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Community Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2012, 01:38:16 AM

Title: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2012, 01:38:16 AM
First off, if you have a problem with me calling it that, take your bitching elsewhere. That's its name in my country.


In about a year and a half I've gone from hating soccer to rearranging my sleep schedule to be up for Liverpool-Manchester United tomorrow morning (Go Liverpool!). The World Cup hooked me, and I've gotten more and more into it since then. My main interest is Major League Soccer, and I am hugely excited for my Sounders to make a run in the Champions League, take the Shield and the Cup, and win their fourth straight US Open Cup. Since it's the offseason for them, I've been following the EPL, choosing Liverpool as my team. It's been a rough year for them; they've had real trouble scoring goals, but I've been enjoying following them.


So how many other people here follow the sport? What leagues and teams interest you the most?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on February 11, 2012, 01:46:12 AM
I do.

EPL: Arsenal
La Liga: Valencia
Seria A: Juventus
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich (it has my favorite player, Bastian Schweinsteiger)
Brasileirão: Corinthians (also my favorite team to play as in Fifa; so far undefeated)

Favorite National Teams to Watch

1st - Any African Team (if I had to choose, Ghana)
2nd - Germany
3rd - South Korea
4th - Urugauy
5th - Mexico
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2012, 02:30:20 AM
**** Ghana. I've had enough of their bullshit the last two World Cups. And you should check out MLS; its quality has really improved in the last few years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Caliban on February 11, 2012, 05:34:30 PM
Football.

S.L. Benfica from the Portuguese league, and Real Madrid (Spain) because there's a bunch of Portuguese players + coach + Ozil. Nothing beats Ozil.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Soren on February 13, 2012, 04:48:42 PM

Reborn NASL (US 2nd Division): Puerto Rico Islanders
EPL: Manchester City
La Liga: Sevilla
MLS: Seattle Sounders
Mexican: America



Obligatory question since we're talking about Liverpool: what do you really think about Luis Suarez?



Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 13, 2012, 10:03:41 PM
First off, it's great to see another Sounders fan here. As for Suarez, he seems like he can be a bit of a dick (as a hockey fan, it pissed me off when he refused to shake the guy's hand; you have to let it go), but I can look past that if he puts up results on the pitch. Of course, if he keeps getting suspended he won't be able to do that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Soren on February 21, 2012, 11:54:18 PM
I'm scared to death of Tevez and what he's going to do with City's chemistry during the stretch run. I can almost sense the disappointment as the season slips away during the final weekends.


Sevilla looks ok to avoid relegation, but I'd feel better if they weren't just 6 points clear of 18th.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on February 29, 2012, 12:13:33 PM
USA plays Italy today. Lets hope the US can make it an interesting match.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 29, 2012, 01:12:38 PM
An analyst pointed out that the in the last two matches between US and Italy the US seemed pretty in control until they went a man down. However, the US has never beaten Italy, who are the only team they've played that many times they haven't beaten.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 29, 2012, 04:07:15 PM
Beautiful pass from Michael Bradley to Jozy Altidore, who lays it off for Clint Dempsey who finds the back of the net, and the US leads 1-0. Dempsey becomes only the fourth American to score against Italy. Still 27 minutes left....
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on February 29, 2012, 04:40:12 PM
Game. USA.

Great defending during those last 15 minutes.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Caliban on February 29, 2012, 10:44:29 PM
I just watched a summary of the USA-Italy game. I'm impressed. You've got a great goalkeeper, and Jurgen Klinsmann as the coach. Awesome.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 01, 2012, 01:02:12 AM
The men beat Italy, the women stomp Denmark, and the U23 (Olympic) team takes down Mexico. All in all, a fantastic day for American soccer.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on March 01, 2012, 08:05:56 AM
Agreed.

It terms of raw potential, the USA should have all the players they need to win the World Cup several times over. It's just that the most physically talented people would rather aspire to play football or basketball.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 01, 2012, 08:25:23 AM
Europe should be thankful that the sport is only marginally popular in this country, because if it were even half as popular here as it is everywhere else we'd completely dominate international play thanks to our massive advantage in population, and therefore our talent pool.

With the amount of money in American sports, MLS could be a top tier league rivaled only by England or Spain if the sport could gain more popularity here. Every strong performance by the national teams increases interest, and the potential market.

Speaking of MLS, I am hugely excited for the season to start. I really want to see an MLS team win the Champions League this year, ideally the Sounders but I'd settle for Toronto or even, god forbid, the Galaxy. I want to shut up some of the loudmouth Mexican league fans.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Caliban on March 01, 2012, 12:16:09 PM
Speaking of MLS, I am hugely excited for the season to start. I really want to see an MLS team win the Champions League this year, ideally the Sounders but I'd settle for Toronto or even, god forbid, the Galaxy. I want to shut up some of the loudmouth Mexican league fans.

Toronto, really? They always seem like one of the weakest teams.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 01, 2012, 08:26:45 PM
Yeah, but they got in for winning Canada. I know they're a longshot, but I'd rather see them win than LA.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Caliban on March 06, 2012, 04:22:45 PM
I'm watching the Benfica Vs Zenit game, but once in a while I look at the score from the other game and Arsenal is so close... wow Milan. Honestly.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on March 07, 2012, 02:38:24 PM
That (Arsenal) game made me cry. First with joy, then in sadness.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 14, 2012, 08:32:58 PM
I'm watching my Seattle Sounders right now in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal against Santos Laguna from the Mexican league. They came into it with a 2-1 lead, but gave up 2 bad goals in the first 20 minutes, so now they're playing from behind against a team with one of the best home field advantages in Mexico. I'm considerably less excited than I was half an hour ago.

I really don't want to have to root for the LA Galaxy so an MLS team can win the Champions League (assuming they beat Toronto later tonight, who they're currently tied 2-2 with).


EDIT: Seattle has looked a lot better since then, with good build-up and several chances, including an Alvaro Fernandez header off a Fredy Montero cross that found the back of the net. At halftime in Torreon, the Sounders trail 2-1 tonight, but more importantly are now tied 3-3 in aggregate.

EDIT: ****.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 09, 2012, 02:45:30 PM
I really hope the rumors of Clint Dempsey going to Manchester United are wrong, as I'd have to either start hating him or stop hating Man U, both of which seem impossible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on April 10, 2012, 07:28:32 PM
Anyone see the Arsenal/Man City game? Holy **** snacks.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on April 30, 2012, 01:37:55 PM
Man U vs. Man City is on at 2:30 EST. Taking all bets.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 26, 2012, 09:53:45 PM
The United States is just demolishing Scotland right now, leading 5-1 in the 73rd minute. Landon Donovan, whom I take a break from hating when he's playing for the national team, has a hat trick, as well as a great assist, with a beautiful Michael Bradley goal from outside the box rounding it out. Technically, the Scots haven't scored yet,  as their only goal was an own goal by the US. Can't wait to see what they do Wednesday against Brazil with Dempsey back in the lineup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 11, 2012, 02:16:05 AM
I have been watching Euros these past few days and it has been awesome so far. The highlight of the tournament for me has been Denmark's upset victory over the Dutch. Spain and Italy yesterday was great as well. Will definitely be watching England and France today, that match is going to be a good one! 
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 11, 2012, 02:55:35 AM
I saw the first half of the USA-Antigua and Barbuda World Cup Qualifier sitting in an airport bar on Friday. The good news is the US team is no longer playing terribly for the first 20 minutes like they always did in the past. Klinsmann's doing a good job with the team, and it's nice to finally see Donovan (who I can stand only when he's playing for team USA) and Dempsey on the pitch together, the first time under Klinsmann.

Also, I missed the Sounders-Cal FC US Open Cup match on Tuesday while at E3, but I was following along on my phone from our restaurant. 0-0 at the half, with Seattle scoring 5 in the second; I was pretty worried at first, but got progressively happier as the night went on.

I should probably watch some of the Euros since my Sounders have a bit of a break after playing 8 games in 5 weeks and are off until Saturday.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Eman55 on June 13, 2012, 12:50:48 PM
I live in Portland and am a Timbers fan.  I'm liking that they just picked up local star Danny Mwanga and may help them turn their season around more and make the playoffs. 
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Stogi on June 13, 2012, 01:26:36 PM
Euro Cup has been the ****. Sweden vs. Ukraine being the highlight.

Germany vs. Netherlands is coming up in an hour!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 22, 2012, 02:38:44 AM
Nice to see that Portugal won and on a great header from Ronaldo too. Nice to him step his game up. Petr Cech was my personal Man of the Match for that game however, he is one of the best keepers in the world and he showed that. Germany Vs. Greece will most likely be a one sided match but you never know, I hope its an exciting match.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 22, 2012, 04:59:59 AM
The Euros are going on, and they're great and all, but the game I really care about is Sunday: the reignition of the Cascadia Cup rivalry between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers. Portland has been awful this season for whatever reason (HA!) and Seattle's been struggling lately due to injuries, and are winless in their last six MLS matches.

After Alvaro Fernandez's awful red card late in Tuesday's draw against Kansas City, this seems like the perfect time for Steve Zakuani to make his triumphant return to MLS after breaking both bones in his leg from a horrendous tackle last April.

This should be a hell of a match. The teams are struggling, but this is probably the biggest rivalry in the league, so it should still be a great show. It's on ESPN this Sunday at 5 Eastern/2 Pacific, and even if you don't follow the league (which you should if you're in America and like the sport), this is one match you should check out.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 22, 2012, 02:31:40 PM
The rivalry between Portland and Seattle is fantastic as are the fans for both teams. That is one game that I will be watching.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Eman55 on June 23, 2012, 12:15:29 AM
Yeah the Timbers aren't playing great, but it is only their second season in the MLS.  One of the worst points is that they traded away their forward Kenny Cooper and now he is one of the leading goal scorers in the league. Though their forward they have now is the record holder for most goals scored in the Scottish Premier League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 12, 2012, 01:07:54 AM
After tonight's 4-1 victory over Chivas USA, the Seattle Sounders are heading to their fourth consecutive US Open Cup final, a feat not done in over 70 years, with a chance of winning it for the fourth time in a row, which has never been done. August 8 in Kansas City, the Sounders are going to make history.

In other news, rumor has it that my favorite American player, Clint Dempsey, is heading to my favorite EPL team, Liverpool, which would make me very happy.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 31, 2012, 03:31:00 AM
Okay, so the Sounders play 4 games in 10 days because of the start of Champions League play and the US Open Cup final, and I'm now pretty sure whoever sets the schedule for the league is a Timbers fan because the two MLS matches in that span are against LA and San Jose.

They couldn't have us play the Galaxy early in the season when they sucked, that has to be now that they've figured things out. And San Jose is on the verge of running away with the West, and the Sounders could really benefit from taking three points from them, but I don't know if they'll have anything left in the tank by next Saturday.

They need to pull Levesque out of retirement and get Kasey Keller out of the broadcast booth and back in net to have enough bodies to get through this. They also picked a really shitty time to sell Fernandez, and this new guy they're bringing in will have barely any time to practice with the team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 15, 2012, 10:15:01 PM
SUCK IT, MEXICO!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: shingi_70 on August 17, 2012, 12:29:01 AM
We beat Mexico Yay.

Looking forward to the premier league opening Saturday.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Eman55 on August 26, 2012, 11:25:26 AM
Timbers Leading the Cascadia Cup Even More with Win Over Vancouver!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 26, 2012, 01:24:14 PM
They've still got two games left against the Sounders, who are red hot right now, including one at Century Link in front of 60,000+ people, which has been a hell of a home field advantage so far this year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Eman55 on August 28, 2012, 01:09:20 PM
The Sounders may be able to have more fans in their stadium, but the Timbers have the Timbers Army.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 28, 2012, 06:58:29 PM
And the Sounders have ECS and several other supporters groups that are just as passionate and into it as the TA. Remember, the Timbers are only in the league because of how good Sounders fans are.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 15, 2012, 03:17:14 PM
We're about 20 minutes from the start of Sounders-Timbers on NBC at 3:30 Eastern/12:30 Pacific. This is the biggest rivalry in the league, and has major implications. Seattle clinches a playoff berth with a win and a Chivas USA loss later today. Portland would love to prevent that, and maybe play themselves out of last place. They may be on opposite ends of the table, but you have to throw records out when it comes to a game like this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 13, 2012, 01:00:24 AM
The United States played a World Cup qualifier tonight against the mighty powerhouse of Antigua and Barbuda. On paper the US should have won by about six goals, but they played awfully and barely eked out a 2-1 win with a goal in the 90th minute.

The one bright spot is Eddie Johnson, who hadn't scored for the national team in four years, whose career had gone down the toilet. After coming back to MLS this year and being acquired by my beloved Sounders, in a move widely criticized at the time, he has had a magnificent comeback year, being the Sounders' leading scorer and netting both goals tonight, bringing himself to be tied for the second most goals by any player in the history of the US men's national team.

Hats off, Eddie, and may your luck keep on coming.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Caliban on October 13, 2012, 10:13:10 PM
Canada beat Cuba 3-0 on Friday. I went to watch it live. Funny facts: 15 Cuban players arrive in Toronto. 4 of them defect (nobody ever heard of them again) and Cuba plays with:

- 11 players on the field;
- no players on bench to substitute;
- 2 players on the field were already injured before the game, and 1 one of them still had stitches on his leg.

Cannot wait to go see the next game. If there is one... here in Toronto.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 09, 2012, 12:10:20 AM
After making the playoffs each of their first 4 seasons in MLS, the Sounders finally got out of the first round with a 1-0 victory over RSL tonight on a beautiful goal by Mario Martinez in the 81st minute. They advance to play the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Finals, with the opening leg scheduled for the already busy day of next Sunday, November 18.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Sarail on November 10, 2012, 09:29:09 AM
Should be an exciting day. Any clue if this game will be broadcast on ESPN or NBCSN?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 10, 2012, 09:37:45 AM
Actually, I later found out that that is the second leg of the match, with the first being tomorrow. Tomorrow's game is on ESPN, with the earlier Eastern Conference Final match between the Houston Dynamo and D.C. United being on NBC Sports. Since Seattle and LA are probably the two most popular teams in the league, I imagine the second leg will also be on ESPN unless they just don't have a game scheduled for ESPN that week.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 26, 2013, 12:28:59 AM
So MLS season starts this weekend, and I am super excited. The new kits are being released early in the week, and if the Sounders one is the one that was leaked then I think I'll be buying one.

Here's (http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/02/2013-power-rankings.html) a good set of power rankings to start the season. I'm not sure I agree with putting LA at the top after losing Beckham and with Donovan being Donovan again, but they are the defending champs so I can't argue too much.

Seattle's had a lot of upheaval in the off-season, losing one of their DPs in Fredy Montero and looking likely to lose another in Christian Tiffert before things get started. I don't think Montero's that huge of a loss given his streaky performance, and I never really understood the Tiffert signing to begin with, so I think it's good they're looking to use his slot more effectively.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2013, 01:17:58 AM
So today MLS Comissioner Don Garber and league officials announced plans for the next expansion team for the league, its 20th, New York City FC. This team will play inside New York City, as opposed to the current New York Red Bulls who play in Harrison, New Jersey. The team will be owned by a partnership consisting primarily of the owners of the New York Yankees and the owners of Manchester City of the English Premier League.

Garber's selling this as a huge thing for the league on the level of the David Beckham deal, but I can't see this having as far reaching effects as that did. All I know is Yankees plus Man City equals the new team everybody loves to hate, especially if Beckham uses his ownership option to take over and rebrand Chivas USA.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: TJ Spyke on May 22, 2013, 02:00:54 AM
People don't really hate Manchester City though, it's Manchester United that is really hated. Plus, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (owner of  Abu Dhabi United Group, which owns Manchester City, which is majority owner of New York City FC; so essentially he owns NYC FC) could be really good for MLS and soccer in the United States as he has shown he wants to help grow the sport and is serious about it. I haven't seen a price listed, but last month he said he would be willing to pay up to $100 million for an expansion team in NYC (the fee Montreal paid was only $40 million) and helped privately fund a $340 million stadium.

And Beckham's deal allows him to buy an expansion team. His contract says he has the right to buy an expansion team, not an existing team (so not Chivas), for only $25 million. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130520/planet-futbol-david-beckham-frank-lampard/ (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130520/planet-futbol-david-beckham-frank-lampard/)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2013, 02:28:28 AM
Technically he wouldn't be buying Chivas, the league would be rescinding their franchise and then granting a new one to Beckham in the same place. Or so the rumors go. I can't stand Chivas for some of the same reason I don't like what's happening with NYCFC, I don't like the idea of MLS becoming full of a bunch of minor league teams of foreign clubs.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: TJ Spyke on May 22, 2013, 02:43:10 AM
Considering that almost every good player already chooses not to play in MLS (the top MLS player is Robbie Keane at $4 million a year and only 8 players make $1 million or more; Lionel Messi makes $19.3 million just from salary/bonuses and the 10 highest paid players in the world all make over $10 million a year). If you are talented at soccer and want to make money, there is very little reason right now to play in MLS if you don't have to. Being owned by foreign clubs that have shown a willingness to spend the money to be successful (like Al Nahyan with Manchester City) can help change that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2013, 04:52:35 PM
Six years ago no one in MLS made over $400,000 a year. Salaries are increasing as the league grows and things like the designated player rule are allowing MLS clubs to bring in higher priced talent.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: TJ Spyke on May 22, 2013, 05:20:34 PM
And that is why I think it's good that this UAE prince is buying an expansion team as he will be willing to pay to get some of these top tier players to come play for his team in MLS. Even some of the top analysts are recognizing that MLS is getting better (it's now ranked in the top 10 for soccer leagues). It's still a long way away before MLS is considered anywhere near something like Premier League or La Ligra, but its getting there.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Soren on May 27, 2013, 11:08:51 AM
The MLS still wants parity and the league is structured in such a way that no one franchise is going to spend insane amounts of money to bring players over. The rest of the league would revolt. MLS can't spend freely like the European leagues can.


In other news, the America v. Cruz Azul Final return leg was absolutely insane:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY9DhFkHiDE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY9DhFkHiDE)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 11, 2013, 11:37:04 PM
After a day like today, I'm sure all of you are glued to your televisions tonight following the World Cup Qualifiers. The United States is looking really impressive tonight, leading Panama 2-0 in the 67th minute. Shortly after the U.S. scored the second goal the crowd began chanting "We are going to Brazil!" which I loved.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 18, 2013, 11:45:12 PM
The U.S. beat Honduras tonight in Salt Lake City 1-0 on a Jozy Altidore goal. He had gone two years without scoring a goal for the national team before scoring 4 goals for them in the last two weeks. The U.S. now has 13 points in the hex, with a 5 point lead over second place Mexico, and have all but locked up their trip to Brazil next summer.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 01, 2013, 05:53:05 PM
Today, Seattle Sounders central midfielder Shalrie Joseph restructured his contract so that he was no longer a designated player. Now, this news would have been great in and of itself, as Joseph, while a good player, had no business being a DP, but what makes it even better is the Sounders apparently intend to fill that now open DP slot with a guy you may have heard of named Clint Dempsey.

I've already made the mistake of getting my hopes up over this, even though there are a lot of hurdles that would have to be past, most notably the seemingly impossible task of acquiring the top spot in the allocation order from hated rival Portland.

 Really, even if we don't get Deuce, we'll be able to get somebody else who'd be a massive step up from Joseph in that DP slot, but I can dream.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: Soren on August 02, 2013, 07:02:46 PM
So here I was, ready to write a huge, longwinded opinion stating that Dempsey, his dream of playing in the Champions League now dashed, still had some useful life in the UK. He could have teamed up with Timmy in Everton, or even Jozy in Sunderland. And who knows, maybe a miracle happened and he proved himself worthy of being one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Thank God I didn't, because it looks like Dempsey really is going to Seattle. Eff yeah...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 03, 2013, 06:09:18 AM
A reporter who covers the Sounders pointed out on Twitter that now 10 of the 15 goals the U.S. national team has scored in World Cup qualifying have been scored by Sounders players (Eddie Johnson, Brad Evans, and now Cint Dempsey).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 03, 2013, 08:41:11 AM
The thing is, I'd love Dempsey signing for (mostly) any MLS team, as it would and will be huge for the league and for American soccer in general. I just get extra lucky and have my favorite player on my favorite team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 16, 2013, 04:18:04 AM
So it's official, Omar Gonzalez is LA's third DP. While the Sounders fan in me is happy that the Galaxy decided to waste their last DP slot on a defender when they could have gotten someone much more dangerous, the USMNT fan in me is upset that the man who is supposed to be the anchor of our backline for years to come will apparently never be tested by the best competition in the world. At least with Dempsey he got several years at that level before returning to MLS.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 17, 2013, 10:31:52 AM
Today's the first day of the Premier League season, so between that and MLS there's a whole lot of soccer today. My Reds kicked the season off with a win over Stoke City; how's everyone else's team doing?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on August 17, 2013, 08:31:34 PM
In Portugal I go for Benfica, and they play tomorrow. Other than that I'm just interested in seeing how well Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and other players do.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 18, 2013, 09:20:05 AM
With the NFL I find myself more interested in games not involving my team because of fantasy football, and I'm finding the U.S. national team doing the same thing in terms of European soccer. I care about Sunderland because of Jozy Altidore, and Everton because of Tim Howard. The only reason I'd even begin to care about Serie A is Michael Bradley. This brings an all new dimension to the sport for me.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Sarail on August 18, 2013, 07:43:13 PM
So, who were the big team coming out of Championship League 1 last season? Cardiff? Crystal Palace? Because it definitely wasn't Hull City - who happened to play Chelsea in Matchweek 1 of the Premier League. My god, what a shamble of ball possession on their part. Sheesh.

I'm expecting big things out of Chelsea this season. Though, my team, Manchester United, played really well against Swansea - all with only 30 minutes of play from Wayne Rooney. And Rooney, after all of his tiring post and pre-season bids to leave United, did exactly what I thought he'd do out on the pitch...

Aside from his fantastic pass at the end of the game assisting Danny Welbeck for an extra time goal, he played a bit half-heartedly. Why would you not WANT to be a part of a winning team? Gah.

Premier League is off to a great start after one week. Here's to any NWR forum-goer's team getting on well this season. Cheers!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: shingi_70 on August 19, 2013, 09:31:14 AM
Keep trying to keep up with sports but than eventually fallout. So this season i'm following Arsenal. I wish premier league had something similar to MLS live.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Sarail on August 19, 2013, 06:37:22 PM
Shingi, in North America, if your cable/satellite company carries NBC Sports Network, you can download the NBCSN Live Extra app - which enables you to watch ANY televised Premier League match on your mobile. It's quite handy.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on August 19, 2013, 08:41:25 PM
So this season i'm following Arsenal.


Are you sure you want to do that? It's ok, we totally won't judge you if you pick another team to follow. It's still very early in the season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: shingi_70 on August 19, 2013, 08:46:54 PM
I thought arsenal was supposed to be a pretty solid team.


@Racht


No go since I don't have cable. (though I might try to use my uncles.)





Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Wah on August 19, 2013, 08:48:58 PM
My socceroo's are doing really badly, but then again soccer isn't Australia's thing!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Sarail on August 19, 2013, 09:05:03 PM
I thought arsenal was supposed to be a pretty solid team.

@Racht

No go since I don't have cable. (though I might try to use my uncles.)
Considering that Wegner didn't scout entirely too well in the off-season...nah, they're kind of in a rut. The team are in negative standing with their fans - "Farcenal," I'm reading a bit online. For instance, I have spent more money for my toilet paper than Wegner has spent in the entire off-season. It's a shame, really, because ever since van Persie signed with Man United, it's almost like the team have been jilted.

Tottenham, Liverpool, Man United, Man City, and Chelsea are all contenders for the trophy this season. But then, anything could happen. It's going to be an exciting season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on August 19, 2013, 09:16:34 PM
I thought arsenal was supposed to be a pretty solid team.

Yeah but you're not going to have any fun watching them. They have no hope of winning a title, are probably looking at an early exit from the Champions League,  they haven't spent a single cent in the transfer market and they have no depth. And just like this weekend where they got tossed around by a weaker Aston Villa team at home it's going to be a lot of cheering for Giroud and Walcott followed by lots of venom for Arsen Wenger.


Tottenham, Liverpool, Man United, Man City, and Chelsea are all contenders for the trophy this season.


No way. Liverpool finish 4th. Maybe. But they'll be out of it pretty early on.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 20, 2013, 01:51:18 AM
Liverpool looked pretty impressive in that first game. The offense was really clicking, could have been a 4-0 blowout if not for several big saves by Stoke's keeper. They probably won't be in the title race, though, which I'd say is probably just United, City and Chelsea. They're definitely a strong contender for the final Champions League slot, though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 26, 2013, 06:47:29 AM
I think I've finally recovered emotionally from last night's insanity. I didn't think it was possible, but that game lived up to the massive hype. Back and forth, with big plays at both ends of the pitch, and incredibly physical. Portland played tough (too tough at times, with crazy hits on Dempsey and that guy kneeing EJ in the head when he was on the ground) but it's hard to stop this now finally almost entirely healthy Sounders team.

Dempsey still didn't get his first goal in rave green, but he had a number of very near misses. I think the lack of Obafemi Martins in the attack limits what he can do when he has to play forward the whole game. Mauro Rosales, who two months ago was looking old and slow, continued his recent hot streak by setting up the winning goal. Eddie Johnson got the big goal to break a bit of an MLS slump and continues his streak of scoring in Cascadia play. DeAndre Yedlin is an exciting young player who made multiple big defensive plays and will be playing for Jurgen Klinnsman before too long. And Michael Gspurnning reminded everyone why he's one of the best keepers in MLS by coming up big the few times he needed to.

Onward to Columbus!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: shingi_70 on September 07, 2013, 10:12:38 PM
Hopefully my boys kick some sounders ass tonight.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 07, 2013, 10:28:52 PM
Not looking good for them early on. They can't keep giving Obafemi Martins chances like that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: shingi_70 on September 07, 2013, 11:30:08 PM
Lamar Neagle tied the game up recently.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 08, 2013, 12:16:51 AM
Wow. An own goal with a minute and a half left to play gives Seattle the three points. The Sounders are now two points back of RSL in the Western conference and in the Shield race.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 10, 2013, 08:27:22 PM
USA vs. Mexico is going on right now on ESPN. The best rivalry in CONCACAF, with World Cup Qualifying on the line. A win for the Yanks would clinch a World Cup berth if Honduras beats or draws Panama tonight, and would also cripple Mexico, who are on the verge of falling out of it entirely. A win-win for the US.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on September 12, 2013, 12:14:23 PM
Beautiful game, but how do you NOT make that PK? There was no pressure to score.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 12, 2013, 12:55:12 PM
The theory is he missed it on purpose to preserve the 2-0 score, which is kind of a running thing between the U.S. and Mexico. I don't know how much truth there is to that, though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 13, 2013, 03:54:51 PM
Fresh off the heels of the United States qualifying for the World Cup, tonight we have what is shaping up to be the biggest match of the MLS season.

The Seattle Sounders take on Real Salt Lake in front of 50,000+ people in Seattle, with the winner in control of the best record in MLS with a month and a half to play.

Eddie Johnson, who scored the game winning goal against Mexico Tuesday, will be playing, along with teammates Cint Dempsey and Kyle Beckerman. It should be great!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 16, 2013, 01:00:49 PM
I think every Mexican family's going to name their firstborn son Graham now.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 27, 2013, 11:52:09 PM
My English Premier League team (Liverpool) is having an incredible season, but I still care way more and pay far more attention to the Sounders/MLS offseason. It's kind of odd since I'm not that much closer to Seattle than I am to Liverpool, but despite the higher level of play I'm far more invested in MLS than the BPL.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 06, 2013, 11:05:38 AM
Is everybody ready for the World Cup draw in a little under half an hour? I tend to be a fairly pessimistic person, so between that and all the negativity being thrown around I've all but given up on the United States being able to get out of the group stage next summer.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 06, 2013, 12:39:57 PM
I was right to give up hope. The world is a terrible and merciless place. Time to start preparing for 2018.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on December 06, 2013, 06:26:55 PM
Oh come on. Germany's the biggest threat in the group, and my Portugal has its ups and downs, so the US team might just make it. Gana's not so bad either. It's not the group of death as they like to call it, it's an exciting group.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 07, 2013, 09:39:31 AM
Within an hour of posting that I had gone through all the stages of grief and made my way to the point of feeling pretty good about our chances. It's a tough group, but the way the schedule within the group plays out is exactly the way the US would want it to be. Open with the big emotional game against the weakest team in the group, then play Portugal under circumstances that favor the US. Win both those games and the final game against Germany might matter as far as getting through.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 07, 2013, 07:36:13 PM
If you weren't watching you just missed one hell of an MLS Cup final. Sporting Kansas City beat Real Salt Lake 7-6 on penalty kicks, which went all the way to ten kickers after RSL started down 2-0 and fought back. Kansas City keeper Jimmy Nielsen played a subpar first 120 minutes but stepped up big time when he needed to. An instant classic.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on December 07, 2013, 09:06:10 PM
I don't follow MLS... although I could because of the Canadian teams. I should go watch some matches, I've got a morning job now and I have a bit more money to spend.

LOL just checked the match schedule, and it seems I will have to wait until March 22 for TFC's first home game.

I just looked at their stats for this season... good lord. Can I play for them because I think I can do just as bad.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 07, 2013, 09:10:07 PM
Toronto FC is just awful, and have been as long as I've followed the league. They did manage to get into the Champions League a year or two ago, though, by winning the Canadian Cup and managed to get to the semifinals, better than any other MLS team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 08, 2014, 03:33:29 PM
It's ironic that the last post in this thread was about Toronto FC being awful, because if the talk at the moment is accurate they're about to get a lot better by signing defensive midfielder and MVP of the US national team Michael Bradley. That may sound somewhat ridiculous, but speaking as someone who vividly remembers the night the story broke of Clint Dempsey going to Seattle, I can tell you that that doesn't mean it isn't true.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Chiramii on January 14, 2014, 12:13:20 PM
I've never paid much attention to MLS, mainly because I'm Norwegian but as a true football fan(yes, football), I would like to mention the team that is close to my heart, and that is Rosenborg BK. A club that most of you have probably never heard of before. :P: : With 13 consecutive league wins from 1992 to 2004, they were once considered an unstoppable team here in the cold north.


They're group stage plays in the UEFA Champions League from 1995-2008 is also something I will remember for the rest of my life. For a Norwegian club to enter the group stage along with the bigger teams from countries like Italy, Spain and England was unheard of at the time. The atmosphere at a full "Lerkendal Stadion" in mid-November and December with the flood lights on and with -15°C outside with teams like Chelsea, Lyon, Real Madrid, Valencia and Arsenal on the turf was something magical.


But like many other things, it must come to an end. The team has struggled against national competition the past few years. Great players and young talents are now gone to fulfill they're dreams in bigger clubs, and in a city where we once took every league victory as a given, and to join the big guys outside the national border it's a though one to swallow. But as every other supporter, I have faith in the team that I follow, and that we'll once again return the the place where we belong. in the UEFA Champions League.


