soccer soccer soccer

[wolf stansson]

Apparently Charlie Stillitano, the US businessman who does the ICC tournament here with MLS teams and the bigger Euro clubs during their preseason, is over in England pitching breaking off into a UEFA super league. I love it. It'll never happen, but seeing the offense that people are taking online, especially in the height of Leicester mania while these club owners are listening to him tell them about the billions they're leaving on the table playing in their heritage club systems is hilarious. Rich guys are dicks.

 

"Hey United, what's up with these Leicester losers? You shouldn't have to deal with that trash club taking your shine. You should be playing nothing but Champions League opponents, every week! Hey Arsenal, don't worry about winning anything. You won't have to, because since you used to, we'll invite you on the strength of your brand alone! You can finish last and still make trillions!"

[USSoccer]

Honestly, I think Stilliano's a giant douchekabob and his saying that Leicester is a club nobody cares about and shouldn't be in the CL is garbage. They earned their spot and with the Sky TV money coming in, more parity is nothing but a positive for the BPL.

 

I'd rather watch leagues like MLS where teams can enter into the season with a shot at a title than the giant snoozeathon that is the Bundesliga, La Liga or Ligue 1.

[wolf stansson]

I'd rather watch leagues like MLS where teams can enter into the season with a shot at a title than the giant snoozeathon that is the Bundesliga, La Liga or Ligue 1.

Exactly. As compelling a metaphor for old European class issues as it is (know your role, don't be ambitious), watching fans lose their minds over Pyrrhic victories like top 4 for clubs like Tottenham and Everton or avoiding relegation for clubs like Sunderland is too different for me to fully embrace. It causes strange dynamics and massive amounts of non-localized fan bases that don't root for the home team because it's hopeless.

[shnsajax]

Great result for Leicester with the Arsenal-Spurs tie.

[USSoccer]

I dunno. I feel an Arsenal win coupled with LCFC would have been the better outcome.

 

That was a weird game though; Arsenal probably still should have won it but Ramsey waited to shoot and Wimmer made a great play to tackle it away

[wolf stansson]

US Soccer rolls out the new crest with an abomination of a home jersey.

[soccer10k]

Spurs needed to win that game after the red card, even when they were 1-0 down. And then after going 2-1 up, they took their foot off the gas and let Arsenal gain some momentum. Before the game, a tie wouldn't have been a bad result but considering how the game played out, it certainly was.

 

They still have home games against ManU and Southampton as well as road games against Stoke, Liverpool and Chelsea. They needed a win.

[USSoccer]

5 points clear with 9 to play.

 

And don't look now but West Ham have to be considered an outside shot at top 4 now. Amazing.

 

Spurs and Leicester in the CL next year. Bonkers.

[shnsajax]

La Liga is turning into a horsefeathers show with the distance between the top 3 and everyone else. The goal differentials are comical, outside of Athletico.

[soccer10k]

I know anything can happen over 9 games but it's really hard to see Leicester not winning the title at this point. It's going to take one of Spurs/Arsenal/City having a crazy run to do it. The couple online books I looked at have Leicester at even odds to win, Tottenham somewhere between 5/2 and 11/4 and Arsenal/City around 5/1.

 

Leicester still has games against Newcastle, Swansea and Everton at home plus at Palace and at Sunderland. If they win four of those games plus one of home to Southampton, home to West Ham, at ManU and at Chelsea, that would put them on 75 points.

 

-Tottenham would have to go at least either 6-2-1 (20 pts) or 7-0-2 (21 points) to get there. Pretty hard with vs. ManU, vs. South, @Liv, @Sto and @Che still left.

-Arsenal would have to go at least 7-2-0 (23 points) or 8-0-1 (24 points). That would mean winning all their easy games (hello home to Swansea) and getting at least one result @West Ham and @Man City.

-Man City would have to go at least 8-1-1 (25 points). Seeing as they've failed to beat any of the current top-8 this year either at home or on the road and still have Arsenal, ManU and Stoke at home plus at Chelsea and at Southampton, I think it's a safe bet that's not happening.

 

And Leicester only finishing with 75 points wouldn't even be that good of a finish. That's either 5 wins and 4 losses (probably not happening since they've only lost 3 times all year) or 4 wins, 3 ties and 2 losses. If Leicester wins 6 games, Spurs would have to go 7-2-0 or 8-0-1, Arsenal would have to win out, and City would have to either win out or win 9 plus draw the 10th. It's crazy that 75 points is probably going to be enough to win the title when normally that gets you third.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm taking the girls to Nashville this weekend to see USA vs France. They are pretty excited.

That was a fun weekend and a solid atmosphere

[Banedon]

I'm taking the girls to Nashville this weekend to see USA vs France. They are pretty excited.

That was a fun weekend and a solid atmosphere

 

And an exciting finish, from what I read. Too bad it wasn't on a real tv channel.

[USSoccer]

Seattle needs to stop playing Brad Evans at CB, because he's not a CB, and they probably need him more in the midfield. There was a Real Madrid-esque gap between Clint, Morris and Valdez (who is not a good fit with Clint and Morris) and Alonso is just too positionally undisciplined to parter him with Roldan.

 

Jovan Jones, though, is going to end up being a real weapon for them down the left side.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Seattle needs to stop playing Brad Evans at CB, because he's not a CB, and they probably need him more in the midfield. There was a Real Madrid-esque gap between Clint, Morris and Valdez (who is not a good fit with Clint and Morris) and Alonso is just too positionally undisciplined to parter him with Roldan.

 

Jovan Jones, though, is going to end up being a real weapon for them down the left side.

