Official 2016 Soccer Thread

[wootah]

New year, new topic.

Charly Musonda Jr. is going to be the next big thing. You've heard it here first.

Anyone of you guys following the Champions League or planning on following the European Championships in the summer?

[Joemailman]

New year, new topic.

Charly Musonda Jr. is going to be the next big thing. You've heard it here first.

Anyone of you guys following the Champions League or planning on following the European Championships in the summer?

I follow Premier League the most, but also Champions League. Not sure if anyone in the U.S. televises the European Championships.

Red's the futbol fanatic here but he hasn't posted in over a month. Hope he didn't fall off the ladder again.

[wootah]

Any favorite teams or just enjoy the sport in general?

[red]

I follow Premier League the most, but also Champions League. Not sure if anyone in the U.S. televises the European Championships.

Red's the futbol fanatic here but he hasn't posted in over a month. Hope he didn't fall off the ladder again.

nah, didn't fall off a ladder again, life just sucks and arguing with people over worthless packer shit doesn't make things any better

i follow leeds, and they just seem to become a bigger cluster fuck every single year

i am rooting for Leicester like crazy to pull of the unthinkable this year

[wootah]

i am rooting for Leicester like crazy to pull of the unthinkable this year

Who isn't? Those kind of things are usually only for children's bedtime stories. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

[sooner6600]

Yea Foxes or as they say Up the Foxes

[Joemailman]

Incredible 2nd half between Leicester and West Ham today. Leicester led 1-0 at half on a goal by Vardy. Vardy was disqualified with 35 minutes left in the game when he drew his 2nd yellow for a dive. West Ham scored twice late to take a 2-1 lead. Leicester tied the game with just seconds left in stoppage play on a penalty kick to get the draw. Leicester is up 8 points on Tottenham with 4 to go. Tottenham plays Stoke tomorrow.

Aston Villa officially relegated. 3 wins all year. Of the 3 new teams, Bournemoth and Watford look to be in for next year. Norwich is only a point out of relegation though. Burnley and Hull with a chance to return to Premier League after 1 year absence. http://www.espnfc.us/english-league-championship/24/table

[Joemailman]

5000-1 Leicester can clinch the Premier league title Sunday with a win over Man U.

[red]

5000-1 Leicester can clinch the Premier league title Sunday with a win over Man U.

they've got like 3 or 4 really tough games to finish the season, but they just need 1

[Joemailman]

Leicester ties Man U 1-1. They clinch tomorrow if Tottenham doesn't win at Chelsea. Hope Tottenham wins so Leicester has to win it on the field next Saturday.

[red]

big point today against the scum

spurs are horrible against chelsea

probably gonna happen tomorrow, not as fun as winning it on the pitch, but i'm sure they'll take it

[Freak Out]

Such a great story.

[wootah]

"Do you believe in miracles?"

Loved the Ranieri/Bocelli moment on stage.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni73wwWjV4Q

[Joemailman]

16 fans of Real Madrid killed in terrorist attack in Iraq by Isis.


Real Madrid released a statement on the attack:

Real Madrid C. F. deeply regrets the terrible attack in Iraq which today saw 16 members of a Real Madrid supporters club lose their lives and which has also left over 20 injured.

The club expresses its great sadness and offers its regards and condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

Real Madrid extends all of its solidarity to the people of Irak, who suffer the excessive injustices of extreme violence.

The Real Madrid players will tomorrow wear symbolic black armbands as a sign of their mourning and respect. Football and sport shall always be spaces in which to come together and in which harmony and peace reign and with which no form of barbaric terrorism will be able to compete.

Today Madridismo across the whole world cries for its supporters, who shall never be forgotten.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Messi was phenomenal vs Panama. 3 goals in 19' of action. That was just incredible to watch live. My wife kept telling me to stop shouting.

[Fritz]

Englad-Russia zero zero at first break.

[Joemailman]

Englad-Russia zero zero at first break.

Russia tied at 1-1 in the 92nd minute. Violence between fans of both countries before and after the game. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/11/football/england-russia-euro-2016/index.html

U.S. leads Paraguay 1-0 at the half.

[Joemailman]

Peru eliminates Brazil 1-0 on an obvious hand ball goal. Instant replay on goals coming? U.S. will play Ecuador Thursday.

