Before I start, let me first address those of you – and there were a few of you last week – who feel compelled to post comments criticizing the existence of posts about football – and I hasten to point out that it has been called football much longer than gridiron football.
I have been invited and welcomed to post here by the owner of this blog and I do so only at his pleasure. We get it: you don’t like the sport and/or are resentful of the fact that these posts exist at all. Nevertheless, you are certainly welcome to post in the comments on topic. Out of respect to those who do like the sport, I ask you not to post comments such as these:
Way too thin skinned for a little thing like calling all 22 of you out. Only 23 comments so far and the American college football game isn’t even being discussed but let me bow out of “your” discussion.
Oh boy! Saturday Game Day, everybody is donning their school colors, and an open football thread! And it’s all about … Oh. Never mind.
Is that honestly so hard for you to do?
Okay, FIFA is cracking down on homophobia. Great!
James Rodriguez to Manchester United, Cesc Fabregas to Milan and Christian Pulisic to Liverpool? The latest transfer rumors.
Champions League results from this week. Discuss.
Tomato Queen
Good morning! Poor Bournemouth. C’mon Arsene, spend some damn money. Oh, got one against Hull? never mind then. Meanwhile, here in the Championship, tv coverage is bollocks and I’m watching over somebody’s shoulder. Good attendance tho. The Rafalution continues.
wonkie
I used to enjoy watching football with my husband. i enjoyed because he enjoyed it. I liked the ritual, the narrative structure. the hoopla and so on. Well, I got divorced and having no real interest myself and not knowing how to operate our TV anyway (we have no TV reception and us the TV by way of Riko and Netflex), football dropped out of my life. I did manage to watch the Seahawks lose the Superbowl, which pissed me off! My current husband watches basketball which I can;t get into at all. So.. my point? I really don;t have one, except to wish all the sports fans a fun football season.
Amir Khalid
My club played yesterday, and won at Chelsea. Not only that, Leiva Lucas didn’t pass to any opposition strikers standing unmarked before an open Liverpool goal. Baby steps, Leiva, baby steps.
Pulisic? Pool are already loaded with options up front. Whom would we be offloading to make room n the squad? We done sold Benteke.
CarolDuhart2
I like soccer (international football) posts! It’s a good reminder that there’s a big wide world out there. And it is a growing sport! FC Cincinnati is in its first season, and already has lots of fans, and pretty decent coverage. I don’t ever know if I will be a big fan, but I root for them to do well, and like the orange and blue colors.
Sorry about the barbarians (original Greek meaning) who can’t let other people appreciate something different. Keep blogging..
Gertrude the Duck
I hasten to point out that it has been called football much longer than gridiron football.
Sigh. I’m a fan of soccer, but just from a practical standpoint it’s annoying to call two sports by the same name. In the US – and this is predominantly a US blog – we call it soccer. If talking to Brits, I’d call it soccer. Italians, Calcio.
Plus, it’s pretentious. Like wearing your special edition Real Madrid jersey to a casual kick around in the park.
BGinCHI
@Amir Khalid: Agreed. The side is really showing some form, except in the back…. Oh, Lucas, why do you torment me!
Pulisic would be useful if Coutinho gets injured, or Sturridge, or both. Which is likely in a long EPL season (or one match against Stoke).
Betty Cracker
To assist with the effort to forestall dumb comments protesting the existence of soccer posts, I promise to put up an NCAA football open thread around noon or so. I routinely posted college and NFL threads last year but have fallen down on the job this year, mostly because I’ve been too busy with other shit (launching my kiddo into college and setting up her household, volunteering for the Hillary campaign, etc.) to pay as much attention to American football as I usually do. I’ll try to do better, but no promises. Have at it, soccer peeps!
scav
Just the ball-based version of it’s the land of the free so long as you only do exactly what one subset of locals do, and if you will insist on being different, don’t do it visibly and upset the preconceptions. I can’t contribute much as I don’t know the full mechanics of the game (and seriously annoyed people trying to learn them a few years back) but I like reading along in a state of mild befuddlement (that goes back decades) when the mood strikes.
