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

As someone that had similar questions a few years ago, I'll try and explain a little too.

--Each country has their own domestic league. Examples in Europe:  Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain, Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy, etc. The US has MLS. 

-- These leagues typically have lower tiered leagues (think like MLB for baseball being the top league and then your various minor leagues like AAA, AA, etc.)

-- Most of these leagues have 20 teams. Each team plays every other team twice during the year, once at home and once away. That's your 38 weeks.  The season starts in August and goes through May. It's a very long season with only two months off.

-- There are promotions and relegations between all the leagues in a country. Thus, the three teams that finish at the bottom in the Premier League will be relegated down to the lower league next year. The three top teams in that lower league will get promoted into the Premier League. This is a very big deal and not something you see in American sports. Imagine the Atlanta Braves moving down to the Triple A league because of how poorly they do and the top Triple A team moving up to MLB next season to give you somewhat of an idea.

-- You have probably heard of some major clubs. Manchester United, for example, is in the Premier League. Real Madrid plays in Spain in La Liga. Bayern Munich plays in Germany in the Bundesliga. These teams only play teams outside of their domestic league during tournaments. The tournaments, like UEFA Champions League, happens yearly and runs during the same time as the season and runs for a long time.  Winning the UEFA Champions League is prestigious.

--Each country typically has a yearly domestic tournament as well. In England, for example, that's the FA Cup. It's made up of all the club teams in all the divisions (i.e. MLB teams together with all the minor league teams).  Thus, a club like Liverpool could be involved in their domestic league (Premier League), their domestic tournament (FA Cup) as well as the UEFA Champions League (or lesser Europa League) all at the same time. The greatest feat is winning all three in a single season ( a treble). Only one team each year has the possibility of doing so (UEFA Champions League winner).

-- Some of the players that make up these club teams also typically have International team duties.  For example, Messi not only plays for Barcelona as his club team in Spain, but he plays for Argentina in international competitions and friendly matches because that's where he is from and where his citizenship is. Players can only play for one country throughout their career (for the most part).

-- Players can, and do, play for different clubs throughout their career. Cristiano Ronaldo (who is from Portugal), for example, played for Manchester United in the Premier League and then joined Real Madrid in La Liga where he currently is.  Players can play for virtually any club team or league in the world.  Some leagues are considered more prestigious than others.  

-- Leicester winning is such a big deal because they were only recently promoted back into the Premier League and they were almost relegated last year. To now finish at the very top of a 38 week season ahead of giant clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, etc. who have better players and far more money to spend is why this is such an incredible thing and why the odds of doing so are so low.  Cleveland winning a Super Bowl would pale in comparison to this. To give you an idea, the Miracle on Ice was only 1000:1 underdog accomplishment compared to this at 5000:1.

Hopefully that helps and other veterans can correct anything I screwed up. Also, this thread is way cool and always welcoming to people that want to learn. The only time you see people not being nice is when it comes to club rivalries in here which is where most of the fun is. See Tottenham fans this year, for example.

Eta -- The scoring was explained above. That's why there are no playoffs. That said, determining the winner can come down to the wire and be decided in the last match of the season. There was an incredible finish just a few years ago, for example, with 2 late goals in the last game determining the winner --https://youtu.be/81bv_gF4j5k

 
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gianmarco said:
Eta -- The scoring was explained above. That's why there are no playoffs. That said, determining the winner can come down to the wire and be decided in the last match of the season. They was an incredibly exciting finish just a few years ago, for example, with a late goal in the last game determining the winner.
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I would add that if teams are tied on points then the next tie-breaker is usually point differential.  Other league fans will correct this if I am wrong.
As an example, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have the same record, but Barcelona's point differential is greater, thus they currently top the table.  Even if Madrid had beaten Barcelona twice, they would still trail.  At least that is how it works in the Bundesliga, I'm not sure if that holds in all  leagues.

The points thing can confuse some people too.

Team A 3-4-2 13 points
Team B 4-1-4 13 points


These teams are tied on points, Even though Team B has more wins, this falls to the next level tie breaker.

