⚽ Soccer Match-day Thread (5 Viewers)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Fun fact:  Messi has more non-PK goals than Ronaldo, despite playing ~140 fewer games.  And Messi is +88 in assists.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Chelsea - need Pen(s) - get Pen(s)

Man City need Pen - get Pen

Liverpool need Pen - get Pen

Man United need Pen - get Pen

Spurs need Pen - get Covid

 

[BeTheMatch]

Well, I'm here with my son. Feels like it might be kind of high scoring today.

My prediction: A Mabiala header off a corner wins it for the Timbers. Hopefully.

But it's all good either way.

 

[El Floppo]

Well, I'm here with my son. Feels like it might be kind of high scoring today.

My prediction: A Mabiala header off a corner wins it for the Timbers. Hopefully.

But it's all good either way.

Have fun! 

Totally jealous you'll get to see NYC win the city's first cup!

 

[El Floppo]

MLS Cup final about to start on ABC

 

[El Floppo]

Well, I'm here with my son. Feels like it might be kind of high scoring today.

My prediction: A Mabiala header off a corner wins it for the Timbers. Hopefully.

But it's all good either way.

Nice weather you have there.

 

[Desert_Power]

Looks like a fantastic environment for a game.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Ref may regret not flashing a yellow or two early.

Game is bordering on nasty.  Also "you ain't got no alibi" so far.

But love the atmosphere and the conditions.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Someone from NYCFC just got smoked in the face by something from the crowd after the goal.  Not sure if he's hurt or not.

 

[El Floppo]

Looks like a fantastic environment for a game.

Other than Portland fans throwing ####

 

[Desert_Power]

That is some bad goalkeeping

 

[El Floppo]

Ref may regret not flashing a yellow or two early.

Game is bordering on nasty.  Also "you ain't got no alibi" so far.

But love the atmosphere and the conditions.

There have been some pretty clear yellows kept in his pocket so far.

 

[El Floppo]

That is some bad goalkeeping

Wet. But yeah...shoulda coulda done better.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Other than Portland fans throwing ####

Yeah, not cool. Hope they found the person. That was on opposite end from us, but I saw it come hurtling out of the crowd. Should book them for assault.

 

[BeTheMatch]

That is some bad goalkeeping

Wasn't it offsides??? Replay here showed him five feet clear of everyone.

 

[El Floppo]

Yeah, not cool. Hope they found the person. That was on opposite end from us, but I saw it come hurtling out of the crowd. Should book them for assault.

Looked like a beer can....those are allowed?

I almost assume the Portland fans will do the right thing and alert the authorities who it was. 

 

[El Floppo]

Wasn't it offsides??? Replay here showed him five feet clear of everyone.

I had sound off...looked ok when the ball was hit. But also watching on my phone...so don't rely on me.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Looked like a beer can....those are allowed?

I almost assume the Portland fans will do the right thing and alert the authorities who it was. 

Yes, cans and plastic cups in here. 

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Other than Portland fans throwing ####

Surprised to see the fans be so cavalier with cans of what I'm sure is an award-winning IPA.

 

[El Floppo]

Wasn't it offsides??? Replay here showed him five feet clear of everyone.

Just showed replay on tv ..not offsides.

 

[El Floppo]

Yes, cans and plastic cups in here. 

Won't be allowing cans in the future, I'm betting.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Just showed replay on tv ..not offsides.

Brilliant defense by the back line then, standing and watching ball fly right over their heads.

 

[Desert_Power]

Wasn't it offsides??? Replay here showed him five feet clear of everyone.

I rewound to look at this. When the ball was kicked, a Portland player was the furthest back. Now that player was knocked backwards pretty hard by the run of a NYCFC player nearer than Castellanos

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

There have been some pretty clear yellows kept in his pocket so far.

With slick astroturf, this game was never going to win a beauty contest, but his reluctance to card even serial offenders has made for a ragged-### game.  I don't see how any team is going to get any flow going with it being this chippy.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Portland Timbers

@TimbersFC

The fan who threw the object was ejected from the game, and has been banned from Providence Park. There is zero tolerance for behavior of that kind.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Portland Timbers

@TimbersFC

The fan who threw the object was ejected from the game, and has been banned from Providence Park. There is zero tolerance for behavior of that kind.

What a raging #######.  Impressed they got it done by the end of halftime.

 

[El Floppo]

Handball?

 

[El Floppo]

To me, Portland look the better team, but NYC getting it done better...if that makes sense.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Rebekah@rebekahpdx 30m

Surrounding fans outed the beer-thrower and he's been removed.

Credit to the Portland fans -- took about 5 minutes.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I still remember when Zlatan came to retire in MLS in 2018.

He is 40 and still going strong

https://streamff.com/v/u23KJG

 

[NewlyRetired]

Credit to the Portland fans -- took about 5 minutes.

here is another angle.  If you watch at the end, it looks like a second bottle was thrown.  Did the same guy throw 2 bottles or did another fan get away with it?

https://new.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/re9eb5/another_angle_of_medina_getting_hit_by_a_beer_can/

 

[El Floppo]

!!!!!!!

