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Soccer

 
 
 
How much longer can OGS hang in at Manchester Utd. Liverpool absolutely destroyed them at the weekend. Liverpool were cruising at 5-0 when Paul Pogba was sent off around the 60th minute for the most stupid of challenges. Pogba really is an albatross. Liverpool were then content to see the game out without inflicting any further humiliation on Utd which was a shame. Ronaldo had a pretty decent goal ruled offside thanks to VAR. TBF to Utd, they did look like contenders for a 15 minute spell in the first half but that was it.

And Barcelona sack Ronald Koeman. The cash strapped club need to come up with 10m euro to end his contract. Former player Xavi will take over and his current club will need about $850k compensation. WTF, where does Barcelona get their money from?
 
OGS survives another week as Manchester Utd brush aside Tottenham 3-0. Spurs manager Santo was sacked on Sunday after a run of terrible results and performances. Spurs look to have lined up Antonio Conte to replace Santo but what can be done with the Spurs squad? The club have been struggling ever since their Champions League final in 2019.
 
How on earth is OGS still hanging on at Manchester Utd. They were torn apart again, this time by Manchester City and I can only think that Pep must have felt sorry for OGS and eased off Utd during their 0-2 win.

A bit of an upset (?) as West Ham beat Liverpool 3-2 but to be fair, there were a couple of questionable decisions from the referee. Chelsea unable to take maximum points from lowly Burnley means the London club could not put some distance between the Man City and Liverpool.

I'm not a huge fan of the EPL but this is shaping up as a pretty interesting season in the EPL thus far. Brighton and Hove Albion have impressed me the few times I have seen them. A very entertaining team to watch.
 
West Ham pulled one out against Liverpool. Klopp proved his lack of class with his postgame whines. Now people are talking about WHU breaking into the top 4. That would require that a rather unlikely period of injury-free games from their important players Antonio (who always has leg problems), Rice and Ogbona (who may be out with an ACL injury).
 
Canada upset Mexico in Edmonton yesterday in probably their biggest win since taking the Gold Cup back in 2000. This puts Canada atop the table for World Cup qualification in CONCACAF. 6 games remaining, they are 7 points clear of 5th. Top three qualify for the World Cup Finals, while a 4th place finish puts the team in a qualifier.

Atop the table, it is pretty tight. Canada stands at 16 points, US at 15, Mexico and Panama at 14. So it won't take much of a slip to fall into a qualifier. With the win against Mexico, that means their toughest game is done, and they took three points from it. They play the US two games from now after a fixture against Honduras.

It is difficult to tell if Canada is doing awesome or if the CONCACAF is falling apart.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Canada upset Mexico in Edmonton yesterday in probably their biggest win since taking the Gold Cup back in 2000. This puts Canada atop the table for World Cup qualification in CONCACAF. 6 games remaining, they are 7 points clear of 5th. Top three qualify for the World Cup Finals, while a 4th place finish puts the team in a qualifier.

Atop the table, it is pretty tight. Canada stands at 16 points, US at 15, Mexico and Panama at 14. So it won't take much of a slip to fall into a qualifier. With the win against Mexico, that means their toughest game is done, and they took three points from it. They play the US two games from now after a fixture against Honduras.

It is difficult to tell if Canada is doing awesome or if the CONCACAF is falling apart.
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I thought CONCACAF was an ersatz coffee made from horse chestnuts during wartime rationing.
 
Well the axe has inevitably fallen on OSG at Man Utd. After a 4-1 mauling at the hands of Watford (WATFORD FFS) the board has sacked him.
 
Manchester United isn't too far down on the table, but point wise, there is a growing chasm. I'm not certain OSG is to blame, seeing Managers don't score goals.

Liverpool dismantled Arsenal. A little part of me always glows at the frustration of the Fire Wenger idiots with results like this.
 
Manchester City have all but sealed their fourth title in five years after a 1-0 win against Chelski.

Manchester Utd continue to struggle after squandering a 2-0 lead against Aston Villa. Coutinho scored on his debut.
 
Everton sack Benetiz after loss to Norwich City. Everton sit only 6 points clear of relegation... well eights points clear of Burnley who have two games in hand, and then 7 points clear of Newcastle of whom Everton have one game in hand. So, Everton, on 19 points, are looking safe-ish to the 40 mark which is usually enough to save oneself from relegation.

Everton have been trashed by poor managers and now need someone else to clean up. This sounds like a job for a Roberto Martinez type, who managed to keep Wigan up in the EPL longer than they should have.
 
Liverpool had a number of pieces in place, but it wasn't until the signing of van Dijk and Allison that Liverpool became top class. And Allison today showed that he is either the best or one of the best keepers in the world, in saving Liverpool's 3 points today. Otherwise, Liverpool might lose, forget about a draw.

