Everything Soccer

[dublinirish]

So true.

dublin, did you attend Man U/Liverpool in the Big House? It was stunning to see how different the Liverpool kids look compared to the Man U kids. Klopp has clearly put his stamp on the club all the way down to the Academy. Not so Mourinho. Someone on Twitter called the friendly "90 minutes of nothingness" from United. I thought it was a good description. The team he put out in that friendly just went through the motions, no cohesion or drive. It was a good illustration of what you are talking about; Jose just has no interest in coaching up kids.

Also that Shaqiri overhead kick ... Wow. It was wonderful to see how confident and comfortable Shaqiri looked playing as the most advanced central midfielder, a la Ox for much of last year. I expected LFC to stick him on the wing, but if he can play the Ox role this year, that would be huge.

I wanted to and was offered tickets but in the end I had too much work to do around our new home so I gave it as miss. Definitely if you saw the comments made by Jose after it was quite amusing he basically said all the kids wound be loaned out before the season and would never play competitive games for United this year lol. His demeanour on the tour has been ridiculed back in the UK, the memes are priceless

 

[gkIrish]

ACamp you are a Celtic supporter, right? Does my squad AEK have a chance? I see Dembele is out.

 

[Rogue219]

 

[ACamp1900]

ACamp you are a Celtic supporter, right? Does my squad AEK have a chance? I see Dembele is out.

I honestly don't know enough about AEK but from what I read it sounds like it could go either way if Dembele is out. Just from my reading about, because I've been wondering too, it sounds as though Celtic is the stronger squad all things equal but now we are down our single best player. I think the equalizer is AEK is further behind in terms of seasoning,practice and such, at least as far as I understand.

This frustrates me because the same thing happened last year... only a few CBs and two true strikers on the entire squad. Dembele AND Griff were out this time last year and we were down a CB too so we had people playing out of position throughout the qualifiers, made it harder than it should have been. Now here we are and we have added squat to those positions and it's groundhog's day. I hope French Eddy can step up and net a few.

 

[gkIrish]

I honestly don't know enough about AEK but from what I read it sounds like it could go either way if Dembele is out. Just from my reading about, because I've been wondering too, it sounds as though Celtic is the stronger squad all things equal but now we are down our single best player. I think the equalizer is AEK is further behind in terms of seasoning,practice and such, at least as far as I understand.

This frustrates me because the same thing happened last year... only a few CBs and two true strikers on the entire squad. Dembele AND Griff were out this time last year and we were down a CB too so we had people playing out of position throughout the qualifiers, made it harder than it should have been. Now here we are and we have added squat to those positions and it's groundhog's day. I hope French Eddy can step up and net a few.

Thanks for the insight. This is probably the best AEK squad of my lifetime. Olympiakos pretty much always wins the league. We have a really solid defense so I think it will be a close match. We beat Galatasary in a friendly the other day and I think they have the confidence to win. But as you said, we don't have the seasoning and haven't played a competitive match in a while.

 

[ACamp1900]

Thanks for the insight. This is probably the best AEK squad of my lifetime. Olympiakos pretty much always wins the league. We have a really solid defense so I think it will be a close match. We beat Galatasary in a friendly the other day and I think they have the confidence to win. But as you said, we don't have the seasoning and haven't played a competitive match in a while.

Of note: Celtic have been super peak and valley in Europe under Rodgers. They've come into some ties with the expectation that it'll be a push, and they've dominated and looked like world beaters,... they've also had ties against literally semi pros and lost and looked terrible. If your boys catch us on one of those down turns you could stroll... honestly, there is no real outcome here that would surprise me, either team getting crushed included.

 

[Rogue219]

City looks like they're going to be a special squad again. I hope Liverpool can give them a run. I don't expect anything from the London Three and United.

Klopp going to pass on Fekir now even with AOC out longer than expected and Lallana injured again. He's willing to wait for the guy he wants, I'll give him that. Ziyech from Ajax is all but available but they don't appear to be having a look.

Looking forward the Premier League season. Should be an interesting title race. Two new managers in London.

 

[Emcee77]

City looks like they're going to be a special squad again. I hope Liverpool can give them a run. I don't expect anything from the London Three and United.

Klopp going to pass on Fekir now even with AOC out longer than expected and Lallana injured again. He's willing to wait for the guy he wants, I'll give him that. Ziyech from Ajax is all but available but they don't appear to be having a look.

Looking forward the Premier League season. Should be an interesting title race. Two new managers in London.

