The Soccer Thread

[Guest]

United lose again. If Arsenal had won yesterday they would be even with ManU with a game in hand.

 

They'd be a point back because they would have picked up two points from winning rather than tying.

[Guest]

Tottenham probably lucky to get a draw today at Wolves seeing as Hutton should have been sent off in the first half. But after that, they missed a couple great chances to put Wolves away when they were up 3-2. Oh well, Wolves have beaten Chelsea, Man U and Man City at home this year so a draw there isn't the worst thing.

 

The good news is that Bale returned today as a sub and looked pretty good so hopefully he'll be good to go against AC Milan on Wednesday. It would be nice if Van der Vaart could play also.

[shnsajax]

United lose again. If Arsenal had won yesterday they would be even with ManU with a game in hand.

 

They'd be a point back because they would have picked up two points from winning rather than tying.

 

Your right thanks :-).

[Guest]

It's kind of interesting how close Liverpool were to not scoring at all today rather than netting three (not saying Liverpool didn't deserve to win, because they absolutely did).

 

On the first goal, Suarez went through four Man U players and passed the ball by van der Sar. If any one of those guys steps up, there's no goal.

 

On the second, if Nani heads the ball anywhere else or just lets the ball goal, Kuyt doesn't score.

 

On the third, if the Man U defender on the back side holds his line rather than being three yards deeper, Kuyt is offside and there's no goal.

 

On a related note, is there a player who works harder than Kuyt does all the time? He never gives up on a play, even if the ball doesn't come to him immediately. He always chases after shots and goes after rebounds. He never seems to tire and is still going hard right to the end. I can't think of another player who has scored or set up more goals just by putting in the effort to get to the right spot.

[wolf stansson]

Luis Suarez? YES PLEASE.

The setup of the first goal was world class.

 

Like clockwork, the Arsenal never miss an opportunity to drop points when United lose.

[shnsajax]

over/under on Messi goals today is at 1.5.

[bukie]

2011 Gold Cup groups announced:

Group A: Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B: Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Grenada

Group C: United States, Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe

 

I guess I forgot that T&T failed to qualify.

Edited March 8, 2011 by bukie

[wolf stansson]

COME GET SOME, CANADA.

[Guest]

USA will play in Detroit, Tampa, and KC. I may have to try to make that KC game.

 

EDIT: That seems like a pretty great draw for us.

[bukie]

USA will play in Detroit, Tampa, and KC. I may have to try to make that KC game.

 

EDIT: That seems like a pretty great draw for us.

It's CONCACAF, anybody that wasn't Costa Rica was going to be a great draw (since Mexico and Honduras were guaranteed to head the other groups).

 

The knockout round is set up so that the QF matchup will be...a third-place team, and the SF matchup would likely be whoever finishes 2nd out of Costa Rica/Mexico.

[Guest]

USA will play in Detroit, Tampa, and KC. I may have to try to make that KC game.

 

EDIT: That seems like a pretty great draw for us.

It's CONCACAF, anybody that wasn't Costa Rica was going to be a great draw (since Mexico and Honduras were guaranteed to head the other groups).

 

The knockout round is set up so that the QF matchup will be...a third-place team, and the SF matchup would likely be whoever finishes 2nd out of Costa Rica/Mexico.

 

Yeah, none of them are going to be murderous, but I think you can make the argument we have the worst team in each of the other 2nd, 3rd, and 4th slots.

[Jon]

Chicago gets El Salvador vs. Cuba and Mexico vs. Costa Rica. Eff that.

[bukie]

Chicago gets El Salvador vs. Cuba and Mexico vs. Costa Rica. Eff that.

Remind me to be nowhere near the stadium on those days.

[Guest]

On the other hand, watching sad Mexico fans filter through the city is hilarious and awesome.

[Jon]

Presale starts tomorrow morning, by the way. Gold Cup tickets officially go on sale on 3/16.