It might seem bad to lose to Palace, but Liverpool are without their top two strikers. L'pool looked great in the first half, not so good in the second half (or maybe Palace looked much better in the second half). It took a 50/50 PK VAR call to put the game out of reach.
 
CONCACAF World Cup qualifying is restarting. 6 matches are left, and as expected, Canada is in first place.

*spit take*

Canada is in first place... in soccer...?!?!?! They are also the only undefeated team. They did benefit a bit with playing Mexico at home, so that likely won't be repeated on Mexico's turf.

The top 3 teams are definitely in, the fourth plays in a qualifier. The top four teams are separated by 2 points. Costa Rica needs to turn it up for the final six games in order to make up their 5 point deficit to fourth place.

Mexico take on mid-table squads, while the US and Canada manage against a bottom table team and then each other, in Hamilton, Ontario at the relatively new Tim Horton's Field (or if memory serves, No Parking Stadium).
 
Former West Ham United star, Frank Lampard to be thrown to wolves in Everton manager appointment.

I'm not certain what they are expecting Lampard to achieve here. I suppose it is better than Gerrard (due to former allegiance), but Everton are a broken organization with little money, no cohesion, and while not staring down relegation, it is uncomfortably closer than they'd want. They need a manager that can settle things where they are now.

Sounds like Rooney was given the opportunity first, as he had his start in the EPL there, but I don't think he wanted to risk his managerial career trying to fix the shambles that is Everton FC. Kind of a shit thing for the ownership to do as well, as selecting Rooney would provide them cover and risk Rooney. Best of luck to Lampard to right this ship.

Meanwhile, Canada took away 3 away points as the other top three teams also won their matchups to keep things where they stood one game ago. Panama lost and Costa Rica is 2 pts from the qualifying spot. US v Canada in Southern Ontario on Sunday. A win for Canada would start sizing them up for their first World Cup qualification since the 80's. Meanwhile, Americans are still trying to figure out where in the heck American soccer stands.
 
Canada defeated the US who seemed not too interested in winning the game, providing virtually no chances on net. Mexico would also draw in their game, which means Canada is 4 pts clear up top. I don't think anyone would feel the CPL would provide results like this so quickly! Canada currently needs 8 points to clinch a World Cup berth, 4 pts to guarantee at least qualifier.
 
So, I understand that you need to play qualification games in the host nations. So if you play Canada, you are going to play somewhere cold in the winter.

The United States, has quite the few warmer locations, in fact, a decent number of them. So makes one wonder why in the hell the US is playing Honduras in the beginning of February in an outdoor stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota?!

For geography buffs, you'll notice St. Paul, Minnesota is well north of Hamilton, Ontario (one of the most southern Canadian cities, 2nd most?). Who in the heck schedule that location?

Canada plays El Salvador in El Salvador. Mexico is at home to Panama, a critical game for both. If Panama won, they'd put Mexico in the qualification spot while taking third for themselves.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
So, I understand that you need to play qualification games in the host nations. So if you play Canada, you are going to play somewhere cold in the winter.

The United States, has quite the few warmer locations, in fact, a decent number of them. So makes one wonder why in the hell the US is playing Honduras in the beginning of February in an outdoor stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota?!

For geography buffs, you'll notice St. Paul, Minnesota is well north of Hamilton, Ontario (one of the most southern Canadian cities, 2nd most?). Who in the heck schedule that location?

Canada plays El Salvador in El Salvador. Mexico is at home to Panama, a critical game for both. If Panama won, they'd put Mexico in the qualification spot while taking third for themselves.
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St Paul, MN is at about the same latitude as the wine growing region of Bordeaux, in the South of France. It's forecast to reach a moderately chilly 10°C in Bordeaux today (that's 50°F for those watching in black and white).

The Hondurans should be fine. In fact, let me just google... yes, it's forecast to reach a maximum of 8° in St Paul today. Chilly by Honduran standards but not a prob...

Oh, wait.

That's 8°F. Or, as we say in the civilised world, -13°C. WTFuck???
 
And just to make things worse, the game is a night game! It'll be around 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit for the game, so it'll stay well above zero. A whole degree or two of mercury.

I read an article that says the field has a buried heating system that keeps the turf at 50 degrees, F (or roughly (actually I think it is exactly) 10 degrees C if my math is right). I have no idea what that makes the players feel standing above it, but if you see players rolling on the ground, that'll be why.

France does have the benefits of the Atlantic Conveyor Belt which is what makes like in Europe not like life in Northern Canada. Minnesota is one of the coldest places in the Continental US that isn't atop a mountain.
 
Chevron, 76, Esso, your boys took one hell of a doing today!! Citeh 1-3 Spurs What a dramatic finish.
 
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