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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (2 Viewers)

NewlyRetired said:
ESPN+ has scooped up the rights to the usually crazy and entertaining African World Cup Qualifiers.

ESPN+ will begin by showing 40 qualifiers from Africa in the September window.
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They were all set to be streamed on FIFATV's YouTube channel but that changed in the last 24 hours.

 
Sinn Fein said:
Post-Transfer Window EPL predictions:

ts a long season, and many twists and turns along the way. But, if I take an honest look at where the teams are right now I'd say:

1. Chelsea - this is a team built to win this year, strong defensively, strong and versatile in attack - at least a half-step ahead of the field

2. Man City - no #9, but enough attacking options to score at will. They could be distracted by CL chase next spring, but if Chelsea falter, they will be close enough to strike,

3. Liverpool - defense is stronger than last year, and primary attacking options are as good as anyone. Lacking depth though, and Firmino already injured. I don't think they can compete for the title, but should be a solid top-4 team.

4. Man United - lots of pressure on OGS - not sure he can handle it. I expect a lot of dominant performances, but also a few head-scratchers. Have the talent for top-4, but not sure it will be managed properly.

5. West Ham - Somewhat quietly, West Ham have put together a very solid team in both attack and defense. It remains to be seen if they can manage the Thursday-Sunday schedule, and if they have the depth to last the season. This may be a tad optimistic.

6. Leicester City - Similar to West Ham, but I think they will trend slightly down this season. Solid team, but will need teams above them to struggle.

7. Spurs - Nuno should have them in the mix for 5-7, and if things break just right, outside shot at 4th. Stronger defensively than last year, attacking will depend on how long it takes Gil to become a starter. But, they should have a chance at points in every game. Top-4 in sight, but low margin for error.

8. Everton - they always seem like they are better than they are. They have decent options in attack and defense, but they always seem to come up short. I don't think a new manager will change that.

9. Aston Villa - Settled into a mid-table role. Once they get over the loss of Grealish and learn to play without him, they should be a decent side.

10. Wolves - they will struggle to score goals, but they did well to hold Leicester, Spurs, and Man United to a goal a piece. Schedule gets easier, and I still expect a top-half finish.

11. Brighton - Mr. xG moves up from the bottom of the table to a solid mid-table squad. If they can stay relatively injury-free, this will be a tough match for any team.

12. Arsenal - I struggled with where to slot them in. This is a pretty bad team right now, and I struggle to think of any standout players who can lead them. I might have them too high here. A new manager should be able to drag them towards mid-table, but still bottom-half.

13. Leeds United - seems like everyone's darling from last season. I think they fall back this year, mostly on the toll it takes to maintain their high energy press. I don't think they will be able to sustain it two-years in a row.

14. Southampton - the perpetual selling team. JWP gives them a chance in most games. I think Armstrong will be a decent replacement for Ings. Not sure about replacing Vestergaard. I think they are safe, but with less margin for error.

15. Crystal Palace - Palace have some exciting young players, and if they can get healthy (Eze and Olise), I think they will be fun to watch, and if Vieira can find some consistency with his team, they could be closer to mid-table.

16. Burnley - maybe the least exciting team to watch, but Dyche seems to get them playing just well enough to avoid the drop.

17. Brentford - I think they have just enough about them to consolidate their position in PL, for at least a season. They seem well-coached, and that's at least half the battle in being able to survive that first season.

18. Watford - they might not get relegated, but I think they will be in the mix. Throwing Sissoko straight in is not a sign of confidence.

19. Newcastle - Ashely desperately wants to sell before he owns a Championship side again. He is going to have to work quick...

20. Norwich - up for a cuppa. But, will be right back down. I think it would be a minor miracle for them to stay up - just not enough PL talent.
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Maybe if the Big 6 and EPL officials all corrupt would stop interfering with a sell he wouldn't have to be so desperate 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
CAF has a huge WC qualifying schedule, with over 50 nations.  They also have the 2021 ACN, which is now being held in January/February of 2022.  There was a proposal to merge the two - meaning the ACN would also be a WC qualification event - but that was rejected.  Any club that relies heavily on African players has to take this into account imo.  I think its one reason Chelsea didn't try to move Kepa.  
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Milan Bennacer and Kessie.Hence why Milan now has 4 Starting DMFs 

