All threads are temporary. This one's about soccer.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:06 pm

The Sybian wrote:Jose Mourinho has a cartoon. Amazing. Which reminds me, what ever happened to Special One TV. Best show ever.

4 new episodes dropped this summer on youtube. Betfair paid for them and you can find them on the betfair youtube channel.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:27 pm

had 2 tickets to the men in blazer "night of a thousand stars" tonight and am just gutted that i couldn't make it. my da' had a minor surgery today (he's fine, had a cyst removed from his crotch, nbd) and i just got home. should be a great fuckin time.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:46 pm

cerrano wrote:had 2 tickets to the men in blazer "night of a thousand stars" tonight and am just gutted that i couldn't make it. my da' had a minor surgery today (he's fine, had a cyst removed from his crotch, nbd) and i just got home. should be a great fuckin time.

Minor surgery. Minor. Check your priorities, Doug.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:21 pm

This may have been posted, but apparently hundreds of migrant workers have already died laboring for Qatar's WC construction efforts.

How long is FIFA going to continue this charade?

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:29 pm

P.D.X. wrote:This may have been posted, but apparently hundreds of migrant workers have already died laboring for Qatar's WC construction efforts.

How long is FIFA going to continue this charade?

when gulati backs up the truck to blatter's office?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:02 am

cerrano wrote:
P.D.X. wrote:This may have been posted, but apparently hundreds of migrant workers have already died laboring for Qatar's WC construction efforts.

How long is FIFA going to continue this charade?
when gulati backs up the truck to blatter's office?

Fuck that. They'll come calling if it gets bad enough.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:57 am

wlu_lax6 wrote:
The Sybian wrote:Jose Mourinho has a cartoon. Amazing.

Interesting that Mourinho is portrayed as a guy who whips a rag tag team of underdogs into shape. He wouldn't dream of taking a job on a team that wasn't already filled with superstars. Look at his track record since leaving Porto.

In 2004 he took over a Chelsea team that had finished 2nd in the EPL and which had made the Semi-Finals of the Champions League.

In 2008 it was off to Inter who were coming off three straight Serie A titles.

In 2010 it was over to Real Madrid who are, well, Real Madrid.

And now back to Chelsea.

Mourinho is a great manager, but he also knows how to pick his spots.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:16 am

I think this is the path of most managers.

If David Moyes has success at ManU people will just say "he took over a team that won the EPL last year, that's easy". And he wouldn't ever go back to taking a smaller job.

Look at Carlo Ancelotti. Juventus -> Milan -> Chelsea -> PSG -> Madrid. He left star-studded PSG to go to Madrid. If Madrid win the league people will just go 'meh' he knows how to pick his spots.

I do agree that Mourinho's luster is falling off a bit. He is famous for the tactic of never being counter-attacked. But this year already I've seen Fulham on the counter and Basel struck gold down the wings. Something not seen in the past.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 7:34 am

1982 Man U team picture

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:32 am

Looking Sharp!

I didn't realize Bob Newhart was a soccer coach.

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 2:51 pm

So, when does the Newcastle-Everton game start?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:02 pm

Steve of phpBB wrote:So, when does the Newcastle-Everton game start?

It kicks off pretty often.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:36 pm

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:17 am

There really can't be a more ridiculous tournament than the Europa League.

194 teams? Three from the Faroe Islands?

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:56 am

Pruitt wrote:There really can't be a more ridiculous tournament than the Europa League.

194 teams? Three from the Faroe Islands?

It's a small clubs developmental league, nobody really cares who wins. A Kazakhstan team in the Group Phas of 48 is a big acheivement.

I hate the fact that 10 Champions League teams drop into it at the Group stage and then an additional 8 teams drop into it at the Round of 32 stage. It should be it's own tournament for little teams.

I actually still like the old system.

Champions Cup
Cup Winners Cup
UEFA Cup

Straight Knockout

There was less of a strain on teams to be in just one competition. But with demands on tv now, these tournaments are huge.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:22 am

degenerasian wrote:
Pruitt wrote:There really can't be a more ridiculous tournament than the Europa League.

