Soccer

[TSwizzle]

Looks like Liverpool result was the final nail in the coffin for Mourinho.

Sam Allardyce is standing by the phone.

 

[steve_bank]

There are exceptions, over here players get to yje pros after demonstrated college performance.

College basketball and football are pretty much a training minor league where the payers work for nothing nor a scholarship..

 

[steve_bank]

Just watch3d a game FIFA club World Cup from UAE, Japan vs Brazil.

I enjoyed it. High level of athletic skill, completion, and team play advancing the ball.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Liverpool v Bayern Munich... pretty early for that in the Champions League. Liverpool with their best campaign start in franchise history verses one of the more dominant teams in European play. Both teams are likely not liking this draw.

Looks like Liverpool result was the final nail in the coffin for Mourinho.

I think the final nail was him criticizing his team before the season started. 400 million spent (pounds/dollars?) and 11 points out of the Champions League. His release this year was so unbelievably inevitable. It was a minor miracle they got here. I'd also say that his comments after the Liverpool game were a bigger problem than the loss... pretty much saying Liverpool outclassed Manchester United and were just better... not today, but were just better. Spend 400 million and say that... sure the owners were ready to drop an anvil on him after that.

Sam Allardyce is standing by the phone.

Oh goodness please!!! United fans deserve nothing less after what they did with Moyes and Van Gael.

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

Allardyce won't be going to United. Or, better phrased, United won't be going near Allardyce. He's a relegation specialist, usually called in mid-season to save a team that's heading for the drop. United are having a poor season by their standards, but are still mid-table, safe from any relegation worries. The biggest problem they've had is Mourinho's ego. He always starts well at a new club, but after a couple of seasons, he'll start alienating players and fans alike by refusing to take blame when anything goes wrong, and over-criticising his players. This time round, that included comments he made about Paul Pogba, who United paid €105 million for two years ago, stripping him of the club's vice-captaincy before a game. Top professional footballers have notoriously fragile egos, and don't take well to the kind of criticism Mourinho inevitably ends up throwing around. As has happened with Mourinho at so many clubs before, he "lost the dressing room", as the saying goes. When that happens, players lose trust in the manager, and they - not deliberately, but subconsciously - don't give him the usual "110%".

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

I believe in England the leagues form an entire pyramid with thousands of teams, all theoretically in the same system.

In England, there's the Premiership at the top, which used to be the First Division. Below that, there's the Championship (formerly the 2nd Division). Below that, League One (3rd Div) and League Two (4th Div) are what's left of the EFL, which used to cover all four divisions. There's one national level, The Conference, below these, and from there on down, it's regional leagues. Promotion and relegation operate between each level. Most teams won't move more than one or two levels either way, because the system means that a club's wealth mostly dictates the standard of player, and any players who stand out in lower divisions are quickly bought up by teams higher up in the pyramid.

 

[rousseau]

I've been following The Guardian Football Weekly podcast for the past two seasons. They figure Man U is going to try to poach Pochettino.

 

[Shake]

I never got into it — other than the Olympics — until my son started playing (and he's graduating high school this year, so he's done with it now). He became interested in the Premier League and has become a fan of Manchester United. Having watched a lot of games in that league now, when I put on an MLS game one day, I could immediately tell that this was a step down. The play was slower and sloppier, generally speaking. Having since watched a little more international play, including the recent World Cup, I find that different countries/regions have their own style of play. The Bundesliga, for example, plays a different style of game from the British Premier League. Anyway, over the last 9 years or so, I've come to gain a healthy respect for the game and really enjoy watching it now. My twin daughters have the soccer bug (our middle son, not so much), so I've got years ahead of me to watch lots more soccer.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I've been following The Guardian Football Weekly podcast for the past two seasons. They figure Man U is going to try to poach Pochettino.

I think Manchester United should be more worried about image of the club than getting the latest greatest new manager. One thing I read about Manchester United under Ferguson was there was little turnover during his reign of needless supremacy. Manchester Untied (originally a spelling error, but I think it is actually appropriate) need to look inside.

