2008/2009 Football (Soccer) Thread

[sidereal]

Away wins are hard in qualifying.  Home teams in the group are so far 7-0-3 this cycle.  Last World Cup season they were 20-6-4.

[WayAbvPar]

It really seems to be tough in international games. I wonder why that is? Obviously flying thousands of miles and sleeping in a strange bed puts you our of your normal routine, but the difference between home and away is striking for the USMNT.

[Hoax]

Its because the #1 problem for the USMNT is nerves/confidence.  Half of their players look like fools when the ball gets near them in anything but the most ideal and comfortable circumstances.  Seriously, how many guys did you see last night who had decided who they were going to pass to as the ball was getting to them, they didn't look up, take a breath, think or anything.  So much pointless one-touch passing to the closest teammate that  parts of the game looked like kids playing soccer who don't want the responsibility of holding the ball.

[sigil]

And it depends on the pressure involved.I still keep going back the the calming presence of Ching. This team is as much chemistry as anything. It's always been the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts. Trying to work the ball up against pressure has never been good for us. Getting the ball to midfield to Ching then running to where they will be while he finds the open guy or draws the foul. The next time we play with him on, look to see where he gets the ball and what he does with it.

The difference between Ching and McBride is that McBride is a better finisher. Ching is a better passer. We normally expect out strikers to finish. This is why he "sucks"

[HaemishM]

Kaka's move to Real Madrid sort of confirmed.

56.2 million pounds. Fuck me. Looks like La Liga is going to be a 2-team race again. Please don't let Madrid sign David Villa away from Valencia or it will be even worse. They can have Ronaldo though - Liverpool not having to face that bastard twice a year will be nothing but a good thing.

[sigil]

LSU - Rice is running long - GO TO ESPN CLASSIC IF LSU CHOKES and put it into extra innings  Game starts at 8:25 eastern.


Wow. that was a fucking heart attack followed by some of the best combination play I'd seen from the US, in like, well ever.

My man of the match: Ricardo Clark.

[HaemishM]

Not a bad game, but man it solidified my idea of Onyewu. He had one decent pass, but on that first goal he was completely out of position. Had he been playing his position correctly, that might not have been a goal. Team got much better when Mastroeni went to the bench for Felahaber. Dempsey was pretty useless most of the game.

Good Premier League news: Frazier Campbell goes to Hull.

[sigil]

Good on him. He looked nice at spurs, Hopefully Brown won't be a total douchbag this season like last...


Our boys are in the air to SA. All kinds of curious/nervous about this game with Italy. Rossi is on the squad. I really don't want to see him score on us. That would be depressing.

[HaemishM]

What channel is showing the US games of the Confed Cup?

[sigil]

U.S. Men vs. Italy
Live on ESPN, ESPN360.com and Telefutura
06/15/2009  2:30 PM  ET       Monday...
U.S. Men vs. Brazil
Live on ESPN2, ESPN360.com and Telefutura
06/18/2009  10:00 AM  ET    Thursaday...
U.S. Men vs. Egypt
Live on ESPN2, ESPN360.com and Telefutura
06/21/2009  2:30 PM  ET       Sunday...

from ussoccer.com

Sporscenter lead in for Monday and Thursday. US Wrestling Championship lead in on Sunday. Should be a pretty reliable schedule.

[WayAbvPar]

Since I am just beginning to follow MLS closely, I have a question regarding the scheduling next summer. Does MLS take a month off or schedule lightly to avoid conflict with the World Cup? It would be shitty to have so many star players all out of the league for up to a month.

[HaemishM]

MLS never takes international weekends off like the Premier League does, so I'm guessing no.

[sigil]

MLS never takes international weekends off like the Premier League does, so I'm guessing no.

 MLS does not do shit to work around international schedules. The party line is that given  that many teams cannot control the venues in which they play ( NY, Houston in particular) they'll do what they damn well please to get the games in. Another reason to get their teams in their own stadiums.

[sidereal]

Also, there really aren't that many internationals in MLS.  Seattle has. . uh. . Montero, in the very unlikely chance that Colombia qualifies.

