Other Sports: Soccer/Football Thread Part Six

[TCTC]

I wonder what the percentage of Stokes goals were scored from his throws. They literally shaped their roster and team tactics around it. Always found it funny that they had Crouch but he sucked at headers

Yeah, most of the really tall players are bad at headers for some reason. Maybe they just can't jump lol.

 

[Appleyard]

Rory Delap. Yeah, he was a real weapon for them.

It's funny, maybe it's just me, but I think we saw a lot more long throw ins this season. I know that Arsenal did it a lot and other teams as well.

Delap is a lovely guy too apparently.

When he was at Carlisle early in his career (he basically grew up in Carlisle) he had mutual friends with my Auntie and her boyfriend, who at the time lived there... and they kept in contact for maybe 5-10 years after he left Carlisle.

Smart guy, very community and charity focused. Lots of interests outside of football.

 

[Appleyard]

Yeah, most of the really tall players are bad at headers for some reason. Maybe they just can't jump lol.

Carsten Jancker was the poster boy for that... scored some nice headers but for an absolute monster struggled to head the ball well.

Though speaking of tall players who can really head a ball... Ibrahimovic is one, some unreal headers. Mandzukic and Dzeko too stand out...

wait, maybe it is only ex-Yugoslavs who are over 6'3 who can head a ball? Ahaha.

Though actually... I reckon Fernando Llorente is the best header of a ball I have ever seen. At like 6'5, just a monster in the air and so accurate.

Him, Ronaldo and probably Klose are the best 3 I have seen... though Lewandowski is also amazing in the air. Only Llorente of those four is a legit monster.

 

[TCTC]

Carsten Jancker was the poster boy for that... scored some nice headers but for an absolute monster struggled to head the ball well.

Though speaking of tall players who can really head a ball... Ibrahimovic is one, some unreal headers. Mandzukic and Dzeko too stand out...

wait, maybe it is only ex-Yugoslavs who are over 6'3 who can head a ball? Ahaha.

Though actually... I reckon Fernando Llorente is the best header of a ball I have ever seen. At like 6'5, just a monster in the air and so accurate.

Him, Ronaldo and probably Klose are the best 3 I have seen... though Lewandowski is also amazing in the air. Only Llorente of those four is a legit monster.

Jancker... Brings back bad memories lol. He played at a time when Germany lacked decent strikers (or decent players in general). That Euro 2000 team he was on was a complete disgrace.

 

[Appleyard]

Jancker... Brings back bad memories lol. He played at a time when Germany lacked decent strikers (or decent players in general). That Euro 2000 team he was on was a complete disgrace.

Kind of between two very good generations really. Weird time for them for sure.

Matthäus, Bierhoff, Kirsten, Häßler and Kahn were 5 of the teams best ~8 players and all were over 30... with 3 of the 5 over 34.

Klinsmann, Helmer, Kohler, Thon, Reuter and Möller had ALL retired after 1998 from the national team and ~4 of them would have still been playing had they not in terms of ability.

Ballack and Deisler were there... but young.

Klose, Metzelder, Frings, Asamoah, Friedrich all made their debuts in the 18 months after Euro 2000...

and then within 3.5 years Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Hitzlsperger and Podolski came through.

Only guys really in their "prime" as World Class players in 200 for Germany were:

Kahn, Jeremies, Ziege and Scholl...

 

[Striiker]

They sure do love to decide that their refs were biased/incompetent long after it's already too late, don't they?

 

[TCTC]

Kind of between two very good generations really. Weird time for them for sure.

Matthäus, Bierhoff, Kirsten, Häßler and Kahn were 5 of the teams best ~8 players and all were over 30... with 3 of the 5 over 34.

Klinsmann, Helmer, Kohler, Thon, Reuter and Möller had ALL retired after 1998 from the national team and ~4 of them would have still been playing had they not in terms of ability.

Ballack and Deisler were there... but young.

Klose, Metzelder, Frings, Asamoah, Friedrich all made their debuts in the 18 months after Euro 2000...

and then within 3.5 years Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Hitzlsperger and Podolski came through.

