OT: Association Football Thread III (All Soccer Talk Here!)

[CasusBelli]

Liked what I saw from Tuchel yesterday. You could tell the players applied his system early during each half but reverted to Lampard’s tactics as the half progressed. That’s natural: it’s hard to overcome habit on a whim. Looking forward to the Tuchel era! Very knowledgeable and charismatic fellow.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Where is Pulisic? He is only not starting I don’t even see him as a reserve today. Is he hurt again?

'Where is Christian Pulisic' - Chelsea fans react to Thomas Tuchel's starting XI to face Sheffield United

 

[darko]

RIP Liverpool

 

[CasusBelli]

Where is Pulisic? He is only not starting I don’t even see him as a reserve today. Is he hurt again?

'Where is Christian Pulisic' - Chelsea fans react to Thomas Tuchel's starting XI to face Sheffield United

That Rüdiger own goal. I think I died a little when I saw that.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Chelsea is such an aggravating team to follow. Why didn’t anybody tell me?

 

[Synergy27]

Chelsea is such an aggravating team to follow. Why didn’t anybody tell me?

Wanna join me at my Tottenham pity party? I’ve been at this party for like 12 years now though. It’s a long haul.

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Wanna join me at my Tottenham pity party? I’ve been at this party for like 12 years now though. It’s a long haul.

My company is HQd in the UK and I have friends that wear the Tottenham scarf. Just trade Pulisuc there and I will buy his shirt and watch their games. This is 100% about him. It’s sort of like Norwegian fans rooting for Zuc. Player over team.

 

[East Coast Bias]

Where is Pulisic? He is only not starting I don’t even see him as a reserve today. Is he hurt again?

'Where is Christian Pulisic' - Chelsea fans react to Thomas Tuchel's starting XI to face Sheffield United

time to bring him home. Childhood United fan

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

This would be good:

Report: Bayern Munich make contact with Chelsea over Christian Pulisic

 

[Baby Duck Homme]

Get rid of all the coaches!

Tottenham Embarrassed By Team Whose Coach Was Sentenced To Prison This Week | Defector

 

[Synergy27]

I don’t even know why I watch sports at this point. Supporting Spurs feels exactly like being a Ranger fan. The amount of leads this team has pissed away in the last minutes of games is infuriating.

 

[ecemleafs]

I don’t even know why I watch sports at this point. Supporting Spurs feels exactly like being a Ranger fan. The amount of leads this team has pissed away in the last minutes of games is infuriating.

mourinho hasnt gotten more out of a team than their talent should allow since 2014-2015. this spurs side has way too much talent and depth of talent to be on 49 points after 30 matches.

 

[FireGerardGallant]

I know theres some other Soccer fans on this board. Anyone else see that some teams are creating a European Superleague? Disappointed as a Juve fan tbh, the way we're playing we don't deserve to be apart of Europes elite.

 

[nyr2k2]

I know theres some other Soccer fans on this board. Anyone else see that some teams are creating a European Superleague? Disappointed as a Juve fan tbh, the way we're playing we don't deserve to be apart of Europes elite.

I'm a Milan supporter. I'm good with the Super League, even if it's hard to imagine Milan having much success in it any time soon. Although, with the revenues this will generate, who knows?

 

[Synergy27]

It’s an interesting idea that’s for sure. Will be quite the spectacle to watch this go down.

 

[darko]

I seriously doubt this Super League ever gets off the ground.

 

[Machinehead]

I seriously doubt this Super League ever gets off the ground.

The largest Liverpool supports club has already pulled their flags rom the Kop and a prominent LFC fan-run talk show has promised a riot at Anfield Road.

I think the owners are seriously underestimating the backlash. It's going to be enough to hurt the bottom line.

 

[nyr2k2]

The founding teams are supposed to initially get €400M or something up front, right? That may be enough to deal with any backlash in the short term.

 

[Machinehead]

The founding teams are supposed to initially get €400M or something up front, right? That may be enough to deal with any backlash in the short term.

I think that's what they're counting on. They have their monopoly money for a few years and by then, they'll have built up a new fanbase.

In accordance with site rules, I am definitely NOT suggesting we burn down the stadium.

 

[Fitzy]

This is what happens when you do nothing about parity in any of the major leagues in Europe.

The same top teams have all the fans, all the money, all the best players. It's incredibly lame.

 

[Machinehead]

This is what happens when you do nothing about parity in any of the major leagues in Europe.

The same top teams have all the fans, all the money, all the best players. It's incredibly lame.

To be fair, a closed league for the teams that have all of the resources and influence is what North American sports is.

 

[Fitzy]

To be fair, a closed league for the teams that have all of the resources and influence is what North American sports is.

I don't think we do a good job with parity, but European football is a whole other level. Maybe finances aren't the whole answer, but the whole 'no playoffs' thing certainly doesn't help.

I find myself far more interested in one-off tournaments like UEFA than I do watching Bayern Munich win the league halfway through the season.

With no playoffs you get no Giants over Patriots upset wins.

 

[Machinehead]

I don't think we do a good job with parity, but European football is a whole other level. Maybe finances aren't the whole answer, but the whole 'no playoffs' thing certainly doesn't help.

I find myself far more interested in one-off tournaments like UEFA than I do watching Bayern Munich win the league halfway through the season.

With no playoffs you get no Giants over Patriots upset wins.

The Champions League is the playoffs. The no-playoff format domestically makes the season actually matter which is something I think is sorely lacking in NA sports. My biggest concern with this move is the possibility that it will replace domestic competition with a NA style "regular season." Nobody wants that. Having two legitimate championships to go for inspires hope and interest that I only wish the NHL had on a nightly basis.

I do agree that the one-team leagues aren't fun to watch but that's not due to the lack of a domestic playoff system. Bayern and PSG would win the domestic playoffs without losing a match. It's due to the fact that the financial rules are a joke and the top teams openly break them.

 

[romba]

Very interesting situation here. I don't know the full economics of Football, but everyone in Football has come out against this, unsurprisingly, because the financial losses for the rest of the teams not involved and the leagues would be astronomical I would venture. The big name teams have been wanting more and more of the pie in Champions League supposedly, they're not into the $ being redistributed to lower teams, and to help fuel the growth of the sport etc. The domestic leagues (EPL and others) and FIFA are all saying the teams and players won't be allowed to join them anymore if this league occurs, but will FIFA really risk not having the top stars in 2026? Because if it means bigger salaries, we know where the big boys will go, and then FIFA will likely cave and allow some 'exceptions' lol they like their money too

 

[East Coast Bias]

To be fair, a closed league for the teams that have all of the resources and influence is what North American sports is.

Ehh I really don't think it's the NHL/NBA equivalent everyone wants to make it. It's more akin to the NCAA. Imagine if the top 15 college basketball teams just formed a pact that they'd play the season as usual, but no matter the results those 15 plus 5 invites would be the NCAA tourney every year.

The biggest issue structurally (setting aside the FU to fans) is it devalues and completely changes the domestic league without consultation.

Right now City and United are the only ones statistically able to win the title. And its a long shot for United. For Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea, there would be asbolutely nothing to play for with a Super League. For some of them the domestic season would have been meaningless for months.

I guess West Ham, Leicester, Everton would be battling for some CL spots? Mixed with a bunch of aforementioned teams that have nothing to play for. How obnoxious would it be for Leicester to finish above everyone bar United & City, but not get into the top league?

The big advantage to the way it was setup was that you could argue that probably 15 teams had something to go for all season, even to the end. Top 4, plus 6-10 were within 5 pts of Europa spot. 3 relegated plus 2 just snuck by.