYC FC match took less than a minute.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

So why do these VAR decisions take so long in Europe?

That decision in the Sporting KC/ NYC FC match took less than a minute.

Because of the metric system.

[miami_fan]

Today's result has to terrify Arsenal's supporters, right?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Fun day at West Ham I see

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Fun day at West Ham I see

Just a bit of banter. Just showing some passion.

[cartman]

Zlatan took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times after signing with the LA Galaxy.

[MIJB#19]

A new generation and we finally figured out how to beat Portugal.

[whomario]

Ibrahimovic with 2 on his debut, the first a spectacular 40 yard volley and then the game winning goal in stoppage time

Let. Him. EAT. #ZLATAN pic.twitter.com/sf4SYLKC9m

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) 31. März 2018

[Young Drachma]

I watched that Galaxy-LAFC game from when LAFC were up 3-0, only to fart it away though the Lion was completely bonkers when he came onto the field. Good start to that derby.

[ISiddiqui]

Yep, LAFC got cocky and Sigi made a brilliant tactical change at halftime (moving his CM up a bit, taking away the passing lanes to Vela). They were getting most of the chances... then Zlatan took it the rest of the way.

[cartman]

CR7 is a pretty decent footballer.

[cougarfreak]

Liverpool hammered City today......hope they can hang on next week. That 0 away goals is huge.