I've added a few videos that you may want to watch, please excuse me for the Norwegian commentary in one of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ZziVIRAPw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ZziVIRAPw)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU-1WkChD3A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU-1WkChD3A)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsy4KfjptfU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsy4KfjptfU)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on January 14, 2014, 05:28:09 PM
I'm well aware of Rosenborg BK. They're usually going up against Portuguese teams in Champions/Europa League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on January 14, 2014, 06:42:46 PM
My wife and I would love to go see a Sounders game.


Some day we would like to go to the World Cup. If we had the time and money we would go to Brazil this year. Her family is really into the World Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 14, 2014, 09:02:24 PM
Living on the other side of the country and hundreds of miles from any other MLS team makes it hard to be able to go to a Sounders game, but I'm half-planning to go visit my sister in Chicago this summer around when the Sounders visit to play the Fire and go see that. Not the same as the atmosphere at Century Link, but still cool.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on January 14, 2014, 09:06:42 PM
I do hear that the atmosphere is intense. Of course, Seattle has the loudest fans in the world so what do you expect? ;)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on January 14, 2014, 09:50:29 PM
So is picking up the US captain and a 2nd-stringer from Tottenham going to make Toronto FC *not* a dumpster fire?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 14, 2014, 09:56:15 PM
It'll certainly help. They overpaid for a defensive mid by MLS standards, but Bradley's probably the best one in the league. They certainly won't be awful, but I don't know that they're even real playoff contenders without more moves.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2014, 05:54:38 PM
The 2014 MLS season is officially under way, and the Sounders started it with a bang, knocking off the defending champions with a goal in the 94th minute, tying a team record for latest goal, set last year against this same team. Wow.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on March 08, 2014, 07:29:29 PM
I'm curious to see if the '12th Man Effect' pours over into MLS this season (my real hope is that it injects some life into the dead husk of the Mariners).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2014, 07:33:16 PM
It's been there for a while. The Sounders almost never lose at home, especially when they've opened it up and have 70,000 fans in there cheering them on.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on March 27, 2014, 08:47:28 AM
Ok. It's nice to see TFC win some matches. I guess getting a world class goalkeeper and forward was worth it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 27, 2014, 08:54:13 AM
Yeah, Bradley to Defoe is looking like a deadly combo.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 28, 2014, 03:41:43 PM
Toronto-RSL tomorrow looks like it should be a fun one. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. Wish it weren't on at mostly the same time as the Sounders. I may end up trying to watch both.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on March 28, 2014, 06:25:02 PM
Yeah I'm going to try and watch this match. I want to see how they play for myself.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 29, 2014, 03:33:45 PM
In non-MLS news, with Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Man City just now, Liverpool now control their own destiny with under two months left to play. After the way things were going into the season, I doubt anyone would have predicted this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on March 29, 2014, 03:49:10 PM
I never predicted that Liverpool would do so well this year. I actually thought that Arsenal had a chance at the title (they still do) because of Mesut Ozil's acquisition, but it seems like they lost steam half way through the season. However Manchester City is 2 games behind after today's game, so it's definitely going to be a wild ride until the end because all four teams at the top have a chance to win it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 29, 2014, 05:10:40 PM
I'm going on record here as saying RSL beats Toronto tonight, thanks to a big performance by Kyle Beckerman. He's somewhat on the bubble for Brazil, and shutting down the high-flying Toronto offense sends a statement to Klinnsman. Having the best keeper in the league behind him also helps.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on March 29, 2014, 11:44:48 PM
TFC is weak.
I actually think Cesar won't do that well at TFC unless the Defenders are/get better, and not to mention that near the end of the match it looked like he was limping a little bit.
Defoe most likely is injured, and he's alright, but one man can't carry the team.
The one player from TFC that I was surprised with his performance was Michael Bradley. Shame there aren't another couple of Bradleys and another Defoe to make a quality team for the M and F positions.

And I got to give it a hand to the RSL GK. He's good.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 30, 2014, 01:42:28 PM
In two games against Spurs this season Liverpool has outscored them a combined 9-0. They're two points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table with 6 games left to play.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 02, 2014, 10:39:28 AM
Is everybody excited for tonight? It may not seem that big, but there's no such thing as "just a friendly" between the U.S. and Mexico.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 02, 2014, 05:48:29 PM
I am. Specially after Puebla blocked the release Beasley and Orozco for the friendly.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 02, 2014, 06:03:09 PM
That's especially interesting to me as a Sounders fan, as it means DeAndre Yedlin is going to see a pretty significant amount of playing time. He's probably the odds-on favorite to be the starter at right back in 2018, but Puebla's dickish move (as well as Brad Evans' injury) may give him the opportunity to play his way onto the 2014 roster.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 02, 2014, 07:22:27 PM
I'll admit I haven't kept up with the national team after they secured their spot in the Cup but aside from the sure things(Howard, Guzan, Bradley, Deuce, Landon, Altidore) has anyone else locked themselves in to the roster with their play?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 02, 2014, 07:36:25 PM
Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler have pretty much locked up the center back spots. They'll play tonight, as both are in MLS (LA Galaxy and Sporting KC, respectively). Graham Zusi, also from KC, is almost certainly going to start at right midfield, at least assuming they keep the same formation. The way Aron Johannson's been playing would make me want to consider starting him alongside Altidore, which could potentially push Zusi out, but Klinnsman doesn't seem to be thinking that way.

Zusi should be interesting to watch tonight in the kind of treatment he gets from the Mexican team. His equalizing goal in the 90+ minute of the final qualifying match, while meaningless to the US, singlehandedly prevented Mexico from missing the World Cup. He was already given a bottle of tequila by a Mexican media member in the leadup to this game as a thank you gift.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 02, 2014, 07:52:47 PM
I love Gonzalez. I just hope he keeps improving before his ceiling closes. I also totally forgot about Zusi. He's fun to watch.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 02, 2014, 08:03:06 PM
Gonzalez/Besler are going to have to watch out or somebody like John Anthony Brooks could steal their spot for 2018. As much as I love to see the Galaxy waste a DP slot on a defender, I'd have liked to see Gonzalez spend some time in Europe.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 03, 2014, 12:15:48 AM
We're only at the half, but we already got to Dos A Cero. Hey Mexico: PRO TIP: Maybe you should keep an eye on Michael Bradley at least some of the time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 05, 2014, 05:34:48 PM
MLS and NBC do nothing but hype up Sounders-Timbers, but that game just now lived up to it and then some. Clint Dempsey silences the haters with a hat trick, including two goals in the final 10 minutes to complete the comeback. Easily the best soccer game I've ever witnessed, and we've still got at least another 180 minutes between these two before the end of the season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on April 08, 2014, 05:18:24 PM
And Chelsea FC did it hahahahahahaha.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 12, 2014, 10:54:07 PM
No one but Clint Dempsey has more than 4 goals so far this season in MLS.

Dempsey has 5 in the last two games.

He is just unstoppable right now, getting two tonight, plus the "assist" on an FC Dallas own goal and several near misses, to follow his hat trick last week in Portland. He's the highest paid player in the league, and right now he's certainly playing like it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 16, 2014, 05:46:39 PM
A 22nd MLS franchise?! Jeez, man.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 17, 2014, 06:14:53 AM
If you're referring to Atlanta, that's actually the 23rd. They have been expanding at a very quick pace. NYC2 and Atlanta don't actually start playing until 2017, though. The question now is who's getting 24, since they've said things to the effect that they'll be stopping there. The leading candidates seem to be Minnesota and St. Louis.

EDIT: NYCFC starts playing next year along with Orlando. Miami's the other 2017 team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 17, 2014, 10:37:55 AM
A 24-team MLS will be the biggest top tier league in the world. While I'm sure Garber and folks have no problems taking that sweet sweet expansion money, I'm very fearful the league won't be able to withstand the eventual lean years that come after such rapid growth. And that's both from a talent dilution and a business perspective.


It's a quandary because the league is not like other top tier soccer leagues in the world, but also not like other leagues in the US. All this rapid expansion also makes it near-impossible to eliminate the single-entity ownership structure and implement promotion/relegation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 17, 2014, 10:54:54 AM
Even without all this expansion we weren't going to see promotion/relegation anytime soon, and I don't know that it'll have too much of an impact on ending the single-entity structure. The league has pretty much doubled in size in the last decade, and yet the level of talent has increased substantially over the same span, so I'm not too worried about that, especially with the big increase in TV revenue if rumors of the new deal are accurate.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 17, 2014, 11:49:12 AM
The real issue with all this expansion is all four announced teams are on the east coast, which will force conference realignment, likely pushing Kansas City, the defending champs, and Houston, runner up the two years before that, into a Western Conference that's already significantly stronger and deeper than the East.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on April 17, 2014, 12:51:01 PM
I hate the conference setup, but the single table alternative isn't going to be viable with that many teams unfortunately. In an ideal world I would love it if they took the Apertura/Clausura model, which would place a bigger emphasis on regular season results. I just don't think it could work for teams dealing with regular season + playoffs + US Open + Champions League. It would be too much.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 17, 2014, 01:12:09 PM
Unlike some of the things the league did early on to court American sports fans, like not letting games end in ties, I think the playoff structure is good for the league. European leagues don't usually do it that way within individual leagues, but the Champions League is effectively the playoffs for them. Maybe when and if the CONCACAF Champions League becomes a bigger deal/more competitive they can consider scaling it back some.

As you pointed out, a balanced schedule really isn't in the cards for a league as big as it's going to be, and without that putting a ton of importance on the regular season doesn't seem like a fair deal.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 20, 2014, 08:58:24 AM
Not only are my Sounders crazy hot right now, but my EPL team, Liverpool, is on the verge of winning their first title in a quarter century.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 03, 2014, 06:55:24 AM
Maybe the biggest remaining game in the English Premier League season kicks off this afternoon, with Everton taking on Manchester City. If Liverpool are going to be able to hang on and win the league they need City to drop points somewhere along the line, and this seems like the most likely chance of that happening. It's a pretty interesting situation to be in for Liverpool and Everton, hated cross-town rivals forced into a rare common interest situation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 04, 2014, 01:21:08 AM
The Sounders are just unstoppable right now. Tonight was their fourth win in a row, and they've got the best record in the league. The main key seems to be their relentless attack combined with incredible attacking depth.

They've got Kenny Cooper, who a couple years back scored 18 goals in a season, coming off the bench, so he's full energy coming out against a gassed opponent for the final third. They've now scored 8 goals in the final 15 minutes of gamed in the 9 games they've played so far this year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on May 05, 2014, 07:55:16 PM
So Liverpool just blew a 3-0 lead to snatch a tie from the jaws of victory. The title is Manchester City's to lose.


I can't wait to see how City blows it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 05, 2014, 07:57:10 PM
To be fair, the title was already City's to lose. If both they and Liverpool had won out it'd have ended in a tie and City has a 9-point lead in goal differential.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 12, 2014, 12:34:01 PM
Today the long-rumored ESPN/Fox deal for the MLS TV rights was made official. It's a massive bump up in money from the previous deal, to the point that it seems like kind of a bad move on their part, but this influx of cash will allow the league to take the next step in its development.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 15, 2014, 07:30:31 PM
World Cup training camp for the United States has begun. Klinsmann brought in 30 guys, has to cut that down to 23 by June 2. Expect some kind of crazy free-for-all among the defenders, because the only guy there that's really locked down his spot is Matt Besler. It's a combination of guys who are past their prime (DaMarcus Beasley, for example) and guys who probably aren't ready for this level yet (my boy DeAndre Yedlin).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on May 16, 2014, 12:41:28 AM
Today the long-rumored ESPN/Fox deal for the MLS TV rights was made official. It's a massive bump up in money from the previous deal, to the point that it seems like kind of a bad move on their part, but this influx of cash will allow the league to take the next step in its development.


The worst part might be hearing Gus Johnson's voice on the Fox broadcasts but all in all it looks like a good deal. Fridays on Univision plus a doubleheader every Sunday night sounds good.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 16, 2014, 08:59:29 AM
Sepp Blatter has admitted giving the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake, making him the last person in the world to realize that.


Today the long-rumored ESPN/Fox deal for the MLS TV rights was made official. It's a massive bump up in money from the previous deal, to the point that it seems like kind of a bad move on their part, but this influx of cash will allow the league to take the next step in its development.


The worst part might be hearing Gus Johnson's voice on the Fox broadcasts but all in all it looks like a good deal. Fridays on Univision plus a doubleheader every Sunday night sounds good.

NBC's coverage was better, but for the kind of money they're getting and guaranteed consistent time slots I'll absolutely take that hit.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on May 16, 2014, 10:33:25 AM
Sepp Blatter has admitted giving the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake, making him the last person in the world to realize that.


Blatter only admitted the "it's going to be too hot to play in the summer" part of giving Qatar the bid completely glossing over the massive human rights violations going on and the fact that Qatar is not ready to host such a massive event. No regrets!



Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 19, 2014, 12:52:31 AM
Obafemi Martins, out of Clint Dempsey's shadow while he's off with the national team, scores one of the best goals you'll ever see in the Sounders' 1-0 win over San Jose.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 19, 2014, 06:09:06 PM
Portugal released their World Cup roster, and sadly my hopes of some kind of insane clerical error keeping Christiano Ronaldo off it didn't come to pass. That game in the Amazon looks to be a pretty big one.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on May 19, 2014, 08:24:09 PM
I wouldn't be too worried Insanolord. In my opinion I don't think we have a great team. One player can't carry the whole team all the time, and if the other players can't keep up with Cristiano then there isn't much of a team to begin with. I'm just being humble because I know how the Portuguese can utterly fail against teams that should suffer 10+ goals.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 19, 2014, 08:37:57 PM
Third in the world according to FIFA, though.

The one nice thing is the US-Portugal game is going to be played under conditions that probably favor the US. It's in the Amazon, which involves a lot of travel, which MLS-based players are used to, and also very hot and humid conditions, which you get used to playing qualifiers in Central America.

That's the key game for us, I think. We should be able to beat Ghana without too much trouble, and if we can get a win from Portugal we've got a decent chance to get through regardless of what we do against Germany.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on May 21, 2014, 08:30:17 AM
Ugh FIFA rankings... anyway. Yeah I also think that the tropical weather might affect the European teams. It will be interesting to see how they play in such conditions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2014, 05:53:23 PM
Klinsmann's named the final 23-man roster, and if you thought Eddie Johnson being left off the 30-man was controversial you ain't seen nothing yet.

Landon Donovan, veteran of 3 World Cups and probably the best American non-keeper to ever play the game, will be watching on TV with the rest of us. Meanwhile, Chris Wondolowski, a man I've argued up and down doesn't have the talent to play at this level, is on the plane.

Also, there's a pretty significant youth movement, with my boy DeAndre Yedlin, John Anthony Brooks, and a guy who three months ago wasn't eligible to play for the US in Julian Green are all going to Brazil.

There are some pretty bold choices here, and if they don't work out Jurgen's going to take a whole lot of **** for them. He should probably be thankful the USSF already extended his contract through the next World Cup cycle.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on May 22, 2014, 07:06:17 PM
This is a great team...for 2018.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2014, 07:13:09 PM
I mean, I think there's a good chance Yedlin and Brooks never see the field, and Green will almost certainly only be used as a sub, but yeah. Still, aside from Donovan pretty much everyone you'd expect is going, so it's not like they're just taking the U21 team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on May 23, 2014, 10:26:16 PM
My jaw dropped when I saw that Landon wasn't on the roster. However, he hasn't been a major factor throughout this cycle so I can see why Klinsmann dropped him. Interesting roster selections. That back line has me worried though, some good players like Besler, Cameron and Gonzalez, we'll see how they handle the group of death though.


The most interesting story IMHO is this however: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/wynalda-says-he-has-insider-info-that-julian-green-was-guaranteed-a-spot-on-the-23-man-roster.2004631 (http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/wynalda-says-he-has-insider-info-that-julian-green-was-guaranteed-a-spot-on-the-23-man-roster.2004631/)


What do you guys think? Also was it smart to take an extremely promising but unproven talent to Brazil over more experienced options?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 24, 2014, 04:09:10 PM
I feel bad for hoping Ronaldo gets hurt, but at the same time I don't stop hoping that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 29, 2014, 01:31:49 AM
A bit late, but my thoughts on last night's friendly with Azerbaijan:

Our back line, generally (and accurately) considered the weak point of the team, looked great, though part of that was certainly the overall lack of pressure against it. Still, not really anything bad to say about any member of it, and I personally loved DeAndre Yedlin's shoulder-first body check of whoever that guy was.

Conversely, just as the perceived weak point of the team was great, Michael Bradley, widely considered the best player on the team not named Tim Howard, played terribly. Even though Jermaine Jones actually stayed back and played defense so Bradley could get forward like you'd want him to, it fell flat. I'd be shocked if Klinsy doesn't start Kyle Beckerman over Jones in the next friendly; for whatever reason, Bradley just doesn't perform well when paired with Jones.

Mix Diskerud, who took the number 10 after Donovan got cut, played like a guy who deserved to be wearing that number. He had probably one of the best performances of anybody on the team last night, and while that's not saying a ton, I think he put himself in a good position to win the job starting on the wing opposite Zusi, especially with how unremarkable Bedoya was.

Jozy Altidore didn't look great, but there was enough of a showing to think he might just be able to break out of his funk for the tournament. Jozy's an extremely talented striker when he can get his head on straight, and one of the best things you can say about Jurgen Klinsmann is he seems to do a better job than anyone else of getting him there.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 01, 2014, 08:37:46 PM
Nice to get a win against Turkey! However, the defense left a lot to be desired, we won't be so lucky against the group of death. That first goal we had was sweet, beautiful pass by Bradley and an even better finish by Johnson. The young guys are.......young. It'll be interesting to see if they can contribute when it matters most.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 02, 2014, 09:13:07 AM
High ranking FIFA officials are calling for a re-vote on 2022. I think it’ll take more than just proof of bribery, human rights violations and massive logistical issues to get Sepp Blatter to agree to that, though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 04, 2014, 11:09:21 AM
People always talk about how many German-Americans are on the U.S. team, and there are a bunch of them, but the real key are the Scandinavian-Americans. Mix Diskerud and Aron "Iceman" Johnnsson are stars in the making.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on June 04, 2014, 07:16:50 PM
While the human rights violations are real and disgusting, how did you NOT SEE that happening?! First of all, Qatar is following the exact same formula as the U.A.E. (although with even more promise as their Queen is amazing and heads the Qatar Foundation, which needless to say, is the ****!). Second of all, a few minor changes is all that's need to fix this terrible embarrassment, leading to Qatar (and all Arab countries) saving face and FIFA looking great in the eyes of the world. And lastly, "it's too hot" is idiotic. Qatar is promising a solution for that problem that I, for one, NEED to see. It's artificial clouds to block the sun. Artificial clouds. Fucking amazing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 06, 2014, 03:56:09 PM
The continued injury reports coming out of Germany and Portugal make me far happier than the pain of a fellow human being ever should. The group of death gets a little less deadly, bit by bit. Between that and that German elephant picking us I'm starting to think we might just have a chance.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 06, 2014, 04:21:04 PM
Pah. I would trust the Paul the Octopus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus) over the German elephant... though he died some time ago. Our hope now passes to the Baby Pandas (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-cup-2014-baby-pandas-rival-paul-octopus-predictions-1451002).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 08, 2014, 01:54:04 AM
The US finished their series of pre-World Cup friendlies with a 2-1 over Nigeria, with Jozy Altidore busting out of his slump to score both goals. The team's coming together at just the right time, and between that and how banged up Germany and Portugal are I'm starting to get my hopes up of getting out of the group of death.

I also got to attend my first MLS match tonight, being in Chicago to see my Sounders take on the Fire. It was a crazy game, with two first half red cards leading to extended 10 on 10 action. It got tense toward the end, but the Sounders won 3-2, extending their lead at the top of the table.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 08, 2014, 11:54:54 PM
Yesterday's match proved the obvious. This team will go as far as Michael Bradley takes it. The guy's motor is unbelieveable.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 08, 2014, 11:59:49 PM
If Bradley can play like that and Jozy can actually score the team might be able to make some noise. They seem to be peaking at the right time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 12, 2014, 04:10:07 PM
It's on.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 12, 2014, 06:09:07 PM
Terrible officiating tips a game in favor of the host nation. Also, water is wet.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 13, 2014, 01:11:58 AM
That penalty was disgusting. I'm getting a sixth sense that Brazil is going to get those calls all tournament.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 13, 2014, 04:09:46 AM
I was reading an article making the argument that Omar Gonzalez was one of the weak links on the US team, which I agree with to an extent, but it made the claim that he was the most hot-and-cold player on the team, which is just ridiculous. Jozy Altidore's probably the most inconsistent player in the entire tournament, let alone just the US team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 13, 2014, 09:59:45 AM
Heh, my wife was searching for clips of the first game online and all she could find were clips of Pitbull with his awful pants. Even J-Lo was giving him the stink-eye for them. Gotta wonder who did his wardrobe for the opening show.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 15, 2014, 11:45:49 PM
I was reading an article making the argument that Omar Gonzalez was one of the weak links on the US team, which I agree with to an extent, but it made the claim that he was the most hot-and-cold player on the team, which is just ridiculous. Jozy Altidore's probably the most inconsistent player in the entire tournament, let alone just the US team.
I agree about Jozy being the most inconsistent. Last year it was around June when he had that nice string of goals for us during qualifying. I hope the last game means a return to that form. Omar worries me because Im not sure how he or anyone on that backline is going to handle the opposition during the tournament. I really wish someone like Cherundolo could've stayed healthy.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2014, 12:15:01 AM
The backline should be interesting to watch. Fabian Johnson's good, but he'll be up against some pretty tough competiton. Cameron and Besler are a solid pair in the middle, but don't have much experience working togeter, which could be an issue. DaMarcus Beasley has all the experience you could want, becoming the first American to play in four World Cups, but he's like 80 years old at this point so I don't know how much he's got left.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2014, 05:45:16 AM
So here we are, a little less than 12 hours from kickoff, and I'm becoming my usual crazy pessimistic self. We could be basically screwed before we even hit the pitch, because Portugal beating Germany earlier in the day would create a much harder scenario.

I've spent my life as a Cleveland sports fan, so my natural position on these things is to assume the worst. Really, though, with actual serious outlets predicting the US not only won't win a game, but won't score a single goal, that seems to be the common assumption here.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2014, 05:52:59 AM
And seriously, why is Bedoya given the edge over Zusi? Wasn’t  thrilled with him starting even with 2 wide guys, but especially in the 4-3-2-1. There are at least three guys I'd rather have alongside Beckerman and Jones than Bedoya.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2014, 08:00:26 PM
WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL TEAM JOHN ANTHONY BROOKS!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on June 16, 2014, 08:01:56 PM
Zusi to Brooks. I will never doubt Klinsmann the rest of the way. Man what a game.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2014, 09:37:58 PM
Seriously though, John Brooks? How many people wrote angry articles criticizing Klinsmann for picking him over Gonzalez that they then had to delete?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Sarail on June 16, 2014, 10:17:30 PM
Excellent game. I was 20 minutes behind everyone else...but I kept myself spoiler-free from Twitter. Great job, USMNT.

And now I look forward to Thursday...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 16, 2014, 11:56:49 PM
Just watched the highlights. what a header by Brooks!! Fantastic corner by Zusi as well! Only downer was Altidore's injury. Still, with Pepe's red card earlier today I'm feeling a bit more hopeful about Sunday's game.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 17, 2014, 12:02:02 AM
If the US beats Portugal on Sunday they're through to the knockout stage regardless of what they do against Germany.

Hoping against hope there's good news for Jozy. I'm not sure what Klinsmann will do if he's out. I like Iceman, but I don't think he's ready to be the focus of a World Cup attack. There really isn't another player in the US pool with the same kind of skillset as Altidore; closest is probably Terrence Boyd, and Klinsy cut him. Maybe a move to more of a traditional two forward system instead of the target forward model they play with Jozy.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on June 17, 2014, 01:38:16 AM
Hey...at least we still have "that other striker".


You know who I'm talking about. Klinsmann is such a wizard that by the time this is all over he probably will have justified every single questionable roster pick that was made.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 17, 2014, 02:39:32 AM
John Brooks was one of the choices people criticized most, and I doubt they'll be doing that anymore. Being a Sounders fan I'd love to see DeAndre Yedlin do something along those lines.

I am, for whatever reason (not just the name, but it helps), a big Mix Diskerud fan. injuries forced Klinsmann's hand or else I figure we'd have seen him tonight. And of course we've got the 19 year old who's been tearing up the German fourth division in there as well.

Still, neither of them are real forwards, and Deuce is going to need someone to work with. I like Johannsson, but I don't think he's ready for this, and I've never been sold on Wondo's ability at the international level. It''d be really, really nice to have Terrence Boyd right about now.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 17, 2014, 07:41:01 AM
You know, I've been saying Terrence Boyd, but what this team really needs right now is Eddie Johnson. He's been there, he's done that, he's got the right kind of cockiness and the proper skillset to play Jozy's role.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 18, 2014, 09:32:23 PM
Yup, Johnson would be my preference as well. It should be interesting to see how Klinnsman approaches this. Also, does it make me a bad person if I hope Croatia beats the living tar out of Mexico? I mean I can root for the other CONCACAF teams, but there's no way I can root for El Tri.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 18, 2014, 10:05:03 PM
I can't bring myself to actually root for Mexico. Best I can do is not be upset when they win. I'd really like to see Costa Rica continue their run, though. Nice to see CONCACAF having taken a higher percentage of possible points than any other federation. Maybe that'll shut up some of the people who **** all over it, but I doubt it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 19, 2014, 06:44:50 PM
Im puling for the Ticos and Honduras as well. Mexico along with Brazil and England are the only three that I am actively rooting against. Hoping Costa rica beats Italy tomorrow!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 19, 2014, 11:52:14 PM
This may not be fair to Chris Wondolowski, but I can’t shake the feeling that starting him vs. Portugal would be equivalent to starting Shalrie Joseph vs. Portland.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 22, 2014, 11:10:56 PM
Gutted....We were so so so close.....I know it's far from the end of the world, but man we had it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on June 23, 2014, 01:11:18 AM
I don't want to linger too much on the bad things in this game because it was great. But man...Wondo stopping near the box instead of going straight to the corner flag, Yedlin inexplicably delivering a cross instead of going straight to the corner flag. And Bradley's costly turnover.


That being said I still think the US will move on, and will play Germany pretty good.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 23, 2014, 06:24:09 AM
If you'd have told me at the half that the game would end in a 2-2 draw I'd have absolutely taken it, but to end that way after how the game played out was an awful feeling. Thankfully the odds are pretty good they'll get through anyway; even if they lose to Germany there's probably close to a 50-50 chance of getting in via tiebreakers or whatnot.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on June 23, 2014, 07:30:59 AM
The support group for blowing advancement in the last minute meets Tuesdays at 7. Punch and pie will be provided.

As a neutral party, I'm hoping for scorelines of 3-2 Germany and 4-0 Portugal on Thursday.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 23, 2014, 07:53:53 AM
The way Portugal's been playing I think the chances of them both scoring 4 goals and giving up none are pretty remote, and I seriously doubt the US or Germany will play aggressively enough for that score line either.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on June 23, 2014, 08:25:14 AM
Yeah, I know. I'm just rooting for maximum chaos and that combo of scorelines would lead to drawing of lots.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on June 23, 2014, 09:53:11 AM
... even if they lose to Germany there's probably close to a 50-50 chance of getting in via tiebreakers or whatnot.
Do you really think the US World Cup luck would put us on the Winning Side of a 50-50?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 23, 2014, 10:55:16 AM
Klinsmann, when asked about possible collusion between the US and Germany, said the US plays hard to win all the time even when they don't need to, pointing out that Mexico wouldn't be in this World Cup if not for that, which is a great argument and an even greater unnecessary shot at Mexico.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on June 24, 2014, 02:23:40 PM
Jesus Cristo Suarez just bit someone again.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on June 24, 2014, 05:10:11 PM
Guess he likes al dente.

Seriously though, ban the m-f already.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 25, 2014, 04:51:58 AM
The guy scored a dozen more goals than anyone else in England last year. He clearly doesn't need to bite anyone to be successful. It's just something he enjoys doing from time to time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on June 25, 2014, 02:33:49 PM
Amazing games so far. I can't believe the teams that have been kicked out so far.

Year of the Latin Cup?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 25, 2014, 02:59:10 PM
It's been the year of the Western Hemisphere, with not only South American teams doing well but CONCACAF on the verge of sending three of four representatives into the round of 16.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on June 25, 2014, 03:24:30 PM
Wait, Tomorrow Portugal and USA play at the same time.  Does that mean we'll know if we advance shortly after we play?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 25, 2014, 04:37:38 PM
If the US wins or draws against Germany they're through regardless of what happens in the other game, and if they lose there are complicated tables out there outlining all the possibilities.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 26, 2014, 12:33:12 AM
I'm going to ask the boss if we can set our national news monitoring TV station to "important news that will impact the nation" tomorrow. I know there is little hope for US but I will still hope.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 26, 2014, 02:30:49 AM
You could always give this a shot.

(http://i.imgur.com/FrjvDQj.jpg)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on June 26, 2014, 11:25:01 AM
Did Jurgen actually right that?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: nickmitch on June 26, 2014, 11:51:44 AM
The lettering is too consistent to not be a font.

I'm sure he approved it though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Toruresu on June 26, 2014, 01:08:10 PM
I knew that Germany was a tough team, but dang. Howard has been working his butt off!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on June 26, 2014, 02:16:28 PM
I didn't get to see the action of the game I had to follow 2 separate blogs so I ended up watching the game through Mostly statistics.  Portugal and a good goalie is the only reason we are making it.  Germany could have literally not had a Goalie and the outcome would have been the same.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 27, 2014, 05:48:51 AM
It wasn't always pretty, but we got through the group of death despite losing our best striker 20 minutes into the tournament and getting three straight mediocre performances out of our best player. If we get Jozy back in time for the next game and Michael Bradley gets back to his usual form this is a team that could make a real run.

Single elimination here on in. Not necessarily about the best team, but who's clicking at the right time. Under those circumstances anyone could win four straight.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 28, 2014, 11:23:30 PM
I think it's funny how all the South American teams found themselves in the same bracket. On another note, I was hoping for Chilean style upset today. Also, Colombia is the tournament's dark horse.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on June 29, 2014, 12:37:09 AM
The broadcaster up here gave Man of the Match for Brazil/Chile to Julio César; I suspect they only did that because goalposts aren't eligible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 29, 2014, 01:26:27 AM
I loved the matches today. Uruguay and Colombia were crazy intense.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 11:59:17 AM
Michael Bradley calls Belgium “one of the best teams in Europe,” goes on to say “but this ain’t Europe, so prepare to get wrecked Western Hemisphere style.”
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 29, 2014, 01:26:10 PM
Mexico might just tip over the dutch! This most certainly ain't Europe!  :cool;
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: BranDonk Kong on June 29, 2014, 01:44:06 PM
Couldn't have said it better myself...

