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The [Horribly Unpopular] Soccer Thread
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Reno_eNVy
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I'm prepared for at least half the stadium to be full of fans of Arsenal, to whom they have no affiliation other than "they're good", but can't bring themselves to support their local club.
Eh, I'm not so sure about that. San Jose doesn't have a lot of Eurosnobs, it's more of a Liga MX area. Plus the San Jose Ultras might shank you.
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Reno_eNVy
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BrewSavage
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7am and I've got the match of the century about to start, Arsenal V. Leicester, on the TV. I'm going with coffee, way too early for my ESB. No black pudding either.
I woke up for it, fell back asleep. At least I'm up for the second half.
As long as we beat City, any result here I'm good with.
As long as we beat City, any result here I'm good with.
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
Well, Welbeck is getting laid tonight lol.
And Aston Villa absolutely collapsed.
Almost lost my mind there at the end. A big win, and the gap with the Foxes for the top closes.
Etihad emptying in droves, and Yiddos still in full song, with a nod from Poch and the players. Glad they caught that on camera.
COME ON YOU SPURS!
Etihad emptying in droves, and Yiddos still in full song, with a nod from Poch and the players. Glad they caught that on camera.
COME ON YOU SPURS!
Well, the Sounders are down one striker today after Obafemi Martins left for Shanghai Shenhua.
Martins Heads to China
It's the first major purchase of an MLS player by the Chinese league. The Sounders will likely try to find a replacement in midfield instead of up top, as they still have three good strikers in the form of Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Nelson Valdez. The Sounders only have about a month to find their replacement designated player before the regular season starts though.
Martins Heads to China
It's the first major purchase of an MLS player by the Chinese league. The Sounders will likely try to find a replacement in midfield instead of up top, as they still have three good strikers in the form of Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Nelson Valdez. The Sounders only have about a month to find their replacement designated player before the regular season starts though.
kingwood-kid
Well-Known Member
This is nonsense. Watching soccer is always better with a regionally appropriate beverage in hand.
hoppyhoppyhippo
Well-Known Member
Obviously Brad Guzan is the reason they're losing. Lol Villa.
Hugh_Jass
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Silly Arsenal
Check out @dyballocks's Tweet: https://twitter.com/dyballocks/status/699345288264359936?s=09
Check out @dyballocks's Tweet: https://twitter.com/dyballocks/status/699345288264359936?s=09
Sometimes I have to believe that Arsenal Fan TV is satire. But I know better.
The 2016 Copa Centanario pots have been announced and the US seems to be in a good spot to get a winnable draw for the group stage. You can find the info on the draw here. Group 2 will bring the most potential pain for the US, with Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay, no easy matches there. Group 3 and 4 are largely composed of old rivals that shouldn't be too tough, but one does stand out: pot 4 includes Paraguay which could be a nasty threat to the USMNT. A worst case scenario would probably be USA, Uruguay/Colombia, Costa Rica/Jamaica and Paraguay, while the best case is probably USA, Chile/Ecuador, Haiti/Panama and Bolivia/Peru.
Apparently he lives in my town, and he's also a local boy (at least went to high school around here), and a clubmate is apparently friends with his sister, so we're trying to track down how to get him to come to our club meetings.
hoppyhoppyhippo
Well-Known Member
I wanna play a game, it's called guess Klinsmann's ideal XI. Now I say guess because he'll probably never have all these players at the same time. The rules is it has to be in Klinsmann's seemingly prefered 4-4-2 diamond wide. Second is that you have to consider positions Klinsmann likes players at, so no CDM Bradley. Third is you have to consider players he likes. So no Feilhaber.
Here's my crack
GK - Howard - I think he gets a slight nod over Guzan. Looking at choiced in WCQ, Howard started the more difficult match.
LB - Ream
CB - Brooks
CB - Cameron
RB - Chandler - Only thing I'm not sure about is Chandler vs. Yedlin. I know Yedlin is our long term option, but Chandler is better now. Not sure if Klinsmann shares that view.
CDM - Jones - I'd rather have Trapp here or Acosta (or Acosta at LB) but I'm going off who I think Klinsmann wants there
LM - Johnson
RM - Bedoya
CM - Bradley
ST - Dempsey
ST - Jozy
BEnch (7 man)
Guzan
Yedlin
Besler
Mix
Wood
Zardes
Morris
Here's my crack
GK - Howard - I think he gets a slight nod over Guzan. Looking at choiced in WCQ, Howard started the more difficult match.
LB - Ream
CB - Brooks
CB - Cameron
RB - Chandler - Only thing I'm not sure about is Chandler vs. Yedlin. I know Yedlin is our long term option, but Chandler is better now. Not sure if Klinsmann shares that view.
