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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (7 Viewers)

Kafka said:
Why don't you post here more often?  I always appreciate your Serie A input, but #### Romagnoli.  After he signed with your boys, he posted a photo donning a Lazio jersey.  Good riddance.
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Man, I LOVED that tho... It was such a dagger throw by him... He seemed to really have been pushing his way out of Roma, obv due to his love for Lotito's club. 

Love Romagnoli. Really do. He stays healthy next season, and a lot will change

 
Soulfly3 said:
Man, I LOVED that tho... It was such a dagger throw by him... He seemed to really have been pushing his way out of Roma, obv due to his love for Lotito's club. 

Love Romagnoli. Really do. He stays healthy next season, and a lot will change
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Ok.  Rescind.  #### this guy.

 
Soulfly3 said:
Hahahaha... I knew that'd get u fired up. It was a dirty move by him, no doubt.

Honestly, kinda shocked we were able to steal Kessie from you guys... Seemed like you guys had that wrapped up since January
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Yeah, but...we got no Chinese...

 
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Final weekend shakeout for the Bundesliga:
Champions League Group Stage - Bayern München, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund
Champions League Playoff Round - TSG Hoffenheim
Europa Group Stage - FC Köln
Europa Playoff Round - Hertha Berlin

DFB Pokal - Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt
If Dortmund wins, Hertha Berlin moves up to Europa Group Stage and SC Freiburg moves into a Europa Playoff Round spot.
If Frankfurt wins, they get a Europa Group Stage spot.

BL1 v BL2 Promotion/Relegation 5/25 & 5/29
Wolfsburg v Eintracht Braunschweig
Wolfsburg is '09 BL champs and on a 20 year run in BL1.
Braunschweig is an original BL team and '67 champs.  They were last in BL1 in 13/14 for one season.

BL2 v BL3 Promotion/Relegation 5/26 & 5/30
1860 München v Jahn Regensburg
1860 is an original BL team and '66 champs.  They were last in BL1 03/04
Regensburg has never been higher than BL2 and then each time for only one season.

 
Musacchio just completed his medical at Milan. 

Very happy with this signing... Our CB situation is wonderful right now. 

Ricardo Rodriguez at LB is also complete (but medical not done), and they just bid 17m for Conti (RB from Atalanta) who a lot of top teams are after.

 
NYCFC put the wood to Orlando last night.  Moralez is quickly becoming a great signing.  I don't know if MLS has seen high level interplay and touches between him and Villa on this consistent of a basis and he has more than a little spunk on defense.  Besides for minutes 60-75 NYC pretty well shut them down as well.  

White (the RB) who has been playing well got injured with a quad strain though.  He's probably someone to watch for the USMNT in the future as one of those late developing guys (he's 26) that finally got put in the right situation.  He doesn't do anything exceptionally well, but knows his role and reads the game well enough to know when to join the attack and now has two beautiful crossing goals in the flow of the game.  

 
Enrique's last match at Camp Nou was a microcosm of the inconsistency of his three years.  Go down 0-2, win 4-2.  Hopefully will go out with a Copa Del Rey win for his 9th title. 

 
Cosmos played a game in Saudi Arabia... and here's a blip from the local newspaper:

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal FC tied Major League Soccer’s New York Cosmos 0-0 in a friendly at the Prince Faisal bin Fahed Stadium in Riyadh on Saturday night.
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reminds of when I was in Germany w/ the u19 NCal state team. We were based in Hanover (the Cameroon game was the same trip) and playing games all over the region.

First game- and this happened in my 2 other europe trips- the hosts assumed we'd lose because we were americans, and gave us lots of kind words the night before. we went double digits on them in a laugher... which changed the makeup of the rest of our games. but the similarity with the cosmos story is that on game-days, we'd roll into a town in our bus and meet the local mayor or whatever. they'd have flyers up around town and at the field or stadiums (small) announcing the game. That first game, we  started out as a youth team from CA. by the end, we were listed as the US u23 national side. I think this is as close to MLS as the Cosmos are going to get.

 
In 1978, The NY Cosmos averaged 47,856 fans for the year.

To this day, that remains the highest yearly attendance in domestic US league history for a single club team.