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 29, 2014, 01:54:53 PM
And I thought Mexico had this one...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on June 29, 2014, 02:04:01 PM
Most depressing game of the tournament thus far.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 02:11:48 PM
As I always say, any call that goes against Mexico is a good call, but damn.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 02:52:23 PM
Really, though, Rafa Marquez has to be aware of his (wholly deserved) reputation in that moment and realize that he's never going to get the benefit of the doubt on a close call. He can't put himself in that position.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 29, 2014, 02:53:55 PM
And Arjen Robben is still one of the biggest floppers in the game......I know there was contact but Im not sure if I would've called that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 03:04:29 PM
One of the people I saw argued it should be both a penalty and a yellow for embellishment, which sounds about right to me. It was a clear dive, but Marquez came in late and there was contact, just not as much as he made it look.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on June 29, 2014, 03:17:26 PM
The only penalties that should be called are a blatant missed tackle and a handball. PERIOD. They are simply too important.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 03:21:08 PM
It's a shitty situation either way. No matter which way he calls it he'll get criticized heavily and he'll probably second-guess himself forever.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on June 29, 2014, 03:30:47 PM
It's a 1-1 tie in the 93rd minute. As a Ref, he should know that this call basically decides the game. So unless it is hard to NOT call it, then let the game play out as it should.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on June 29, 2014, 03:43:39 PM
The game yesterday with Colombia and Uruguay was one of the most entertaining games I have watched in part because there was a noticeable decline in the number of calls based on "floppers". They just tumbled and hopped back up or everyone ignored them and kept playing. It was a refreshing change of pace. Though it did seem to be one of the most physical games I've watched.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 29, 2014, 04:08:18 PM
It's a 1-1 tie in the 93rd minute. As a Ref, he should know that this call basically decides the game. So unless it is hard to NOT call it, then let the game play out as it should.

There's also the argument that there was a play that absolutely should have given a penalty to the Netherlands earlier in the match that wasn't called, which may have factored into the call.

As someone who hates Mexico and its fans, I guess I'm biased in regard to this call, but it seems to me like a 50-50 call. I can see the argument for it being a penalty, and I can see it for it not being one.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Caliban on June 29, 2014, 09:30:36 PM
Couldn't have said it better myself...


What a retard.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 30, 2014, 02:50:19 PM
Jozy Altidore is ready to return. He scored in four straight games last June; how about July this year?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on June 30, 2014, 03:16:32 PM
So for the people who would actually know what are our chances like against Belgium?  Just doing a quick look at there stats they seem pretty strong.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 30, 2014, 05:09:02 PM
It depends on who you ask, but I'm seeing a fair number of analysts going as far as to say we might not even want to consider us underdogs. Belgium's good, and a trendy pick, but somewhat unproven. They'll also be missing at least one key piece for this game, unless something changes in the next 24 hours.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on July 01, 2014, 08:13:46 PM
Not surprised. We still have a long way to go. Kudos to Klinnsman for bleeding some young talent though!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on July 01, 2014, 10:41:17 PM
So the only CONCACAF team left can't handle a little snow. Hurrah.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Soren on July 02, 2014, 01:58:06 AM
I'm never saying anything bad about Chris Wondolowski ever again. The memory of that missed shot at the end of regulation is enough to haunt him for the rest of his life far more than any heckling will.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on July 02, 2014, 09:32:15 AM
Alright, back to not caring about Soccer...

Maybe if Tennessee ever gets club.  I heard the local Nashville club made playoffs.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 02, 2014, 02:03:21 PM
There are reasons to criticize Klinsmann coming out of this, but a lot of his "crazy" decisions going in (Brooks, Yedlin and Green, specifically) worked out pretty well for him. Julian Green's first touch in a competitive match for the US was a goal in extra time of the knockout round of the World Cup.

It's hard not to think about this World Cup in the context of a "what-if?" scenario of how it would have gone if Jozy Altidore had never gotten hurt. This team played in a completely different way following that, partially due to coaching decisions and partially because there really isn't another player in the US talent pool who can do what he does, and especially not on this roster.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Ceric on July 02, 2014, 03:23:41 PM
My take away is that we just didn't have a great offense.  We had some great goal tending but, throughout this whole thing we really couldn't get the ball to the opposing goal.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 02, 2014, 04:30:48 PM
That's what happens when you lose your key forward 20 minutes into the tournament. They couldn't get much going offensively with Iceman after Jozy went out and then it seemed like Klinsi largely stopped trying in the following games.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on July 06, 2014, 10:10:06 PM
In non-related world cup news it seems like Deandre Yedlin may be on his way to AS Roma.




http://www.noshortcorners.com/2014/07/oh-you-are-gonna-love-this.html (http://www.noshortcorners.com/2014/07/oh-you-are-gonna-love-this.html)


Thoughts Ian?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 06, 2014, 10:19:38 PM
Thoughts Ian?

If this is trying to say what I think it is, I'm incredibly offended. :P

Anyway, I'd find it very disappointing, both because I like him a lot and because we're already fairly thin on the backline. And being a Liverpool fan, I'd much rather the rumor he was going there were true instead of this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on July 08, 2014, 06:41:38 PM
Dang, Germany cleaned Brasil's clock. My wife was devastated.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 10, 2014, 01:28:25 AM
The Sounders-Timbers doubleheader this week got an extra 30 minutes tacked onto it, as tonight's US Open Cup match went to extra time. As is the norm, Portland played to a draw in 90 minutes, but then Diego Chara got a straight red and the Sounders got two goals in the bonus period to send them to their 7th USOC semifinal in 8 years. It was a lot of fun; can't wait to do it all again Sunday.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stogi on July 10, 2014, 06:24:26 PM
Just read an article about porn sites asking their users to stop uploading videos of Brazil getting fucked by Germany.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on July 10, 2014, 08:19:49 PM
Just read an article about porn sites asking their users to stop uploading videos of Brazil getting fucked by Germany.


I just know that somewhere in there is a pickup line I can try on my wife tonight.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Shaymin on July 11, 2014, 12:44:23 AM
Ask her if she wants to 7-1.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on July 13, 2014, 06:15:41 PM
Spring time, for Murkel, and Germany!
Deutschland, is ready, to shine!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 13, 2014, 08:59:01 PM
Now that the opening act is out of the way, we can focus on the main event. Sounders-Timbers kicks off about an hour and a half from the time of this post, 10:30 Eastern, on ESPN2. Experience the greatest American soccer rivalry in front of what will likely be the largest crowd in MLS this season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: Stratos on July 13, 2014, 09:03:48 PM
Will there be any ways to stream the game? I almost want to stay at work to watch it but I have some chores to attend to after work.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 13, 2014, 09:11:23 PM
If you have access to WatchESPN through a cable provider or whatever you could get it on there, and if not that there are always "other" streaming solutions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 14, 2014, 12:42:11 AM
Man, the combination of Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and Marco Pappa is almost unfair. When they're clicking they're just unstoppable. Sounders win 2-0, and it was probably only that close because Oba didn't sub in until the second half. 10 points clear in the West, 7 in the Shield race.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion aka insanolord's Sounders Love Thread, now with Clint Dempsey!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 21, 2014, 12:07:00 PM
Even though it helps a team that I'd consider one of the biggest threats to mine, I'm very happy that Matt Besler and Graham Zusi decided to sign long term extensions in Kansas City. This is an exciting time for MLS. I only hope the Sounders can pull off an even more impressive feat by keeping DeAndre Yedlin around for a while. If he really wants to go, I respect that, and I wish him the best, but I want the Seattle front office and that of the league make every effort tey can to hold onto him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on July 21, 2014, 10:26:09 PM
This thread title amuses me.

Going to make sure to watch Hotspur/TFC Wednesday night and see Michael Bradley's downward spiral continue.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2014, 08:41:51 AM
The Sounders drew Tottenham when they played them this past Saturday, proving they have what it takes to finish 6th in the Premier League, so we'll see where Toronto stacks up.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 28, 2014, 07:19:09 PM
Tonight at 10 ET/7 PT (a little less than three hours from this post) the league-leading Seattle Sounders take on the now-less-than-awful LA Galaxy on ESPN2. As they do every year, the Galaxy started off fairly awful but now, around midseason, are starting to click.

Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins vs. Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. Something like 8 of the 23 members of the 2014 MLS All-Star Team across both teams, two highly talented (and highly expensive) rosters in a key matchup with far-reaching consequences in the Western Conference.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 29, 2014, 12:17:36 AM
So it turns out a back line of Dylan Remick, Jalil Anibaba, Zach Scott and DeAndre Yedlin isn't quite up to the task of stopping Keane, Zardes and Donovan.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 06, 2014, 11:57:25 PM
The MLS All-Stars beat Bayern Munich 2-1 on goals by the guy who's in the process of setting the single season scoring record and some schlub who wasn't good enough to make the World Cup team. That means we get to take their place in the Bundesliga, right?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Caliban on August 07, 2014, 09:24:51 AM
Hahahahahahahaha good one Mr. Insanolord.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 07, 2014, 09:41:16 AM
In all seriousness, though, I was very impressed that a team that only had two days to practice together not just held their own but outplayed what may be the best club in the world right now. The level of play in MLS has increased substantially in the last few years, and this performance reflects that. The coming years look to continue that with new teams and a huge TV deal. It's a great time to be a fan of MLS.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 07, 2014, 04:09:32 PM
In a pretty surprising turn, Landon Donovan, holder of both the MLS and US national team all-time scoring records, has announced he will be retiring at the end of this season.

Now as someone who could barely tolerate him on the national team and couldn't stand him at all when he was with the Galaxy, I'm actually pretty happy about this, because **** him.

The second half of the season, being his farewell tour, is set up to be so damn obnoxious. I was already hating the fuss over Derek Jeter's last year, and now I have to deal with this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 08, 2014, 11:15:10 AM
I'm going to try really hard not to turn this into the "**** Landon Donovan" thread, but damn. Two months after being so pissed at being cut he cheered against his own country he's lost all passion for the game. That's just plain ridiculous, and also exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to come from him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 11, 2014, 11:45:00 PM
I was definitely surprised by the retirement announcement. That being said, he hasn't been a main fixture at all during Klinnsman's tenure. I can't say that I am going to miss him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 12, 2014, 02:04:54 AM
He wasn't a fixture under Klinsmann because Klinsmann wasn't putting up with his bullshit. His "sabbatical" really rubbed Klinsmann the wrong way, and that seems to have been a big part of what kept him off the World Cup team (well, that and the fact he really wasn't playing very well at the time).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 14, 2014, 10:07:58 AM
To cap off what has been a hell of a summer for the kid, DeAndre Yedlin, US intenational and Seattle Sounders homegrown player, has been transferred to English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of $3.5 million. He'll remain with the Sounders for the remainder of 2014 while they win the US Open Cup, MLS Cup, and MLS Supporters' Shield.

While I honestly don't really see how the deal makes sense for him, the league, or the USMNT, I'm very happy for him and hope he makes the most of it. There's a long history of young American players moving to Europe and for various reasons never making the most of their abilities.

I'm very seriously considering switching EPL allegiences because of this move, but I suppose I'll wait and see if he actually sees any playing time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 21, 2014, 03:41:36 PM
Tim Howard’s taking a self-imposed break from the US national team, an interesting move considering how it went last time somebody did that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 21, 2014, 06:51:02 PM
Not to mention that Brad Guzan is more than capable of being the #1 guy between the posts.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 21, 2014, 07:01:13 PM
Given their ages, Guzan's likely only going to get better going forward, while Howard will at best stay at the same level. And a year ago there was serious talk Guzan might win the starting job in Brazil anyway. Because of this Guzan will get the call in next summer's Gold Cup, which might set up a serious questiom as to who will start in Copa America in 2016.

Howard says this isn't a retirement from the national team, and he'd better hope Jurgen Klinsmann won't make it one.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 23, 2014, 02:38:45 AM
FC Dallas went down a man late in the first half in a then-scoreless game on a pretty soft call, but still managed to beat Real Salt Lake 2-1. Really wish I hadn't stopped watching at the half figuring it wouldn't be that competitive anymore. This creates a three-way tie at the top of the Western Conference between Seattle, Salt Lake and Dallas, which should be crazy to watch down the stretch.

If it's possible to add more meaning to Sunday's Cascadia derby between Seattle and Portland, this does it. The Sounders need to right the ship to convince everyone and themselves that they're still legit title contenders, and Portland needs every point they can get in what now seems like a two-horse race between them and Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the West.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 24, 2014, 08:48:40 PM
Obafemi Martins cannot be stopped. Here's a clip of him singlehandedly beating five defenders en route to scoring.


Next time, Portland, you'd better send six.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 27, 2014, 11:43:44 PM
Jermaine Jones looks super excited in a New England Revolution jersey LOL!! ;D
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 28, 2014, 03:41:55 AM
There's a reason he said they had to pay him more if he went to the Revs. They may be better right now, but with Mike Magee, Harry Shipp and Sean Johnson Chicago's a team with a DC United-style rebound in them. I'm still surprised Chivas wasn't in on the blind draw, though, I was sure trading Mauro Rosales was specifically done to open up a DP slot to go after him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: shingi_70 on August 28, 2014, 01:43:23 PM
Really haven't been keeping up with this year's MLS season.


Arsenal is off to a good start this season being on upper range of the table after two games.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 29, 2014, 06:29:58 PM
I feel like Chivas USA is an abyss. I remember that's where Carlos Bocanegra went..... I never hear about the guy ever.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 29, 2014, 07:14:19 PM
Whoever takes over the team has a decent amount to work with. Cubo Torres is a beast, and if they can get a couple more guys around him they could pull a Toronto and become not terrible for the first time in team history in fairly short order. If Beckham takes them over (and thus avoids the black hole that is Miami) we could see a pretty epic LA rivalry in a couple years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 30, 2014, 09:47:11 PM
Didn't realize they released the roster for the upcoming friendly against the Czech Republic. Good opponent. Also, a collegiate player was also called up to the squad! That was a huge surprise.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 30, 2014, 10:01:39 PM
Jordan Morris, aka The Future(tm). First college player called up to the first team in like 20 years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 05, 2014, 10:48:11 PM
Man I'm not sure Toronto could've done a worse job if they were trying. They've got talent, but always seem to underperform, and now there are rumblings that both Defoe and Bradley want out.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on September 06, 2014, 03:08:46 AM
I was aware of Defoe but not Bradley. Bradley got one hell of a deal to come back and play in MLS. I'm not sure if there is another team out there who would be willing to pick up his contract. Unless he is willing to take a pay cut.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Caliban on September 07, 2014, 07:58:43 PM
I'm not surprised. When only 2 players have played at a much higher level you think everyone else can keep up?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 07, 2014, 08:11:28 PM
I was aware of Defoe but not Bradley. Bradley got one hell of a deal to come back and play in MLS. I'm not sure if there is another team out there who would be willing to pick up his contract. Unless he is willing to take a pay cut.

LA's going to have an open DP slot after this season, and they could certainly afford him.

EDIT: Also, Chicago. After missing out on Jermaine Jones they might go after him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on September 09, 2014, 06:47:41 PM
In Euro qualification news the Czech Republic beat the Dutch 2-1 today. How does this relate to the USA? Last week we beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in a match. This confirms that we are finally better than the Netherlands!!! Onward to Russia!! :cool;
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on September 09, 2014, 06:50:11 PM
I was aware of Defoe but not Bradley. Bradley got one hell of a deal to come back and play in MLS. I'm not sure if there is another team out there who would be willing to pick up his contract. Unless he is willing to take a pay cut.

LA's going to have an open DP slot after this season, and they could certainly afford him.

EDIT: Also, Chicago. After missing out on Jermaine Jones they might go after him.
Being a Chicago fan, not only would that be awesome, but maybe they can try and get his father Bob to coach us again!!........In my dreams.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 09, 2014, 08:53:47 PM
You add him to a team with guys like Mike Magee and young talent like Harry Shipp they might have D.C. United-style worst-to-first jump in them.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 10, 2014, 09:44:51 PM
LA draws Montreal 2-2. Wow. Talk about two teams on opposite ends of the spectrum, with LA looking unbeatable the last couple months and Montreal being dead last in the league.

With a huge game between Seattle and RSL Friday, Seattle has the rare opportunity to widen their margin over LA in the Western Conference and Supporters Shield races, and Salt Lake has one last chance to claw themselves back into that picture and bring even more chaos into it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 12, 2014, 11:45:17 PM
Obafemi Martins is the best player in MLS who was snubbed by his national team coach this year.

EDIT: Wow. Just wow. That game was hyped by everyone as a huge deal and somehow still managed to blow expectations away. Borchers with an intentional red card foul in the 68th minute to prevent what would've been a sure Obafemi Martins goal in what was then a 2-2 game, and RSL holding on until literally the last minute of stoppage time when, of all people, Andy Rose finds the back of the net to give Seattle the 3-2 win. I don't even know how to respond.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 17, 2014, 10:46:19 AM
Trophy 1 of 4 for the Sounders this year, check.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: shingi_70 on September 18, 2014, 11:43:55 PM
New logo's look awesome.
(http://i.imgur.com/P8qPAl2.png)


Anyone getting Fifa 15 next week?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Ceric on September 19, 2014, 01:59:33 PM
Looks sort of like it should be a Fencing logo instead.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 19, 2014, 10:00:39 PM
I complained that they scheduled the announcement of the new logo too soon, which limited the creative potential of jokes and speculation, but seeing what the internet has been able to do riffing on the new logo, I've gotta say it worked out pretty well.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 24, 2014, 10:43:54 PM
“You can’t teach speed.” - Zombie Al Davis, while watching DeAndre Yedlin.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 26, 2014, 03:43:19 PM
Not sure what took so long, but Copa America 2016 has been added to the FIFA calendar, so all the best players should be able to be there. Should be a pretty big event; I'm going to have to try and get tickets to some of it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 30, 2014, 04:41:46 PM
Word on the street has it that Chivas TBD may not be TBD much longer, as the league has found a buyer. They will, however, sit out the next two years while they rebrand. All but seals Cubo Torres being in a Galaxy kit next year, which is scary to think about. A Keane-Torres-Zardes attack would just be ridiculous.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 02, 2014, 12:53:47 PM
I'm still not totally sold on the new MLS logo, but if they're going to stick with it I think the version the Sounders should use is this one I just made.

(http://i.imgur.com/qFeTc7f.png)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on October 02, 2014, 06:04:58 PM
I prefer the older logo myself, but if you are going to put a Sounders player on there, it should be Dempsey with the "Deuceface!!!!"
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 02, 2014, 06:09:56 PM
I prefer the older logo myself, but if you are going to put a Sounders player on there, it should be Dempsey with the "Deuceface!!!!"

That was actually what I originally set out to photoshop, but then changed my mind and switched to the Obaflip. Clint Dempsey may be a national team legend and one of the highest paid players in league history, but there's no question that Oba's been the best player this year for the Sounders, and arguably the entire league.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: shingi_70 on October 02, 2014, 07:18:21 PM
insanolord, can you make make a Chicago version of that with Magee.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 10, 2014, 07:59:29 PM
Landon Donovan played 40 minutes tonight against Ecuador for his final US national team appearance. He threatened a few times, including putting a beautiful back heel pass from Jozy Altidore off the post, but went scoreless in that time. I respect the hell out of him for his ability and for the massive amount he's done to grow the sport in this country, but my god I'm so sick of this whole thing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on October 11, 2014, 12:19:25 AM
I remember in 2008 watching the US play England at Wembley. They lost 2-0, but after that game I became a huge fan of the national team. Over the past six years the roster from then til now has changed so much, I'm starting to feel old....Anyways, I welcome the new crop of players that I will be watching for years to come.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 11, 2014, 03:58:51 AM
It's an exciting time to be a fan of that team. Donovan's gone, and guys like Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard aren't too far behind him, but there's a ton of up and coming young talent building in the system. We saw the breakout of DeAndre Yedlin at this year's World Cup, and there are dozens of guys with the potential to be the next one to do that, though they've also got the potential to be the next Freddy Adu.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 12, 2014, 01:35:35 AM
There’s a beautiful vision in my head of a US midfield with Michael Bradley & Mix Diskerud in the middle and Julian  Green & DeAndre Yedlin on the wings.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 13, 2014, 02:22:02 AM
With Dallas' win over LA tonight, the Sounders and Galaxy are tied for the best record in the league with two games to play, both of which are against each other. Don Garber's getting exactly what he wanted when he scheduled this home and home series to end the year, the two best, most star-studded teams facing off with the Supporters Shield on the line.

Get ready, October 25, 3 Eastern/Noon Pacific. A game on full-on, over-the-air NBC in front of what I'm sure will be a capacity crowd of 67,000+ at CenturyLink Field, to decide the whole thing. Unless Seattle wins the first game in LA, in which case the last game is irrelevant.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 20, 2014, 12:49:52 AM
With tonight's come from behind 2-2 draw between Seattle and LA, who wins the Supporters Shield, finishing with the best record in the regular season, comes down to the final game, a rematch of these same two teams in Seattle this Saturday afternoon.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 23, 2014, 12:03:35 PM
I've come to the conclusion that the playoffs are just going to be a huge letdown after Saturday's Seattle-LA showdown. So many narratives (Donovan vs. Dempsey, Keane vs. Martins, Arena vs. Schmid, not to mention the Gonzalez vs. Marshall one we're missing out on), so much on the line, it just feels like this should be it. Just give the Cup to whoever wins this game. I imagine there are at least 8 teams that would have a problem with that, but **** 'em. They should have sucked less.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 25, 2014, 02:23:36 PM
Robbie Keane left out of the 18 for LA with an unspecified injury. The Galaxy need three points in one of the toughest buildings in the league with a crowd of 60,000 plus and they need to do it without their MVP frontrunner in Keane and their best defender in Omar Gonzalez. Just over half an hour until kickoff.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 25, 2014, 05:12:23 PM
OH MY GOD I CAN'T TAKE THIS. The Sounders play the ugliest game I've ever seen them play for 85 minutes, but win 2-0 on two incredibly late goals by sub Marco Pappa to win the Supporters Shield outright.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Sarail on October 26, 2014, 03:12:17 PM
Sounds like the Sounders very own version of Fergie Time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on October 27, 2014, 01:00:05 AM
Aw nuts. I just saw Insanolord's avatar on another part of the forum and realized that must have meant that Seattle won. Oh well. Still plenty of time for them to choke in another game. Bugging Insano about soccer (or as I prefer to call it, Football, since I actually care about the game) is fast becoming a favorite forum past time of mine. Ah well. Congrats on the win.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 27, 2014, 01:23:45 AM
(or as I prefer to call it, Football, since I actually care about the game)

Of all the English-speaking countries, which has been most successful at the sport in recent years? The one that calls it soccer. England should consider switching over, they might do better.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on October 27, 2014, 02:06:04 AM
England calls it soccer though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 27, 2014, 02:09:16 AM
So then which country are the people always yelling at people for calling it soccer from?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on October 28, 2014, 11:44:35 PM

I don't know, but only one country has a 6 hour show on the weekends called Soccer Saturday.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2014, 11:51:13 PM
Then this is probably one of those things that's more the product of asshole Eurosnob Americans than actual Europeans.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: famicomplicated on October 29, 2014, 12:28:11 AM
Hi, I'm British!
People in the UK call it football.
TV shows are called things like Football Focus, The Football League Show, On the Ball, Match of the Day.

A cable network once had a show called Soccer Saturday, but that doesn't mean the presenters ever called the sport soccer, that was just the name of the show (probably named because of the alliteration).


Most people don't really care if Americans call it soccer, we know that's your word for it.
What we don't like is being told we're "wrong" for calling it football!


We also appreciate it if when talking in a group of British people, you refer to your own sport as "American Football" to avoid confusion as to what sport you're talking about.  :D
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 29, 2014, 01:01:19 AM
The name "soccer" actually originated in England, as an abbreviated form of "association football." The press wanted a three letter abbreviation, and decided the first three letters of association wouldn't do, so they went with "SOC," which was then adapted, most likely drunkenly, into "soccer." Like a lot of things, it fell out of wider use in Britain but stayed the same here.

I'm guessing I was right and this was all those damned Eurosnobs being their usual asshole selves.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on October 29, 2014, 02:17:39 AM
I'm guessing I was right and this was all those damned Eurosnobs being their usual asshole selves.

The term is Eurotrash but leave it to you vulgar Americans with your large gas-guzzling SUV's and deep-fried candy bars to get it wrong as usual. Now I must get back to my all-night dance techno party with mon amis as we discuss the latest football scores and eat Brésilienne Belgium waffles because we know how to live.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on October 29, 2014, 02:20:16 AM
Also, how can the Japanese correspondent be British? That is like having the Americans report on football or "soccer". He'd be unable to understand or relate to anything about it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 29, 2014, 07:03:01 PM
MLS Western Conference Playoff Picks:
Knockout: Vancouver over Dallas.
Semis: RSL over LA, Seattle over Vancouver.
Finals: Seattle over RSL.

Eastern Conference Picks:
Knockout: New York over KC.
Semis: New England over Columbus, DC over New York.
Finals: New England over DC.

MLS Cup Final: Seattle over New England.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 29, 2014, 11:15:25 PM
Terrible, terrible late penalty call gives Dallas the win, killing my predictions and any faith I ever had in the officiating in this league immediately. On the plus side, it does give me an idea for the mafia game.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 30, 2014, 04:09:12 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/AYx3y5L.jpg)

Vincent Tan, Magic Johnson and like 40 other people officially announced as the ownership group of the rebranded Chivas USA, to (re)enter the league in 2017 alongside Atlanta.

Really not liking this new trend in team names; I think one aspect of American sports the league really should keep is the team name structure. I hate the Galaxy and Timbers, but they at least have proper names.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Ceric on October 30, 2014, 05:27:15 PM
Does Tennessee have a club?  My son asked the other day.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 30, 2014, 05:34:06 PM
They don't, and the way things are going it doesn't look likely. From what I've looked at it doesn't seem like you have a team in any of the more prominent lower divisions. It's probably not going to get any closer than D.C., Columbus or Kansas City.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on November 01, 2014, 12:13:33 AM
I'm also not a fan of the "FC" trend some of these teams are moving towards. I much prefer nicknames like Galaxy, Fire, Dynamo, etc. I miss the Kansas City Wizards. :'(
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 01, 2014, 12:42:48 AM
I will say, though, that they're still not as bad as "Real Salt Lake." That one's dumber on several levels.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 01, 2014, 02:17:18 AM
This isn't going to mean much to most people, but the one thing I saw on Halloween that genuinely scares me is someone mentioning Shalrie Joseph starting at forward. This is a really bad time for me to be reminded of that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 03, 2014, 01:55:11 AM
First legs of the first round in the books. Revs looking unstoppable, all but clinching a berth in the East final with a 4-2 win at Columbus. New York stays hot with Henry and BWP, up 2-0 going back to D.C. Draws in both West games, though the Sounders at least picked up an all-important away goal.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 11, 2014, 01:04:43 AM
THE AWAY GOALS RULE IS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO MLS! A 1-1 draw in Dallas followed by a 0-0 draw in Seattle means the Sounders roll on for yet another battle with the LA Galaxy, this time for a berth in the MLS Cup Final. The treble is within reach! Wooooo!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 28, 2014, 07:18:07 PM
Now that the Mafia game has, uh, concluded, soccer can go back go being confined in this thread that pretty much only i post in.

Huge weekend in MLS, with the second legs of the conference final matchups. Saturday the Red Bulls head to Foxboro, for a game that will feature Theirry Henry playing on turf (!) and not feature Golden Boot winner/all-time single season goals record-tying Bradley Wright-Philips due to suspension. The Revs have been red-hot as of late and carry a 2-1 lead home, so New York needs a pretty massive game.

In relatively easier tasks, Seattle, after losing 1-0 in LA last week, needs a big performance in front of what I'm sure will be a record-setting crowd at CenturyLink Field in Seattle Sunday night. The Galaxy just barely edged them out in LA, but that was without two major parts of the Sounders in Osvaldo Alonso and Lamar Neagle. The Sounders get them back for a game that figures to be one of the best of the year, and maybe ever in this league.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: ShyGuy on November 29, 2014, 11:27:29 PM
Is this the new NewsRadio thread?

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k302/shyguy70/tumblr_m9tat6i6AD1rciqrco1_1280_zps86e2b205.jpg) (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/shyguy70/media/tumblr_m9tat6i6AD1rciqrco1_1280_zps86e2b205.jpg.html)

Just kidding, apparently we have a champion soccer team over here on the best side of the state. Who knew?

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k302/shyguy70/champs_zps87d87a8f.jpg) (http://s91.photobucket.com/user/shyguy70/media/champs_zps87d87a8f.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 30, 2014, 11:47:16 PM
You live by the away goals rule, you die by the away goals rule.


EDIT: Really, this final is the culmination of two somewhat dumb but obviously influential MLS idiosyncrasies: the Galaxy's away goal versus New England's blind draw.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 07, 2014, 09:26:03 PM
As much as I hate to say it, congrats to the LA Galaxy. One hell of a cup final, with league MVP Robbie Keane having a largely pretty awful game but coming up big when it mattered the most, scoring the winner in extra time.

Really, though, a hell of a season for the New England Revolution. Came into the year with the lowest payroll in the league, after years of being a bottom-dweller, and took the juggernaut of the Galaxy, with all its star power and the weight of Landon Donovan's final game, to extra time, fighting 'til the final minute.

And now we enter into one hell of an offseason, with the expansion draft on Wednesday and then the massive CBA negotiation that will shape the league for years to come.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 08, 2014, 12:02:00 AM
I think we should all thank the real 2014 MLS MVP: that shitty blind draw that put Jermaine Jones in New England.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 08, 2014, 12:08:59 AM
And he was the best player in today's game. Touched the ball like 40 more times than any other player out there. Had Nguyen not gone out right at the end of regulation I think the Revs probably pull it out, or at least take it to penalties. You look how many guys come into this league at midseason and struggle early on, he came in for New England and basically sparked their late surge.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 08, 2014, 12:19:40 AM
Jermaine played great, the game was just really tough to watch before the breakthroughs. Still, the drama of extra time was enough to make up for a mediocre first 90.


I just hope MLS finally updates their rulebook to say "we reserve the right to whatever the hell we want when a superstar decides to join our league." And I hope that everyone who's not a DP get a nice raise with the new CBA. It's embarrassing to see salary figures every year and have so many players earning less than 50 grand a year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 08, 2014, 12:47:05 AM
They have said that one of the aims of the new CBA is to increase transparency. Whether they'll actually do that, we'll see.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 08, 2014, 10:38:41 AM
Still very, very early, but from the way they're running things so far I'm not sure there's anyone with a better chance of winning a wide-open Eastern Conference next year than Orlando. NYCFC's got money, but those guys seem to really get what it takes to be successful in this league.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 10, 2014, 02:46:53 PM
Expansion draft's over, and now I regret all the nice things I said about Orlando. Donovan Ricketts first overall? Jalil Anibaba? What the hell are they smoking? Sounders only lose one guy, and it's a guy who sucks and I would have just outright cut.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 15, 2014, 07:01:09 PM
Somewhat sad news today as U.S. national team legend and the only American to have played in four World Cups, DaMarcus "Run DMB" Beasley announced his retirement from international soccer. People questioned his inclusion on this year's team at age 32, but he was one of the best guys the U.S. had, playing every minute of the tournament. Donovan got all the press, but this was the biggest loss for U.S. soccer in 2014.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on December 20, 2014, 03:56:43 AM
It's crazy to think that it was Beasley of all people that made it to 4 world cups and not Landon. Especially since he had all those injuries throughout his career. He always seemed to hit his stride at the right time when it came to getting selected for the national team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 30, 2014, 03:23:12 PM
One constant for American soccer fans is getting overexcited about every new prospect that comes along as the savior of the national team. Today, that torch was passed to 17-year-old Arsenal phenom Gedion Zelalem, who has obtained U.S. citizenship and begun the process with FIFA to be eligible for us.

