Generic soccer thread
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@rockchalkjayhawk afaict the earlier Tuchel just didnt like Conte running up to his bench when they scored seemingly in the run of play after Havertz got mauled on a no call. However it was like a minute later.
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@approxinfinity missed that one. no doubt both coaches were acting a fool. yet highly entertaining! There were some serious no calls in that game. I can see how the players and managers were on edge.
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You guys will have to forgive me for not commenting much on club soccer. Followed La Liga for a stretch after a study abroad season in Zaragoza (since relegated to 2nd division) but fell off following once I got married and had kids. I’m all-in as a USMNT guy, but am only a novice otherwise. As the World Cup approaches, I promise to be more engaged here. I appreciate the space on here to talk shop.
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@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:
@approxinfinity missed that one. no doubt both coaches were acting a fool. yet highly entertaining! There were some serious no calls in that game. I can see how the players and managers were on edge.
Only saw the start of that game; finally caught the highlights later. What a donnybrook ! Better than WWE, complete with hair pulling.
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On the women’s side, once again the USA U-20 team failed to make it out of the group stage in their World Cup after losing to favorite Japan last night. This doesn’t bode well for continuing the dominance of the senior team, which is getting a bit long in the tooth.
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Wow! meant to watch that, and i spaced @nwhawkfan . i watched a bit of their last game. did not look good.
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Two pretty entertaining EPL games over the weekend.
The Leeds/Chelsea game featured three Americans (at one point). Pulisic, Adams and Aaronsen. I think Leeds may be my new go to team to watch. That means I can finally break out that Leeds cap I bought in England 20 years ago! They are all over the place, as you can imagine with the later two US guys. They shut out Chelsea!
And somehow Newcastle scored three on Man City for a tie.
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I’ve got mixed feelings about Leeds. Jesse Marsch has a reputation as being a pretty abrasive manager. I guess winning will cover up a lot of that, and take away some of the anti-American prejudice there’s been in the past among English fans.
Impressive showing by Newcastle. Eddie Howe did a great job bringing Bournemouth up from the ashes a few years ago. I always wondered what he could do once he was given proper resources. Regardless of how you feel about Saudi oil money in sports, there’s no doubt that the new owners will spend what’s necessary to get the job done.
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@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
Eddie Howe
I honestly didn’t even realize Jesse Marsch was American! ha. dunno anything about him. he did look excitable on the sideline. So, i don’t know his drama. I do know that Leeds played a pretty entertaining match. Their style of play brought some energy to the pitch. I haven’t really watched Leeds lately, so i can only assume they play that way all the time.
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@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:
@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
Eddie Howe
I honestly didn’t even realize Jesse Marsch was American! ha. dunno anything about him. he did look excitable on the sideline. So, i don’t know his drama. I do know that Leeds played a pretty entertaining match. Their style of play brought some energy to the pitch. I haven’t really watched Leeds lately, so i can only assume they play that way all the time.
That uptempo style is a carryover from their previous manager, Marcelo Bielsa. He managed to get Leeds promoted back to the Premier League, but couldn’t keep up the success. When they were close to relegation last season, he resigned in an “amicable” split Apparently he was still pretty popular among their fans. When Marsch took over he was smart enough to keep that attacking style.
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Well, i’m guessing that the one game i saw Leeds play with all that speed and energy was an outlier…they looked like nothing of the sort today in a loss vs BHA. Still enjoyed watching the US guys.
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I never thought I’d read about Jesus and the psycho weenies, but it just happened.
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This just in…not sure this is great news, but at least he’s on a quality club still.
Pulisic to stay at Chelsea (The Athletic)
Christian Pulisic will continue with Chelsea in the upcoming season, according to The Athletic. The London club has decided to keep the 23-year-old despite interest from Manchester United, Newcastle United, and some other clubs in Spain and Italy.
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@rockchalkjayhawk newcastle sounded most intriguing to me
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I just can’t see how this is good news if he plays so sporadically. If he’s “Captain America” and plays so infrequently then it’s hard to believe that he’ll be in top form in November we the USMNT needs him
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@focojayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:
I just can’t see how this is good news if he plays so sporadically. If he’s “Captain America” and plays so infrequently then it’s hard to believe that he’ll be in top form in November we the USMNT needs him
yup. Tuchel needs to come to his senses and get his front line in order.
