The Soccer Thread

[Fappin Raptor]

I support Everton. I know Survivor supports Sunderland. There's a few City fans as well.

[1ke]

So, have you ever called someone a bandwagon fan?

Of course, but weve been here long enough now where I thought you would have known.

Are you saying I'm a bandwagon fan? That means ive been a bandwagon fan for 10 years now.

[Prodigal Son]

Of course, but weve been here long enough now where I thought you would have known.

Are you saying I'm a bandwagon fan? That means ive been a bandwagon fan for 10 years now.

And what team was this person on the bandwagon for?

What's your connection to the team? Have you ever been to Old Trafford. Have you ever been to Manchester? Have you ever seen Man U play a game of value, live?

Why are you so willing to support a team in another country over a team in your own? You live in Milwaukee, and are willing to support Chicago teams, but can't do it in soccer? Why, because they're not that talented? So you'll follow a team that's much better at the game in a different part of the world? Do you not see how this can be seen as glory hunting?

Now remember, a lot of EPL fans won't cheer for MLS teams because the teams aren't that good. You're basing your fandom on talent. How can you say that isn't glory hunting?

You're the equivalent of a Yankee fan who grew up and spent his entire life in Oregon.

[calgaryballer]

Where you a Sounders fan when they were in the USL? Because, correct me if I am wrong, I don't remember all these posts at MM.

If you were a hockey fan, would you follow the Thunderbirds? That's still some decent hockey, but it surely isn't the NHL. Gotta stay local though. IMO, MLS is roughly equivalent to WHL hockey. Some good players, guys for the future, but no where near the top level

Also, just because people don't have teams that aren't in the Top 4 of England (keeping in mind it's only be a year since I had to follow my team through the Champo) is because of access. FSC/ESPN play Top 4 games all the time. If you are fresh in to a sport, obviously the ones that will leave a lasting impression are the ones who are winning. Does it make it right? Perhaps not, but it makes it how it is.

I am a member of both Reading (albeit they are very cheap) and Charlton (because it is free), with the fun cards and all, as they are teams that I can afford to see (and have seen in Charlton's case) when I am in London. My dream is to tour England and visit the lower league grounds, as 1.) I enjoy the LL atmosphere, and 2.) I can't fucking afford a game at OT or Emirates or Stamford bridge.

Anyways. The point I am making is that the whole bandwagon argument is a tired one. As long as you are vigilant in your support, and aren't a pure glory hunter, it's the way it is going to be. People gravitate towards the top

[BigHouseUSA]

Both sides have a point, there's nothing wrong with falling in the middle. I've explained this before, the three closest teams to me are Chicago, Columbus, and Toronto. Chicago have never had any appeal to me, Columbus is in Columbus, I can't support a team from there, same with Toronto. I still follow the league and support it, I don't think it's wrong that I support a mid-table English team and not a MLS team that I would be choosing under similar circumstances. When Detroit has a team, I'll have a team, for now I'm just a fan of the MLS in general.

Anyway, Cabaye has all but signed for Newcastle, apparently around 5mil. If the local reporters can be trusted, Gervinho is deciding between two clubs, but is favoring us, and Gameiro is 50/50.

[1ke]

And what team was this person on the bandwagon for?

A team that they had never rooted for before and never rooted for again.

What's your connection to the team? Have you ever been to Old Trafford. Have you ever been to Manchester? Have you ever seen Man U play a game of value, live?

Not yet, next spring. But I have seen them in the states 5 times.

Why are you so willing to support a team in another country over a team in your own? You live in Milwaukee, and are willing to support Chicago teams, but can't do it in soccer? Why, because they're not that talented? So you'll follow a team that's much better at the game in a different part of the world? Do you not see how this can be seen as glory hunting?

I follow the Bears and the Blackhawks because as a kid, they were the teams my father rooted for. All of these teams including United I have supported since I was a kid. Im 28. I think the glory hunting is a bit over now. Actually I dont see it as glory hinting when Ive supported them for so long. When is the appropriate time to safely say glory hunting is over for me? Since I do love my team and wont stop, what 2, 3, 5 more years?