Only guys really in their "prime" as World Class players in 200 for Germany were:

Kahn, Jeremies, Ziege and Scholl...

It was a weird time, but they could've seen it coming. The youth development was neglected in the 90's. There wasn't a lot of forward thinking happening during that time because the team just won the World Cup in 1990 and the Euro in 1996.
Only after a mediocre World Cup in 1998 when the core started to get older people started wondering where the young players are.
And after the terrible Euro 2000 everyone realized things need to change so the FA and the clubs started building performance centers and actually invest in youth development.

I still remember the 2001 qualifier against England in Munich. I think that's when the team hit rock bottom. On that day it felt like they were light years away from competing with the best teams in the world. The 2002 World Cup final appearance was a mirage.

I think it's no overstatement to say 1998-2004 was the worst period in the history of the national team.

 

[ellja3]

They sure do love to decide that their refs were biased/incompetent long after it's already too late, don't they?

According to reports in ITALY, of course... From neutral fans I gathered that the calls weren't that egregious? Can someone who watched the game comment?

Also, yay, CL final this weekend. Again - question to people more knowledgeable - does Inter stand any chance? With hockey over, FLA/VGK game being @ ungodly hour for us Europeans (and VGK dominating, ffs), no F1 this weekend, might as well watch the UCL final to fill the void.

Sorry, just been OOTL re: football lately.

 

[FLYguy3911]

No.

Serie A still better tho.

 

[Jack Straw]

No.

Serie A still better tho.

 

[Striiker]

According to reports in ITALY, of course... From neutral fans I gathered that the calls weren't that egregious? Can someone who watched the game comment?

I had it on but wasn’t paying super close attention. The broadcasters spent 90% of the game saying that the entire Roma roster and management needed to stop bitching to the refs over every single thing that happened, though.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

I had it on but wasn’t paying super close attention. The broadcasters spent 90% of the game saying that the entire Roma roster and management needed to stop bitching to the refs over every single thing that happened, though.

Those broadcasters need to stop bitching about a team from the greatest league in all the land.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Which league has a team in each European final? Case closed.

 

[Jack Straw]

Those broadcasters need to stop bitching about a team from the greatest league in all the land.

Which land are we talking about?

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Which land are we talking about?

all. the. land.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

According to reports in ITALY, of course... From neutral fans I gathered that the calls weren't that egregious? Can someone who watched the game comment?

Also, yay, CL final this weekend. Again - question to people more knowledgeable - does Inter stand any chance? With hockey over, FLA/VGK game being @ ungodly hour for us Europeans (and VGK dominating, ffs), no F1 this weekend, might as well watch the UCL final to fill the void.

Sorry, just been OOTL re: football lately.

It's Anthony Taylor - the only way it wasn't as bad as people were saying is if it was actually worse.

Inter has a chance if they play out of their skulls and the bald fraud overthinks things, which is his wont. But probably not.

 

[ellja3]

It's Anthony Taylor - the only way it wasn't as bad as people were saying is if it was actually worse.

Inter has a chance if they play out of their skulls and the bald fraud overthinks things, which is his wont. But probably not.

I am very well aware of his reputation; but from own experience in floorball, sometimes people see controversial ref assigned to their gaame and it becomes sort of a self-fullfilling prophecy/confirmation bias - they got nuts over every 55/45 call that doesn't go their way.

 

[Starat327]

According to reports in ITALY, of course... From neutral fans I gathered that the calls weren't that egregious? Can someone who watched the game comment?

Also, yay, CL final this weekend. Again - question to people more knowledgeable - does Inter stand any chance? With hockey over, FLA/VGK game being @ ungodly hour for us Europeans (and VGK dominating, ffs), no F1 this weekend, might as well watch the UCL final to fill the void.

Sorry, just been OOTL re: football lately.

It was egregious. Roma should have had at least one clear penalty. The handball was a CLEAR handball. Jumping defender, hands out stretched loke he's flying. Elbows outstretched.