Yeah the Lallana thing is disappointing, but I think we'll be alright at LFC, considering how well Shaqiri seems to be fitting in and assuming that Sturridge is well and truly fit and able to stay that way. Sturridge is almost like a new signing, with how fit and sharp he has looked. Some people in the Liverpool press think Naby Keita seems to bring out the best in him; they have shown a bit of a connection. It's all got me thinking back to 13/14 and wondering if Sturridge can regain that form. If so, the sky's the limit. You could even envision him playing as the 9 with Mane and Salah to either side and Bobby behind them as the most advanced midfielder. I would love to see Klopp experiment with that in a low-stakes game at some point. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Bottom line: yes, can't wait for the season to start.

 

[Rogue219]

Yeah the Lallana thing is disappointing, but I think we'll be alright at LFC, considering how well Shaqiri seems to be fitting in and assuming that Sturridge is well and truly fit and able to stay that way. Sturridge is almost like a new signing, with how fit and sharp he has looked. Some people in the Liverpool press think Naby Keita seems to bring out the best in him; they have shown a bit of a connection. It's all got me thinking back to 13/14 and wondering if Sturridge can regain that form. If so, the sky's the limit. You could even envision him playing as the 9 with Mane and Salah to either side and Bobby behind them as the most advanced midfielder. I would love to see Klopp experiment with that in a low-stakes game at some point. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Bottom line: yes, can't wait for the season to start.

Sturridge is like a new signing...ACamp would be proud to see you channeling your inner Brendan Rodgers.

Sturridge has proven he can't stay fit. When he is fit, he usually puts the ball into the back of the net. He turns 29 in a month. They appear to be ready to sell Origi and Ings. I hesitate giving up on Origi but Klopp knows more than I do about his squad. Sturridge coming off the bench late in matches could be interesting provided he can be counted on.

It's a gamble, especially if they loan out Solanke and sell the other two lads.

 

[Emcee77]

Sturridge is like a new signing...ACamp would be proud to see you channeling your inner Brendan Rodgers.

Sturridge has proven he can't stay fit. When he is fit, he usually puts the ball into the back of the net. He turns 29 in a month. They appear to be ready to sell Origi and Ings. I hesitate giving up on Origi but Klopp knows more than I do about his squad. Sturridge coming off the bench late in matches could be interesting provided he can be counted on.

It's a gamble, especially if they loan out Solanke and sell the other two lads.

Oh I hadn't heard we were gonna loan out Solanke. I definitely think we need one more senior striker in addition to Firmino and Sturridge. Would Brewster be the third striker in that scenario? I know he's impressed but he's a baby and that seems dangerous.

The Ings deal looks closest to happening and it makes me sad. I always loved his work rate. He's nowhere near the player Firmino is but he is the only Liverpool attacker close to Bobby in the work-rate department. But if he is gonna be behind Solanke in the pecking order then opportunities are gonna be few so I get why he wants to leave.

 

[Rogue219]

Oh I hadn't heard we were gonna loan out Solanke. I definitely think we need one more senior striker in addition to Firmino and Sturridge. Would Brewster be the third striker in that scenario? I know he's impressed but he's a baby and that seems dangerous.

The Ings deal looks closest to happening and it makes me sad. I always loved his work rate. He's nowhere near the player Firmino is but he is the only Liverpool attacker close to Bobby in the work-rate department. But if he is gonna be behind Solanke in the pecking order then opportunities are gonna be few so I get why he wants to leave.

It doesn't appear to be in their plans, but he's clearly lacking confidence right now and needs to play regularly. It may not be a bad idea, but if they sell the other two guys, I don't think they can. If Daniel gets injured, and they've sold Ings and Origi, they don't have anyone else. Plus if any of the front three have to miss a game or two, Shaqiri starts.

Brewster would be interesting. Trent Alexander Arnold showed what a young academy guy can do if given a shot.

A guy like Luan would be really interesting off of their bench. Or Perez from Newcastle, who is Premier League tested, if that matters to anyone.

We'll see what Klopp's final 25 roster looks like.

 

[fightingirish26]

Do you liverpool guys expect a genuine title race this year? City won't get 100 points again but it's hard to see pep letting us slip too much...plus the squad is reinvigorated with mendy, laporte, stones, mahrez and Bernardo silva primed for key roles this year.

 

[Rogue219]

Do you liverpool guys expect a genuine title race this year? City won't get 100 points again but it's hard to see pep letting us slip too much...plus the squad is reinvigorated with mendy, laporte, stones, mahrez and Bernardo silva primed for key roles this year.

Liverpool, for what they have done this summer and could do this week (and in January) need to push them until the end. I still believe this is City's title to win, but if anyone is going to challenge them, Liverpool seem to be the team on paper to do it.

No one else has done enough to strengthen their squad this summer.