194 teams? Three from the Faroe Islands?
It's a small clubs developmental league, nobody really cares who wins. A Kazakhstan team in the Group Phas of 48 is a big acheivement.

I hate the fact that 10 Champions League teams drop into it at the Group stage and then an additional 8 teams drop into it at the Round of 32 stage. It should be it's own tournament for little teams.

I actually still like the old system.

Champions Cup
Cup Winners Cup
UEFA Cup

Straight Knockout

There was less of a strain on teams to be in just one competition. But with demands on tv now, these tournaments are huge.

I watched some of the Spurs-Anji Makawhatever game yesterday and there may have been 10,000 in the stadium in Dagestan. Later, Seville played in front of a mainly empty stadium. And last season, I watched Spurs play against Salonika (as I recall) and there may have been 2,000 in a huge stadium. I wonder if the fans even in a small place like Maribor (home of one of the powers of Slovenian soccer) care when Wigan comes to town.

But I realize that I just deflated my own argument - I watched my team play. I guess if you're a hardcore fan of soccer, you'll watch the third best team in Croatia battle Israel's third best team named Maccabi.

My animus towards the tournament is that teams like Spurs must fly thousands of miles between matches in the Premiership. But I guess if the other top teams in England have to do it as well, the playing field levels out somewhat.

But jeez - the level of play can be quite awful at times.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:36 pm

They make the small teams play in bigger stadiums for that don't they? So if they have a really small home ground, 10k spread out in a huge stadium might make it look like less of a crowd.

But you may have access to attendance figures, so I'll hush now.

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:55 pm

The FA has created a London Underground map with the station names replaced by players.

So I guess last summer I stayed between Ian Rush and Brian Clough.

Full-size map here: http://www.thefa.com/News/2013/oct/~/me ... 94BD8.ashx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:27 am

So they had a game on the grounds of Buckingham Palace to honor the FA's 150th anniversary. To amateur sides Polytechnic FC and Civil Service FC played. Nice photo op, experience for all but the best part. Howard Webb was the Center official and they made the field staff clean leaves using this

I actually thought they were going to play some quidich.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 5:28 am

A bad way to start a game.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:31 am

Club World Cup Draw
http://soccer.si.com/2013/10/09/fifa-cl ... t=sc_t2_a2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 8:14 am

Baraca's newest signing

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:24 am

wow just makes a bad start even worse
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-di ... --sow.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:29 am

For some odd reason, Canada played Australia on Tuesday in a friendly at Craven Cottage.

Result was predictable - 3-0 for the Aussies who may be going to Brazil, but whose form has been so bad recently that the canned their coach.

Canada, well, they suck:

The loss stretched Canada’s winless streak to 12 games (0-9-3) during which time it has been outscored 24-2. The Canadian men haven’t scored in their last eight outings, a drought that now stands at 12 hours 32 minutes.

Included in those last eight games are matches against such powers as Martinique, Belarus and two matches against Mauritania - a team that was playing its first two games in - get this - 16 months. Those games were played at the Oliva Golf and Beach Resort in Spain in front of crowds of less than 300.

Hooray!

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:43 am

Pruitt wrote:For some odd reason, Canada played Australia on Tuesday in a friendly at Craven Cottage.

Result was predictable - 3-0 for the Aussies who may be going to Brazil, but whose form has been so bad recently that the canned their coach.

Canada, well, they suck:
The loss stretched Canada’s winless streak to 12 games (0-9-3) during which time it has been outscored 24-2. The Canadian men haven’t scored in their last eight outings, a drought that now stands at 12 hours 32 minutes.
Included in those last eight games are matches against such powers as Martinique, Belarus and two matches against Mauritania - a team that was playing its first two games in - get this - 16 months. Those games were played at the Oliva Golf and Beach Resort in Spain in front of crowds of less than 300.

Hooray!

we really suck and won't be getting better anytime soon.

Jason deVos (former captain) has a great article on the real problem behind this team right now; not enough players getting first team minutes, which means not enough players with real experience on the team. Some great quotes in there:

The grim reality is that our fortunes at the international level are not going to improve any time soon. Until we have a larger pool of players getting regular minutes at their respective professional clubs, we will never be able to compete at the international level. We just don't have the depth of talent needed to do so.

