The Soccer Thread

QWERTYLICIOUS

QWERTYLICIOUS

Starter
#1
#1
Oh boy...

Danielle Reyna told U.S. Soccer about past Gregg Berhalter domestic violence incident - sources

Note to mods: I didn't see an "official" soccer thread, just a couple of individual ones about the Republic, MLS, and the World Cup (which has now concluded). Which is why I started this new thread. If you feel this needs to be merged with another thread, go ahead and merge; I won't complain. If not, and you want to make it the official soccer thread, you can modify the title to reflect that this is the official soccer thread :)
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
#2
#2
OK, but one thing - Berhalter went to UNC, so in the U.S. How was he out drinking in a bar at age 18? (Kind of a rhetorical question, but still...)
 
KainLear

KainLear

Starter
#4
#4
Wow... I thought the whole Gio not being played in WC thing had died down.

Becoming a full-on involvement of both generations of USMNT players calling each other out is not what I expected.
 
63royals

63royals

Bench
#5
#5
Now that the World Cup is over and the European leagues have started up again, I figure there may be more interest in following American players in Europe. Here's some information for those that are so inclined:

USA Network shows a lot of the English Premier League. US Captain Tyler Adams plays midfield for Leeds, and Brendan Aaronsen is a forward. Leeds also has an American manager -- Jesse Marsch.

The team I support, Fulham, has the left side of the US defense -- Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream, both of whom were excellent in Qatar. They also have a target man up front like the USA wishes they had -- Alexander Mitrovic, who was just voted Serbia's best player. He's currently 4th in the Prem in scoring, with 11 goals.

Christian Pulisic plays for Chelsea. He's been starting since the World Cup. Before that he was usually a 60th minute substitute. Matt Turner is the backup goalie for #1 Arsenal, so he never plays in regular season games.

Cameron Carter-Vickers is a central defender for Celtic in Scotland. After a good showing against Iran, I think he should have played against the Netherlands instead of Walker Zimmerman.

Weston McKennie plays in Italy for Juventus. Sergino Dest is currently at AC Milan, on loan from Barcelona. Gio Reyna plays in Germany for Borussia Dortmund.

That's most of them, but I'm sure I missed somebody.

My preferred website for soccer results is: whoscored.com (Note that game times on the site are London time.) As an example, here's their report on USA-Netherlands.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#6
#6
EPL is such a joy to watch. Arsenal taking the crown this year if their strong play continues until May. So much parity, so much physicality and so much skill.
 
KainLear

KainLear

Starter
#7
#7
kingsboi said:
EPL is such a joy to watch. Arsenal taking the crown this year if their strong play continues until May. So much parity, so much physicality and so much skill.
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It's nice to see my old team Newcastle Utd turning things around. They were frustrating the Gunners in the last match.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#10
#10
Almost nobody seems happy with the MLS playoff structure except the owners of top seed teams that should guarantee extra home matches and less chance of an upset and presumably AppleTV and any other broadcast partners the league has..
 
coolhandluke

coolhandluke

Starter
#13
#13
Getting Messi is a coup for MLS. Though he is close to the end of his career, he will improve visibility and pull more fans to the league.

Good for him to stay closer to home and get well compensated. Better than going for a Saudi league!
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#14
#14
It is good for MLS. Better for Apple. Even better for Messi, though there's been chatter he is treating it like a retirement league when it is NOT a retirement league.

I still think the Apple TV deal is horrid for the league though and so while this may help get some new eyes on a product that was stuffed into a walled garden it will still be tough for teams that don't have Messi to attract eyeballs. Also I've heard (and I am out of the loop right now since dropping my season tickets in 2022) that once expansion is complete the league will return to having balanced schedules (great) by having east play east and west play west (generally good, but not so great if banking on Messi coming to your town). Also for whatever reason Don Garber actually came out against MLS teams trying to field competitive rosters in USOC matches and so I have to imagine that will mean he won't create an MLS only in season tournament that might allow MLS teams from East and West to play matches. Also guessing Messi will never touch a turf field so some of the biggest clubs are not going to see him play even if the schedules don't move that way.

At this point I am at least partially convinced the best thing that could happen to US Soccer is for USL or another group of owners to build a rival league to contend for the top of the US Soccer pyramid.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#15
#15
this could also be Messi wanting to taste the American lifestyle a bit and South Beach is a good start, albeit he seems like a introvert so let's see how this plays out
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#16
#16
I think he chose Miami because the prominent Latin American community and ease to get to Argentina.

