Author Topic: Football/Soccer Thread (Read 46950 times)

Havok816 · « **Reply #200 on:** March 03, 2012, 08:46:28 PM »

Quote from: Niall on March 03, 2012, 06:25:56 PM

The whole structure of European competition is backward.

The original format of the "Champions League" was correct, whereby the "Champions" from each country competed in it. That's why clubs like AC Milan, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Ajax, Marseilles, Bayern Munich and even Rangers were iconic names, because they were competing in the world's greatest and most exclusive competition. They could laugh at their other domestic competitors and say, we are in the CL and you're not. These days Man Utd could win the EPL then the following season the 4th placed EPL team could conceivably win the Champions League. Stupid.

These days, you have about 4 or 5 teams from each big country competing in the CL and its a mockery of the exclusiveness of it.

When they said what you get for winning the Europa League, it made it clear that the competition is a joke. It should be a qualification for the CL, since they've won a international tournament. Just take away one of France's spots.

Havok816 · « **Reply #201 on:** March 06, 2012, 10:56:42 AM »

Aurelien Collin is Very European(tm claudio castagnoli).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzHTwaCzbxE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnqrygH1QaE

Havok816 · « **Reply #202 on:** March 10, 2012, 09:44:14 PM »

Sporting KC win their first game of the 2012 season at DC. Weird game, as they were playing really strong, yet made a lot of sloppy mistakes. Escaped with a goal off a corner by CJ Sapong, 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year, in the 93rd minute. Can't wait to go to Livestrong Park next weekend to see them beat New England.

Niall · « **Reply #203 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:33:39 PM »

Crushing 94th minute goal for Arsenal today. RVP is a smug bastard.

Havok816 · « **Reply #204 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:48:32 PM »

Flares were banned at the games in Turkey, so the fans found an awesome way around it. Can't arrest them if they can't see who's doing it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KinmQNdOULc

Linus · « **Reply #205 on:** March 16, 2012, 06:30:58 PM »

Quote from: Niall on March 12, 2012, 08:33:39 PM

Crushing 94th minute goal for Arsenal today. RVP is a smug bastard.

Krul was being a massive dick. They admitted he was timewasting after.

Havok816 · « **Reply #206 on:** March 17, 2012, 03:47:35 PM »

Fabrice Muamba collapsed during the Bolton/Tottenham game. Haven't heard any updates. Hope he pulls through and is okay.

Niall · « **Reply #207 on:** March 17, 2012, 10:54:45 PM »

Currently stable but in critical condition in the London chest hospital. Suspected cardiac arrest, it's amazing they managed to revive him.

Havok816 · « **Reply #208 on:** March 18, 2012, 11:29:33 AM »

Quote from: Niall on March 17, 2012, 10:54:45 PM

Currently stable but in critical condition in the London chest hospital. Suspected cardiac arrest, it's amazing they managed to revive him.

He's very, very lucky. Sad that his career is likely over, but the sheer number of people wishing him well has been incredible.

edit cuz I'm an idiot and got nearly everything wrong: Gary Cahill had the Pray For Muamba shirt, which he revealed after scoring for Chelsea today. The ref was decent enough to not give the yellow.

Niall · « **Reply #209 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:12:46 PM »

May not just be his career thats over. He stopped breathing for several minutes before being resuscitated and with that comes the probability of organ failure and brain damage. Here's hoping he's able to make a full recovery though.

In other news today, Kilmarnock beat Celtic to win their first ever Scottish League Cup, however Liam Kelly the Killie midfielder's father had a heart attack at full time and died soon afterward in the crowd.

A sad week for football in the UK.

Niall · « **Reply #210 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:18:58 PM »

Pathetic Greeks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/19/olympiakos-panathinaikos-match-abandoned?newsfeed=true

Niall · « **Reply #211 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:19:43 PM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHkwbPBpE0

Havok816 · « **Reply #212 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:22:48 PM »

Quote from: Niall on March 18, 2012, 09:12:46 PM

May not just be his career thats over. He stopped breathing for several minutes before being resuscitated and with that comes the probability of organ failure and brain damage. Here's hoping he's able to make a full recovery though.

In other news today, Kilmarnock beat Celtic to win their first ever Scottish League Cup, however Liam Kelly the Killie midfielder's father had a heart attack at full time and died soon afterward in the crowd.

A sad week for football in the UK.

Sad to hear that about his father.

Regardless of what you might think about Real Madrid, this was a classy move.

Eric Abidal played for Barcelona before being diagnosed with a tumor on his liver a year ago. A couple of days ago it was announced that he would need a liver transplant.

Niall · « **Reply #213 on:** March 18, 2012, 09:37:19 PM »

Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the classiest clubs in Europe. I don't have any issue with either of them. I applaud them for making football attractive, and it's going to be clubs like Man City and the Russians that ruin it.

For me, European football has a pedigree that is matched by six clubs, Europe's elite, no matter what their current measurement of success is. They are -

Real Madrid
Barcelona
Man Utd
Bayern Munich
AC Milan
Juventus

Every club outwith that list are pretenders, and have loads to learn about what it means to be a real worldwide football club.

Havok816 · « **Reply #214 on:** March 19, 2012, 04:39:33 PM »

Sporting KC beat the New England Revolution 3-0 on Saturday. It was a crazy, crazy day for the club. Started that morning with the St Patrick's Day parade where nearly 300 supporters marched with the float they made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YjMy_e73U

The game itself was great. If SKC doesn't make it to the semi-finals of the East, it'll be a tragedy. The team was just firing on all cylinders and working great together. The Cauldron was epic, nearly rivaling the intensity of the final home game of last year.