The stamp looks bad in slow mo, and not great in real time, but that one was dorgiveable at least. The blatant handball was an atrocious non-call, though.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I am very well aware of his reputation; but from own experience in floorball, sometimes people see controversial ref assigned to their gaame and it becomes sort of a self-fullfilling prophecy/confirmation bias - they got nuts over every 55/45 call that doesn't go their way.

Yes, but he is terrible in literally every single match he officiates. Even in matches between two teams I don't care about, I am gobsmacked by how incompetent he is. And he isn't even the worst of the bunch. The state of officiating in England is unspeakably bad. It is a total abomination.

 

[Starat327]

Yes, but he is terrible in literally every single match he officiates. Even in matches between two teams I don't care about, I am gobsmacked by how incompetent he is. And he isn't even the worst of the bunch. The state of officiating in England is unspeakably bad. It is a total abomination.

Im sure this only makes you happy, but Taylor has a bit of a history with Mourinho/Chelsea. I know the standard "all refs are bad, all teams lose calls" applies, but Taylor is especially egregious with Mourinho and Chelsea.

Hes refereed:

Spurs Chelsea this year, which saw Cucarella clearly pulled down by his hair on a corner kick. Spurs scored to tie the game on that kick.
Harry MAguire kick Michy Batshuayi in the balls - no punishment..
Matteo Kovacic sent off for being stepped on by an arsenal player (no, im not kidding) in an FA cup final
Awarded a red/handball to liverpool for a reece james DOGSO (this one i can kinda see, but James Arm is MUCH closer to his body than the sevilla players)
Clear Alexis Sanchez handball uncalled - led to a goal in the FA Cup final.
Emi MArtinez handled the ball outside the area, no punshment

Obviously a Chelsea account, and obviously stills, but...

 

[Appleyard]

It's Anthony Taylor - the only way it wasn't as bad as people were saying is if it was actually worse.

Inter has a chance if they play out of their skulls and the bald fraud overthinks things, which is his wont. But probably not.

I think the one thing that Guardiola has done this year vs others (Champions League wise) that should be of massive benefit...

he did his overthinking in the summer. And has had City playing 3-2-4-1 the instead of the 4-3-3 for like ~70% of the season.

I really think he designed it just for the likes of PSG, Real and Bayern, which makes sense given the flexibility it has, and the ability to shut things down better if needed without changing formation than the 4-3-3 had.

I reckon the Premier League would have been more comfortable had they played the 4-3-3 all season... but Champions League is THE goal... and thankfully this year have not had to change formation in big games to counter threats that are just not used to seeing in the Premier League over the last few years sans Liverpool at times.

 

[DancingPanther]

Messi to Inter Miami. A player even half this caliber in the MLS has gotta be unprecedented right? This is nuts

Lionel Messi picks Inter Miami, giving Major League Soccer its biggest superstar ever

After months of frenzied speculation, Messi chose America over an offer from Saudi Arabia worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and over a potential return to his beloved Barcelona.

www.google.com

 

[Jack Straw]

Messi to Inter Miami. A player even half this caliber in the MLS has gotta be unprecedented right? This is nuts

Lionel Messi picks Inter Miami, giving Major League Soccer its biggest superstar ever

After months of frenzied speculation, Messi chose America over an offer from Saudi Arabia worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and over a potential return to his beloved Barcelona.

www.google.com

MLS had Rooney and Beckham but Messi is closer to his prime than they were. Obviously neither of them were quite at his level but half his caliber? Yes. Both great players. Back in the day ('70s), the NASL had Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Carlos Alberto, George Best... literal all time legends but they were all well past their primes.

 

[DancingPanther]

MLS had Rooney and Beckham but Messi is closer to his prime than they were. Obviously neither of them were quite at his level but half his caliber? Yes. Both great players. Back in the day ('70s), the NASL had Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Carlos Alberto, George Best... literal all time legends but they were all well past their primes.

Obviously not a soccer follower so I knew none of this. I know he's a little past his prime but still. Bonkers

 

[Jack Straw]

Obviously not a soccer follower so I knew none of this. I know he's a little past his prime but still. Bonkers

Yeah, it’s a huge get for MLS. It’ll be interesting to see if he just chews up the competition. He’s still great.