Author Topic: Soccer 2024-25 (Read 4912 times)

Ali the Baseball Cat · « **Reply #50 on:** January 14, 2025, 01:33:40 pm »

Millwall vs Leeds in the next round. All police leave cancelled.

Ali the Baseball Cat · « **Reply #51 on:** January 14, 2025, 03:49:54 pm »

Celtic/Dundee on CBSSN. I find myself wondering how many tanker cars of Buckfast will go sloshing down the urinals at halftime

English Natsie · « **Reply #52 on:** January 14, 2025, 05:27:34 pm »

Rather embarrassing that Atlanta claimed to have signed Kyogo - except, they hadn't...

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #53 on:** January 14, 2025, 06:01:22 pm »

Quote from: English Natsie on January 14, 2025, 05:27:34 pm

Rather embarrassing that Atlanta claimed to have signed Kyogo - except, they hadn't...

Was it the team or the MLS?

English Natsie · « **Reply #54 on:** January 15, 2025, 01:16:41 pm »

Quote from: Natsinpwc on January 14, 2025, 06:01:22 pm

Was it the team or the MLS?

It's all a bit murky - MLS put out a statement, having been prompted by the team. Atlanta then claimed that someone had got confused, and the story should have benn about Cayman Togashi, who they have signed. MLS duly apologized - only for it to emerge that Atlanta have been pursuing Kyogo. So now lots of 'will-he-won't-he' in Glasgow...Was it an attempt to 'bounce' him into signing?...

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #55 on:** January 18, 2025, 12:00:57 pm »

I’ve been betting against Crystal Palace and seems to working. Reverse jinx. Moving up to middle of the table. The usual place.

welch · « **Reply #56 on:** February 05, 2025, 06:05:19 pm »

Quote from: Natsinpwc on January 18, 2025, 12:00:57 pm

I’ve been betting against Crystal Palace and seems to working. Reverse jinx. Moving up to middle of the table. The usual place.

Should we cheer for Crystal Palace as part of the Josh Harris family?

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #57 on:** February 05, 2025, 06:07:36 pm »

Quote from: welch on February 05, 2025, 06:05:19 pm

Should we cheer for Crystal Palace as part of the Josh Harris family?

Well more than the Devils.

English Natsie · « **Reply #58 on:** February 10, 2025, 06:21:49 pm »

Sunday was a day of cup shocks, both north and south of the border. In the FA Cup, Liverpool lost to bottom-of-the-Championship Plymouth Argyle, whilst in the Scottish Cup Glasgow Rangers lost to lowly Queens Park - one of the worst defeats in Rangers history.

welch · « **Reply #59 on:** February 11, 2025, 10:49:22 pm »

Quote from: English Natsie on February 10, 2025, 06:21:49 pm

Sunday was a day of cup shocks, both north and south of the border. In the FA Cup, Liverpool lost to bottom-of-the-Championship Plymouth Argyle, whilst in the Scottish Cup Glasgow Rangers lost to lowly Queens Park - one of the worst defeats in Rangers history.

Liverpool defeat was astonishing. And Jamie Donley of Leyton Orient floated a ball over the head of Manchester City goalkeeper from 35 yards out so that they had a lead, for a while, over the giants.

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #60 on:** March 02, 2025, 09:34:45 am »

FA Cup Round of 16 going on. Newcastle and Brighton in a good one. 1-1 at the half.

welch · « **Reply #61 on:** March 02, 2025, 04:23:58 pm »

Millwall / Crystal Palace was hard-fought.

Back about '96, I was working in London for a couple weeks, meaning over a weekend. My friend was a Millwall supporter, so I suggested we go to The Den...Old Den or News Den, I don't remember. He said that he would not take a guest into the Den, and got us tickets to see Tottenham against Sunderland at White Heart Lane. I became a Spurs fan, through thick and thin. I read about Millwall now and again, and even joined a Millwall group similar to WNFF.

However, I had just gotten awake and found the game when the Millwall goalie kicked Mateta, the Palace striker, hard in the head. A crazy kick. Deserving the red card he got. Palace scored and quickly had a 2 - 0 lead.

And I have paid attention to Crystal Palace over the last year because Josh Harris owns about 18% and his partner, David Blitzer owns another 18%. I see Palce as first-cousins to the Redskins/Commanders.

English Natsie · « **Reply #62 on:** March 20, 2025, 10:43:57 am »

With a 2 - 0 victory, over Bahrain, Japan become the first team to qualify for WC 2026.

English Natsie · « **Reply #63 on:** March 21, 2025, 10:40:13 am »

Panama seems to be Team USA's bogey team...so the CONCACAF Nations League final will be Panama v Mexico (who defeated Canada).