New England's McCarthy was sent off early after he fouled CJ Sapong(2011 MLS RotY) and denied him a goal scoring opportunity.

It wasn't long until Graham Zusi scored the first goal, managing to score it while on the ground. That's talent. And a bit of luck, since the Rev's GK, Reis, was down as well, having collided with on of his defenders and Zusi.

About ten minutes later, Kei Kamara put the ball into the net to make it 2-0.

Almost immediately in the second half, CJ Sapong(Still the 2011 MLS RotY) struck for the third goal of the game.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_e4gHdmEGQ

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #215 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:27:01 AM »

Quote from: Niall on March 12, 2012, 08:33:39 PM

Crushing 94th minute goal for Arsenal today. RVP is a smug bastard.

Fuck yeah! Now that the Dolphins have somehow managed to become more shameful than their 1-15 season, I only watch "football" football. Getting wasted for the Arsenal game later today.

KoppoKick · « **Reply #216 on:** March 21, 2012, 09:10:02 PM »

Huge 3 points for QPR today. Trailed Liverpool 2-0 with less than 15 minutes to play. Those points could be huge at the end.

Feels like Tottenham is in something of a freefall. They are no lock for the Top 4 anymore.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #217 on:** March 21, 2012, 10:39:21 PM »

Now, what does the Top 4 mean? Next round of playoffs? Automatically qualify for something next year?

Havok816 · « **Reply #218 on:** March 21, 2012, 10:44:33 PM »

Quote from: EDGECRUSHER on March 21, 2012, 10:39:21 PM

Now, what does the Top 4 mean? Next round of playoffs? Automatically qualify for something next year?

The top four qualify for the Champions League next season. The top three go straight to the group stage while the fourth place team goes into the qualifying round.

Niall · « **Reply #219 on:** March 22, 2012, 09:52:49 AM »

Quote from: EDGECRUSHER on March 21, 2012, 10:39:21 PM

Now, what does the Top 4 mean? Next round of playoffs? Automatically qualify for something next year?

No playoffs in football except Australia. Generally, if you're 1st in the league, you win.

Havok816 · « **Reply #220 on:** March 22, 2012, 01:23:43 PM »

Quote from: Niall on March 22, 2012, 09:52:49 AM

No playoffs in football except Australia. Generally, if you're 1st in the league, you win.

To further explain it and confuse it, the way the leagues in England(and the rest of Europe) work is like this:

In England, there are 20 teams in the Premier League. At the end of the season, the top four teams qualify for the Champion's League. The 5th place team gets into the Europa League, which is a pointless tournament.

The bottom three teams get relegated to the League Championship, the division below the PL. The top two teams from the Championship get promoted, along with the winner of the 4-team playoff between teams 3-6. The Championship and leagues below have similar promotion/relegation, so a team can have a monumental collapse and fall several tiers in a few years. I think Leeds did that. In Italy, they had a match-fixing scandal that saw one team dropped two levels as punishment. edit: I might be wrong about that. AC Milan was threatened with that punishment, but they managed to get out of it.

They also have two domestic tournaments through the season, the FA Cup(762 teams were in it this season) and the League Cup(92 teams).

MLS, even though you didn't ask, tries to be a hybrid of the European league system and the American playoff system, much like Australia. Last year's(and many years before) setup was with split league with East/West conferences, even though every team played every other team twice. Then they had the top 3 teams in each side go into the playoffs with wildcard spots between the 4 top ranked teams that didn't qualify. Dumb system, as that allowed a West team to win the Eastern Championship. They've changed it a lot for this year, with each team playing 3 games against conference opponents and 1 against non-conference opponents. Not sure if they've addressed the wildcard idiocy or not.

Niall · « **Reply #221 on:** March 22, 2012, 01:35:36 PM »

How is the Europe League pointless? Back when it was the UEFA Cup it was the huge. Granted, the Champions League should only have the "champions" from each country in it and that, therefore, would help the prestige of the Europa League if the 2nd, 3rd, 4th placed teams were in it - but even still, I wouldn't say Europe's second biggest trophy is pointless as such. It's sort of like the League Cup to the FA Cup.

Havok816 · « **Reply #222 on:** March 22, 2012, 05:57:21 PM »

Quote from: Niall on March 22, 2012, 01:35:36 PM

How is the Europe League pointless? Back when it was the UEFA Cup it was the huge. Granted, the Champions League should only have the "champions" from each country in it and that, therefore, would help the prestige of the Europa League if the 2nd, 3rd, 4th placed teams were in it - but even still, I wouldn't say Europe's second biggest trophy is pointless as such. It's sort of like the League Cup to the FA Cup.

I say it's pointless because the reward isn't qualification for the Champion's League, but a spot in next season's Europa League. Maybe it's a bad way to describe it, it just doesn't seem like it's that important anymore.

EDGECRUSHER · « **Reply #223 on:** March 23, 2012, 01:05:12 AM »

So, Arsenal will probably qualify for the Champions league in 2013. The same league where they just fucked themselves by losing to AC Milan 4-0 and made it near impossible to overcome the aggregate.

This shit is confusing.

Linus · « **Reply #224 on:** March 23, 2012, 04:32:26 AM »

Champions league is just the top 4 (or 3 if someone else from that country wins the CL Final). I'm new to this foopball thing and its not really that difficult. The Europa thing, I do find confusing as hell though.