***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (3 Viewers)

[The Z Machine]

Salcido is a headhunter. Reminds me of an NFL safety.

 

[scoobygang]

Speedy Gonzalez on play-by-play is getting on my nerves. Kind of the way Mark Sanchez is Mark Sancheeeezzzz during Hispanic Heritage month.

 

[Christo]

still don't get the appeal of Beckerman.He's an untalented (relatively speaking) hard worker with below average speed who provides nothing on offense. He's basically a white Ricardo Clarke who just makes fewer mistakes.

I'm thinking it's just Klinsmann feeling his way through it and giving guys a chance. Every time Bradley gets on the field, he shows his class compared to Beckerman. Bradley is a pretty good player; Beckerman is an average player. I have to think that once Bradley gets a little more settled at his new club, he'll be replacing Beckerman in the lineup.....right?

Definitely. The problem with the US employing a player like Beckerman is that the rest of the guys on the field aren't talented enough to carry him.

 

[Eephus]

still don't get the appeal of Beckerman.He's an untalented (relatively speaking) hard worker with below average speed who provides nothing on offense. He's basically a white Ricardo Clarke who just makes fewer mistakes.

It just kinda clicked for me with him tonight. I've always complained when I've seen him in there too, but I think the stability he brings is useful. He's like a janitor cleaning things up and then putting them where they're supposed to go. Like a good hippie, he's egoless. I think it's good to have that kind of presence in the midfield while Klinsmann figures out his squad. I still don't think he's the answer long term, though.

This is a good analysis. When you factor in his relatively advanced age, I don't think any of us think he is a long term solution.

Pretty much. He's certainly less mistake-prone than Ricardo Clark.

That's a useful role player, especially on the off-chance the US is playing with a lead.

 

[The Z Machine]

Ok turning it off for the night. Will have to watch the rest tomorrow.

Oh and goal vinotinto. Let's hope they can get a point against Argentina tonight.

 

[El Floppo]

My seats are amazing- to the left of the center stripe (on camera) about 1/3 of the way to the goal, 9 rows up. I'm the unbearably good looking guy- ill wave.So- does Cherundolo look as bad on TV as he does here- getting eaten alive.Pretty sloppy- but decent shape through the middle. Dempsey playing deeper the way I had hoped to fill the space between the central mfs and jozy.

Yes, Cherundolo looks to have been raped a few times. In the first half were you on Chandlers or Cherundolos side?

Chandler and Shea in the first half. My gb didn't know who Shea was- first comment: "that guy is seriously fast". That #9 or Ecuador was scary fast himself- he'd just keep going at Dolo and push it by him with the final touch... nothing fancy or particularly skillful, but wow- Dolo's shorts on the ground too many times.

 

[jonessed]

Ugh... ESPN3 has some awful announcers.

 

[El Floppo]

Tim Ream is the soccer equivalent of sake. I want to like it. People I respect like it. Sometimes I think I've never given sake a fair chance. But every time I try sake, I hate it.

I've been probably a bit too critical of him in here, but yeah. Maybe it's because I don't watch many RBNY games.

lol at scooby's analogy- I'm the same way with Sake... but like Ream just a bit more.ok- as somebody who's probably got to watch him more than most as a BullMetro fan- what you saw tonight is exhibit A of why the StarReds struggled and a master-class in 2011 Tim Ream. The kid is really classy with the ball at his feet- and I think he showed that tonight, making some easy passes into useful spaces that were much more difficult than he made them look. He covered ground well, tackled decently and filled the spots he needed to tactically. And then he single-handedly gives up the goal with poor marking on a set piece. That's the RBNY season in a nutshell: play the ball around nicely out of the back, and then let a team go right through the middle for an embarrassingly easy goal- more often than not a combo of Marquez giving the ball away and Ream not putting a body on his man to discourage an easy header/volley.

 

[LHUCKS]

This team needs Adu's ball skills and creativity in the final 3rd.

My solution to this scoring drought = adding Adu, Bradley and Landon...drop Edu, Beckerman and Williams.

Like what Edu and Williams bring to the table, but we have better options to create offense.

On the other hand, our back line looks great with the additions of Gooch and Chandler. My biggest concern remains Dolo and his age.

 

[Eephus]

Tim Ream is the soccer equivalent of sake. I want to like it. People I respect like it. Sometimes I think I've never given sake a fair chance. But every time I try sake, I hate it.