CDM - Jones - I'd rather have Trapp here or Acosta (or Acosta at LB) but I'm going off who I think Klinsmann wants there
LM - Johnson
RM - Bedoya
CM - Bradley
ST - Dempsey
ST - Jozy
BEnch (7 man)
Guzan
Yedlin
Besler
Mix
Wood
Zardes
Morris
If we're talking real ideal, I think he wants Yedlin on right mid, but he doesn't want to push Yedlin into it too much for whatever reason. I think if Yedlin was more experienced, he'd be the regular starting right mid now. Other than that, i think I'd agree that that is Klinsmann preferred Starting XI.
So, the first competitive matches for MLS teams are coming up in CCL and the start of the season isn't too far off, so I'm tossing out some speculation on how the MLS teams will do this year. My predictions are probably way off, and it's possible teams will add more players or trade away others before the official start on March 6th, but hey it's fun to speculate. I'll go in reverse order of where they ended in their respective divisions.
The East
Chicago Fire
Chicago's offseason moves are a mixed bag. Their move to trade Harrison to NYCFC for a pile of money and the 4th round pick was good, and the Fire picked up lots of players in the draft. On the other hand, the Sounders probably probably got the better deal to pick up Joevin Jones in exchange for their near end of the first round pick. Trading Harry Shipp to Montreal is a real head scratcher too. But let's be real, for the last few years the Fire's problem has not been an issue with talent, but coaching. Frank Klopas was followed by the slightly worse Frank Yallop, architects of some of the worst football play in MLS across multiple teams. Veljko Paunovic, their new coach is talking the right talk, but can he walk the walk? MLS history is littered with failed foreign coaches. I'm honestly not sure what to expect here, but I don't think the Fire will be a major eastern power, they could return to the playoffs.
Philadelphia Union
Every time I think the Union have things figured out, they screw it up. The Union sent Maidana to Houston for a ham sandwich and replaced him with...Chris Pontius from DC United. There's some other players added of course and I fully expect a better back line, but now offense looks to be a problem. It's possible their young new talent will step up, but I think this is going to be another lost season for fans and that could be a real problem; already attendance is way down at Union games.
New York City FC
NYCFC fired one of the best coaches in America in their first season after (allegedly) neutering his ability to field the best formation possible even if that meant benching big stars. NYCFC picked up some new young talent in the draft and they have a new coach from parent club Manchester City with a lot of hype, but unless Patrick Viera is empowered to bench players when he wants even if they have names like Lampard, Villa or Pirlo, this won't be a great season. Realistically, the old men have had a long offseason to rejuvenate and train together, so I expect NYCFC to start strong, but I think they'll fade out during the second half of the season.
Orlando City SC
Orlando City just barely missed the playoffs and they've had a relatively quiet offseason compared to many teams, but they have built what I think is a better roster. With some solid picks from the SuperDraft and the acquisition of CDM Antonio Nocerino Orlando has largely solved their weak midfield problems. As long as Kaka can keep doing his thing without injury and Cyle Larin doesn't have a sophomore slump I think Orlando City should make the playoffs this year and if they follow my advice and switch to a 4-3-3 they might be a real threat with Kaka, Rochez and Larin up top.
Toronto FC
Last year Toronto got into the playoffs for the first time, largely because Sebastian Giovinco put the team on his back and carried them in one of the best MVP displays in MLS history. Toronto didn't get any further than the first round, but it's encouraging for a team that has largely languished in the east despite big bucks backing it. Giovinco shouldn't need to walk on water this year to get Toronto into the playoffs though, Toronto has largely fixed their defensive issues from last year and gotten rid of human red card machine Jackson, I expect Toronto to be a major power in the east this year, anything less should be viewed as a failure.
New England Revolution
Last season saw the New England Revolution go from dominant eastern force to barely squeaking into the playoffs, their season ended in an inglorious exit that included Jermaine Jones getting a 6 game suspension for getting physical with referee Mark Geiger. New England added precious little in terms of extra personnel and with Jones apparently done with MLS it's hard to see how New England can continue to compete in the increasingly loaded up eastern conference. Unless Lee Nguyen has another MVP-caliber season like he did in 2014 or or Agudelo and Fagundez figure out how to score on a regular basis I don't expect to see the Revolution in the playoffs. Someone should tell Bob Kraft that his other football team sucks and that he needs to spend some money so they don't anymore.