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What a shame. Newcastle nearly pulled off a draw at Liverpool in a matchup of my two favorite managers, Eddie Howe and Jurgen Klopp. Just a few days after the Reds hung nine goals on Bournemouth.
IMO the ref gave Liverpool way too much stoppage time to let them get the last minute win.
Still, I was impressed by Newcastle’s new striker Isak, with a goal in his first game. A nice 70-million dollar addition to the roster.
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Hey, good news for Sergino Dest!
AC Milan agree loan deal for Sergino Dest (Di Marzio) 7 hours ago 16:00 Sergino Dest has been linked with a host of top European clubs this summer but has now found a new club, for this season at least. Di Marzio has reported that a full agreement has been reached between Barcelona and AC Milan for the signing of the USMNT right-back. He will move on loan for the duration of this season and the Italian champions are likely to have the option to purchase him permanently at the conclusion of the loan
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@rockchalkjayhawk As long as he gets playing time. Don’t want him to end up like Pulisic at Chelsea.
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Finally got around to watching Chelsea/West Ham. Chelsea is kind of a mess. Every offensive player just seems lost, stifled, restricted, tied down, boxed in, not sure what to do or where to go on the pitch. It’s like they have a team of wingers but only the wingers who aren’t playing whatever Tuchel defines as wing aren’t allowed to venture to the wing. so weird. Pulisic did nothing of note, nor did anybody else in the first 70 minutes.
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Fofana was a nice get. New ownership willing to spend and not gonna put up with Tuchels mediocrity. “What have you done lately Tommy?”
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Weston McKennie with a UCL goal today for Juventus!!! Very nice header.
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Down goes Tuchel! Zero surprise.
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@approxinfinity Can’t lose to a club like Zagreb and expect to stick around very long.
Hope the new owners hire a coach who gives Pulisic more playing time.
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@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:
Down goes Tuchel! Zero surprise.
Wait, they fired Tuchel? Wow.
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Can’t figure out what’s wrong with Liverpool. The same club that scored nine goals against Bournemouth has to settle for draws against bottom-feeders Everton and Fulham. Then they get clobbered by an inferior Napoli side in the Champions League. All this from a team that was expected to be in the mix for multiple trophies this season.
Jurgen Klopp isn’t exactly on the hot seat like Tuchel was, but their play lately has got to be driving him nuts.
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I read a story about Liverpool yesterday. Basically called out some of the older guys for absolutely slacking on offense and defense. Alexander Arnold was hammered for his lack of give a shit on defense, or getting back to play and defend after his runs up the wing. I didn’t watch the game, so i can’t say.
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Guessing that Liverpool and the rest of the EPL teams won’t play at all this weekend after the passing of Queen Elizabeth.
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Pulisic came on as a late sub today vs Palace.
Made a great cutting running inside from the left, dished off and watched his teammate score. Assist!
Chelsea’s new manager started them in a 3-5-1-1 formation, which had my head spinning. I don’t understand the responsibilities in that formation. If you have Chilwell as part of the 3, isn’t he a wingback who likes to get forward? What do the outside guys in the 5 do? Just be in his way, right?
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Chilwell struggled a bit with defense. Enjoyed Silva hitting the ball “accidentally with his hand” to prevent a goal, then turning around immediately and assisting with a beautiful header in the box. Thats why hes Thiago Silva. Pulisic’s play assisted Conor Gallagher. It was a beautiful strike. One of the knocks against Tuchel was that he wasn’t using the academy talent. Gallagher is top of that list. All smiles in the post game interview. Good for him!
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Interesting weekend in the Premier League. Really impressed by Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side. Today they went into London and took down Tottenham (with help from a couple of goalie mistakes). The win moved them into the top four ahead of Chelsea and Man United, who played to a draw.
Meawhile, Jesse Marsch’s hot seat as manager of Leeds just got hotter. They lost again, this time at home to Fulham.
And I still can’t figure Liverpool out. A week after beating defending champs Manchester City, they lose to last-place Nottingham Forest. Even with two-thirds of the season to go, it’s looking like the best chance they have for a trophy is the FA Cup, or maybe the Champions League.
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I watched a few minutes of the Leeds game. Noticed that Adams wasn’t in the lineup to start.
Bummer they lost. Really rooting for them this season with their American contingent.
Actually maybe my new “go to” team to watch in this year.