I've been probably a bit too critical of him in here, but yeah. Maybe it's because I don't watch many RBNY games.

lol at scooby's analogy- I'm the same way with Sake... but like Ream just a bit more.ok- as somebody who's probably got to watch him more than most as a BullMetro fan- what you saw tonight is exhibit A of why the StarReds struggled and a master-class in 2011 Tim Ream. The kid is really classy with the ball at his feet- and I think he showed that tonight, making some easy passes into useful spaces that were much more difficult than he made them look. He covered ground well, tackled decently and filled the spots he needed to tactically. And then he single-handedly gives up the goal with poor marking on a set piece. That's the RBNY season in a nutshell: play the ball around nicely out of the back, and then let a team go right through the middle for an embarrassingly easy goal- more often than not a combo of Marquez giving the ball away and Ream not putting a body on his man to discourage an easy header/volley.

I don't think the US will ever have a centerback that I like as much as sake

 

[El Floppo]

Ream made a glaring bad error. But you can't win if you can't score. The US is not good enough to play perfectly defensively and will have some breakdowns each game and good teams will punish us. We need to find a way to get some damn goals. This is a horrible run of games offensively.

one thing I noticed with Jozy on the night- his runs were just too soft. Compare him to Ecuador's #11- that cat exploded on every showing run or run into space and so could go and collect the ball. Jozy just lacked the pop in his runs and allowed defenders to get up his butt every time.I'm also not seeing any linkup play between Jozy and Dempsey. Dempsey looked pretty good again, but could never get involved with his other forward. Agudelo was frustrating to watch live- great hustle to close down defenders on the defensive side of things, and forced his way into good positions as a result (Jozy could use that). But he wasn't making smart runs- more than a couple of times, somebody would have the ball on the right MF and there were a handful of us in our section screaming for Juan to make the run to the flank- but no go.Things looked most likely off of either a turnover or with Chandler and Shea going forward.

 

[LHUCKS]

We need to figure out what we're doing with Jozy.

Why can't we play him like he's being played in the Dutch league??

 

[El Floppo]

still don't get the appeal of Beckerman.He's an untalented (relatively speaking) hard worker with below average speed who provides nothing on offense. He's basically a white Ricardo Clarke who just makes fewer mistakes.

It just kinda clicked for me with him tonight. I've always complained when I've seen him in there too, but I think the stability he brings is useful. He's like a janitor cleaning things up and then putting them where they're supposed to go. Like a good hippie, he's egoless. I think it's good to have that kind of presence in the midfield while Klinsmann figures out his squad. I still don't think he's the answer long term, though.

This is a good analysis. When you factor in his relatively advanced age, I don't think any of us think he is a long term solution.

I'm still a fan of Beckerman. Here goes my "sake" analogy, but with Frank Lloyd Wright residential architecture. Whenever I've taken tours of Wright's residences, I've always been a bit... off-put. Something just isn't right. One time I finally figured out that everything was scaled too low- Wright was pretty short (and I'm 6')... so I walked back out the door, and walked back in while ducking- abso-#######-lutely genius design with everything scaled and proportioned perfectly. But when I stood back up- kinda off. Beckerman is one of the most tactically sound and well-skilled players the US has. He's just a full step slow. If he's got time with the ball or to defend, he's lights-out. In MLS, this works pretty well and he can really dictate games. At the international level it's hard to watch. But at least he's solid with his spacing and more often than not plays the smart and useful ball from the MF getting his team either set or attacking.

 

[El Floppo]

Something that struck me as odd was the terrible delivery from set pieces. I don't know if the US just doesn't have anyone that can make a decent delivery or this was an anomaly, but it was downright awful.

LD usually takes them so that's part of it.

Or Cherundolo.Were the set-pieces worse than normal? I honestly didn't notice it at the stadium. The usual combo of misses and decent balls.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

 

[jonessed]

Something that struck me as odd was the terrible delivery from set pieces. I don't know if the US just doesn't have anyone that can make a decent delivery or this was an anomaly, but it was downright awful.

LD usually takes them so that's part of it.

Or Cherundolo.Were the set-pieces worse than normal? I honestly didn't notice it at the stadium. The usual combo of misses and decent balls.

Cherundolo took the first half ones and he was terrible.

 

[El Floppo]

still don't get the appeal of Beckerman.He's an untalented (relatively speaking) hard worker with below average speed who provides nothing on offense. He's basically a white Ricardo Clarke who just makes fewer mistakes.

It just kinda clicked for me with him tonight. I've always complained when I've seen him in there too, but I think the stability he brings is useful. He's like a janitor cleaning things up and then putting them where they're supposed to go. Like a good hippie, he's egoless. I think it's good to have that kind of presence in the midfield while Klinsmann figures out his squad. I still don't think he's the answer long term, though.

