soccer soccer soccer

[wolf stansson]

I'm curious as to what got into England's youth teams lately. Gotta just be strictly club investment in player development, right? No way this is top-down from the FA.

 

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/story/3236812/eric-wynalda-set-to-stand-for-us-soccer-federation-presidency

 

So Wynalda is essentially Bernie Sanders for USSF President. Equal pay for the women : equal pay for women, move MLS to a winter calendar/make a path to pro-rel/observe FIFA dates : single payer HC.

 

No one pays enough attention to this for a populist to win, and on the surface these seem like pipe dreams that will never be implemented (other than equal pay for the women which absolutely could & should happen), but at the same time a part of me is like [meme of guy walking with girlfriend (Gulati) but checking out other girl (Waldo]. At least the chaos would be interesting.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I do think there's probably a pro-rel path to be paved eventually if the right people really push for it, but I have a hard time seeing the schedule thing happen until global warming really picks up the pace.

 

We start in March in bad weather and we finish in December in worse weather. So we have weather that's going to be a challenge, but it is silly of us to play our games of relevance and our playoffs in those conditions.

 

So the obvious solution is to play half the season between December and March and abandon the nicest weather of months of the year in the process? December/January in NY, Boston, Philly, Denver, Chicago, Cascadia, Canada, SLC, and Minnesota would be miserable. More than half the league!

[jersey cubs fan]

those crazy belgish are at it again

 

[Hairyducked Idiot]

those crazy belgish are at it again

 

 

Dammit Laurens

[wolf stansson]

I do think there's probably a pro-rel path to be paved eventually if the right people really push for it, but I have a hard time seeing the schedule thing happen until global warming really picks up the pace.

 

We start in March in bad weather and we finish in December in worse weather. So we have weather that's going to be a challenge, but it is silly of us to play our games of relevance and our playoffs in those conditions.

 

So the obvious solution is to play half the season between December and March and abandon the nicest weather of months of the year in the process? December/January in NY, Boston, Philly, Denver, Chicago, Cascadia, Canada, SLC, and Minnesota would be miserable. More than half the league!

I've seen some compelling cases for the clasura/apertura model from Mexico and S America which is essentially shorter seasons that straddle the bad weather period.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I do think there's probably a pro-rel path to be paved eventually if the right people really push for it, but I have a hard time seeing the schedule thing happen until global warming really picks up the pace.

 

We start in March in bad weather and we finish in December in worse weather. So we have weather that's going to be a challenge, but it is silly of us to play our games of relevance and our playoffs in those conditions.

 

So the obvious solution is to play half the season between December and March and abandon the nicest weather of months of the year in the process? December/January in NY, Boston, Philly, Denver, Chicago, Cascadia, Canada, SLC, and Minnesota would be miserable. More than half the league!

I've seen some compelling cases for the clasura/apertura model from Mexico and S America which is essentially shorter seasons that straddle the bad weather period.

 

Interesting, I hadn't heard about this. Sounds very similar to how MiLB leagues do a first and second half champion. I wonder if that would help or hurt MLS's minor problem with the regular season being kinda meaningless until summer.

[wvcbxl]

those crazy belgish are at it again

 

 

Deadspin only got it half right - what really happened is even more ridiculous. There seems to have been a meeting by various Euro-hooligans (80 Dutch from The Hague, 30 French from Lille, and a handful from England and Slovenia) who wanted to help the Bruges hooligans (all of whom have a stadium ban) trash the Antwerp contingent (who have a hardcore hooligan rep themselves). Because of a misunderstanding they attacked the wrong pub and ended up fighting eachother. :roll:

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Unceremonious exits from the playoffs for the Fire and Earthquakes last night, yikes.

[Banedon]

Unceremonious exits from the playoffs for the Fire and Earthquakes last night, yikes.

 

I turned on the Fire game for a few minutes last night. Saw the first two goals for NY and wow was that some bad goalkeeping/defense.

 

Also, NY has some absolutely hideous uni's. Good lord.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Unceremonious exits from the playoffs for the Fire and Earthquakes last night, yikes.

 

I turned on the Fire game for a few minutes last night. Saw the first two goals for NY and wow was that some bad goalkeeping/defense.

