Everything Soccer

[IHateMarkMay]

Maybe Manchester United will buy someone!!! haha just kidding

 

[notredomer23]

Maybe Manchester United will buy someone!!! haha just kidding

Pretty sure Alex Telles is going to Man U sooner than later. Not sure how that affects Luke Shaw or if one of them can play on the right, but Telles would be a pretty damn good signing.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Pretty sure Alex Telles is going to Man U sooner than later. Not sure how that affects Luke Shaw or if one of them can play on the right, but Telles would be a pretty damn good signing.

Yeah, all signs point to him being United here soon. Shaw definitely needs someone to compete with and Brandon Williams is not that guy (he is actually a right back they moved to the left in the academy because Laird is a baller right back). I've heard Telles can hit an amazing free kick and is left footed, so it gives options with him and Fernandes.

I think once he comes in, Williams is the back up right back and Dalot is out the door (hopefully).

 

[dublinirish]

one for the Soccer/video game cross overs

Football Manager 2020 is free this week on the Epic Games Store

Check it out

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Amazing to think that Liverpool got double the amount for Lovren (12m) who has been a bench player the last two years then Barca got for Suarez (5.5m) when they are both over the age of 30.

I understand that Suarez is 33, but 5.5.m is way to low for a individual with over 400 career club goals in his career.
Honestly, Manchester City could do worse this season with a third option for when Jesus and Kun are out hurt, especially in this tight season because COVID...I am very surprised more big teams were not in on this fire sale.

The beauty of the transfer market, and one the reasons I love this sport.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

I’m seeing a rumor that Liverpool is trying to hijack Koulibaly. ��

 

[Rogue219]

I’m seeing a rumor that Liverpool is trying to hijack Koulibaly. ��

Bunk.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Zlatan has tested positive for Covid 19. Some of the tweets are great:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I tested negative to Covid yesterday and positive today. No symptoms what so ever. Covid had the courage to challenge me. Bad idea</p>— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ibra_official/status/1309142915210506244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">News that <a href="https://twitter.com/Ibra_official?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ibra_official</a> has tested positive with Coronavirus. Thoughts are with the virus at this difficult time.</p>— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1309118736398520323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Old Man Mike]

Let's hope he's still laughing in two weeks.(viruses don't give a sh!t)

... the bigger they are ... remember when John Wayne came out and bragged "I beat the Big C." He didn't. I have nothing against Ibrahimovic --- enjoy watching him play bully boy. But get a grip big fella.

 

[Rogue219]

I love how Klopp doesn't even do the domestic cup pressers anymore. He sent Pep Lijnders for the presser re: today's League Cup match vs Lincoln.

Lijnders on financial support for lower league clubs:

"A healthy economy only exists if you try to help the ones who need it most. It has to be a common approach. Life is a team sport."

 

[NorthDakota]

I love how Klopp doesn't even do the domestic cup pressers anymore. He sent Pep Lijnders for the presser re: today's League Cup match vs Lincoln.

Lijnders on financial support for lower league clubs:

"A healthy economy only exists if you try to help the ones who need it most. It has to be a common approach. Life is a team sport."

Possibly my favorite part in The Damned United is the pride Derby County shows when they draw Leeds in the FA Cup. Had to get the stadium and locker rooms looking nice.

 

[Rogue219]

Possibly my favorite part in The Damned United is the pride Derby County shows when they draw Leeds in the FA Cup. Had to get the stadium and locker rooms looking nice.

2-0 Liverpool in the first 18 minutes on Lincoln City.

Shaqiri on a beautiful free kick and Miniamo 9 minutes later gets one.

Citah go up 1-0 on Bournemouth on a goal by a lad called Liam Delap.

Villa up 2-0 on Bristol City.

 

[Rogue219]

Villa 3-0 Final

Liverpool up 6-2 with goals from Shaqiri, Miniamo (2), Jones (2) and Grujic. Could be showcasing Shaqiri and Grujic for sale.

I enjoy how much Klopp hates the League Cup competition.

Citah go up 2-1 on a goal from Foden.