[wootah]

Peru eliminates Brazil 1-0 on an obvious hand ball goal. Instant replay on goals coming? U.S. will play Ecuador Thursday.

There have been ongoing discussions on this. It's a tricky one:
- as you can see in the NFL, in some cases video replay will still be a source of debate.
- the soccer rulebook is not a elaborate as the American Football one: certain fouls are based on 'intent' which makes it an even more subjective decision by the ref.
- soccer is a game without many stops like in NFL (or it should be at least). Incorporating video replay will cause problems here: do you stop the play during video replay? What if a goal is scored on the counter attack then? Or what if cards are handed out on the counter attack? If you work with 'challenges', you'll almost certainly get coaches using them at the end to break the flow of the game like they do now with these 30 second substitutions at the end of the game.

[Joemailman]

There have been ongoing discussions on this. It's a tricky one:
- as you can see in the NFL, in some cases video replay will still be a source of debate.
- the soccer rulebook is not a elaborate as the American Football one: certain fouls are based on 'intent' which makes it an even more subjective decision by the ref.
- soccer is a game without many stops like in NFL (or it should be at least). Incorporating video replay will cause problems here: do you stop the play during video replay? What if a goal is scored on the counter attack then? Or what if cards are handed out on the counter attack? If you work with 'challenges', you'll almost certainly get coaches using them at the end to break the flow of the game like they do now with these 30 second substitutions at the end of the game.

The National Hockey League has used instant replay just to determine whether a goal was scored, or whether a goal was scored illegally.

It could be used here to here to determine:

Whether a goal was scored.
Whether a goal was scored illegally (handball).
Whether offsides occurred on a scoring play.
Whether there was goaltender interference.

[Freak Out]

What a shocker...Russian and England fans going crazy at a football tournament.

[Freak Out]

Bale is really all Wales has?

[wootah]

Bale is really all Wales has?

He's their top player, but Ramsey is also very good (rumours of Barcelona being interested in him) & Allen (Liverpool) knows how to kick a ball as well.

It seems btw that the Russian hooligans made it clear months before the tournament started that they wanted to make a name for themselves. They saw England as the reigning champions of hooliganism, and they wanted to take their crown.

Promising set up for the world championships of 2018... in Russia.

[wootah]

http://i.imgur.com/2Sse6PP.jpg

[Joemailman]

U.S.A. have a chance against Argentina? Or are things going to get Messi?

[Freak Out]

LOL.

[red]

U.S.A. have a chance against Argentina? Or are things going to get Messi?

if the US wins it will be the greatest win in US soccer history

i don't think they have a chance in hell

[Joemailman]

Hard to score when you hardly have the ball. And impossible to stop Argentina when they have it that much. Things have indeed gotten Messi.

[red]

bradley is fucking terrible, they always talk on the radio how he's the us's best player, but every single time i've watched him, he's been by far the worst

we have no first touch, all our 1-2s seem to be heavy footed or something. our players just don't have the ball skills to keep the ball against quality teams

speaking of quality, the messi free kick was a beauty

[red]

great way to start the half

looked like the keystone cops

[Joemailman]

That was embarrassing tonight. 2 years ago in the World Cup, they were competitive in every game they played. Tonight they never challenged Argentina. Kind of depressing.

That Messi kick was perfection.

[wootah]

2 years ago in the World Cup, they were competitive in every game they played.

Not to rain on the parade, but technically & tactically there's just still a big quality gap between the US and world's top countries. Football being the low scoring game it is can mask that outcome-wise, but the US currently has no star players who are absolute difference makers on a quality team outside of the US.

In the Euro's we've had the first really good game yesterday in what has been a disappointing 1st round so far: Spain vs Croatia. Impressive display. With Spain losing, it seems all the big teams are gathered on the same side of the table (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, England). In theory this means a big opportunity for Belgium who are on the other side (Swiss, Croatia, Wales, Poland, probably Portugal), but I'm afraid their lack of quality coaching will be tough to overcome. I expect them to do well against Sweden (who have to win themselves), but as soon as they'll have to play a grouped opponent who plays the counterattack they'll struggle.

