The [Horribly Unpopular] Soccer Thread

[robdogj]

I don't know. He wears a number 4, which is rare for one receiving best in the world accolades, and ZZ really seems to be skinning him there. I think Messi is better than that guy.

I am talking about Zidane - he was one of the best that ever played the game & now he is champion gaffer. BTW, let's take a moment to laugh @ England. More spudz players in their line-up. Talking about castles made in sand

 

[Qhrumphf]

"England Exits Europe Twice in Less Than a Week". There's gonna be some great Brexit jokes out of this.

Shameful on all accounts.

And Roy resigned what, less than 30 minutes after the whistle? Buhbye.

But good for Iceland. Since it's been a fairytale type of season, let them have theirs.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Silver lining, nobody's going to be trying to poach any of our guys. Or maybe mud colored lining. Groan.

 

[Talgrath]

England fans after the loss:

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I watched it. Cant be the best player in the world, quote and not put a pk on goal. Kick it in the ground

Messi is not the best PK taker. I think it's because he's cute about it. In my general experience, the best PK takers are the ones who keep it simple. Look at Leighton Baines. He had like 14 for 15 PKs after he missed his big one.

 

[Qhrumphf]

"Give Hodgson a break. The man was just hired to handle the EU negotiations, since he has so much experience with exiting Europe".

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Joe Hart is just not a great keeper. He's super athletic which makes him a very good keeper, maybe even a wall at times, but both goals saw poor positioning and footwork bite him in the ass. The first was mainly the defense's fault, but he was way too far off his line. If he was further back he may have made a play.Second one I just don't get, it wasn't hit that far besides him.

 

[robdogj]

 

[jgarretson]

Taylor Twellman had a great tweet this morning about England - great marketing of the BPL brings about false expectations for the National team. Look at that roster. Not much top talent if any compared to other nations and probably too many guys who think they are far better because of the media hype machine.

 

[fourfarthing]

And I was just playing. Cheers!

I am talking about Zidane - he was one of the best that ever played the game & now he is champion gaffer. BTW, let's take a moment to laugh @ England. More spudz players in their line-up. Talking about castles made in sand

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Taylor Twellman had a great tweet this morning about England - great marketing of the BPL brings about false expectations for the National team. Look at that roster. Not much top talent if any compared to other nations and probably too many guys who think they are far better because of the media hype machine.

Have to disagree here.

Though there is a difference between ENgland and Germany Italy or Spain. Is those countries have "national team" clubs.

Lots of Germany's top players play for Bayern, lots Italy's top players play for Juve, most of the peak Spain players played for Real or Barca. And all of those teams are league leaders year in and year out. The top contributors to England are mainly from Liverpool or Tottenham. The year in year out league leaders like Chelsea, Arsenal, Man CIty, and Man United rely heavily on non-English players. England's best form came when Man United had tons of English stars like Rio, Beckham, Scholes, Neville, etc. Even then they underachieved regularly.

 

[jgarretson]

But I think you're actually agreeing with me. Liverpool and Tottenham are hardly elite clubs in Europe. We'll see next year in Champions League when Spurs gets murdered. Contrast that to Juve, Bayern or the Spanish clubs.

There's such a hype about English players because of the media and attention the Premier League gets around the globe but is Adam Lallana on the same level as Iniesta or Kroos? No way.

Twellman's point is nobody should be shocked that England has won one game in the past two major competitions. They just aren't that good individually. They're hardly a step up from the US and quite possibly equals on most days.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

THey're more than a step above the US. They're not on the level of the top teams, but they're a really solid team. Their faults are many. First off the expectation is unrealistic. Fans expect them to be on Germany's level, and they aren't. That being said, they're one restructure away from being a world power. Think about Germany after their Euro bomb out before Jurgen came in. Sometimes countries need a shakeup. England have the talent, Stones, Sterling, DIer, Barkley, Alli, and Kane are all really talented players.

 

[Qhrumphf]

THey're more than a step above the US. They're not on the level of the top teams, but they're a really solid team. Their faults are many. First off the expectation is unrealistic. Fans expect them to be on Germany's level, and they aren't. That being said, they're one restructure away from being a world power. Think about Germany after their Euro bomb out before Jurgen came in. Sometimes countries need a shakeup. England have the talent, Stones, Sterling, DIer, Barkley, Alli, and Kane are all really talented players.

I think the US and England are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I think the US is lacking a bit in quality (youth system failures and yada yada yada) but has the motivation and drive to do relatively well when the appropriate coaching is there (where Klinsmann has done a relatively ok job). England I think has the quality to do very well (agree, they're not on Germany's level even then), but what they've lacked is the motivation and the coaching. While recent performances can certainly be partially placed on lack of effort by the players, I'd say more falls on the manager for a) failing to motivate and b) utterly failing to have any tactical sense, and c) form any sort of sensible coherent plan to the lineup.

Perhaps what was already said is the case, with countries where a majority of the national team players already play for said country's top league team, the functioning as a unit is already there.