Amir Khalid
At some point in his prime, Pulisic needs to be playing for a world-class MLS club side. In fact, the MLS needs most of a generational cohort doing that. Because there’s still a lingering perception of the MLS as the Global Football Superstars’ Halfway House to Retirement.
NoraLenderbee
Good morning!
Confession time: I like watching American football. I hate everything it stands for, but I enjoy the game.
Bobby D
The only pro sports I watch these days is the English Premier League, a Tottenham fan here. Could not care less about baseball, american football, NBA, or hockey. And I’m a gen-x american raised in the deep south, who’s college won the national football title, went to the final 4 in basketball, and had 3 future world series champions on the baseball team during my time on campus (Ga Tech 1990-1994)
It’s the beautiful game, and I love it. American sports are boring and with too many interruptions.
Amir Khalid
I believe John Cole would consider it within your frontpager rights to delete comments like the one you cite, especially in cases of persistent infringement.
Tee
Just want to thank Randiho for these threads. I now can sound semi knowledgeable to my family while we watch games this evening. My kiddos and hubby are off playing their own games this am. I’m appreciate both this and Richard’s refree thread. We play soccer because younger teams are co ed in our area and it lets us play all in one field. They tried to recruit my second son for pop Warner starting when he was four because he is a big guy but we won’t allow them to play because of concussion risk. Our league only allows headers for twelve year olds and up. Gotta go, baby’s ready to get up. Thank you again. Edit for refree.
James E Powell
@Bobby D:
Confession/observation. When one is raised in the US sports on TV habit, one is taught to structure the experience in a way that uses the constant interruptions for socializing, food & beverage needs, etc., so that one tends not to notice or mind.
I will probably never get to the point where the interruptions bother me as much as you or others not raised to put up with them, but after watching nearly every game of the last World Cup, I get it. They’re annoying and sometimes I go off and do something and don’t come back for quite a while.
Roger Moore
@Amir Khalid:
It would be easier to dispel that perception if it weren’t soundly grounded in reality.
Shane in SLC
Oh lord, ignore the haters. Real football is so much more interesting than Americas’s provincial, watered-down, and mislabeled form of rugby. Carry on.
Amir Khalid
@James E Powell:
I’ve noticed that in America sporting events take so much longer to complete just because of all the commercial interruptions required by television. i remember that at the 1994 World Cup, where the USA was the host nation, the broadcasters tried demanding that matches be played in quarters like basketball, only for FIFA to tell them to go pound sand.
ellie
GO MAN CITY! That is all.
Amir Khalid
If there are any West Ham United fans here tonight, look away from your TV sets. The guys in claret-and-blue are getting hammered 4-0.
Mike E
Never mind the
bollockstrollsNobodySpecial
I love both football AND the beautiful game. Perhaps the complainers should send an ALL CAPS letter to Cole asking for mod keys so they can make the football posts.
Big Ole Hound
The absolute corruption of FIFA ruined any interest I once had in “football”.
Amir Khalid
@Big Ole Hound:
The game on the pitch is not as corrupt these days as its ruling elite. At least, not that anyone knows. Although the pro game in Asia went through a major, multinational corruption scandal some 20 years ago.
Amir Khalid
All of a sudden, West Ham re making a fight of it after going 4-0 down at West Bromwich Albion. 4-2 now, and it would be something out of Roy of The Rovers if they get a point from this match.
NorthLeft12
I enjoy watching the Premier League and have made it a point to see the odd Toronto FC game since they have become an entertaining and successful team to watch. Giovinco is a wonderful player and he and Jose Altidore make an excellent attacking pair for Toronto.
There is a huge gap between the MLS and European soccer quality, but hopefully the MLS can close that gap some over the next ten years or so.
NorthLeft12
@NobodySpecial: Yes, basically I would advise those complainers to quit their bitching and find another thread to keep them occupied.
I guess tolerance is in short supply when it comes to sports.
Another Holocene Human
I avoid these threads because I don’t give a damn about English premier league play (it’s not what’s playing in the background at my favorite Mexican restaurants, either), but I have been tempted a few times to relentlessly troll the handegg threads because American football sucks but I’m glad I thought better of it. What kind of insecure weenie clicks through a soccer thread and leaves comments trolling it?
