2009/2010 Football (Soccer) Thread

[sidereal]

Hell, Jozy would have been better.

Jozy is still getting his work permit sorted out.

Otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have started.

[Amarr HM]

That Vollolagres strike was pretty amazing as was the Ahouto-Ekoto one.

Actually his name was "Rodallega" for Wigan my bad, shame he scored it right at the start of the season in a nothing game cause it's bound to be forgotten about, but it was definitely goal of the season contender.

[sigil]

stoke was playing burnley... I'd wait a bit before declaring success.

Champions league tomorrow for Europe and North America  :)

[WayAbvPar]

Shit first week for me in fantasy, plus I had to burn 12 points in transfers to try and cover this week. Word to the wise- there are a shitton of teams not playing EPL games this week, so check your lineups and do the best you can.

Also- can someone confirm that ESPN was showing live EPL games in the US? I assumed their takeover of the Setanta stuff was limited to UK broadcasts. If not, woot!!

[HaemishM]

Also- can someone confirm that ESPN was showing live EPL games in the US? I assumed their takeover of the Setanta stuff was limited to UK broadcasts. If not, woot!!

Yep, I watched the Hull/Chelsea match on Saturday morning on ESPN2. I had to manually set the Tivo to do it, though - the goddamn guide still hasn't updated the schedule.

[sigil]

Shit first week for me in fantasy, plus I had to burn 12 points in transfers to try and cover this week. Word to the wise- there are a shitton of teams not playing EPL games this week, so check your lineups and do the best you can.

Also- can someone confirm that ESPN was showing live EPL games in the US? I assumed their takeover of the Setanta stuff was limited to UK broadcasts. If not, woot!!

I wasn't pulling that info out of my ass, you know...

and again, espns sat morning and Monday games will be your only chance for EPL in HD for now.


ALSO DirceTV will be showing the  entire Chamions league in HD ala NFL Sunday ticket. Started Today.

This from multiple sources, and me looking at a direcTV schedule grid.

[sidereal]

Also, I was just channeling through at work and noticed that we're getting Setanta.  It used to be a premium upgrade for like $20 a month (separate from the sports package) but now it looks like it comes with the sports package.  Had a live EPL game running.

[HaemishM]

Setanta for free would be a goddamn bargain. I've been a cheerleader of the package for years. It's the awesome - though less so with the problems the parent company had which caused it to lose broadcast rights.

[WayAbvPar]

Shit first week for me in fantasy, plus I had to burn 12 points in transfers to try and cover this week. Word to the wise- there are a shitton of teams not playing EPL games this week, so check your lineups and do the best you can.

Also- can someone confirm that ESPN was showing live EPL games in the US? I assumed their takeover of the Setanta stuff was limited to UK broadcasts. If not, woot!!

I wasn't pulling that info out of my ass, you know...

and again, espns sat morning and Monday games will be your only chance for EPL in HD for now.


ALSO DirceTV will be showing the  entire Chamions league in HD ala NFL Sunday ticket. Started Today.

This from multiple sources, and me looking at a direcTV schedule grid.

I had a brain cramp and thought you were one of our UK posters. That is great news! Pity I don't have DirectTV yet, and won't for at least a year- I just badgered Comcast into a decent deal for the next 12 months.

[Mr_PeaCH]

I'm a Cox cable subscriber and I don't see where ESPN has updated it's schedules to include any EPL action either.  After two years now of enjoying EPL on the Fox Soccer Channel my only complaint has been the lack of HD.  My understanding is that it is coming 'next year' but perhaps as soon as January.

In checking out the Champions League action this week I noticed that games were being shown (live) on both FSC and the regular Fox Sports Network channel as well.  Unfortunately again for me, Cox (or Fox) does not provide FSN in HD.

But looking ahead to this weekend I just noticed that on Monday on FSN they are showing an EPL game... it isn't live but looks to be a re-broadcast from one of Saturday or Sunday's games.  Just seems odd that both ESPN and Fox Sports are invested in EPL and European Soccer all the sudden.  I guess it makes sense if ESPN has gotten Setana's rights and Fox is just spreading around what they already had between their soccer channel and their main sports channel.

[HaemishM]

ESPN bought a good bit of Setanta UK's broadcast rights in the UK. Setanta US lost some of the rights (I assume for financial issues) to show them in the US and ESPN snapped them up. They've already been showing Spanish language soccer broadcasts on ESPN Deportes for other Euro leagues, so I'd imagine the chance to show ANY games from the most popular league in the world would be worth the money, probably because they lost the Champion's League rights.

[Amarr HM]

Ick no midfield 

[sigil]

Burnley   MAN U  


Tottenham Fucking Hotspur  

[Amarr HM]

I moved Defoe out of my Fantasy Football team to make way for Rooney & Drogba, during the week epic fail haha.