Now remember, a lot of EPL fans won't cheer for MLS teams because the teams aren't that good. You're basing your fandom on talent. How can you say that isn't glory hunting?

But I dont mind the MLS. I watch a game whenever I can find one on TV. Its a sad league when there is one MLS game on tv, and I can find multiple games from England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Brazil easier. Not to mention Mexicans overrunning my television every weekend. And when it is one i watch.

You're the equivalent of a Yankee fan who grew up and spent his entire life in Oregon.

Again, i dont give a damn who people cheer for and why. What makes a good fan, is a guy who doesnt quit, or jump to another team. All the Newcastle fans who were there for the relegation. My brother and I sang our hearts out as our team got anally raped yesterday.

This whole thing was intially about MLS. I dont mind the MLS. But im too set on my ways, and was when MLS started to make them my own. When the Red Bulls played the Galaxy a month ago, i made an effort to watch that game.

[FirstTimer]

Why do you support the Bears instead of teams that have dominated the league like the Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, or recently New England?

Because my dad was born a Bears fan so I grew up watching them...and when I was born the Bears were really fucking good....

It's no different then the reason there are Chicago Bulls fans in China because the game and team they are exposed to was MJ and the Bulls. Or The Lakers or Celtics. It's not like somone who got exposed to high level European soccer would all of a sudden say "You know what? I'm going to start following FK Atlantas" No. They are naturally going to be drawn to the bigger leagues and the better teams to follow because they are easier to follow. I'd argue that up until maybe 5 years ago it was just as easy to sit down and watch a EPL game as it was an MLS game from a coverage standpoint. Maybe I don't remember ESPN or ABC airing MLS games as a kid or maybe I didn't care? But I really don't think there were a ton of games shown so it's not like the market was saturated so you had to make the conscious decision to avoid seeing the league.

Even today I can still sit down and watch an EPL or SPL game REALLY easily and follow my teams. Why would I choose to follow an MLS team just to appease some idiotic notion that "I'm a front runner". I like top division soccer, which I don't think MLS is. Like I said the game over here to me lacks a soul. Lacks passion and frankly the players in Europe are superior. Hell most top Americans play over in Europe. The top guys I watch and root for in the World Cup play overseas, what incentive do I have to watch MLS?

I'm sure if the MLS was an elite level on the field product you'd have people on this board following them big time and this thread would have fans of the league all over the place. But it's not, and there isn't. People like top leagues, the product is better. It'd be like you bitching about people not following their local AFL team instead of being a fan of an NFL team that isn't as close. The AFL product sucks. Why should they follow that team? Why should people knowingly follow an inferior soccer product if they don't want to?

I don't see single fucking fan on these boards or many others that supports a Championship squad or lower. It's Top 4 English, or Top 2 Spanish.

SPL bitch.

You have no problem supporting local teams in every sport, except soccer?

The local product is inferior and I have no interest in it. I'm also a Red Sox fan and have been my whole life. Is that a problem?

Why is that? Talent level? That's a fucking cop out, if that was the case, how the fuck do the Lions have a fan base?

No it's not. A Lions fan watching the Lions, just for the sake of an argument, is still watching the top tier of talent for Football WORLD WIDE. They still have the chance to see and watch teams and have an interest in the sport at the tip top level of competition for it's respective sport. Regardless if the Lions are bad they are still seeing their team who is in the top league of what they do in the world play other really good teams. Lions fans saw their team play the Packers twice this year, the Bears twice, they also saw the Jets, the Eagles, and New England this year as well. All top teams in the NFL for the past season. How often did the Chicago Fire play a top tier top league team in soccer this season in any sort of meaningful game. Lions fans aren't watching an overall inferior product compared to what they could easily watch on ESPN on Saturday morning, or on a FoxSoccer channel, or online.

[FirstTimer]

That's fucking ridiculous from yesterdays game.

[mgoblue2290]

Except it's not. Why do you support the Bears instead of teams that have dominated the league like the Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, or recently New England?

How many people on these forums stick with the closest football team, even if they're not in the same state, but when it comes to soccer, "Sorry, it's gotta be within an hour driving distance for me."

I don't see single fucking fan on these boards or many others that supports a Championship squad or lower. It's Top 4 English, or Top 2 Spanish.

