Everything Soccer

[Emcee77]

I'm a big Son fan. Thought he was quietly pretty good last year in limited time. He has 16 league goals in roughly 3/4 of a season's worth of minutes!

Me too. I love a guy like that, who can line up as the 9 or out on the wing and be equally effective.

Put it to you this way, if they welcome Sakho back, he starts with Matip. I have no doubt in my mind that a fit Sakho is better than Lovren.

I think the ship has set sail, though. They got Matip on a free, so maybe they shell it out of van Dijk if they're serious about winning trophies.

This is all predicated on them having Champions League next year and there is a good chance they may not even if they finish fourth.

I tend to agree with the first two points. On Sakho, it's just a question of how damaged his relationship with Klopp has become. No question that if Klopp is willing to take him back, he starts next to Matip. Great left-sided CB. But I think you are right that LFC will probably move on.

At this point, I feel pretty good about Liverpool's Champs League chances though. They have looked in good form despite having to overcome key injuries. Man City and Man U play each other, so one of their top 4 rivals is definitely going to drop points. And let's face it, if they make top 4, they will very likely qualify for Champs League. Leicester is a club you can never count out but I'd still say their chances of winning Champs League are pretty slim.

 

[Rogue219]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2b20E7YWTc

I don't know if he's going to go for VVD's supposed fee, but all he seems to lack in comparison is Premier League experience.

 

[NorthDakota]

Listening to a radio feed of Bayern vs. Real. This is fucking bananas.

 

[Emcee77]

Wow. Shambolic own goal by Ramos, and then Vidal sent off for ... a clean tackle. WTF.

 

[NorthDakota]

Bayern down a man and just conceded in extra time. Fuck. Let's go Bayern!

 

[nlroma1o]

Wow. Shambolic own goal by Ramos, and then Vidal sent off for ... a clean tackle. WTF.

The Vidal second yellow is an absolute disgrace... and just as I type this Ronaldo scores....

 

[nlroma1o]

And to make it ever worse HE WAS CLEARLY OFFSIDE!!!! WHAT IS THIS SHYTE!!!

 

[NorthDakota]

Wow. Shambolic own goal by Ramos, and then Vidal sent off for ... a clean tackle. WTF.

I haven't been able to watch. But sounds like Casemiro should have been sent off. Many fouls, a yellow card, and then goes and gives bayern a penalty, ref has the 2nd yellow out, and changes his mind.

Since it's a UEFA contest, is anyone surprised that Bayern will finish both these games down at least one man?

 

[Emcee77]

Holy shit. He was a yard offside. Hard for the officials to see that though, with Alaba or whoever that was on the left charging back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is this the goal to send Real through to another <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash">#UCL</a> semifinal? If it was, Ronaldo sure looked offside �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RMAFCB?src=hash">#RMAFCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/kSICrpL3nm">https://t.co/kSICrpL3nm</a></p>— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/854439382681395200">April 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Emcee77]

Bayern fans must be livid.

 

[NorthDakota]

Holy shit. He was a yard offside. Hard for the officials to see that though, with Alaba or whoever that was on the left charging back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is this the goal to send Real through to another <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash">#UCL</a> semifinal? If it was, Ronaldo sure looked offside �� <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RMAFCB?src=hash">#RMAFCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/kSICrpL3nm">https://t.co/kSICrpL3nm</a></p>— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/854439382681395200">April 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Welcome to UEFA, where rules don't matter if you play for one of the Spanish Giants.

 

[nlroma1o]

Man Hummels is a fault for both the Marcelo play and now the Acensio goal. He looks like he's out there playing with a back injury. He's stiff.

 

[Emcee77]

Man Hummels is a fault for both the Marcelo play and now the Acensio goal. He looks like he's out there playing with a back injury. He's stiff.

No doubt, but his team is unjustly reduced to 10 men and he is in extra time, so I have some sympathy for him.

 

[ACamp1900]

Welcome to UEFA, where rules don't matter if you play for one of the Spanish Giants.

Offside or not there is something to this... how Spain gets away with how they disperse their money to ti's top teams, when that money absolutely impacts other national leagues and federations now moreso than ever, is pretty crazy to me. I have no real beef with Barca in general, but that dynamic alone makes me root against them.

 

[nlroma1o]

No doubt, but his team is unjustly reduced to 10 men and he is in extra time, so I have some sympathy for him.

