The Soccer Thread

[killgod]

All these friendlies are cash grabs. That's why the Sounders FO won't put two big teams up against each other. They lose a lot of profit. Last year, my group ECS, got so pissed with us putting a friendly against Chivas Guadalajara in October during the busiest time of year while we had a USOC Final and CCL games. They shoved it into the middle of our busiest month, and we ended up going 8 weeks where we played 2 games a week, we ended up protesting the game, and giving our tickets to the Boys and Girls club. The FO was PISSED. Owner Joe Roth during the end of year meeting basically called us out and said we weren't true fans.

Damn. That's such cuntassery for the owner to call you out when they are clearly putting fucking money before the results.

:niggaplease:



There's no doubt MLS is growing and has the potential to really become a quality league in due time, but the decision making in the past year by the league and some teams have me really wondering if they are going to fuck it up.

In addition to the stupidity of money over real competitive play, the league seems fucking anti supporters to the core. They want their entire fan base to be a bunch of baseball watching fuds who sit on their hands and sip tea until someone scores.

 

[killgod]

Typed a bit on my iPod only to lose it with fat fingers. Thoughts on the game last night -

Jeld wen field is really nice. Sight lines are great from every where and you are close to the field

Timbers army provided great atmosphere. The chants were the usual familiar songs with timbers twists and simple "pt" clap clap "fc" fare.

They got off to a great start and I think possession must have been 70% in their favor for the first thirty minutes. The first goAl was nice counter attacking after a tfc post hit. Second was also well worked.

The chain saw guy was fun

Beer selections were from widmer brewing, quite tasty and a dollar cheaper than Seattle.

Tfc was outmuscled for the first half. 50/50 balls it seemed ptfc only had to step in front to win them.

Second half, I felt Portland tired and tfc made some good changes. De Rosario was pure trash and his removal sparked the team.

Perhaps kg can answer, but frings played the last half hour at cb. This gave him more time on the ball and seemed to calm everyone else down. Perhaps this could be a way to deal with his loss of pace. Enjoyed watching him play, his touch was a class above everyone else's.

Speaking of touch, I lost count of how many times toronto had the ball in a dangerous area, only to take a poor touch and concede possession.

All this drove home was my desire for a team in Calgary. Very unlikely, and I will have to move before having someone to follow. If mls can continue to find markets like portland they should survive and thrive so problem

Uhh.. De Rosario was traded to New York in April (then re-traded to DC United in June...) Not sure who you are referring to. Perhaps De Guzman? He was bloody awful, such a waste at the DP spot. Terry Dunfield was so much better when he came in for him.

Toronto is lacking in killer instinct, they make terrible decisions in the final 3rd. Starting to come around a bit but we're simply lacking quality in that area with some guys.

When we went down 2, it looked as if we switched to a 3-1-3-3, similar to what we did vs KC when we went down 3-1. Using Frings at the back like that seems to really work well because as you saw, his ability to play the ball is just a level above everyone else. He'll make passes that MLS players simply aren't used to having happen and it cut open KC a bit and even more so last night vs Portland. It is quite obvious he's gotten slow though eh? lol

Going to be interesting to see how our tactics are going forward with the success we've had playing like that.

 

[calgaryballer]

Yeah de Guzman. Canadian piece of shit

It seemed to me that there Toronto wanted a barca style 433. Fringes was in the Busquets role, dropping deep as a third cb. However, no one else knew what to do. De Guzman was in some dangerous spots, bit always made the wrong choice.

This year is a waste, but if the players have a year to get used to where frings will play them the ball, tfc has some speed to take advantage

 

[killgod]

Yeah de Guzman. Canadian piece of shit

It seemed to me that there Toronto wanted a barca style 433. Fringes was in the Busquets role, dropping deep as a third cb. However, no one else knew what to do. De Guzman was in some dangerous spots, bit always made the wrong choice.