Before the season my impression of Aaronsen was that he’s pretty much a spaz. Just runs around like a mad man and gets involved all over the field. But, didn’t think he had much skill.
After watching a few Leeds games so far, my impression is slightly changed. Still puts in massive effort with his mobility. But I’ve seen a few instances of skill and vision that are inspiring.
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@rockchalkjayhawk https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4779936/will-marsch-follow-gerrard-out-of-job-as-fans-lose-patience/
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@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
@rockchalkjayhawk https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4779936/will-marsch-follow-gerrard-out-of-job-as-fans-lose-patience/
ouch. tough life being an EPL coach! Interesting tidbit from the story…Leeds may be weaker this season than the ended last year. Lost some guys to transfer, and didn’t spend to bring better guys in. Sucks.
It is a similar story at Leeds, where Marsch lost midfielder Kalvin Phillips (to Manchester City) and forward Raphinha (Barcelona) for fees totalling almost £100m, while club-record signing Daniel James also left on loan to Fulham. The Elland Road recruitment team replaced them with a variety of players with little or no Premier League experience, such as Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen. Having avoided relegation only on the final day of last season, Leeds arguably went into this season with a weaker squad after allowing three key players to leave in the summer, so it is no surprise that Marsch’s team would be struggling and now in the bottom three.
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Pulisic amazingly got a start today in UCL!
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@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:
Pulisic amazingly got a start today in UCL!
He got an assist on the winning goal too !
Hope this means more playing time for him, though I’m not too optimistic based on past history. Graham Potter may still see him as one of “Tuchel’s guys.”
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@nwhawkfan i dont think the “Tuchels guys” label is a concern with Potter, but I may be wrong. I think Tuchel lost the lockerroom. I’m more concerned that Raheem Sterling is a better left wing.
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More injury problems for the USA squad with just over three weeks to go till the World Cup. Goalie Matt Turner was kept out of Arsenal’s Europa League game today with groin “discomfort.”
And Tyler Adams may not make the lineup again for Leeds this weekend, after missing last Sunday’s game with Fulham. Bad timing all around.
At least Gio Reyna is on the comeback trial after his latest injury (knock on wood). He scored for Dortmund last weekend against Stuttgart.
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Ugh. We need all our stars to be healthy, and quickly!
The semi positive is that i think we have at least three goalies who are semi interchangeable. Not too worried if Turner goes down. But hope he doesn’t.
Adams would be a bummer to replace. Need him.
Reyna: who knows. As others have said in the Chiefs thread, he’s a wildcard to me.
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Holy shit turds. Chelsea got boat raced today by Brighton.
They looked like absolute slugs. Defense? Ha!
Pulisic, until i stopped watching mid second half, was no help whatsoever.
In fact he missed what should have been a semi easy goal early on. his defensive effort was lethargic, like the rest of em.
Silva continues to look like he’s lost 10 steps of quickness. He made multiple mistakes today, then miraculously headed away his mistakes on the goal line.
Haven’t seen much of Christian lately, but he’s not helping himself with performances like today’s.
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I watched that Pulisic point-blank miss off the rebound. Ouch.
This is turning into a real mess for the USMNT. Other than Reyna (who’s still on the comeback trail and only played as a sub this weekend), I don’t know how many quality healthy bodies we’ll even have for the World Cup. The ones we do have are proving to be mostly ineffective in league play…when they get minutes, that is.
McKennie’s got a bad quad. De La Torre is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Turner? Groin. Our other goalie, Steffen, is still recovering from a knee knock. Then there’s Weah, Robinson and Musah.
This isn’t a national team, it’s a MASH unit.
Not sure how healthy he is, but at least Adams got minutes in that Leeds “upset” at Liverpool. (I almost hesitate to call it an upset, since the Reds seem to be making a habit out of losing to last-place teams this season.)
Wish it weren’t so, but it’s not looking good for the USA’s “golden generation.” At the very least, all this attrition is killing our depth as we get closer and closer to November 21st.
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@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
I watched that Pulisic point-blank miss off the rebound. Ouch.
This is turning into a real mess for the USMNT. Other than Reyna (who’s still on the comeback trail and only played as a sub this weekend), I don’t know how many quality healthy bodies we’ll even have for the World Cup. The ones we do have are proving to be mostly ineffective in league play…when they get minutes, that is.
McKennie’s got a bad quad. De La Torre is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Turner? Groin. Our other goalie, Steffen, is still recovering from a knee knock. Then there’s Weah, Robinson and Musah.