Most MLS international players are has-beens (Ljungberg, Schelotto, Blanco) or play for shitty teams that won't make the tournament (Montero, De Rosario, Ricketts).  Even the US national team only has 6 players in MLS (And Chivas has 2 of them.  Ha!).

Because it's much better for Freddy Adu to sit on his ass for AS Monaco or Altidore for fucking Xerez (He can't get playing time on a second division side?  Really?) than get fulltime playing time at home.

[sidereal]

Also, obscure but potentially interesting news:

Setanta Sports is going broke, and ESPN might take over their Premier League broadcasting.  Which would be great, because I already get ESPN and Setanta is something stupid like $20 a month on Comcast.

[Endie]

In my dream scenario, Setanta go bust and the three at-risk, Scottish Premier Division sides go bust, forcing a redesign into a single, larger premier division into which Morton manage to squeak.

The annoyance is that, if we'd not lost all of our last three games after the league decider against St Johnstone, we'd be in position to get promoted anyhow, if the clubs went into administration.

Most people say "oh, it would be terrible if so-and-so went into receivership.. history.. tradition.. blah blah..."  Frankly, I love deserving clubs going bust and having to get demoted.  Leeds were hilarious.  Gretna had it coming.  And so on.

[Endie]

Also, the BBC news site is reporting that Manchester Utd have accepted a bid from Real Madrid of £80 million (so $130 million?) for Ronaldo.  If you have a strong stomach and a forceful manager then he's worth every penny.

[Amarr HM]

Good riddance 

[Amarr HM]

Against all my better judgement I put €20 on England to win the World Cup which I got at 11/1 a couple of months back they are now being touted 7/1 or third favourites behind Brazil/Argentina/Spain by some bookies, but the downside is I'll have to cheer England on and if they do win we'll never hear the end of it.

[sigil]

Also, there really aren't that many internationals in MLS.  Seattle has. . uh. . Montero, in the very unlikely chance that Colombia qualifies.

Most MLS international players are has-beens (Ljungberg, Schelotto, Blanco) or play for shitty teams that won't make the tournament (Montero, De Rosario, Ricketts).  Even the US national team only has 6 players in MLS (And Chivas has 2 of them.  Ha!).

Because it's much better for Freddy Adu to sit on his ass for AS Monaco or Altidore for fucking Xerez (He can't get playing time on a second division side?  Really?) than get fulltime playing time at home.

You forget  injuries pulled off Ching and Hejduk. There's a lot more than six in the mix, additionally some of the bigger names were schlepping in MLS until they got plucked.


Also Stuart Holden and Geoff Cameron are going to be shoe ins for a serious look. Hell, 3/4 of the Dynamo have been capped. Brek Shea will def get a look from Dallas, as will Chad Marshall.

Someone should pull some strings and get Mac Kandji a greencard.

[Mr_PeaCH]

Also, Kaka to Real Madrid. Guess that means Ronaldo's staying at Man. U.

No.

Como se dice "SUPERGALACTICOS" en ingles?

[HaemishM]

See, I can't imagine a side that needs both Kaka and Ronaldo on the pitch at the same time. They are very similar players. But hey, putting down obscene sums for All-Star teams that never quite materialize into champions is Madrid's bag, apparently. It worked out so well for them last time, right? Haven't they won more titles in the last 3 years than during the entire Galacticos' run?

Also, Setanta Sports is worth the money in the US. I pay $15 a month for it on Directv and it's easily worth that. With a combo of Setanta and Fox Soccer Channel, I saw all but the last Premier League Liverpool game this past season, plus a bunch of other stuff. If ESPN gets it, I'm pretty sure the coverage will be spotty and shit.

[Amarr HM]

I could totally see Kaka and Ronaldo working well together, in fact I can't think of a more dangerous combination of two players but the only thing is getting them to work well together. Kaka seems to be pretty down to earth.

[WayAbvPar]

I will miss Ronaldo's production, but his diving, whining, and general cuntery are welcome to fuck off to Madrid.


Now sign Ribery and maybe re-sign Tevez, get Hargreaves back from injury, and go out and win a quintuple next season just to piss in Ronaldo's eye.