This year is a waste, but if the players have a year to get used to where frings will play them the ball, tfc has some speed to take advantage

Yeah I thought so too regarding the formation. There's alot to learn for these guys because MLS has always been kick n rush crap. Also why we've had so much roster turnover cause the guys we shipped out probably couldn't grasp wtf they were to do, although some we have still are not getting it.

This year is indeed a waste in MLS, but we can use it to get guys in sync. We have Frings and Koevermans through 2 more seasons, so if we're good to go next spring, we'll actually be a playoff contender for a fuckin change.

CCL however is still in our sights. Non MLS sides tend to give more space and be less physical which will allow us more time to make better decisions with the ball and not fuck up as often as you saw last night. We can definitely do damage in that league still.

 

[NAHSTE]

Rudi and Nahste can consult their bandwagon fan guide on how to properly respond.

Yeah you're right, arbitrarily supporting one of the most successful clubs in English history is waaaaaaay more respectable than supporting a squad which hadn't won fuck all until this spring.

LOL at bandwagon. And what do you call your allegiance?

 

[mgoblue2290]

Yeah you're right, arbitrarily supporting one of the most successful clubs in English history is waaaaaaay more respectable than supporting a squad which hadn't won fuck all until this spring.

LOL at bandwagon. And what do you call your allegiance?

Except for the fact that I began supporting them during a season in which they finished 7th and were in the lower half of the table as late as January this year. We weren't exactly in top form when I started following them. You hopped on right after your Sheikh started buying all the hot young names in soccer.

Don't get all upset when someone makes fun of you for supporting a certain club. Liverpool is one of the most loved and hated clubs in the world. Man City fans get shit for following a team that bought respect rather than earning it.

 

[wr50l]

Puhlease. They finished in the top three for three of the four years prior and that Champions League win against Milan was hardly a distant memory. Frankly, need more evidence of mgo's fandom to decide if he's a gloryhunter or not. Although frankly, not a single fuck was given anyway.

 

[wr50l]

Tin pot football club Hearts have only gone and sacked Jim Jeffries. Apparently rescuing a club mid-season, getting 3rd the next season, and drawing with Rangers in the SPL opener at Ibrox this season is not good enough. LOL.

 

[wr50l]

Would you hate me if I secretly supported Hibs?

If it's from Edinburgh, kill it.

 

[wr50l]

True story, I enjoy Edinburgh. Not so much the football played there, but I'm headed back there later this month. I'm thinking of driving over to Glasgow as well. You know of any must see places in Glasgow?

And does the Ibrox do a stadium tour, I can't find shit out about it if they do. The wife and I were planning on buying tickets for the Aberdeen match on the 27th, but I don't think they've gone on public sale yet.

You a club member? Would you know when they go on sale? I can't find any info on the Rangers website.

If you want a drink in a quaint little place you should go to Ashton Lane. Tiny little cobbled street filled with bars and good food. It's located right next to University of Glasgow (fuck Edinburgh Uni!). There's some fucking phenomenal restaurant on Dumbarton Road which I'll try and remember to give you the name of. Byres Road is another great street for drinking. The West End in general is just a very nice place. Glasgow Uni looks awesome. Kelvingrove Park is awesome, Botanic Gardens are awesome, Kelvingrove Art Gallery if you're into that shit as well. There's also the Glasgow Science Centre down by the River, next to the HQ of the best news organization in the world :smug:. They just re-opened the Glasgow Transport Museum in a new spot, the old one was good. XScape is a cool big facility, movies, bowling, crazy golf etc. All this shite is easy to get to if you have a car.

Tour - http://www.rangers.co.uk/page/tours/0,,5,00.html

Game Tickets (Aberdeen game not on sale yet, probably won't be for another week or two) - http://www.rangers.talent-sport.co.uk/PagesPublic/ProductBrowse/productHome.aspx

Ironic because I was offered a free ticket with the season ticket holders to the Dons game but I can't get the day off work.