By my count, this is the fourth savior we've had this year, after Julian Green, DeAndre Yedlin and Rubio Rubin. Next will be whichever kind-of-obscure player stands out in January USMNT camp.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 02, 2015, 12:24:03 PM
Delusional NYCFC supporters mad that the team is being treated like the farm/reserve team it's destined to be. Comedy ensues.


http://www.thirdrailnyc.com/2014/12/statement-on-lampard-loan-extention.html
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 03, 2015, 04:23:27 AM
I knew that this whole NYCFC thing was going to happen, but I'm very impressed they managed to get to this point this quickly. They couldn't even make it into the calendar year the team was going to start playing before pissing everybody off.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 06, 2015, 04:19:20 PM
Garth Lagerewey, the guy who turned small-market Real Salt Lake into perennial contenders, has now been officially announced as General Manager and President of Soccer for the Seattle Sounders. Now I just hope we actually have a season this year so I can see him work his magic.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 19, 2015, 03:40:53 PM
MLS is lucky general interest in the league is so low otherwise the rigging of the process so that L.A.SeattleToronto get the big name free agents would have been met with more scrutiny than it is.

And by more scrutiny I mean more than zero.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 19, 2015, 03:47:11 PM
They're not rigging ****. Toronto's owners are willing to spend ridiculous money in the hopes of maybe making the playoffs this time (BTW, they won't unless they address the part of the team that actually needed help, namely the back line), and they're doing so. They're signing guys who want to sign there.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 20, 2015, 01:28:18 PM
I like how Toronto just made Giovinco the highest paid player in the league and there's still the very real possibility of a work stoppage.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 23, 2015, 11:06:24 PM
So it's looking more and more like the season's not going to start on time. The union seems to be playing hardball, standing firm and demanding real free agency, which the owners are very, very strongly against. As far as I'm concerned, if the players can actually get what they want it's worth missing some of the season for, but that's a big if.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on January 24, 2015, 12:07:57 AM
I like how Toronto just made Giovinco the highest paid player in the league and there's still the very real possibility of a work stoppage.

You like weird things.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 24, 2015, 08:06:21 PM
After a pretty lousy start and battling really awful field conditions and officiating the whole way, the U.S. Under-20 team went on a great run, winning four in a row to qualify for the U20 World Cup this summer in New Zealand. Emerson Hyndman had a hell of a tournament, and looks very much like someone who'll be playing in the U20 World Cup this year, the Olympics (effectively the U23 World Cup) next year, and the full blown World Cup in 2018.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on January 24, 2015, 09:31:09 PM
A bit late but I just saw that Altidore transferred back to MLS. With Toronto no less. Shame he couldn't succeed in England. Part of me wants to blame the clubs he was on, but I know that was only part of it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 24, 2015, 09:48:10 PM
Jozy's main problem is he can't get out of his own head. When things start going poorly he tends to psych himself out and fall into a downward spiral. He's played well for the national team even while playing extremely poorly at Sunderland because Klinsmann has shown the ability to get him into the right frame of mind.

Playing in MLS may improve his form for the national team specifically because it's a lower level of competition. He's clearly got talent, and this should help build his confidence, which is a vital part of his game.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 25, 2015, 08:29:19 AM
One interesting point in this Giovinco saga is apparently his salary for Toronto FC is higher than any player salary in all of Serie A, which is generally considered one of the four best leagues in the world.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 25, 2015, 01:39:02 PM
Most of those reported Euro league salaries are after taxes though, whereas US league figures are before taxes. So it's not a direct comparison.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 28, 2015, 06:56:22 PM
It's only 45 minutes, but man, the U.S. national team looks really, really good in a 3-5-2. Taking a 2-1 lead into the half, but beyond that they're just looking sharp, executing great passes, and playing with a spark I haven't seen in a long time. And clearly the flow of guys coming from England to MLS has helped the national team, with Brek Shea (!!!) and Jozy Altidore both scoring so far.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 28, 2015, 07:40:03 PM
Oh well...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 28, 2015, 08:06:07 PM
See, they switched out of the 3-5-2 and played a lot more poorly.

I think we've seen enough to conclude that the Jermaine Jones at center back experiment didn't work. Swap him out for Cameron/Brooks/Gonzalez and I think they'd do a lot better.

DeAndre Yedlin is just stupidly fast, and was a great piece of the attack in the first half.

To the surprise of basically no one who isn't Jurgen Klinsmann, Michael Bradley is a much, much better player when you don't try to force him to play as a 10.

Good performances from guys getting their first U.S. cap, especially Birnbaum, but also the more limited amount we saw from Trapp and Zardes.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 08, 2015, 06:07:47 PM
It may have been "just Panama," but a really strong performance by the U.S. just now to win 2-0. They somehow managed to keep a clean sheet with only one natural defender starting on the back line, and Gyasi Zardes came up huge in his first international start, with a fantastic assist on the second goal and generally dominant play all around. Now let's see them do it against a non-CONCACAF team or on the road.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on February 08, 2015, 06:57:41 PM
(http://giant.gfycat.com/ImpracticalCharmingJaguar.gif)

Dag, yo.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on February 09, 2015, 12:00:14 AM
First time I have ever seen a goal like that on live television. It looked like Altidore got it initially, but that was all Bradley! Loved it!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 16, 2015, 05:46:37 PM
The U.S. national team away kits for this year that had been leaked a while ago were finally confirmed today.

(http://i.imgur.com/3MX5ZTW.jpg)

I don't like them as much as last year's, but they're still way better than the home kits, and with my birthday coming up next month I'll probably end up getting one. I just have to decide which player to get. Since I got Dempsey last year I want to do something different, and I kind of want to hold off for a better one for Yedlin, so I'm thinking either Jozy or Mix.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 03, 2015, 05:35:15 PM
If this leads to the death of MLS, so be it. I hear the NASL season might be crackin' though...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/wp/2015/03/03/is-mls-on-the-verge-of-a-work-stoppage/

Quote
Owners are also concerned free agency would lead to escalating salaries. Teams are, however, constrained by a salary cap.
One source said the league’s only free agency proposal involved players age 32 or older with 10 years of experience with the same club. Both sides have declined to discuss specifics of the negotiations.

Quote
Asked Monday about the league’s reluctance to grant free agency, United union rep Bobby Boswell said:  “They say philosophically that is not what the owners bought into. They bought into a system of single entity and that they make the deals and control the deals, and that is what they want to continue to do.”
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 03, 2015, 10:38:43 PM
They're down to 28 years old/8 years, not necessarily with the same club. It seems like some progress is being made.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 04, 2015, 06:46:15 PM
There seems to be real progress now, with it being reported that the union is getting together to vote on the latest proposal, meaning the owners have offered one that isn't insulting and is actually worth considering.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 04, 2015, 07:28:05 PM
WE HAVE A CBA!!! THE SEASON STARTS ON TIME!!! WOO!!!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 06, 2015, 11:19:20 AM
Now that the season is nearly upon us, I'm really excited. There are 10 games this weekend, with all 20 teams in action, and I'm probably going to be watching 7 of them.

Tonight there's just the one, LA-Chicago. They finished near opposite ends of the league last year, but the Fire got a lot better this offseason while LA lost some pretty key pieces. This game is nationally televised on a channel I don't get, so I'm going to have to use my VPN to trick MLS Live into thinking I'm in Canada.

Saturday, the game I really want to see is Toronto-Vancouver. TFC went out and spent a ton of money this offseason, and between that and a now-healthy Michael Bradley I'm interested to see the team in motion. I'm also looking forward to seeing Houston-Columbus, with the Crew being my pick to win the East this year, as well as Portland taking on RSL.

Then Sunday I'll be there for all three games. The two expansion teams get their first real action in Orlando-NYC, then the other, original New York team takes on a Kansas City team hoping to bounce back from a disappointing finish to 2014. And then of course, saving the best for last, Seattle vs. New England, a matchup that was very nearly the MLS Cup final last year.

So basically, I intend to spend 14 of the next 40 hours watching soccer, and that's not even counting whatever English matches I may end up tuning in for.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 06, 2015, 02:39:45 PM
Yay! The league once again won CBA negotiations with a dumb, twisted version of free agency that allows them to keep running its single-entity scheme. 5 more years of mediocrity!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 06, 2015, 03:15:46 PM
If you thought there was any chance of single-entity ending with this you were delusional. The players got a decent deal, though they probably should have held out for a bit more. Regardless of the limitations, the pandora's box of free agency was opened, the league minimum got a pretty good bump, and the players got the length of deal they wanted, so they can go further in 5 years instead of 8.

This is always what the deal was going to look like. A bigger increase to the cap would have been nice, as would a few other things, but this is a solid deal. Would going from 28/8 to 26/6 have been worth a huge work stoppage?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Anti-Kһushrenada on March 06, 2015, 07:31:56 PM
Now that the season is nearly upon us, I'm really excited. There are 10 games this weekend, with all 20 teams in action, and I'm probably going to be watching 7 of them.

Tonight there's just the one, LA-Chicago. They finished near opposite ends of the league last year, but the Fire got a lot better this offseason while LA lost some pretty key pieces. This game is nationally televised on a channel I don't get, so I'm going to have to use my VPN to trick MLS Live into thinking I'm in Canada.

Saturday, the game I really want to see is Toronto-Vancouver. TFC went out and spent a ton of money this offseason, and between that and a now-healthy Michael Bradley I'm interested to see the team in motion. I'm also looking forward to seeing Houston-Columbus, with the Crew being my pick to win the East this year, as well as Portland taking on RSL.

Then Sunday I'll be there for all three games. The two expansion teams get their first real action in Orlando-NYC, then the other, original New York team takes on a Kansas City team hoping to bounce back from a disappointing finish to 2014. And then of course, saving the best for last, Seattle vs. New England, a matchup that was very nearly the MLS Cup final last year.

So basically, I intend to spend 14 of the next 40 hours watching soccer, and that's not even counting whatever English matches I may end up tuning in for.

Oh wow! That sounds like an awesome weekend. I should look into doing the same. I agree that the Toronto-Vancouver game piques my interest as well. It does make things exciting when a team goes out and spends a lot of money to bring in some good talent even if it does make me root against them a bit for it.  ;D

I am curious about how well LA does. I think they'll still be decent enough but I don't think they are top tier contenders right now. Seattle - New England should be good because it's the SOUNDERS!!!!!

After watching World Cup last year, I really wished I could have been there to see the games live. I decided to make it my goal to attend all the games in Russia in the 2018 World Cup. I've started a savings account to slowly put in a little bit of cash each month in order to save up for it. I'm really hoping I can do it. I just think that would be a great life experience. I thought I'd mention it and perhaps spark someone else's imagination to do the same.

Wish it was Sunday already!  :D
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 08, 2015, 01:36:28 PM
If you thought there was any chance of single-entity ending with this you were delusional. The players got a decent deal, though they probably should have held out for a bit more. Regardless of the limitations, the pandora's box of free agency was opened, the league minimum got a pretty good bump, and the players got the length of deal they wanted, so they can go further in 5 years instead of 8.

This is always what the deal was going to look like. A bigger increase to the cap would have been nice, as would a few other things, but this is a solid deal. Would going from 28/8 to 26/6 have been worth a huge work stoppage?


The players at the bottom end got a pretty decent deal now that the salary floor has been raised, and that pretty much splintered the union. It's hard to stay together when you're looking at a pretty hefty raise, even if it's 40k->60k which is still a pittance.


At this point MLS' goals and their actions don't line up. And it generally boils down to single-entity. The sooner we stop treating the league as the summer beachhouse series for NFL/NBA/MLB owners then maybe the sport can actually grow some more.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 08, 2015, 01:53:19 PM
In other news:

Quote
The New York Cosmos will play the Cuban national team in June in Havana, becoming the first American professional team to play on the island in a generation and the first since the United States government restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba in December.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/sports/soccer/new-york-cosmos-will-play-in-cuba-in-june-ending-pro-sports-embargo.html
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2015, 02:15:50 PM
It's got nothing to do with the single-entity structure; everything that's an issue now would be an issue with or without that. People act like getting rid of that is something that would magically fix everything, when in reality it wouldn't really change anything. The union could have gotten everything it wanted in its wildest dreams with single entity intact, or they could have moved to individually owned teams and still have all the problems from before.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 08, 2015, 05:30:12 PM
Now way Josh Saunders didn't suffer a concussion on that play. But no worries, he's good enough to keep playing. What a joke.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2015, 05:45:36 PM
Yeah, that was ridiculous. He absolutely should have been taken out, and I'm surprised Taylor Twellman's said more than two words about anything else since that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2015, 06:56:25 PM
THREE yellow cards for diving in this game. That's something I could get used to seeing more often.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2015, 09:31:27 PM
Mix Diskerud is to scoring goals what he is to hair: flawless.

Orlando City fans are impressively already the worst in the league.

Bradley Wright-Philips is on pace to score zero goals this season now that he doesn't have Thierry Henry there.

Matt Besler ruined my fantasy team with his reckless tackles.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 08, 2015, 11:29:59 PM
Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins picked up right where they left off.

New England had damn well better hope the problem today was not having Nguyen and Jones, or else they're in bad shape.

If the season ended today, the Seattle Sounders would win the Supporters Shield.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 09, 2015, 09:59:13 AM
By the way, did you hear the announcers take a shot a Yedlin after the Martins goal? Seemed out of nowhere.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 18, 2015, 10:10:27 PM
The Montreal Impact finished dead last in MLS last year. They're currently up 2-0 after one leg, 90 minutes away from the Champions League final. Gotta love that parity.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 22, 2015, 02:55:54 AM
The USL's YouTube streaming works great, so I got to watch tonight's Sounders 2 game easily for free, and they opened their existence great by making Sacramento Republic FC's week even worse. Victor Mansaray is the next Messi.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on March 22, 2015, 11:03:22 PM
Call-up roster for the upcoming friendlies was released today. I wonder why Miguel Ibarra is getting looks? I'm not saying he is a bad player. He does play in the NASL though. Also I am assuming Howard is still on hiatus. The Julian Green call-up is surprising, seeing as how he is in the doghouse at Hamburg.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 23, 2015, 05:49:26 AM
Klinsmann kept calling up Jozy despite his awful performances at Sunderland, so I don't think Green being there is that surprising. Granted, he was a lot more proven with the national team at that point.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 23, 2015, 11:39:38 PM
Great Howler investigative piece on Marcelo Claure/Beckham's Miami MLS bid that also offers a look behind the curtain at MLS.

http://reprints.longform.org/howler-miami-marcelo-claure

TL;DR - Claure/Beckham's Miami bid is going just as good as you'd expect a franchise bid from people who don't live in Miami/want free handouts from the city would go. Kansas City Wizards owner Robb Heineman made a comment about the replaceability of the players should they strike, and Claure mentioned that he loves MLS because "it's communist". MLS is pissed because water is wet.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 24, 2015, 04:41:22 PM
Jurgen Klinsmann: Hamstring Annihilator.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 01:38:44 PM
Minnesota United to MLS is now official, to enter in 2018, which was surprising. Looking at the very real possibility of four expansion teams in two years between Atlanta/LA Formerly Chivas in 2017 and Minnesota plus either Miami or Sacramento the next year.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the NASL going forward. They're set to most likely lose three teams over the next few years, between Minnesota going up to MLS and Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale being pushed out by new MLS teams. Between that and their continuing inability to gain any kind of footprint on the west coast they're looking at a drop to division 3 status, assuming they can stay alive at all.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 25, 2015, 02:47:31 PM
You're way more of an optimist about Miami than I am, specially after the Howler long read.


As for NASL, I stopped actively following the league after my dear departed Islanders folded, but it seemed the league was in way more rockier footing back then. The lame duck USSF Division 2 year, the last minute 2011 Division 2 sanction. Our Puerto Rico franchise was allowed to play even though we couldn't satisfy the lead shareholder rule, and so far it's been the only team to fold. The league at least appears a bit healthier, even it's superficial. If the league can find a buyer for the Atlanta franchise and the current planned expansion materializes the league can at least stay stable for a bit longer.


USL currently has no business thinking it can be D2, not with so many reserve teams, small stadiums and possibly fewer owners qualifying for the lead shareholder rule.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 02:53:54 PM
I'm not saying Miami's going to work great, but they've given every indication that they're going to push it through anyway. Sacramento deserves it way more at this point, but they're making it sound like they missed out on this round, and San Antonio's still up in the air, so it pretty much only leaves them.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 25, 2015, 03:12:36 PM
I just think soccer in Miami is the same as the NFL in Los Angeles. They don't need you. Sacramento and San Antonio are way better venues, and the Scorpions have a solid fanbase already.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 03:59:26 PM
And like the NFL in LA, they're going to do it anyway.

And in more fun news, when Jozy Altidore's actually playing for his club and feeling good about himself he does **** like this: https://vine.co/v/O3JW3Odl3F7
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on March 25, 2015, 05:12:06 PM
Another lead blown in the 2nd half........... This team post-Wolrd Cup is frustrating to watch. New away jerseys looked really nice out there!


You'd think with all the "fitness" training that Klinnsman does. We would not be having this problem. Our goal differentials between the the first and second halves are very telling.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 05:56:45 PM
I didn't get to watch the second half, and now I'm kind of glad I didn't. I really don't know what it is with these late collapses.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on March 25, 2015, 07:40:42 PM
Part of me wants to blame the coach. Part of me wants to blame the players. Part of me thinks they will figure out it out eventually. Since I started seriously watching the team, the back line has not been as solid as the Cherundolo Bocanegra-Onyewu-(Insert left back of choice) era.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 08:10:44 PM
That's a pretty high watermark, though. Cherundolo and Bocanegra are two of the best players the U.S. has ever had, and Gooch was no slouch himself.

There's a lot of potential right now on the back line, but mostly guys with very little experience. John Anthony Brooks has been great this year in the Bundesliga, though was a bit shaky today. DeAndre Yedlin may have the most upside of anybody in the U.S. player pool right now, but his technical defending's still a work in progress. Ventura Alvarado's starting on one of the best teams in Liga MX at 21, though we saw very little of him today.

Honestly, I think Klinsmann should look more into the 3-5-2 he used in the first half in one of the friendlies earlier in the year. Yedlin and Brek Shea would make fantastic wingbacks, and our center back quantity may be better than our quality at this point. We're also considerably better in the central midfield than on the wings, so putting out a trio of Bradley, Mix and Bedoya in there would be pretty good.

Klinsmann needs a good performance in the Gold Cup, though. If he can't right the ship before then, I think he's in real danger of losing his job the way Bob Bradley did in 2011.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 25, 2015, 08:32:48 PM
I think today was worse because it was Bendtner who screwed us...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2015, 08:37:06 PM
How many people said the same things about losing to the U.S. because of Jozy Altidore during his awful run at Sunderland?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 31, 2015, 02:04:15 PM
The U.S. concede late again, but only after Jozy Altidore stupidly gets himself sent off. They were pretty clearly the better team when it was 11v11, definitely the strongest this team's looked since before the World Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 08, 2015, 12:16:33 AM
The Montreal Impact qualified for the Champions League during a season in which they finish dead last in MLS, and are now only the second MLS team to reach the final. Crazy night tonight down in Costa Rica.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 15, 2015, 08:36:01 PM
We're a half hour out from what looks to be a pretty weird USA-Mexico match. Crazy unexpected lineups, the worst field conditions you'll find this side of a Central-American cricket pitch, and the US playing at home in front of an away crowd.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 15, 2015, 11:05:13 PM
Wow. Make all the qualifications you want, that was one hell of a performance from the U.S. The first college player called up in 20 years scores in his first start, and Juan Agudelo gets his first international goal since 2011, with quality performances all around them. Dos A Cero, once again.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 27, 2015, 01:37:26 AM
There's no such thing as an ugly game when you beat Portland.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 29, 2015, 10:02:15 PM
Montreal managed to take a lead into the final 45 minutes of the Champions League final before blowing it. On one hand, it's incredibly impressive they got this far considering how lousy of a team they are, but on the other, that lousiness is how they did it. MLS teams don't have the depth to be able to effectively play in multiple competitions simultaneously, and the ones that are actually good (rightfully) put their emphasis on the league.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 29, 2015, 10:20:41 PM
MLS' structure means it's never going to win the Champions League when it has to face up against the might of the MX clubs.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 29, 2015, 10:34:30 PM
I don't think the structure has anything to do it, apart from the current position of the salary cap. The starting 11 in one of the top teams in MLS could certainly compete with the starting 11 of most Liga MX teams, the issue is once you get more than a couple guys down the bench that is so, so much less true. With budgets as limited as they are, teams have to put most of their money into guys who play most or all the time.

When you're playing multiple games per week across MLS and CCL you're forced to go deeper, and it suffers. Teams like New York, Portland and RSL, all undeniably much better squads than Montreal, were in the preliminary rounds of this tournament last fall, and they didn't advance largely due to putting their main focus on improving their chances of winning the MLS Cup. Until MLS teams are deep enough to play both, this is going to happen.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 29, 2015, 10:42:44 PM
It'll be interesting to watch this fall how LA and Seattle fare in this this fall. Those two teams have arguably done the best job cultivating their academies of anybody in the league, and having the guys that they do there, as cheap as they are because they're homegrown, might give them an edge that other teams haven't had in that stage.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 27, 2015, 12:14:43 AM
FIFA officials to be extradited to the U.S. to face corruption charges. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-face-corruption-charges-in-us.html?smid=tw-share)

I never thought I'd see the day. Friday's election for FIFA President should be interesting.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on May 27, 2015, 02:47:14 AM
I've always done my part to fight against the corruption by not watching any soccer. Not even World Cup. The rest of you should all be ashamed for helping such a massive criminal organization gain such financial power.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on May 27, 2015, 06:46:02 AM
They wanted to get Sepp but couldn't because he's hiding out in countries that don't extradite to the US?

Luckily, the Women's World Cup starts soon in Canada.  ;D
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 28, 2015, 08:44:37 AM
They don't have the goods to go after Sepp yet. That has to wait until they flip one of his underlings against him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 05, 2015, 04:35:25 PM
Gyasi Zardes.
John Brooks.
Danny Williams.
Bobby Wood.

Three goals by guys who might not have made the Gold Cup squad, and one by a central defender, lift the U.S. over the team that was third in the world last summer. I watched it happen, and I'm still not sure it was possible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 05, 2015, 08:03:50 PM
Oranje crushed! I was working unfortunately. I saw the goal highlights and it looked like they had the Dutch defenders spinning. I was not expecting that. Also, Even though Sepp has resigned, I have little faith things at FIFA will change.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 06, 2015, 10:14:43 AM
Yeah, the U.S. attack was giving them fits all game, even with a lot of its best players missing. They honestly should have had two or three more goals. Pretty poor defensive play all around, though; when Brek Shea is your best defender on the game that's usually a bad sign. Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez had to feel a lot better about their chances of playing in the Gold Cup after that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 10, 2015, 05:06:02 PM
WE WANT ARGENTINA!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on June 10, 2015, 07:21:47 PM
Of course the friendlies are played while I'm at work..... I was not expecting the results that we got. I hear Bradley was fantastic. I did manage to see a clip of his pass to Mix. Great stuff!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Wah on June 25, 2015, 01:12:34 AM
hey isanolord guess who one the Asian cup! whoop whoop!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2015, 08:44:40 PM
Well this is just goddamned awful.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on July 22, 2015, 09:51:43 PM
It's the Gold Cup no team wanted to win! Hooray CONCACAF!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2015, 10:41:32 PM
Don't look now, but Panama, who's been playing with 10 men since about 20 minutes in, just took a 1-0 lead on Mexico. 74th minute as I post this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Wah on July 22, 2015, 10:51:39 PM
It's the Gold Cup no team wanted to win! Hooray CONCACAF!
we beat Japan China every good Asian team that's really stepping up your game...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2015, 10:58:41 PM
China's not good. Japan's decent. Asia in general's a pretty weak confederation right now. They had an awful World Cup last year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2015, 11:02:20 PM
And right on cue, complete horseshit penalty given to Mexico in the 89th minute. It doesn't get any CONCACAFier than this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on July 22, 2015, 11:16:37 PM
Univision on their broadcast gave the goal to Mark Geiger.

Panama should have walked out. I almost believed it to be true. What a farce.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 22, 2015, 11:44:18 PM
He was chosen to referee a match in the knockout round of last year's World Cup, how could he go from that to being this awful?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on July 23, 2015, 12:18:35 AM
A red card for lightly whacking a guy in the face, called from 50 yards away? Check
A totally bullshit penalty that had no business being called, so much so that Geiger lost control of match and basically did nothing for 15 minutes because Panama knew they right and could have easily walked away from that **** sandwich? Total check
Redemption in the form a ticky tack foul in the box resulting in a legitimate penalty hoping that bails you out? Check


Concacafs gonna Concacaf.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on July 23, 2015, 09:38:47 PM
So, recently in FIFA Women's Football, the USA beat Japan to win the tournament. I wonder if there were any US fans with signs urging USA to "Drop the Bomb". If so, that would have been hilarious considering how the game went and world history. You know. 1945 and all that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 25, 2015, 09:00:05 PM
J.P.'s 2015 Gold Cup U.S. National Team Recap:

CON: Everything.

PRO: It's now over.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 05, 2015, 08:35:32 PM
Man, the soccer news just keeps coming today. First Kraft getting serious about building a new stadium in New England, then Chicharito maybe going to Chicago, and now there’s apparently a leaked image of a new U.S. Soccer crest for 2016.

(http://i.imgur.com/pvkXlrU.jpg)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on August 11, 2015, 06:15:59 PM
I prefer the crest they used for our centennial uniforms a couple years back . Those were slick. It seems like they were going for that angle with the re-design. Assuming it is true they are re-designing it of course.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 11, 2015, 06:17:25 PM
The word is the centennial crest was too generic for them to be able to trademark it, so they didn't want to use it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 22, 2015, 11:58:02 AM
I've been watching some of the Bundesliga now that Fox is showing it in America, and while I'm working on a fairly small sample size, so far I think I like it better than the Premier League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on August 22, 2015, 01:32:19 PM
I'd laugh at Bayern conceding eight seconds into a match, but they won this week so...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 30, 2015, 09:47:26 PM
Seattle got three points they probably didn't deserve but desperately needed, but the big story of the day is that the Red Bulls just look unstoppable right now. If they can win the Shield I'm not sure anybody could stop them in the playoffs.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on October 13, 2015, 12:14:23 AM
I would have thought that the latest loss would have generated some buzz around here. Tough loss, they fought back twice, but it wasn't good enough. I didn't think Mexico would give us that hard of a time. Its been a while since they outplayed us. Oh well, i think given his contract the only way Klinnsman gets the boot is if we fail to qualify for Russia.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 17, 2015, 11:56:25 PM
After tonight's action all three Canadian teams have clinched berths in the MLS Cup Playoffs, which means the Montreal Impact, who finished dead last in the league in 2014, are in, and, more importantly, the Toronto FC Fightin' Giovincos made it in for the first time in franchise history. MLSE indiscriminately throwing money at a problem has, for once, been successful.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 22, 2015, 12:19:50 AM
A late, late goal given up by LA in the final game of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage finalized the seeding for next spring's knockout round so that all four matchups feature an American team taking on a Mexican team, which I'm sure the people trying to make money off that tournament absolutely love.

Also, Kansas City's home loss to last-place Colorado sets up a scenario where all the teams from 2nd through 6th in the Western Conference may finish the season with 51 points, in perhaps the greatest example of MLS parity ever. I really hope it happens, partly for the historical implications, but mostly because the tiebreaking formulas would result in the Sounders taking 2nd place and a first round playoff bye.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 02, 2015, 01:56:41 AM
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 13, 2015, 09:08:16 PM
The road to Russia kicked off tonight with the U.S. playing its first World Cup qualifying match against noted international powerhouse St. Vincent and the Grenadines. An ugly start put the U.S. behind 1-0,  but the game unsurprisingly ended up finishing 6-1 in favor of the United States.

Jozy Altidore's two goals tied and then took sole possession of 4th all-time in scoring for the U.S. from Brian McBride, and Matt Miazga and Darlington Nagbe made their USMNT debuts, officially tying them to the United States forever, so suck it, Poland and Liberia!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 21, 2016, 09:10:48 PM
The U.S. has drawn a pretty tough draw for this summer's Copa America. Paraguay, Costa Rica and Colombia. If we can round back into form and move away from the awful 2015 we should be able to get out of the group, but it's rough. I'm hoping to be able to be there in person for the game against Costa Rica in Chicago.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 03, 2016, 12:01:37 AM
Welp, MLS sucks.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 13, 2016, 10:13:25 PM
We're only two weeks into the MLS season, but we've already got the Goal of the Year.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 11, 2016, 12:38:23 PM
Can someone please explain why MLS allowed Nigel de Jong to play here, much less pay him actual money to end careers?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on April 11, 2016, 08:09:36 PM
Everybody needs a heel.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 12, 2016, 08:59:27 AM
Everybody needs a heel.

And the Galaxy needed to cement their status as that. They signed a guy who'd previously **** all over the league in Ashley Cole (though, to his credit, he has so far been a model citizen), as well as a guy with so extensive a history of this kind of tackle that Darlington Nagbe wasn't the first U.S. national team midfielder to be a victim of his.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 15, 2016, 12:13:39 PM
US Soccer sabotaging itself. Anything to fire Klinsmann I guess...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Manthony Chopkins on April 19, 2016, 11:02:43 AM
While I think its time for Klinsy to be replaced i would rather have it happen after a disappointing World Cup performance than getting knocked out at the Hex.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 19, 2016, 12:23:58 PM
I doubt he'll be the coach past this cycle regardless of what happens. Going nearly two full cycles is a long time in the world of national team managers, and I expect him to step down from the job (at least the manager role, he may stay on as technical director) after Russia even if we do well.

Also, American soccer has had many players who were purported to be our savior, the first real world class player who will usher in a new era, most notably the tragic case of Freddy Adu, but Christian Pulisic may be the real thing. 17 year old from Hershey, PA who's getting significant minutes at one of the best clubs in the world and looking damn good in them.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 02, 2016, 06:24:49 PM
They really did it, Leicester City won the Premier League, with time to spare. The greatest Cinderella story in sports history, nearly relegated last season, 5000 to 1 odds to start the year. We're probably never going to see anything like this again.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 03, 2016, 06:24:37 PM
Just over three hours until the start of Copa America. If Klinsmann continues to be relatively sane and consistent in his formation and positioning this can be a very successful tournament for the U.S.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 06, 2016, 07:37:39 PM
Just a few days into the tournament and we're already hearing strong rumblings that CONCACAF and CONMEBOL want to do this every four years, merging the Gold Cup and Copa America, to form a true championship of the Americas. That would be incredible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 07, 2016, 06:50:29 PM
I saw that too. It would be fantastic. The Uruguayan FA president is already making noises that it favors Mexico to the detriment of the SA teams, but obviously everyone can make a whole lot more money with the US and Mexico involved. I wonder how the SA fans would feel. I imagine it's more expensive to travel to and in the US, but it's probably more convenient.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 07, 2016, 11:18:46 PM
The U.S. and Mexico would win big by getting better competition to hone their skills, and the South American countries (and everybody else as well) bring in a lot more money. It's easy to see the benefits of the proposal.