 

[Desert_Power]

Wow

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Is Chanot a known villain?  After watching maybe 45 minutes of the 90 I'm rooting for the meteor.

 

[El Floppo]

NYC were really poor closing that out. Lots of shots from outside instead of running it to the corners...

But wow...full credit to portland.!

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

After watching the first half I wanted to find out "why isn't this better" -- the quality is just not better than it was 25 years ago.  Maybe it's not worse, but it's definitely not better.

So I started digging.  Found some other stuff, but this is a really good article from The Athletic. 

tl;dr - the structure of MLS makes it too top heavy in terms of salary allocated.  The quality of the average player might go up to Liga MX or the bottom of Ligue 1 or Championship levels if it were spread across the roster better.

And here's a BCG report from 2015 that got to the same conclusion (referenced in the article above).

 

[El Floppo]

After watching the first half I wanted to find out "why isn't this better" -- the quality is just not better than it was 25 years ago.  Maybe it's not worse, but it's definitely not better.

So I started digging.  Found some other stuff, but this is a really good article from The Athletic. 

tl;dr - the structure of MLS makes it too top heavy in terms of salary allocated.  The quality of the average player might go up to Liga MX or the bottom of Ligue 1 or Championship levels if it were spread across the roster better.

And here's a BCG report from 2015 that got to the same conclusion (referenced in the article above).

This is a sloppy game in sloppy conditions, and yet still some good stuff. If you think the quality isn't better than 25 years ago...dunno what to say- I don't think you've been watching.

 

[Major]

I rarely watch MLS  but this has been a fun match from what I've seen.  Tuned in around the 75th minute.   Great atmosphere up there in Portland.  Hope they find a way to win.  Their fans deserve it.  

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Sorry all -- not the day to have that convo.  Apologies.

 

[AAABatteries]

I was entertained.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Well, that was awesome. Right up until it wasn't. Couldn't ask for a much better game.

 

[El Floppo]

Well, that was awesome. Right up until it wasn't. Couldn't ask for a much better game.

I can't even imagine what that goal must have felt like...Richter scale stuff I bet.

 

[Sammy3469]

probably the worst of the last 4 teams, but they also didn’t have Mattarita playing.  And for you USMNT neutrals, the right back was the second youngest starter in an MLS Cup.

 

[BeTheMatch]

I can't even imagine what that goal must have felt like...Richter scale stuff I bet.

The whole place was shaking. So many beer showers. Pretty fun moment.

When Portland dominated for that first 15 minutes of OT but couldn't score, I had a bad feeling with how it was going to turn out.

 

[El Floppo]

probably the worst of the last 4 teams, but they also didn’t have Mattarita playing.  And for you USMNT neutrals, the right back was the second youngest starter in an MLS Cup.

there he is

 

[El Floppo]

Looked like a beer can....those are allowed?

I almost assume the Portland fans will do the right thing and alert the authorities who it was. 

Credit to the Portland fans -- took about 5 minutes.

Good ol Portland peeps.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

That pass from James Maddison.  

 

[NewlyRetired]

This is a sloppy game in sloppy conditions, and yet still some good stuff. If you think the quality isn't better than 25 years ago...dunno what to say- I don't think you've been watching.

Yeah it is absolute night and day stuff.  There were players littered in MLS back then who could barely trap the ball.  It was cringe worthy watching my Revs back then for example.

There is a good reason Euro teams ignored our even the best MLS players back then while today even players who can't crack a lineup yet are being watched closely by the big leagues.

The quality the academies are pumping out has changed the look and feel of the league.  Of course there will always be dog crap games but that happens every where.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Yeah it is absolute night and day stuff.  There were players littered in MLS back then who could barely trap the ball.  It was cringe worthy watching my Revs back then for example.

There is a good reason Euro teams ignored our even the best MLS players back then while today even players who can't crack a lineup yet are being watched closely by the big leagues.

The quality the academies are pumping out has changed the look and feel of the league.  Of course there will always be dog crap games but that happens every where.

If it helps, the "this" in the "why isn't this better" was "the Championship game".  I even went back to the 1999 final and watched some of it to compare.  The players today seemed more athletic overall, but I'm not sure the quality of play was any better.

But apologies again for going there yesterday.  I know better.  

 

[El Floppo]

If it helps, the "this" in the "why isn't this better" was "the Championship game".  I even went back to the 1999 final and watched some of it to compare.  The players today seemed more athletic overall, but I'm not sure the quality of play was any better.

But apologies again for going there yesterday.  I know better.  

you should know better too that championship games are usually tense, not beautiful things. WC, CL, FA, on and on and on... MLS cup should be different somehow?

for what it was, in driving cold rain, I thought it was solid- with some nice to amazing moments (and scrappy thrown in too). that's what I hope for from a cup final.