 

[Toni]

I have watched some games over here mostly Bundesliga and Primer leagues.

I do not see much difference in the level of play, but the I have not watched a lot.

Only a few times have I seen coordinated play leading to a goal.

Most of it seems hit or miss.

Is there a European hierarchy of leagues? Over her we have major leagues and minor leagues. We also have semi-pro football, baseball, and basketball leagues.

Where does FIFA fit in?

I do not doubt the physical condition neded for the sport. It sems nea impossible to directly move the ball end to end.

Are there strategies and specific player roles other than goalie? Seems like it comes down to 1 or 2 players on a team for goals. Blocking is not allowed and I do not see coordinated action by multiple players.

In America, the weakest, losingest sports team gets first picks in the draft to give them an advantage, while the winners pick last. This helps to make games more competitive.

From what I understand, most European soccer leagues have no such mechanism and are much more harsh about things. If you screw up badly enough, your team might even be moved to the minor leagues. If you want to build a team back up, you have to do it without some of the little advantages losing teams in America get.

Lower ranked teams get relegated to a more minor league automatically by rank. It costs all the players and team and mgt. money if they are relegated. Highest ranking teams in lower league get elevated and get more $.

 

[rousseau]

I have watched some games over here mostly Bundesliga and Primer leagues.

I do not see much difference in the level of play, but the I have not watched a lot.

Only a few times have I seen coordinated play leading to a goal.

Most of it seems hit or miss.

Is there a European hierarchy of leagues? Over her we have major leagues and minor leagues. We also have semi-pro football, baseball, and basketball leagues.

Where does FIFA fit in?

I do not doubt the physical condition neded for the sport. It sems nea impossible to directly move the ball end to end.

Are there strategies and specific player roles other than goalie? Seems like it comes down to 1 or 2 players on a team for goals. Blocking is not allowed and I do not see coordinated action by multiple players.

In America, the weakest, losingest sports team gets first picks in the draft to give them an advantage, while the winners pick last. This helps to make games more competitive.

From what I understand, most European soccer leagues have no such mechanism and are much more harsh about things. If you screw up badly enough, your team might even be moved to the minor leagues. If you want to build a team back up, you have to do it without some of the little advantages losing teams in America get.

I guess it's a matter of perspective whether that's considered an 'advantage' in North American leagues. Instead it's really just a necessary aspect of how the league is structured. With a closed system you have to do something about the problem of parity, in an open system the problem just works itself out as teams who get worse are replaced by teams who got better.

If a league like the NHL didn't have a draft lottery and players could choose which team they played for, what's the incentive to go for the teams at the bottom of the league? This would result in parity getting pretty bad. But by giving everyone a fair shot at superstars coming into the league, you give some of those teams a chance at actually winning.

And really, what's the better way of sorting people into a league? Who has the most money?

 

[steve_bank]

It used to be when a player signed wirth a team he was essentially property. Free qagency chngaed that. If a layer is drfted after so many years they go go on the opne market.

That led to salary rises and in the NFL a team slaty cap.

George Steinbrenner was famous for buying wunng baseball teams.

There is also revenue sharing among teams form TV revenue to help keep smaller market teams I places able to compete.

There is also public assistance for venues through taxes and tax breaks. Major league sports also have an ant-trust exemption from congress.

In baseball, football, and basketball dominance shifts from decade to decade so winning cities move around over time keeping fans happy.

 

[rousseau]

I never got into it — other than the Olympics — until my son started playing (and he's graduating high school this year, so he's done with it now). He became interested in the Premier League and has become a fan of Manchester United. Having watched a lot of games in that league now, when I put on an MLS game one day, I could immediately tell that this was a step down. The play was slower and sloppier, generally speaking. Having since watched a little more international play, including the recent World Cup, I find that different countries/regions have their own style of play. The Bundesliga, for example, plays a different style of game from the British Premier League. Anyway, over the last 9 years or so, I've come to gain a healthy respect for the game and really enjoy watching it now. My twin daughters have the soccer bug (our middle son, not so much), so I've got years ahead of me to watch lots more soccer.