Bayern 1 Sevilla 1 in UEFA Super Cup. 68th minute.

A bunch of Europa League qualifying matches. Celtic and AC Milan won. Rangers up 3-0. A bunch of clubs I have never heard of before in there too, and many have V, Y, Z, K and J in their names multiple times. God only knows where they are.

 

[notredomer23]

By the end of the weekend,

Americans will have represented
Juventus
Chelsea
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
Barcelona
Borussia Dortmund

in competitive matches.

<div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-postid="15382903" data-share-method="host" data-width="100%" data-aspect-ratio="1.7785714285714287"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/paul-rudd-look-at-us-who-woulda-thought-who-wouldve-thought-antman-gif-15382903">Paul Rudd Look At Us GIF</a> from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/paulrudd-gifs">Paulrudd GIFs</a></div><script type="text/javascript" async src="https://tenor.com/embed.js"></script>

 

[NorthDakota]

By the end of the weekend,

Americans will have represented
Juventus
Chelsea
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
Barcelona
Borussia Dortmund

in competitive matches.

<div class="tenor-gif-embed" data-postid="15382903" data-share-method="host" data-width="100%" data-aspect-ratio="1.7785714285714287"><a href="https://tenor.com/view/paul-rudd-look-at-us-who-woulda-thought-who-wouldve-thought-antman-gif-15382903">Paul Rudd Look At Us GIF</a> from <a href="https://tenor.com/search/paulrudd-gifs">Paulrudd GIFs</a></div><script type="text/javascript" async src="https://tenor.com/embed.js"></script>

And we will still struggle to make the world cup somehow lol

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Recap of Bayern's 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qBQgBll5-Wo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Neuer looks to be back in top form. Really nice to see Martinez sub in and score the winner in what was likely his last appearance for Bayern.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hansi Flick's record at Bayern Munich:<br><br>Games: 36<br>Wins: 33<br>Draw: 1<br>Defeats: 2<br>Win percentage: 92%<br>Goals Scored: 116 <br>Goals Conceded: 26<br>Goal Difference: +90<br>116 Goals in 36 Games, average of 3.2 goals per game��<br><br>Champions League��<br>Bundesliga��<br>DFB-Pokal�� <a href="https://t.co/LTXxehsUxd">pic.twitter.com/LTXxehsUxd</a></p>— Nouman (@nomifooty) <a href="https://twitter.com/nomifooty/status/1297657181056176130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Since he took over at Bayern, Flick has won more trophies (4) than he's failed to win games (2 losses + 1 draw).

 

[IHateMarkMay]

and to think he started as an interim manager... jeez

 

[Rogue219]

The Myth of the Pyramid
A lack of spectators at matches has been devastating for lower league teams in England.Nigel French/Agence France-Presse —
By Rory Smith

What is not up for debate is this: There is a moral duty incumbent on the Premier League — the richest domestic soccer competition in the world, a global sporting, televisual and cultural phenomenon never afraid to declare the weightiness of its wallet — to support the rest of English soccer at what is, now, a time of urgent crisis.

Coronavirus infection rates across Britain are rising. This week, at the end of a summer of confused, contradictory messaging, with a testing infrastructure that is entirely overwhelmed and a tracing system that does not work, the government’s own failings forced it to implement a more draconian set of restrictions: not a second lockdown, but very much not yet.

Those who can work from home are, once again, being encouraged to do so; pubs, for reasons that are not entirely clear and do not, prima facie, make a vast amount of sense, must close a bit earlier than normal; the police have access to more severe penalties for those not wearing masks; and the prospect of the army being drafted in to help enforce rules has been floated.

And — minor, perhaps, in the grand scheme of things, but major for those involved — the phased return of fans to sports stadiums has been paused. A handful of trials — at Middlesbrough, Charlton and elsewhere — had offered encouragement that, perhaps, there might be a sprinkling of fans watching live soccer in the next month or so; that hope has now been dashed, with most clubs now preparing for more months of empty stands.

