soccer soccer soccer

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Yeah the money is what I was getting at, you've got midtable EPL teams beating out Champions League contenders in Italy/France for players, and that's creating a floor that is too difficult to rotate against consistently.  For some teams the Europa league might have that risk too, but I do think it's more of a Champions League phenomenon.  For example, Man U's European group stage games this year were against Real Sociedad, Sheriff Tiraspol, and Omonia, they can and did rotate for most of those matches. Same thing with Arsenal being in a group with PSV, Bodø/Glimt, and Zurich. Meanwhile Liverpool had 6 midweek matches against Ajax, Napoli, and Rangers in the UCL in order to advance, and  rotation isn't really feasible and therefore has to come at the expense of EPL matches.

[stitchface]

Right now, Real Madrid is down 3-1 to Girona in a midweek league match. You might think they are heavily rotated as they have given up on the league title, but they aren't. Courtois is the only notable absentee. I think there is also an element of not playing full intensity.

 

If you watch City at all, you can see the exhaustion in KDB - his body just can't recover to play full intensity. I suspect this is what has happened to Liverpool as well - Klopp's style is just so demanding physically. 

 

Interesting example you gave as I'm not sure those UCL fixtures are that much tougher than the Europa ones and you only have to get second.

[stitchface]

4-1. Valentin Castellanos has 4 goals. That'll be a good story for the grandkids!

[wolf stansson]

1 hour ago, stitchface said:

4-1. Valentin Castellanos has 4 goals. That'll be a good story for the grandkids!

Definitely they only player who put up four against both Reals Madrid and Salt Lake respectively.

[stitchface]

10 minutes ago, wolf stansson said:

Definitely they only player who put up four against both Reals Madrid and Salt Lake respectively.

LOL - I had never heard of him! This post makes me realize though what an incredibly stupid name Real Salt Lake is

[stitchface]

"Girona's Valentin Castellanos became the first player to score four in a LaLiga game against Real Madrid this century"

 

Last was in 1947

Edited April 25, 2023 by stitchface

[imb]

that settles it - if a MLS guys puts 4 on Real, it's officially soccer until real puts 4 on an MLS club

[soccer10k]

7 hours ago, stitchface said:

I suspect this is what has happened to Liverpool as well - Klopp's style is just so demanding physically. 

It has to. The past few years of going full bore with City. They ran them tight in 18-19, won it in 19-20, took a step back the next year, then took City to the wire in 21-22. Then you throw in three UCL finals in the past six years and knockout round trips the other three.

Then last year they played as many games as possible (unless they finished 3rd in their UCL group and had to play an extra round in the Europa). 2nd by a point in the league. Won the FA and League Cups and made the final of the UCL.

[wvcbxl]

KDB strikes early !

[stitchface]

KDB in the mood today . . . game, set, match

[wolf stansson]

19 hours ago, stitchface said:

KDB in the mood today . . . game, set, match

All that World Cup loafing is paying off as planned

[stitchface]

Dortmund just doesn't want to win the Bundesliga . . .

[soccer10k]

Is there another elite GKer who has as may awful goals allowed as de Gea? Dude is as good of a shot stopper as anyone and yet I swear he's got 2-3 plays every season where you wonder what the hell is he doing?

 

[wolf stansson]

 

good morning!

[wvcbxl]

Not a good showing by Real at all today - they were completely outclassed by City.

[soccer10k]

Coventry City and Luton Town will play for a spot in the EPL. Coventry hasn’t been in the EPL since the 2000-01 season. Luton was last in the top division in 91-92, the year before the EPL started. From 2010-14 they were in the 5th level of the English pyramid.

[soccer10k]

When normal sized people stand next to giants...

Edited May 18, 2023 by soccer10k

[UMFan83]

Well it’s official, either the team with the longest run at the top of English football or a team with a Prem league title in the last decade are going down (or both)

 

oh and Man City are premier champions again. Great performance Arsenal lol

Edited May 20, 2023 by UMFan83

[soccer10k]

Bayern lose at home to Leipzig meaning Dortmund can win the title by winning their last two games. Can’t wait to see which one they blow.

[wvcbxl]

22 hours ago, soccer10k said:

Bayern lose at home to Leipzig meaning Dortmund can win the title by winning their last two games. Can’t wait to see which one they blow.

Well it's one down and one to go - the Gelbe Wand is going to be quite the spectacle next week.

[UMFan83]

horsefeathering Newcastle.  Playing at home against Leicester, they put up 23 shots, hit the post 4 times, had 83% possession and scored 0 goals.   Net result is a 0-0 draw that clinches a top 4 finish for them.  A Newcastle win would have made it so Everton was safe with a draw and no Leeds win by more than 2 goals but oh well...at least Everton controls their own destiny at home against a lower table Bournemouth.

 

 

[wolf stansson]

haven’t been following…are we about to f around and win the u20’s?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

30 minutes ago, wolf stansson said:

haven’t been following…are we about to f around and win the u20’s?

I've seen that our group is not a terribly tough one, but 3 wins and 5/0 goals for/against sure looks formidable.  

[javy knows my name]

4 hours ago, wolf stansson said:

haven’t been following…are we about to f around and win the u20’s?

The women sure are

[soccer10k]

LOL Dortmund down 2-0 at home in the first half.