 
CGRdrJoe said:
ronaldo crushing Ireland’s dreams in the final seconds… sorry couldn’t find the game day thread 
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Pretty Sad display by Portugal. They would've gotten clowned out off the pitched by a better side tonight 

 
Roma and Milan funded half of Chelsea's fee for Lukaku by signing Tammy Abraham 40M Roma and Fikayo Tomori Milan 28M for a total of 68M of the 97.5M Chelsea paid to Inter. Essentially Roma and Milan helped another club to weaken a league rival. I still hate you Chelsea but it was a pleasure doing business with you in this case and to do it with an Italian club I have a ton of respect for is amazing 

 
Speaking of Italian Clubs another American could soon be owning an Italian club for IFTV 

IFTV EXCLUSIVE: Ascoli is ready to become American

North Sixth Group & Bricofer groups will partner together to try to bring Ascoli back to the top flight in Serie A

We’ve been told deal should become official in the coming days…

 
El Floppo said:
agree that for every 20 minutes Griez looked like the second coming of Henry, there were 70 where he just looked like a random dude floating around. at least with Braithwhite, you know what you're going to get for 90 (which still doesn't seem like a Barca fit... but whatever). and agree that Memphis has looked legit so far. but he needs guys around him- and I'm not seeing them yet.
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Fati should be that guy, but who knows how he will look after such a long injury.

 
DJackson10 said:
Roma and Milan funded half of Chelsea's fee for Lukaku by signing Tammy Abraham 40M Roma and Fikayo Tomori Milan 28M for a total of 68M of the 97.5M Chelsea paid to Inter. Essentially Roma and Milan helped another club to weaken a league rival. I still hate you Chelsea but it was a pleasure doing business with you in this case and to do it with an Italian club I have a ton of respect for is amazing 
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Milan signed three Chelsea players this summer. Tomori, Bakayoko, and Giroud.  The two clubs have a long history working together. Guillit, Sheva, Desailly and of course, Pato. 

 
Guess which country now has broken the record for most matches gone without defeat? Yeah the Euro 2020+1 Champs Italy after a 1 all draw vs Bulgaria tonight 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
Milan signed three Chelsea players this summer. Tomori, Bakayoko, and Giroud.  The two clubs have a long history working together. Guillit, Sheva, Desailly and of course, Pato. 
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Bakayoko is loaned to us for 2 yrs but will probably be bought most likely after the 2nd yr unless something unfathomable happens so he's not there yet. I know the history of both working together. This was more of a fact 3 Clubs were able to make a Rival weaker and helping another club do so 

 
DJackson10 said:
Speaking of Italian Clubs another American could soon be owning an Italian club for IFTV 

IFTV EXCLUSIVE: Ascoli is ready to become American

North Sixth Group & Bricofer groups will partner together to try to bring Ascoli back to the top flight in Serie A

We’ve been told deal should become official in the coming days…
Click to expand...


Ascoli?

Isn't that like fancy mayonnaise?

 
Bruce Arena's constant #####ing and whining and cheap tactics has finally rubbed off on his NE Revs. A lot of cheap stuff by the Revs after whistles, should've been way more YCs for time wasting by Revs especially for the balls being thrown and kicked in stands. Not sure exactly what the ref was doing tonight and he should've taken better control of this match. Union were the better side and if they had their guys from INT NAT I think it's a win or draw. More perplexed on some of the refs decisions on the extracurricular stuff by the Rev players. Frustrated because up and man and could've score that 1 goal to at least get the well deserved point. 

FIFA overall needs to do such a better job on rules for time wasting. straight Reds should be given for blatant time wasting like throwing balls into the stand. Revs player was pretty blatant and didn't even get carded. Thought I was watching a CONCACAF match there for a bit 

 
DJackson10 said:
Union were the better side and if they had their guys from INT NAT I think it's a win or draw.
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Lets not bury our heads in the sand and pretend the Revs weren't missing some of their best players.   

And Gil, easily the best playmaker in the entire league, is still not healthy enough to start. 

And the team was down a man for 30 minutes, on the road, and still took all 3 points.

If the Revs win the Supporters Shield, this is a game they can look back on as a key one they never should have taken 3 points from.

