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

Long Ball Larry said:
More Questions:

-FA Cup: So any professional team in UK can enter this and they get randomly seeded?  It would be like baseball holding an open tournament for any team that wanted to enter from MLB, MiLB, Atlantic League, Northern League, Cape Cod League, and Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars?  And then determine matchups out of a hat to set up the bracket?
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Sort of.  The teams/leagues are tiered, so that teams in the Premier league do not enter the tournament until later rounds, and even within the EPL, teams at the top enter a round later than the bottom teams of the league.  But, otherwise, yes teams are drawn randomly - for both opponent and who will play at home.  Each round is drawn separately - so no real bracket is drawn up. 

 
Long Ball Larry said:
More Questions:

-FA Cup: So any professional team in UK can enter this and they get randomly seeded?  It would be like baseball holding an open tournament for any team that wanted to enter from MLB, MiLB, Atlantic League, Northern League, Cape Cod League, and Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars?  And then determine matchups out of a hat to set up the bracket?

-Are there 15 leagues that are part of the champions league: http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/leaguesandcups/

-I'm sure there would be lively debate, but this list approximately the top players in the world: http://thebiglead.com/2015/08/27/top-10-soccer-players-in-the-world-start-of-the-2015-16-season-edition/

-How did Manchester City get the money to sign a couple of those guys and ascend in the standings?  I had always thought that they were kind of down and out.  Like the Mets to the Yankees, but worse.

-I see that la Liga is super top-heavy in the standings, with Barcelona and Real Madrid (unsurprisingly), plus Athletico Madrid.  It seems like the EPL, for instance, is going through some changes in competitive balance (? I don't know, just my random snapshot and extremely limited historical knowledge).  Are the other leagues more top-heavy still (assuming that has been the norm in soccer historically) and/or some being more competitive lately?

-Also interested in what Tony Khan and his people might be able to do with Fulham and analytics or if the view is that it is nonsense.
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1) FA Cup : You have it in general correct.  The lower ranked teams have to play significantly more games than the higher ranked teams.  736 teams entered this years FA Cup.  It does go well beyond what you might think is a professional team though.  Note the number of teams I mentioned.  In the top 4 divisions in England, there are 92 teams.  So the vast vast majority of the pool comes from deep in the pyramid.

2) Champions League: No, teams from 53 countries entered this years tournament.

3) Not sure what the question is you are asking here

4) Man City is owned by City Football Group of which this some what rich man is the head of :) They basically have more money than they know what to do with.  They were purchased by this group back in 2008 and started their ascension at that time  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansour_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahyan

5) Most soccer leagues around the world are very top heavy.  What happened in England this year was so special because it was so rare. Whether this is a blip or a trend we need to wait to see.  Leagues like MLS and Liga MX (Mexico) are set up more like our traditional American leagues where the top 3-5 teams do not own 95% of the talent in the league for decades at a time and as such has a little more parity on average.

6) Back in the mid 90's, all time great Ruud Gullit started to use the Opta analytical system at Chelsea when he coached there.  As you could guess most people were extraordinarily skeptical at the time of what possible use it could be.  Now a days every pro team has a group of employees dedicated to analytic s.  Some teams use them effectively, some teams don't.  No different than a similar method used for hockey or basketball.

 
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Kafka said:
What happened to Stuttgart?  They were playing so well when they changed coaches mid season(?), surprised to see that they've dropped all the way back to 17th.  So if Werder Bremen beat Frankfurt by 1 goal, pts & GD will be same, & they'd have this head-to-head victory... Who won 1st match?                   Forza Bremen!
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When I was in Germany in the late 80s, Stuttgart had two teams in the bundesliga - VfB and Kickers. Both were relegated toaday, VfB to the 2nd Bunsesliga and Kickers to the 4th level. Kickers were Jurgen Klinsmann's youth team, and he made his breakthrough as a pro at VfB. As an extra kick in the nuts, VfB's B team were also relegated this season. 

 
AC Milan-Roma set to kick off, as well as Napoli-Frosinone...Roma need to win, with Frosinone getting a miracle draw, to overtake Napoli for second, & automatic CL group- stage qualification, as opposed to 3rd, & CL playoff.  Ironically, Frosinone (already relegated) is considered a Roman team (based in the outskirts) & are new to Serie A, so not sure if a rivalry exists or not, & what their motivation will be...probably won't matter, them being 25-1 underdogs vs Napoli...

 
Oh well... Frosinone get a straight red in the 13th minute...Rizzoli gave it, no less.  Thank God, I can rest, assured it was totally legitimate.

 
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(For my bated breath brethren)...Aw shucks...Napoli scores in the 44th min.  This really sucks, because Roma is fielding a 4 man MF consisting of Pjanic, Nainggolan, Strootman & DeRossi for this game, & they look absolutely indomitable.  Sadly, if Napoli wins, it could very well be the last game in a Roma jersey for Pjanic or Radja, due to FFP.  At least we still have Er Pupone for one last year...

