Everything Soccer

[Emcee77]

Amazing result for Iceland.

I am inspired to watch this now:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was no fluke... Watch Rog's documentary of how Iceland bred this magnificent team that believe in miracles <a href="https://t.co/yzQJtmzknC">https://t.co/yzQJtmzknC</a></p>— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) <a href="https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/747534009681338368">June 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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I don't know if there are any other Men in Blazers listeners here, but Rog has been talking ad nauseam about how Iceland has been investing heavily in its soccer program over the last 10 or 15 years, and its starting to pay dividends.

 

[nlroma1o]

This England team has no identity. Every game I watched, I was trying to determine what they are trying to do. And each game this team struggles to all buy into how they wanted to play. They couldn't get on the same page with one another, let alone actually execute what they were trying.

 

[Emcee77]

Lol.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The worst defeat in our history. England beaten by a country with more volcanoes than professional footballers. Well played Iceland.</p>— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/747532693001371650">June 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[Sherm Sticky]

Haha England!

 

[aubeirish]

That is the quickest resignation I have ever seen. I mean even the speech was ready beforehand. Why Vardy wasn't starting the whole tournament is beyond me. He's one of the few out there making things happen for England.

 

[Emcee77]

This England team has no identity. Every game I watched, I was trying to determine what they are trying to do. And each game this team struggles to all buy into how they wanted to play. They couldn't get on the same page with one another, let alone actually execute what they were trying.

They desperately need some creativity in midfield. There is a lot of quality on this England team but the squad is just too vanilla.

 

[notredomer23]

Without knowing the facts of the teams (Iceland has beaten Netherlands, Turkey, and many other good squads in the past couple years), I would say this was the greatest upset in soccer history. Knowing the facts, I would still say this may be the biggest upset in Euro history.

It has to be up there with North Korea beating Italy in the 1966 WC.

 

[Emcee77]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THIS IS LIKE WATCHING ENGLAND BEAT THE USA AT NFL FOOTBALL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ENG?src=hash">#ENG</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISL?src=hash">#ISL</a></p>— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) <a href="https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/747532049439809536">June 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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[nlroma1o]

This England team really wasn't that productive of a squad. They never looked that good from the start of the tournament. They weren't expected to do anything spectacular. So its an upset, but lets be honest. The English National team has been in shambles for a while now.

 

[Emcee77]

Without knowing the facts of the teams (Iceland has beaten Netherlands, Turkey, and many other good squads in the past couple years), I would say this was the greatest upset in soccer history. Knowing the facts, I would still say this may be the biggest upset in Euro history.

It has to be up there with North Korea beating Italy in the 1966 WC.

Right, I agree. Even before today, I thought this England team was not great because it just doesn't have the right mix of midfielders--but it has to be said that they had a 100% record in qualifying. Iceland was pretty strong in qualifying too, but when you have a team that is 10 for 10 in qualifying lose to a team that has never played in a major tournament before, that's a pretty big deal.

 

[ACamp1900]

Celtic seem on the verge of signing Moussa Dembele (Fulham version)... great signing by them... also looking at others, Joe Allen may not be realistic at this point but Dembele is a heck of a start.

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

Still reeling from Messi retiring from international play and England losing to Iceland.

 

[ACamp1900]

I suspect Messi will return, it's England who should retire from international play forever.....

 

[ACamp1900]

Dembele to Celtic is official....

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

I suspect Messi will return, it's England who should retire from international play forever.....

The England thing isn't really that shocking, but Messi at his age and current skills on the other hand.

 

[ACamp1900]

Someone else touched on it here, and I think it nailed it... this move by him and others get the country begging them to come back rather than, "You failed us again losers!!!"

I bet he'll be back.

 

[Emcee77]

This England team has no identity. Every game I watched, I was trying to determine what they are trying to do. And each game this team struggles to all buy into how they wanted to play. They couldn't get on the same page with one another, let alone actually execute what they were trying.

I ran across this piece by Raphael Honigstein, who covers both English and German football, and who agrees with roma.

England failure to play as a team was at the root of their Euro 2016 woes - ESPN FC

 

[ACamp1900]

I know they always bury the manager every time they get bounced but this time there is something to it... the use of Kane was pretty odd to say the least and yeah, it was clear they had no clear directive or identity.

 

[Rocket89]

Eh yo, how about some transfer talk?

EPL
Xhaha - Monchengladbach to Arsenal for €45 million
Mane - Southampton to Liverpool for €36 million
Gundogan - Dortmund to Manchester City for €25.8 million
E. Bailly - Villarreal to Manchester United for €38.3 million
Redmond - Norwich to Southampton for €13.5 million
Wanyama - Southampton to Tottenham for €14.4 million

La Liga
Gaitan - Benfica to Atletico for €15.5 million
Morata - Juventus to Real Madrid for €30 million (buy back clause)

Serie A
Alves - Barcelona to Juventus (free)
Pjanic - Roma to Juventus for €30.4 million
El Shaarawy - Milan to Roma for €13 million

Bundesliga
Volland - Hoffenheim to Leverkusen for €20 million
Hummels - Dortmund to Munich for €38 million
Sanches - Benfica to Munich for €35 million
Rode - Munich to Dortmund for €13 million
Guerreiro - Lorient to Dortmund for €12 million
Dembele - Rennes to Dortmind for €15 million
Embolo - Basel to Schalke for €20 million
Bruma - PSV to Wolfsburg for €15 million

Mkhitaryan from Dortmund to Man U looks like it's getting close for somewhere near €40 million.