For the Premier League, of course, that is problematic: The league’s 20 teams stand to lose $900 million or so if this turns out to be a whole season in which crowd noise is pumped into television feeds. There has long been an unspoken truth about English soccer — that its wealth is all smoke and sand, that all the money that comes in quickly goes out — that will now be exposed.

But for the rest of what is always called, with earnest affection, “The Pyramid,” it is disastrous. The Premier League — and to an extent the second tier Championship — are sports in their 21st century form: not so much live events but products staged for and shaped by television. That is the source of their success, and of their wealth. As long as the television money keeps rolling in, they will be able to survive.

Further down, in Leagues One and Two, and in the National League, that is not the case. Clubs there make money the way they have always made money: by attracting people to their grounds every week or so. The take at the gate is what keeps them afloat. Without it, they will sink.

It is here that the government must step in to protect cherished, social institutions, but it is here, too, that the Premier League is honor-bound to intercede. Even if the profit margins of its teams do not quite match up to the swagger with which they tend to traverse the world — all those celebratory announcements about the size of a new television deal, or the jubilation at their dominance of the Deloitte Money League — they enjoy enough wealth to share a little of it at a time of need.

Doing so would, though, be almost entirely be an act of altruism, as strange as using that word might seem in relation to the sports league that, at times, comes closest to embodying Gordon Gekko’s maxim. The moral case for the Premier League to intervene in some meaningful way to help the Football League is sound. The business case, much less so.

The Pyramid is the great, abiding orthodoxy of English soccer. It holds on to it with a deep and sincere reverence, the idea that the very top of the game can only touch the sky because of the breadth of the base. The idea of The Pyramid dictates that the Premier League needs the Football League and the vast ranks of professional, semiprofessional and amateur teams beneath that not just to thrive, but to survive.

Perhaps that was true, once upon a time, when the various tiers of English soccer were separated by cracks, not canyons. Perhaps it still contains a kernel of some broader truth, that soccer can only be a country’s dominant sporting obsession if it is widespread and accessible and ubiquitous, if it is a common language through which status is bestowed and relevance achieved.

But, in almost every practical sense, it is a myth: a harmless myth, a beneficial myth, one we all happily sign up to, but a myth nonetheless. The Premier League does, it is true, need a second tier — a source of fresh meat, a punishment for failure, a place to send young players on loan or to sell trinkets that have lost their sheen — but, lower down, the bonds are taut and thin.

The lower leagues do produce players, of course, and in greater numbers than should be expected at a time of industrialized youth development. But, as much as Jamie Vardy and others who ascended from those leagues have added enormously to the rich tapestry of English soccer, it is a bit of a stretch to say that the Premier League would not have survived without him.

This is not the same as Major League Baseball’s relationship to the minors. Leagues One and Two are a source of players, but they are far from the only sources of players. They can be a place to send young talent to polish up their abilities, but increasingly best practice has it that teams keep their brightest prospects in-house, rather than exposing them to a world where time and results are what matter, not their personal development.

And more and more, the managers overseeing those players have not needed to cut their teeth away from the limelight. Frank Lampard got the Chelsea job on the back of a single season at Derby County, and a stellar playing career. Mikel Arteta went from being a Premier League player to an assistant at Manchester City to managing Arsenal. For years, the only way for a lower league manager to make the leap to the summit of The Pyramid has been to take a team with him.

Indeed, in a sense, that is the only way in which The Pyramid remains a real, tangible thing: that there is at least theoretical access to it for all, that the future might be different, no matter what the present looks like.

In almost every other respect, the Premier League has unmoored itself from the rest; in doing so, it has not tumbled to the ground, but drifted off into the clouds. The restart of the top two tiers, in the brief lee between coronavirus waves, proved as much. The Premier League’s appeal as a television product did not diminish in the absence of the lower leagues; if anything, logic would suggest it would increase.

None of this is to say that the Premier League should wash its hands of the rest of the game. None of this is to say that the lower tiers of The Pyramid are devoid of worth. Quite the opposite: They are home to bright, inventive coaches, talented, hardworking players and a standard of play that is far higher than is often assumed.