DC United
The east's oldest beast looked weak, soft and slow when they exited the 2015 MLS playoffs to their rivals NYRB without scoring a single goal in their two game series. With Bill Hamid out for a long stretch, DC United could be in some real trouble at the start of the season. That said, United did pick up some solid mid-tier MLS talent, probably the most important being former Sounders winger Lamar Neagle and offensive creator Marcelo Savras. Savras did great things with LA, but languished in a defensive schema in Colorado. DC have mostly played defensively in the past, but if they can use these additions to get more offensive and creative they will do very well. With all of that said, DC is still trying to field a team on a budget, so they are unlikely to set the east on fire, I expect DC to make the playoffs though I don't expect a deep run.
Montreal Impact
The Impact had probably the quietest offseason of all the MLS clubs, mostly it simply involved declining or waiving options on veteran players. Of course, the Impact probably feel they have a good thing going so why tinker with it? Drogba and Nacho Piatti formed a pretty solid partnership in the second half of the season and they were good defensively all year. With the addition of Harry Shipp Montreal has one of the better offenses in the East, as long as Drogba keeps Drogbaing and Nacho Piatti keeps doing his thing, Montreal will be in the playoffs and be poised to make a deep run.
Columbus Crew
The Crew got all the way to the MLS Final, but fell just short in no small part due to a weak defense. The Crew have made the effort this offseason to load up on defenders to correct that one, glaring flaw. If Greg Berhalter can keep the offense in tip-top shape and have a solid defense I'd say the Crew will be the scariest team in the east. Of course, then again, when you get to the MLS Cup everyone takes notice...and takes better notes, it's possible the Crew could find teams more prepared for their swarming, high energy offense; the bee hive might be less effective if everyone is wearing a bee suit.
New York Red Bulls
The new, less flashy style of the Red Bulls' spending continued this offseason, with the exception of Gideon Baah every player the Red Bulls signed was a homegrown player. The additions are almost entirely defensive, which should make their already stingy defense even stingier. I think the Red Bulls could use a creative player besides Sacha Klejstan and maybe another excellent striker besides BWP, but make no mistake, this roster is as good as last year's roster, and that probably means another trip to the playoffs.
I'll toss up the West's breakdown next week.
The East
Chicago Fire
Chicago's offseason moves are a mixed bag. Their move to trade Harrison to NYCFC for a pile of money and the 4th round pick was good, and the Fire picked up lots of players in the draft. On the other hand, the Sounders probably probably got the better deal to pick up Joevin Jones in exchange for their near end of the first round pick. Trading Harry Shipp to Montreal is a real head scratcher too. But let's be real, for the last few years the Fire's problem has not been an issue with talent, but coaching. Frank Klopas was followed by the slightly worse Frank Yallop, architects of some of the worst football play in MLS across multiple teams. Veljko Paunovic, their new coach is talking the right talk, but can he walk the walk? MLS history is littered with failed foreign coaches. I'm honestly not sure what to expect here, but I don't think the Fire will be a major eastern power, they could return to the playoffs.
Philadelphia Union
Every time I think the Union have things figured out, they screw it up. The Union sent Maidana to Houston for a ham sandwich and replaced him with...Chris Pontius from DC United. There's some other players added of course and I fully expect a better back line, but now offense looks to be a problem. It's possible their young new talent will step up, but I think this is going to be another lost season for fans and that could be a real problem; already attendance is way down at Union games.
New York City FC
NYCFC fired one of the best coaches in America in their first season after (allegedly) neutering his ability to field the best formation possible even if that meant benching big stars. NYCFC picked up some new young talent in the draft and they have a new coach from parent club Manchester City with a lot of hype, but unless Patrick Viera is empowered to bench players when he wants even if they have names like Lampard, Villa or Pirlo, this won't be a great season. Realistically, the old men have had a long offseason to rejuvenate and train together, so I expect NYCFC to start strong, but I think they'll fade out during the second half of the season.
Orlando City SC
Orlando City just barely missed the playoffs and they've had a relatively quiet offseason compared to many teams, but they have built what I think is a better roster. With some solid picks from the SuperDraft and the acquisition of CDM Antonio Nocerino Orlando has largely solved their weak midfield problems. As long as Kaka can keep doing his thing without injury and Cyle Larin doesn't have a sophomore slump I think Orlando City should make the playoffs this year and if they follow my advice and switch to a 4-3-3 they might be a real threat with Kaka, Rochez and Larin up top.
Toronto FC
Last year Toronto got into the playoffs for the first time, largely because Sebastian Giovinco put the team on his back and carried them in one of the best MVP displays in MLS history. Toronto didn't get any further than the first round, but it's encouraging for a team that has largely languished in the east despite big bucks backing it. Giovinco shouldn't need to walk on water this year to get Toronto into the playoffs though, Toronto has largely fixed their defensive issues from last year and gotten rid of human red card machine Jackson, I expect Toronto to be a major power in the east this year, anything less should be viewed as a failure.