This is a good analysis. When you factor in his relatively advanced age, I don't think any of us think he is a long term solution.

Pretty much. He's certainly less mistake-prone than Ricardo Clark.

That's a useful role player, especially on the off-chance the US is playing with a lead.

Ok- again, as one of Beckerman's biggest fan here, the thought of him on the field in Central America somewhere against some speedy, diving mofo scares the #### out of me for WCQ. He should have had a yellow at least today, and easily could've had a yellow or worse against Honduras. With his constant late tackles (because of his lack of quickness/pace) he's a red card waiting to happen in one of those cauldrons down there.

 

[El Floppo]

This team needs Adu's ball skills and creativity in the final 3rd.My solution to this scoring drought = adding Adu, Bradley and Landon...drop Edu, Beckerman and Williams. Like what Edu and Williams bring to the table, but we have better options to create offense.On the other hand, our back line looks great with the additions of Gooch and Chandler. My biggest concern remains Dolo and his age.

I wonder what was up with Cherundolo this series... he just looked off. Slow and played too many poor balls forward. Not like him- so either it's age or maybe he's run-down from the trip from Germany or soemthing.. but ugh. I like your idea of adding the attacking players... I just don't see who covers defensively for the US in the middle- Bradley? By himself? Then that puts him super deep right above the back 4 and creates too much room for opposing teams to slice us up through the middle. Adu isn't going to do it and shouldn't do it. Nor should Donovan. I think the only way we see Adu on the field with LD and Dempsey is if Jozy or Shea sits. But at this point- something has to give, so maybe that's worth trying?And yeah- agree about Chandler and Gooch. Gooch! he was like his old self out there- sooo strong and actually ok with the ball at his feet. But really it was Bocanegra who was THE guy back there. Very vocal, and kept that line really tight- he was constantly directing his team-mates, particularly Chandler. It's great to see Gooch back, but the US needs somebody to fill Boca's shoes more than anybody else on the back line. and I love being able to say that finally without having to mention LB- between Chandler and Lichaj, and even Spector, things look decent on the wings

 

[El Floppo]

We need to figure out what we're doing with Jozy. Why can't we play him like he's being played in the Dutch league??

Surrounded by Dutch players? Totally agree- we should do that.I have no idea how he's being used in the Netherlands, btw- seems like he's playing in a 4-4-2 from the few highlights I've seen of his goals, with a partnering forward making runs off of him to free him up for space to shoot or go at goal. But again- that's based on a handful of highlights, so I have no idea about that or how the MF works behind him.I do know that you're right though- Jozy isn't working well in the team, despite playing well individually IMO. He seemed to play at his best when he was partnered with Davies- a fast, strong guy who could hold the ball, stretch the field and also find his running-mate for quick, sharp passes. Nobody else has worked with Jozy, nor has it worked very well consistently him playing by himself. Hopefully he'll continue to grow and find ways to get himself and his teammates more involved in dangerous ways going at goal.

 

[El Floppo]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

I was trying to remember tonight who Venezuela beat to get to the Copa America finals... was it Argentina? Or did Uruguay knock them off... I think so. Venezuela did look decent in teh Copa though- so if they're playing in Caracas, that result isn't too surprising.

 

[bentley]

I can't believe we've gotten through this much of a discussion about Beckerman without noting that his doucher haircut automatically disqualifies him from being worth of a spot on any national team.

 

[El Floppo]

I can't believe we've gotten through this much of a discussion about Beckerman without noting that his doucher haircut automatically disqualifies him from being worth of a spot on any national team.

You haven't heard him interviewed either, I take it? my gb called him "brick" the first time we heard him trying to talk. As dumb as that hair is, imagine it being put into speech.

 

[Eephus]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

Venezuela was a semifinalist at Copa America this summer. They drew w/ Brazil and Paraguay and beat Chile in the quarters. They're not an automatic 3 pts anymore, especially away.

 

[Eephus]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

I was trying to remember tonight who Venezuela beat to get to the Copa America finals... was it Argentina? Or did Uruguay knock them off... I think so. Venezuela did look decent in teh Copa though- so if they're playing in Caracas, that result isn't too surprising.

Venezuela lost to Paraguay in the semis. On kicks, I believe.

 

[El Floppo]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

I was trying to remember tonight who Venezuela beat to get to the Copa America finals... was it Argentina? Or did Uruguay knock them off... I think so. Venezuela did look decent in teh Copa though- so if they're playing in Caracas, that result isn't too surprising.

Venezuela lost to Paraguay in the semis. On kicks, I believe.