I do as well. He's world class.

 

[ACamp1900]

I've been going back and forth at work tho and missed it all it was 3-3 when ET started right??? lol

can't really complain about one goal when you give up three.

What has occurred in total here?? I'm flying blind...

 

[nlroma1o]

I've been going back and forth at work tho and missed it all it was 3-3 when ET started right??? lol

can't really complain about one goal when you give up three.

What has occurred in total here?? I'm flying blind...

It was 2-1 going into Extra time due to the 3-3 Aggregate. So Real has scored 3 goals in extra time.

 

[NorthDakota]

Offside or not there is something to this... how Spain gets away with how they disperse their money to ti's top teams, when that money absolutely impacts other national leagues and federations now moreso than ever, is pretty crazy to me. I have no real beef with Barca in general, but that dynamic alone makes me root against them.

I have a beef with Barcelona. Busquets, Neymar, and Suarez are probably as unlikable as any player I the world, including Penaldo.

Their money sharing is disgusting. Those two clubs are up there with Man United for me in terms of dislike.

 

[NorthDakota]

I've been going back and forth at work tho and missed it all it was 3-3 when ET started right??? lol

can't really complain about one goal when you give up three.

What has occurred in total here?? I'm flying blind...

Bayern 2 (ten men)
Real 1

Extra time
Bayern 2
Real 2 (Penaldo offsides goal)

Floodgates understandably open

 

[ACamp1900]

Bayern 2 (ten men)
Real 1

Extra time
Bayern 2
Real 2 (Penaldo offsides goal)

Floodgates understandably open

thx buddy...

 

[Emcee77]

I've been going back and forth at work tho and missed it all it was 3-3 when ET started right??? lol

can't really complain about one goal when you give up three.

What has occurred in total here?? I'm flying blind...

This is true and would be applicable here except that the aggregate score was tied when, somewhere around the 75th or 80th minute, Vidal was sent off for what replays showed to be an obviously clean tackle. Reduced to 10, Bayern hung on for another 25 minutes or so but toward the end of the first extra time, when everyone was exhausted AND Bayern was a man down, Ronaldo scored that horrible offside goal, which forced Bayern to attack rather than hold on for penalties, and of course that opened the floodgates and the next two Madrid goals followed.

 

[nsisk157]

IMO, the biggest need relative to taking the next step on the CL stage and winning an EPL title is finding an all-world box-to-box midfielder with offensive touch.

That seems kind of absurd given the play of Dembele and Wanyama with Winks progressing nicely until his injury and Dier providing flexibility....but....for as much as these players can boss the midfield they've been boxed in by the best competition at times. Dembele is world-class at what he does best but is such a non-threat in the final third. Plus, he's turning 30 this summer and a little injury prone.

Last year, Spurs were miserable without Dembele. This year quite better which is encouraging. But, there are still some games here and there where the passing maps are clear as day. Sometimes those central midfielders can't link up well with Kane/Alli and the attacking band so Spurs funnel everything through the fullbacks.

If the fullbacks are playing well (which is often) it's usually fine. But we've seen some performances, particularly with Trippier or Davies, where the games are one long stretch of fullback turnovers or poor crosses. Very frustrating. Good defenses don't respect our central middies in the final third and Spurs are one of the poorer teams from scoring outside the box anyway.

Of course, depth is needed everywhere (especially ST, RW CB) for better squad rotation. Spurs are in a pickle though cause no established player at these positions are going to want to sit behind Kane or Alderweireld and they certainly won't break their wage structure for a Top 50-ish type of player.

I'm curious to see the roster moves this summer. It's amazing how they've built things to this point under Poch with about $10 million net spending on players. But where does the money come from this time around?

Bentaleb- Permanent move to Shalke for $19 million already done
Fazio- Permanent move somewhere (stay at Roma?) for not much
Njie- Possibly already a permanent move to OM for less than $10 million
Sissoko- I'd accept 60 cents on the dollar for him, anything over $15 million for sure
N'Koudou- Apparently not a long-term solution, probably $5 million
Lamela- The big question mark. When healthy, could demand over $30 million
Janssen- One year and out unlikely, but could happen for $15 million
Wimmer- Could've been bold & sold super high last summer, still could leave for good money

At minimum, $50 million needs to come in the bank from these players. I'm even more amazed that Spurs are 2nd with the injuries plus a pretty awful summer 2016 transfer window.

