ES Soccer Thread

[Fergasun]

But.... that first Man U goal vs. Man City was ridiculously called as onsides.  I was tought in youth ref training that running toward the ball is active participation.  

 

Even if fhe head read overturned the AR flag... VAR should have flagged it as clear and obviously wrong. 

[Corcaigh]

The legendary manager Brian Clough once said “If a player is not interfering with play then he shouldn't be on the pitch.”

[Long n Left]

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with Liverpool. 
 

They’ve kept a large part of the team together, and have not gotten ready replacements in behind to take over as these guys age out. We have young talent, but YOUNG. That, and we’ve had a LOT of injuries this season.  
 

The biggest problem being in the midfield where we’ve continually run out Henderson (32), Fabinho (29 but playing/running like he’s 40), and Thiago (31). All very good players in their day, but none renowned for their athleticism, are getting run through by every opposing midfield.

 

Jota been out all season, supposed to be back in Feb. Diaz, who had been electric since he came, out in October, won’t return till March. Firmino started the season well, but has been struggling with injury since before the WC. And, now Nunez is out for a game or three. Virgil looks to miss another 4-6 weeks, Salah has not been in form, and Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita have just been back since the end of the WC.

 

The midfield is the big problem that needs to addressed, IMO. Henderson has been a stalwart Captain for us during these salad days, but is a shell of his former playing self, and should be no more than a late game sub at this point. Fabinho has always been one of the slower players, but has even lost a step from that, and doesn’t make the break-up tackles that he had been so good at before. Gets played around like he’s standing still now. Thiago is still quality, but he has a lengthy injury history, and can’t be depended on to play 90 minutes every game. He is nearing the end of his window too.

 

Think this squad has a lot of good pieces for the future, especially in attack (Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo), but the midfield and defense need a rebuild, I believe. Think they kept some players on too long, played too many matches last season, an all-time record high, and had a short and busy off-season. All this has led to an older and more tired squad this season.

 

I wouldn’t be arsed if they offloaded some big pieces this summer to fuel the rebuild. I could see Salah and Van Dijk moving this summer for the right price, and hope that Bellingham decides to be part of the Reds redux.

[Corcaigh]

It’s also a consequence of Klopp’s very aggressive pressing style. When you press like that, you will get beaten some of the time and badly exposed, and you need to have world-class, defensive midfielders and center backs to cover and win the ball back.

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Corcaigh

[Fergasun]

What I notice... 

 

Nunez has comical finishing, its like a ridiculous invisible wall is blocking the goal.  His body control and positioning is fantastic, so one assumes it's bad luck,  but he could have bad feet. 

 

I forgot about Diaz and Jota.  

 

Salah has seemed to be fine, no one is feeding him. 

 

You are correct regarding midfield.  Elliott and Carvalho should be getting starts... if not both than at least one.  

 

On defense there is no depth after Van Dijk. 

 

I do love following EPL a lot now and even pay attention to the lower teams in the table.  

 

 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

 

 

[Berggy9598]

On 1/15/2023 at 9:05 AM, Fergasun said:

But.... that first Man U goal vs. Man City was ridiculously called as onsides.  I was tought in youth ref training that running toward the ball is active participation.  

 

Even if fhe head read overturned the AR flag... VAR should have flagged it as clear and obviously wrong. 

I was taught to play to the whistle and watch for the late runner. 

On 1/15/2023 at 9:58 AM, Long n Left said:

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with Liverpool. 
 

They’ve kept a large part of the team together, and have not gotten ready replacements in behind to take over as these guys age out. We have young talent, but YOUNG. That, and we’ve had a LOT of injuries this season.  
 

The biggest problem being in the midfield where we’ve continually run out Henderson (32), Fabinho (29 but playing/running like he’s 40), and Thiago (31). All very good players in their day, but none renowned for their athleticism, are getting run through by every opposing midfield.

 

Jota been out all season, supposed to be back in Feb. Diaz, who had been electric since he came, out in October, won’t return till March. Firmino started the season well, but has been struggling with injury since before the WC. And, now Nunez is out for a game or three. Virgil looks to miss another 4-6 weeks, Salah has not been in form, and Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita have just been back since the end of the WC.

 

The midfield is the big problem that needs to addressed, IMO. Henderson has been a stalwart Captain for us during these salad days, but is a shell of his former playing self, and should be no more than a late game sub at this point. Fabinho has always been one of the slower players, but has even lost a step from that, and doesn’t make the break-up tackles that he had been so good at before. Gets played around like he’s standing still now. Thiago is still quality, but he has a lengthy injury history, and can’t be depended on to play 90 minutes every game. He is nearing the end of his window too.

 

Think this squad has a lot of good pieces for the future, especially in attack (Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo), but the midfield and defense need a rebuild, I believe. Think they kept some players on too long, played too many matches last season, an all-time record high, and had a short and busy off-season. All this has led to an older and more tired squad this season.

 

I wouldn’t be arsed if they offloaded some big pieces this summer to fuel the rebuild. I could see Salah and Van Dijk moving this summer for the right price, and hope that Bellingham decides to be part of the Reds redux.

I'm not sure what's going on with Fabinho, but when you see how different Chelsea look without Kante, Arsenal without Partey, or United without Casemiro, it's difficult to get by without those players. In general, so much of what Liverpool were able to do relied on Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum suffocating the other team. 

[Est.1974]

Uefa is to change its Financial Fair Play rules in response to Chelsea's recent trend of signing players on long-term contracts.

Signing players on extended contracts enables Chelsea to spread the player's transfer fee over the life of that deal when submitting their annual accounts.

That means £89m signing Mykhailo Mudryk will be valued at £11m a year over his eight-and-a-half-year deal.

Uefa is to set a five-year limit over which a transfer fee can be spread.