[HaemishM]

Haven't watched the Liverpool game yet - for some reason, the only showing they have is TONIGHT. Bastards.

Hull City looked shit against Spurs except for about 10 minutes of the first half - I stopped watching after the 3rd goal. What the fuck is wrong with Phil Brown? Why why WHY would you start Caleb Folan at all? And then, when you realize you need a guy like Geovanni on the pitch, you pull out Cousin and leave Folan in? Folan is at best a 4th striker option - he's not necessarily even a good starter for the Championship. He's crap. Cousin, Ghilas and Altidore all have more talent. Why would you start 2 big men up front then pull off the big man with actual talent? For the 20 minutes w/o Geovanni, they couldn't hold the ball in midfield. I'm also souring on Olifanjana - he doesn't seem capable of being a holding midfielder at this level. Better to leave him out, put Boateng in the holding role and Geovanni as the attacking midfielder, put Cousin and Ghilas up front and Mendy/Hunt on the wings. Hunt is probably the best signing Brown did all summer. Still can't figure out why he's starting Gardner instead of Zayatte or why he hasn't upgraded the goalkeeper position. I am beginning to expect that Hull is relegation fodder unless Brown smarts up or ships out - and I am actually one who likes Phil Brown. But he's got to pull his head out of his ass.

Spurs meanwhile still looked fragile on defense, but goddamn this side has some firepower. Why is it Spurs can have Crouch, Defoe, Keane and Pavlyuchenko as strikers and Rafa Benitez cannot get bring in ONE GODDAMN STRIKER to backstop Torres' fragile hamstrings? I don't get it.

[sigil]

he wants to see Jozy, but Jozy has been in the states since Donovan had h1n1 and Altidores  biometric passport wasn't done yet or some shit which kept him in quarantine.


Also, Dynamo get Landin from Cruz Azul (formerly from Pachuca) on a a loan for the rest of this year and the next. If he plays as well for us as he does against us... Dynamo to get their third star  this time around.

[Mr_PeaCH]

You know who else has looked really, really good for Spurs the first two games... Palacios (Honduras).  He seems much more physical than the typical Central American / Carribean player trying to get on the pitch in Europe.

Also, just noting this for posterity that after Week 2 in the EPL it is Spurs occupying the top spot.  (Suck it ManU!) 

[WayAbvPar]

They have more points already than they did by about Halloween last year. Uncle Harry is a miracle worker.

Palacios has definitely looked good, but I have seen some chippy/dirty stuff from him too. IMO you can't be an elite player until you get rid of that part of your game. Unless you are Wayne Rooney 

[sigil]

You know who else has looked really, really good for Spurs the first two games... Palacios (Honduras).  He seems much more physical than the typical Central American / Carribean player trying to get on the pitch in Europe.

Also, just noting this for posterity that after Week 2 in the EPL it is Spurs occupying the top spot.  (Suck it ManU!) 

Palacios has looked awesome, but let's not press our luck too much :)

[Abagadro]

Anyone ever watched a match from the third row? I'm planing on going to the USA/El Salvador match and can get seats either on the third row or in the upper deck.  I'm worried that if I am that far down I won't be able to see much of the action.

[sigil]

Third row where? Midline? corner? You sitting with Sams Army or the American Outlaws?

You get a much better appreciation for what's going  on in regards to the speed and physicality off the players (and in a perfect world more of the  emotion in exchange for being able to see what happened on the far side a little bit easier.

My advice, Third Row and record the game just in case you miss something. :)

[Abagadro]

There are third row seat available in midfield and also near the corner.

[WayAbvPar]

Sounders looked like crap again last night. Even worse was the officiating. The only good thing I can say is that the ref was utterly terrible both ways. I know every league in the world complains about the officiating, but MLS has to be leader of the pack there. These guys are fucking clueless and hand out cards like Halloween candy, especially when someone dare question their judgment. It is fucking embarrassing.

[Mr_PeaCH]

Yeah, Sounders a bit lackluster last night.  How about that ripper that Montero blocked with his head... how the hell could he not have been paying attention with the ball still in the Rev 18-yard box and him right in front of their goal?  Ouch.  Still, nothing but great things to say about the fans... your stadium looks and sounds fantastic.

[WayAbvPar]

They play well going forward until the final 25 yards. Then everyone goes to sleep and loses all aggression. Time and time again they pass up open chances to either take several more touches on the ball or lay it off to someone else. I would really like to see some more one timers from the ~20 yards or so. They won't always be on frame, but make the defense aware that you can and will take that shot and they will have to spread out to adjust.

Also, Nate Jaqua is killing me. He works his ass off, but he is just awful with the ball at his feet. He is like Peter Crouch's even more retarded little brother.