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

As an aside, of the various problems MLS has, one that I wish I could fix with the wave of a wand would be a way to find a schedule that still works with out having to play games like this during international breaks.

 
B Maverick said:
As a single man, I am playing on the dating apps, seen a lot of things that remind you how different we all are... but this one made me laugh:

"Cultured, traveled, well-rounded.  I've called home 3 different countries, changes do not scare me.  Tattoos, smokers, soccer fans and fish ppl please swipe left"
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wut's a fish person?

 
NewlyRetired said:
Lets not bury our heads in the sand and pretend the Revs weren't missing some of their best players.   

And Gil, easily the best playmaker in the entire league, is still not healthy enough to start. 

And the team was down a man for 30 minutes, on the road, and still took all 3 points.

If the Revs win the Supporters Shield, this is a game they can look back on as a key one they never should have taken 3 points from.

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

As an aside, of the various problems MLS has, one that I wish I could fix with the wave of a wand would be a way to find a schedule that still works with out having to play games like this during international breaks.
Click to expand...


Union were literally missing 7 of their 8 starters due to INT break. Another guy do o Suspension and Santos to injury. If we are gonna play the missing players game yes the Union lost more players. The Revs lost bigger impact players but nowhere as many players as the Union. My point more was this was a game the Union deserved at least a Draw then the Revs deserved 3 points in 

 
Apparently Brazil, and the other South American countries have asked FIFA to impose a 5-day ban on players who refused a call-up.

The players called up were Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City's Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, Manchester United's Fred, Leeds forward Raphinha, and Everton striker Richarlison.

Wolves, Newcastle, Watford and Blackburn will all lose players this weekend after complaints from the Chilean, Mexican and Paraguayan associations.

Man City will presumably also be without Steffen.

 
Brazil is apparently not enforcing the ban against Richarlison - as a return favor for Everton allowing Richarlison to play in the Olympics.

 
Sinn Fein said:
Apparently Brazil, and the other South American countries have asked FIFA to impose a 5-day ban on players who refused a call-up.

The players called up were Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City's Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, Manchester United's Fred, Leeds forward Raphinha, and Everton striker Richarlison.

Wolves, Newcastle, Watford and Blackburn will all lose players this weekend after complaints from the Chilean, Mexican and Paraguayan associations.

Man City will presumably also be without Steffen.
Click to expand...
Just saw this.  Seems they are not happy the English FA and EPL teams would not allow players to go to certain countries.  

Yet another club vs country debate....

 
Sinn Fein said:
Brazil is apparently not enforcing the ban against Richarlison - as a return favor for Everton allowing Richarlison to play in the Olympics.
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Whoa... so it is clearly Raphinha's fault that the Selecao did not call him up for the olympics.  Punish him!

 
Sinn Fein said:
Apparently Brazil, and the other South American countries have asked FIFA to impose a 5-day ban on players who refused a call-up.

The players called up were Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City's Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, Manchester United's Fred, Leeds forward Raphinha, and Everton striker Richarlison.

Wolves, Newcastle, Watford and Blackburn will all lose players this weekend after complaints from the Chilean, Mexican and Paraguayan associations.

Man City will presumably also be without Steffen.
Click to expand...


What kind of Mickey Mouse organization is happening in England and the SA federations? This thing is a total mess? I'm So confused by it too

 
I know it's Lithuania but Italy was without 8 guys today from Injury to other things so had like some B Squad/ C Squad players. Raspadori score 2 goals one was an OG from the Lithuania player. Moise Kean score 2 himself. Ciro Immobile struggles to score 1 while on National duty and both these kids score on their debut starts. Go figure. Ciro Immobile was out for Muscle Fatigue but I'm hearing from people word around Italy is Roberto Mancini basically benched Ciro but didn't want to embarrass him so they ruled a muscle fatigue. 

 
Milan beats Lazio 2-0 on Goals from Leo and Ibra off the bench in first match of the year. Milan have 9 of 9 pts to start the year heading into their Champions League Match at Liverpool on Wednesday 

 
No surprise from Lazio Ultras they are some of the worst in Italy. Opposing supporters are kept in the Stadio Olympico almost a full hour after the match or their own safety during Lazio home Matches. 