Also, like I said in the hype thread, I was at tonight's USA-Costa Rica match, the first USMNT game I've seen in person, and I very much enjoyed the absolute thumping we gave them, especially with my favorite player Clint Dempsey become only the second American to score 50 career goals for the national team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 08, 2016, 07:51:12 AM
Great game to be at, that's cool. I haven't seen them live since Tony Meola was in goal, lol. This isn't the same Costa Rica team that did so well in the last World Cup, but this is still the best I can remember seeing the USMNT play since 2013. Assuming everything goes as expected, the Brazil game should tell us a lot about where they are. Every time I lose faith in Klinsmann, they seem to go on a little run.

Man, I love watching James Rodriguez play. He was doing well under Ancelloti until he got hurt, and hasn't really replicated that form at club level since (to the point where he can barely get a run out). It's obstensibly because of his defense, but he seemed to me to be working his ass off towards the end of the La Liga season. I'd love if Zidane could find a way to get him on the field playing like he does for Columbia, but I think he is going to be sold.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 08, 2016, 12:10:44 PM
The U.S. team has always played best when the pressure's on. They'll dig themselves a hole and then rise to the occasion to get themselves out of it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 10, 2016, 07:22:40 AM
Looking forward to the Euros starting today. I actually preferred this tournament slightly to the World Cup before it expanded. The field is still deep, but nearly half of group stage games used to be knock-out quality. Still an outstanding tournament though. It's hard for me to see anyone but France, Germany, or Belgium winning. Spain has the talent but looks in poor form, and is affected by the deep champions league runs their players make every year. England looked great in qualifying, less so now, and I don't have faith in Hodgson. I can see Portugal and Croatia being competitive, but they don't have nearly the depth of those other teams. I'm not sure what to make of Italy because I don't follow Seire A and they are in a period of transition. The majority of Juve's stars are not Italian.

Edit: I've been second guessing myself about Spain all morning. That roster is just so good. But there is some crazy news breaking abut De Gea being linked to sexual assaults. Casillas seems a big liability.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 11, 2016, 09:21:48 PM
U.S. through to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Paraguay, despite terrible officiating and playing almost the full second half down a man.

John Brooks is just ridiculously good. (https://streamable.com/89ka) I broke down and bought a new USMNT jersey the other day and went with him, only to see him somehow get even better after already being our best player in this tournament.

EDIT: And Costa Rica shows there were no hard feelings from Tuesday's throttling and does us the favor of beating Colombia in their final game, meaning the United States of America just won their group!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 12, 2016, 09:01:20 AM
Wow, what a difference a week makes. I can't believe the US was able to overcome the goal differential and Costa Rica got the win. The Brazil-Colombia game was one of the best of the last World Cup, so that's a crazy QF matchup assuming Brazil wins today. I am definitely not taking Peru for granted (I admittedly don't know much about them other than Pizzaro) but this conceivably sets up US-ARG, MEX-BRA semis.

I also think it was very important that it was a CONCACAF team knocking off Colombia that made the difference. If the US "stole" the group just by making up the goal differential through trouncing another CONCACAF team, I think there would have been some grumblings. MLS has really been a boom to CONCACAF even if it isn't necessarily (yet) providing the upper elechon competition the US and Mexico needs.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on June 12, 2016, 09:58:38 AM
I still think Colombia is there with Argentina as the best team in the tournament. I have no faith in this Brasil B-Team and I think Colombia can totally take them out. Ecuador should come out as the second team in the group and that will be a nice challenge for the US. Mexico still hasn't **** the bed which means they still have a great chance to do so. This could actually work in Colombia's favor as they now would meet Argentina in the finals instead of the semis.



Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 12, 2016, 02:26:09 PM
Mexico tried to **** the bed against Jamaica, Jamaica just couldn't finish the many chances they gave them. If they defend like that in the knockout round they'll lose.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 12, 2016, 06:15:40 PM
I misread the remaining games and didnt realize Equador could still plausibly qualify. It's going to be a tough opponent regardless.

Thursday should be great. I'm going to DVR Wales-England and make it a double header. I would have watched the Germany-Poland game too, but I don't think I can also get that in between work and the US kick.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 12, 2016, 10:40:45 PM
This may be CONMEBOL’s tournament, but Brazil just got CONCACAFed. All that delay, all that deliberation, and they still got the call wrong.

EDIT: Seriously, though, even though it was an awful call, Brazil didn't deserve to advance. They beat the hell out of Haiti, as any of the 15 other teams would have been expected to, but they didn't score in their two matches against real opponents. Even considering the guys who were missing, this was a terrible performance from them.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 16, 2016, 11:59:21 PM
BRING IT ON, ARGENTINA! JOHN "THE BERLIN WALL" BROOKS IS GOING TO HAVE MESSI IN HIS POCKET THE WHOLE GAME!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 17, 2016, 07:30:22 AM
Lol. I have vague memories of the '95 win but was only passively following the sport at that point. I had played as a kid before switching to American football and watched the World Cup finals, but didn't really get into it until a few years later. I mostly remember the Argentinians in my neighborhood being really pissed. I'm a big Simeone fan and found Wynalda's story about him hilarious. I'd like to hear Diego's account, because it sounds a little different each time Eric tells it.

Last night was a really exciting game, but I'm obviously worried about the suspensions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 17, 2016, 07:46:23 AM
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how Klinsmann adjusts for that. I figure Zardes will move up and take Wood's spot, but that'll mean a completely new midfield trio in front of Bradley. Zusi's pretty much a given, as he's subbed on in every game and looked largely good. Beckerman will probably take Jones' spot; he's more defense-oriented than JJ but that's probably a wise move anyway given the opponent. For the third spot I see two real options: either go with Nagbe, or keep Besler at left back, where he looked pretty solid last night, and move Fabian Johnson into his natural midfield spot.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 19, 2016, 12:03:16 AM
So yeah, Juan Carlos Osorio's about to become the second coach fired due to his team's performance in this Copa America. 7-0, my god. So much schadenfreude on my part tonight. I'd be shocked if the scoreline's that lopsided even for the U.S. playing without three starters against the best team in the world in Argentina.


EDIT: lol

(http://i.imgur.com/ValHNS6.png)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on June 19, 2016, 12:14:54 AM
Mexico still hasn't **** the bed which means they still have a great chance to do so.


(https://media.giphy.com/media/ToMjGpjpXMFPshSYGLm/giphy.gif)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 19, 2016, 12:42:41 AM
I mean, there's shitting the bed, and then there's whatever they just did. That was the worst loss in Mexico's history, in a tournament people were saying they had a real shot to win.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 21, 2016, 05:37:47 AM
Good luck today Insano. My mom is having surgery today so I'll obviously be focused on that, but I should be able to watch tonight. Croatia-Spain is also an awesome game, and with how Italy has looked, Croatia has real incentive to try to win outright to avoid a brutal QF R16.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 21, 2016, 09:26:05 AM
I'm wearing my John Brooks jersey and I'm ready to go.

EDIT: Based on reports of how the team was practicing, it sounds like Christian Pulisic may be getting the start tonight, replacing one of the suspended players. If you thought he was being hyped before, just think of where that could be if he has a strong game against the best team in the world.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on June 22, 2016, 12:10:06 AM
At least you can still chant "Siete a cero", right?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 22, 2016, 01:24:28 AM
I figured we'd lose, but I'd hoped it would go somewhat better than that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 22, 2016, 01:32:03 AM
Ouch. I only got to see the second half, but that was enough.

The Euro brackets are really screwed up. Italy's reward for winning the best or second best group is Spain in R16 and probably Germany in the QF. I didn't get to see the Croatia-Spain game today, but it sounded very exciting. Not sure what Del Bosque is up to. Why leave Costa at home but then not play Pedro, and why in the hell is Ramos taking a PK? I'm not a Spain fan, but I'd be really annoyed if I was.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on June 22, 2016, 10:33:37 AM
I love Klinsmann but he deserves that drubbing and anything future drubbings if he continues to drag the likes of Beckerman and Wondolowski out for a do-or-die match. It's been 2 years since the World Cup. These guys do not work on the big stage. They don't work on the small stage either. The US has nothing to lose and they decide to come out with the weakest, safest lineup they have.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 22, 2016, 12:24:48 PM
Just like he didn't bring a true backup for Jozy to the World Cup two years ago, he didn't bring a true backup for Wood to this tournament. Jordan Morris would have been a like-for-like replacement for Bobby Wood, but he was sitting at home in Seattle.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 22, 2016, 02:43:07 PM
Just like he didn't bring a true backup for Jozy to the World Cup two years ago

You can't possibly bring along the US GOAT if it means the coach and his kid would lose the opportunity to settle a personal score. Priorities!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 22, 2016, 03:34:18 PM
Landon should've been there, but he wasn't a true backup for Jozy. If you're going to build a team around a target man you should bring more than one, and that means somebody like Eddie Johnson should have been there as well.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on June 22, 2016, 05:25:29 PM
I realize he wasn't a like-for-like, but he would have been the player I brought in when Altidore went down. With all the interchangeable ten, nine, false nine and free roaming winger shenanigans you can pull, to me it's more about getting the proper balance of creativity and and clinical scoring, rather than the particular offensive formation you play. I have no doubt that Landon was sorely missed in Brasil.

Euros were great this afternoon. Some extremely juicy games coming up.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on July 07, 2016, 10:07:02 PM
I'm going to be very pleased with Sunday's result regardless of the outcome. France and Zidane, and then through him, Real Madrid, have been a blast to follow for the last 18 years. France is like a favorite club team to me, and Ronaldo and Pepe (and Fabio Coentrao) have done fantastic things for Madrid, so good luck to all of them. France are rightful favorites, but for all the talk about Portugal not winning games, they haven't lost a non-friendly since the first qualifier either.

Carlo Ancelloti is going to do wonders for and with Renato Sanches.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 07, 2016, 11:10:50 PM
A bit more off the beaten track, but I was very happy to see Boca Juniors lose the first leg of the Copa Libertadores semifinal for extremely selfish reasons (for Nicolas Lodeiro's season to be over sooner so he can sign with Seattle).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on July 08, 2016, 10:54:46 AM
Now that the international tournaments are over I can shift to seeing what Pep does with City. I am still in the honeymoon phase so PEP CAN DO NO WRONG AND IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU ARE WRONG OH SO WRONG.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on July 08, 2016, 04:05:40 PM
I think De Bruyne and Sterling are going to be terrifying under Pep.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 08, 2016, 06:20:15 PM
It's a pretty impressive swath of managers in the Premier League right now. As something of a Liverpool supporter I was interested to see Klopp sign an extension through 2022 before he's had any real ability to put his mark on the team. The owners must have done a great job of convincing him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 09, 2016, 09:33:20 PM
The Sounders are going to get a lot better in this transfer window but it's going to be too late.

Edit: I'm not sure how it took me this long to realize there isn't currently a natural #10 on Seattle's roster. Even if we still had Oba, that'd be a problem. Lodeiro can't get here soon enough.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 14, 2016, 12:34:56 AM
Last in the West Seattle beats 1st in the league Dallas 5-0. That's MLS for you. Five different goal scorers for the Sounders, including the first of Cristian Roldan's career. If only Dempsey hadn't gotten sent off and thus suspended for the Portland game on Sunday it'd be perfect.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on August 10, 2016, 06:23:45 PM
The European club season never really ends – there is only about a month between the Champions League Final and the first round of qualifying games – but the domestic leagues are restarting this weekend in earnest, with the Premier League, Ligue 1, and Primeria Liga all kicking off. La Liga and Serie A start next weekend, and then the Bundesliga on the 26th.  The Eredivisie actually already started.   

Putting the Premier League to the side for a moment, of the four other biggest leagues, 5dimes has all the returning champs as big favorites, with only Madrid (and to a lesser extent Atleti) being given a good chance of challenging. It’s hard to argue with that. I couldn’t find a straight BPL futures table, but it looks like 5dimes has City, United, Chelsea, and Arsenal in that order of favorites. The relegation odds have the foxes at 10th, but there isn’t a direct carry over, because they have Arsenal as 2nd least likely to relegate. You could make a case for Tottenham over pretty much anyone but City in my opinion, but I will be very surprised if one of the Manchester squads doesn’t win the league. It should be fascinating given the huge amount of coaching talent.

Madrid began its European title defense yesterday with a tough match against the Europa champions Sevilla. I’m of the opinion that the Super Cup is a real trophy and I think the game yesterday was played at a pretty high level. Carvajal and Marcelo look like they may be the best pair of attacking fullbacks in the world, and Lucas has quietly turned himself into Di Maria 2.0. Sergio Ramos had as Ramosian a day as you could expect – continually flirted with a red card, gave up a stupid penalty, had some beautiful on-ball defending, and then somehow scored again when defeat was imminent. Asensio looks like he is going to heap even more pressure on James, but Morata probably didn’t worry Benzema too much.

There are some interesting ties in the last CL qualifying round (UEFA calls them playoffs) before the group stages are determined. I don’t think Fox televised these in the states last year, but I’m hoping the presence of Guardiola changes that. Steaua Bucuresti will likely provide only a challenge because of the travel, but I’m still interested in seeing it. Porto-Roma could be a knock-out round game in many years and we are getting that in August.  Bucharest-City is on the 16th and Porto-Roma on the 17th. Some biggish names have already been knocked out in the previous round: Olympiacos, Shaktar, and Fenerbahce.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 10, 2016, 06:43:16 PM
This year I'm planning on getting a lot more into the Bundesliga, mainly because of how many Americans are playing there. You've got our lord and savior Christian Pulisic at Dortmund, John Brooks anchoring the back line at Hertha Berlin, Fabian Johnson on the wing at Borussia Moenchengladbach, and it sounding like Julian Green possibly getting real first team minutes at Bayern Munich, plus Bobby Wood, Aron Johannsson, and now today we're seeing rumors of Matt Miazga being loaned into the league as well.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on August 10, 2016, 08:55:56 PM
My familiarity with the bundesliga is strictly through the champions league, but that would be a good reason to watch it. FS1 has them in HD too. I'll probably check it out in the spring. I'd never root for Bayern, but I'm a big Ancelloti fan, and Xabi Alonso is maybe my second favorite player ever. I wouldn't mind watching him play against some US prospects.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 10, 2016, 09:03:29 PM
The coaching change at Bayern seems to be the main reason Julian Green is in the position he's in. Ancelotti seems to like him a lot. He gave Green a lot of time in the preseason, which he made the most of, especially the game where he scored a hat trick, and it's sounding like he's being given his chance to play real minutes with the first team this year.

If I were picking a team I'd probably go with Hertha Berlin. Not only do they have one of the best U.S. players in Brooks, they're a great story, just a few years removed from playing in the 2nd division, and were in 3rd place most of last season until falling off a bit due to injuries.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 20, 2016, 09:32:10 PM
Most people are going to focus on Brazil winning Olympic gold, finally capturing the only major trophy that nation had never won, but the real soccer story of today is THE CHICAGO FIRE WON A ROAD GAME! Not just a win, but a 3-0 thumping in Montreal!

Chicago hadn't won on the road in over two years. Chivas USA, a team that folded at the end of the 2014 season due to how much of a train wreck the entire organization was, had done so more recently until tonight.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 22, 2016, 12:09:02 AM
The Seattle Sounders are for real. 3-0-1 in the Brian Schmetzer/Nicolas Lodeiro era, going from being en route to their worst season ever to looking as dangerous as anybody in the league. It's no longer about "Can they make the playoffs?", it's "How far will they go?",
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Wah on August 22, 2016, 12:17:34 AM
Not to take away from soccer, but it looks like America's only threat to basketball in the Olympics this year, is Australia believe it or not.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on August 25, 2016, 07:47:47 PM
Lol at the soccer gods giving us a Barca-City matchup in Group C. Looks like Pep can't change City's luck with them getting yet another brutal draw. If they can somehow win this group, the hype train will be unstoppable, but that seems unlikely with how damn good Barca is.

Group D gives us another all-star clash with a Bayern-Atleti rematch from last year. If this were a ko match, I'd go with Atleti, but I expect Bayern's attack to be too strong for Atleti to keep up with over the mini-league. I didn't look in depth at the schedule, but that long trip to Russia could be a factor depending on how it fits in with their respective domestic campaigns.

Groups A, H, F are all deep, but I'd go PSG/Arsenal, Madrid/Dortmund, Juve/Sevilla without much worry. However, I wonder if gunners fans are sweating the fact that Basel dumped out United and Liverpool in 2 of the last 4 years. Obviously, this Basel is a different team, but it should help their confidence regardless. Wenger is already under immense pressure and it's only week 3.

Groups B,E, and G lack the star power of the others, but that could just mean it will be more competitive. Both Premier League teams were very lucky. Tottenham for drawing out of the 3rd pot a group they are favored to win, and Leicester for the rule change in which they were seeded over Arsenal and City (I like the rule change personally). I think Leicester would have nearly no shot of winning either A or C, and could have difficulty even qualifying for the ko round. This isn't a vintage Porto team, so they have a great chance at the group, and should qualify regardless. However, I think Spurs and especially Leicester really need to win their groups to proceed past R16.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on August 25, 2016, 07:58:14 PM
Porto just destroyed Roma. I'm sure they can handle Leicester just fine.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on August 25, 2016, 09:42:28 PM
I'm not sure how much to read into that. Roma had a pretty tumultuous off season, and the tie was 1-1 after the first leg in Porto. Roma had bookended straight reds on either side of halftime in Rome.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 02, 2016, 09:25:28 PM
Beating a country of barely 100,000 people whose team is mostly guys who aren't actually professional soccer players should be a given, but nonetheless it was a solid performance by the U.S. in a 6-0 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Christian Pulisic became the youngest American to ever score in a World Cup qualifier, and then 20 minutes later became the second-youngest. Sacha Kljestan made the most of his return to the USMNT after years away with a goal and two assists, and Matt Besler scored his first international goal on the same day he first became a father.

The U.S. are now all but in the Hex, with Guatemala's late equalizer against Trinidad and Tobago delaying truly clinching it until Tuesday. A win or draw against T&T then will put them through, or even any loss that doesn't involve Guatemala making up their deficit of 12 in goal differential.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on September 03, 2016, 07:31:12 AM
I missed this yesterday with college football starting, but I'm looking forward to the hex. I love the home-and-away league structure. I'm hoping to see a lot of Pusilic when Madrid and Dortmund play on 9.27.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 06, 2016, 11:00:22 PM
The U.S. made it look easy tonight in Jacksonville, cruising to a 4-0 win over a solid Trinidad and Tobago team to win their qualifying group and clinch their spot in the Hex.

Christian Pulisic got his first USMNT start, went the full 90, and was the best player on the pitch. Jozy Altidore continued his recent run of great form, scoring two and executing masterful holdup play. Sacha "Porn Stache" Kljestan had another big game and another big goal, his second in these two matches after only having 4 in his previous 46 appearances. Klinsmann gave him a shot to revive his international career after years away, and he's made the most of it.

Winning the group means the U.S. begins Hexagonal play November 11th at home against Mexico. Here's hoping for a cold and snowy Columbus night, and another Dos A Cero performance.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on September 16, 2016, 07:22:18 AM
Between Jets-Bills and remontada it's been a glorious two days of football. I didn't see Dortmund but apparently Pulisic looked very good. Madrid has a couple tricky La Liga games before, so I shouldn't look ahead, but part of me is already focused on 9.27. Dortmund is one of the best atmospheres in sport, Zidane's men are fearless, and the Pulisic hype is real. I can't wait.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 17, 2016, 11:40:13 AM
Christian Pulisic scored a goal and two assists today for Dortmund on the day before his 18th birthday. I think this kid may be for real.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 17, 2016, 07:10:44 PM
And then Jordan Morris all but locks up the MLS Rookie of the Year award with his 10th goal of the season, and the most important of all of them, the late winner over Vancouver to keep the Sounders' playoff hopes alive.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 25, 2016, 08:55:48 PM
The LA Galaxy hadn't lost at home in over a year. The Seattle Sounders hadn't won in LA since 2009. But even after going down 1-0 early in the first half, the Sounders rallied back for the mother of all statement wins, 4-2, on the back of a pair of spectacular goals by inevitable Rookie of the Year Jordan Morris. This team that was dead in the water and had fired its coach two months ago now sits 3 points out of a playoff spot, two games in hand, with a month left in the regular season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on September 25, 2016, 10:14:09 PM
Casemiro and Marcelo are out for Tuesday (1-2 mons/3 weeks respectively). Ronaldo, Bale, and Benzema look 70% at most. Madrid don't have another DM, or LB other than Coentrão, who himself hasn't played for a long time due to injury. Navas should finally play though. It will be interesting to see Zidane's line-up. Pulisic will definitely get some opportunities.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 26, 2016, 04:26:14 PM
I just entered the lottery to get a ticket for the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus in November. There's a bus going down from here and I really hope I can go, it should be a crazy atmosphere.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on September 26, 2016, 05:08:06 PM
That's cool, good luck. I had a blast in Columbus a few years ago and have wanted to make a return trip since.

It's tough for me to fit MLS into my already incredibly crowded sports schedule. I'm ostensibly a NYCFC fan, but I've only really followed them on paper outside a few games on tv here-and-there. I don't live in the city anymore, and haven't used one of my trips back to go to a game. I was a huge admirer of Patrick Vieira when he was a player, so I'm glad to see him doing well as a coach.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 26, 2016, 06:09:55 PM
They're having a really good year. Good mix of high profile, big name veterans like Villa (who has to be the favorite for league MVP), Pirlo, and Lampard, as well as lesser known but very good younger guys like Jack Harrison and Tommy McNamara. I don't think they're strong enough in the back and especially in goal to really challenge Toronto or the Red Bulls in the playoffs in the East, but they've done really well, especially considering how last year went.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 27, 2016, 03:07:29 PM
It was just announced that Clint Dempsey will be out for at least the rest of 2016 due to the irregular heartbeat that's kept him out of recent matches. That affects any playoff run the Sounders make, as well as the World Cup Qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica in November.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 03, 2016, 01:12:00 PM
New Jersey native and former NCAA, MLS, and USMNT coach Bob Bradley has just been hired by Swansea City to be the first American to manage in the Premier League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on October 03, 2016, 02:55:38 PM
Thanks to Carmelo Anthony I finally have a home club I can root for again, even if it's 2nd division. And now that it seems like we've passed the initial expansion club woes, we've been dropping some absolutely filthy goals.

If YouTube doesn't auto-play skip ahead to the times I've typed.

First Goal
Skip to 1:03
Skip to 1:33
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 03, 2016, 06:37:41 PM
Hopefully for you the NASL isn't about to collapse like it appears to be on the verge of doing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 12, 2016, 12:26:49 PM
I was successful in the ticket lottery, so I'm officially going to the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifying match in Columbus next month! I'm extremely excited!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on October 23, 2016, 08:55:20 PM
Hopefully for you the NASL isn't about to collapse like it appears to be on the verge of doing.


Ehhh I'll wait until February before making that call.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 06, 2016, 05:56:59 PM
First things first, everybody admire Shkelzen Gashi's spectacular goal in Colorado's PK victory over the LA Galaxy earlier this afternoon to advance to the conference finals:



Now, let's get to the big news of the USMNT squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica.

Goalkeepers
Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Ethan Horvath, William Yarbrough

Defenders
Matt Besler, Steve Birnbaum, John Brooks, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, Michael Orozco, DeAndre Yedlin

Midfielders
Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Lynden Gooch, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan, Christian Pulisic, Caleb Stanko, Graham Zusi

Forwards
Jozy Altidore, Jordan Morris, Aron Johannsson, Bobby Wood


Not a ton of surprises, but a few young guys in the mix I wouldn't have figured on seeing. Cameron Carter-Vickers is the big one, as he's still eligible to play for England, but appearing in either of these games would cap-tie him to the United States forever. He wouldn't be anything more than a late sub specifically to tie him, but it's still interesting that he's there.

The big blow to the USMNT is that Geoff Cameron is injured, leaving us without one of our starting center backs. Klinsmann's got several options to replace him, with Besler and Gonzalez there as seasoned veterans, but don't be shocked if relative newcomer Steve Birnbaum gets the nod there.

If I had to guess a formation, I might go with what's at least on paper a 4-3-3:

Pulisic-Altidore-Wood
Bradley-Jones-Kljestan
Johnson-Brooks-Birnbaum-Yedlin

Klinsmann has already announced that Tim Howard will start in goal against Mexico, no real shock given Howard's strong performance down the stretch with the Colorado Rapids (including two saves in the penalty shootout today) and Brad Guzan's lack of recent playing time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 11, 2016, 10:15:09 PM
Start the game in a formation the team has no real experience playing, get run over, come out of the half in your standard formation, dominate, tie the game, and than lose on a set piece goal by Rafa fucking Marquez. All the good will Jurgen Klinsmann built up over the summer is gone in one fell swoop.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: ShyGuy on November 12, 2016, 01:12:54 AM
I saw soccer today, It was on the TV at a Mexican restaurant. Mexico beat USA 2 to 1, and people yelled when they scored.  after that there was a sitcom with some guy in a mullet wig.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 12, 2016, 03:37:44 AM
That'd be an interesting place to watch it, especially with how it ended. Last minute winning goal by a guy who's been playing professional soccer longer than the best player for the United States has been alive. (Rafa Marquez, 37 began his pro career in 1996. Christian Pulisic, who turned 18 about a month ago, was born in 1998.)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 12, 2016, 09:07:20 AM
...who's been playing professional soccer longer than the best player for the United States has been alive.


I'm glad US fans are keeping their expectations in check.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 12, 2016, 04:55:52 PM
The guy's playing regularly for arguably one of the top 5 clubs in the world. There's an argument for John Brooks being better, maybe Fabian Johnson, but the kid is legit. This is also something of a translation period for the U.S., so a lot of the old guard top tier is retiring or declining.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 13, 2016, 02:12:10 PM
...who's been playing professional soccer longer than the best player for the United States has been alive.


I'm glad US fans are keeping their expectations in check.

...who's been playing professional soccer longer than the best player for the United States has been alive.

What's the appropriate level of expectation? I don't know anyone who is bullish on the USMNT as a group [in the current cycle] regardless of his presence and everyone seems amazed and grateful that he is highly evaluated by elite European clubs. It's even more encouraging because he is a technical outfield player and not overly reliant on physicality or athleticism. He's legitimately being scouted by Barcelona and Real Madrid. He already has around a 20M€ transfer value, and I think it will probably be at least 50M€ if he develops at a similar trajectory over the next 3 years. To me that is reasonably objective evidence to argue he's the best current outfield player. I agree with you if people are saying he is already on par with Barca/Madrid players or will carry the USMNT in the near feature.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 13, 2016, 02:14:11 PM
Weird quote boxes are from being interrupted by the pop up ads.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 13, 2016, 04:39:52 PM
John Brooks has been playing at a high level longer, and is one of the core players at another high table club in Germany in Hertha Berlin. He's been linked to Bayern Munich. He's pretty much the only guy we've got right now in a similar position.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 13, 2016, 08:07:14 PM
Yes, but he is a defender, and quite frankly, the type of player the US should be producing more of. I'm not even saying that I like Pulisic's style better, it's just rarer, and potentially overachieving for the US program.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 16, 2016, 01:01:38 AM
Jurgen Klinsmann needs to go.

He's had his fair share of critics for a long time, but up until tonight I wasn't really among them. But the utter embarrassment the United States suffered tonight in Costa Rica has pushed me over the edge. He has clearly lost this team.

He's never been a particularly strong manager from a tactical standpoint, but tonight took that to an extreme. His repeated insistence on playing Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones in a double pivot central midfield, something that has never worked, causes us to be completely overrun in the midfield. Jones doesn't have the legs to play 90 minutes anymore, and it's leaving Bradley on an island, asked to provide cover for the entire midfield, basically destroying his ability to do what he does best.

He took out one of the few players who were actually looking good when we were down two and needed all the attacking help we could get. He never had Christian Pulisic and Sacha Kljestan on the field at the same time, despite them having instant incredible chemistry when put together in the qualifiers earlier in the fall. He left Jermaine Jones, who was showing signs of fatigue as early as the first half, in to play the whole damn thing.

Jurgen has done some good things for this team in terms of recruiting dual nationality players, and he was a huge part of Bobby Wood becoming the player he is now, but the product on the field is just too much of a mess right now to overlook. This team has clearly quit on him.

Rumor has it that the USSF had already reached out to Bruce Arena as a possible replacement for the remainder of this cycle. He's a bit past it as a manager, but he'd certainly be an on-field improvement. Other names floating around include FC Dallas manager Oscar Pareja and New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch, but I think it's too late in the qualifying process to bring in someone who's never coached a national team before and expect them to learn on the fly. I'd love to see either of them take over after Russia, though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 16, 2016, 07:28:54 AM
I admit that I was very excited when the US was recruiting Klinsmann, but I've been disappointed for a long time, and disgusted since the Donovan fiasco at the World Cup. My hope was always that he was at least making improvements to the developmental levels of the US soccer pyramid but I worry that is also hotair.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 16, 2016, 10:22:43 AM
While I agree that Kilnsmann's time with the team is nearly over, I do hope this sudden burst of anger towards him doesn't let Sunil Gulati off the hook. Everyone knew what they were getting into when they hired him, and at the same time up until last night it looked like Gulati and US Soccer were more worried about what Megan Rapinoe was doing on the sidelines than about what kind of state the men's team was in.

Can we at least agree that John Brooks should be benched for the rest of the HEX after that sorry-ass performance?

EDIT: Also, fair credit to Costa Rica, who were far and away the best CONCACAF team in the previous World Cup. Everyone should have expected them to win that game last night.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 16, 2016, 10:52:15 AM
Gulati should be gone too. His treatment of the USWNT would be reason enough, but he also continually protects Klinsmann for non-soccer reasons (like preserving his own position).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 16, 2016, 06:07:06 PM
While I agree that Kilnsmann's time with the team is nearly over, I do hope this sudden burst of anger towards him doesn't let Sunil Gulati off the hook. Everyone knew what they were getting into when they hired him, and at the same time up until last night it looked like Gulati and US Soccer were more worried about what Megan Rapinoe was doing on the sidelines than about what kind of state the men's team was in.

Can we at least agree that John Brooks should be benched for the rest of the HEX after that sorry-ass performance?

EDIT: Also, fair credit to Costa Rica, who were far and away the best CONCACAF team in the previous World Cup. Everyone should have expected them to win that game last night.

Gulati certainly deserves scrutiny for a lot of things. At the very least, he shouldn't be running unopposed the next time his term is up like he has been the last couple times.