English Natsie · « **Reply #64 on:** March 23, 2025, 08:34:14 am »

Team USA play Canada, today, in that all-important (I jest...) CONCACAF Nations League third-place play-off. GIven the current state-of-play, it could be quite a grudge match...

welch · « **Reply #65 on:** March 23, 2025, 11:27:50 am »

Toronto Globe and Mail attacks Jesse Marsch's "molly-coddling" as a modern North American trait, comparing him to US coach Pochettino. Marsch found some good things in Canada's loss to Mexico. Poch was furious after US lost to Panama. (I mentioned that a coach or manager almost never rips their team)

Quote

Jesse Marsch’s mollycoddling shows the error of our cultural norms

Cathal Kelly

After the Canadian men’s soccer team was comprehensively beaten 2-0 by Mexico on Thursday night, head coach Jesse Marsch was more than pleased with his team’s showing. Based on word choice, he was delighted.

If he’d said it in Spanish, it might have made sense. But as it was, it sounded a little weird.

“If we can just be a little bit clearer in the final third, and turn some our advantages into real chances, and some of our real chances into goals, then we can start to elevate the overall idea of what the performance was,” Marsch said afterward. “Because from so many other perspectives, the performance was really strong.”

So many other perspectives, except goals.

Contrast this with Marsch’s counterpart in charge of America, Mauricio Pochettino. The U.S. controlled 93 minutes of its game against Panama, missed a million chances, and then lost it in the 94th. If there was ever an instance of a team beaten by bad bounces, this was it.

Pochettino, an Argentinean, slumped into his presser looking like he’d come straight from the vet’s where he’d put his dog down. What positives did he see in his team’s outing?

“I am very disappointed. The way we approached the game, and started the game, wasn’t in the right way. … We play too slow … so comfortable on the pitch. … We didn’t show aggression with the ball,” Pochettino said. “The first half was really painful to see.”

The G&M sportswriter says it all begins with "participation trophies", and there the article gets a little weird.

(Yes, I recently took out the cheapo introductory sub to G&M)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-jesse-marschs-mollycoddling-shows-the-error-of-our-cultural-norms/

English Natsie · « **Reply #66 on:** March 23, 2025, 06:33:28 pm »

Poch did wonders, for Team USA's confidence, by going on about how he wants to manage Spurs again, during the build-up against Mexico.Good to know how committed the coach is to the USA job...

English Natsie · « **Reply #67 on:** March 24, 2025, 01:01:19 pm »

Never say never - £21 M would be small change, for Spurs...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c70eddpe5xko

English Natsie · « **Reply #68 on:** March 25, 2025, 05:09:06 am »

The Global Powerhouse have got their WC '26 qualifying campaign underway with expected victories over Albania and Latvia. Concerning that, despite Tuchel's claims, this was the same old dull and laboring GP of Southgate's tenure. GIven the opposition in the Group (Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra) it's likely that the GP won't face quality opposition until the WC itself...

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #69 on:** March 25, 2025, 08:20:08 am »

how are the Serbs? Croatia has been the kick butt team from the former yugoslavian republics I guess due to Modric, but are the Serbs a legit threat to qualify?

English Natsie · « **Reply #70 on:** March 25, 2025, 08:41:57 am »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on March 25, 2025, 08:20:08 am

how are the Serbs? Croatia has been the kick butt team from the former yugoslavian republics I guess due to Modric, but are the Serbs a legit threat to qualify?

No great shakes - they'll be a sterner test than the others (not difficult), but will only qualify through the group runners-up play-offs. This isn't misplaced arrogance, by the GP - against such low quality opposition their qualification is all but assured. We've seen it all before - easy qualification, against lowly opposition, followed by tournament struggles against quality teams. Early days, for Tuchel, but he now knows what a job he has, on his hands, to overcome the Southgate Stasis, and transforn the GP from 'nearly-men' to winners.

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #71 on:** March 25, 2025, 08:55:14 am »

I watched a bit of the GP yesterday. First half. Had chances but couldn’t score. Then one went in. But I stopped watching. So can’t comment much on the style.

Israel and Norway is on FS2 later today.

Ali the Baseball Cat · « **Reply #72 on:** March 25, 2025, 04:11:29 pm »

Norway should revert to old habits and raid other lands for players to join Haaland and Odegaard...even if it's just to cross the border to nab Isak. It's been ages since they qualified for anything.

English Natsie · « **Reply #73 on:** March 26, 2025, 10:00:14 am »

Norway v the GP, during the '82 WC qualifiers, gave us one of the immortal lines of sports commentary, from the great Barry Davies...

'you can see the England players out on the pitch - surrounded by their manager, Ron Greenwood...'

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #74 on:** March 30, 2025, 11:57:38 am »

Man City still struggling and down 1-0 to Bournemouth first half FA Cup. Other semi finalists are set. Crystal Palace. Nottingham Forest. Aston Villa. Go Eagles.