Josie
I am amazed that anyone would take the time and effort to comment negatively on a soccer post when all they have to do is scroll down the page and skip it. Some people just don’t have enough to worry about.
Haydnseek
C’MON YOU SPURS!!!
Amir Khalid
@Amir Khalid:
That said, it is sad to see a legend like Michel Platini get thrown out of the sport, or Franz Beckenbauer — der Kaiser himself! — under criminal investigation. I think Pele, who served as Brazil’s sports minister, was lucky that he never got along with Joao Havelange well enough to become part of the Brazilian FA hierarchy, nor FIFA;s.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Big Ole Hound:
Well, you’ve progressed from “[only] 12 of you guys [. . .] care about Brit football” to “It’s corrupt so I’m not interested.” Baby steps.
Randinho
@Josie: Word
Ruckus
@Another Holocene Human:
@Josie:
You both read this blog regularly and wonder why someone would complain that it isn’t to their liking? We get that in every post except maybe the insurance ones. Any sport, politic, sometimes gardening posts are trolled.
And now to the subject matter. I played football in HS and not the one with the odd shaped ball. That was over 50 yrs ago so I know that it has been around a long time in the US. It was interesting and fun(ish) for someone 13 yrs old, less than 5′ tall and not all that good at sports.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Ruckus:
C’mon, there’s a difference between trolling a thread and questioning its existence.
Anya
I never understand why someone comes to a thread to tell us he/she hates the topic instead of checking other threads. #FirstWorldProblems
Randinho
Say what one will about FIFA, to my knowledge, they have never sought to honor a serial rapist after his conviction.
TaMara (HFG)
@Josie:
@Randinho:
Boy can I relate. Glad you’re here and fuck the rest of ’em.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Randinho: I love your football posts. I don’t often comment in them because anything I might observe will have been noted earlier (and likely better than I could have). But please don’t mistake quiet for lack of interest. My town now has a new FC (not that there was an old one), as mentioned upthread. It’s quite exciting to see local FC news!
BruceFromOhio
Randinho, thank you for these posts, and the smackdown. While handegg remains my biggest interest, these futbol posts have inspired my interest in the ‘road’ to the World Cup in 2018, the European round that is underway, and revived my interest in the Arsenal and Real Madrid clubs. Goodness, it’s a big world out there!
After the FIFA debacle earlier this year, it was a chore to pay attention again, though the play in Rio was welcome. ¡Vìva Brasìl!
low-tech cyclist
1. Add me to the camp of “if you don’t like this thread, skip it and go to the next one.”
Besides, Randinho’s name is right under the thread title. Randinho does (world) football threads.
2. And is more deserving of the name. In American football, the ball is kicked maybe a dozen times a game, on punts, kickoffs, and FG attempts. In world football, kicking is how the ball is moved.
3. Not to mention, American football is a barbaric game. Many occupations come with substantial physical hazards, but an occupation that comes with substantial risk of severe, permanent brain damage should be no more legal than slavery, and way less legal than prostitution.
humboldtblue
Everton get caught on the counter and Negredo scores for Middlesbrough. 1-0
And it’s a contentious goal as well, it appears Negredo interfered with the keeper and knocked the ball from his hands for the score.
cmorenc
@Bobby D:
Exactly. Once you “get” the beautiful dynamic flow and artistic skill of soccer aka football to the rest of the world – it’s hard to go back to the plodding slowness of the NFL version, despite its intermittent 10-second bursts of action. Somehow European soccer-football franchises (including the English Premier League in that) manages to sustain several of the most valuable franchises in all sports despite televising games free of conventional ads for 45 minutes uninterrupted (plus 2-5 minutes stoppage time) at a stretch, using only digital billboards outside the touchline for discrete banner ads during each half.