John Brooks was one of the best defenders for any country in Copa America this summer, and played well against Mexico up until the admittedly big mistake of losing his man on the corner. He's one of the core pieces of a very good Bundesliga club. This was an awful performance by him, but based on the year he's had I'm confident it was a fluke.

Lastly, while Costa Rica has declined a bit since the World Cup, they are indeed a good team, and were rightly favored going into this game. It's not the fact the U.S. lost that's the problem, it's how they lost. If we lost 2-1 in a game we were competitive in like we did against Mexico we wouldn't be having this discussion, but getting blown out and playing this atrociously is unacceptable.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 16, 2016, 07:33:24 PM
Keylor Navas was so damn good in that World Cup and last year's CL run. He's been a little rusty since coming off his injury.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 17, 2016, 02:43:03 PM
Apparently the shortlist of candidates to possibly replace Klinsmann includes Peter Vermes and Tab Ramos, and now I'm less sure I want him fired. I'd take Bruce, who's also on there, but either of those guys would be a lateral move at best.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 17, 2016, 07:31:31 PM
I don't understand how Arena would be the clear choice over anyone else. His management style is just as conservative as Klinsmann's with the added caveat that he has the completely wrong opinion about naturalized players on the USMNT roster. I feel like the way he's been running things with the Galaxy is also at odds with how the USMNT needs to be handled now that the old guards is on its way out.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 17, 2016, 07:37:55 PM
The argument for Arena is he's experienced at this level. If we're going to replace a manager mid-Hex you'd want somebody who knows what they're doing and wouldn't have to learn on the job during an extremely important stretch. I think a lot of his issues with the Galaxy have stemmed from the makeup of the roster, and coming into the national team with a fresh start would let him avoid some of that. Long term I think Oscar Pareja is the right man for the job, but Bruce is the safe choice to get us to Russia.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 20, 2016, 08:00:12 AM
A huge month for Madrid got off to a nice start with a 3-0 win at the Calderon yesterday in their best played game of the season. They are in Lisbon on Tuesday, away to the Camp Nou in two Saturdays, and host Dortmund four days later. Then they travel to Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup. Kovacic is developing into a hell of a player and Isco had his best game maybe since Ancelotti was the manager. By Christmas, Madrid will have won/lost its second trophy, cemented/squandered its lead in La Liga, and saved/suffered a disaster in the Champions League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 21, 2016, 03:53:39 PM
Well, Jurgen Klinsmann has officially been fired. It had to happen, but I wasn't sure Sunil Gulati would have the guts to make the call. No successor yet, but it's sounding very likely to be Bruce Arena.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 21, 2016, 03:57:33 PM
I'm pretty sure Yaya Toure can't physically run anymore (he managed a lively sprint at the end of last weekend's game when he was trying to for a hat trick) but somehow he put in two necessary goals against Crystal Palace. I hope he never plays again...but damn.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 21, 2016, 07:54:29 PM
He can still contribute for Côte d'Ivoire. Toure's 2013-2014 seasons is one of my all-time favorite performances from an athlete ever. What a fabulous player.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 22, 2016, 12:50:13 AM
I can't wait for US Soccer to hire Bruce Arena so the men's national team can qualify for the World Cup, then proceed to lose 2 games and tie another as they bow out in the group stage...

He can still contribute for Côte d'Ivoire. Toure's 2013-2014 seasons is one of my all-time favorite performances from an athlete ever. What a fabulous player.

Yaya was beautiful when he was on but it was clear last year that his time in the first team is over. This incredible run and goal vs Aston Villa in 2014 will forever be my final memory of Yaya with the team. Even with a game to go I knew City was going to win it all.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 22, 2016, 01:41:54 AM
I can't wait for US Soccer to hire Bruce Arena so the men's national team can qualify for the World Cup, then proceed to lose 2 games and tie another as they bow out in the group stage...

No, see, this is the first World Cup of his tenure, so we're going to the quarterfinals. Your scenario is what would happen if he's still coach in 2022, which he won't be, because that's the year Oscar Pareja's going to be in charge and we win the whole thing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 30, 2016, 08:47:27 AM
Seems like the writing's on the wall for the new North American Soccer League. According to reports the New York Cosmos, the flagship club of the league, are in the process of shutting down operations for good, while the remaining teams that are fiscally solvent are in the process of jumping ship to the USL.

Hopefully this is the last league folding we'll see for quite some time, and as many clubs as possible will be able to find a new home in the USL or the upcoming Canadian Premier League. The NASL was a bit of a wildcard going its own way, sometimes against what the establishment in this country was trying to do. Now with the top of the pyramid being dominated solely by MLS and SUM, with their already close relationship with the USL. There's something to be said for having that heckler out there, that the NASL was. It should be interesting going forward without that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on November 30, 2016, 11:29:20 AM
It's tough as an outsider to look at the Cosmos winning the second division title 3 out of 4 years and have no means of moving up the ladder while a team like the Chicago Fire putz around the bottom of the MLS for 3 straight years with no real punishment. One of those teams should be the one shutting it down, but it's an effed up situation. I don't want this to end up as a trite rehash of the promotion/relegation argument but I don't understand why anyone would want to operate a lower division club in the United States with the realities of US Soccer/MLS's business model. Specially now that it seems like MLS will have full control of the upper tiers of the sport in the US.

Puerto Rico FC/Carmelo Anthony still look like they'll play somewhere next year. The team just earned a berth to the 2017 CFU Club Championship, which opens the road for a potential Champions League appearance, which will most certainly be attractive for any league that will have them.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 30, 2016, 12:25:00 PM
USL would be a great landing spot for them. The travel schedule would be much nicer there than it was in the NASL.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on November 30, 2016, 09:55:45 PM
When I was in early elementary school I got to see Pele, Beckenbauer, and the rest of the galacticos play the then current Cosmos team at the Meadowlands and season or two before the franchise folded. Still remember the "Cos-Mos" clap and chant.

I've been to a few USL games in PA the last couple of years. To be honest the pricing is a bit ridiculous for the quality. Tickets were nearly $30 to get into a high school football stadium and the concessions were more than minor league baseball.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 01, 2016, 12:38:38 AM
I've been to a few USL games in PA the last couple of years. To be honest the pricing is a bit ridiculous for the quality. Tickets were nearly $30 to get into a high school football stadium and the concessions were more than minor league baseball.


That's ridiculous. I paid just above $10 per game for season tickets to Puerto Rico FC, and this was in a league that was supposedly higher tier than the USL.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on December 01, 2016, 07:13:21 AM
Kind of wish I was able to watch the Eastern Conference final, that sounded like two legs of absolute insanity.

the upcoming Canadian Premier League

Phwar?

I don't think there'd be a team in my area though - the biggest soccer stadia in the area are for the universities and they only seat a few thousand unless temporary seating is erected. We have enough trouble building a 20-30k CFL-ready stadium.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 01, 2016, 11:10:56 AM
The CPL's going to be official most likely sometime this month. It's largely in partnership with the CFL, so if you do have a team in that you might be in line to get one here too.

And yes, for the second time this fall, it's Shaymin vs. insanolord in a playoff scenario.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 01, 2016, 09:05:43 PM
My three favorite codes of football are American, rugby union, and association and I'm going to have a massive Saturday.

England-Australia kicks off the day. I don't have a rooting interest but I love watching Eddie Jones' England team and the Australian back row is fabulous. It's also taken a nasty edge, even for the already bitter England-Australia rivalry. The Autumn internationals have been outstanding.

That leads into el clasico. Barca has obviously been struggling lately, but Iniestia is back, and this is just the type of game to bring clarity of purpose back to their season. My starting XI would be Navas - Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo - Kovacic, Casemiro, Modric - Lucas, Benzema, Ronaldo. Zidane is a ridiculous +10 and +15 vis-a-vis Barca's and Atletico's respective points totals since becoming manager.

I didn't go to Temple, but I have a lot of affection for Philadelphia, and Temple is a big part of the city. They are up against it again in the AAC championship game given how Navy's offense is humming, but I think they have an excellent chance. Matt Rhule and Ken Niumataolo are power five quality coaches.

I didn't go to Penn State either, but there are probably ten PSU degrees in my family, including my wife's two. My earliest sports memory is the Sugar Bowl loss to Alabama and I've been to more of their games than any other team (although the Yankees are quickly gaining). I'm already thrilled with the season, but a B1G title could potentially be the most shocking championships a team I follow has ever won.

Jets have been trash, but Penn, Penn State, and Temple have more than compensated, and Madrid is always a blast to follow.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 02, 2016, 11:28:24 AM
Tomorrow just got even better now that I've noticed City-Chelsea is in the morning.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 02, 2016, 08:03:20 PM
It's really hard to not get excited about this current U.S. Under-17 squad. There may not be a Pulisic-caliber player (though Andrew Carleton really isn't that far off from it), but there is some serious talent on this team. The reforms to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy from years ago are finally starting to take hold and produce some serious results.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 02, 2016, 08:06:00 PM
Shame about Gooch.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 02, 2016, 08:14:31 PM
As an American player with that name, major injury was inevitable.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 02, 2016, 08:17:01 PM
Ha, I admit when I first saw the headline, for a second I was like WTF?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 03, 2016, 12:26:23 PM
An absolute shameful display by Aguero and Fernandinho today. Embarrassing and indefensible by all accounts. That being said Fabregas deserves some form of punishment for smacking Fernandinho in the face.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 03, 2016, 12:42:22 PM
I don't blame Fernandinho much, it's hard to take a slap in the face in a situation like that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 05, 2016, 08:14:42 PM
With today's news of the New York Cosmos terminating all contracts, I think it's safe to say now that the North American Soccer League 2.0 is really and truly dead. Reports are that the only teams not currently in negotiations to be absorbed into the USL are the aforementioned Cosmos, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, Rayo OKC, and Edmonton FC, with Edmonton likely taking the next year off before joining the Canadian Premier League when it starts up in 2018.

As poorly run and misguided as the league was, it's still a shame to see them fold. Their high ambition, while probably a big part of their downfall, was good for American soccer. Now the USL will be the only professional lower division league in the U.S., which has its positives and negatives. Hopefully it will continue to grow and thrive as it has been in recent years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 06, 2016, 01:21:34 AM
I do wonder about the future of the second division. Teams like Indy Eleven and Miami FC really hitched on to the idea of the NASL, and developed teams that fit that model, which would run counter to how the MLS would run the USL as a second division(I don't know how they run it exactly).


Also, there's a sizable financial commitment for any teams playing in a second division, as stated by US Soccer's rules. How many teams are willing to do that. Tampa Bay was moving down to USL probably because they couldn't make the same financial commitment they had made before.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 06, 2016, 01:50:02 AM
The USL was already in the process of applying for D2 status before all this happened, with an official announcement expected this month, so the teams in that league were already onboard for meeting those standards. Also, to clarify, MLS doesn't run the USL. They have a partnership, but they're still separate independent leagues, and there's actually a bit of tension between them right now about exactly how that partnership should be implemented. The USL leadership isn't happy with the way the MLS 2 teams are currently being run.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 06, 2016, 09:59:34 AM
Looking at the team list on Wiki, there are 13 teams that wouldn't fit the D2 criteria of having a 5,000 seat minimum capacity stadium. I've always felt that the lower league standards have been ridiculous given the closed nature of the US soccer pyramid, and this whole NASL collapse has now highlighted that these requirements have grown worse since then. I get that you want to stabilize the lower leagues and try and build a stable pyramid but I don't see how you can attract good investors and partners when their chances of growth are essentially capped by the structure of the leagues.

And that's before you get into the whole argument of reserve teams playing against fully independent teams so high up in the pyramid.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 06, 2016, 11:49:23 AM
They're going to need a waiver on some of the requirements as they upgrade stadiums and whatnot, just as the NASL had needed one for things like the requirement for having teams in three time zones, but they're committed to meeting them. Long term it seems likely that USL will split into two divisions, with a lower league that's technically D3 for the reserve teams and smallerindependents. Bringing in all the teams they're reported to be, they're going to be getting close to 40 teams, so they're going to need a good way to handle that many.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 06, 2016, 08:53:35 PM
I don't have anything against any league really, I just think the standards need to be relaxed more.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 08, 2016, 07:55:49 AM
I thought yesterday was a good game although I'm obviously disappointed in the result. Pulisic seemed pretty quiet until the end of the first half. It was hard to get my head around the fact that I was watching an 18 year old from Hershey running around the Bernabeu competeing against some of the very best players in the world.

Monday's draw is very intriguing. I'd rather Madrid won the group, but they have an easier draw from Pot 2 since it means they are garunteed to miss Bayern, City, PSG, along with Barca, Atleti, and Dortmund. There are still formidable teams in Pot 1 to be drawn, and certainly nothing is garunteed, but it's a little silver lining.

Oh Arsenal, you finally win your group, and you are still looking at a potential brutal draw. At least you are garunteed to miss Barca, City, and Juve.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 08, 2016, 08:17:30 AM
https://twitter.com/misterchiping/status/806616020517613574

I can't figure out how to embed tweets from my phone but the above links to a breakdown of the probability of  potential draws.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 10, 2016, 05:22:02 PM
I'm a nervous wreck right now. I've already watched one of my teams lose a winner-take-all game for a championship this year, and I'd really rather not do it again. I realize that regardless of the outcome, going from 9th in the West at the end of July to the MLS Cup final is an amazing turnaround, but we're so close to the one domestic trophy we haven't won yet that it would still be incredibly disappointing to lose now.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on December 10, 2016, 11:17:11 PM
So despite having home field, and only allowing three shots over 120 minutes, I have to ask:

"Do you suffer from dizziness, double vision or seizures?
Then why did you take a penalty for Toronto?"
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 10, 2016, 11:40:19 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/HB0YeGo.jpg)

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't a good advertisement for the league, but the Seattle Sounders won the only piece of domestic silverware they had yet to win. Stefan Frei unquestionably man of the match, with one of the best saves you'll ever see to keep it tied late in extra time. Here's to winning the treble next year, and CONCACAF Champions League in 2018.

EDIT: Seriously, watch this save: https://streamable.com/xa1k Not to mention Frei used to play for Toronto FC, before the front office gave up on him and traded him to us for almost nothing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 12, 2016, 05:18:44 PM
Champions League draw days are almost as fun as the group games. It's a little early for predictions since form and fitness can take a real dip in two months, but there are some very intriguing ties on paper.

Arsenal-Bayern
Atleti-Leverkusen
Barca-PSG
Dortmund-Benfica
Juve-Porto
Leicester-Sevilla
Monaco-City
Napoli-Madrid

Poor Arsenal, but I'd rather be home on the second leg, and face Bayern over Barca, so they still made out better than the 2nd place team in their group. There was also a lot of talk if it was more advantageous for Madrid to come in second (it was), but at least Dortmund pulled a somewhat easier draw and gets the second leg at home (so received a benefit for winning its group). League fanboys/fangirls will be really interested to see how the defending Primer League champions match up against the 4th best team in La Liga. Their form against City on the weekend suggests they may be righting the ship a bit, but Sevilla has a rich European pedigree coming off three Europa League titles, and Spanish teams have largely feasted on the British in Europe.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 12, 2016, 05:22:14 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/HB0YeGo.jpg)

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't a good advertisement for the league, but the Seattle Sounders won the only piece of domestic silverware they had yet to win. Stefan Frei unquestionably man of the match, with one of the best saves you'll ever see to keep it tied late in extra time. Here's to winning the treble next year, and CONCACAF Champions League in 2018.

EDIT: Seriously, watch this save: https://streamable.com/xa1k (https://streamable.com/xa1k) Not to mention Frei used to play for Toronto FC, before the front office gave up on him and traded him to us for almost nothing.

Congratulations.  I missed the game because I was away but that was a great save. I'm not sure I've ever seen a fadeaway rainbow header before, lol. 

Are you familiar with Club America (CONCACAF CL winner) at all? Madrid is playing them on Thursday in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 12, 2016, 06:08:05 PM
I'm quite familiar with them, one of tne of the teams Club America beat in the CONCACAF Champions League en route to winning it this year was the Sounders. They're very good, this was the second straight year they won that competition.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 12, 2016, 07:51:39 PM
Do you remember their style?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 12, 2016, 08:45:25 PM
Not in any real detail. Our series was back in February, so I don't remember that much about it except a couple great goals scored by Clint Dempsey direct off free kicks. I'm guessing they'll probably play somewhat differently against Real Madrid than they did against us anyway.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 12, 2016, 08:57:24 PM
Ha, I get what you are saying, in fact I was just hoping you weren't going to say they defended like monsters and had a blistering counter attack.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 12, 2016, 09:54:45 PM
No, that's not their usual play style. They're the best team in the region and they play like it, they're usually fairly aggressive, so when they play super defensive and counter against Real Madrid they won't have a ton of experience playing that way.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 13, 2016, 08:14:25 AM
I forgot to mention yesterday that Madrid had two players from CONCACAF start on the weekend: Navas (Costa Rica) and up-and-coming Mariano (Dominican Republic).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 14, 2016, 07:45:50 AM
http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-club-world-cup/story/3019342/video-assistant-referee-used-for-first-time-at-fifa-club-world-cup (http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-club-world-cup/story/3019342/video-assistant-referee-used-for-first-time-at-fifa-club-world-cup)

Video replay was used for the first time in a FIFA sanctioned event.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 21, 2016, 02:18:20 PM
Julian Green is moving from Bayern to Stuttgart in the January transfer window.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 21, 2016, 04:27:19 PM
It seems like a great move for him. He was never going to break into the lineup at Bayern, and he's now at the age where he needs to be getting real minutes for further development. I saw someone compare it to DeAndre Yedlin going to Newcastle: going to the second division to get significant playing time, but to a team that seems very likely to gain promotion to the top flight next year, with the hope of earning a spot there.

And speaking of Americans in Germany, how about this from Bobby Wood?


Comes off the bench to score his second goal in as many games for Hamburg, which turned out to be the game winner.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 21, 2016, 07:34:21 PM
I mostly agree with the caveat that I'm a bit concerned at the age and inexperience of the manager. Maybe he turns out great but he is bound to have growing pains in his first job. Yedlin is very fortunate to have Benitez to help him develop.

Edit: very nice goal
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 22, 2016, 04:46:10 PM
The Sounders trading for Harry Shipp is a move I love and never would have guessed they'd actually make. I've been a big fan of his since he was in Chicago, and saw him play in person there. He wasn't that effective in Montreal, but a lot of that seems to have been him not meshing well in their very counter-attack heavy system. In Seattle's more possession-based attack, with guys like Ozzie Alonso and Nicolas Lodeiro surrounding him, I think he has the potential to get back to the point where he's getting USMNT hype like he was a couple years ago.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 24, 2016, 12:28:20 PM
Pulisic named to 2016 UEFA Champions League Breakout team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 24, 2016, 12:38:27 PM
It's nice to see it's not just Americans onboard the Pulisic hype train.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on December 26, 2016, 01:48:36 PM
I was already excited to see Toure in the lineup. That was a really cool move to give him the penalty kick.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on December 27, 2016, 06:02:12 PM
Congrats to Swansea for hiring, then firing Bob Bradley without at least giving him a transfer window to work on the tire fire of a team they have otherwise known as Gylfi Sigurðsson and 10 other jamokes. I hope they end up somewhere in League 2 in a couple of years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 27, 2016, 06:08:44 PM
Firing two coaches in less than half a season doesn't bode well for whoever comes in after him. It'll be interesting to see where Bradley ends up next. I'd expect LAFC to make him a big offer, but I don't know if he's going to want to come back here just yet.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 01, 2017, 10:24:33 AM
Rumor has it that Dortmund are interested in acquiring Arsenal and USMNT prospect Gedion Zelalem, which would further cement them as America's favorite Bundesliga club. They could theoretically play an all-U.S. midfield of him, Christian Pulisic, Junior Flores, and Joe Gyau, though the latter two are more likely on their way out.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 04, 2017, 10:14:58 AM
In 15 years the Chinese Super League is either going to be the best league in the world or the ultimate cautionary tale.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 04, 2017, 12:28:51 PM
Unless they have plans on dumping the 5 foreign player per team limit (and only 4 max on the field at one time) it will probably be just another (more lucrative) retirement home.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 04, 2017, 12:43:36 PM
Will they still be bringing in the kind of money to keep doing that if the league doesn't make it big, though? They have all this money because of government subsidies, and I don't know how long they're going to keep that up without results.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 04, 2017, 08:43:50 PM
Will they still be bringing in the kind of money to keep doing that if the league doesn't make it big, though? They have all this money because of government subsidies, and I don't know how long they're going to keep that up without results.

The league may ultimately be a bust as a sporting endeavor but I doubt that's the main attraction to the investors. They can make so much money in related side projects and prestige gains that will never end up on league books. I think they'll end up happy no matter what happens (and despite whatever is publicly said).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 04, 2017, 08:50:39 PM
I personally don't think American football is viable long term because of the concussion problems. Unless Congress indemnifies the NCAA and high schools, they are going to have massive liability issues. This could have pretty big impact on international football, but maybe not in 15 years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 05, 2017, 07:48:37 AM
James Rodriguez is probably my favorite player in the world to watch. I want Madrid to keep him because of the ridiculous depth it gives them, but there isn't really a role for his skill set in the regular starting line up (unless Zidane wants to press the ball). I almost want him to go so I can watch him play more.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 05, 2017, 08:28:27 AM
Yesterday an MLS legend and folk hero retired in Mike Magee. He had a great career as a forward, was the 2013 league MVP, and is also legendarily the all time MLS leader in save percentage. In a 2011 match while he was playing for the Galaxy against their bitter, hated rival San Jose Earthquakes, he was forced to play in goal after Donovan Ricketts had to leave the game because of injury and then his replacement Josh Saunders was sent off. He managed to keep a clean sheet for over a half, making 4 saves in the process, to finish the California Clasico 0-0 in San Jose.


Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 06, 2017, 09:26:06 PM
Clearly looking for a lot of press attention by announcing after 9 pm Eastern on a Friday, the U.S. Soccer Federation has decided, after a long process with several delays, to award Division 2 status to both the USL and NASL. Neither league meets the standards laid out for a D2 league, but the NASL has been given waivers regarding its shortcomings for years, and since the USL is no further from meeting those standards, the USSF decided it was only fair to let them in on the fun too.

What this also means is that the NASL is not, in fact, dead. It looked an awful lot like it would be for a while there, but it kept hanging on, and now with this news, and the fact that the New York Cosmos will be sold to someone who might not be completely terrible as an owner, things might be looking up. They lost a few teams to the USL, but there are a number of expansion teams in the works, at least some of which look like they might actually be real.

Also, in completely unrelated news, Bob Bradley appears to be on the verge of taking the job of manager of Norway's national team. He had an extremely successful stint managing in their domestic league a few years ago, which they obviously still remember.


EDIT: The official NASL response to the decision makes no mention of (former?) commissioner Bill Peterson, and if he's out of the picture I have a lot more confidence in that league being able to right the ship.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 06, 2017, 10:16:06 PM
The report is the remaining owners have basically commandeered the league from Peterson, even as far as holding meetings without his knowledge. At this point its best to just keep it that way. A seven team spring league looks to be the best case scenario. US Soccer kicking the can for another year does present a bad look though.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 06, 2017, 11:07:43 PM
There's nothing they could have done that wouldn't have presented a bad look. Taking D2 from the NASL would have killed it, and denying it to USL didn't make any sense either. A forced merger would have created a legal shitstorm. This was the best option they had.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 07, 2017, 06:57:02 AM
I'd be interested in watching USL games if I could get them consistently at a decent price (anything more than $5 a month would be over market given what I pay to stream a variety of other leagues/sports). I admit I haven't looked into this in a few years, but it was a nightmare finding games when I did. Do you know if this has improved or if it could potentially do so with the D2 move? I would love a US Open package.

Norway has a super hyped 18 yo prospect for Bradley to potentially build around in Martin Ødegaard.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 07, 2017, 08:37:40 AM
So apparently I need the Knicks to hire Patrick Ewing, the Yankees Mariano Rivera, the Jets Curtis Martin, and the Rangers Mike Richter.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 07, 2017, 11:27:50 AM
I'd be interested in watching USL games if I could get them consistently at a decent price (anything more than $5 a month would be over market given what I pay to stream a variety of other leagues/sports). I admit I haven't looked into this in a few years, but it was a nightmare finding games when I did. Do you know if this has improved or if it could potentially do so with the D2 move? I would love a US Open package.

All USL games are available to stream for free on YouTube. The league started doing that a couple years ago.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 07, 2017, 12:03:55 PM
Lol! Nice, I'll check it out next summer. I was literally on a USL team's website last year looking to see how I could watch games and didn't see anything about YouTube. Can you watch Cup games on there too?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 07, 2017, 12:34:59 PM
That varies by the team, but most of them are streamed either there or on the teams' sites.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 07, 2017, 01:12:22 PM
2017 is a quiet sports summer, so it's a good opportunity to get into it. I may take a stab at following the Cup, USL Eastern Conference, and/or the PDL Mid-Atlantic division.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 07, 2017, 01:22:57 PM
NASL will field 8 teams including a reborn New York Cosmos and Jacksonville Armada.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 09, 2017, 10:41:57 PM
The World Cup may be expanding to as many as 48 teams starting in 2026. And I'm all for it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 10, 2017, 12:15:25 AM
That's just too many. Look what happened to the Euros this year after they expanded that tournamnet, it got a lot less entertaining because of how watered down it was.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Shaymin on January 10, 2017, 12:03:37 PM
And Canada will *still* go out before the final round of qualifying.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 10, 2017, 03:07:28 PM
Canada's especially screwed if the new FIFA president's idea of combining CONCACAF and CONMEBOL qualifying actually happens, just like all but maybe three countries in CONCACAF.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 11, 2017, 07:51:29 PM
There are rumors of Caribbean nations wanting to break off into their own confederation, which would be just about the greatest thing to ever happen to soccer in North America. Get their uncompetitive,  corrupt asses the **** out of CONCACAF (or I guess CONCAF) and we'd have a better setup for qualifying and open the door for a combined North and South America Copa America to be a regular occurence.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 11, 2017, 08:12:06 PM
I would be shocked by that. The only reason would be to avoid US jurisdiction because the money would be astonishingly smaller.

I also don't see the US/Mexico, CONEMBOL, or the media companies going along with combined qualification. The US and Mexico are almost guaranteed qualification now, and why would CONEMBOL counties make their travel demands even greater. Safer to merge just the continental cup competitions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 11, 2017, 08:59:19 PM
The U.S. and Mexico are virtually guaranteed qualification now, but the lack of meaningful games against top teams hurts them once they actually get there. Having to go through the gauntlet of South American teams to qualify would leave them better prepared to make a serious run when they do make it. And CONMEBOL would be onboard because of the extra money and exposure it would bring from the North American market.

I agree the safer bet to start would be the expanded Copa America and maybe a merged CONCACAF Champions League/Copa Libertadores, at least to start, but there are reasons to think a full merger could work long term.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 11, 2017, 10:05:56 PM
I definitely see the soccer reasons why it benefits the US, but I think the overall soccer would be worse since CONMEBOL already has the best qualification tournament. Adding the US would definitely increase revenue, but it would degrade the soccer. And FIFA would be crazy to allow it. Too much of the total value of the World Cup is tied to the US market. It would add huge unpredictability into figuring out media/sponsorship rights. It would be incredible risky with the foothold European clubs already have in North America and Asia. The biggest threat to FIFA and UEFA is the clubs working out a side deal with the US, China, and India.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 11, 2017, 10:09:26 PM
CONMEBOL's qualifying process is indeed the best, and if the Caribbean countries do leave CONCACAF would have 10 teams left, allowing us to use the same thing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 12, 2017, 10:59:56 AM
With the World Cup field expanding to 48 teams I see no reason for smaller CONCACAF nations to want to merge with CONMEBOL. I do see an end to the Hex and maybe either something like how UEFA or CONMEBOL does qualifiers.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 12, 2017, 12:44:33 PM
And why would CONEMBOL even want them? If they split it has to be into a new federation that perhaps gets merged into OFC qualifying. But if they do that they almost garuntee that all their best prospects set up residency in another country. All you need to do is look at West Indies cricket to see what will happen. Nobody who actually cares about developing soccer in their country would ever willingly disengage from garunteed access to the US media market. This all seems like posturing because of the federal indictments.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 14, 2017, 06:01:27 AM
Everton-City and United-Liverpool are great lead-ins to the NFL games on Sunday. I'll have two screens up for Sevilla-Madrid and Steelers-KC. I have to go in to the office today, but Leicester-Chelsea is a great lead-in too, especially with the Costa side show. And WatchESPN has three big games in the European Rugby Champions Cup's penultimate round. I love this time of year for football.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 16, 2017, 06:23:45 PM
http://www.puertoricofc.com/news/2017/01/16/prfcs-statement-regarding-the-caribbean-club-championship

CONCACAF dicking around with the CFU Club Championship only stirs the rumors of them leaving CONCACAF outright even more. Very pissed off by this.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 16, 2017, 11:12:29 PM
I wouldn't be sure of that, that seems like part of the long-rumored plan to overhaul the format of the CONCACAF Champions League that seems to finally be happening. We heard things about it in recent leaks about the Canadian Premier League as well. 
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 23, 2017, 10:42:04 AM
Christian Pulisic signed a contract extension with Borussia Dortmund through 2020. As a Liverpool fan it would have been neat to see him go there, but he's at a big club and getting a lot of playing time so I don't blame him for staying in a good situation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 23, 2017, 10:54:22 AM
I read over the weekend that the European Club Association's appearance agreement with FIFA ends in 2022, which coincides with the world cup in Qatar. Unless it is moved, it will almost certainly have to be played in the northern hemisphere winter, blowing a huge hole in the domestic and continental club competitions. It is also currently the last one scheduled to feature 32 teams. Obviously, ECA members pay a substantial amount of the development costs for many of the best players in the world, and almost all of their wages. The world cup expansion is just the latest shots fired.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 23, 2017, 10:57:57 AM
Christian Pulisic signed a contract extension with Borussia Dortmund through 2020. As a Liverpool fan it would have been neat to see him go there, but he's at a big club and getting a lot of playing time so I don't blame him for staying in a good situation.

I had written something in my post above about that, but you beat me to it before I posted so I took it out. I think this is good news for his development.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 23, 2017, 11:01:30 AM
Also revealed today, the long-rumored changes to the format of the CONCACAF Champions League have been formally announced.

(http://i.imgur.com/qtfwiYG.png)

The MLS and Liga MX teams, as well as select teams from other leagues, now won't enter the tournament until the knockout round, which has been expanded to 16 teams from the previous 8. It'll be interesting to see exactly how that round is scheduled, because under the old format the MLS teams struggled in the knockout round in part due to the first round of it starting before the MLS regular season. If they move that back a bit, or at least not require the MLS clubs to go up against Liga MX opposition before their seasons, it could go a long way.