 

[Emcee77]

It doesn't appear to be in their plans, but he's clearly lacking confidence right now and needs to play regularly. It may not be a bad idea, but if they sell the other two guys, I don't think they can. If Daniel gets injured, and they've sold Ings and Origi, they don't have anyone else. Plus if any of the front three have to miss a game or two, Shaqiri starts.

Brewster would be interesting. Trent Alexander Arnold showed what a young academy guy can do if given a shot.

A guy like Luan would be really interesting off of their bench. Or Perez from Newcastle, who is Premier League tested, if that matters to anyone.

We'll see what Klopp's final 25 roster looks like.

Agreed on optimism for Brewster based on Trent last year, and also I love the Perez idea. Ayoze Perez is the sort of player who shows flashes but hasn't shown the consistency, and I'd back Klopp to get the best out of him. He certainly is the sort of player who seems like he might thrive in a Klopp system.

Do you liverpool guys expect a genuine title race this year? City won't get 100 points again but it's hard to see pep letting us slip too much...plus the squad is reinvigorated with mendy, laporte, stones, mahrez and Bernardo silva primed for key roles this year.

Yeah, I agree on City not slipping too much. City won't surprise anyone this year so 100 points might be tough, but in terms of quality I don't see any reason to expect them be any weaker. Stronger if anything. (Side note: after such a good World Cup run for Stones, I wonder if he will come into the season confident and ready to take a place as an every-game first-choice player. He certainly has the ability to do that.)

For me it's just a matter of what kind of strides Liverpool can make in terms of turning in consistent performances game in and game out. There were too many games last year where things just didn't click. They showed in the Champions League what they can do when they are up for it. But when Rafa brings Newcastle to town and puts 11 people behind the ball to try and snag a point in a 0-0 draw, where does the goal come from? The difference between Man City and Liverpool last year was that City was better at finding ways to get three points in games like that. If Liverpool want to challenge City then that's the gap they have to narrow.

And while I love all of our offseason signings, I don't really see the plan in that respect. I thought that was why we were going after Fekir, to be the "lockpick" player we have lacked since Coutinho left. Is Shaqiri meant to be the answer? He will be good against bottom-half opposition but still I'm not totally convinced. Anyway, this is what we have to watch for this season.

 

[fightingirish26]

Long post so I won't quote, but that second paragraph is what it's all about. We'll both go up against plenty of busses next year, who has it in them to eke out enough gutsy results.

If we can use the community shield as any indication, stones is bringing his world cup form with him into the start of this season. Such an aesthetically pleasing center half. Bernardo Silva has also been playing the best soccer of his career in preseason, I can't get enough of him in that new no.8 role.

Pool have done the business this summer tho, can't deny that. Allison, keita and even VVD are great additions. Not personally a huge fan of Fabinho or shaqiri, but time will tell.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Liverpool have the best FUNCTIONAL front three in the world (not talking player by player on paper or on reputation) --- PSG, Barcelona, Real, Juventus notwithstanding. Man City have the best functional mid-three in the world --- notwithstanding anyone except the Vidal, Rakitic, Busgets (sp?), or Coutinho conglomeration (if he plays "10")(DAMM that Barcelona thing is monstrous with Vidal.)

Firmino is the most underrated great player in the world. Mane is close. (Vidal has an argument, especially if he stays healthy.)

If the new keeper is any good, and the midfield gels, Liverpool will be formidable and capable of anything (barring injury to the front three of course.) The Liverpool back line is now also VERY good (even Lovren.) I believe that this new add Shakiri is a stud. Watched him in the World Cup --- really good and confident and physical. It would be interesting to see him crammed in somewhere in midfield.

Liverpool ain't no fluke and should be better under the tutelage of the Wild Master.

 

[Rocket89]

ESPN has picked up Serie A rights.

 

[ACamp1900]

ESPN has picked up Serie A rights.

Good news... I'd like to watch a bit more and as more and more leagues get picked up it'll only be a matter of time before someone picks up something with the SPFL, if only for the Old Firm. I will be curious to see if the Italian stadiums still look so drab, they have always appeared so in the past imo in comparison to Germany, France, England and Scotland. Never could figure out if it's the lighting style or what but definitely was a thing.

 

[nlroma1o]

ESPN has picked up Serie A rights.

They are only showing 1 game live on TV tho. We have to subscribe to ESPN + in order to stream the other matches live...... im actually really annoyed about this. BeIN did a decent job with the coverage, the announcers were great.... now I have to cancel my bein sports package and now pay $5 a month for an espn product thats pretty much only available via stream. ESPN is never going to show Roma on TV coverage unless they play Juve. We are going to have to listen to ESPNS absolute garbage fuking punditry .... i can hear the horrible mispronounced names already... im salty....

