Every team gets a slice of luck and the occasional dodgy ref decision at some point throughout the season. Today sounded like one of those days for Chelsea. 
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2009-10 Football Thread
- Thread starter Jaffa Cake
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Congrats Chelsea.*unclenches teeth* It will ebb and flow right through the season,there is a long way to go yet.
I thought the match was reffed pretty well overall. The decision to card Drogba was incorrect, although I don't feel sorry for him at all.
But there were a number of times the ref could have pulled a red and he didn't, which was probably correct and kept the match flowing.
I couldn't disagree more.
But there were a number of times the ref could have pulled a red and he didn't, which was probably correct and kept the match flowing.
Now if Birmingham just gets a point or three against Liverpool tomorrow it would be perfect...
I couldn't disagree more.
Stoke City have some very big, very strong defenders so starting with Jozy (who himself has been described here as 'a big unit' on more than one occasion) seemed a smart choice.
He wasn't likely to have a lot of luck out-muscling his opponents today and his finishing wasn't as sharp as it could have been, but he worked hard, held the ball up well and brought other players into the game. It'll be a good bit of experience for the young Yank.
However, he did spend much of the second half running around with a big chunk of his shorts flapping about, after a naughty Stokie ripped them. Naughty Stokie. Additionally, he's mentioned on his Twitter page that he's covered in 'cleat marks' this evening. Naughty, naughty Stokies.
Yeah, naughty indeed! They'd better not damage the boy, USA needs him healthy. keep off him Potters!
He got off lightly kicking someone repeatedly before trying to rip off their lower garments is considered acceptable first date behaviour in Stoke-on-Trent.Yeah, naughty indeed! They'd better not damage the boy, USA needs him healthy. keep off him Potters!
Like it, very much like the junior football over here (juniors here are non-league and not necessarily youngsters.) (C'mon the Frew!)
SPL ticking over nicely, win for Rangers at the weekend and draw for Celtic leaves Celtic on top by 2 points but Gers have a game in hand.
However all the more interesting up here is the First Division, where there is a right ding-dong battle for promotion, with 2 points separating 4 teams at the top (Queen of South, Dundee, Ross County and Partick.) Note that Dundee with a new owner have spent more during the last transfer window than Rangers have in the last 18 months!
Miss Jaffa Cake played for her University football team, so I'll show her that clip and see if it brings back any memories!
For the few here who have met her, it may surprise you to learn that my diminutive other half was the goalkeeper...
For the few here who have met her, it may surprise you to learn that my diminutive other half was the goalkeeper...
Every team gets a slice of luck and the occasional dodgy ref decision at some point throughout the season. Today sounded like one of those days for Chelsea.
Indeed, although timing plays an important part - winning 4 - 0 compared to losing 1 - 0 or drawing.
Chelsea v Manchester United - the Officials had a bad game - Rooney onside, John Terry pulling down Valencia, freekick/Drogba, Carvalho and Lampard could have been off for multiple cards, and Valencia and Evans could have seen red later on. Happier with the Manchester United performance, off day for Chelsea.
Highlight = the effort put in by Wolves when tracking Fabregas for his goal!
Cheers,
OW
Yeah, United lost, but what visiting team ever comes out of Stamford Bridge with three points? Overall I was pleased with their performance and think that United match up pretty well with the Rent Boys. A 5 point deficit in November is not the end of the world.
Beckham out of the England friendly for MLS playoff duties.
This should send a screaming message to the MLS bigwigs that they need to try and better conform to the FIFA schedule. And we can't use the argument that it's too cold to play through the winter - the Russians do it for starters. Players of international quality will never come to the MLS if it continues to conflict with international matches this badly. At least this time they pulled their heads out of their collective rears and decided to suspend league play for most of the World Cup. Baby steps.
Liverpool.
Although you'd have to be on drugs to expect that to happen again this year.