Two hurdles to most unfamiliar Americans’ understanding of soccer are: 1) the addition of stoppage time to each half, in an amount entirely in the discretion of the referee, ending only when he so signals with his/her whistle; 2) the offside rule, which is easier to understand that it first appears – but many are baffled why this is a constructive part of the game. There’s also alien bafflement at the prohibition against using hands and arms, which are essential elements for just about every “Americanized” sport.
humboldtblue
And Gareth Barry says KARMA bitches! And scores in his 600th appearances for the Blues.
This time Ashely Williams gets his boot high and it’s ignored by the ref, goal stands.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@humboldtblue:
And Everton equalize!
humboldtblue
@Amir Khalid: I can’t be the only one with his jaw on the floor at West Ham’s horrible start. I thought that a full year with Bilic and some nice additions they were a lock for a top 6 spot. Instead they are worse then Sunderland and have a defense that consists what appears to be tapioca for all its stiffness.
BruceFromOhio
@cmorenc: All it took was one Barcelona-Real match. Hooked.
Downside is, now I want to emigrate to Spain …
humboldtblue
@Steeplejack (tablet): Everton have their tails up now … Bolasie just missed a nice header
Amir Khalid
@humboldtblue:
It’s still early in the season. The Hammers might yet pick it up.
humboldtblue
@Amir Khalid: Eesh, they’re already 12 points behind City they already have a goal differential of -6 and they haven’t managed a PL win. There are still 33 games to go but they have a long road to go to reach even top 8 at this point.
You watch, the move to the new stadium will do to them what the the Canadiens did to themselves when they moved from the old Montreal Forum to the new building, they haven’t won a damn thing since. Not to say the Hammers were a threat to win the league, but their ownership group made a huge mistake moving game day away from the neighborhood and it shows. I mean, in a nation with an outstanding array of wonderful names for stadiums they played at the Boleyn Ground, you can’t get more English than that.
BillCinSD
@Amir Khalid: and of course it’s not clear that Italy has ever really got the corruption out of Calcio. It was only 10 years ago that most of the big Italian squads were severely punished for match fixing. The events of Miracle of Castel di Sangro, a great book which clearly showed match fixing, were 15-20 years ago.
Sly
I pay good money to read this blog, so I demand… wait nevermind.
BillCinSD
@humboldtblue: yeah that was tit for tat with the ‘Boro goal
humboldtblue
@BillCinSD: And now they take the lead on a great run by Coleman. Koeman is gonna have a great year, that’s the best signing by the Everton in 30 years.
And now Lukaku makes it 3-1!
BillCinSD
@Gertrude the Duck: It’s also been soccer much longer than gridiron football has been around too. Soccer only became a bad word in the 1960s or 70s.
BillCinSD
I hope it is more successful than their ongoing (at least 23 years since the KickItOut program started) anti-racism cracking down.
humboldtblue
@Gertrude the Duck: Just one note, Randinho isn’t a United-jersey-wearing-fan-boy from Columbus, he comes to us from Brazil. So while you and I are more than comfortable calling the game soccer (the oldest term of all that comes from the Association Football moniker of the 1870s) along with the Aussies, Canadians and others, from his perch it’s football.
Plus, that still doesn’t excuse some dipshit from wandering into a thread and leaving a snide remark because it wasn’t what they thought it was.
Amir Khalid
@humboldtblue:
Dang. If they win this, Everton will finish the week above the red half of Liverpool.
humboldtblue
@Amir Khalid: For the third week in a row they’re above the Reds. I’m telling ya, signing Koeman is their best move in 30 years when you add in the fact that they are back on solid financial footing and are willing to spend some money, they’re gonna be a threat all season long. They may even be the threat I thought West Ham would be.
Tripod
I don’t know why you bother. They will be fighting the battle of 1978 till their deaths, and any entertainment with a minority or female or gay or ethnic audience will always be suspect.
Captain C
Question regarding the transfer rumors: are these transfers which are anticipated to happen in January? Because I thought the transfer window had closed for the summer.