Madrid could re-sell Morata for €50 million--Chelsea & Arsenal the top rumored targets.

Pogba Watch is heating up again for a rumored €100 million. Please God anywhere but Man U or Chelsea.

Brendan Rogers' first signing with Celtic is 19-year old Mousa Dembele from Fulham which I think was a free transfer. He was linked to some big clubs in Europe.

Marseille has turned down €30+ million for Michy Batshuayi from West Ham and Crystal Palace (oh, hello EPL TV money!) plus Bats wants £100,000 per week wherever he goes. He's been Spurs top target this summer but we may not bite. Rumors he's going to Chelsea for €40 million today.

 

[Irish YJ]

I know they always bury the manager every time they get bounced but this time there is something to it... the use of Kane was pretty odd to say the least and yeah, it was clear they had no clear directive or identity.

Very true, but hat tip to Iceland. I hope they have another one in the tank. I'd love to see a Franxit. I'm still pissed though that Germany and Italy (my 2 fav teams that aren't the US) play in the QF. Just pissed about the whole side of the bracket in general...

 

[ACamp1900]

Just going to think out loud for a second:

On UEFA... Remember when the English clubs were consistently making good (not even great, just good) runs in Euro for all of like a grand total of two or three years (I'm thinking like 09 to like 2011) and UEFA had to adjust all these rules and make a huge fuss about it?? Now you've had three straight years of nothing but Spanish Euro champions, in both tournaments, and no one from UEFA gives a hoot... hmmmm.....


Anyway, if they REALLY wanted 'fair play' they'd drastically restrict the amount of international players signing onto any team wanting to compete in European competitions... If you want to win your league with a team of international all-stars, so be it, but you're not competing in Europe next season (or you must use an amended roster of some sort). That would level the overall field a lot imo... It would hurt SOME teams but the overall impact would be a huge net positive. You'd also see great, historical teams, like AJAX, Liverpool, and the like make a bit of a comeback imo... developing clubs would have a seat at the table again and it wouldn't be a very select group of four or five teams just buying EVERYONE and 'playing fair'....

 

[NorthDakota]

Just going to think out loud for a second:

On UEFA... Remember when the English clubs were consistently making good (not even great, just good) runs in Euro for all of like a grand total of two or three years (I'm thinking like 09 to like 2011) and UEFA had to adjust all these rules and make a huge fuss about it?? Now you've had three straight years of nothing but Spanish Euro champions, in both tournaments, and no one from UEFA gives a hoot... hmmmm.....


Anyway, if they REALLY wanted 'fair play' they'd drastically restrict the amount of international players signing onto any team wanting to compete in European competitions... If you want to win your league with a team of international all-stars, so be it, but you're not competing in Europe next season (or you must use an amended roster of some sort). That would level the overall field a lot imo... It would hurt SOME teams but the overall impact would be a huge net positive. You'd also see great, historical teams, like AJAX, Liverpool, and the like make a bit of a comeback imo... developing clubs would have a seat at the table again and it wouldn't be a very select group of four or five teams just buying EVERYONE and 'playing fair'....

That'd be cool with me. Bayern has gotten a little foreign for my taste anyway.

 

[ACamp1900]

That'd be cool with me. Bayern has gotten a little foreign for my taste anyway.

A German Club they ain't....

 

[NorthDakota]

A German Club they ain't....

They are at least for the most part not terrible...

Alaba is Austrian... Close enough.
Boateng/Hummels/badstuber(poor guy)/lahm and kimmich all Kraut.
Neuer obviously(Dude would have been on an SS poster in the 30's.
Müller. Schweini got old... Götze hasn't cut it but he's still there.

They aren't nearly as bad as the Prem mercenary teams that's for sure.

 

[ACamp1900]

None of those guys are German, they all renounced their citizenship when they left Germany to play for a Merc team...

 

[NorthDakota]

None of those guys are German, they all renounced their citizenship when they left Germany to play for a Merc team...

Odd how so many of them still play for the national team... Must be some Bayern Munich exemption established by uefa?

 

[nlroma1o]

Well its official. Zlatan is heading to ManU.... This sucks.

 

[NorthDakota]

Well its official. Zlatan is heading to ManU.... This sucks.

For the first time in his life, he will be a loser. This is great.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

A German Club they ain't....

What would you call Dortmund then? Both clubs currently have 13 German nationals on the roster.

Re Poland v. Portugal: Was rooting for Poland to pull it out, but Renato Sanchez... very glad he's going to be taking over for Xabi Alonso as Bayern's holding defensive mid.

 

[ACamp1900]

BVB isnt a heartless merc team, they develop, not poach...