This should send a screaming message to the MLS bigwigs that they need to try and better conform to the FIFA schedule. And we can't use the argument that it's too cold to play through the winter - the Russians do it for starters. Players of international quality will never come to the MLS if it continues to conflict with international matches this badly. At least this time they pulled their heads out of their collective rears and decided to suspend league play for most of the World Cup. Baby steps.
silencio said:
Liverpool.
Although you'd have to be on drugs to expect that to happen again this year.
Beckham out of the England friendly for MLS playoff duties.
This should send a screaming message to the MLS bigwigs that they need to try and better conform to the FIFA schedule. And we can't use the argument that it's too cold to play through the winter - the Russians do it for starters. Players of international quality will never come to the MLS if it continues to conflict with international matches this badly. At least this time they pulled their heads out of their collective rears and decided to suspend league play for most of the World Cup. Baby steps.
Actually, Russia plays in the summer. Their Premier League runs from March to November.
I thought FIFA designated certain weeks as international weeks and all leagues were supposed to suspend play for those weeks - why does the MLS think they are different?
The reason MLS plays in the summer, not the winter, isn't the weather. It's just that they don't want to compete with American Football.
It does seem a little odd, especially given that the US national team has a couple of fixtures arranged.
We could do with a resounding Liverpool win tonight, and I'll be cross with all the Scouse-sympathisers here if it doesn't happen. Think on.
If Liverpool win by 12 clear goals tonight, we'll move up a place. There's a target for you.
True! I should know better too, I looked this up before - although they DO engage in European competitions through the winter....
Because the league was original formed without enough (any?) international vision. We played right through the World Cup in 98', '02 and '06, for goodness' sake!
Perhaps - I've not found too much evidence for that - but if that is part of their reasoning, I disagree heartily - first off, the league runs right through baseball season in the summer anyway, and secondly the majority of the MLS matches are played on Saturday, not Sunday, the traditional NFL game day.
It is true that some MLS clubs share stadia with NFL teams, but there is already some overlap in the leagues' schedules so I don't think that is a deal-breaker.
The weather isn't much of a factor for LA, San Jose, Chivas, Dallas and Houston, but just about everyone else has a snowy winter to deal with, and some cities (Toronto especially, Chicago, Columbus, Seattle, Vancouver) can get quite cold and snowy.
I was surprised that the PGA golf play-offs were moved because they clashed with college (egg) football. I couldn't believe that college football could be bigger than Tiggey Woods, so goodness knows what the NFL is like.
Which brings me onto a rant about youth development! There are many bemoaning the state of Scottish football and it seems to be the youngsters are getting a bit lost 14+ (and we all knows why - women, then drink.)
If smaller leagues like ours want to improve I think they should introduce a US-style college system, where the youth are sent to uni, they get their degrees, train and play for uni teams and leave age 20-21 with at least a safety net so at least they've got a future if they aren't cut out for the footie (or when they retire age 35).I'm also intrigued by the NFL Draft. Why not give the best up and coming players to the lower down teams. It would at least provide an income for the smaller teams in the form of transfer fees from the bigger teams. It must at least be better than the current rule in Scotland where 3 younger players must be on the team sheet (and therefore the bench) when they could be playing 90 minutes in league division 2 and learning.
But fall Saturdays is college football which in some parts of the country is bigger than NFL.
Baseball is less of a draw than football, so it makes more sense to compete against that than football. Although, if MLS were smart they would have their playoffs in February (apart from the weather) since that is a pretty dead sports month.
Birmingham 2-2 David N'Gog -er, I mean Liverpool.
Execrable dive by N'Gog. I won't even try to defend that...he should be banned. It was never a penalty.
The most amazing thing was that Birmingham simply begged Liverpool to score by constantly giving the ball away, and Liverpool absolutely refused to put the ball in the back of the net. We peppered the goal with speculative long-distance shots and wayward headers.
Any other top four club would have scored a hatful of goals against Birmingham today - but credit to them, they had 3 shots on goal in the first half and converted two of them. If Liverpool had the same finishing quality it would have been a 12-2 Liverpool win.
Liverpool is still in the ****. We now lose Benayoun and Riera (again) to injury, and we were really playing with only 10.5 men since Gerrard didn't even look close to being fit.