They are populated by clubs that provide, between them, thousands of jobs, that offer crucial community space and outreach programs, that at their best are the heartbeat of the towns that sustain them. Most of all, they offer recognition: for towns like Rochdale and Colchester and Newport, a soccer team is often the only route into the national consciousness, of telling people that your place exists.

Sustaining all of that, saving all of that, protecting all of that is vital; like the government, the Premier League has a moral duty to help. That is not up for debate. But it is not worth sustaining and saving and protecting because of what it does for the health of the Premier League; it is worth it for what it is, and what it does, in itself. The Premier League does not need the rest of The Pyramid, not really, not any more. But need and want are not the same thing.

Please, Please, Please Leave. We’re So Sorry You’re Going.

Luis Suárez spoke haltingly, in between deep, nervous breaths, as though he was struggling to contain his emotions, as though tears were not too far away. He had been “proud,” he said, to play for Barcelona; he was deeply grateful for the chance he was given, back in 2014 — fresh from his disgrace at the World Cup — to join “the best team in the world.”

It was strange, on a number of levels, to watch Suárez give his farewell address: strange that he should be leaving like this, strange that Barcelona should put him through such a public farewell, strange that the club should seem so overcome with emotion — as if Suárez himself had chosen to go — when it had spent much of the last six weeks or so desperately trying to force him to depart, and has eventually acceded to selling him to a rival.

But amid all the strangeness, one element warrants pause. Suárez is the third highest goal-scorer in Barcelona’s history. Officially, only Lionel Messi and Cesar Rodríguez are above him (technically, he is eighth, because the likes of prewar players like Paulino Alcántara and Josep Samitier scored a considerable portion of their goals in games deemed unofficial).

That is, of course, a remarkable achievement, but one that says as much about the scale of Barcelona’s dominance as it does Suárez’s ability. Samuel Eto’o spent just one season fewer at Camp Nou, but scored almost 70 fewer goals. The same is true of Rivaldo. It does not diminish what Suárez has achieved as a player to suggest that the strength of the super-clubs now is such that historical context has become a little distorted — not that individual records mean less, but that they are certainly easier to break.

A Slightly Different What to Watch

There are, now that all the leagues are back up and running, a host of interesting games across Europe this weekend. Roma against Juventus may well be the pick of them — assuming we count Liverpool against Arsenal, on Monday night, as happening next week — but Werder Bremen against Schalke, Real Madrid’s visit to Real Betis and Barcelona’s season debut, at home to Villarreal, among others, all have their own appeal.

But to watch all of them in the United States, you will need: ESPN+ (for Serie A and the Bundesliga), a cable package that includes NBC Sports Network and Peacock Premium (for the Premier League) and beIN Sports (for La Liga). Throw in CBS’s streaming service for the Champions League, and that is upward of a hundred dollars a month and several passwords that you will need to remember.

It is similar — though perhaps not quite so complex — in Britain. The Premier League and Football League are now on Sky Sports and BT Sport, but also sometimes Amazon. BT Sport provides coverage of Germany and France. Serie A is on Premier Sports, a streaming service. La Liga has its own channel, broadcast through Premier Sports. The price, all in, is similar.

There is a point to be made here about the fragmentation of the television landscape, and about the rapacity of soccer, but the most pressing one — to my mind — is the myopia of all of this, particularly on the part of Italy, Spain and Germany.

These leagues do not have the market share of the Premier League. They are still in the process of building an audience. They need to win eyeballs; the payday can come later. Placing their product in a silo, making it complex and expensive to access, is simply perpetuating that status. The priority, surely, should be making sure as many people as possible are able to watch, so as to build that loyalty and popularity, rather than ensuring the greatest short-term payday.

Correspondence

A follow-up question to last week’s explanation on how the transfer market works from John Matthew IV (and, no, sadly, it’s not asking for a back story on Ian Midfielder, though I have one ready if anyone needs it): “Do players ever get traded, as they do on this side of the pond?” he asked.

Yes, is the short answer, though it is much rarer than the endless, breathless talk of “swap deals” would lead you to believe. Clubs find it hard enough to negotiate the purchase or sale of one player; trying to do two simultaneously is, well, about twice as complicated.