[Joemailman]

Not to rain on the parade, but technically & tactically there's just still a big quality gap between the US and world's top countries. Football being the low scoring game it is can mask that outcome-wise, but the US currently has no star players who are absolute difference makers on a quality team outside of the US.



Oh, I'm under no illusions about the quality of the USMNT versus the top teams. But they have done a pretty good job at times of overcoming their talent deficiency to at least be competitive. I was disappointed last night that they didn't even compete with Argentina. They seem to have regressed somewhat since 2014. Whether it's a real decline, or growing pains remains to be seen.

[Bretsky]

That was embarrassing tonight. 2 years ago in the World Cup, they were competitive in every game they played. Tonight they never challenged Argentina. Kind of depressing.

That Messi kick was perfection.


I come in this thread once a year to point out the same things. Soccer is for Europeans. Let one of them win.

[Freak Out]

...or latin americans.

[Joemailman]

Interesting story about how Brexit could affect the Premier League.

http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/what-does-the-united-kingdom-s-exit-from-the-european-union-mean-for-the-premier-league-062416


The Premier League has worked under the EU's freedom of movement laws, which allow for goods, money or workers to move across any borders within the EU. That has made it possible for any player that is a citizen of a EU country to play in the Premier League without problem, and ensured there would be no tariffs.

Going forward, that's in doubt.

Premier League clubs may not be able to import talent like they have in the past. All players from EU countries would be subject to the same UK work permit laws that non-EU players are currently subject to, which blocks many players from joining English clubs. Players like N'Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet would not have been eligible to sign with Leicester City and West Ham, respectively, when they came over, and they would be just two of hundreds that would no longer be able to sign in the Premier League.

That doesn't mean all players would be barred from joining the league. The top players from the top national teams still could, so the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Sergio Aguero are safe, but most players below that threshold would be denied the ability to sign.

[red]

Yeah, I heard on the radio the other day that if they voted to leave, the the bpl would be next to dead within 3 to 4 years

[Joemailman]

Does a 3rd place game mean any more than a friendly?

[Joemailman]

Sometimes I think Germany could field 2 teams and they'd both be competitive.

[wootah]

What a game by Hazard :whaa:

[Joemailman]

I come in this thread once a year to point out the same things. Soccer is for Europeans. Let one of them win.

Come on B. Hot latinas love soccer.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140624172604-42-wc-best-0624-horizontal-gallery.jpg

[red]

its not really a shock to me that messi and zlatan have both now quit their national teams

why the hell would any good player from a top team want to play for free during the tiny 1 month break you get between seasons?

50+ club games a year, then everyone expects you to play a bunch of qualifier games and a worthless tournament each year that makes nobody but fifa any money? screw that. i'd take that 1 month to rest and recover

[Joemailman]

its not really a shock to me that messi and zlatan have both now quit their national teams

why the hell would any good player from a top team want to play for free during the tiny 1 month break you get between seasons?

50+ club games a year, then everyone expects you to play a bunch of qualifier games and a worthless tournament each year that makes nobody but fifa any money? screw that. i'd take that 1 month to rest and recover

It's a good point. Since I really started following international soccer a few years ago, I've been amazed at how many tournaments the national teams play in.

I still wouldn't be surprised if Messi decided to take one more shot at the World Cup though.

[red]

and now real madrid just lost one of the best (the best in some peoples minds) to a knee injury suffered in the euros

that real sucks for madrid, hopefully they don't have to keep paying him his half million dollars a week salary while he's out injured

not worth the risk IMO, in our day and age

[Joemailman]

I'm guessing MCL. Hopefully he didn't hurt the knee worse by trying to play on it. La Liga season starts August 20.

[wootah]

This has been the worst European Championships I can recall: 90% of the teams playing not to lose (instead of trying to win), hardly any goals, hardly any spectacle. Just rubbish...

About the discussion above: it's playing for your country, guys. I though that would mean something for 'muricans, so I'm surprised you cannot relate to that. For most players it's the highest honor & achievement; Messi told several times he'd trade his ballons d'or for an Argentinian world cup. That's the great thing about it: for a couple of weeks it's not about the club who has the biggest budget (and can buy the best players); it's representing your country.

[Joemailman]

This has been the worst European Championships I can recall: 90% of the teams playing not to lose (instead of trying to win), hardly any goals, hardly any spectacle. Just rubbish...