Really? I would've sworn they lost to Uruguay in the finals. But my memory sucks.

 

[CBusAlex]

I don't even know where Estonia is.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

I was trying to remember tonight who Venezuela beat to get to the Copa America finals... was it Argentina? Or did Uruguay knock them off... I think so. Venezuela did look decent in teh Copa though- so if they're playing in Caracas, that result isn't too surprising.

Venezuela lost to Paraguay in the semis. On kicks, I believe.

Really? I would've sworn they lost to Uruguay in the finals. But my memory sucks.

Uruguay beat Paraguay in the finals.Eephus is correct, Venezuela lost to Paraguay in the semis

 

[Eephus]

I don't even know where Estonia is.

It's in the playoffs

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

Venezuela was a semifinalist at Copa America this summer. They drew w/ Brazil and Paraguay and beat Chile in the quarters. They're not an automatic 3 pts anymore, especially away.

While objectively true, this was a huge kick in the balls for Argentina, especially after their excellent showing versus Chile on Friday night.Argentina was also a pretty heavy betting favorite to get the W IIRC

 

[El Floppo]

George Vescey article in the NYTimes today...

Jurgen Klinsmann never talks about the days when he was a great striker in Europe. He does not bring up his 47 World Cup goals and the 1990 championship with West Germany.“Never. Not once,” said Tim Ream, a defender with the United States national team, who was outmaneuvered for the only goal in a 1-0 loss to Ecuador in a friendly Tuesday evening. The superstar as coach. It’s an interesting concept. Ream knows he is being tutored by a world-class player who could tell him how Andreas Brehme defended against a crossing shot in 1990 in the World Cup final against Argentina. There are no big-time insinuations when Klinsmann speaks to his new players in the New World. Instead, Klinsmann gave Ream a positive feeling — not easy to do when the loss gave the American squad a record of one win, three losses and one draw in Klinsmann’s first five games.Everybody knows who that man is in front of the American bench. The sweetest moment Monday night at Red Bull Arena in the team’s open practice — another Klinsmann innovation — came when he was supervising a finishing drill in front of the goal.A rebound came loose and Klinsmann could not help himself, drilling a hard shot into net. A spontaneous round of applause came from the 500 die-hard fans who were getting to watch practice for free. American fans, and American players and American front-office types, are now squarely in the Jurgen Klinsmann era.Sometimes superstars work out as coaches; sometimes they do not. Americans have seen Ted Williams and Frank Robinson as baseball managers, and Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Lenny Wilkens and Isiah Thomas as basketball coaches, with decidedly mixed results. Sometimes superstars are patient; other times they wonder why all players do not have the reflexes and the drive they had.Now, for the first time in American history, a bona fide world-class star is coaching the Yanks. It is still not at all clear what kind of coach Klinsmann is; Joachim Low did a lot of the tactical work as the top assistant when Klinsmann’s German national team finished third in the 2006 World Cup.In his new post, Klinsmann is fearless, acting as if he has nothing to lose. He speaks complicated English with a slight German accent, using phrases like “which means” or “which is to say” as bridges to enlightening digressions. He was off and running as a fleet blond striker in the German, French, Italian and English leagues. His acrobatic dive in the 1990 final is a classic. Now he is romping in his current home.On Monday, he casually let fly that the Major League Soccer season is far too short, that players need to play — and learn and grow — for 11 months a year, not seven or eight.Sunil Gulati, the president of the United States Soccer Federation, who courted Klinsmann for four years, responded that his hire was exactly right. Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer, who has carefully grown that league during an economic downturn, said, “I’d like to have global warming take effect,” meaning, who really wants to see games in New York or Chicago or Toronto in January.Klinsmann’s broader point is that homegrown American players need longer, tougher training. The American talent pool is, quite bluntly, stagnant after decades of developmental programs. The federation has brought in two young German players with American fathers, Danny Williams and Tim Chandler, who demonstrate more skill and aggression and feel for the game than almost anybody coming out of the expensive suburban soccer programs all over this rich vast land.Ream is the rarity. He is no child prodigy, not at 24, after four years at St. Louis University, but he prospered with the Red Bulls in 2010 and earned his call-up to Bob Bradley’s national team. Ream has sputtered this year — the sophomore jinx, they call it in baseball and other sports.Ream was rightfully included on the United States squad for friendly matches in Miami on Saturday and his home stadium in New Jersey on Tuesday. In the 72nd minute, Klinsmann sent in Ream as his final substitution, and five minutes later Ecuador fired a high crossing shot. Jaime Ayoví, listed at 5 feet 10 inches on the Ecuador roster, maneuvered away from Ream, who is listed at 6-1, then outjumped him and headed the ball past Tim Howard, who had no chance.“It’s kind of a split-second play,” Klinsmann said. “He has to be in front of his man and unbalance him.”Klinsmann also gave a public boost to his player. “I didn’t see him back off,” he said. “He is one of the promising center backs, and he deserves to be on the squad. He learns from this. He needs to smell things at this level, how to anticipate, read the space. He shook it off. We tell our players to shake it off. You can’t change your mistakes.”Klinsmann called it a learning moment — and not just for the player. He made the point that young Americans need to spend their off-season working hard, perhaps training with a top European squad. The reality is that promising young Americans really do need to play for those top European teams, the way Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo and Michael Bradley are doing.The best part of Klinsmann’s open approach is that Ream got it. He explained his mistake — “I was watching my man, and I looked up at the ball and I realized he was behind me, something I have to work on, being more physical.”Ream agreed with his coach that the M.L.S. season is not long enough. “We only play from March until maybe November. Over there you play two games a week and at a higher level.”With his four years of college, Ream knows a born teacher when he sees one.“He’s not just putting on a show for you guys,” he told reporters.It is a fascinating experiment. The United States has hired a world-level player with a fertile mind. How well this superstar can coach over here is a different question.