As of now, Atlanta is averaging 48,031.   The reduced capacity at Bobby Dodd is going to slowly lower this number until the new place finally opens up.  

They still might have a chance to break the record if they open up all seats for the first game in the new stadium.

 
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El Floppo said:
That first game, we  started out as a youth team from CA. by the end, we were listed as the US u23 national side. I think this is as close to MLS as the Cosmos are going to get.
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I think something similar just happened in India.  A random team of U17's Italians went to play a friendly against the U17 National Team of India and lost and the All India Football Federation publicized it as they beat the full Italian U17 National Team.

Did India’s FIFA U-17 World Cup team really beat Italy? Here’s the truth

 
NewlyRetired said:
In 1978, The NY Cosmos averaged 47,856 fans for the year.

To this day, that remains the highest yearly attendance in domestic US league history for a single club team.

As of now, Atlanta is averaging 48,031.   The reduced capacity at Bobby Dodd is going to slowly lower this number until the new place finally opens up.  

They still might have a chance to break the record if they open up all seats for the first game in the new stadium.
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5 games left at Bobby Dodd.

8 games at the new place.

I haven't seen a cap on seating yet for the new place. This would be a pretty neat record to hold. If ownership provides the seating capacity, these fans will fill it up. 

 
It seems Real Madrid have signed a 16 year old named Vinicius Jr. for 45 million Euros. The contract isn't even effective until he turns 18 and he'll probably not join Madrid until 2019.

 
Someone born in the 2000s has now made their debut in the EPL and instantly looked better then Rooney and Fellaini has all season. 

And I didn't see any games as I was playing in an over 40 coed tourney in Vegas.  DAMN it was HOT.  6 games. We won the title!  Scored 2 in the first game.  Missed a sitter in a later game my sister will never let me forget since she passed me the ball.... Went in goal for the semis and final.  Semis went to PKs and I saved 2.  Awesome weekend.

 
Big Sam says no more - resigns from Palace, retires from football*

*at least until January when a relegation threatened team comes calling...

 
Txns8 said:
5 games left at Bobby Dodd.

8 games at the new place.

I haven't seen a cap on seating yet for the new place. This would be a pretty neat record to hold. If ownership provides the seating capacity, these fans will fill it up. 
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Game on Sunday vs NYC just sold out :highfive:

 
NewlyRetired said:
Pub team Christos FC have started a GoFundMe page to try and get enough funds to travel to Chicago for the next game to play against the local PDL team.

If they raise enough funds and win the game in Chicago, they get to play DC United in the following game at home.  Pretty cool for a pub team.
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They raised the money needed to travel in just three days, buoyed by a large donation from Sacha Kljestan.  Very  :thumbup:

 
LIfe of a Pool GK. 

keep it in your pants, shadergator... not that kind of Pool.

Billy Heavner is in goalkeeper limbo.

The Landisville, Pennsylvania, native is officially an MLS player and has a contract with the league to prove it. Every week he trains with Sporting Kansas City and benefits from most of the professional accoutrements that entails.

But Heavner isn't officially on Kansas City's roster. In fact, he is a man without a team at all -- that is until a general manager somewhere decides he has a goalkeeper emergency and needs cover. Maybe there has been a glut of injuries to the keepers, perhaps a red card. Regardless, when a team's goalkeeping ranks get thinned, Heavner is the man who gets the call and he must embark for a new team at a moment's notice.

He may stay there a few days or a few months. Most weekends, the call never comes and all Heavner has is a few more training sessions to look forward to.

Welcome to life as an MLS "pool goalkeeper."

"I'm just trying to stay sharp every day and be ready for the call," Heavner said via telephone.

"When it comes, it comes, and you have to go that night or the next day. Of course I would prefer to be out every week with different teams, but you've just got to stay even-keeled with it mentally and go whenever your number is called."

Lino DiCuollo, MLS vice president for player relations, said the ability of teams to use emergency goalkeepers has been around for well over a decade and was the result of a period when MLS rosters were smaller (around 20 players) so teams would carry at most two goalkeepers.