Actually, baseball us pretty close to Football in terms of revenue. The large number of games spreads it out though.
And you are right about college football. Just look at Columbus. When the Crew plays, we usually get between 15,000-20,000 in the stadium. Just a few miles away is the Horseshoe - and every time OSU plays there you get over 100,000 fans at the game. No contest.
But I still think the league needs to do something to get the schedule more in line with the rest of the world.
Execrable dive by N'Gog. I won't even try to defend that...he should be banned. It was never a penalty.
The most amazing thing was that Birmingham simply begged Liverpool to score by constantly giving the ball away, and Liverpool absolutely refused to put the ball in the back of the net. We peppered the goal with speculative long-distance shots and wayward headers.
Any other top four club would have scored a hatful of goals against Birmingham today - but credit to them, they had 3 shots on goal in the first half and converted two of them. If Liverpool had the same finishing quality it would have been a 12-2 Liverpool win.
Liverpool is still in the ****. We now lose Benayoun and Riera (again) to injury, and we were really playing with only 10.5 men since Gerrard didn't even look close to being fit.
swiftaw said:
Actually, baseball us pretty close to Football in terms of revenue. The large number of games spreads it out though.
And you are right about college football. Just look at Columbus. When the Crew plays, we usually get between 15,000-20,000 in the stadium. Just a few miles away is the Horseshoe - and every time OSU plays there you get over 100,000 fans at the game. No contest.
But I still think the league needs to do something to get the schedule more in line with the rest of the world.
I think that was something like the 10th reason this weekend for video technology to be introduced into the game, these so called officials can't referee for the sake of their lives..
Alright, first thought was that the referee did a very good job. I know, i know, the penalty was a mistake. But from his vantage point it was very difficult to tell. Furthermore, I thought it was a penalty and so did Martin Tyler. Other than that, he was flawless imo. He played advantage really well which is why this game had such a good flow.
And in terms of MLS weather. Try playing soccer when the lake shore effect drops 1 foot of snow during the first 20 minutes of a match.
Finally, NO video replays. It will slow the game down more.
And in terms of MLS weather. Try playing soccer when the lake shore effect drops 1 foot of snow during the first 20 minutes of a match.
Finally, NO video replays. It will slow the game down more.
+1
In a way, competing with college football would actually create a bigger problem than going against the NFL: There are so many college games on cable TV at the same time on Saturdays that it would be difficult to FIND an MLS game on at the same time. Not that I have anything against Fox Soccer Channel, but if that's where MLS games get relegated to, they're in trouble. Many cable households don't get FSC, so all those viewers would be out of luck.
That would put the last few weeks of their season against the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, where it would really get lost in the shuffle. Even if you held the games on weeknights, it's all NFL, all the time that time of year.
Part of the difficulty of the MLS getting ahead is that the US sports scene is already so saturated. The various major sports leagues have kind of developed to not step on each other's audiences too much, with football owning autumn, hockey and basketball (mostly basketball) dicing up winter and spring, and baseball having summer all to itself. There's not much room for soccer on the schedule. I know I can find soccer on the TV schedule, but a lot of casual fans couldn't. Growing the soccer audience means accommodating them.
Both good points. There are a ton of college games on during the season, but a lot of them are games only the hardcore or region fan care about, so I think there is room in there for soccer. It's a tough market though, for sure.
ESPN is slowly building a better soccer package, showing Premier League, La Liga and USA national team matches. Now that they are doing the Premier League in the UK maybe we'll see even more growth here.
It's inevitable that MLS will compete with other sports, we can't avoid it. There's still a long way to go, but there is more soccer on TV these days than ever before, so as long as the trend continues we'll be in good shape.
EDIT: Germany's No. 1 goalkeeper, Robert Enke, has died after being hit by a high-speed train in an apparent suicide. He leaves behind a wife and 8 month old daughter. A real tragedy.
Because what Liverpool need is another injury prone striker. If I were Liverpool I would have asked for Darren Bent from Tottenham in return for Keane.
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