This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
The amazing thing is that they were favored to be a contender in this tournament. Their flaws in D were not apparent in qualifying. This is why CONCACAF qualifying can sometimes be better, in that they have to face tougher opponents in the Hex. CONMEBOL is still the best due to round-robin, home-home series totals. No hiding there.
I was just thinking this the other day. CONMEBOL qualifying is perfect. Granted they have the luxury of having by far the smallest amount of countries of any region.
I'm still trying to figure out what the hell van Bommel and de Jong were doing. They are there to support the defense. Not only did they not support the defense, but they played no part in the offense either. They were abysmal.
Moyes and Martinez rumored replacements. I would be happy with either.
It would be interesting to see what either would do with a budget to work with. After they sell off some of Harry's dead weight.
This has been swirling for a few days now. He really blew it chasing after the England job. Levy offered him what he wanted, but he was content playing cat and mouse with the FA and sinking the season. When he didntt get the England job he came back to Levy and demanded a new and improved contract. I'm sorry to see him go, but his greed really created an untenable environment, especially considering Levy supported him all through the tax evasion trial.I'm hoping Capello or AVB. I don't think Martinez has proven himself enough, but I'm willing to give it a go. If Levy grabs Moyes I will likely be spending a lot less time watching soccer next year.
Why's that? He's another guy that's done a lot with a little, so I think he would be a good hire.
Why would Spurs go from a manager that has given them two fourth place finishes and a Champions League QF in three years to a guy that has spent ten years doing pretty well with few resources? The league is full of managers like that. Pulis has done great things at Stoke with limited resources, but I don't want him managing Spurs. Don't get me wrong, I think Moyes is a good manager, but if they are going to get rid of Redknapp I think it needs to be for a step up. Unless Levy is intent on shrinking the budget and eeking out Europa league every season (which I would find disappointing) I don't see how Moyes fits the bill.
Redknapp was an underachiever. It was his mistakes (Gomes also helped) that hurt them last year and he hurt the team again this year.Moyes appears to be an overachiever. I'll take that any day.
Redknapp's two fourth-place finishes are Tottenham's highest two finishes in the history of the Premier League. The last time Spurs were higher than that was a 3rd in 1990. And you're calling him an underachiever???
Since I will say that they should have finished higher the last two years, yes I am.
That is good
Truly a group of death if I've ever seen one. Even Germany can't rest despite having max points. They need to play solid football and keep the Danes at bay. I think they can do that easily.My prediction:Germany 1 - 1 DenmarkNetherlands 2 - 1 PortugalGermany and Denmark collude to keep the Dutch and Portuguese out.
The Dutch advance condition isn't too far fetched given that the Germans can't rest their players safely. They will have to change their approach though.
With the games being played simultaneously and no path where both advance with a tie with out knowledge of the other games result, I think a chance of collusion is off the table. To risky for Denmark.
I don't think ACTUAL collusion will occur, but that Germany knows they can advance with just a draw, so they'll be playing for that.
Oh I know. I was just pointing out that Denmark won't play for the draw (unless the other score is dramatically in their favor), which is what I thought you were trying to say when speculating about collusion.
I'm going to guess two guys who don't have a blonde mohawk.
FOX Soccer Trax @FOXSoccerTraxITALY Buffon - Maggio, Chiellini, Bonucci, Thiago Motta, Marchisio, Giaccherini, DeRossi, Pirlo, Balotelli, Cassano
Awesome.
wow, lots of questions here. Lets start with the EPL* English professional soccer is made of of 4 divisions totaling 92 teams* The highest level of English soccer is the EPL, with 20 teams in it.* The 20 teams in the EPL are setup in a single table format with a balanced scheduled. Every team plays every other team twice, once at home, once away for a 38 game season* 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss* The team with the most points at the end of the year is crowned the champion* the three teams with the lowest point totals in the EPL are relegated to the next level down division while the three top teams from that division are promoted into the EPL (for a rough analogy, think about the worst teams in MLB being sent to AAADigest this for now and then ask questions and we can go from there on the EPL as there is more to it than these basics.
ok now the second part.There are multiple items going on now. The biggest is something called the European Championships referred to as Euro 2012. This represents the top 16 international teams in Europe fighting for the title. Every game is being shown live on ESPN/ESPN2.The other item you mentioned is also happening and that is World Cup qualifying. While you are likely familiar with the 32 team WC finals that occurs every 4 years, you are probably less familiar with how those teams qualify.~200 countries compete for the right to qualify for the WC Final in Brazil in 2014. The World is broken up into sections (South America, North/Central America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania (New Zealand area). Each of these regions are allotted a different amount of qualifying spots and each region creates a format for their countries to qualify from through numerous games.We are in the early to middle stages of WCQing right now and this will continue until late next year when all 32 teams are decided. Only 1 team has qualified so far and that is Brazil who gets an automatic bid as the host country.This link will give you a nice summary of WCQinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualificationOk, digest this as well and then ask more questions and we can go from there.
Right now the pro leagues (club) in Europe are on their summer break. The biggest leagues with the best players are: England (Premier League), Spain (la liga), Germany (Bundesliga), and Italy (Serie A). This is separate from the World Cup, which pit nation vs. nation. Clubs can (generally) hire whomever they want. There is no draft, as most players come from academies tied to a particular team. they turn pro at age 17 or 18.UEFA is the soccer organization for Europe. CONCACAF is the soccer organization for North America and the Caribbean. CONMEBOL is the soccer organization for South America. Each regional body controls their own qualification for the World Cup. Currently CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are in the beginning stages of WC2014 qualification. UEFA is currently having their "EUROs", which is the European Championship. This is sort of like a mini-World Cup, but with only European teams. It's a very good competition to watch.The USA has completed 2 games of their WC2014 qualification schedule. They won at home against Antigua / Barbuda, and drew away in Guatemala. They are in the drivers seat to make it to the next stage of qualification.
What specific outlets are you looking for? In terms of channels that show a lot of soccer you have the following-ESPN/ESPN2/Fox Soccer Channel/Gol TV/Univision/Telemundo/Galavision/NBCSN/etcIn terms of media outlets, there is a ton of information online from espn.com, cnnsi.com, and millions of othersIn terms of general fan outlets, feel free to jump into this thread with both feet. The thread contains a nice cross section of knowledge of both club and international soccer and none of us are afraid to give opinions or answer questions.
We have picked up new fans in this thread along the way. Some of you guys should chime in and let Outlawassassins know how you went about stepping into the mine field so to speak to become fans of the sport.
Pick an awesome club team that's going to be on television a lot and employs an attractive style of play.Pick another country in addition to the US to follow, either in Europe or S. America. Where your ancestry's from, etc.Wa la.
I think just the opposite. They are diving much less than normal and no more than any other team in the tourney. Very refreshing change of pace for the Italians.Italians already dropping like they got shot.
I agree. The positive attacking style is fun to watch. None of the ten million passes between defenders as they normally do.
Ask away with any questions you might have. How far are you from DC? DC United plays at RFK and there are usually some good exhibition games in the area every year in case you want to watch a game in person.
