The Association Football Thread

[ellunitiko]

Many not-so-nice words left my mouth when that goal was scored.

Aguero just left Newcastle alive.

If Newcastle could only complete a decent pass in the final third.... I feel like that Aguero miss was meant to be, we shall see with 10 minutes left... I doubt QPR will give them any fits next week but stranger things have happened.

 

[DarthVisor]

That'll do it.

 

[ellunitiko]

And there's goes the league.

****ing yaya toure that mother****er

 

[DarthVisor]

This is all on United, though. All they had to do was beat Everton at home, draw at Wigan, or draw with Blackburn at home.

 

[ellunitiko]

This is all on United, though. All they had to do was beat Everton at home, draw at Wigan, or draw with Blackburn at home.

Or beat or draw at city...

 

[Roughneck]

Oh man, Arsenal dodged a bullet. Let's not screw it up again.

 

[tvolsfan]

I have done plenty of cheering for Dempsey on the national team and will continue to do so.

I agree that supporting Americans is a good way to go if you don't have another strong rooting interest. If Bradley goes to Roma, I'll have a new favorite team.

 

[DarthVisor]

Or beat or draw at city...

I don't know why I failed to mention that. United played awful at City by the way. Ah, what could have been...

 

[n_huffhines]

RSL played a man down again (though well-deserved). Nice victory, 2-1.

What's up with Montreal? Beat up on SKC.

 

[ellunitiko]

I don't know why I failed to mention that. United played awful at City by the way. Ah, what could have been...

They really did play awful, and that 4-5-1 lineup or whatever it was with just Rooney up top was terrible.

Beef up the midfield and the treble is ours next year...

 

[volball625]

They really did play awful, and that 4-5-1 lineup or whatever it was with just Rooney up top was terrible.

Beef up the midfield and the treble is ours next year...

Going from not advancing out of the group to winning the whole tournament? Pretty ambitious. I'm not sure United are even one of the best five teams in Europe.

 

[DarthVisor]

They really did play awful, and that 4-5-1 lineup or whatever it was with just Rooney up top was terrible.

Beef up the midfield and the treble is ours next year...

Far be it from me to question SAF, but whatever he was doing in the European matches was not working. Also, he probably should have started Valencia and Young from the get-go. Nani played like dog shat.

 

[milohimself]

It's not exactly like these expansion teams are coming out of nowhere. Kansas City is still good, but a 2-goal performance against the revamped Portland defense (which it turns out is pretty good) followed up by doing KC like that shows that Montreal has a good team. NASL isn't exactly miles behind MLS sides, add some good expansion draft players and you've got a recipe for a mid-table side.

 

[ellunitiko]

Going from not advancing out of the group to winning the whole tournament? Pretty ambitious. I'm not sure United are even one of the best five teams in Europe.

I'm not sure chelsea is either and look where they are. Or even bayern for that matter.

And I was speaking in jest about winning the treble.

 

[ellunitiko]

Far be it from me to question SAF, but whatever he was doing in the European matches was not working. Also, he probably should have started Valencia and Young from the get-go. Nani played like dog shat.

I would have had young and Valencia from the start, and chich or welbeck up top and do more of a 4-4-1-1

 

[milohimself]

I agree that supporting Americans is a good way to go if you don't have another strong rooting interest. If Bradley goes to Roma, I'll have a new favorite team.

Forgot if I mentioned the Mighty American. So, there's that.

I suspected that Newcastle wasn't getting points there, but FFFUUU... Needed that three points badly. Such a frustrating game to watch.

 

[DarthVisor]

Forgot if I mentioned the Mighty American. So, there's that.

I suspected that Newcastle wasn't getting points there, but FFFUUU... Needed that three points badly. Such a frustrating game to watch.

Tottenham are frustrating to watch at times. It's like they play down to their competition.

 

[milohimself]

Sometimes. Clearly not the case against Bolton earlier this week.

 

[Godfatha]

I'm not sure chelsea is either and look where they are. Or even bayern for that matter.

And I was speaking in jest about winning the treble.

Outside of Madrid and Barcelona, who would be your top 5?

 

[volball625]

I'm not sure chelsea is either and look where they are. Or even bayern for that matter.

And I was speaking in jest about winning the treble.

Bayern flat out took it to Madrid over those two legs.

 

[milohimself]

Anybody else catch the Milan Derby? Milito v. Ibrahimovic was epic

 

[TylerD]

Anybody else catch the Milan Derby? Milito v. Ibrahimovic was epic

The epic battle!

The prize: claiming you are now the one of reigns over the worst pitch in the world.

 

[orange parmejohn]

I feel like that goes towards the whole discussion of how much should the MLS emulate the big-time European leagues, and IMO not that much.

- First common complaint I hear is that the season ought to line up with the Euro leagues. IMO, no. The timing of the MLS season is good as-is, it only has the dog days of summer to compete with for the most part, and it provides a nice off-season alternative for those who do watch UEFA leagues. IIRC Russia is the only other relevant league out there who has a season that lines up with MLS, but they do it out of necessity.
- The Supporters' Shield matters more to hardcore MLS fans than you give it credit for, and the playoffs are viewed almost totally separately from the regular season.
- Aside from GK's, nobody makes all the starts in footy, everybody gets rotated in. Even the absolute best players on the planet will sit for a handful of league games for reasons other than reds or injuries.

Eric Wynalda soapboxes hard for the MLS to match the seasons with the Euro leagues. i dont mind the way it is though. actually all of your points are very valid. not sure if i would like to see the playoffs go away or not. i think it could possibly be a good marketing angle for NBC to promo regular season games with championship implications attached. it would also be outside the norm of what everyone is used to seeing.

 

[milohimself]

It would, but the nature of soccer can be a double-edged sword to those looking for ratings. When you've got entire nations raised on the game, the viewers just show up. Too many boring or poorly played games could be dangerous. But I think MLS could actually be marketed similarly to basketball. The other reason I forgot to mention as to why it's good the MLS season is when it is (other than only having to compete with early/mid-season MLB) is that players here can go out on loan in Europe, and more importantly down the road if revenues continue to improve, players from Europe can come out here on loan.

So things seem to be going well, both NBC and ESPN say that the MLS matches they're showing are hitting their ratings targets.

 

[milohimself]

Relegation battle extravaganza on ESPN2 this afternoon