[Amarr HM]

Nah fuck tevez too I dont want to hear anymore about the jumped up little fuck, plus an attack line with Ribery, Tevez and Rooney could be very damaging to any teams public image even United.

[Hoax]

I will miss Ronaldo's production, but his diving, whining, and general cuntery are welcome to fuck off to Madrid.


Now sign Ribery and maybe re-sign Tevez, get Hargreaves back from injury, and go out and win a quintuple next season just to piss in Ronaldo's eye.

I on the other hand no longer have to root for United and can finally get a Ronaldo jersey in that nice white Real uses.  Happy days.

[sidereal]

Berbatov is Tevez but better.  You don't need him.

If I were Sir Alex, I'd do two chicks at the same time.  Wait, what were we talking about?  If I were Sir Alex, I'd go get Andrei Arshavin.

[WayAbvPar]

Berbatov drives me insane. He will be asleep for 80 minutes, then spend 10 minutes looking world class. He has an unbelievable touch on the ball, but he is slow and lazy. Tevez works his ass off, but often runs himself out of position and commits fouls of overaggression. It is also tough to play him and Rooney up front together since neither one can do shit in the air.

United definitely need someone else to finish now that Ronaldo is gone. The guy could score from anywhere. I am not sure he gets enough credit for his ability in the air- he is incredibly athletic. If he wasn't such a cunt...

[Amarr HM]

There was a player once called Cantona the only time I ever saw him do a sliding tackle was into the face of some fat git in the stands, but he was a god of football his mere presence on the pitch could win a game singlehandedly. Berbatov has the potential but not sure if he can up his game I'd definitely give him another season, it took Andy Cole three seasons to start scoring goals.

[lamaros]

Who united gets will be interesting. I expect another winger, but they might show faith in Nani (hah, unlikely) or the two new guys they picked up and get someone else instead.

I'd like to see them get Ibra, actually. And Ribery.

Robery, Rooney, Ibra, Berbatov. I think you'd get enough goals from that lot.

With Hargraves getting fit again (not sure if he can) and Fletcher, Anderson, Carrick, Park, Nani, Tosic... there are probably enough options there for the rest of the midfield.

Will miss Ronaldo on the pitch as he is the best in the world on his day. But given his personality and relationship with Utd of late I don't think he was the best option for Utd any more and 80 million is a fair effort.

[HaemishM]

Ronaldo and the will he/won't he saga had become way too distracting for United, IMO. Ever since last summer, everybody knew he'd be going and where. You knew it's what he wanted to do. United is deep enough with enough transfer clout they can replace him for sure. Obviously not going to get a player of his quality back, but they don't need someone that good - they are still Man. U. They might see some dropoff in victories, however, but it remains to be seen whether either Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal can still challenge them. We've all seen that Liverpool is fragile without Torres and/or Gerrard, Chelsea has a new manager and playing style to adapt to, and Arsenal isn't that deep. I'm hoping that the loss of Ronaldo will mean the title will be more competitive next year.

[Amarr HM]

It was brilliant business sense to get one more season out of him, he really does want to be the greatest on the pitch SAF knew this and knew he could milk another season out of him disenchanted or no. The profit they have made on him is akin to winning two more Champ leagues & Premiership doubles and in a few years when he loses a yard or two of pace and starts getting injured more he won't be worth 80m. To recoup the money spent, Real will have to win a few domestic leagues and a CL or two although merchandising will definitely help their cause he's extremely saleable.

[sigil]

Schalke Midfielder Jones to jump ship and play for the US Nats

I've followed Schalke a bit and asking some more knowledgeable folk, I think he'd start as a defensive midfielder, which while seeming a case of  "How many D Mids do the Yanks need?" would allow Edu to move to CB and Bocanegra to fill the slot  at Left Back. It's intriguing proposition, anyway.

[WayAbvPar]

27 seems pretty old to never have been capped. How bad does he suck?

[sigil]

He's got Germany's Midfield in front of him. Ballack alone would have him riding pine. also there's a couple of D Mids who are a bit older who are in front of him. So not, not world class. but not exactly sucking.  Like I said, He'd start and play a solid role, assuming he fits in with the team.