The most common barriers, generally, are that the player being used as a makeweight does not fancy being used as a makeweight, as well as wildly differing interpretations of a player’s worth. I expected this summer to be something of an exception to that rule — with cash in short supply and a need to keep wage bills relatively steady — but, thus far, nothing of the sort has not materialized.

Alexander von Nordheim, meanwhile, points out that soccer’s transfer system may actually be a little more “benign” than the approach used in the United States. “Transfers are dependent on the buying club reaching a contract agreement with the player,” he wrote. “A player can reject any sale and demand fulfillment of that contract.

“Imagine being an N.B.A. player and signing for the Miami Heat or the Los Angeles Lakers out of an affection for sun and sand, only to be traded nine months later to the Milwaukee Bucks or Minnesota Timberwolves. The fact that soccer players can veto any transfer suggests to me that soccer players have it quite good.”

That is a fair point — stories of players being traded in the U.S. almost immediately after being drafted always make me wonder quite how much agency they have — but it does, perhaps, overstate the power wielded by players in Europe. They can, in theory, veto moves; in reality, it is often made clear to them that they have little choice (particularly away from the elite). And that is before we get to the role of agents in determining where, and when, their players play.

That’s all for this week. All thoughts, ideas, theories and recipes should go to askrory@nytimes.com; Twitter is here if you wish to leave me a screed of invective from behind a cloak of anonymity; and Set Piece Menu is especially good this week, because I am not on it.

Have a great weekend, and keep safe.

Rory

I encourage all of you to subscribe to this newsletter. It's every Friday. Once a week. Great stuff.

 

[Rogue219]

Dortmund lose 2-0. Congrats to Bayern on 9 in a row.

 

[Rogue219]

Schalke are tremendously bad.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

Mckennie starting again.

 

[Rogue219]

Everton and Arsenal title race in England.

Schalke sacks David Wagner.

Bayern Munich....loses?

 

[notredomer23]

I wouldn’t be mad seeing Everton with an unthinkable title run. I’ve always had a soft spot for them because of Tim Howard. James leading them to a title or even top 4 spot feels fitting for all the undeserved hate he’s gotten in some of his other stints

 

[Rogue219]

I wouldn’t be mad seeing Everton with an unthinkable title run. I’ve always had a soft spot for them because of Tim Howard. James leading them to a title or even top 4 spot feels fitting for all the undeserved hate he’s gotten in some of his other stints

I don’t think it’s going to happen.

It’s a two team race, red and blue, but not these.

Everton > Manchester United, however.

Waiting to see if Frank or Ole gets sacked first. Pochettino is out there

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

ManCity looked terrible today.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Bayern lose to Hoffenheim, 4-1. Didn't watch it, so not sure what happened there.

 

[NDohio]

I hate VAR...

 

[Rogue219]

I hate VAR...

At least the way the FA handles it in England.

Brighton got screwed out of a point and Spurs got screwed out of two. Even the Newcastle supporters on Twitter were talked about how fortunate they were to get a point.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

I hate VAR...

I was more confused by them deeming the offense onside. I thought if any part of a players body that can score a goal (ie not your hands) is offsides when the ball is kicked, it is deemed offsides. The photos clearly show the Newcastle's player's head was past any Spurs player.

A little more confusion because there were about two other instances in the final 10 minutes that should have been looked at for handball in the box, but nothing.

Hate it for Spurs, even though I don't like Mourinho.

 

[CTIDANDREW]

ManCity looked terrible today.

Yes, they did. No other way to put it.

Cannot drop three points at home when the title margins the last few years have been so thin.

COVID/Injuries have not helped, but no excuse to give up five and three sure penalties at home.

Hopefully Ruben Dias is the staunch right footed center back this club has been greatly missing since Kompany left. We need some steel back there badly. Counter attacking defense has been the achilles heel for this team for going on three + years now.

Primeira Liga defenders have not be kind to Manchester City in the past (i.e. Mangala), but his performances with the Portugal National team the last two years have been impressive.