 

[Eephus]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

Venezuela was a semifinalist at Copa America this summer. They drew w/ Brazil and Paraguay and beat Chile in the quarters. They're not an automatic 3 pts anymore, especially away.

While objectively true, this was a huge kick in the balls for Argentina, especially after their excellent showing versus Chile on Friday night.Argentina was also a pretty heavy betting favorite to get the W IIRC

CONMEBOL qualifying is going to be very competitive. Argentina still has to be considered the favorites based on talent. But if the unthinkable happens and they don't qualify for the tournament in Brazil, it will be a national catastrophe.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Looks like the Cosmos soap opera has taken a turn for the worst as the league is talking to three groups in NY but not the Cosmos for team 20. My guess is that whom ever wins the bid may just buy the Cosmos name.

=================================

“If we can build a stadium we’re going to have a team in New York City. But we have a lot of work to do before we get that stadium built,” Garber said, referencing Flushing Meadows, Willets Point and Randall’s Island as potential sites. “I feel better about it now than I have at any other point.”

Investors are apparently lining up to get a piece of an NYC team – including three potentials who sat with Garber during Tuesday’s U.S.-Ecuador match – although the group that owns the Cosmos brand is no longer involved, Garber said.

That doesn’t mean it won’t sell the Cosmos name or resurface as an investor.

“They have some things they have to work out in their ownership group,” Garber said. “When we get the team launched, if they want to be a part of it, we’ll be happy to talk to him.”

Not that Garber believes anything is imminent. He referenced Red Bull Arena – which opened six years after it was announced – as an example of the slow construction process in the metropolitan area.

He said the league isn’t desperate for a 20th team.

“The other option is to wait,” he said. “Things are going well with the league so we’re not in a rush. We don’t need to do it. In the past, in 2005, we needed to expand. We don’t need to expand now. We want to with the right owner, the right facility, in the right market.”

As far as attaining public financing on an arena, Garber joked, “we always love to use other people’s money. (But) it’s to early say how we would finance it.”

 

[The Z Machine]

LA VINOTINTO!!!!!!!!!

 

[scoobygang]

Oof, Argentina loses to Venezuela

I was trying to remember tonight who Venezuela beat to get to the Copa America finals... was it Argentina? Or did Uruguay knock them off... I think so. Venezuela did look decent in teh Copa though- so if they're playing in Caracas, that result isn't too surprising.

Venezuela lost to Paraguay in the semis. On kicks, I believe.

Really? I would've sworn they lost to Uruguay in the finals. But my memory sucks.

No, we had a "Two Guays, One Copa" final*.* Yes, I'm going to continue to run that joke into the ground.

 

[scoobygang]

We need to figure out what we're doing with Jozy. Why can't we play him like he's being played in the Dutch league??

Surrounded by Dutch players? Totally agree- we should do that.I have no idea how he's being used in the Netherlands, btw- seems like he's playing in a 4-4-2 from the few highlights I've seen of his goals, with a partnering forward making runs off of him to free him up for space to shoot or go at goal. But again- that's based on a handful of highlights, so I have no idea about that or how the MF works behind him.I do know that you're right though- Jozy isn't working well in the team, despite playing well individually IMO. He seemed to play at his best when he was partnered with Davies- a fast, strong guy who could hold the ball, stretch the field and also find his running-mate for quick, sharp passes. Nobody else has worked with Jozy, nor has it worked very well consistently him playing by himself. Hopefully he'll continue to grow and find ways to get himself and his teammates more involved in dangerous ways going at goal.