Outside of Newcastle, what other squad that's not named Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal, or Chelsea do people on this forum support in the EPL?

You have no problem supporting local teams in every sport, except soccer? Why is that? Talent level? That's a fucking cop out, if that was the case, how the fuck do the Lions have a fan base? Amazing how all the horrible teams that there are in this country all have big fanbases, yet people won't support MLS teams because the talent isn't as good as the EPL.

The reason the MLS is run the way it is, is because of teams like the Cosmos who everyone thinks was so great. The Cosmos were the destruction of American soccer and set the country back 100 years.

No one starts out following Championship sides or lower because of TV coverage. You will never get to see your team play if you follow clubs like that. Those clubs have the support because they're the ones who get games on ESPN 2 or FSN. And those games are shown because they feature top level talent in order to draw in new fans. If you were going to show a country like Argentina one game of football in order to get them hooked, would you show Eastern Michigan vs. North Texas or Green Bay vs. New England?

Also the Lions analogy makes no sense. They're still playing in the NFL, which is cream of the crop for football. Also, if you haven't noticed, we've actually got some talent now.

[mgoblue2290]

That's fucking ridiculous from yesterdays game.

Barcelona just out played United everywhere. To be honest United didn't even look like they belonged in the match.

[FirstTimer]

The Ryan Giggs replacement stuff has already started.

Ashley Young from Aston Villa seems to be the guy.

Watching Giggs yesterday was painful. It was like watching McBride try and run around out there in the 2006 World Cup. He just looked 2-3 steps slow

[FirstTimer]

Barcelona just out played United everywhere. To be honest United didn't even look like they belonged in the match.

I knew Barca killed us in terms of possession but that chart is like nothing I've ever seen before especially in a championship match. Like I said yesterday, even when Rooney scored I never felt like we stood any real shot. It just kind of felt like we were hoping to hold on and capitalize on a mistake(which is basically what set up Rooney's goal) but Barca didn't make many mistakes and just bludgeoned us to death for the entire match.

[mgoblue2290]

I knew Barca killed us in terms of possession but that chart is like nothing I've ever seen before especially in a championship match. Like I said yesterday, even when Rooney scored I never felt like we stood any real shot. It just kind of felt like we were hoping to hold on and capitalize on a mistake(which is basically what set up Rooney's goal) but Barca didn't make many mistakes and just bludgeoned us to death for the entire match.

It seemed like that was the plan though. Just sit back and wait for the rare chance that United would get behind them or make a mistake like they did. I only saw snippets of the second half because I was at work but did United try and press them up high at all and put more pressure on them rather than letting them come at them?

[FirstTimer]

It seemed like that was the plan though. Just sit back and wait for the rare chance that United would get behind them or make a mistake like they did. I only saw snippets of the second half because I was at work but did United try and press them up high at all and put more pressure on them rather than letting them come at them?

Messi took over in the middle of the field. I guess you could we "tried" to pressure them up top but it didn't work. At times it looked like Messi was playing an another level...which he may have been. Remember the bad angle cut off logic in madden from years and years ago where you'd run to the endzone with 5 guys trailing behind you in a line? That's basically what our "pressure" ended up looking like. We were on our heels the whole time. Couldn't really dial up any effective or meaningful pressure because Barca was so skilled they got out of it rather easily

[1ke]

K...I think im finally better from yesterday. That picture is humorous to me. Humorous as is yea no shit.

Thing is, Carrick's job was to sit in front of the d. Of course Xavi would do that to him. He though always had Iniesta, Messi, and Biscuits right there with him to dominate. Carrick needed Giggs and Park. Now in no way or shape am I saying anything negative about Barcalona. I do hate them, and I hate their fans even more but they were better.

But basically, I see the only way to beat them is doing what Jose Mou did. You need a 5 man midfield and they need to be destroyers. Lass Diarra, Xavi Alonso, Khedira, and Pepe.Well four of the five at least. United now dont have the team to do it. Real Madrid have the midfield but not the defense.

United yesterday had no plan B. They came out and pressed then got tired and dropped and dropped and dropped. They came out to play a high line. But Giggs was nowhere to be found, and that left Carrick outnumbered and the D exposed.