However, that comes with the territory when you have leagues where there's virtually no competition between the top one or two teams and the rest of the league. The EPL is far more competitive, and there's not one sole side with a host of English players to draw from. Liverpool is still in a restructuring process under Klopp from what was a very similar situation to England under Rodgers- a side with a fair amount of star power with no real cohesion, and the tactics that Hodgson tried to employ didn't mesh well with the tactics that the Spurs players were performing under Poch. It's no surprise that on all accounts they failed to perform.

That's my inebriated take at least.

But ultimately I'd agree with the assessment that in terms of actual on the pitch performance, England is only slightly above the US at this point. Heavy hype, without the results to back it up.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Also, just gonna say it, if you want anything from any English clubs, skip the US sites and go for the UK. Spurs 15/16 stuff, on sale before the "official" release of 16/17 kits, postage included is cheaper than US-based sites right now, and if the Pound continues to plummet (which it likely will), will only get cheaper.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Reno what are your thoughts on this?

http://reno1868fc.com/news/?article_id=35

 

[Talgrath]

The US Open Cup had a big round of games last night, ending round 5 of the competition, a few interesting situations cropped up in the 5th round:

The Sounders Won a Game!
The regular season of MLS has been pretty lousy for the Rave Green, but the Open Cup could be a bright spot for them: their "B" team went down Salt Lake and beat RSL's "A" team in penalties to advance after a 1-1 tie. The young Sounders' keeper, Tyler Miller, might very well start getting some looks from the USMNT and perhaps from other teams and might have a chance to unseat Stefan Frei, as he was excellent (Miller had two appearances for the USMNT U-23 team previously, as a note). For Sounders fans, it's not what they really want...but it's something.

Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Continue Their Cinderella Run
The NY Cosmos may have succumbed to reality against New England last night, but Ft. Lauderdale apparently hasn't gotten the memo. The Strikers beat Orlando City SC, who have been doing pretty well in MLS, last night. This is the farthest any team from the new NASL has gotten in the tournament and it's the farthest anyone not from MLS has gotten since the Charleston Batter made it all the way to the final in 2008. It wouldn't be that crazy to see them reach the semi-finals either, their next opponent is the Chicago Fire, who have been more of a dumpster fire this year in MLS.

Jesse Marsch Loses His Mind
After one of his assistant coaches was sent off for time wasting in the NYRB's loss to Philadelphia, at the end of the match Jesse Marsch absolutely lost it after a foul call went against his team at the edge of the Union's box. Marsch picked up two soccer balls and hurled them, one at the ground and one at the Union's bench. I fully expect to see Marsch get a multi-match/multi-year ban not unlike Clint Dempsey's from the Open Cup, he might also see a match ban in MLS too.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Wow @ Wales handily defeating Belgium. I would love to see a Wales/Iceland Euro final. Granted I'm skeptical as to whether or not Wales will beat Portugal (possible for sure), and doubtful that Iceland will make it past France, let alone France and then either Germany or Italy.

 

[Qhrumphf]

http://video.eurosport.com/football...s-to-be-england-manager_vid813899/video.shtml

This is priceless.

 

[Talgrath]

Well, he's got my vote!

 

[robdogj]

footie such a lovely game

then we have the grace of Zaza

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm glad I opted to go hiking instead of watching DE/IT. Sounded like a boring hunkered match followed by a laughably bad shootout.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Like the Champions League final did to me, a mate said it put him to sleep.

 

[robdogj]

True Iceland got worked by the Tournament Hosts France today, but do not worry. Iceland will return stronger

 

[Talgrath]

Iceland had a very impressive run, and losing 5-2 to France in France is nothing to be ashamed of. With Germany missing so many key players and their less than thrilling showing against Italy, I feel like France is/should be the favorite to win the whole tournament.

 

[Talgrath]

For those of you that are MLS fans, the summer/midseason transfer window has opened. Matthew Doyle has some interesting commentary on what he thinks each team should do in the transfer window:

MLS Analyst Transfer Window

Some of these are "no duh" (like the Seattle Sounders) but others are a little bit of a head-scratcher to me, particularly those that he thinks should just sit and wait.

 

[Talgrath]

In a surprise move, Orlando City SC has fired coach Adrian Heath midseason. Full details here. The Lions have had a less than stellar start and currently sit just outside the playoff places, but I'm not so sure Heath is the cause of the problem. That said, unlike Houston, I suspect Orlando already has a replacement in mind and we could see the new coach introduced soon, whoever it might be. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone from South America be brought in, given that ownership is out of Argentina.

 

[robdogj]

I know a lot of peeps didn't appreciate Jurgen Klinsmann, but now they can jump for joy as Herr Klinsmann is rumored to be in talks w/ the English FA. I appreciate the fact that USNMT got out of two tough groups in both the World Cup & Copa America Centenario. True, there were failures w/ Klinsmann at the helm (ie...vs Jamaica in both 2014 World Cup Qualifying & last year's Gold Cup), but I still felt Klinsmann helped the USNMT achieved more. IMHO it would be a shame to see him go to the blue bloods.

 

[Qhrumphf]

http://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreAllLeoMessi

We Are all Leo Messi

Because we're all multi-millions a year sports stars who don't pay taxes.

No wonder that backfired.

 

[Talgrath]

Wow, that is really tone deaf on their part. Did nobody think to run that past someone who's not an idiot first?