New England Revolution
Last season saw the New England Revolution go from dominant eastern force to barely squeaking into the playoffs, their season ended in an inglorious exit that included Jermaine Jones getting a 6 game suspension for getting physical with referee Mark Geiger. New England added precious little in terms of extra personnel and with Jones apparently done with MLS it's hard to see how New England can continue to compete in the increasingly loaded up eastern conference. Unless Lee Nguyen has another MVP-caliber season like he did in 2014 or or Agudelo and Fagundez figure out how to score on a regular basis I don't expect to see the Revolution in the playoffs. Someone should tell Bob Kraft that his other football team sucks and that he needs to spend some money so they don't anymore.
DC United
The east's oldest beast looked weak, soft and slow when they exited the 2015 MLS playoffs to their rivals NYRB without scoring a single goal in their two game series. With Bill Hamid out for a long stretch, DC United could be in some real trouble at the start of the season. That said, United did pick up some solid mid-tier MLS talent, probably the most important being former Sounders winger Lamar Neagle and offensive creator Marcelo Savras. Savras did great things with LA, but languished in a defensive schema in Colorado. DC have mostly played defensively in the past, but if they can use these additions to get more offensive and creative they will do very well. With all of that said, DC is still trying to field a team on a budget, so they are unlikely to set the east on fire, I expect DC to make the playoffs though I don't expect a deep run.
Montreal Impact
The Impact had probably the quietest offseason of all the MLS clubs, mostly it simply involved declining or waiving options on veteran players. Of course, the Impact probably feel they have a good thing going so why tinker with it? Drogba and Nacho Piatti formed a pretty solid partnership in the second half of the season and they were good defensively all year. With the addition of Harry Shipp Montreal has one of the better offenses in the East, as long as Drogba keeps Drogbaing and Nacho Piatti keeps doing his thing, Montreal will be in the playoffs and be poised to make a deep run.
Columbus Crew
The Crew got all the way to the MLS Final, but fell just short in no small part due to a weak defense. The Crew have made the effort this offseason to load up on defenders to correct that one, glaring flaw. If Greg Berhalter can keep the offense in tip-top shape and have a solid defense I'd say the Crew will be the scariest team in the east. Of course, then again, when you get to the MLS Cup everyone takes notice...and takes better notes, it's possible the Crew could find teams more prepared for their swarming, high energy offense; the bee hive might be less effective if everyone is wearing a bee suit.
New York Red Bulls
The new, less flashy style of the Red Bulls' spending continued this offseason, with the exception of Gideon Baah every player the Red Bulls signed was a homegrown player. The additions are almost entirely defensive, which should make their already stingy defense even stingier. I think the Red Bulls could use a creative player besides Sacha Klejstan and maybe another excellent striker besides BWP, but make no mistake, this roster is as good as last year's roster, and that probably means another trip to the playoffs.
I'll toss up the West's breakdown next week.
ShizuokaBrad
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Wonder if Tim Howard has finally lost his spot starting for Everton. Joel has had four clean sheet after five starts across all competitions and made a huge penalty save at 0-0 in the first half of our match last night. In fact, he's only let in one goal in five matches. I can't see how Martinez puts Timmy back in after the recent results.
What a dismal match. We played poorly, Palace played well. But we didn't play badly enough to deserve that result. Numerous chances that there's no reason they didn't go in. "Force field" the term thrown out by the announcers. Obvious the way the day was going after Dele Alli has a ball go off not one, but both posts before being cleared.
Sad to be out of the FA Cup running. But less congestion is a good thing. On to Fiorentina at WHL midweek.
Although Backstabayor getting constantly booed was fantastic.
Sad to be out of the FA Cup running. But less congestion is a good thing. On to Fiorentina at WHL midweek.
Although Backstabayor getting constantly booed was fantastic.
So, the Copa America draw was tonight and for the USMNT it's not good, but this is a winnable group, getting out in second place is pretty likely. Running down the list of matches:
USMNT vs Colombia
The USMNT start off with the bitterest pill in the bunch, Colombia is a fast and creative offensive team with a deadly counter attack. If there is one spot that it could be said that Colombia falters though, it's in transition between offense and defense. If you can break up the attack at midfield and counter quickly you have a pretty good shot. That said, team USA is probably not winning this one.
USMNT vs Costa Rica
An old, not so friendly face, the USMNT has had a run of bad form against Costa Rica, losing their last two games against them, but this is a game team USA should win. The USMNT can't be caught sleeping though, Costa Rica are solid defensively and have a nasty counter attack.