Jozy plays CF in a pure 4-3-3, which is pretty standard for the Eredivisie. Most teams emulate the Ajax system.

 

[Christo]

I don't even know where Estonia is.

Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia--the Baltic States.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Take with a grain of salt obviously but they seem to be the team most rumored

Los Angeles Galaxy playmaker David Beckham agree on deal with Paris Saint-Germain – Ligue 1 news

According to reports in French media, Los Angeles Galaxy playmaker David Beckham has agreed on signing with Paris Saint-Germain once his contract with the MLS giants expires.

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo had initially hinted at going for the former Manchester United man. The owners of PSG, Qatar Sports Investments, aware of the pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur, approached the 36-year-old on October 5, 2011, with their offer.

The QSI envoy proposed an eighteen month contract with an annual income of 4.5 million Euros.

According to MundoPSG.com, the Brazilian sporting director’s dream has come true and the sporting icon’s arrival is a rumour no more. MundoPSG announced on its website that an agreement was reached between the two parties.

The report further revealed that an agreement between David Beckham and his sponsor, Adidas, was also reached, as PSG’s sponsor, Nike, created a major point of contention.   

Beckham’s contract with the Galaxy expires at end of the ongoing MLS season, which runs until November 20, 2011.

The 35-year-old’s arrival at the capital club would be great news for the club, both in terms of football, given his vast experience, and marketing value for his sporting image. Leonardo had confessed that Beckham’s arrival would not only be beneficial on field, but off the pitch as well.

In an interview to BBC, the former AC Milan coach was quoted saying, “David Beckham - a big brand of English football... He is more than a football player - he's a brand, a pop star.”

PSG faithful would have to wait until the 2012 January transfer window to see the former Real Madrid man play at Parc des Princes. France might experience end of the phenomenal career of one of the greatest footballers in the world.

 

 

[Eephus]

Beckham to PSG makes a lot of sense to all concerned except for maybe Adidas

 

[El Floppo]

Beckham to PSG makes a lot of sense to all concerned except for maybe Adidas

and his kids who are reportedly in school in LA. and his wife, who is probably pushing hard for some kind of mind-numbing, world-intelligence-decreasing LA reality show.

 

[scoobygang]

Beckham to PSG makes a lot of sense to all concerned except for maybe Adidas

and his kids who are reportedly in school in LA. and his wife, who is probably pushing hard for some kind of mind-numbing, world-intelligence-decreasing LA reality show.

I doubt that. He's been in LA a long time. Posh Spice could have gotten a reality show anytime in the past few years. She hasn't. She could have cashed a quick buck with a Spice Girls reunion. And if she cared about attention, she could have vetoed moving away from England in the first place. Victoria Beckham seems perfectly content to stay relatively famous, go to the best parties, give her children bizarre names, and count her money. She can do that in Paris.

 

[El Floppo]

Beckham to PSG makes a lot of sense to all concerned except for maybe Adidas

and his kids who are reportedly in school in LA. and his wife, who is probably pushing hard for some kind of mind-numbing, world-intelligence-decreasing LA reality show.

I doubt that. He's been in LA a long time. Posh Spice could have gotten a reality show anytime in the past few years. She hasn't. She could have cashed a quick buck with a Spice Girls reunion. And if she cared about attention, she could have vetoed moving away from England in the first place. Victoria Beckham seems perfectly content to stay relatively famous, go to the best parties, give her children bizarre names, and count her money. She can do that in Paris.

I was kidding about posh

 

[NewlyRetired]

Wow, this came much earlier than I expected. Very excited to see who wins this.

U.S. networks set to battle for World Cup rights

PUBLISHED Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:40 pm EDT

LAST UPDATED 17 hours and 32 minutes ago

John Ourand

Sporting News Text size

ESPN, Fox and NBC executives all will travel to Zurich next week to submit bids for the 2018 and '22 FIFA Men’s World Cup events.

Bids will be submitted Oct. 19. FIFA also will accept bids for Spanish-language rights at the same time, with Univision and Telemundo expected to make aggressive bids. It's not known if ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes will create separate bids or be part of their parent companies' bid.

ESPN in 2005 paid $100 million for a package that included rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup events. Univision paid $325 million for the Spanish-language rights to those events. Given the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S.—plus the skyrocketing cost of live sports—any new bid should see a healthy increase.