Now, MLS rosters contain 28 players and teams are required to carry three goalkeepers. In addition, the league's "extreme hardship" roster rules allow teams to bring up a goalkeeper from its USL side or affiliate on a short-term basis. As a consequence, the need for a pool goalkeeper has lessened. Whereas prior years saw three to four pool goalkeepers signed, Heavner is the only such keeper in 2017.

"We're examining right now whether to do away with emergency goalkeepers or to figure out another way that teams can have access to a player like that because they're rarely used,'" DiCuollo said.

Yet they do come in handy. Heavner has already spent time this season with Minnesota United -- when John Alvbage and Patrick McClain were injured -- and FC Dallas. The program has also seen a few players shimmy their way out of goalkeeper limbo. Chris Konopka, currently with NASL side FC Edmonton, made his MLS debut with the New York Red Bulls in 2011 when he was a pool goalkeeper: usual starter Frank Rost was injured and reserve Bouna Condoul had yet to return from international duty.

"They came to me beginning of the week and said the game was mine," Konopka said.

"I had the whole week to prepare. I was thrilled. Even though I was the pool goalkeeper, they treated my like I was part of the team. They knew me from Day 1 as I had trained with them all season. I made my debut and that furthered my career for other clubs to pick me up."

The man who may have benefited most from being a pool goalkeeper is current Kansas City No. 1 Tim Melia. He had been an MLS keeper for five years when he was released by Chivas USA during the middle of the 2014 campaign. Since his contract was guaranteed, MLS had little choice but to keep him on as a pool keeper. Not that he was thrilled at the prospect.

"It was a very humbling experience when you're going in and you're just there as a number," Melia said.

"That's why it's a younger man's game for something like that. But it is hard to swallow, and if you go in there with any negativity, you'll get called out real quick. I just tried to go to every club and just say, 'Hey, I'm here. Use me as little or as much as you want. I'm here to help you guys. If you want me to go out there and take shots for an hour, that's what I'm here for.' I really just tried to grow individually as a human from it. It really puts you in your place very quickly."

Melia credits then-LA manager Bruce Arena for allowing him to continue training with the Galaxy after Chivas USA let him go, which enabled him to maintain his form.

"[Arena] didn't need me there. He had a ton of goalkeepers," Melia said. "But it just kind of kept me going. I just said: 'It's the middle of the summer, I need to do every single thing to make myself be in the best possible shape come January.' I absolutely worked my ### off."

Melia went on to have stints that season with Kansas City, FC Dallas and D.C. United, but it was his stop in Kansas City that paid off. Melia caught the eye of SKC manager Peter Vermes, was offered a contract with the team and then won the starting job the following season. He hasn't looked back since.

"I'm indebted and grateful to the league for having that [program] at that time," he said.

"Maybe right when it happened, you don't think that way. It's a knee-jerk reaction, and you're frustrated. But it saved my career at the end of the day. It got me in the shop window with Sporting, and it helped get a contract with Sporting. It allowed me the opportunity to compete with the guy who was the starter at the time, and it allowed me to solidify myself as a starter in the league."

Being a pool goalkeeper can make for an odd existence, however. The bouncing-around among teams can make it difficult to connect with teammates and coaches and feel a sense of belonging to a club. Heavner recalled how in Minnesota he left just as he was getting used to the place.

"I was making friends on the team, getting along with the staff very well and enjoying my time," he said.

"But then you move on and it's just a part of the position. Now I'm with Sporting, the guys have really taken me in and the staff has made me really feel like home. They've treated me like another player on the team."

Melia recalled how the reception from some teams varied, though he was in no position to make demands.

"Some of the teams it was like an open-door policy where, 'Hey you're part of the team now. You need to know everything leading up to a game,'" he said.

"Some teams you were just a number, who was there for training and they wanted to kind of keep you separate. From me, I just did whatever I was asked. Whatever it was, I just did it. Keep your head down, be quiet, be respectful of everything -- that was my approach to it."

There are awkward moments. Konopka recalled how a pool keeper based with the Colorado Rapids was called up to Chivas USA, whose next opponent happened to be, yep, the Rapids. Just this year, Heavner was called into Dallas, whose previous game had been against Kansas City, which made watching the game film a bit jarring.

"It was interesting flipping it around," he said.