BillCinSD
@Amir Khalid:
I believe Dortmund turned down 15 million pounds for Pulisic from Stoke. Pulisic has started 2 games in a row, including one in the Champion’s League. Dortmund won both games 6-0 with excellent play (a goal and two assists from Pulisic on his 18th birthday). At this point ‘Pool would need to stump up probably 30+ million pounds, which isn’t likely to happen
Amir Khalid
@Captain C:
Yep, unless an out-of-contract player (i.e. a free agent) is being talked about, these rumours relate to the January transfer window. Only free agents can be signed outside the two transfer windows.
humboldtblue
@Captain C: They are rumors for next summer, particularly Pulisic to Liverpool. The transfer window closed on August 31st but re-opens for the month of January and that’s not the window when the well-run teams make buys because of the inflated numbers. Team get desperate and pay far above market value for marginal players.
PPCLI
I love soccer and I enjoy these threads immensely, so this is not an anti-soccer troll. But this word-snobbery is just misleading:
“I hasten to point out that it has been called football much longer than gridiron football.”
It has also been (in English) called soccer longer than it has been called (without a modifier like “Association”) football. Or are we to assume that the game is called “soccer” in Australia because of the popularity of gridiron football there?
BillCinSD
@Captain C: the transfer window for most transfer types and most leagues has closed. I think the odds James will move on from real are pretty high, Fabregas to move is moderately high. As said, I don’t see Pulisic moving. He’s getting playing time, is in a great squad, playing some in the Champion’s League, so would likely require a very large fee to move and his situation at Dortmund is excellent
humboldtblue
@PPCLI:
Its not word snobbery, you’re reading posts from a guy who lives in a country where there is no such thing as soccer, only football. Also your point has been made several times upthread.
Also, Australian rules Football is by far the most popular sport on the continent where every animal is out to kill you in the most painful and horrific of ways.
Tripod
@BillCinSD:
Some elements of the US Soccer fandom believe the death of the NASL was due to lack of “authenticity”. So the use of the word soccer, or the use of American style city – nickname pairings is suspect. So is the lack of promotion-relegation. It’s fucking stupid, but MLS team names are all now some combination of “United” & “Football Club”.
In the real world Atari pulled Warner under, (they owned the top draw NY Cosmos), the ’82 recession happened, and beyond a couple of franchises, the NASL was a pyramid scheme masquerading as a league.
BillCinSD
@PPCLI:
Soccer comes from the soc- in Associaton Football. The word association was used to distinguish it from other football’s (like Rugby Football). In country’s with their own football code being very popular (US, Canada, Australia) Soccer is common used to differentiate the codes
Randinho
@PPCLI: That was largely in response to those who objected that they were “misled” by clicking on a thread that involved the sport known in most of the world as football.
It would be far too cumbersome for me to mention every single major league in each country, not to mention international competitions, so for the sake of simplicity as well as out of deference to the international audience for this blog, I choose to use football. If other threads regarding gridiron football are posted they can use terms such as NFL, NCAA, etc. and everyone will know what it entails.
BillCinSD
@Tripod:
yeah, Eurosnobs are pretty common in US fandom. Real Salt Lake is probably the weirdest, since I don’t even think the LDS church considers themselves royal
humboldtblue
@BillCinSD: Or Dynamo Houston? Who thought that was a good idea?
Amir Khalid
The sport of association football (its formal name in English) is commonly known around the world by its usual English name of “football”, or by a name that translates to it: Fußball, voetbal, futbol, bolasepak etc.The name “soccer” doesn’t seem as popular as it used to be, except in those few countries where some nationally popular sport (e.g. Gaelic football in ireland, or Aussie rules, or the gridiron sport) gets the name, and a distinction may need to be made. In a conversation like this one, with no ambiguity as to what sport we’re talking about, it’s entirely proper to refer to “football” even among Americans.
Amir Khalid
@BillCinSD:
I’ve always wondered myself, when did the King of Spain grant Real Salt Lake a royal charter? Because in Spain, you can’t call yourself “Real” anything without it.
PPCLI
@humboldtblue: Good that the point has been made upthread — I’d hate to be the only one.