Franck Kessié and Tiémoué Bakayoko were victims of racist cries by the Lazio Ultras

 
NEWS | #LFC teenager Harvey Elliott will have surgery in the coming week after he suffered a dislocated ankle during his side's visit to #LUFC More from

@JamesPearceLFC

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Liverpool 11-3-0 since they got some of their players back at the end of last year, FWIW.

97 point pace.
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Best "pace" stat of the season:

Edouard (Crystal Palace) - currently averaging 36 goals per 90 minutes in the PL this season.

 
@Sinn FeinSome spurs news 

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly agreed to personal terms with Franck Kessie. Sky Sport’s Daniele Longo has reported that Kessie wants a guaranteed wage of €7 million in his new contract but Milan are struggling to meet that demand. Milan have offered around €5.5 million plus bonuses and have not come close to Kessie’s valuation. There is now a chance that the midfielder could even depart in January, allowing Milan to get some funds. PSG have made contact with Kessie’s entourage and have expressed their interest. The Spurs meanwhile, have offered 8 million per season and have agreed personal terms too. There’s growing anger by Milan’s Curva Sud on how cheap Milan’s Manahement has become already losing two key Players for free.

 
DJackson10 said:
@Sinn FeinSome spurs news 

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly agreed to personal terms with Franck Kessie. Sky Sport’s Daniele Longo has reported that Kessie wants a guaranteed wage of €7 million in his new contract but Milan are struggling to meet that demand. Milan have offered around €5.5 million plus bonuses and have not come close to Kessie’s valuation. There is now a chance that the midfielder could even depart in January, allowing Milan to get some funds. PSG have made contact with Kessie’s entourage and have expressed their interest. The Spurs meanwhile, have offered 8 million per season and have agreed personal terms too. There’s growing anger by Milan’s Curva Sud on how cheap Milan’s Manahement has become already losing two key Players for free.
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To add to this there is reports that Kessie's agents are playing a dangerous game of every time Milan agree to up the offer to what the demand is, the agents then demand more. 

 
So I went to the Union Champions league match tonight. End line 11 rows up not bad seats corner were CA scored both goals. The only thing I was shocked and embarrassed by was that Club America outnumbers us Union fans by a wide margin generous 70-30. Felt like a Club America Home match. Besides the idiots of CA invading the pitch after the match was over most of the crowd was very friendly. One CA supporter ran down the stands to give me my Debit card at the end that fell out of my pocket when I grabbed my phone to take out and didn't realize my Debit came out. So props to him there. 

Winning was never going to happen but frustrated how we ended. 4-0 Aggragate doesn't tell the story of the 2 legs. You know how they say sometimes the stats don't tell the story of a sports game? Well these 2 legs were that case. Union had numerious opps for Goals and didn't score. Missed PK's (Great save by him and he's one of the few classy Mexico National team players too) Glesnes missing point blank headers, Kacper missing chances etc. 2 of the goal just unlucky in the two legs. Flach on a give away with Jack and Jakob in the first leg, another was off a deflection and there was a 3 that was just unlucky for the Union. 

Even though the refs weren't the main reason they lost the CA players are a bunch of babies. All of tonights match they dove with Concacafe ref awarding it. Valdez should been sent off for foul inside the box for allowing a goal scoring chance and for VAR not to review it is embarrassing. Still need to hit the PK though. Ref was awarding all night CA players falling easy to the ground. The one Yellow on the Union was right in front of me and whoever was carded didn't even touch the CA player. The CA players made Raheem Sterlings dive in the Euro Semis look Tame and what Ciro Immobile did look like a whatever. If Im a CA supporter I'd feel embarrassed my clubs players thought they had to rely on such tactics to beat such an inferior club they should beat on talent alone going away. Kacper was called for a foul on offense tonight for just backing into the CA defending who acting like he was shot in he head at my end. 

Either way it was still fun. Different atmosphere overall kind of cool but embarrassing at the same time. Besides the 10 pitch invaders at the end of the Match from CA their supporters were really cool. They knew where they were and respected where they were. Oh yeah props to the security guy for the Ray Lewis type tackle on the one pitch invader. He laid the boom stick on the guy. Shocked the fan didn't go to sleep after that hit. Overall fun but disappointing night. I did get my pic taken with Phang our mascot which was pretty cool. Only Snake I'm ever volunteering to ever go up to on my own accord willingly though. 

 
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