"But at the same time I'm trying to learn about the team as much as I can and locking in because you never know if you're number is going to be called on the weekend. At first, it was like, 'Oh wow, this is weird.' Then you just turn around and take in the information and try to prepare."

Working with different goalkeeper coaches can be whirlwind as well. Every coach is bound to have their own particular spin on things; Heavner, Melia and Konopka all spoke of how working with different coaches was a benefit. Oftentimes, one coach would spot something that other coaches missed. But Konopka noted that some of the coaching he received directly contradicted the advice from others.

"I've now been playing professionally for 12 years, and you just have to take away what works best for you," he said.

"Some things work great, and some things don't work great, and then you just try to explain to them why you're doing something a certain way, rather than the way he's expecting you to do it."

Heavner is now the one soaking in the knowledge from around the league, and with the clock on pool goalkeepers likely running out, he's doing what he can to make the most of the experience. He certainly doesn't have to look far for inspiration.

"Melia is doing really well and it's good to see someone who was in the pool have that kind of success," Heavner said. "It's a light at the end of the tunnel."
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With United winning Europa, Griezmann's move to United got a lot more probable.  Although Atlético is demanding that 50% of the 100m€ release clause be paid up front, that may not be an obstacle for United.  Sucks to lose yet another top talent at striker.

But, if they can sign Lacazette (who has been stellar in Ligue 1 for 3 years running), that would be a good replacement.  Regardless, the transfer ban still stands so Atleti might be pretty thin to start the season next year if they can't transfer in players until December.

 
Poor Uruguay :)

Just like at the Copa America last summer in the US, during the U20 WC in South Korea they played the Chile National anthem instead of the Uruguay national anthem :)

 
Francesco Totti has officially announced that Sunday's home game vs Genoa will indeed be his last for Roma.  Words cannot begin to express....

:bow:    (except without the smiley face)

 
This is seriously heartbreaking; as a grown man, it shouldn't be....it's only a "sport".  He's made millions... etc,etc, etc...but He is so much more than that.  I won't delve into the Roman aspect/affect...but for all neutrals, I hope you can appreciate how He represents the last bastion of a forgone era...probably the last true #10.  They've all been phased out of the game; it's all speed, pressing & defensive recovery.  

#RequiemForThe BeautifulGame

eta: for the few here that consider me a gb; please search up "Totti gladiator/you tube"...it's the 10:09 min one, & a beautiful tribute.  (Yes, I am archaic, & still can't copy&paste anything, yet alone videos). Watch it...if only for the glorious Kappa kits of yesteryear, before the staid Nike designs...

 
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The Gator said:
One of the dumbest things I've heard Lalas say (yes, it's a long list) is that the "carrot of CL soccer at united" might lure him away from Atletico after Atletico has been in the QFs the past three years   :lol:  
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you know what he means, though... 

he'd go to united for the money, and the chance to play for a so-called bigger club (recent revenues, obviously- not results). but if they're not in the CL... I'd assume the temptation to go there wouldn't be as great. :shrug:   doesn't seem that off-base.

 
The Gator said:
One of the dumbest things I've heard Lalas say (yes, it's a long list) is that the "carrot of CL soccer at united" might lure him away from Atletico after Atletico has been in the QFs the past three years   :lol:  
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Lol at Lalas using a carrot analogy 

 
El Floppo said:
you know what he means, though... 

he'd go to united for the money, and the chance to play for a so-called bigger club (recent revenues, obviously- not results). but if they're not in the CL... I'd assume the temptation to go there wouldn't be as great. :shrug:   doesn't seem that off-base.
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How dare you assume to know what Gator thinks...no wonder you're such a misanthrope.

;)

 
El Floppo said:
you know what he means, though... 

he'd go to united for the money, and the chance to play for a so-called bigger club (recent revenues, obviously- not results). but if they're not in the CL... I'd assume the temptation to go there wouldn't be as great. :shrug:   doesn't seem that off-base.
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To me this would be the case if Atletico were qualifying for the CL but, like Arsenal, are always knocked out early. Atletico have been going deeeeep, though. Of course United is a bigger name, but using CL as a carrot when his current team will likely be favored to go very deep again, seems silly imo. 

 
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