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soccer10k

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Everything posted by soccer10k

  1. soccer10k
    I definitely agree with you on that. It was the Europa but your point still stands … a few years ago post Bale but before Spurs were in the UCL, I looked up their record in league games directly after Europa games vs no midweek game. Unsurprisingly it was noticeably better when they didn’t have a midweek fixture. I haven’t gone through game by game but the year Spurs finished second to Chelsea I know they got off to a slow start (when they had UCL games) and basically crushed it in the second half after they got knocked out in the group stage. They did have two Europa games in the spring but that’s it. And not coincidentally, Chelsea had no European games at all that year.
  2. soccer10k
    WTF Milwaukee. They were up 10 most of the game.
  3. soccer10k
    Overall yes, the past few years Spurs have largely played to expectation or bettered it. As a whole, the past 8 seasons (starting with 15-16) have been great. This year though has been nothing short of disappointing. They finished 4th last year, spent a bunch of money and took a big step back. They could realistically finish as low as 8th behind both Villa and Brighton. 538 has them as the 12th best team in the EPL. One Elo rating I found has them 7th and another has them 8th but they’re closer to 11th/13th (depending on the ranking) than they are to 4th. So the fact that with 6 games to go they basically have no realistic shot of finishing 4th is very much an underperformance. And the league isn’t particularly strong either. There’s a clear top 2 but both Liverpool and Chelsea are down. Newcastle is on the come up but they’re not a finished product yet. Same goes for ManU under ten Hag. 3rd/4th was there for the taking and they’re not going to come close to it.
  4. soccer10k
    They just faced 5 teams in the bottom 8 and picked up a total of 5 points, they just gave up 5 goals in 21 minutes in a complete capitulation and once they hire a manager for the 23-24 season, it will be four different managers to start the last four seasons (Jose in 20, Nuno in 21, Conte in 22, new manager X in 23). They finished fourth last If that's not crisis, I don't know what is. Clearly money isn't everything otherwise ManU would have more than 2 top-2 finishes in the last decade in the league. Of course there's Man City on the other side of things. I'm not delusional to think that Spurs should be challenging for a title pretty much ever. That there was even any talk of that coming into this year was nothing short of ridiculous. But I don't think it's crazy for them to be competing for top-4 year in and year out. They do spend less than the other big teams but they're not that far off in terms of player salary (it's really the last couple years the top four has put some distance between them and Spurs). I looked at transfer fees but just looking at those year by year doesn't seem super helpful (this year Spotrac has West Ham in third, Forest in fifth and Man City in sixth).
  5. soccer10k
    It comes down to if Kane is willing to stay or not. If he’s unwilling to sign a new contract, you have to sell him. If Kane goes, you find an up and coming manager and give him the keys for a couple years like they did with Poch and like Arsenal did with Arteta. Give him time to evaluate the squad, ship out players that don’t fit and bring in the players to fit the system he wants to play. I’m also fairly pessimistic in that I’m not sure they’ll be UCL regulars again anytime soon. Man City and Newcastle have F you money and ManU is close. It’s pretty likely at least two of them are better than Spurs every year. Chelsea still can spend a ton of money too. So then you’re fighting with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool for one, maybe two spots if you’re lucky, and they all spend a ton more money than Spurs do. They caught lightning in a bottle with a great young manager and they hit on a number of players. Combine that with a couple teams being in transition around then and it was a perfect formula for success.
  6. soccer10k
    LOL Spurs. Blow it up. Hard reset time. Everyone can go.
  7. soccer10k
    Arsenal wilting. Third straight draw. City can now tie the game against Arsenal, win the rest of their games and win the title. If City wins that H2H matchup Arsenal will be in big trouble.
  8. soccer10k
    Did Jake not get close in either 14 or 15? I know he had a few games where he had no hitters through like 5 or 6 but can’t remember if any were perfect or for how long.
  9. soccer10k
    Well that’s a strange way to lose it.
  10. soccer10k
    The 2016 Cubs only did it 10 times. 2017 was 18 times and 2018 was 17 times though.
  11. soccer10k
  12. soccer10k
    Back to back dongs!
  13. soccer10k
    Should have struck out before the double but I’ll take it.
  14. soccer10k
    I've never minded going in for a game. 75-80 minute drive from Sac, 40 minute train ride, 1 mile walk to the stadium. Going home I'd usually stop at a bar nearby the stadium so the train wasn't super packed. Last train comes around 1230. Game would have to go pretty long to miss that. I'm ticked because right when the Cubs start coming to Oakland every other year rather than once every 6 years (at most), they're going to leave for Vegas. Sure, would be great if Oakland had a cool stadium and not some run down dump. But it was also nice to be able to buy very affordable lower bowl tickets, which is impossible for Giants-Cubs in SF. In 2016 I went to two games in Oakland. Sat lower bowl, right on third base about 15-20 rows up and paid less per ticket than upper deck behind home plate in SF for Giants-Cubs the same year.
  15. soccer10k
    And with the heart of the order coming up too. I think I’d rather take my chances on a hit or sac fly.
  16. soccer10k
    LOL any the A’s manager running out to argue that call at third. For one, that’s what instant replay is for. And for two, it wasn’t even close that the guy came off the bag.
  17. soccer10k
    If they had gotten tangled up and Sabonis grabbed Draymond’s arm in a similar fashion, and Draymond reacted by punching Sabonis in the chest, he’d absolutely get suspended. I don’t see how this should be any different. It’s such an easy call to suspend him. And like you said, his history matters. If the roles were reversed, Sabonis might have escaped a suspension because he doesn’t have a history of picking up flagrant fouls like Draymond does (though I’d still say Sabonis should get suspended in that scenario). You’re not going to get away with things when you have Draymond’s history.
  18. soccer10k
    Draymond suspended for Game 3. Very much deserved.
  19. soccer10k
    Took a bit longer than I would have liked to put up runs but I'll take the nice 4-0 win. Now sweep these MFers tomorrow.
  20. soccer10k
    This is the first time all four California teams made the playoff and it’s only the fourth time even 3 of them made it. Makes sense because for the past 4 decades the Clippers, Kings and Warriors have basically had one good stretch each and been terrible otherwise. And then when two of them got good (LAC/GS), the Lakers were awful. It would be the 5th time 3 of them had made it but the Warriors were the 8 and lost twice in the play in a couple years ago. Also, all 5 teams from the Pacific Division made the playoffs and are seeded 3 through 7.
  21. soccer10k
    Yeah, it's over because the A's stink. I mean baseball gonna baseball so anything can happen. But I'd wager the over on those any day.
  22. soccer10k
    Draymond gonna Draymond. Classless as always.
  23. soccer10k
    I would too. However Heyward is only hitting .182 and his OPS is propped up by 3 HRs in 26 PAs so I’m not willing to say Heyward will be not terrible this year.
  24. soccer10k
    Seems like as good of a place as any to put this but the Pirates have an outfielder named Canaan Smith-Njigba, who is the older brother of the OSU WR. No idea if he's supposed to be any good.
  25. soccer10k
    Very consistent too there. Two grounders to SS and one to 3B. Good thing they’re up 5 or that would annoy me more.
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