 
Eephus said:
Dons & Accrington scoreless at the hour mark. Beast mode enabled. 
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Was trying to explain to my brothers this morning about my new investiture in the fate & fortune of the "Dons", because of some old guy( :unsure: ) who dons a SF Giants baseball cap, replete with a resplendent blazer...they understood that as much as when I tried to explain my budding support for some obscure Spanish side named Real Zaragoza, some ten odd years ago.  This is why I love this game so.

 
decided to pop on this Dons game for the hell of it.  Is Akinfenwa the owner of the team?  I thought I saw something about some very large, possibly corrupt businessman who owned a soccer team and was the "star" player (though now that I think about it, that have been in Suriname, during a VICE doc about gold-mining).

And why do all these guys have their heads bandaged?

 
Long Ball Larry said:
decided to pop on this Dons game for the hell of it.  Is Akinfenwa the owner of the team?  I thought I saw something about some very large, possibly corrupt businessman who owned a soccer team and was the "star" player (though now that I think about it, that have been in Suriname, during a VICE doc about gold-mining).

And why do all these guys have their heads bandaged?
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The Dons are supporter owned.  

Akinfenwa is the strongest guy in FIFA. 

 
Long Ball Larry said:
Thank you for your answers.

Regarding number 3, I meant to say  -I'm sure there would be lively debate, but is this list approximately the top players in the world?: http://thebiglead.com/2015/08/27/top-10-soccer-players-in-the-world-start-of-the-2015-16-season-edition/

Just trying to get a sense of who the best players are right now.
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At this point, no.  Everyone pretty much agrees on Messi and Ronaldo in that order as the top 2.  After that, there's a good bit of argument.  It's easier to argue about specifi positions.  

 
Zlatan gets the game stopped for a standing ovation in the 10th minute.  Goes on to score a brace and break the record for most goals in a single Ligue 1 season.  Celebrates with his sons (wearing Zlatan jerseys saying "King" and "Legend" respectively) and walks off the pitch with the game still going on.  PSG finishes the game with 10 men. 

That is how you Zlatan.

 
Fernando Torres just finished his best session since being at Liverpool. He also had two very acrobatic strikes today, one went in, the other off the bar  and then put in by Griezmann.

He's been a more than solid addition to the team, and every bit deserved a new contract at Atlético.

Not joking here, he's playing so well that he may warrant a call back to the Spanish team, even at age 32.  Although he's unlikely to be quite as effective outside of Simeone's system.

Finally, Oblak equaled the 38 game record for fewest goals allowed at 18. That ####ty stoppage time goal for Rossi last week was the difference.

 
Full credit to Barça for a tremendous season (sans a few weeks). Suárez is an absolute beast, and is my la liga player of the year. Barça didn't falter at the end, despite being pushed hard. 

 
Went to the Revs Fire game tonight.   Kamara started for the Revs and appeared to make a real difference but any excitement needs to be tempered because of the opponent.  God is Chicago awful.  They have the least interesting lineup I have seen in years.

The Revs started a make shift back line due to a bunch of injuries and Chicago managed a whopping 0 shots on goal for the entire game.

As a related aside, I love that the Crew started a guy named Kamara in place of Kamara tonight :)

Pretty goal by Ngyuen tonight off a corner kick.

http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2016-05-14-new-england-revolution-vs-chicago-fire/details/video/65333

 
How to kill a local soccer club 101

The Charleston Battery is a pretty successful club.  They have a great stadium and a pretty regular following.  They don't sell out,  but they do ok.

At the end of last season the naming rights of the stadium were sold.  Earlier this year the longtime owner sold the club to an investment group.

Now, per an email sent out this week:
2016 East Bleacher Season Ticket =$175 ... 2017 = $300
2016 East Club Family Package Season Tickets = $550 ... for 2017 = $1800

 
Mjolnirs said:
How to kill a local soccer club 101

The Charleston Battery is a pretty successful club.  They have a great stadium and a pretty regular following.  They don't sell out,  but they do ok.

At the end of last season the naming rights of the stadium were sold.  Earlier this year the longtime owner sold the club to an investment group.

Now, per an email sent out this week:
2016 East Bleacher Season Ticket =$175 ... 2017 = $300
2016 East Club Family Package Season Tickets = $550 ... for 2017 = $1800
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oh my.  

I am going to assume a good deal of their audience are families looking for a good night of fun at not too bad a price.  This is not going to end well.  The only way a team could get away with this at the USL level would be if they had a clear and defined path to starting in MLS in a couple of years, of which Charleston does not.

 
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Wow. Man U - Bournemouth game cancelled due to a suspicious device being found at Old Trafford.

Won't matter in terms of standings, as City have already scored and Swansea didn't even throw out the full A-Team.

 
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TLEF316 said:
Wow. Man U - Bournemouth game cancelled due to a suspicious device being found at Old Trafford.

Won't matter in terms of standings, as City have already scored and Swansea didn't even throw out the full A-Team.
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1-1 at HT. City on the road is so unpredictable. Should make for a fun finish and hopefully a meaningful Monday game at Old Trafford.

 
NewlyRetired said:
oh my.  

I am going to assume a good deal of their audience are families looking for a good night of fun at not too bad a price.  This is not going to end well.  The only way a team could get away with this at the USL level would be if they had a clear and defined path to starting in MLS in a couple of years, of which Charleston does not.
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Sucks because they have Atlanta United ties.

 
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