Clubs will still be able to offer longer deals under UK regulations but will not be able to stretch transfer fees beyond the first five years.

The change to FFP rules will come into force during the summer and will not apply retrospectively.

[Est.1974]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:56 PM, Berggy9598 said:

 

I'm not sure what's going on with Fabinho, but when you see how different Chelsea look without Kante, Arsenal without Partey, or United without Casemiro, it's difficult to get by without those players. In general, so much of what Liverpool were able to do relied on Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum suffocating the other team. 

Liverpool got old in midfield. The fight to get Bellingham is critical to them IMO.

 

The impending change to FFP rules noted above might trigger some big January moves in the next week to beat that change. We may actually see a couple of near 100mil moves coming up.

[Berggy9598]

7 hours ago, Est.1974 said:

Liverpool got old in midfield. The fight to get Bellingham is critical to them IMO.

 

The impending change to FFP rules noted above might trigger some big January moves in the next week to beat that change. We may actually see a couple of near 100mil moves coming up.

Something new for City to circumvent they must be excited. 

 

You really can't compete at the level Liverpool have been under Klopp without more complete midfielders, and that's not just true for Liverpool. The days of drifting number 10s and strictly defensive midfielders that can do the bare minimum on the ball are gone. This is what's holding United back more than inconsistent attackers IMO as they only have one such midfielder. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Berggy9598

[ixcuincle]

https://www.loudoununitedfc.com/news/2023/04/27/loudoun-united-fc-set-to-host-columbus-crew-in-lamar-hunt-u-s-open-cup-round-of-32/

 

Loudoun United FC will play host to Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew in the Round of 32 of the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The match will take place on Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. ET at Segra Field. Single-match tickets for the Round of 32 are available here.

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Fergasun]

Man City complete the treble and this thread yawns.  Inter had a really solid game plan.  KdB getting hurt (again!) also turned the tide.  It wasn't clear what his issue was.  Ederson had to make a few great saves, even in the final seconds.  We didn't get a great angle on the broadcast... but that header was well hit and going into goal. 

 

Now that Messi is coming to Miami and Benzema going to Saudi. The biggest news this transfer window is Mbappe not re-upping his contract.  Similar to NBA, PSG is in danger of losing him without a transfer fee in return and he wants to go to Real Madrid.  

 

Kane and Rashford are interesting possibilities to switch on Prem (Kane also rumoured to go to Real Madrid).  For the USMNT it will be interesting to see if Dest stays (and plays) at Barcelona as well as if Pulisic gets playing time.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Denmark with the dagger in the 90th minute!

[Fergasun]

Mbappe offered $700M for 1 year to play for Saudi.... plus endorsements

 

According to Forbes (numbers include endorsementa):

Ronaldo made $136M last year

Messi $130M 

Mbappe $120M

Lebron $119M

 

They had Kyler Murray at $75M... not sure if he's the highest NFL player.

 

 

[Destino]

I would never want to be tied to the saudis… but I’m not sure I could force a “no” out of my mouth when faced with a 700 million dollar deal for just one year. That’s crazy money. 

[China]

Extreme Alpine Football Is Only Played on the Steepest Mountain Slopes

 

We were watching the games and found them very boring,” alpine football co-inventor Franz Mair said. “Then, Peppi – Peppi Knünz, the other inventor of the sport – said to me: ‘The way they play isn’t hard enough and they should try running up and down our mountains. They’d soon be out of breath…’ And then we thought: ‘They might not even be able to play – but us and our lads, we’d manage it!'”

 

Flat ground is very hard to find in the Alps, so it’s most often used for more important things than playing football, so fans of the sport in one such mountainous area decided to turn lemons into lemonade and use the terrain to invent a new variation. Now, locals take pride in only playing alpine football.

 

 

 

[FrFan]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:43 AM, Fergasun said:

Mbappe offered $700M for 1 year to play for Saudi.... plus endorsements

 

He can go there, bye felicia, so we won't have to put up with him and his mom.

If you want to see a great game watch Women's WC Germany vs Columbia (replay) 👍

 

On 7/25/2023 at 9:38 AM, Destino said:

I would never want to be tied to the saudis… but I’m not sure I could force a “no” out of my mouth when faced with a 700 million dollar deal for just one year. That’s crazy money. 

According to La Gazetta dello Sport Verratti signed a $156 mil over 3 years with the saudis.

Edited July 30, 2023 by FrFan

[ixcuincle]

Washington hosted The premier league summer series today.

 

[Long n Left]

3 hours ago, ixcuincle said:

Washington hosted The premier league summer series today.

 

🎶**** you Chelsea FC

You ain’t got not history,

6 Euro Cups and 19 Leagues

THAT’s what WE call history!🎶

[Cooked Crack]

This Inter Miami game. Went from 3-1 to 4-4 with two own goals in there.

[Fergasun]

While you were sleeping...Sweden knocked Japan out of the woman's world cup.  They will battle Spain for a spot in the final. 

 

I expect France to go vs. Australia.  England v. Columbia is pretty evenly matched.  I would expect England to move on.

[Fergasun]

Socceroos shock France in must see PK shootout.  England  survives a golazo... the Columbian GK choked poorly and spilled one right at their feet. 

 

Miami continues to win.  They are 14 points out of the playoffs with 12 games left. It will be interesting to see if they push into the playoffs. 

 

Premier League Match Day 1!!!

 

 

[FrFan]

45 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

Socceroos shock France in must see PK shootout.  England  survives a golazo... the Columbian GK choked poorly and spilled one right at their feet. 

 

Miami continues to win.  They are 14 points out of the playoffs with 12 games left. It will be interesting to see if they push into the playoffs. 

 

Premier League Match Day 1!!!

 

 

We always choke

[Cooked Crack]

 

Shootout time