Once bids are submitted next Wednesday, FIFA is expected to decide whether to accept one of the bids later next week. FIFA could either accept one of the bids or go back to the networks if the bids are too close.

ESPN, which has carried World Cup games in some fashion since 1982, will be represented in Zurich by executive vice president/content John Skipper and senior vice president/programming Scott Guglielmino. Fox Sports is sending a small group led by Fox Soccer executive vice president/general manager David Nathanson. NBC will send a delegation, but it's not known who will be in it.

Bidding will cover all FIFA events from 2015 through '22, including the Men's World Cup in 2018 and 2022; the Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019; and all Under-20 and Under-17 games.

The competition for soccer rights has become intense among U.S. media companies over the past year.

In August, NBC picked up a package of 45 MLS games and four U.S. men's national team games for $10 million per year. That package previously had been on Fox Soccer. ESPN has the main MLS package and has carried every World Cup but one since 1982. Turner Sports was the primary broadcaster of the 1990 World Cup.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Here are the Euro 2012 qualifying playoff match ups. Higher ranked team plays second leg at home.

Games played on Nov 11-12 and 15th

Bosnia-Portugal

Estonia-Ireland

Czech Republic-Montenegro

Turkey-Croatia

 

[jonessed]

Here are the Euro 2012 qualifying playoff match ups. Higher ranked team plays second leg at home. Games played on Nov 11-12 and 15thBosnia-PortugalEstonia-IrelandCzech Republic-MontenegroTurkey-Croatia

These are all going to be great games. It's amazing how deep Europe is with soccer talent.

 

[El Floppo]

Wow, this came much earlier than I expected. Very excited to see who wins this.

U.S. networks set to battle for World Cup rights

PUBLISHED Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:40 pm EDT

LAST UPDATED 17 hours and 32 minutes ago

John Ourand

Sporting News Text size

ESPN, Fox and NBC executives all will travel to Zurich next week to submit bids for the 2018 and '22 FIFA Men’s World Cup events.

Bids will be submitted Oct. 19. FIFA also will accept bids for Spanish-language rights at the same time, with Univision and Telemundo expected to make aggressive bids. It's not known if ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes will create separate bids or be part of their parent companies' bid.

ESPN in 2005 paid $100 million for a package that included rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup events. Univision paid $325 million for the Spanish-language rights to those events. Given the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S.—plus the skyrocketing cost of live sports—any new bid should see a healthy increase.

Once bids are submitted next Wednesday, FIFA is expected to decide whether to accept one of the bids later next week. FIFA could either accept one of the bids or go back to the networks if the bids are too close.

ESPN, which has carried World Cup games in some fashion since 1982, will be represented in Zurich by executive vice president/content John Skipper and senior vice president/programming Scott Guglielmino. Fox Sports is sending a small group led by Fox Soccer executive vice president/general manager David Nathanson. NBC will send a delegation, but it's not known who will be in it.

Bidding will cover all FIFA events from 2015 through '22, including the Men's World Cup in 2018 and 2022; the Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019; and all Under-20 and Under-17 games.

The competition for soccer rights has become intense among U.S. media companies over the past year.

In August, NBC picked up a package of 45 MLS games and four U.S. men's national team games for $10 million per year. That package previously had been on Fox Soccer. ESPN has the main MLS package and has carried every World Cup but one since 1982. Turner Sports was the primary broadcaster of the 1990 World Cup.

Was that the onr where they'd cut to commercials? I remember somebody missing at least one goal during a commercial break. We've come a LONG ways.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Wow, this came much earlier than I expected. Very excited to see who wins this.

U.S. networks set to battle for World Cup rights

PUBLISHED Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:40 pm EDT

LAST UPDATED 17 hours and 32 minutes ago

John Ourand

Sporting News Text size

ESPN, Fox and NBC executives all will travel to Zurich next week to submit bids for the 2018 and '22 FIFA Men’s World Cup events.

Bids will be submitted Oct. 19. FIFA also will accept bids for Spanish-language rights at the same time, with Univision and Telemundo expected to make aggressive bids. It's not known if ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes will create separate bids or be part of their parent companies' bid.

ESPN in 2005 paid $100 million for a package that included rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup events. Univision paid $325 million for the Spanish-language rights to those events. Given the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S.—plus the skyrocketing cost of live sports—any new bid should see a healthy increase.

Once bids are submitted next Wednesday, FIFA is expected to decide whether to accept one of the bids later next week. FIFA could either accept one of the bids or go back to the networks if the bids are too close.

ESPN, which has carried World Cup games in some fashion since 1982, will be represented in Zurich by executive vice president/content John Skipper and senior vice president/programming Scott Guglielmino. Fox Sports is sending a small group led by Fox Soccer executive vice president/general manager David Nathanson. NBC will send a delegation, but it's not known who will be in it.