USMNT vs Paraguay
Five years ago, Paraguay beat the USMNT 1-0 in a friendly and before that 3-1 in the Copa America...but that was then and this is now. Since then, both teams have changed managers (Paraguay multiple times) and as it stands Paraguay hasn't beaten a FIFA top 40 ranked team in two years. On paper, with the USMNT at home in Philadelphia, this should be a win for team USA.
USMNT vs Colombia
The USMNT start off with the bitterest pill in the bunch, Colombia is a fast and creative offensive team with a deadly counter attack. If there is one spot that it could be said that Colombia falters though, it's in transition between offense and defense. If you can break up the attack at midfield and counter quickly you have a pretty good shot. That said, team USA is probably not winning this one.
USMNT vs Costa Rica
An old, not so friendly face, the USMNT has had a run of bad form against Costa Rica, losing their last two games against them, but this is a game team USA should win. The USMNT can't be caught sleeping though, Costa Rica are solid defensively and have a nasty counter attack.
USMNT vs Paraguay
Five years ago, Paraguay beat the USMNT 1-0 in a friendly and before that 3-1 in the Copa America...but that was then and this is now. Since then, both teams have changed managers (Paraguay multiple times) and as it stands Paraguay hasn't beaten a FIFA top 40 ranked team in two years. On paper, with the USMNT at home in Philadelphia, this should be a win for team USA.
So, the Copa America draw is done and we have our groups. Here's how I see each group shaking out:
Group A
USA
Colombia
Costa Rica
Paraguay
I already covered this pretty thoroughly above, theoretically anyone can come out of this group, but on paper this should be Colombia in first and team USA second.
Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Haiti
Peru
Brazil must be salivating over this group. The only real dominance threat here is Ecuador, but even that isn't all that scary. Anything other than winning this group is a huge slip up for Brazil. Haiti and Peru should be sheep to the slaughter and Ecuador should wind up second.
Group C
Mexico
Uruguay
Jamaica
Venezuela
If there is a group of death in this tournament, I'd say group C is it. Uruguay are monstrously good, Mexico is the current Gold Cup champion and Jamaica is no slouch, Venezuela is theoretically the punching bag here, but if they can sort out their interpersonal issues (the players protested due to a recent spate of bad results) then they could be a surprise threat. That said, on paper this should be simple, Uruguay annihilates everyone else and then Mexico picks up the scraps to take second place.
Group D
Argentina
Chile
Panama
Bolivia
Anyone wanna bet against a team with Lionel Messi getting out of their group? I didn't think so. After that, I think Chile, who are scary fast and almost entirely ignore defense in favor of offense, will take second. Bolivia is just happy to be here and are probably the punching bag. The only way Panama has a chance here is if their defense is absolutely 100% perfect against Chile and they can counter attack effectively against Chile's 3 man defense and then beat Bolivia too.
Group A
USA
Colombia
Costa Rica
Paraguay
I already covered this pretty thoroughly above, theoretically anyone can come out of this group, but on paper this should be Colombia in first and team USA second.
Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Haiti
Peru
Brazil must be salivating over this group. The only real dominance threat here is Ecuador, but even that isn't all that scary. Anything other than winning this group is a huge slip up for Brazil. Haiti and Peru should be sheep to the slaughter and Ecuador should wind up second.
Group C
Mexico
Uruguay
Jamaica
Venezuela
If there is a group of death in this tournament, I'd say group C is it. Uruguay are monstrously good, Mexico is the current Gold Cup champion and Jamaica is no slouch, Venezuela is theoretically the punching bag here, but if they can sort out their interpersonal issues (the players protested due to a recent spate of bad results) then they could be a surprise threat. That said, on paper this should be simple, Uruguay annihilates everyone else and then Mexico picks up the scraps to take second place.
Group D
Argentina
Chile
Panama
Bolivia
Anyone wanna bet against a team with Lionel Messi getting out of their group? I didn't think so. After that, I think Chile, who are scary fast and almost entirely ignore defense in favor of offense, will take second. Bolivia is just happy to be here and are probably the punching bag. The only way Panama has a chance here is if their defense is absolutely 100% perfect against Chile and they can counter attack effectively against Chile's 3 man defense and then beat Bolivia too.
Grannyknot
Well-Known Member
whats your beef with Adebayor?
The guy is poison. Bad, bad attitude. Bad work ethic. Total diva.
Also this, among others: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/angry-tottenham-players-want-emmanuel-4594516
Grannyknot
Well-Known Member
shame nobody could have warned spurs about that sort of behavior before they signed him.