Oh, and its wins-draws-losses, not wins-losses-draws.
 

 
The Z Machine said:
In la Liga, the first tiebreaker is head to head matchup, which IMO is more fair.
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Hard to say.  When they take great pains to reward season-long performance, it makes sense to include goal differential, which is measured all year long, rather than head-to-head, which may be influenced by short-term factors such as injuries/fatigue. 

 
Sinn Fein said:
Hard to say.  When they take great pains to reward season-long performance, it makes sense to include goal differential, which is measured all year long, rather than head-to-head, which may be influenced by short-term factors such as injuries/fatigue/not focusing on the league.
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FYP.

 
Btw, from my player notes in our league:




Apr. 29, 2016


Mignolet is expected to be the backup...






Mignolet is expected to be the backup Sunday against Swansea, with Danny Ward likely to start.
Analysis: Mignolet has gotten a vast majority of the playing time this season, but with Liverpool fully focusing on winning the Europa League, he'll get a short rest this weekend.
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It's catching on!!


 
I have watched a fair amount of soccer for the last few years and I have never seen it called. But what are the ramifications if a team passes back to its own keeper and he picks it up?

Apparently it needs to be egregious to call...

 
derek245583 said:
I have watched a fair amount of soccer for the last few years and I have never seen it called. But what are the ramifications if a team passes back to its own keeper and he picks it up?

Apparently it needs to be egregious to call...
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I believe it's an indirect free kick wherever he picks up the ball.

And it doesn't need to be egregious.  It's not called if the pass isn't deliberate or if it's passed back with anything other than the feet (i.e. headed back to the keeper, he can pick it up).

 
gianmarco said:
I believe it's an indirect free kick wherever he picks up the ball.

And it doesn't need to be egregious.  It's not called if the pass isn't deliberate or if it's passed back with anything other than the feet (i.e. headed back to the keeper, he can pick it up).
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I am saying it needs to be egregious just because I have seen some that look pretty deliberate with the feet and nothing is called. Maybe I haven't watched ENOUGH!

 
derek245583 said:
I have watched a fair amount of soccer for the last few years and I have never seen it called. But what are the ramifications if a team passes back to its own keeper and he picks it up?

Apparently it needs to be egregious to call...
Click to expand...
Indirect free kick from the spot the GK touches it.  Which ends up being a funky play sometimes because there's not enough room to back the wall up 10 yards and they're lined up on the goal line. It's fairly rare because it requires that the defender intended to play it back to the keeper.

 
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LBL, if you aren't enjoying this you can safely stop watching soccer.  This is a fun game.

Reffing has pretty much evened out with the non PK there.

 
Long Ball Larry said:
So how does the Uefa cup work?
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There are two European competitions.

1) UEFA Champions League

2) Europa League

Each country's domestic league is awarded (based on a rankings system) a certain amount of teams in the Champions League.  The better playing leagues have more spots, the lesser have fewer.   This is similar with the Europa League, but most countries are balanced at 3 spots.

So lets say country X has 3 spots for Champions League and 3 spots for Europa League.   When the season ends, teams that come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the league get to play in the next seasons Champions League.  Teams that comes in 4th, 5th and 6th get to play in the next seasons Europa League.

The structure up of the two competitions itself is fairly complicated because there are so many rounds of qualification where the lower ranked teams play against each other to qualify for the later rounds of the competition.

The winner of the Europa League gets an invite to the following seasons Champions League no matter how they fair in their domestic league.

 
The announcers kinda glossed right over it, but oh my god that run from Mane for the second Southampton goal.  It's that kind of vision and off-ball movement that I've been lamenting that the USMNT has been lacking for years.  He took off from a solid 15 yards inside his own half, 75 yard dead sprint off the ball leading to a goal at the other end.  Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference......world-class run from Mane there.

 
Steve Tasker said:
I hate that call on Drinkwater.  So soft.  Stupid to foul in that area, but come on.
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This seemed like an extremely weak call for a red card to me.