Bidding will cover all FIFA events from 2015 through '22, including the Men's World Cup in 2018 and 2022; the Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019; and all Under-20 and Under-17 games.

The competition for soccer rights has become intense among U.S. media companies over the past year.

In August, NBC picked up a package of 45 MLS games and four U.S. men's national team games for $10 million per year. That package previously had been on Fox Soccer. ESPN has the main MLS package and has carried every World Cup but one since 1982. Turner Sports was the primary broadcaster of the 1990 World Cup.

Was that the onr where they'd cut to commercials? I remember somebody missing at least one goal during a commercial break. We've come a LONG ways.

Yes, in 1990, TNT still had commercials. 1994 was the first WC shown commercial free and luckily they figured out the numbers correctly because the sport has been virtually tv commercial free since then in the US.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Here are the Euro 2012 qualifying playoff match ups. Higher ranked team plays second leg at home. Games played on Nov 11-12 and 15thBosnia-PortugalEstonia-IrelandCzech Republic-MontenegroTurkey-Croatia

These are all going to be great games. It's amazing how deep Europe is with soccer talent.

They span the whole range. They have great teams, very good teams, teams that can beat anyone on a certain day, weak teams and some of the worst teams in the entire world.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Beckham to PSG makes a lot of sense to all concerned except for maybe Adidas

and his kids who are reportedly in school in LA. and his wife, who is probably pushing hard for some kind of mind-numbing, world-intelligence-decreasing LA reality show.

I doubt that. He's been in LA a long time. Posh Spice could have gotten a reality show anytime in the past few years. She hasn't. She could have cashed a quick buck with a Spice Girls reunion.

I don't understand the context of "could have". I think she has done both of these since she came here. She had a short lived reality show to show how she and Becks settled into LA and the Spice Girls had a pretty big reunion tour a few years ago.

 

[NewlyRetired]

As you guys likely already know, NBC won the rights to 2010/2014 only to ultimately lose them when FIFA found out that they had no plans for the domestic league and Disney came in and won the rights with a package that in included MLS coverage for 8 seasons.

I wonder if FIFA will have that same stipulation this time around and if so will all bidders have MLS already in their future plans?

 

[Sebowski]

Wow, this came much earlier than I expected. Very excited to see who wins this.

U.S. networks set to battle for World Cup rights

PUBLISHED Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:40 pm EDT

LAST UPDATED 17 hours and 32 minutes ago

John Ourand

Sporting News Text size

ESPN, Fox and NBC executives all will travel to Zurich next week to submit bids for the 2018 and '22 FIFA Men’s World Cup events.

Bids will be submitted Oct. 19. FIFA also will accept bids for Spanish-language rights at the same time, with Univision and Telemundo expected to make aggressive bids. It's not known if ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes will create separate bids or be part of their parent companies' bid.

ESPN in 2005 paid $100 million for a package that included rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup events. Univision paid $325 million for the Spanish-language rights to those events. Given the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S.—plus the skyrocketing cost of live sports—any new bid should see a healthy increase.

Once bids are submitted next Wednesday, FIFA is expected to decide whether to accept one of the bids later next week. FIFA could either accept one of the bids or go back to the networks if the bids are too close.

ESPN, which has carried World Cup games in some fashion since 1982, will be represented in Zurich by executive vice president/content John Skipper and senior vice president/programming Scott Guglielmino. Fox Sports is sending a small group led by Fox Soccer executive vice president/general manager David Nathanson. NBC will send a delegation, but it's not known who will be in it.

Bidding will cover all FIFA events from 2015 through '22, including the Men's World Cup in 2018 and 2022; the Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019; and all Under-20 and Under-17 games.

The competition for soccer rights has become intense among U.S. media companies over the past year.

In August, NBC picked up a package of 45 MLS games and four U.S. men's national team games for $10 million per year. That package previously had been on Fox Soccer. ESPN has the main MLS package and has carried every World Cup but one since 1982. Turner Sports was the primary broadcaster of the 1990 World Cup.

Was that the onr where they'd cut to commercials? I remember somebody missing at least one goal during a commercial break. We've come a LONG ways.

Yes, in 1990, TNT still had commercials. 1994 was the first WC shown commercial free and luckily they figured out the numbers correctly because the sport has been virtually tv commercial free since then in the US.

It is going to help big time when soccer switches to 3 periods instead of two halves for the Qatar games. More breaks=More commercials.

I also expect to see picture I'm picture spots at some point.