World Cup and European leagues

Started by Jim Matson, June 11, 2006, 12:00:45 AM

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blooter442

First time since 2007 that someone not named Messi or Ronaldo wins the FIFA PoY award: it's Modric. Glad to see the Croatian magician get his due.

TyWebb

Did anyone catch the ending to the Merseyside Derby yesterday? What a finish for Liverpool! Imho, I think Pickford
thought he could catch the service (if you could call it that) from van Dijk and the ball carried on him and then he just got caught
in no man's land not knowing what to do with it. Curious to hear other's take on it.

jknezek

More excited the U.S. actually announced a coach. Granted it's one that has been suspected for the last 12 months of aimless wandering, but perhaps now we can actually make a plan and start moving forward. I don't have a problem with Berhalter, but he definitely has some chops to prove at this level though no more so than any other American.

It will be interesting to see how he does developing the young talent.

truenorth

Quote from: TyWebb on December 03, 2018, 08:51:10 AM
Did anyone catch the ending to the Merseyside Derby yesterday? What a finish for Liverpool! Imho, I think Pickford
thought he could catch the service (if you could call it that) from van Dijk and the ball carried on him and then he just got caught
in no man's land not knowing what to do with it. Curious to hear other's take on it.

I am a Liverpool fan of about seven years now.  My two sons (who were both college soccer players) are Man U fans.  I'm almost feeling sorry for them at this moment in time...

I did see yesterday's Merseyside derby.  As a Liverpool fan, I was feeling frustrated as the clock was winding down and the boys had generated some great attacks but simply couldn't finish...  I was prepared for a draw, and frankly that would have been a fair result for both sides...

Then, the unimaginable!  That was simply a weird one-in-a-million play.  Van Dyke completely miss hit it, the ball had a very unusual arc and spin to it and it just happened to drop at a steep angle toward the top of the bar.  I think it was one of those moments where it was so unusual, that Pickford didn't quite know how to react.  It was easy for the announcers to say that he simply should have pushed it over the bar, but he was doing his best to react to a very weird ball.

What a whacky and amazing turn of events as stoppage time was running out...resulting in Liverpool taking 3 points rather than just the 1.  As a Liverpool fan, I felt giddy and undeserving all at the same time...

blooter442

Quote from: TyWebb on December 03, 2018, 08:51:10 AM
Did anyone catch the ending to the Merseyside Derby yesterday? What a finish for Liverpool! Imho, I think Pickford
thought he could catch the service (if you could call it that) from van Dijk and the ball carried on him and then he just got caught
in no man's land not knowing what to do with it. Curious to hear other's take on it.

I was watching but switched away at the very end as -- despite knowing that it ain't over 'til it's over -- I did not want to watch the final whistle of (what would have been) a disappointing 0-0 for the Reds. You can imagine my surprise when I got the live update about the goal. Having watched it again I think that's probably an accurate take on it; he would have been trying to prevent the corner but as truenorth pointed out it was a wacky ball: not a hard shot by any means, but it had a trajectory vastly different to most high services into the box. Also, as my Chelsea fan friend pointed out his relative height (6'0") didn't help him there. I'm not suggesting that he doesn't have the height to be a PL goalkeeper -- Thibaut Courtois' height jab after the Januzaj goal was dumb and half-baked -- but I think an extra inch or two could have helped.

blooter442

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the North London Derby...I was more interested in the Merseyside Derby for rooting interests, but that was a heck of game on its own! Momentum swings, a penalty apiece (some would say that Mike Dean is more interested in making headlines than in being a neutral arbiter), and just general drama.


blooter442

Have a day, Reds! One of the biggest regular seasons win for Klopp, who broke his Jose duck.

truenorth

Soundly thrashing Man U was a definitely a monkey off Klopp's back.  I was driving back from a day of skiing at Sunday River on Saturday with my two sons, who are long-time Man U fans.  A heated argument broke out as to the primary cause of Man U's woes...is it ownership, the front office, Mourinho, etc?  It was both amusing, but also a little sad, to hear the angst that is currently befalling Man U fans...

blooter442

Quote from: truenorth on December 17, 2018, 08:55:21 AM
Soundly thrashing Man U was a definitely a monkey off Klopp's back.  I was driving back from a day of skiing at Sunday River on Saturday with my two sons, who are long-time Man U fans.  A heated argument broke out as to the primary cause of Man U's woes...is it ownership, the front office, Mourinho, etc?  It was both amusing, but also a little sad, to hear the angst that is currently befalling Man U fans...