A case in point: Toronto FC midfielder Kyle Bekker has played more games for Canada's men's national team in 2013 than he has for Toronto FC.

In no successful soccer nation in the world does this happen. Yet because we have so few professional players from which to select our national team, we are left with no choice.

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=434326" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:50 am

degenerasian wrote: Jason deVos (former captain) has a great article on the real problem behind this team right now; not enough players getting first team minutes, which means not enough players with real experience on the team. Some great quotes in there:

The grim reality is that our fortunes at the international level are not going to improve any time soon. Until we have a larger pool of players getting regular minutes at their respective professional clubs, we will never be able to compete at the international level. We just don't have the depth of talent needed to do so.

A case in point: Toronto FC midfielder Kyle Bekker has played more games for Canada's men's national team in 2013 than he has for Toronto FC.

In no successful soccer nation in the world does this happen. Yet because we have so few professional players from which to select our national team, we are left with no choice.
http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=434326" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seem to remember that when the MLS came to Toronto, there was a lot of talk about how it would benefit the national program as well. Clearly not the case, and there's no way that a team full of young Canadians could be any worse than the sludge that TFC fields each week.

But it is an appalling situation. I never in my lifetime expect to see the Canadians making a significant dent on the world scene, but to see results like the ones I listed (what is the advantage of playing friendlies on neutral sites against bottom feeders?) is truly disheartening.

And there's no way Canada has a smaller pool of players than countries like Iceland. The CSA is a joke, plain and simple.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:28 am

Just a couple of years ago, I thought Canadian soccer was on the verge of being competitive for a World Cup slot. What happened?

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 12:04 pm

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 11:53 am

hmmm...

Cristiano Ronaldo ‏@Cristiano 8m
Thank you all for participating in the CR7 Boys Underwear Competition – it's been a real pleasure to see all of your photos.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 11:58 am

degenerasian wrote:hmmm...

Cristiano Ronaldo ‏@Cristiano 8m
Thank you all for participating in the CR7 Boys Underwear Competition – it's been a real pleasure to see all of your photos.

Real?

In other news regarding little boys, Everton are apparently keen on a Dempsey loan.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:09 pm

P.D.X. wrote:
degenerasian wrote:hmmm...

Cristiano Ronaldo ‏@Cristiano 8m
Thank you all for participating in the CR7 Boys Underwear Competition – it's been a real pleasure to see all of your photos.
Real?

In other news regarding little boys, Everton are apparently keen on a Dempsey loan.

yes

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:07 am

Thank goodness for the counterfeiters...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... -fake-kits

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:17 am

Gooch to QPR.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 12:43 pm

Holloway out at Palace

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:04 am

I hear Newcastle is changing their logo after this happened.

Here's the new logo:

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:53 pm

Apparently they had a bit of rain in Lisbon the other night during the game between Benfica and Olympiakos.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:28 pm

Sabo wrote:I hear Newcastle is changing their logo after this happened.

Here's the new logo:

how long were sitting on this so you could break it out this week?

i giggled.

eta: i guess this just came out because my brother just sent this to me on the heels of the report that the horse puncher got 12 months.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:02 am

Figured the EPL would be smarter than what I saw yesterday. Sunderland v. Newcastle. Both teams wearing there striped kits. So on TV the difference between the Red and White and Black and White was not that major. Especially since the stripes were the same width. The NFL and NHL have clear rules to make sure the game pops on TV. Stupid that the EPL does not ensure strong contrast in kits. Even the Chelsea-Man City kits were not significantly different in contrast.

Also I know the NASL plays the nostalgia angle, but having the championship called the Soccer Bowl is just silly, but congrats to the Cosmos for making the championship.On the other hand does a team that plays on Hofstra on Turf really line up with that name.

Post by **Sabo** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:38 am

A pic taken outside the stadium before the Sunderland-Newcastle game:

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:39 am

No doubt, Dan Snyder will bring this approach to media relations to Washington DC at some point! Stay classy, Newcastle United..