I don’t understand this claim: “lives in a country where there is no such thing as soccer, only football”. If I understand correctly that he’s posting from Brazil then in the sense that there is “no soccer” there, there is also “no football”, but rather just futebol. The blog generally adopts American standards of spelling and usage, even though some commentators like me use the British/Commonwealth spelling we grew up with, so there is nothing forced about the translation of “futebol” into the (now-standard, but quite recent) British “football” rather than the formerly British, and still current Commonwealth and American “soccer”. The international audience for this blog includes many English speakers for whom the word “football” is already taken, so a separate word makes sense.
People are, of course, free to call it what they like, I have no complaint if it is called “football”. I really don’t. I only object to the suggestion that the word “soccer” is somehow second rate or defective, and to the historical claim that the word “football” has only recently been applied to American football (“gridiron football”) so the preference for “football” over “soccer” has history on its side. The first game of (American) football, so-described, was in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers. The first game of futebol in Brazil, if Wikipedia is a guide, was 1894.
WaterGirl
@Josie: I guess you’re new here. :-)
PPCLI
@Amir Khalid: Bilic is an exceptional coach — I’m pretty sure they’ll turn it around. (They had better — my son is already jabbing me with “They never should have fired Big Sam LOL!” texts.)
Amir Khalid
@PPCLI:
@PPCLI:
Big Sam’s landed his dream job, hasn’t he? He’s England manager now. So I reckon he’s not complaining.
PPCLI
@Amir Khalid: My son is joking (hence the LOL) — he is no fan of the “boot it over the top and chase” style, and has been a fan of Bilic from the beginning.
I am curious to see how Allardyce does with England — it could be a perfect fit.
Hilfy
I enjoy Randinho’s columns, even tho I don’t know much abt. soccer. Am learning more from his writing. Our 2.5 year old Sacramento Republic Football Club is doing wonderfully for a new minor league club.
BJ is a truly full service blog: cats,dogs, recipes, gardening, soccer, politics, and uplifting articles like the 10/15/2012 one re Romney being so far ahead in the polls. That one gave me hope when I was down in the dumps abt yesterday’s polls. Also,too, Cole’s adventures in dog rescue, cat subservience, and house restoration.
A
@humboldtblue:
Agreed. And I *liked* Martinez. But Koeman did a great job at Southampton, and now that he’s sorted out their defense, the Toffees are looking pretty formidable–glad Spurs drew with them in the season opener, and at Goodison. Also, wow–City are in fantastic form now. Guardiola has really got them firing on all cylinders. Even that twat Sterling. DeBruyne has been incredible so far.
Really like the “new” managers in the EPL the last couple of years. Yes, Mourinho is back (ugh) and Wenger and Pulis are still around, but with Poch, Guardiola, Klopp, Koeman, Conte–I’ve been really excited watching the start of the new campaign unfold.
A
@PPCLI:
Bilic is a good manager. Spammers will sort it out eventually, probably to Spurs’ detriment. BTW–did anyone see Payet’s rabona assist last weekend? Holy shit! (Admittedly, not as awesome as Lamela’s rabona goal in the Europa two seasons ago, but still pretty incredible).
Big Sam doesn’t have much of a bar to get over–Woy was such a fucking disaster.
humboldtblue
@A: City are absurd, I just watched the highlights and it was never close. De Bruyne had his first shot at 8 seconds in and it only got worse for Bournemouth from there.
@PPCLI:
No one made that suggestion and it’s one that has been repeatedly debunked by regular commenters who have been enjoying Randinho’s threads for six years now and it’s simply tedious. Randinho posts about football and he always has and there was never a problem with that until last week. I use the term soccer every day, that’s not the point, the point was the annoyance of some asshole wandering into a thread and not knowing that the subject matter was and then complaining about it.
Tony J
@Amir Khalid:
Well it’s probably just to differentiate themselves from Faux Salt Lake, those low sodium splitters (spit).
On the topic of Football or Soccer, don’t really care. It’s Football to me, but if someone wants to say soccer because they come from a benighted hellhole where some bastardised version of rugby already has dibs on the name, that’s not a problem. OTOH if someone has a problem with – me – saying Football instead of soccer because this is an American blog… yeah, right, not going to go down too well. Be like me telling Americans on a British blog that they have to call American Football ‘gridiron’, which wouldn’t happen because I’m not that much of a dick. Honest.