Must have been a fun car ride! ;)

I've had similar conversations with my old roommate who is a United fan...perhaps a surprise given our allegiances, but we lived together for two years and it worked because he is one of the reasonable United fans who doesn't make excuses when they lose (as I try not to when LFC aren't doing well). Ultimately I think it's a bunch of things. Mourinho, I think, is the biggest current culprit. He certainly hasn't helped the situation with the style of football. His tactical approach is uninspiring if not outdated, and, while he looks like a genius when he picks up a point (or three) at Anfield, doing so while showing zero ambition is always risky: as I often say "parking the bus works great until the other team scores." Liverpool's second and third goals were fortunate in the deflections but they deserved their luck IMHO given that they dominated play...and regardless of how good a team is at parking the bus, the teams that show ambition by having the ball in the opponent's half are liable to benefit from deflections/bounces/etc. in their opposing penalty area (worth noting that United's goal was rather fortunate, as well, even if not deflected). Anyway, he's clearly not getting the best out of his set of players: aside from De Gea and maybe Rashford, I don't think any United player is playing to his potential. Moreover, his man-management has been bizarre if not ineffective, and leaving Pogba on the bench when they were chasing the game didn't make much sense to me. Finally, his inability to blame himself in any situation -- instead blaming his players -- when they haven't played well runs counter to the other leading managerial minds in the game.

Ed Woodward does deserve some blame for his ineptness in the transfer market -- both not signing a CB this summer (Chris Smalling is Man Utd's equivalent of Martin Skrtel...can impress occasionally but overall not good enough for his club) and going after players for their commercial potential rather than ability to fit the system (such as Sanchez, who -- regardless of how much Mourinho is keeping him back -- is selfish and petulant). However, in his defense, he has given Jose plenty of cash since arriving, which has been spent poorly (for every Diogo Dalot there is a Fred sitting on the bench). I don't know as much about the specifics of the Glazers, but I do know that they are incredibly unpopular for a number of reasons, such as taking on a large amount of debt when buying the club. United overall have not gotten it right since Fergie left -- I do agree that having Chief Executive David Gill leave at the same time didn't help -- and while Mourinho's CV and results have been superior to Moyes and Van Gaal (neither of whom was right for United), his "third season syndrome" is starting to rear its ugly head...all the while failing to win the title in the second season as he did everywhere else (to be fair, City were imperious last year, so they deserve some credit for being the best of the rest).

Having been a Liverpool fan during some seriously "down" years (e.g. 2009-10 and 2010-11) I can't say I feel "bad" for United fans. They have enjoyed more than their share of success over the years. However, I do sympathize with those who feel that change is needed -- both on the touchline and in the boardroom.

truenorth

I think you've touched on just about all the pertinent points Blooter.  Man U's mediocre performance level on the pitch is a byproduct of all of the factors you cite.  One of my sons puts more of the blame on ownership and front office, while the other puts more of the blame on Mourinho.  But I think we can all agree that it's a combination of all of these things that has dragged the performance level down from the Sir Alex glory years.  Hey, like Man U, the Yankees apparently had a good run as well a bunch of years ago...  ;)

truenorth

Just after I wrote my previous post, I read that Mourinho has just been sacked.  Well...we'll now see how a new manager fares with the same talent and the same management and front office group...

blooter442

YNWA! Honestly this Liverpool team was too good to not win a trophy this year. Hats off to Klopp and the players.

truenorth

I am an absolutely delighted Liverpool fan!  It was not a pretty or well played Champions League final, but Liverpool were fully deserving of the hardware.  It was truly amazing to see how their defense was transformed from shaky to arguably the best in European football in a single year.  The signings of Van Dyke and Allison may have had a little to do with that...  YNWA, and long may this group reign among the European elite!

jknezek

Watching Gyassi Zardes play for the national team explains much of what is wrong with U.S. soccer. His goal, however, was perfect. Inept at anything that was played to him, but bounce one randomly and unexpectedly off his face and it goes right in.