I've always loved it as it was the sport I excelled at growing up, but I never really followed the European leagues properly until last year at age 31. Prior to that it was always too expensive and I hadn't yet found Reddit streams, or realized my Android can cast to my Roku TV.

I'd prefer to just pay for top quality streams, but AFAIK there isn't really a robust platform to do so other than subscribing to an outrageous digital package that I only want 5% of, that wouldn't offer the breadth of games anyway. If I could get an app on Roku that offered me access to the major European leagues for 20-30 month I'd be all in.

Anyway, I've gone through phases over the past number of years. From about 2013-2015 I got into the MLB, then the next few years I started getting more into the NHL and OHL, and now I'm paying more attention to the Premier League and La Liga Barcelona Messi. I've now gotten over the initial shock of the fact that it's basically just rich owners paying for titles, and now find it interesting from a business perspective, along with watching the top few teams compete.

 

[steve_bank]

BTW, over here football participation by youth is decaling due to long term brain damage that has surfaced over he last several years.

Soccer is up. Although heading balls is banned below a certain age in leagues and schools.

 

[rousseau]

Oh man, Crystal Palace leading City at the half. Please let this happen.

 

[C_Mucius_Scaevola]

Oh man, Crystal Palace leading City at the half. Please let this happen.

It happened. What a boost for Liverpool.

Meanwhile, United seem to have recovered at least some of their mojo under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. First time they've scored 5 in yaaaaayyyy long.

 

[fromderinside]

So from the sidelines back to soccer

Heard Man U scored 5 today.

Whoop, whoop. BTW Crystal City beat Man City

 

[Shake]

So from the sidelines back to soccer

Heard Man U scored 5 today.

Whoop, whoop. BTW Crystal City beat Man City

Yeah, came back from a goal down to take the lead and never relinquish it, despite a late score by City which wasn't quite enough.

And sure, Man U was playing lowly Cardiff, but they looked like a whole different team than the past few weeks. That and they're actually letting Pogba play. He's so fun to watch. And Rashford ... damn, he's fast!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Liverpool 19 games in, 7 goals conceded in the league. That is the best among teams in the big four leagues in Europe! 16-3-0, possibly undefeated by the New Year (though, they play Arsenal this Saturday). An incredible start and with Manchester City all of a sudden sputtering, are 6 points ahead in the Table and tied with City with Goal Differential, of which Manchester City had an enormous advantage at one point.

So from the sidelines back to soccer



Whoop, whoop. BTW Crystal City beat Man City

Yeah, came back from a goal down to take the lead and never relinquish it, despite a late score by City which wasn't quite enough.

And sure, Man U was playing lowly Cardiff, but they looked like a whole different team than the past few weeks. That and they're actually letting Pogba play. He's so fun to watch. And Rashford ... damn, he's fast!

MU is doing what most teams do after firing a coach... they win a little. We'll see where MU go from here.

 

[Shake]

Liverpool 19 games in, 7 goals conceded in the league. That is the best among teams in the big four leagues in Europe! 16-3-0, possibly undefeated by the New Year (though, they play Arsenal this Saturday). An incredible start and with Manchester City all of a sudden sputtering, are 6 points ahead in the Table and tied with City with Goal Differential, of which Manchester City had an enormous advantage at one point.

So from the sidelines back to soccer



Whoop, whoop. BTW Crystal City beat Man City

Yeah, came back from a goal down to take the lead and never relinquish it, despite a late score by City which wasn't quite enough.

And sure, Man U was playing lowly Cardiff, but they looked like a whole different team than the past few weeks. That and they're actually letting Pogba play. He's so fun to watch. And Rashford ... damn, he's fast!

MU is doing what most teams do after firing a coach... they win a little. We'll see where MU go from here.

Arsenal have scored nearly as many as Liverpool, but have allowed 25 thus far. So, it could be high scoring, perhaps.

As for Man U, they have Bournemouth and Newcastle coming up, 2 teams doing a bit better than the ones they've just faced. So, yes, we'll see what happens next.