 

[NorthDakota]

Do you liverpool guys expect a genuine title race this year? City won't get 100 points again but it's hard to see pep letting us slip too much...plus the squad is reinvigorated with mendy, laporte, stones, mahrez and Bernardo silva primed for key roles this year.

We'll see. They certainly aren't as deep as City, so if they stay healthy, I give them an okay shot.

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Soccer on American TV is going straight to a fiery, paywalled hell: <a href="https://t.co/aRpPJ3Ey55">https://t.co/aRpPJ3Ey55</a> <a href="https://t.co/mGCadgBBJV">pic.twitter.com/mGCadgBBJV</a></p>— Deadspin (@Deadspin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1027161444981395458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[GowerND11]

Good news... I'd like to watch a bit more and as more and more leagues get picked up it'll only be a matter of time before someone picks up something with the SPFL, if only for the Old Firm. I will be curious to see if the Italian stadiums still look so drab, they have always appeared so in the past imo in comparison to Germany, France, England and Scotland. Never could figure out if it's the lighting style or what but definitely was a thing.

I feel like Fox would do really well for them, again even for just the Old Firm. They would really hype it up I think. I know the Bundesliga is on Fox, but idk a thought.

They are only showing 1 game live on TV tho. We have to subscribe to ESPN + in order to stream the other matches live...... im actually really annoyed about this. BeIN did a decent job with the coverage, the announcers were great.... now I have to cancel my bein sports package and now pay $5 a month for an espn product thats pretty much only available via stream. ESPN is never going to show Roma on TV coverage unless they play Juve. We are going to have to listen to ESPNS absolute garbage fuking punditry .... i can hear the horrible mispronounced names already... im salty....

Never had BeIN, but I've heard good things. Sad that ESPN will only show one a week. They could really do a good job of exposing the US to Serie A. You're right too about the "talent" at ESPN too. I can only imagine what they are like for a Serie A game that ESPN doesn't care about. BRUTAL

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Soccer on American TV is going straight to a fiery, paywalled hell: <a href="https://t.co/aRpPJ3Ey55">https://t.co/aRpPJ3Ey55</a> <a href="https://t.co/mGCadgBBJV">pic.twitter.com/mGCadgBBJV</a></p>— Deadspin (@Deadspin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1027161444981395458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sad, but probably true.

 

[Emcee77]

They are only showing 1 game live on TV tho. We have to subscribe to ESPN + in order to stream the other matches live...... im actually really annoyed about this. BeIN did a decent job with the coverage, the announcers were great.... now I have to cancel my bein sports package and now pay $5 a month for an espn product thats pretty much only available via stream. ESPN is never going to show Roma on TV coverage unless they play Juve. We are going to have to listen to ESPNS absolute garbage fuking punditry .... i can hear the horrible mispronounced names already... im salty....

UGH I totally agree, this fucking sucks. BeIN used to be great because it was basically one-stop shopping for everything except PL and Bundesliga: you had EFL Championship, Serie A, La Liga, and Ligue 1. And the coverage was way better than ESPN's soccer coverage. (Phil Schoen always annoyed me, but Ray Hudson is the best!)

 

[nlroma1o]

UGH I totally agree, this fucking sucks. BeIN used to be great because it was basically one-stop shopping for everything except PL and Bundesliga: you had EFL Championship, Serie A, La Liga, and Ligue 1. And the coverage was way better than ESPN's soccer coverage. (Phil Schoen always annoyed me, but Ray Hudson is the best!)

Basically every single euro league is behind a different streaming paywall, EXCEPT Bundesliga. I can stream all bundesliga matches on fox with my cable provider log in. But If i want all EPL matches live, I have to pay for the NBC sports streaming service. If i want La Liga, I have to continue paying extra for the beIN sports package, and now if I want Serie A, which i what i watch the most, I now need to pay for espn+ streaming service.... these fuking broadcasting rights are annoying as hell. just consolidate all of this to one service and Ill pay whatever you want.

 

[ACamp1900]

Could be worse... I'd love to be able to pay extra for SPFL... I don't even have that anymore... it used to be on Fox Soccer Plus. Now my only option is streaming sites like HesGoal and that's hit or miss.

 

[fightingirish26]

Just check out reddit's soccer streams. They always have anything I'm looking for.

 

[ACamp1900]

My gut doesn't like this AEK match... expecting bad things... I did see this in the stands though... truth.

 

[ACamp1900]

and AEK should have scored a minute in, walked right past our best defender like he wasn't there... lol

 

[notredomer23]

Emerson Hyndman joining Hibernian on loan Acamp...

 

[ACamp1900]

Emerson Hyndman joining Hibernian on loan Acamp...

NICE! Lennon will get the best out of him.

On that note how has Gedion Zelalem gotten along since leaving Rangers... I honestly have heard almost nothing of him.