This isn’t a national team, it’s a MASH unit.
Not sure how healthy he is, but at least Adams got minutes in that Leeds “upset” at Liverpool. (I almost hesitate to call it an upset, since the Reds seem to be making a habit out of losing to last-place teams this season.)
Wish it weren’t so, but it’s not looking good for the USA’s “golden generation.” At the very least, all this attrition is killing our depth as we get closer and closer to November 21st.
Man, I’ve been reading about the health of our players, or lack of.
Just getting worse and worse for our World Cup hopes. Crap.
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Well maybe England will look as poor without Reece James as Chelsea does
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@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:
Well many England will look as poor without Reece James as Chelsea does
Love Reece James’ game! Hard nosed, strong player with skill.
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Paul Pogba was just ruled out of the WC for France. Can’t come back from knee surgery in time. One of the veterans of the Belgium team, Lukaku, is also questionable after injuring his hamstring.
You’ve got to figure that the compressed schedules caused by moving the tournament to late fall are mostly to blame for the rash of injuries. Teams have to play twice a week (plus Champions & Europa League matches) just to fit all the games in. Even younger stars like Pogba are having trouble staying healthy. At least MLS-based players have a slight advantage in that area, since their regular season only had to be shifted by a few weeks.
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@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
Paul Pogba was just ruled out of the WC for France. Can’t come back from knee surgery in time. One of the veterans of the Belgium team, Lukaku, is also questionable after injuring his hamstring.
You’ve got to figure that the compressed schedules caused by moving the tournament to late fall are mostly to blame for the rash of injuries. Teams have to play twice a week (plus Champions & Europa League matches) just to fit all the games in. Even younger stars like Pogba are having trouble staying healthy. At least MLS-based players have a slight advantage in that area, since their regular season only had to be shifted by a few weeks.
yup, the entire Qatar WC is a joke. $$$$$$$$ rules the world. bribery and $. a winter World Cup? just ridiculous.
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While watching all the tributes to Pele over the weekend, it occurred to me that not many people know that he played a match in Kansas City back in 1968. On the 4th of July, no less.
His club team Santos was touring the US that summer to play against NASL teams, and among the stops they made was a friendly against the KC Spurs at Municipal Stadium. I was a ball boy for the Spurs that season and got a comp ticket to see him play. This was years before he would burst onto the radar of American sports fans as a member of the New York Cosmos.
I don’t remember much about the game, other than (a) the small contingent of Brazilian fans made LOTS more noise than the thousands of Spurs fans in the stands; and (b) he was by FAR the best player on the field.
Too bad the Spurs went out of business a couple of years later. (Ironically, it happened just months after Pele got his third World Cup win for Brazil in Mexico.) If they’d survived into the mid-Seventies, I might have gotten another chance to witness greatness in person.
https://funwhileitlasted.net/2018/03/11/1968-1970-kansas-city-spurs/
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@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:
While watching all the tributes to Pele over the weekend, it occurred to me that not many people know that he played a match in Kansas City back in 1968. On the 4th of July, no less.
His club team Santos was touring the US that summer to play against NASL teams, and among the stops they made was a friendly against the KC Spurs at Municipal Stadium. I was a ball boy for the Spurs that season and got a comp ticket to see him play. This was years before he would burst onto the radar of American sports fans as a member of the New York Cosmos.
I don’t remember much about the game, other than (a) the small contingent of Brazilian fans made LOTS more noise than the thousands of Spurs fans in the stands; and (b) he was by FAR the best player on the field.
Too bad the Spurs went out of business a couple of years later. (Ironically, it happened just months after Pele got his third World Cup win for Brazil in Mexico.) If they’d survived into the mid-Seventies, I might have gotten another chance to witness greatness in person.
https://funwhileitlasted.net/2018/03/11/1968-1970-kansas-city-spurs/
That would have been great, being a ball boy when Pele was playing. amazing.
I was fortunate to see him play with the Cosmos in NYC way back when, or actually i think the team was playing at the Meadowlands by then. I was just a kid, but still a memory.
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Leeds! So awesome that McKennie is joining the club.
Hoping the three amigos can keep them in the EPL. Aaronsen and Adams have to be excited.
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Im not so high on McKennie as i am on adams and aaronsen but agree its great that theres a team amassing high profile Americans we can root for several times a week