Steve Tasker said:
Disagree.....play to win the game. 
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I only watched the second half due to a fair mount of drinking last night, but it definitely seemed like Man U was controlling the play and Leicester was just being conservative to hold on to the draw.  I kind of thought they should play to win at least in the first of the 3 games, but overall it's probably sound to just get out with a point and basically force Tottenham to win out, no?

wdcrob said:
LBL, if you aren't enjoying this you can safely stop watching soccer.  This is a fun game.

Reffing has pretty much evened out with the non PK there.
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At different points I have occasionally tried to get into soccer (usually around world cup), but it never fully took.  I have always liked the promotion/relegation system, though.  I will definitely be following the end of the EPL season here.

 
Long Ball Larry said:
Steve Tasker said:
I hate that call on Drinkwater.  So soft.  Stupid to foul in that area, but come on.
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This seemed like an extremely weak call for a red card to me.
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It was really a yellow, but since he already had 1 yellow, he got a red.  Ref probably judged it as a yellow card because it was a decent goal-scoring opportunity.  I just thought it was soft....a little bit of handfighting, a light pullback, and Depay played it up ever so slightly. 

I always prefer letting the players play, sometimes to a fault.  It's a physical sport....players will handfight and grab and shove during the game....so long as it's not overly dangerous or out-of-control, let em play.  I know not everyone sees it that way though.

 
I've always enjoyed watching soccer but I only tuned in every 4 yrs for World Cup and occasional friendlies that I might happen to see were on.  Things that helped me really get into and change my whole perception:

1)  Understanding the whole league, club, international stuff that I laid out in my post.  It's overwhelming for someone that is unfamiliar with it even though it isn't that complicated.  Even just knowing the season starts and what's going on when is a huge help

2)  Subscribe to Soccer on TV and see what's going on each day.  It's amazing the amount of soccer played on a regular basis.  This helps keep track and you can easily find what might interest you.  Here's a link to today's schedule, for example.  You can click on it daily or you can get a daily email that has that schedule included:  http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68530/soccer-on-tv.html

3)  Join a soccer fantasy league.  I joined the EPL FFA league here a few years ago and it was meant just to help me learn about the players.  When you have to do that research to draft and watch as the season goes on, it can help.  After the 1st year, it made a HUGE difference.

4)  Read this thread.  It's always near the top.  Aside from Ron's loaning chick's money thread, it's the best thread here.  Everyone is cool (well, maybe, well....ah, nm) and no one else comes in and bothers.  Every 4 years, people will come in and momentarily crap on soccer, but otherwise it's just awesome.  You'll learn a lot just from reading as well as keep up with stuff easier.  Oh, and you'll laugh a good bit once you get into it.  And you'll see lots of topless Ronaldo.

My $.02 to help you get into it if you want.

 
Long Ball Larry said:
Steve Tasker said:
Disagree.....play to win the game. 
Click to expand...
I only watched the second half due to a fair mount of drinking last night, but it definitely seemed like Man U was controlling the play and Leicester was just being conservative to hold on to the draw.  I kind of thought they should play to win at least in the first of the 3 games, but overall it's probably sound to just get out with a point and basically force Tottenham to win out, no?
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Personal philosophy I guess.  I liken it to the prevent defense in football.  If you're up 3 scores late, sure.  But Leicester is best when they have guys like Mahrez stretching the field.  United looked more in control in the second half but Leicester had their chances.  No way of knowing, but I suspect United would've had a better chance to break them down had they bunkered with 10 behind the ball and Ulloa or Mahrez making long runs.  By keeping the game fluid, end to end, it forces United's strikers to beat Leicester's defenders, rather than allowing United to get their entire team lurking around Leicester's 18.

Plus, how awesome would it have been to win the title at Old Trafford??

 
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Did anyone catch Swansea's pregame tribute to the Hillsborough 96?  It was pretty moving & classy, especially considering they're not even an English club.

 
@The Gator  :thumbup:  Our boy "TheKevinStrootman" gets his first start for Roma in 1 & 1/2 yrs (due to a severe knee injury)...such a phenomenal player...good to see him back.  :wub:

 
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