EDIT: So it's still February-to-May, which sucks, though playing non-Mexican teams in the first round would be at least a slight improvement. Bumping it back just a month so it runs March-to-June would be so much better, though. Hopefully they get to that in the future.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 23, 2017, 07:49:04 PM
I'd like to see CONCACAF moved later for competitive reasons, but I also wonder if it would help with exposure too. With DVR and streaming, it's competiting with UEFA. I'd likely watch it more.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 24, 2017, 04:27:40 PM
Fantastic news today, as Clint Dempsey has been medically cleared to return to training. He missed most of the second half of last season, including the playoffs, due to an irregular heartbeat, and as amazing as it was to see the Sounders win it all, it really hurt that he couldn't be a part of it. He's been my favorite player since I started following the sport, arguably the greatest American outfield player there's ever been, and a legend like him deserves a better ending. Also, if he can play I think the Sounders have a real shot at the first domestic treble in American soccer history.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 24, 2017, 05:16:25 PM
Until you made your post about the treble, I never thought about the percularity of the CONCACF CL being played across two MLS seasons.

Does anyone have a league cup other than the premier league? I know United is the only BPL team to win the treble, and they didn't win the EFL cup that year. Might as well go for the first quattro in world football with the Supporters Shield.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 24, 2017, 05:24:25 PM
The treble in MLS is traditionally defined as winning the U.S. Open Cup, the MLS Supporters Shield, and MLS Cup in the same season. Several teams have won two of the three, including FC Dallas winning the Shield and Open Cup last year, but nobody's ever won all three. That's probably just because Bruce Arena could not give less of a **** about the Open Cup, though, or else the Galaxy would have done it once or twice. The fact that the CONCACAF Champions League is now played entirely within one season for MLS teams actually makes it easier to factor into something like that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on January 24, 2017, 08:18:14 PM
I think there is a little irony in using "traditionally" in that context, but I get it, and see why it works. Personally, I'd prefer using something like "Triple Crown" for a domestic* triple, and reserve treble for its international usage. You could even call the quattro the "Grand Slam".

*Really cross-border, but a domestic league equivalent
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on January 29, 2017, 07:15:57 PM
Great start to the Bruce Arena 2.0 era...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 29, 2017, 07:36:41 PM
I wasn't able to watch it, and I guess I'm glad of that in hindsight. I don't want to overreact to one friendly where we're missing half the starters, but yeah, not an inspiring start.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 01, 2017, 07:15:09 AM
This week is the deadline for bids for the next round of MLS expansion, with as many as 12 markets (Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, San Diego, North Carolina, Detroit, Cincinnati, Sacramento, San Antonio, St. Louis, Nashville, Charlotte, and Phoenix) in play for four spots.

The latest controversy is in Sacramento, where the very successful USL team Sacramento Republic FC, long considered a lock for one of these spots, seems to have been the victim of some kind of hostile takeover, with some of the new owners brought in to cover the costs of moving up submitting a Sacramento bid that doesn't involve that brand or the team's original owners.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on February 01, 2017, 07:41:20 AM
Lol! The Khushrenda week shenanigans are working. I signed it to post the same story, saw the avatar, and was WTF?

Anyway, an article regarding Khushrenadalord's post: http://deadspin.com/sacramentos-mls-bid-possibly-derailed-by-last-second-ow-1791856813 (http://deadspin.com/sacramentos-mls-bid-possibly-derailed-by-last-second-ow-1791856813)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 01, 2017, 07:50:19 AM
I don't know how they think this is going to work. Sacramento isn't that attractive of a market in a vacuum, they were frontrunners because of the organization and fan base they'd built in the USL. Throwing that away just improves the odds for bids like North Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Cincinnati who were on the borderline of making it in this time around.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 01, 2017, 12:47:06 PM
Just got retweeted by Ted. Anytime that happens makes me immediately reconsider my position.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Khushrenada on February 01, 2017, 02:43:56 PM
Lol! The Khushrenda week shenanigans are working. I signed it to post the same story, saw the avatar, and was WTF?

Anyway, an article regarding Khushrenadalord's post: http://deadspin.com/sacramentos-mls-bid-possibly-derailed-by-last-second-ow-1791856813 (http://deadspin.com/sacramentos-mls-bid-possibly-derailed-by-last-second-ow-1791856813)

Gotta say, after so many unfunny soccer jabs by Khushrenada, it's strange to see him finally turn his life around and make the smart decision of joining the soccer fandom. It's nice to have another fan on the forum but it just feels.... unnatural, I guess.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on February 02, 2017, 11:33:46 AM
I don't know how they think this is going to work. Sacramento isn't that attractive of a market in a vacuum, they were frontrunners because of the organization and fan base they'd built in the USL. Throwing that away just improves the odds for bids like North Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Cincinnati who were on the borderline of making it in this time around.


I mean, they're the 20th largest TV market, I think only behind Tampa and Detroit on this list of teams. So it was easy to see how their bid could have been a slam dunk had they not tried to pull a screwjob on current ownership.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 03, 2017, 09:41:05 PM
Fitting that the first goal of the post-Klinsmann era of the U.S. national team happened because of a really nice passing sequence involving Dax McCarty and Benny Feilhaber, two players who Jurgen consistently snubbed from the team.

A 1-0 scoreline doesn't look great, but that's the kind of game you expect when you play an opponent who's putting everybody behind the ball and playing to bunker and counter, which is also most likely how our opponents in March are going to play us in those qualifiers.

Feilhaber put together a pretty good game, and could be in the mix going forward. Sebastian Lleget and Jorge Villafana had some really nice combination play on the left side, with Villafana looking like he may be the answer at left back we've been searching for for a long time. Walker Zimmerman put in a nearly flawless performance in his first USMNT cap, though he's stuck behind a lot of other guys in our pretty stacked central defense depth chart.

This kind of 4-1-3-2 really seems like the formation the U.S. needs to be playing, at least within CONCACAF. Jozy was right (though he didn't play today), he's much better with a partner in the attack, and so is virtually every forward the U.S. has ever had. Michael Bradley thrives in a pure #6 role with Toronto FC, and he can for the USMNT as well. There are a lot of options for the attacking midfield in front of him, especially if Villafana can win the LB job and free up Fabian Johnson to play in the midfield. This formation would be very successful in the remaining qualifiers apart from at Mexico, which is a lost cause anyway.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 05, 2017, 01:08:14 AM
Clint Dempsey started tonight's preseason match against Portland, played 30 minutes, and looked really good. I am so happy that everything's going well for him in his recovery so far, and I can't wait to have him back in the lineup. A Dempsey-Lodeiro-Morris attacking trio could demolish this league.

Also, in slightly related news, Freddy Adu, still somehow only 28 and currently trialing with the Timbers, played the second half. He looked less good.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 08, 2017, 06:16:33 PM
Really wish I'd had the chance to watch today's German cup match between Dortmund and Hertha Berlin, since it sounds like Christian Pulisic and John Brooks both had great performances as Dortmund advanced on penalties. Would have loved to see the two best players in the U.S. pool right now go at it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on February 09, 2017, 11:34:11 PM
Bless (Gabriel) Jesus!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 11, 2017, 02:51:11 PM
I'm getting more and more into the Bundesliga. It's a really fun league. Watched Dortmund-Darmstradt this morning and saw the last place team beat one of the top clubs. Dortmund's defending seems like a huge liability every time I watch them, so what I'd love to see is them make a play for John Brooks, a proven defender for a very good Bundesliga club, and then they'd easily be my favorite European club between Pulisic and him.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on February 15, 2017, 07:46:21 AM
Bless (Gabriel) Jesus!

You tease us about hyping Pulisic and then you go jinx this poor kid!
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on February 15, 2017, 08:45:14 AM
Bless (Gabriel) Jesus!
You tease us about hyping Pulisic and then you go jinx this poor kid!

Well, he's out for 3 months so I guess that's it for him really. City's season has been such a crapshoot that there hasn't really been much to get excited about. Having him beat a (really crappy) Swansea team by himself was a boost, but it's coming at the expense of Aguero's relationship with the team. Regardless of what he can or can't do in Pep's system, he's still their best striker. Their best keeper is playing in Torino because reasons, John Stones hasn't worked out at all, Yaya Toure has all of a sudden become a strong pillar in the midfield and our back line is a total mess.

And yet despite all that they're alone in second, 8 points behind Chelsea and with a winable game against Monaco in the Champions League next week. Sooooooooo IDK.


EDIT: Manchester City has signed Carli Lloyd to play through the Spring Series. She'll also see action in the Women's Champions League. Sweet.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on February 15, 2017, 11:22:59 AM
From storming out of the gate, to coming down to earth, and then the up-and-down form since, I think it's been exciting. With 6 good teams for 4 Champions League spots, the end of season run-in should be fantastic. And as you already said, the CL tie is winnable, and one of the monsters is suddenly sitting on the brink of elimination. This is all in Pep's first year without the players he needs to be really effective.

I agree with you on Aguero being City's best striker (I think he's the best striker in England), but I think his time was up regardless. That being said, if Pep and Toure can bury the hatchet and find a way to compliment each other for the remainder of the season, I think Aguero will too. Real Madrid or Barcelona won't come calling unless he finishes strong (and they don't get Aubameyang), and the rumors I've read is that it's those two or PSG he wants to play at next year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 15, 2017, 12:47:03 PM
Seattle Sounders all-time leading scorer Fredy Montero is returning to MLS, but with our Cascadia rival Vancouver. Now, this isn't as bad as when Steve Zakuani went to Portland, but it stings, not just because of who it is, but because this and the widely rumored Atiba Hutchinson signing turns Vancouver from one of the few weak links in the Western Conference into a contender. The West is just going to be a bloodbath this year.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on February 16, 2017, 07:31:04 AM
In other City news, Carli Lloyd signed a contract to play out the remainder of the season for the womens team. It will encompass both the FA Cup and Champions League. I've never seen the women's brackets of these tournaments, not even sure they are broadcast in the US, but I'll try to catch a few games if they are.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 24, 2017, 05:02:43 AM
Wow, Leicester City fired Claudio Ranieri. I get that the team had kind of fallen apart, but that seems harsh to do that to the architect of the greatest sports underdog story maybe ever. I guess he'll always have that one magical season that people will remember forever.

On a separate continent, FC Dallas look scary good right now. They stand a real chance of being the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League if they can keep up and build on what they did tonight, a 4-0 total domination that was a lot closer to 7-0 than it was to 4-1. They're doing all this without their best player, Mauro Diaz, who's out through the summer with a torn achilles that he suffered late last year (and my Sounders never would have won MLS Cup if that hadn't happened).

EDIT: And apparently the Sounders are about to sign Keisuke Honda. After seeing that Dallas performance we're going to need every weapon we can get our hands on.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on February 24, 2017, 08:00:45 AM
The elephant in the room last year was that it was the worst collective Premier League season in maybe its history. Commentators who tried to point out the context surrounding Leicester's surprise run were often accused of churlishness. Leicester and Ranieri (who I like) were also frequently used as a stick to beat on whatever agenda the writer had (putting the boots into Mourinho during the Chelsea meltdown, promoting the competitiveness of the Premier League vis-a-vis its continental rivals, etc.). It would be fun but pointless to dig up all the bad takes I read last year.

I really like N'Golo Kante. There is obviously a lot more to Leicester's and Chelsea's reversal in fortunes, but that loss was devestating. But even without that move, I don't think the same Leicester team from last year is realistically competing for Europe (let alone the league) in 16-17.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 03, 2017, 12:12:02 AM
While most of the people here were waiting in line for their Switch, I was watching the CONCACAF Champions League. The semifinals are now set, with both matches being MLS vs. Liga MX. FC Dallas vs. Pachuca should be a hell of a series, and the Vancouver Whitecaps will face a tough test taking on Tigres. Watching Vancouver's performance tonight made me a lot more confident in their ability to not get humiliated in that matchup, though, as Fredy Montero and Brek Shea both look like really good additions to an attack that was very weak last year.

The real story, though, is Alphonso Davies. This 16 year old plays with the confidence and composure of someone twice his age, and he's the crown jewel of a very promising crop of young Canadian talent. Canada would have made the Hex this year with a better coach, and whoever gets that job is going to have a lot to work with going forward. Don't be shocked if Canada makes the trip to Qatar in 2022.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 03, 2017, 11:35:27 AM
I'd love a competitive Canada. I really enjoy the hockey, rugby, womens soccer, and Winter Olympics rivalries with our northern neighbors. The World Baseball Classic will never really work because of the inherent conflict in protecting the pitchers, but Canada getting competitive in soccer and basketball would be great for North American sport.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 03, 2017, 11:57:59 PM
It's going to be a long first season in MLS for Minnesota United. Tonight's performance wasn't as bad as the 5-1 scoreline makes it seem, and there's some promise in their attack, but my god is that defense going to get torn to shreds.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 09, 2017, 01:03:27 PM
(http://i0.wp.com/giant.gfycat.com/AdmiredMatureHammerkop.gif)

I'm sad to see Xabi Alonso announce his retirement. He is one of the most complete players I've ever seen and he has the trophy case to match: 1 World Cup, 2 Euros, 2 Champions Leagues, 3 domestic leagues, 4 domestic cups, and 4 super cups. He will probably add to that in his final season. He was an amazing player who possessed both technical grace and physical resolve. He could just as easily shut down a rampaging attack as he could unlock a well-organized defense. He has been a pleasure to watch in both White and Red.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 09, 2017, 01:52:54 PM
In happier news, Christian Pulisic was fantastic yesterday for Dortmund.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 11, 2017, 10:08:35 PM
A point on the road is generally a pretty decent outcome in MLS, particularly when you were down 2-0 after 80 minutes, but the Sounders should have won 3-2 tonight if not for a goal being disallowed for a handball that never happened. Really looking forward to video replay becoming a thing right now.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 12, 2017, 07:10:41 PM
And now Minnesota United have conceded 11 goals in their first 180 minutes in MLS. This could be a historically bad season for them. They simply weren't ready for this, with no DPs and whiffing pretty damn hard on their defensive signings.

EDIT: That was apparently the first time in MLS history that a team allowed 5 or more goals in consecutive games, in the first two games Minnesota ever played. Wow.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 12, 2017, 09:07:33 PM
I'm sure that MLS expansion fee was money well spent.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 12, 2017, 10:09:38 PM
I'm sure they'll turn things around in the long term, but this season is going to be ugly. Adrian Heath was a bad choice of head coach, like he was in Orlando. If Bob Bradley takes the LAFC job like many expect him to, Minnesota needs to go hard at Sigi Schmid as a replacement for Heath. He's lost a step compared to the rest of MLS, but the man knows how to run an expansion team.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Phil on March 12, 2017, 10:17:33 PM
My brother Nick has been enjoying some of the MLS matches that have been on our Charter Spectrum package. I didn't know he liked the sport. I watched a match about a month ago, and it was fun. I always have to ask why there's extra time, and always do my "do they get paid overtime" lame joke.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 15, 2017, 09:36:31 PM
The USMNT roster for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers is out. The highlights:

1. Clint Dempsey's back. He's not going to let a little thing like a heart condition keep him away from the game for long, and despite what Bruce Arena said in January, he's going to be there, hopefully inching a bit closer to the all time scoring record (he needs 5 goals to tie Landon Donovan's mark).

2. DeAndre Yedlin's injury came at a really bad time. Timmy Chandler wasn't called in, likely due to the fact he was suspended for the first match anyway, so the RB spot is down to Geoff Cameron (which would push him out of the CB role he's been so good for us in), or good old Michael Orozco, who everyone hates, but to be fair has played well consistently starting for a good team in Liga MX.

3. It's sounding very much like Bruce intends to play Fabian Johnson in his more natural midfield spot, leaving left back to a guy who's talented but barely playing for his club (Jorge Villafana) or USMNT legend and AARP member DaMarcus Beasley.

4. No Benny Feilhaber or Sacha Kljestan, so either Bruce intends to play a 4-4-2 without an attacking central midfielder or the era of Christian Pulisic playing as the 10 for the USMNT is kicking off a bit earlier than I'd expected. I've gotta say, an attacking midfield of Fabian Johnson on the left, Pulisic in the middle, and Lleget/Nagbe/Arriola on the right is fun to think about.


EDIT: After seeing what Kellyn Acosta just did in the Champions League against Pachuca, he has to be putting himself in the discussion to start these games as well, especially if Bruce chooses to go with two d-mids.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 17, 2017, 07:33:41 AM
Atleti-Leicester
Barca-Juve
Bayern-Madrid
Dortmund-Monaco

This is a pretty spectacular draw for neutrals and Atleti (and to a lesser extent Dortmund) fans.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 17, 2017, 08:33:10 AM
I'll be pulling for Dortmund just to see Pulisic playing at the highest level. The high watermark of any U.S. international's club career is usually considered to be Clint Dempsey starting a Europa League final, an Pulisic's got a shot at taking that from him here.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 17, 2017, 10:57:12 AM
I disagree that Dempsey's Europa success is the high water mark. DaMarcus Beasley's European career dwarfs his. Even if the argument rests (bizarrely in my opinion) on Dempsey's appearance in the Europa Final, Beasley played in a Chamipons League semi-final.

(Edited because I was unsure of how the tone would be interpreted)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 18, 2017, 08:30:51 AM
I like to look at the schedules to see if there are any comparative adavantages. This is just me eyeballing and I didn't check any strength metrics, but they seem relatively balanced between the competitors. Monaco and Leicester seemingly have the easiest schedules and Madrid looks the most difficult (maybe a lot more difficult). This is the run in from the international break through April:

Bayern
@Ausburg
@Hoffenheim
Dortmund
Madrid
@Leverkusen
@Madrid
Mainz
Dortmund
@Wolfsburg

Madrid
Alves
@Leganes
Atletico
@Bayern
@Sporting
Bayern
Barca
@Deportivo
Valencia


Barca
@Granada
Sevilla
@Malaga
@Juve
La Real
Juve
@Madrid
Osasuna
@Espanyol

Juve
@Napoli
@Napoli
Chievo
Barca
@Pescara
@Barca
Geno
@Atalanta


Dortmund
@Schalke
Hamburg
@Bayern
Monaco
Eintracht
@Monaco
Mochengladbach
@Bayern
Köln

Monaco
@PSG
Asse
Lille
@Angers
@Dortmund
Dijon
Dortmund
@Lyon
Toulouse


Atleti
@Malaga
La Real
@Madrid
Leicester
Osasuna
@Leicester
@Espanyol
Villaareal
@Las Palmas

Leicester
Stoke
Sunderland
@Everton
@Atletico
Crystal Palace
Atletico
Tottenham
@West Brom
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 18, 2017, 10:05:17 AM
So the perceived top team has the toughest schedule and the two teams everybody's treating as the weakest have the easiest?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 18, 2017, 12:06:44 PM
That's largely my perception with a few caveats.

Although while I think Madrid has the best collection of players, and inarguably the most depth, Bayern seems to have the more cohesive form and balance. Barca is the betting favorite (at least according to 5dimes) post draw.

I think Monaco and Dortmund are pretty even. I would bet on Dortmund, but this is a goal fest on paper, and the schedule could be a factor. Atleti are better than Leicester by a significant margin, but it is a very intriguing style match up. Leicester will likely try to do to Atleti what Atleti does to Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern. Particularly so with the first leg at the Calderon. It will be interesting to see how Atleti deal with the pressure of both being huge favorites and having to create goals through possession play.

I'm extremely nervous as a Madrid fan, but this is probably the most entertaining collective draw outside of maybe flipping Barca and Bayern.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 19, 2017, 02:08:38 PM
With Fabian Johnson and now Bobby Wood out with injury, the U.S. is facing a much depleted roster for a must win qualifier. This leads me to believe the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 may be back in play. My thought would be something like this.

                             Altidore
                Nagbe - Kljestan - Pulisic
                      Bradley - Acosta
      Villafana - Brooks - Cameron - Orozco
                             Howard


or if you want to go 4-3-3:

           Morris - Altidore - Pulisic
           Bradley - Acosta - Kljestan
     Villafana - Brooks - Cameron - Orozco
                             Howard
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 20, 2017, 02:41:07 PM
It was reported over the weekend that CONMEBOL is eliminating the odd year Copa America [to line up with the UEFA calendar] and that the 2020 version will played in the US. It was already reported that there are talks to include CONCACAF teams, and this news makes that seem likely. Promising news for North American soccer fans and South American expats/immigrants in the US.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 20, 2017, 05:02:44 PM
Great to hear. I have a lot of fun at the game I went to during last summer's Copa America, and I thought the tournament was a nice complement to the Euros and I'd argue a much more entertaining one given the snoozefest the Euros were under the expanded format. It makes too much sense for everyone involved to not keep doing it on a regular basis, and it's nice to see they agree.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 20, 2017, 10:35:26 PM
With Bobby Wood out, Jordan Morris nursing an injury, Clint Dempsey still not 100%, and Jozy Altidore currently fully healthy but also a guy with a knack for getting hurt at exactly the wrong time, Bruce Arena needed an extra body at forward for this week's qualifiers, and he turned to a guy with a legendary club career and an infamous international one in Chris Wondolowski. This must-win game keeps taking twists and turns and it's still four days away.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2017, 12:59:16 AM
I was a nervous wreck going into this game with the high stakes and the poor form we'd been in. I really wasn't expecting it to then go the way it did. They left no doubt that this "must-win" game would indeed be won. I loved to see Clint Dempsey pick up a hat trick in his first game back after missing time due to an irregular heartbeat, which puts him only a couple goals away from Landon Donovan's USMNT scoring record.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 25, 2017, 08:26:52 AM
Pulisic had another great game. Those through balls are what I watch soccer for.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2017, 11:09:44 AM
I'd predicted that Pulisic would take over as the USMNT's central playmaker by the time the World Cup came around, and as much as I like Sacha Kljestan and Benny Feilhaber, I don't think anybody else is taking Pulisic out of that spot going forward after last night.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 25, 2017, 11:16:51 AM
I think you are underselling it.  Barring injury, going forward the entire team structure should (will) be designed around maximizing his talents.

Edit: another reason I'm glad Pulisic didn't go to Liverpool is he is less likely to have have that touch kicked out of him in a continental league. I hope he plays in Germany or Spain for soccer reasons but I think he can probably make the most endorsement money in the Premier League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on March 25, 2017, 03:33:56 PM
Can someone please tell MNU that they're not playing in the NASL anymore...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 25, 2017, 09:04:02 PM
The most goals ever conceded in a 34-game MLS season is 67. Minnesota is currently on pace to give up 153.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 29, 2017, 12:22:53 AM
Christian Pulisic is just amazing. We knew about his amazing technical ability, but today he not only stood up to the intense physicality and outright thuggery of playing on the road in CONCACAF, he gave as good as he got. When Clint Dempsey took a shot to the head, it was none other than Christian Pulisic getting right up in the Panama players' faces about it. This is a side of him that doesn't tend to come up in the Bundesliga, but it's going to come up a lot in CONCACAF, and I'm very happy to see that he's more than up to that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 29, 2017, 07:33:31 AM
I was most impressed by the physicality he showed in not being pushed off the ball when he set up Dempsey's goal.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 31, 2017, 11:19:50 AM
The Bureau of the FIFA Council announced its recommendations for automatic qualifiers by confederation. Asian and Caribbean countries (and Canada) look set to be the big winners in the World Cup expansion. South America are the big losers. Obviously Africa is also getting a large expansion, but it's less contentious given the quality of its member teams. Here are the recommendations:

AFC: 4.5 to 8
CAF: 5 to 9
CONCACAF: 3.5 to 6
CONMEBOL: 4.5 to 6
OFC: .5 to 1
UEFA: 13 to 16

The remaining two slots will be determined by a six team play-off tournament. The FIFA Council will meet on May 9th (right before the next FIFA Congress) to ratify the recommendations.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 31, 2017, 03:09:53 PM
You say South America are the losers, but it's fairly likely that under this format 70% of that confederation will make the World Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on March 31, 2017, 05:10:48 PM
That's one way of running the numbers, but it seems somewhat of a cherry picked stat. The US makes up around 55% of the total CONCACAF population. Mexico makes up around another 21%.

I think CONMEBOL are the losers because the CONCACAF or AFC top two would likely not compete for a CONMEBOL title. They could very well struggle to even qualify if they were in direct competition with CONMEBOL teams. If there was a truly open qualification process, CONMEBOL and UEFA members would make up almost all the seeded teams when it came time to draw groups.

I'm not necessarily saying they got screwed though. I see the merits for doling out the slots this way if you want to expand to 48 teams, but I don't see this as the final destination anyway. There is so much uncertainty around the Russia and Qatar world cups that I still see a real possibility of FIFA ostensibly being cut off at the knees (like the NCAA was when the P5 schools split away to form the CFB playoff system). To me that's the biggest motivation for the CONCACAF and AFC expansions. To keep the US, China, and India from cutting a side deal with the UEFA domestic clubs to create a new (and more lucrative) competition.

Edit: I had typed CFA where I meant AFC.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 31, 2017, 05:39:38 PM
CONMEBOL's just a weird situation. On one hand, there are only 10 teams in it, but on the other, they're pretty much all at least somewhat good. Going by the current Elo rankings, the lowest South American team is Bolivia at 45, which would rank 4th in CONCACAF, 5th in Asia, and 6th in Africa.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 01, 2017, 01:47:25 AM
Clint Dempsey was forced to stop playing soccer for 6 months and now he seems to be hellbent on making up for lost time. After scoring four goals in two games for the national team in the last week, he comes off the bench tonight for the Sounders and completely changes the complexion of the match.

Even though this matchup between two of the most potent attacks in MLS in Seattle and Atlanta ended in a 0-0 draw, Seattle dominated the match from Dempsey's entrance in the 56th minute until the final whistle, with Deuce bringing his trademark arsenal of no-look passes and general creativity plus the best scoring chance of the night for either team with a spectacular diving header that just went off the post. So glad to have him back.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 05, 2017, 12:28:28 PM
FIFA really really wants India and China in the World Cup for obvious reasons. If this new expanded Cup were truly about quality they wouldn't be giving out so many spots to CAF and AFC countries instead of UEFA and CONMEBOL countries where they truly belong. Even CONCACAF is probably getting one spot too many.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 06, 2017, 10:53:08 AM
There are reports that Canada, Mexico, and the US are expected to submit a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup. Quite honestly, as much as I love international sport, the IOC and FIFA are horrendous to the host countries. This is a good compromise, although ironically these are three countries that already have a lot of the "necessary" infrastructure already in place. However, this is obviously going to be very difficult and expensive for traveling fans. It also presents a backdoor qualification route for (most likely of the three) Canada.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 06, 2017, 04:49:06 PM
2026 is the first year of the expanded format, and between that and their general improvement I fully expect Canada to be in that World Cup, host or not. They were nearly one of the top 6 in CONCACAF this time around and they're only getting better.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 06, 2017, 05:41:34 PM
It would be nice to see, but I think having the backdoor route is a good safety net for CONCACAF. The confederation as a whole is improving, so the only two teams I fully expect to qualify are Mexico and the US. I would be surprised if Costa Rica didn't. I would definitely put Canada amongst the strong contenders for the last three, but it's definitely not a sure thing from my perspective with so many competive teams in the middle band of the confederation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 07:28:56 AM
There are rumors of Caribbean nations wanting to break off into their own confederation...

These rumors already seemed ridiculous to me, but the WC expansion and this news should eliminate even the rumors: http://reut.rs/2nkMWtz (http://reut.rs/2nkMWtz)

CONCACAF is on the verge of following UEFA's move in eliminating most international friendlies and replacing them with a intraconfederational league. This is a massive boon to the development of Caribbean soccer and a very meaningful geasture by Mexico and US. Although I have some minor concern that the US is losing its own developmental games against global heavyweights, the truth is those will be harder to get after UEFA adopts the league format anyway. Otherwise I'm very hopeful this move will stoke interest for me as a fan. This is also more evidence suggesting that the off-year Copa changes are coming. I'm really liking the direction the international cycles look to be taking.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 08, 2017, 07:55:23 AM
There was talk at one point of a Nations League-style competition that would have combined North and South America, which I'd have liked a lot more than this proposed CONCACAF-only one, but it's intriguing nonetheless.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 08:04:01 AM
I'm guessing both the combined leagues and combined Copa weren't mutually feasible, and I think if those were the two options, I like this route much better for CONCACAF as a whole. It is probably in the long term interestes of US soccer too, since it will invariably improve the overall quality of the confederation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 08, 2017, 08:10:17 AM
I agree that this is probably better for CONCACAF as a whole, but I think the U.S. (and Mexico) would benefit more from regular competitive matches against South American teams than beating up on St. Kitts and El Salvador.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 08:13:08 AM
I understand, but if the choice was a combined league or a combined copa, which would you choose?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 08, 2017, 08:20:00 AM
I think a combined league would be better for the development of U.S. soccer than the combined Copa America would, but I'd still probably have to go with the spectacle of the combined Copa America. Last year's tournament was a whole lot of fun, I had an amazing time at the match I went to, and I'd love to see that happen on a regular basis.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 08:32:09 AM
I was curious because I think it could go either way. The league would get the US more games against better competition, but I don't think it would be guaranteed that the South American teams would take the league competition as seriously as they will a Copa, and the quality of the Copa games should be higher given the pre-tourney camps and adjustment times for the European club players. Another development benefit of the Copa to me is that it is a knockout tournament format like the WC. I think I'm leaning towards it being the better option even from a developmental perspective.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 08, 2017, 08:43:39 AM
Those are fair points, but I'd still take more games spread out over more time for development. It would allow for rotating in more players and the ability to make real adjustments to the squad and tactics over time instead of packing everything into one month with a set roster.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 09:09:09 AM
That a good point about player rotation.