 

Also, NY has some absolutely hideous uni's. Good lord.

 

The length of the MLS schedule can be cruel. The Fire got out to such a good start, then only 17 points in 15 games after the Gold Cup break. In hindsight, probably not too surprising given how terrible they were last year, but with a couple small reinforcements they should be playoff caliber again.

 

You aren't kidding about the goalkeeping though, yikes x2.

[UMFan83]

Unceremonious exits from the playoffs for the Fire and Earthquakes last night, yikes.

 

US out of the World Cup, Fire crushed out of the playoffs, Everton in the relegation zone....yeah goodbye soccer for a bit.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Zack Steffen just manhandled Atlanta in penalties, what a display

[bukie]

Zack Steffen just manhandled Atlanta in penalties, what a display

He should be in Portugal next month.

[wolf stansson]

Zack Steffen just manhandled Atlanta in penalties, what a display

He should be in Portugal next month.

I really, really hope he, Gonzalez, and Horvath can be Friedel, Keller, Meola for this generation.

[jersey cubs fan]

[tweet]

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[bukie]

So this version of the playoffs assumes the home games will all be in Texas, southern California, or Florida.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

So this version of the playoffs assumes the home games will all be in Texas, southern California, or Florida.

 

It doesn't go any later in the year than the current format. It gets away with that by eliminating 2 playoff teams per conference.

[jersey cubs fan]

So this version of the playoffs assumes the home games will all be in Texas, southern California, or Florida.

november isn't that scary of a month for weather

 

and isn't this the same timing as current?

[bukie]

So this version of the playoffs assumes the home games will all be in Texas, southern California, or Florida.

 

It doesn't go any later in the year than the current format. It gets away with that by eliminating 2 playoff teams per conference.

It also backloads the games after mid-November, so instead of a max 2 games played at a specific venue after this weekend, now you are potentially looking at 4-5 games at one venue in a potential winter climate.

[bukie]

Personally, I'd be all for aligning the MLS calendar with other club soccer calendars, but the stadium infrastructure in the northern cities isn't there at this point.

[wolf stansson]

Bobby Wood is in a "negative spiral" and probably facing an uphill climb back into the lineup for Hamburg.

 

https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usmnt-americans-abroad/2017/11/1/16588608/usa-usmnt-bobby-wood-hamburger-sv-hamburg-negative-spiral

 

Yedlin's first game back for Newcastle after T&T was sketchy. He should've been sent off twice. Only poor officiating saved him. Deuce had the meltdown throwing elbows and got red in his first game back. Jozy & Bradley are getting booed everywhere they go, but they seem to be handling it well. Not a surprise as those two are supremely classy and have been through the wars in their time in Europe.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Jozy & Bradley are getting booed everywhere they go, but they seem to be handling it well. Not a surprise as those two are supremely classy and have been through the wars in their time in Europe.

 

Playing/leading one of the best MLS teams ever doesn't hurt either.

[soccer10k]

I went into the Champions League hoping Spurs would get second in their group and not really expecting a ton. Now they're a win away from winning the group.

[wolf stansson]

It must be awfully conflicting to be a die hard fan of these big clubs as you watch your favorite player demolish one of the GIANT clubs and just knowing that he'll be wearing their uniform when the summer transfer window comes around.

 

What I'm saying is enjoy Dele Alli while you can.

[soccer10k]

It must be awfully conflicting to be a die hard fan of these big clubs as you watch your favorite player demolish one of the GIANT clubs and just knowing that he'll be wearing their uniform when the summer transfer window comes around.

 

What I'm saying is enjoy Dele Alli while you can.

 

Might as well add Harry Kane to that also.

 

I don't know if conflicting is the right word but I know what you mean. I'm just enjoying it while it's happening. I know these couple years could be the best it gets for Tottenham but I think this is different from the Bale teams because Poch actually has a system. Redknapp's "roll the balls out and let them play" style isn't exactly a long term success plan.

 

I'm hoping that they can qualify for the UCL again next year and that, plus this UCL run and the new stadium can convince Alli and Kane to stick it out at least another year.