About the discussion above: it's playing for your country, guys. I though that would mean something for 'muricans, so I'm surprised you cannot relate to that. For most players it's the highest honor & achievement; Messi told several times he'd trade his ballons d'or for an Argentinian world cup. That's the great thing about it: for a couple of weeks it's not about the club who has the biggest budget (and can buy the best players); it's representing your country.

International competition is great. The World Cup is probably the greatest international sports competition. I do wonder though if there is too little time off for some of the players. If you play for one of the top Premier League teams, you're playing 38 league games, Champions League Games, the FA Cup, The League Cup, and then all your national team games.

[wootah]

Valid point. Yesterday they said it was Griezmann's 72nd game of the season. Soccer is a contact sport, but it's nowhere near the realm of American Football obviously. Injuries are usually the (in)direct result an unfortunate collision or a previously encountered injury. Physically it should not be a problem for most of the athletes, provided they receive professional physical periodization, although I get the impression that mentally they sometimes seem more tired than before.

[red]

well, that was a quick offseason

GAME ON

myy whites came out today for their first game and took a big shit in the middle of the field and lost to QPR 0-3

[Joemailman]

Premier League starts tomorrow. Another shocker this year, or will the traditional powers regain control?

[red]

champs lose to hull, ouch

[Joemailman]

champs lose to hull, ouch

Middlesbrough tied Stoke, so new teams start out 1-1-1.

I've been wondering if Leicester will get trounced in Champions League this year.

[Joemailman]

Klinsmann gets the axe. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/11/21/jurgen-klinsmann-fired-usmnt-us-soccer

[red]

Klinsmann gets the axe. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/11/21/jurgen-klinsmann-fired-usmnt-us-soccer

Decent coach, but just couldn't figure out how he o use his American talent

And I seriously doubt the rehash is gonna do much better

[Bretsky]

Come on B. Hot latinas love soccer.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140624172604-42-wc-best-0624-horizontal-gallery.jpg


THE only posts in this thread should be like this one.......lol

[Joemailman]

A plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team crashed in Colombia after running out of fuel. At least 75 are dead. There are 6 survivors.

http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/cheats/2016/11/29/colombia-authorities-say-responding-to-plane-crash-with-72-aboard/jcr:content/image.img.707.jpg/49347562.cached.jpg


Medellin’s José María Córdova International Airport confirmed the plane was carrying members of the Chapecoense soccer team from Brazil, who were due to play against Atletico Nacional in the two-game Copa Sudamericana final Wednesday.

[Bretsky]

danget; another 30 seconds of my life wasted in here.............PIX PIX PIX ......lol

[Joemailman]

From another thread:


Fucking Leeds lost to some god damn team I've never heard of in a stadium that would be small by junior high football standards

Everything is coming up shit for red lately

Fuck sports

Hang in there Red. Leeds is in contention to be back in the Premier League next year.

What'd you think of Wolverhampton beating Liverpool?

That was weird watching what I saw of the Leeds game. Never watched a match on tv with the cameras so close to field level.

[red]

Wolves winning was pretty cool, but i thought for sure liverpool was gonna come back at the end

one good thing about leeds losing is that they can just completely focus on going back up where they belong

i've watched a few games with the camera that low, it just seems so weird

[Joemailman]

Leicester is 1 point from relegation. I'm guessing they'd be the first team to win the Premier league and then get relegated the next year?

How the heck can they be 5-6-13 in the Premier League, and be 4-1-1 in the Champions League?

[wootah]

Leicester is 1 point from relegation. I'm guessing they'd be the first team to win the Premier league and then get relegated the next year?

How the heck can they be 5-6-13 in the Premier League, and be 4-1-1 in the Champions League?

Because they were very lucky in their CL draw: Club Brugge, Kopenhagen & Porto. 3 very, very mediocre teams.

[Joemailman]

Lincoln City beats Burnley. First non-league team to make quarters of FA Cup.

[wootah]

There's a youngster here by the name of Youri Tielemans who is considered the next big talent from Belgium. Currently 19, playing in the 1st team for 4 years and to be a father next week. He's a midfielder for Anderlecht, the team he played for since he started at the age of 4.