But also he's getting ownership in the league. When MLS signed Becks they gave him a future ownership opportunity and Miami was his chosen spot. I'm sure most clubs would have been happy to cede some ownership to have Messi for even a season, Miami may have more flexibility in their ownership structure.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#17
#17
pdxKingsFan said:
I think he chose Miami because the prominent Latin American community and ease to get to Argentina.

But also he's getting ownership in the league. When MLS signed Becks they gave him a future ownership opportunity and Miami was his chosen spot. I'm sure most clubs would have been happy to cede some ownership to have Messi for even a season, Miami may have more flexibility in their ownership structure.
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scratch my back and I'll scratch yours type of deal. Messi will bring in huge revenue for that club and as a return in their investment, he gets his share in a club.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#18
#18
kingsboi said:
scratch my back and I'll scratch yours type of deal. Messi will bring in huge revenue for that club and as a return in their investment, he gets his share in a club.
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MLS is single entity, so "the club" is also "the league".

incidentally, aside from what's gone on with my local ownership group, it's why I'm tired of the league.
When we speculate about NBA rigging drafts to get players to certain clubs, MLS actually openly does that with rules they change and create on the fly every time an opportunity like this comes along.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#19
#19
pdxKingsFan said:
MLS is single entity, so "the club" is also "the league".

incidentally, aside from what's gone on with my local ownership group, it's why I'm tired of the league.
When we speculate about NBA rigging drafts to get players to certain clubs, MLS actually openly does that with rules they change and create on the fly every time an opportunity like this comes along.
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Do you watch any other Soccer leagues?
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#21
#21
pdxKingsFan said:
I loosely follow USL, Liga MX, EPL and Bundesliga 1 and 2. Plus international football.
But I don't make appointment viewing out of it.
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if you like good competition and physical soccer, EPL is the way to go. Bundesliga is too dominated by Bayern and there are no new champions in that league but if you don't mind watching the rest of the league then enjoy. French Ligue 1 is also a great league, lots of good players that aren't all playing for PSG.
 
LPKingsFan

LPKingsFan

All-Star
#22
#22
pdxKingsFan said:
I think he chose Miami because the prominent Latin American community and ease to get to Argentina.

But also he's getting ownership in the league. When MLS signed Becks they gave him a future ownership opportunity and Miami was his chosen spot. I'm sure most clubs would have been happy to cede some ownership to have Messi for even a season, Miami may have more flexibility in their ownership structure.
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Future ownership opportunities you say? I hear there’s a team in the capital of one of the world’s largest economies with strong grassroots fan support looking for a major investor to take them to the next level.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#23
#23
LPKingsFan said:
Future ownership opportunities you say? I hear there’s a team in the capital of one of the world’s largest economies with strong grassroots fan support looking for a major investor to take them to the next level.
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He'll be in Miami's ownership group as far as I'm aware.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#24
#24
kingsboi said:
if you like good competition and physical soccer, EPL is the way to go. Bundesliga is too dominated by Bayern and there are no new champions in that league but if you don't mind watching the rest of the league then enjoy. French Ligue 1 is also a great league, lots of good players that aren't all playing for PSG.
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The closest thing I have to a second team is St. Pauli. I don't need to support a team that can win it all, but I'd be thrilled if they actually closed out the back of the season and got promoted after the last two years' near misses.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#25
#25
pdxKingsFan said:
The closest thing I have to a second team is St. Pauli. I don't need to support a team that can win it all, but I'd be thrilled if they actually closed out the back of the season and got promoted after the last two years' near misses.
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tune in for the Champions league final, Saturday at 12 on CBS. Man City vs Inter
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#28
#28
kingsboi said:
tune in for the Champions league final, Saturday at 12 on CBS. Man City vs Inter
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I appreciate good football but these are two teams I can't pick a side to root for. Man City (at least in the USA) has a plastic fanbase and Inter is uh well, their ultras aren't St. Pauli supporters.
 
kingsboi

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#29
#29
pdxKingsFan said:
I appreciate good football but these are two teams I can't pick a side to root for. Man City (at least in the USA) has a plastic fanbase and Inter is uh well, their ultras aren't St. Pauli supporters.
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don't root for a side, just watch for the potential entertainment value you may or may not receive out of it.
 
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