The [Horribly Unpopular] Soccer Thread

[lgilmore]

If you move MLS to a international schedule, you would lose venues for games on days of the week they currently have. Having Saturdays and Sundays pretty much unchallenged for use through their season has allowed the MLS to grow as attendance on weekends is much higher than through the week.

Even the Sounders, whose attendance average is in the top 20 football wise, draws poorly for midweek games. They have to be extra special matches to draw midweek. Chivas won't cut it.

So really the MLS schedule is out of design to grow the attendance of the league. The best way to do that was not to compete with other sports (pro football, college football, HS football) that require similar stadiums or have joint use agreements.

the international model does not have another major sport to compete with beyond rugby. Here is it a upward struggle to get soccer mentioned in the same breath as football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

Different cultures, different ways to make it work.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thank you for mentioning joint use stadia. There are quite a few that have handegg games played on them.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Holy crap, the own goal in the SJ/NE game was terrible. Worst I've seen in a long time.

 

[GuldTuborg]

3-0 start for the Crew. Lookin' sharp this season.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

3-0 start for the Crew. Lookin' sharp this season.

Ha yeah. And to think of all the other clubs that got a ton of hype this offseason. Best of luck to your Crew, of course until they meet LA on the glorious field of battle.

 

[garcia]

Y'all going to watch the UCL games?

 

[Grannyknot]

Y'all going to watch the UCL games?

That ManU Bayern 1st leg was awesome.
Think its hilarious that Bayern are furious about having a player sent off after the opponent dived. Karma.

Looking forward to Chelsea & PSG today.

 

[nitz146]

That ManU Bayern 1st leg was awesome.
Think its hilarious that Bayern are furious about having a player sent off after the opponent dived. Karma.

That may have extended Moyes stay a little longer. Poor poor Manu fans.

 

[HoppyDaze]

I don't always watch soccer but when I do USA gets screwed out of a game winner

 

[jgarretson]

Talk about a tale of two halves...

Donovan looks old. Dempsey while "trying ****" as a Bruce would say is way too casual for my liking. Bradley and Beckerman should be the starting midfield pair in my book. J Jones can stay in Turkey for all I care.

I'm afraid it's going to be a quick 3 and out come June. The quality just isn't there.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Beckerman sucks. He's a solid defender but it seems like everytime he possesses the ball he turns it over to the otherside. If we wanted to go diamond midfield you put Cameron back there. That said, I like the way that Jones and Bradley play together. They allow each other to rest and focus.

Dempsey looked great. Bradley is awesome.

If the US gets out of the group with the number 2 and number 4 teams in the world. If the US loses out in all their games that will be depressing. They should be able to beat Ghana. Or at the very least draw. Unfortunately, Portugal and Germany are 4 of the best teams in the world.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

The FIFA rankings are largely nonsense though. They take past results into account, but not the quality of the opposition.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

The FIFA rankings are largely nonsense though. They take past results into account, but not the quality of the opposition.

This. Germany has a pretty accurate ranking but Portugal is misrepresented. They actually haven't done too well this cycle: they tied Israel twice, tied and lost (kind of badly) to N. Ireland, and lost to Azerbaijan. IMMHO, not a club to really get you shaking in your boots. Will they be really good competition? Of course, but Ronaldo can't do everything. One player a WC winning club does not make.

To be honest, I'm terrified of Ghana more than the other clubs. Not only are they the thorn in our World Cup sides, but you never know what they're going bring to the pitch. However, I'm happy we play them first because if we can put a hurting on them early and gain some confidence from avenging our previous campaigns then I'm hopeful we can make it out of the group.

Final note: I think there are two groups of death. Group B is pretty scary as well as ours. But is it just me being crazy (or a homer) or is our inclusion in Group G part of what makes it the proverbial "Group of Death" over B? Because I'd say Ghana + USA > Chile + Australia.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

And the US hasn't been in amazing form lately.

Portugal is more than Ronaldo. Just using their high value players they also have Pepe, Coentrao, Moutinho, Meireles, and Nani. They possess a great midfield, OK defense, and one of the best players in the world.

US needs an A+ effort to top Brazil.

As scary as it sounds our first game against Ghana is the most important match we play, if we lose the first match we're done. if we draw we're likely done, if we win we have a good shot as long as we draw against Portugal.

Ideal scenario for the first leg is a 2+ goal victory over Ghana and Germany to do the same against Portugal. Then draw against Portugal and we just have to get Portugal on GD to advance.

What sucks about the draws. There are a bunch of tough groups. Group D is also really tough, with Uruguay, England, Italy, and Costa Rica. The pots set this up by putting US, Mexico, and Costa Rica with Asia, which was OK when CONCACAF was only the US and Mexico, now that CONCACAF has been rapidly improving while Africa has been slipping, they should probably switch place. Also Japan's surging has made it so the Asia/NA pot only has a handful of meh teams with this year being South Korea and Australia.

 

[HoppyDaze]

I don't know much about this but it sure seems like USA should be giving some opportunities to the younger guys instead of just giving the nod to the most marketable/profitable players. You what good marketing is and most profitable? Winning matches...

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I don't know much about this but it sure seems like USA should be giving some opportunities to the younger guys instead of just giving the nod to the most marketable/profitable players. You what good marketing is and most profitable? Winning matches...

Acctually Jurgen has been giving playing time to those who earn it. If Jozy's poor form continues, Johannsson or Wondo will start in the WC. Landycakes has sucked and he was benched. Klinsmann is a fantastic manager for the development of the US squad because he lets people earn their way in. IF BB was the skipper, we'd still have Bocanegra at CB and Besler probably never gets a chance and Zusi is at best a bench player.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Chelsea has some kind of voodoo in them.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1781446/clint-dempsey-highest-paid-player-mls?cc=5901

If you needed any evidence why Bradley and Dempsey joined MLS. Crazy they make more than some MLS teams.