[wolf stansson]

Ives is chatting with Chuck Blazer. Really encouraging news is that the BS new CONCACAF qualifying format has NOT been finalized. The lack of US v Mexico matchup is a huge factor for why.

[USSoccer]

COME GET SOME, CANADA.

 

I'm gonna have to go to the Detroit game.

 

Also looking forward to us beating the hell out of Canada.

 

Also, I'm taking the under on Messi goals. I have a funny feeling Arsenal is going to win this game.

[Guest]

This is interesting. The new SSS in Kansas City is going to be called Livestrong Sporting park, and they sponsorship will be the team/owners donating to the Lance Armstrong Foundation(7.5M over 6 years) rather than the other way around.

[Guest]

Anyone read the Jose Mourinho SI story from last week?

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1182630/index.htm

 

He wants to come to the U.S., both to observe NFL coaching staffs and, eventually, to manage the U.S. national team or an MLS club.

 

Mourinho's children have attended the American Schools in London, Milan and Madrid. He expects they will go to college in the U.S. And therein lies an opportunity for soccer in America. "We want to be close to our kids the maximum we can," he says. "So in a few years when they go in that direction, me and my wife are going to go in the same direction. I see myself coaching a [club] team, coaching the national team or helping develop soccer in the U.S. When I'm tired of winning things in Europe, it's something I want to do. I want to coach the Portuguese national team, and I want to work in the United States."

 

Do the math. Matilde will be college age in four years, José Jr. in eight. The timing would set up well for Mourinho to take over the U.S. soon after, say, World Cup 2018. He already brings his teams to Los Angeles for preseason training every year. "I love it," Mourinho says of America. "The people have a very open mentality. Everybody is the same. Status doesn't count a lot. I like it very much in this way."

 

DON'T TORTURE ME LIKE THIS, JOSE.

 

I also thought it was funny that Wahl portrayed Inter Milan to be some scrub team with a small budget and crappy players. I mean, yeah, they might not have the payroll of Real Madrid or Chelsea but they're still spending a ton of money and have a lot of really good players.

[shnsajax]

Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, and Mexico in Dallas. [expletive] that, they better be handing out free cigars for me to consider going. Can't I get 1 US game in Dallas at some point.

[Guest]

I'm thinking 3-1 Barca with the under on Messi goals as Villa will get two.

[shnsajax]

So Arsenal manage to get van Persie, and Cesc healthy but then lose Szczesny and have to bring in Almunia :-(.

 

Messi has 1, Arsenal has to score now which will only the field a lot more.

[shnsajax]

 

Mourinho's children have attended the American Schools in London, Milan and Madrid. He expects they will go to college in the U.S. And therein lies an opportunity for soccer in America. "We want to be close to our kids the maximum we can," he says. "So in a few years when they go in that direction, me and my wife are going to go in the same direction. I see myself coaching a [club] team, coaching the national team or helping develop soccer in the U.S. When I'm tired of winning things in Europe, it's something I want to do. I want to coach the Portuguese national team, and I want to work in the United States."

 

This is how awesome Jose is.

[Guest]

Wow, what a horrible, horrible decision from the ref to send van Persie off. There's no way that should have been a yellow under any circumstances. It's almost like he forgot van Persie already had a yellow but it was too late once he showed him the yellow.

 

Plus with Arsenal scoring, the game was really going to open up because now Barcelona had to score but it was still worth it for Arsenal to push for a second since they could give one up and still go to extra time but a second Arsenal goal would mean Barcelona would have to win 4-2. But now Arsenal has no choice but to pack it in and hope Barcelona doesn't score more than one goal.

Edited March 8, 2011 by soccer10k

[shnsajax]

Haha, Arsenal get an own goal to tie and still don't have a shot on goal yet. Was van Persie's sending off legit? Sounds pretty shitty reading the gamecast, though it could have been a 2nd yellow. 33 more minutes of defending.