I tend to agree with most of your assessment. I do not want to give up on Wimmer because I think he's shown some class last year (although he appeared to be in Poch's dog house for a bit) and is only 24 y/o.

Competition breeds success and if you want to play at a high level, guys need to be pushing each other. Wasn't too long ago where Sonny couldn't get a run due to Lamela.

I think Dier could evolve into a box to box mid, he certainly has the defensive mindset and has shown some attacking prowess as well.

 

[Old Man Mike]

First half of this game was some of the most active/dynamic soccer I've watched. Lamm worked his ass off giving Robben space, while Real set up double teams so he couldn't penetrate across. Fabio (spelling?) was magnificent attacking and defending down Real's left side. Thiago, apparently usually a good player, was a sore thumb, bad-touching many balls away in midfield. Modric on the other hand was great. The Wild Animal, Vidal, was a destroyer all around the middle, plus organizing the offense when Robben or Ribery weren't running the edges. Vidal is too damm dynamic for his own good, exploding all over the pitch and confusing the referee when he does things other players can't do. Both Boatang and Hummels were great all through regular time.

As I watched particularly the first half, I was sure that I was watching a better team (Bayern) who somehow mysteriously WASN'T the better team --- no shots on goal, whereas Real had four true chances. Boggling. Bayern's goal keeper was great too.

Until Vidal's "sending", and the blindness towards Ronaldo's meandering offsides, I thought that Bayern would pull this out, and have to play the next game without Vidal (who had yellows in this and the previous game at that moment --- this, by the way is a bizarre rule given the almost accidentalness that some yellows occur --- to me anyway.)

Regardless --- that game for about three quarters of it, was really magnificent soccer.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Regardless --- that game for about three quarters of it, was really magnificent soccer.

Agreed. I'm not happy with the officiating or the outcome, but it was a treat to watch.

 

[nsisk157]

Toby has indicated, through his agent, that he is not interested in signing a new contract at Spurs. He's contracted through '20, but we are know where this could be going.

All the more reason to go and buy and retain Wimmer.

 

[Emcee77]

Toby has indicated, through his agent, that he is not interested in signing a new contract at Spurs. He's contracted through '20, but we are know where this could be going.

All the more reason to go and buy and retain Wimmer.

Wow really?? That surprises me. Spurs seem on the cusp of something special. I'd want to stay. I mean, does Alderweireld think Real Madrid or Barca want him? Or what's the hangup?

 

[nsisk157]

Wow really?? That surprises me. Spurs seem on the cusp of something special. I'd want to stay. I mean, does Alderweireld think Real Madrid or Barca want him? Or what's the hangup?

Typically, this is a ploy wanting a bigger weekly salary, but I still have the selling club mentality due to years of selling off out top players. Spurs need to open the checkbook to retain top talent and attract as well.

Plus, Inter is the club being used in the article, which makes it all the more unlikely, IMO.

 

[NorthDakota]

Typically, this is a ploy wanting a bigger weekly salary, but I still have the selling club mentality due to years of selling off out top players. Spurs need to open the checkbook to retain top talent and attract as well.

Plus, Inter is the club being used in the article, which makes it all the more unlikely, IMO.

Aren't the Milan clubs coming into some big money now? Lots of history there. Great weather. Would be surprised but not shocked.

 

[Rogue219]

Aren't the Milan clubs coming into some big money now? Lots of history there. Great weather. Would be surprised but not shocked.

Both are under new Asian ownership. Rumors are AC Milan are going to spend a lot of money this summer.

Ronaldo has a hat trick and is offside for two of the goals. Great match but all you can do is talk about the officiating and how poor it was.

Bayern keeps up their tradition of rolling the Bundesliga, smashing Arsenal in the Champions League, then getting beaten by a team from Spain.

 

[nlroma1o]

Aren't the Milan clubs coming into some big money now? Lots of history there. Great weather. Would be surprised but not shocked.

The sale of AC Milan to a Chinese venture officially went through last week. So Milan is going to be flush with cash this coming transfer period. I believe there main issue before was their stadium debt, but I imagine they figured that out now.

In regards to Inter, they were already bought by a Chinese group, and I believe their FCF position is quite significant. They are looking at buying Mbappe, so they have the Euros.