 

[HomeBrewForum]

Well not much hope for England , not until the FA wakes up smells the coffee and realises that a continental style of football at grassroots is the way forward. . The FA thinks that fancy footwork and selfish hogging of the ball is what 8 yr olds should be taught. Luckily my 8 yr old has a UEFA B qualified coach who used to train academy football in Italy so they are well versed in a continental ticKa tacka style of play.

 

[Grannyknot]

The FIFA rankings are largely nonsense though. They take past results into account, but not the quality of the opposition.

I agree that the FIFA rankings are hard to take serious, but have to disagree that quality doesn't count....

P = M x I x T x C
T= Strength of opposing team

The strength of the opponents is based on the formula: 200 – the ranking position of the opponents
As an exception to this formula, the team at the top of the ranking is always assigned the value 200 and the teams ranked 150th and below are assigned a minimum value of 50. The ranking position is taken from the opponents’ ranking in the most recently published FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Well not much hope for England , not until the FA wakes up smells the coffee and realises that a continental style of football at grassroots is the way forward. . The FA thinks that fancy footwork and selfish hogging of the ball is what 8 yr olds should be taught. Luckily my 8 yr old has a UEFA B qualified coach who used to train academy football in Italy so they are well versed in a continental ticKa tacka style of play.

There never was much hope for England in as long as I can remember!!! Apart from 1990, they have never been a cohesive unit and will always fall short.

My only hope for this World Cup as a Southampton supporter is that Adam Lallana shows us what he can really do, as J Rod is already out through injury. At least now that I am American these days, I get to support TWO teams!

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

An interesting theory I read about why England has struggled on the World Stage is because of the rise of the premiership. Basically with less players able to move up to the top levels, it creates a growth issue. Even the Spaniards and Germans have teams for their youth to move up to. There's also the lack of B squad issues too. Other top teams like Bayern, Barca, etc. have B teams for youth to develop in as well.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

An interesting theory I read about why England has struggled on the World Stage is because of the rise of the premiership. Basically with less players able to move up to the top levels, it creates a growth issue. Even the Spaniards and Germans have teams for their youth to move up to. There's also the lack of B squad issues too. Other top teams like Bayern, Barca, etc. have B teams for youth to develop in as well.

This is one of the reasons the English sports media are having a minor love-in with Southampton for the meantime. They have an excellent academy that is pumping out quality English players like Bale, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Luke Shaw......It is something that the rest of the PL are catching onto, but will be a long time in development.

 

[HomeBrewForum]

This is one of the reasons the English sports media are having a minor love-in with Southampton for the meantime. They have an excellent academy that is pumping out quality English players like Bale, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Luke Shaw......It is something that the rest of the PL are catching onto, but will be a long time in development.

They most certainly are still playing catch up buty when the FA is still insisting at grass roots level that it should all be about fancy footwork and not passing the ball then in 20 yrs time we will still be in the same position.

The premiership relies too heavily on buying in foriegn players and not promoting home grown talent.

 

[aygov]

Who here thinks Liverpool are going to win the PL?

They seem to be scoring for fun at the moment so I can see them winning at least 3 out of 4 of their remaining fixtures with the Chelsea fixture being up in the air.

City still have 2 games in hand at the moment so I think they still have a hand on the wheel, but the scouse have the momentum. It should be an interesting run in to the end of the season.

 

[Grannyknot]

United to sack moyes?.....
3 months too late in my opinion.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

United to sack moyes?.....
3 months too late in my opinion.

Not a fan. He should have gotten at least til next January. Though the kicker is Everton is poised for a UCL shot so it makes Moyes look all the worse.

 

[aygov]

United to sack moyes?.....
3 months too late in my opinion.

Well, he's officially sacked and as an Arsenal fan I'd say 9 seasons too soon.

I just think people are still discounting how much of what United were being down to Fergie. It's becoming more and more apparent that he was a large part of the reason United were as good as they were and you're not just going to get in another manager to pick right up where he left off.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I just think people are still discounting how much of what United were being down to Fergie. It's becoming more and more apparent that he was a large part of the reason United were as good as they were and you're not just going to get in another manager to pick right up where he left off.

Sir Alex WAS Man U. They had under achieved ever since the Munich plane crash despite all the extra support that got them and the cash they have had. One manager after another showed promise, but they never really hit the heights until Alex came along. They cannot rely on any one manager to get the good times back, one like him comes along maybe once in a lifetime.......And I'm no fan whatsoever of the man or the team.

 

[aygov]

Sir Alex WAS Man U. They had under achieved ever since the Munich plane crash despite all the extra support that got them and the cash they have had. One manager after another showed promise, but they never really hit the heights until Alex came along. They cannot rely on any one manager to get the good times back, one like him comes along maybe once in a lifetime.......And I'm no fan whatsoever of the man or the team.

Exactly.

A friend, who's a Man U supporter, keeps insisting that it's just a matter of getting someone in to get them back to playing the Manchester United way. I told him the United way is actually the SAF way and that you're never going to get that back. He disagreed with me though it's not surprising as he's been pretty blinkered through this whole SAF/Moyes ordeal. He truly thought that Moyes would slot in with a small hiccup for a season and then United would be back to winning titles. You'd think a United supporter would realize what an influence SAF was and how scary it is to lose that but I think most of them honestly thought that the club would continue to win because it's Manchester United. It doesn't matter who's at the helm. I think now were seeing that prove to be a very painful misconception....