 

They really need to get Torres back so they can use Evans' flexibility more. Right now the alternative to Evans is Zach Scott, which is to say there is no alternative. They probably need to use the DP spot vacated by Martins sooner than later too, getting a two way midfielder would go a long way to take pressure off Alonso that Friberg and Roldan cannot relieve.

 

Agreed on Jones, he looked really good. Fisher looked really good defensively before he got sent off too.

[USSoccer]

Seattle needs to stop playing Brad Evans at CB, because he's not a CB, and they probably need him more in the midfield. There was a Real Madrid-esque gap between Clint, Morris and Valdez (who is not a good fit with Clint and Morris) and Alonso is just too positionally undisciplined to parter him with Roldan.

 

Jovan Jones, though, is going to end up being a real weapon for them down the left side.

 

They really need to get Torres back so they can use Evans' flexibility more. Right now the alternative to Evans is Zach Scott, which is to say there is no alternative. They probably need to use the DP spot vacated by Martins sooner than later too, getting a two way midfielder would go a long way to take pressure off Alonso that Friberg and Roldan cannot relieve.

 

Agreed on Jones, he looked really good. Fisher looked really good defensively before he got sent off too.

 

Yeah, Evans is a versatile guy, but he's not a CB and as much as Sigi thinks of him as a swiss army knife, his presence there kills them. When he brought Scott in and moved Evans to RB and Roldan up, that was finally putting those guys where they should be, IMO.

 

Torres is still like a couple months away, though, right? They should use some of the Oba money on a guy like Chris Schuler. He's not expensive, still a FA, and would be a really useful 3rd CB when everyone's back.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Yeah I think I saw May for Torres coming back?

 

I'm not very knowledgable about MLS's convoluted salary stuff, but my understanding is that as a DP, Martins' money operates mostly outside the cap. They could still use some of that savings to add some depth, but roster spots(since you still want to add another DP too) become a consideration. Downside of a capped league for a team like Seattle that would spend more if they were allowed. That could be 100% wrong though.

 

All that said, they won't spend 55% of the season down a man, so I imagine the spotlight won't be so brightly put on the center backs moving forward. And even then, they didn't have too many dangerous situations, the goal was the ghost of Robert Green inhabiting Frei.

[CubInOK]

La Liga is turning into a [expletive] show with the distance between the top 3 and everyone else. The goal differentials are comical, outside of Athletico.

Atletico's goals allowed total is comical.

[USSoccer]

Yeah I think I saw May for Torres coming back?

 

I'm not very knowledgable about MLS's convoluted salary stuff, but my understanding is that as a DP, Martins' money operates mostly outside the cap. They could still use some of that savings to add some depth, but roster spots(since you still want to add another DP too) become a consideration. Downside of a capped league for a team like Seattle that would spend more if they were allowed. That could be 100% wrong though.

 

All that said, they won't spend 55% of the season down a man, so I imagine the spotlight won't be so brightly put on the center backs moving forward. And even then, they didn't have too many dangerous situations, the goal was the ghost of Robert Green inhabiting Frei.

 

Oba's cap hit was anywhere from $228k to the $457k max cap hit for a senior DP. I'd assume they'd have that, along with TAM to play with to bring in another player. Unless they're going to ride with what they have until the summer and then try and bring in someone at that point.

 

In the 3 games played this year, Frei has let in some soft goals. It should be cause for concern.

[jersey cubs fan]

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[wolf stansson]

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2016/3/7/11172742/gedion-zelalem-rangers-usmnt-report

SSFC: Gedion Zelalem has seen his playing time with Rangers dwindle as this season has gone on. Can you pinpoint a reason for this?

 

CH: Unfortunately, there's not really any other reason than that he hasn't been good enough to get in the team (although a knock has kept him out of contention for a couple of games, but he hasn't been missed.) The thing to bear in mind with Zelalem is, he really couldn't have had things go much better in terms of gifting him an opportunity.

 

 

:(

 

Basically, he's a much safer player than you'd think looking at some of his highlight videos - too often when he receives the ball he just fires it back in the direction it came, or plays six-yard passes to keep the ball at the wrong time, when play needs to be progressed or sped up. A lot of the time he'll hold onto the ball too long and the chance to make the right pass will be gone. He's good at keeping the ball but his decision-making, awareness and vision really leave a lot to be desired to be an actual playmaker.

This is pretty spot-on to what we saw from hiim in the U-20 World Cup. He doesn't really do anything that makes your jaw drop positively or negatively. He gets in good enough positions enough to be intriguing, but seldom enough to make you frustrated and wonder why he isn't making himself more dangerous.

 

He's very, very young and the light could turn on with some muscle and experience, but he's not can't-miss like Christian Pulisic appears.

[shnsajax]

He needs Wenger to hook him up with Fabregas to train in the offseason.

[soccer10k]

As nice as it would have been to have Chelsea focusing on the Champions League semis (if they got there) when they play Spurs later in the season, I'm glad they got bounced so I don't have to worry about a repeat of the 2011-12 season.

[soccer10k]

I wish Spurs would have played better today but I'm not too disappointed with the result. Wish they wouldn't have given up the third goal only because they hadn't allowed 3 in any game yet this year. Dortmund is really good. Spurs never got anything going. All focus should be on the league now.

[Banedon]

I wish Spurs would have played better today but I'm not too disappointed with the result. Wish they wouldn't have given up the third goal only because they hadn't allowed 3 in any game yet this year. Dortmund is really good. Spurs never got anything going. All focus should be on the league now.

 

Glad I missed this one.

[soccer10k]

Rafa Benitez started this season at one of the biggest clubs in the world. He'll finish it at a team struggling to avoid relegation.