Last week he was substituted into the game in the 58th minute. This happened 8 minutes later:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cfwlr_youri-tielemans-goal-hd-oostende-1-2-anderlecht-19-02-2017_sport

Two minutes later this happened:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cfwlq_youri-tielemans-goal-hd-oostende-1-3-anderlecht-19-02-2017_sport

Notice the distance, the force of the strike, the fact that the 1st ball was with his right, the second with his left. Has there ever been 2 more beautiful goals in 2 minutes by the same player? Anyone who ever kicked a ball knows what an exceptional thing of beauty that is...

Yesterday they played again. Guess what happened...
https://streamable.com/jgp3k

[Freak Out]

There's a youngster here by the name of Youri Tielemans who is considered the next big talent from Belgium. Currently 19, playing in the 1st team for 4 years and to be a father next week. He's a midfielder for Anderlecht, the team he played for since he started at the age of 4.

Last week he was substituted into the game in the 58th minute. This happened 8 minutes later:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cfwlr_youri-tielemans-goal-hd-oostende-1-2-anderlecht-19-02-2017_sport

Two minutes later this happened:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cfwlq_youri-tielemans-goal-hd-oostende-1-3-anderlecht-19-02-2017_sport

Notice the distance, the force of the strike, the fact that the 1st ball was with his right, the second with his left. Has there ever been 2 more beautiful goals in 2 minutes by the same player? Anyone who ever kicked a ball knows what an exceptional thing of beauty that is...

Yesterday they played again. Guess what happened...
https://streamable.com/jgp3k

Wow. Just wow. That lefty was amazing. The keepers had ZERO chance of getting near those.

[wootah]

Yeah, insane... I liked that last one as well: not so much the placing of the ball, since it was relatively central, but the way he hit the ball is just the perfect kick with the instep. I immediately texted that video to my youth players: with the view from the camera behind the goal you see the total lack of spin on the ball for that long a distance. That's just a masterclass in instep kicking technique.

[Joemailman]

Champions league match between Dortmund and Monaco postponed after bomb went off near Dortmund team bus, shattering windows. One player was injured. The game has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

[red]

its scary that police say they found a letter, they believe the team was the target, and they are treating the case as attempted homicide

unreal, and it was a home game

[Joemailman]

its scary that police say they found a letter, they believe the team was the target, and they are treating the case as attempted homicide

unreal, and it was a home game

The fact that it was a home game may have made it easier to do. They're saying the bomb may have been hidden in a hedge near a parking lot. If the team bus always takes the same route from the hotel to the stadium, they may have known where to plant the bomb.

[red]

And of course Dortmund losses today, having to play one full day after someone tried to kill the whole team

[Joemailman]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/04/21/german-bus-bombing-borussia-dortmund-targeted-share-price.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl


The man who is suspected of attacking the Borussia Dortmund soccer team’s bus on April 11 allegedly aimed to drive down the price of the club’s stock in order to profit through a speculation scheme. German federal prosecutors announced the alleged motive Friday, saying that the 28-year-old German-Russian, identified only as Sergei W., has been charged with attempted murder, inflicting serious bodily harm, and carrying out an explosion. Officials said Sergei checked into the same hotel that the team was staying in and then bought 15,000 “put options” for shares in the publicly traded team. “A significant share price drop could have been expected if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack,” prosecutors said.

[Freak Out]

Wow.

[red]

fucking leeds

bunch of god damn chokers, they're never going back up

[Joemailman]

My condolences Red.

Do you know if the Championship League Final is broadcast in the U.S.?

[red]

you mean the champions league?

i think its on fox in a couple weeks

[Joemailman]

you mean the champions league?

i think its on fox in a couple weeks

No, I meant the match at Wembley for the last promotion spot between Reading and Huddersfield.

[red]

Oh, I doubt it then

I usually have to find illegal streams online for championship games

I think sky carries most of those, and only sky U.K.

[Joemailman]

U.S. ties Mexico 1-1 at Azteca. Quiet night for Pulisic. Had a chance late and was wide right.

[Bretsky]

once a month I come in here for hottie pix; and I get soccer shit again....haha

[Joemailman]

Nice performance tonight by USMT against Costa Rica. Much better than against El Salvador. They will play Costa Rica in a WC qualifier September 1.