 

[NAHSTE]

LOL at suggesting he's a bandwagon fan. If he truly is a bandwagon fan, then he's shit at determining which bandwagon he should hitch his horse to. Deciding to root for a club who hasn't won a league title in over 20 years seems like a rather poor choice. Fucking Blackburn have won more league titles in the last 2 decades than Liverpool.

He also should've, (you know, as a bandwagon fan), chosen to support a club that up until this past season, wasn't run even worse than the Cincinnati Bungles. Mgo, you really suck at hopping on a bandwagon.

I guess a kid who chooses to support the Oakland A's is a bandwagon fan as well, I mean they are one of the most successful teams in baseball, in the past.

Please don't try and act all innocent. And don't think that the utter lack of respect football fans give new age Shitty fans is confined to this message board. Actively choosing to root for a club who have done everything in their power over the last few years to destroy the viability of the transfer market, buy a title, and who have effectively forced smaller clubs to concede defeat before the season even starts is a disgrace. Yes, Chelsea did it as well, and I have a serious distaste for Chelsea fans as well, but they were a little more knowledgeable about their blatant fucking of the English football system, and have actually tried to confine their spending.

So yeah, I do think supporting any one of the the other 7,000 or more clubs based in England is more respectable than willingly deciding to support Manchester City after August 2008. Fucking United included.

Yeah, and they haven't won shit in Europe either during that time. Except for you know, Champions League 5 years ago. :shifty:

I don't really care to be honest, I am fine with catching shit for supporting the team I support, keep it coming, but stop pretending that Liverpool is the little engine that could. They're a behemoth of a club in the grand scheme of things, so stop pretending like it's a struggle to ONLY support the EPL's 3rd or 4th best club.

 

[NAHSTE]

Never said it was a struggle. But seriously, wake me when you get a fucking clue. Everything everyone has said here and elsewhere about these Johnny come lately City fans is true.

Again, congrats on choosing to support a club who has gone out of their way to simply buy a title.

Thanks. Until it works you can save my congratulations. :smug:

 

[citizenerased]

Wonder if Gateshead will be on TV much this year, might hitch my wagon to them until the Fat Cunt leaves town.

 

[wr50l]

How much is/was Barton getting paid per week?

 

[Rudi]

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6812391/football-fight-hearts-minds-fans-us-roger-bennett

This is a great article about soccer in America. Yall should give it a look see

 

[citizenerased]

How much is/was Barton getting paid per week?

60k apparently.

60,000 x the 48 (?) weeks he had remaining on his contract = another 2.8 million for the balance sheet.

:fap::fap::fap:

 

[1ke]

You guys wanna see somethin funny?

But Villas-Boas feels City's financial dominance gives them an unnatural advantage in the transfer market. "I think it's unfair. I think it's pretty clear that they are building a squad to fight for the title," he said ahead of Chelsea's clash with Aston Villa in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy on Saturday night.

Fuckin hilarious!!! Just a bit of irony!

 

[citizenerased]

Nah, turns out the quote was bullshit :

"We were sent an amended version of the story by the Press Association 'following clarification of comments by AVB' (as they put it), removing the word 'unfair'. Not having been at the presser, my guess is that it was a throw-away line intended as a joke. Cheers.."

what he actually said was :

And Villas-Boas believes Roberto Mancini's side, who finished third last term, will be a serious threat this campaign.

"I think it's pretty clear that they are building a squad to fight for the title," the 33-year-old said ahead of Chelsea's clash with Aston Villa in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy on Saturday night.

"It's for Mancini to say what his objectives are but my personal perspective is that they are making good signings and that they can threaten for the league."

 

[Fappin Raptor]

Welcome to the soccer thread! Hopefully we can have some wonderful coherent chats about soccer.

 

[killgod]

:horse:

Off to Champions League group stage. Solid 2-1 win @ some cow patch in Nicaragua.

Johnson had a nice one touch strike from 25 yards out.