[sidereal]

Yeah, Sounders a bit lackluster last night.  How about that ripper that Montero blocked with his head... how the hell could he not have been paying attention with the ball still in the Rev 18-yard box and him right in front of their goal?  Ouch.  Still, nothing but great things to say about the fans... your stadium looks and sounds fantastic.

He was also offsides, making his presence there totally pointless.  The league has figured out how to deal with Montero, which is to triple team him and knock the shit out of him.  He doesn't deal with contact well and he's bad at passing it off.  I've seen him go 1-on-3 and lose the ball 2 seconds later at least 20 times so far this season.  Jaqua just marks himself.  He's a big guy who's supposed to sit in the box using his height to head in corners.  I think he has 0 (maybe 1) headed goal this entire season.  He plays like he wants to be Montero.  Juking shit around and dribbling up the field, except he's big and slow so it works out poorly.  It's at the point now that if the ball gets to Jaqua's feet, I go to the bathroom, because I'm sure there won't be any action in the next 3 minutes.

The Sounders' fundamental problem is that nobody has any offensive ideas except Ljungberg, who's migrained himself into irrelevance.  When he's not on the field, they just dink it around hoping someone will figure out what to do.  Or the wings will make a great run to the corner and then decide to cross it to absolutely no  one.  Like their job is to just make the cross and not worry too much about whether there's actually anyone making a run.

Also, we're now 0-2 on penalties (0-3 if you count Ljungberg's All-Star game shot)

All that said, Leo is looking good, and except for the San Jose game, I've never seen a game where the Sounders didn't have more offensive chances.  They just need to finish.

[HaemishM]

So who watched Hull City beat Bolton? 

Jozy gets his first EPL action, assists on one goal, and almost nets two others. He looked fantastic. Granted, it's against Bolton, but hey, an EPL team is an EPL team and Bolton is at least not complete relegation fodder. After watching Folan be absolutely useless for 60 minutes, it was quite a change. Any worries I had about Altidore being outclassed by Premier League football evaporated. If Phil Brown DOESN'T put him in the starting lineup sharpish, he is a fucking idiot. The understanding between Ghilas, Altidore and Geovanni was superb, like they'd been playing together all along. Also, hearing an English crowd chant "USA! USA!" was surreal and awesome. I did want to punch one of the broadcasters though - right after the only goal, they said "Phil Brown - tactical genius!" No, because if he was, he'd have had Altidore in from the whistle. Hull got bossed around most of the game until Altidore came on.

Watched Wolves lose to Man City, but they actually acquitted themselves really well. City controlled most of the game, but couldn't score more than a goal despite the vast gulf in quality. Wolves was inches away from equalizing a few times as well. I'm still not sure any of the newly promoted teams (or Hull) can stay up this year, but at least they can be competitive at times.

[sigil]

Hull's side is not terrible. I'd put them as upper lower level, not quite relegation fodder, but the team went absolutely ice cold last year. They couldn't buy a break.

Altidore and the other new signing look to be promising.

[WayAbvPar]

Liverpool currently imploding at Anfield v Villa. This is wonderful!

[sigil]

Liverpool 

[Amarr HM]

That's a good start :P

I put an interesting bet on with a friend the other day who's convinced that Liverpool and Chelsea are the favourites for the title. Basically I backed United and Arsenal to get more combined points at the end of the season than Liverpool and Chelsea he gave me 2/1. I'm bound to lose but it'll be interesting.

[lamaros]

I hope this continues. Liverpool has a shit squad and a terrible league manager (good for cups, tho). Was hilarious reading all the "Liverpool to win, Arsenal to drop out of the top 4" hacks at the start of the season. Hope they all get the sack.

[Amarr HM]

As I said in the previous thread Arsenal have the most talented first team and are capable of winning if they get a good stride together. The missing link was a decent centre back or two and thus far Vermaelen looks the part, Song is no Viera but he looks ok at least better than some of Uniteds hapless benchwarmers. They'll likely run out of steam again and fall short of mounting a serious challenge but I wouldn't write them off, be an interesting match up next week.

[Amarr HM]

I hope this continues. Liverpool has a shit squad and a terrible league manager (good for cups, tho). Was hilarious reading all the "Liverpool to win, Arsenal to drop out of the top 4" hacks at the start of the season. Hope they all get the sack.

But but, they have Lucas :)

[Hoax]

This is what I've been saying for ages, as a neutral who just enjoys teams playing splendid soccer you can't top Arsenal prior to half their starting 11 being injured.  When they are on it just fucking amazing.  United for the last few years was a close second except when they couldn't field a useful striker or Ronaldo was not feeling like participating.  Liverpool and Chelsea have never come close, they don't even seem to try to come close.  Everton & Blackburn were more likely to play a truly enthralling half then those two sides, which is why I've enjoyed a laugh any time they fail for the past 4 years.

Big day for MLS sides in this CONCACAF champion's league tomorrow, I think I'm still going to miss the games but if I'm around I'll try to catch them.