I also think this could be a boon for MLS. It should help develop the overall league player pool and it offers unique marketing opportunities. They need greater exposure their non-American players and this seems a good vehicle.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 08, 2017, 10:28:52 AM
I don't know how many Caribbean teams would have the money to consistently field teams in a league style system. Haiti, Curacao, Jamaica and T&T for sure but I'm struggling to pick anyone else. Most teams don't have the resources to call up players, schedule matches and fill out FIFA dates to keep their national teams fresh.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 08, 2017, 01:36:01 PM
This will drive their revenues up considerably because it will increase the frequency and predictability of when they play Mexico and the US. The long term vision is for them to reinvest the big gains in sponsorship and media revenues back into developing the programs. They'll be lots of incentives for them to do so.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 10, 2017, 08:23:03 PM
So according to Grant Wahl, who usually knows his stuff, this "joint" World Cup bid of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will involve 60 games in the United States and only 10 each in Canada and Mexico, and every match from the quarterfinals on being in the U.S. This seems like a shrewd bit of business by Sunil Gulati and the U.S. Soccer Federation, giving up a small amount in order to create a bid that can't lose. I need to start saving money now in anticipation of this thing.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 10, 2017, 10:33:46 PM
I think the expanded CONCACAF slots, expanded Copa, qualification reformatting, and joint bid are probably being negotiated in conjunction. When taken collectively, there are big upsides for the entire hemisphere. If it ends up working out like anticipated, there is a lot of praise to go around, especially considering how far apart everyone was just a year ago. They've seemed to have struck a plausible balance between on-and-off-field sport and revenue development and maintaining credible and engaging competitions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 11, 2017, 10:36:34 AM
CONCACAF wants an expedited no-bid process which could result in the 2026 hosts being decided by the end of this year. That sounds crazy and basically raises a giant, Chuck Blazer-sized corruption red flag right from the get go. Canada and Mexico seem like they're just going to be along for the ride, not much negotiating power there given the quotes from the Mexican federation president.

http://deadspin.com/concacaf-wants-no-bid-deal-to-host-world-cup-1794207129 (http://deadspin.com/concacaf-wants-no-bid-deal-to-host-world-cup-1794207129)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 11, 2017, 11:37:57 AM
This is an interesting if uncomfortable dilemma because it's not remotely clear to me what the correct answer is. The bidding process is the primary source of corruption (and when a lot of the development funds get skimmed) but a no-bid award undercuts the legitimacy of the USDOJ's long needed intervention into CONCACAF graft. One thing we can be certain of: everybody is looking out for their own interests and trying to get the best deal for themselves. This latest round of media leaks is just another stage in the negotiations. Personally, I think if you take all the "reforms" en masse, there is reason for everyone in the western hemisphere to be both happy and frustrated with how things appear to be working out. That suggests to me that it is a sustainable and decent compromise.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 11, 2017, 12:32:01 PM
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I believe that a no-bid process is a big mistake. I am too uncomfortable with the precedent it would set and the implications of it for the integrity of the DOJ investigation. I'm just really bothered that in this instance a competitive bid will likely lead to more corruption than a negotiated bid would, and that the biggest opponents of the negotiated bid will be the people whose main role in the process is to skim money that should be going to the athletes and administrative staff.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 11, 2017, 12:47:35 PM
The thing is, I don't see how anyone else is going to be able to put together a bid that's at all competitive with this one. Europe and Asia aren't allowed to bid for this one as the two most recent confederations to host, and South America's waiting for 2030 and the 100th anniversary of the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay. This is the winning bid, whether they decide now or in three years. 
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 11, 2017, 01:01:25 PM
I agree, and that's why I think it would be such a mistake to try to muscle this through. I think there will be another round of concessions, and the bid will be ultimately be negotiated with broad support across FIFA. If it isn't, the US will either come back with a single-country competitive bid, or walk entirely from the process.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Soren on April 11, 2017, 01:03:49 PM
I do understand the inherent corruption within FIFA event bids, but I don't think closing the process to bids solves the issue, or even helps mitigate it in any way. The Jack Warner scandal and Jeffrey Webb's arrest are still way fresh in the minds so it doesn't help CONCACAF to want to expedite the process. Public perception is still key here.

US Soccer and Sunil might have an attractive proposal for an easy slam dunk World Cup, but when it comes to FIFA as an entity, all these small Caribbean countries hold as much if not more power than the US and they will really push for their piece of the pie considering infrastructure costs for a US-led World Cup would be low. And that's where most of the corruption is bound to go.

This is the winning bid, whether they decide now or in three years. 

Qatar is going to host a World Cup. With FIFA there's no such thing as a slam dunk bid.

EDIT: This is never going to happen, but the Spain/Portugal/Morocco bid is really really interesting.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 20, 2017, 09:35:11 PM
Borussia Dortmund have apparently enquired with Hamburg about Bobby Wood and might like him to be Aubameyang's backup. Then all they'll need to do is buy John Brooks (which they probably should, given how much of a mess their defense seems to be every time I watch them) and they'll have cornered the American market.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 20, 2017, 10:01:48 PM
I think if Pulisic is still there in 2019, it probably means his development stalled. Dembele and Weigl will also probably be gone too. Dortmund were already struggling to keep players and now the Premier League is a whole lot richer. I'd include Aubameyang, but he is older obviously.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on April 21, 2017, 08:23:46 AM
Atleti-Madrid
Juve-Monaco

Early lines have Madrid and Juve solid favorites to advance. Any potential combination would have been compelling, but this might be the best draw for neutrals.

Ajax-Lyon
Celta Vigo-United

The lines have United as huge favorites and Lyon advancing. Ligue 1 has rarely been competitive in Europe, so it would be surprising to see them have two finalists.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 26, 2017, 08:44:01 PM
It's hard not to get excited about the future of U.S. soccer with how well our youth teams have been playing lately. First the U20 team won the CONCACAF championship a couple months ago, and now the U17s are well on their way with a pair of victories, including tonight's against Mexico.

Continued investment in youth development is paying off as every youth class is deemed the best we've ever had. The U17 and U20 World Cups should be interesting this summer, with both teams poised to make deep runs. This U17 class is of particular interest, as this age group will be entering its prime when the 2026 World Cup comes about.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: Stratos on April 30, 2017, 01:07:16 PM
The Sounders match last night was a super fun ride. Amazing how a turnabout from 0-3 to 3-3 in the last 20 minutes can make a tie feel like a win. Don't recall ever having been so worked up over a soccer game before.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 30, 2017, 07:15:52 PM
It was nice to see them respond that way to going down early. It's the second time this season they've come back from down multiple goals in the last 15 minutes of a match to draw. They were missing three of four starters on their back line, with the lone first choice option being Joevin Jones, a left back more known for his offensive abilities than his defending, so hopefully once they're back to full strength there they won't have to rely on big comebacks.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 05, 2017, 08:36:28 PM
The U.S. under-17 team remained perfect in the tournament and officially punched their ticket to the U17 World Cup this summer with a 6-2 win over Cuba today that was even more lopsided than that score would seem to indicate. I've said before in this thread that our youth teams are great and fun to watch, and today was no exception.

There were lots of great moments, but my personal favorite was this one, Andrew Carleton perfectly chipping the Cuban goalkeeper from 20 yards out while running at full sprint.

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 10, 2017, 04:54:23 PM
Atletico-Real Madrid looked like it was going to be one for the ages based on the first 20 minutes, but sadly it fizzled out. Real deserved the win, but I was rooting for the historic comeback.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on May 10, 2017, 05:27:41 PM
Zidane's consistent message is "we will suffer". Neutrals will be heavily in support of Juve, but I'm interested to see the Bale factor in Cardiff. Ronaldo seems to have retained a strong following among the United fans as well. I haven't seen a settled line yet.

The La Liga race is as tight as could be as well.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on May 11, 2017, 12:25:16 PM
93% of the 209 FIFA members voted to fast track the 2026 World Cup bid. August 11th is the deadline for hosts to express interest, bidders must meet the technical qualifications by March 2018, and the bid will be awarded on June 13, 2018.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 17, 2017, 09:39:48 PM
We're in a wonderful time of year in American soccer right now, and that's the early stages of the U.S. Open Cup. This week is maybe the best one, where the D2 teams (USL and NASL) face off against amateur sides, and with still plenty of matches left to play, we've had one hell of an upset. The New York Cosmos, reigning NASL champions, were taken down by amateur club Reading United. While it is sad that that means we won't get a Cosmos-Red Bulls or Cosmos-NYCFC matchup this year, it's a testament to how great this tournament is.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on May 17, 2017, 10:11:41 PM
Reading United

Very nice. I played in a couple of American football games in their home stadium.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 19, 2017, 03:12:47 AM
I'm just crazy enough to adjust my sleep schedule specifically to watch the U.S. matches in the Under-20 World Cup next week at 4, 7, and 5 a.m. respectively.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: rygar on May 19, 2017, 07:32:53 AM
I'm usually traveling for work during the CL quarters and semis so I typically carry a FoxSoccer2Go subscription, but I let it lapse this year because I would be home. That and a DVR are integral for me as a soccer fan. I wish Fox or now Disney (since they lost FIFA) would buy the rights to La Liga. BeIN Sports is terrible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 22, 2017, 04:44:17 PM
Josh Sargent is a fantastic talent. He's young enough that he'll be playing in the U17 World Cup later this summer, but he scored a pair against a very good Ecuador team in the opener of the U20 World Cup today, which combined with Luca de la Torre's 94th minute equalizer made for an exciting 3-3 draw. Everybody knows Sargent's heading to Europe when he turns 18 next February, and if he keeps performing as he has at the youth level he's going to have a lot of offers.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 25, 2017, 09:11:04 AM
I know the post right above this was all about Josh Sargent hype, but the kid just put on an absolute clinic against Senegal, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 victory and so much more. It was a fantastic team performance overall, but he, Tyler Adams, and the finally healthy first choice CB pairing of Erik Palmer-Brown and Cameron Carter-Vickers put it away.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 06, 2017, 06:38:29 PM
A couple big pieces of news today. First off, Alphonso Davies officially got his Canadian citizenship and was immediately named to Canada's provisional roster for the upcoming Gold Cup, which would tie him to Les Rouges forever.

I've mentioned him in this thread before, he's 16 years old and one of the most exciting young players in MLS, getting regular playing time for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He's lived in Canada since he was 5 years old when he moved there from Liberia. Canadian fans, weary from a history of losing talent to other national teams, were worried he might not choose to play for them, but it seems to be happening. Now if they could get Tabla to pick Canada over the Ivory Coast they'd really be in business.

The other news is that David Beckham's Miami MLS bid took a huge step forward today with the county giving them official authorization to buy the land for their planned stadium. Just a few months ago the bid looked dead in the water, but now that the league set a deadline things seem to finally be moving forward after years and years of delays and empty statements.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 08, 2017, 09:54:41 PM
Christian Pulisic is just amazing. That's really all there is to say. This kid is the real deal, worthy of every bit of praise he gets.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 11, 2017, 11:37:04 PM
Fantastic performance by the USMNT tonight in Mexico City, earning only their third point all time at Estadio Azteca and generally outplaying Mexico for most of the match. They had a plan with what amounted to a 3-6-1, and they executed it masterfully. If only Bobby Wood could have converted in the 6 yard box with an open goal to shoot at, this could have been one for the ages.

Kellyn Acosta needs to be in the starting XI for the U.S. going forward. The three man back line of Cameron, Gonzalez, and Tim Ream played exceptionally well. DaMarcus Beasley, at 35 years old and in his fifth cycle of World Cup qualifying, put in a great shift, almost as good as his counterpart on the right hand side DeAndre Yedlin, who was fantastic in both these qualifiers.

I can't really complain about earning a point at Azteca, but they had the better of the chances and could have easily taken all three points. Wood missed a beauty of a chance, as did Christian Pulisic, and Michael Bradley, emboldened by his early goal, nearly had a second from just as far out, this one glancing off the crossbar.

Still, though, this goal will be remembered for a long, long time:

Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 23, 2017, 07:01:25 PM
Seven years ago today, this happened:



That World Cup was my first real exposure to soccer, and that moment was when I truly fell in love with the sport.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 01, 2017, 10:27:29 PM
Strong showing today from the U.S. B team in their warm-up friendly before the Gold Cup against Ghana (though they're probably a better team than anybody we'll face in said Gold Cup; group stage matches against Nicaragua and Martinique in particular are likely to get very ugly), but the big story today is the Chicago Fire. The team that finished dead last in MLS the previous two seasons is now in sole possession of first place in the Supporters Shield race more than halfway through the season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 23, 2017, 12:24:23 AM
What a night for the U.S. national team. It was a complete performance from the team for the first time in this Gold Cup, in a game where they really needed it, going up against their first real quality opponent in this tournament in Costa Rica.

Lots of strong performances all around, particularly guys like Darlington Nagbe and Matt Besler, but none bigger than Clint Dempsey. Deuce came on in the 66th minute and finished with an assist and a goal in the 2-0 win, the goal being particularly meaningful as it was the 57th of his international career, tying him with Landon Donovan for most all time for the United States.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 27, 2017, 01:26:48 AM
In the last two years Jordan Morris has won the College Cup, the Hermann Trophy for best player in college soccer, MLS Cup, MLS Rookie of the Year, and scored an 88th minute goal that won the United States a continental championship in the Gold Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 02, 2017, 02:15:31 AM
Darlington Nagbe can't be a box to box central midfielder in a 4-4-2, Geoff Cameron picked a really bad time to have his worst ever performance for the United States, Keylor Navas is very, very good, and the Americans have suddenly found themselves in a very tight spot. We really need a good result down in Honduras on Tuesday or else we're in danger of missing the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 05, 2017, 08:29:13 PM
And the game tonight in Honduras turned out to be one of the ugliest games of soccer I've ever seen. Total peak CONCACAF with a shitty pitch and terrible officiating, and a completely dreadful performance by the USMNT for the first 85 minutes, with one beautiful Kellyn Acosta free kick pinging around the box long enough for Bobby Wood to knock it home and salvage a draw we in no way deserved.

We still control our own destiny for automatic World Cup qualification, and have what looks to be a very favorable remaining schedule, with the final two games being at home against Panama and on the road at last place Trinidad and Tobago.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Fast kickin', low scorin', and ties!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 06, 2017, 11:40:51 PM
Christian Pulisic is just amazing. Put us ahead in the 8th minute, put one on a platter for Jozy to make it 2-0 in the 18th. He's got 8 goals in 19 appearances, tied with guys like Claudio Reyna and Eddie Pope in a fraction of the time. We beat Panama, a team that had given up 5 goals in the 8 games of the Hex up to this point, 4-0, erasing almost all doubt that we'll make it to Russia.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Shaymin on October 10, 2017, 10:51:17 PM
Uh, about that...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 10, 2017, 11:07:38 PM
Yeah, they had it all but wrapped up, and then the worst case scenario happened, including the most peak CONCACAF thing I've ever seen, a goal that shouldn't have counted because it never crossed the line scored by who else but Blas fucking Perez. Blame begins and ends with the USMNT, though, who would have been through with even a draw despite all that and played a completely atrocious first half and put themselves in a hole that they couldn't quite dig themselves out of. This is the most embarrassing night in the history of U.S. Soccer..
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: ShyGuy on October 11, 2017, 01:33:15 AM
Somebody is getting fired.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 11, 2017, 02:03:58 AM
Somebody is getting fired.

Bruce Arena was always a short-term hire, so he's just going to be gone now instead of a year from now. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati was already about to be up for re-election, and this will almost certainly prevent him from winning another term.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: pokepal148 on October 11, 2017, 05:37:21 AM
Damn it insanolord. You jinxed it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: ShyGuy on October 12, 2017, 12:40:46 AM
I think if a certain soccer game by the name of Super Sidekicks had scored a little bit higher, our whole organization would be doing much better.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 13, 2017, 04:49:28 PM
The United States, Italy, the Netherlands, Chile, Ivory Coast, and Ghana need to get together and have their own World Cup next summer. Who needs all the rest of those countries?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Soren on November 15, 2017, 11:14:07 PM
LOL at the NIT of Soccer...
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Shaymin on November 16, 2017, 07:43:58 PM
The World Crap sounds like a righteous sideshow.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 16, 2017, 09:51:43 PM
I'm personally partial to calling it the Blackjack and Hookers Cup.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 01, 2017, 03:08:16 AM
The 2017 MLS Cup final will be a rematch of last year's, ideally with a bit more scoring this time.

Toronto finished with the best regular season record in league history but has cooled off as of late, winning their playoff series against both New York and Columbus by very narrow margins. Seattle, on the other hand, is in their best form of the season, outscoring their opponents in the playoffs to this point 7-0 and riding a postseason shutout streak that goes all the way back to last year's conference finals.

Both teams have added major pieces since last year's final, and the Sounders got Clint Dempsey back from injury, so this is shaping up to be a very interesting final. The game will be next Saturday, December 9, at 4:00 pm Eastern on ESPN.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Shaymin on December 09, 2017, 07:09:43 PM
There were two goals in the MLS Cup final this year; both of them to Toronto FC who follow up the best season in league history of 69 nice points with a 2-0 win in the final.

Jozy Altidore is game MVP following the goal he couldn't get in Trinidad.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 10, 2017, 01:05:27 AM
Toronto played a great game. They'd been in poor form the entire playoffs up to this point but they unfortunately turned it on when they really needed it. Vanney's tactical switch turned out to be brilliant, perfectly taking advantage of the space created by Joevin Jones moving back to left back.

This Toronto team has fully taken claim of the title of best team in the history of MLS, and I look forward to inevitably facing off against them in the CONCACAF Champions League in a few months.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 18, 2017, 09:37:10 PM
The CONCACAF Champions League draw is out, and the Sounders got just about the most favorable path possible while Toronto got screwed. Seattle gets probably the weakest of any of the 16 teams to open, followed up by probably the weakest Mexican team in the tournament if we get by them. Toronto, on the other hand, plays fellow MLS team Colorado to start things off, so a two leg series where both teams are likely to be playing in snow, and then if they get by them they most likely face the reigning Mexican champion in Tigres.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 20, 2017, 03:32:50 AM
There's an event scheduled in Nashville on Wednesday that is almost certainly going to officially announce them as the 25th team in MLS. After that there's still one more to be announced shortly, with the other finalists being Sacramento, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Sacramento seemed like the frontrunner, but recent rumors about problems within their ownership group may be threatening that.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 09, 2018, 04:32:15 PM
The election for U.S. Soccer Federation President is tomorrow morning and things just keep getting crazier. Recent events, most notably the failure to qualify for the World Cup, but also the slow death of the NASL and the Jonathan Gonzalez choosing to play for Mexico over the United States, have gotten a lot more people than usual to pay attention to this.

Of the 8 candidates in the race, there are probably only 3 that stand a real chance of winning: the two establishment candidates, Kathy Carter and Carlos Cordeiro, and Kyle Martino. Martino is one of the 6 candidates pushing for radical change, and they seem to be allying themselves at the last minute to try and push one of them over the top.

A candidate needs 50% of the vote plus 1 to win, and at this rate it's almost certainly going to take multiple ballots to get a winner. Carter's probably the only one who stands a chance of winning on the first ballot, but if she doesn't all hell will break loose, with the candidates scrambling to win votes between rounds. This is going to get crazy.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: ShyGuy on February 09, 2018, 10:20:25 PM
There are soccer elections? It's like it's own little world, isn't it? Is there soccer food and drink too?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 09, 2018, 10:25:34 PM
It's for control of the national governing body of the sport, which is kind of a big deal right now given the several crises we've run into recently. Our election might not even be the craziest one right now, though. Italy has to redo theirs after not being able to come to a consensus, and Argentina just had theirs finish in a 38-38 tie despite there only being 75 voters.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 05, 2018, 12:54:38 AM
The first week of the MLS season is in the books, and it was just as unpredictable as ever. The four teams most would pick to finish as the top two in each conference all lost, with Toronto matching their home loss total from all of last year in one game, Atlanta getting blown out by Houston, Portland losing to last-year's last place Galaxy, and Seattle losing to expansion team LAFC in their first ever game.

Seattle at least had the excuse of resting about half their starters for their midweek CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal match against Mexican giants Chivas Guadalajara. CCL play will also include two other MLS-Liga MX matchups, with the New York Red Bulls, who had the week off in MLS play thanks to the current odd number of teams in the league, taking on Tijuana, and the much anticipated battle between the defending champions of both leagues, Toronto FC vs. Tigres. FC Dallas ruined the fun of rounding out the field with another battle between those two leagues with their embarrassing loss to Panamanian side Tauro FC, who will take on Club America.

No MLS team has ever won the CONCACAF Champions League, with only two even managing to reach the final in its nine years under this format. This seems like a year with potential for it, though, as Toronto is the strongest and deepest team in MLS history and Seattle and New York are on the easier side of the bracket, with Mexican teams that are struggling at the moment.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 14, 2018, 12:45:49 AM
Pretty good night for MLS, as the Red Bulls stomp Tijuana and Toronto holds on against Tigres to book their spots in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. Before tonight only two MLS teams had defeated Mexican teams in a knockout series, and if Seattle can take care of business against Chivas tomorrow that number could jump to five.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 11, 2018, 12:24:20 AM
And the CONCACAF Champions League final is set. It should have been an all-MLS matchup but the New York Red Bulls couldn't manage to score on Chivas despite dominating play for pretty much the full 180 minutes. But Toronto FC continued their incredible run with a 4-2 defeat of defending champion and most decorated team on the continent Club America.

TFC should be big favorites in this series given how shaky Chivas has looked all tournament and the fact that they're just better than they are. The U.S. may not have qualified for Russia this summer but Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore may be playing in a World Cup this year after all.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Shaymin on April 11, 2018, 10:44:56 PM
If TFC adds the CL to the Canadian Championship, the Supporter's Shield and the MLS Cup... would that be a quadruple?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 11, 2018, 11:10:02 PM
I guess it depends on how you're counting it. It could be argued that a true quad would require them to win the Shield, Cup, and Canadian Championship again this year so they'd have done it all in the same season.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: Khushrenada on April 13, 2018, 01:30:29 AM
This thread reminds me of how my profile says I'm from Trinidad and Tobago. It was a quiet subtle joke that I don't think people have caught on to so screw the subtlety. It's time to let you know how I've been trolling Insanolord for months and it's been in front of your faces this whole time.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 13, 2018, 02:37:10 AM
The thing is, I have no ill will toward Trinidad and Tobago. Like most U.S. soccer fans I place the entirety of the blame on Bruce Arena and the U.S. players. It was an awful decision to play that lineup in a game on the road where we only needed a draw, but even still they should have been able to take care of what wasn't even the full strength version of a team we're way more talented than. If you really wanted to troll me you should have changed your name to Omar Gonzalez, whose generally awful play in that game, including and especially an own goal, makes me far more upset.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: USMNT Fails Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 23, 2018, 05:04:28 AM
I'm going to be watching soccer for like 6 straight hours this Saturday between the Championship Promotion Playoff, the UEFA Champions League Final, and the Sounders, not to mention the other MLS games I'll likely watch after that.


As I've mentioned in this thread before, I'm a Liverpool fan, so the UCL Final is especially interesting, with them trying to dethrone two-time defending champ Real Madrid. The Sounders game is pretty big too, after their very poor start due to tons and tons of injuries, they play at home against another bad team without its best player, so hopefully they can pick up a much needed 3 points.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 13, 2018, 08:55:30 AM
This morning the FIFA congress made it official: the United bid won, to the 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (though 60 of the 80 games, including everything from the quarterfinals forward, are in the U.S.). I need to start saving money now to attend as much of this as possible.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: nickmitch on June 13, 2018, 04:58:16 PM
I was just talking with my friends the other day about how the US could do it solo and how this is the really the one country who could do so easily.  Glad they won the bid, which I completely forgot about even during the conversation.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 13, 2018, 05:09:40 PM
The U.S. could absolutely do it alone. There are multiple U.S. states that would be capable of hosting the whole thing all on their own. Canada and Mexico are along for the ride because it made the bid easier to sell politically, and as I said in the last post they're barely doing anything, the vast majority of it's going to be in the U.S.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: RABicle on June 14, 2018, 12:17:00 AM
Didn't you guys host the World Cup before? How'd that go?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 14, 2018, 12:59:10 AM
The World Cup in the United States in 1994 still holds the record for attendance. It'll be interesting to see what we cab do hosting one when the sport is actually somewhat popular here.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: RABicle on June 14, 2018, 01:04:07 AM
Should smash that record since it'll be the new, 48 team team format that I called for long ago (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16436.msg248112;topicseen#msg248112).
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 06, 2018, 04:04:15 PM
It's really been a hell of a World Cup so far. A lot of great games, and some big upsets. Half the semifinals are set after today's games, with France beating Uruguay and Belgium's takedown of a Brazil team that had previously looked unstoppable. Tomorrow the weaker side of the bracket goes with Sweden playing England and Croatia taking on the hosts Russia.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: ShyGuy on July 07, 2018, 03:34:02 AM
Who is the team to root for? England?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Suck it, Morocco!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 07, 2018, 04:09:55 AM
I'm definitely not rooting for England, the English fans are unbearable enough as it is so I'd rather not let them have that to lord over everybody going forward. I'll be rooting for Sweden since Seattle Sounder Gustav Svensson is on the team, and barring that I'd probably pull for Belgium, who aren't really a traditional power but have been playing really good soccer. Their win over Brazil was really impressive and one of the most entertaining games of the tournament.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Zut Alors!
Post by: Shaymin on July 15, 2018, 01:02:40 PM
Congratulations to France for winning it all, and thanks to them and Croatia for a massively entertaining final. (Even if I was kind of hoping for England to make the finals and lose on penalties.)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Zut Alors!
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 15, 2018, 01:15:39 PM
And by the transitive property, since the United States drew France right before the World Cup started, we are now co-world champions.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Zut Alors!
Post by: nickmitch on July 15, 2018, 08:47:59 PM
I believe the Geneva Convention also states that now that France has won the World Cup, we will stop calling them Freedom Fries for no less than one week.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Farewell, Deuce.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 29, 2018, 11:12:23 PM
Today the man who's been my favorite player since I began following the sport, and the greatest American to ever play it, Clint Dempsey, announced his retirement after 15 years of playing professional soccer. Famously described by Bruce Arena early in his career as someone who "tries ****," he brought a certain flair and creativity in his game that no other U.S.-developed player has matched. He finishes tied with Landon Donovan for the most goals for the U.S. national team, tied with Fredy Montero for the most goals in Seattle Sounders history, and alone atop the leaderboard for goals by an American in the English Premier League.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Farewell, Deuce.
Post by: Soren on September 05, 2018, 02:32:06 PM
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--IVqIYEHU--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/nwv43qu44vuubadsvmtu.jpg)

What the hell is this?

EDIT: That's the official name of the franchise but they'll be known as Inter Miami CF. Hello?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Farewell, Deuce.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on September 05, 2018, 11:07:30 PM
That's Beckham's new Miami expansion team. The name and crest leaked about a week ago but was just made official today. I'm not a big fan of aping foreign naming conventions, but I dig the pink, and it's not nearly as bad as Real Salt Lake or Fussball Club Cincinnati.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: Farewell, Deuce.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2018, 08:53:47 PM
Today was Decision Day in MLS, the final day of the regular season, and among other things the Seattle Sounders completed their most remarkable late season turnaround yet. On June 30th they had a 1.67% chance of making the playoffs, but since then have been the hottest team in the league, winning 15 of their last 17 games to not only get into the playoffs, but to get a first round bye for finishing second in the Western Conference.

In other news around the league, Zlatan Ibrahimovic wasn't enough to drag the hot mess that is the LA Galaxy into the playoffs. A win at home against the awful Houston Dynamo this afternoon would have had them jump RSL for the final spot, but they managed to lose 3-2 after blowing a 2-0 lead.

Atlanta United continued that city's storied history of choking in big moments in sporting events by losing to 2018's biggest disappointment, Toronto FC, and allowing the New York Red Bulls to pass them to win their third Supporters Shield in the last six years. We'll see if the Red Bulls' history of blowing it in the playoffs rears its head again.

And finally, the Columbus Crew didn't let their storybook victory over their owner who wanted to move the team to Austin be followed by a sour note of missing the playoffs. With their coach Gregg Berhalter almost certainly about to be named the next coach of the U.S. national team, they've got one last hurrah under him to try to win some silverware.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 01, 2018, 10:07:56 PM
The official announcement won't come for another few days, but today Gregg Berhalter was approved by the U.S. Soccer Federation board of governors as the next head coach of the national team. This is not a surprise, as he's been heavily rumored to be the front runner for nearly a year now, but it's nice to finally have closure and be able to move forward.

Berhalter has done an admirable job in his years coaching the Columbus Crew, making a team with one of the lowest payrolls in MLS and an owner who was actively sabotaging it in a failed attempt to move the team to Austin into a perennial contender, including a run to the MLS Cup final in 2015 that they tragically lost to the Portland Timbers. His teams have played a very attractive, possession-oriented style, and his system has consistently gotten great production from the forward position, most recently this season when he revitalized the career of Gyasi Zardes, who scored 19 goals compared to the 2 he had last year in LA.

This may not be the most ambitious hire, and the process USSF General Manager Earnie Stewart used to conduct the search leaves a lot to be desired, but in the end I think this is a very good choice. With his extensive experience as a player and a coach, in the U.S. and in Europe, I believe he has what it takes to rehabilitate the program and get the most out of the promising crop of young talent currently coming up through the ranks.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 02, 2019, 06:09:45 AM
After seemingly endless rumors and speculation, it's finally official: Christian Pulisic has been sold to Premier League giants Chelsea for a whopping €64 million. This is a big day for American soccer, nearly quadrupling the €17 million for John Brooks in the summer of 2017 for the most ever paid for an American. Congratulations to him, as well as to NBC for the substantial increase in value their U.S. TV contract for the Premier League just saw.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 28, 2019, 12:17:24 AM
It's early, and most of the starters weren't there, but tonight was a very promising start to Gregg Berhalter's tenure as manager of the United States. It may have been against a (really) bad opponent, but the U.S. showed a level of tactical cohesiveness that was very rare under Arena or Klinsmann in only their first try at it.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: ShyGuy on January 28, 2019, 01:57:10 AM
How is there soccer? Isn't it winter still?
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on January 28, 2019, 03:38:58 AM
There's pretty much always soccer going on because different leagues play on different schedules. MLS isn't in season yet, though preseason is about to start, but most European leagues outside Scandinavia run from August to May. Some do take a winter break, but those are mostly over by now. This particular soccer was what the U.S. national team calls January camp, which they run every year around this time specifically because it's during the MLS offseason.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 04, 2019, 01:08:27 AM
Sunday's going to be a big day of soccer. The Women's World Cup final kicks things off at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, with the U.S. women looking to add a fourth star with a win over the Netherlands. Then at 4 p.m. Eastern we've got the Copa America final with the hosts Brazil taking on Peru, who are in the final for the first time since 1975. And to finish it off at 9 p.m. Eastern, the Gold Cup final, with CONCACAF getting the matchup it hoped for, the United States vs. Mexico, for the first time in 8 years.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: ejamer on July 04, 2019, 08:37:07 AM
Should be a good game for the Women's World Cup!
(Have to admit that I haven't followed the others, so am completely ignorant about the quality of those matches... but assume they'll also be great?)
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on July 05, 2019, 11:39:57 PM
USA-Mexico is always big no matter the stakes, even if it's a friendly. One of few true rivalries in international soccer, the two teams always get up for this matchup, and this one especially should be heated with continental supremacy on the line and both teams a bit shorthanded and having coaches in their first tournament with the team.

Copa America could get out of hand, though, Brazil blew out Peru earlier in the tournament and there's a good chance that'll happen again, but it's fun to root for the underdog story.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: Caliban on September 17, 2019, 12:31:24 PM
I'm glad it's back too: https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1173977816431517696
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on May 15, 2020, 10:42:08 PM
Anyone who's been itching for live sports since the pandemic started should set their alarms for tomorrow morning, as the German Bundesliga is back! A bunch of games are kicking off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, with the biggest game being the rivalry match between Dortmund and Schalke which is on FS1.

The Bundesliga is a really fun league, and I especially love it because about half the teams have American players on them. That Dortmund-Schalke match includes Weston McKennie, one of the young stars of the U.S. national team, for Schalke, as well as Gio Reyna, a top youth prospect and son of U.S. legend Claudio Reyna, for Dortmund. The league is also home to Americans like Tyler Adams, Zack Steffen, John Brooks, and Alfredo Morales, as well as the great hope of Canadian soccer in Alphonso Davies.
Title: Re: Soccer Discussion: 1.67% Chance of Being the Best Thread on the NWR Forums
Post by: NWR_insanolord on March 27, 2022, 11:49:54 PM
Haven't posted in this thread for a while, but I just thought I'd congratulate Canada on qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and only the second time ever. They've got a fun, young, very talented team, and have looked very good in qualifying. And after the big win by the U.S. tonight they'll be in as well as long as they don't lose by 6 on Wednesday in Costa Rica, getting that monkey off their back from 4 years ago.