Happier thoughts, apart from that ridiculous defeat to Burnley the Mighty Reds are looking like they mean to do some serious business this season. And it’s always nice to see Everton doing so well for a change. As long as they finish a point behind us next year I’d be overjoyed for them to pinch 2nd place.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@low-tech cyclist:
“… American football is a barbaric game.”
Do you not know of Luis Suarez?
humboldtblue
If you guys want to see highlights from all the major leagues this is a great website to do so. They cover all the top Euro leagues
Captain C
@Amir Khalid: @humboldtblue: @BillCinSD: I’ve been getting into club soccer in the last few years–the internet makes it much easier–after following the international game for decades* and the constant flurry of transfer rumors continues to fascinate me. I still haven’t figured out, given the number of teams and players, how anyone can figure out who belongs where.
*I was a fan of the Cosmos in the old NASL; my grandfather had season tickets in ’78 and we went to many other games in subsequent years. My first game was a 1977 game in which the Cosmos won 8-2. As you might imagine, this gave my 6-year-old self a very skewed idea of what soccer scores tend to be like. I’m also becoming an avid fan of the new Cosmos and I really hope the new NASL succeeds, though not at the expense of MLS.
A
@Captain C:
Yes! I remember seeing Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in the old Giants Stadium well past their primes too! It wasn’t quite as good as Pele and Sylvester Stallone showing up Michael Kaine in Victory, but still.
Good times.
SRW1
The transfer rumor stuff while the transfer window is open is largely gossip, sometimes of the ridiculous variety. While the transfer window is closed it’s just ridiculous prattle.
Infantino isn’t one for cleaning out the stable at FIFA. I think that much can already be said about the gentleman. Beckenbauer is working really hard on losing that damn halo of his. There was no reason to pretend that he didn’t get paid handsomely for his job on the organizing committee of the 2006 WC.
Mourinho’s officially gonna have to hand the mantle of ‘the Special One’ to Guardiola, cause MuC is already clicking on all cylinders, while Jose’s still trying to put the engine into MuU. And Jose appears to start getting testy.
eemom
Hello — just popping in to heartily second this post even though I have no interest in any sport of any kind and never read your usual posts. Seriously, who the fuck do these people think they are?
Keep up the good work….whatever it is. : )
Jane2
James to Man U!! Good thing red is in my colour palette.
burnspbesq
As an Everton supporter, it’s tempting to say “it won’t last, but let’s enjoy it while we can.” But wasn’t that what Leicester fans were saying around this time last year?
g
@BillCinSD: (speculation on Pusilic).
I hope Arsenal can swoop in and like Zalalem train the ‘whole’ new US midfield;P We really need some better possession to help us close out games.
As for MLS, I like that they’re not as hyped as the international game (other than stupid Galaxy) and can be a smug hipster about my team, and actually afford season tickets (the price difference between SJ Earthquakes and the 49ers—or Warriors, if your company’s IPO’d—is scary). And it was great to see the crowds at the Copa America games this Summer (actually probably saw more Arsenal players actually play in those games than if I had made it to the MLS All-Star game;)
Toffee
EVERTON.!!!!!!!!!!!
BillCinSD
@g: I don’t know if Arsenal are the right place, They do not have a great recent record of developing midfielders, especially wingers. None of Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey or Wilshere have really fulfilled their potential from when they joined Arsenal. Ramsey is probably the closest, but has been inconsistent over the years. Iwobi has looked good, and I believe Arsenal think pretty highly of Reine-Adelaide.
My opinion would be that Dortmund has a much better record of recent midfielder development, and have a passel of excellent young midfielders with Weigl, Mor, Dembele, and Pulisic. Zelalem would fit in their pretty well
bluefish
Very sorry to hear of such rudeness towards you and the topic. Serio, que besteira. Such foolisness. Best wishes, and do your thing, man. Thank you!
lethargytartare
Randinho –
wanted to say I appreciate the soccer threads. I’d probably post in them more if my home team wasn’t owned by Andrew Hauptman.
eff the Ugly Americans with their obsessive need to demean a sport that requires more than 5 seconds of attention at a time.