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I whine about Fox a lot, but their handling of the final day of the Premier League was great (the matches, at least, not necessarily the commentary). Nice to see so many games across their networks.
I can't intrest you in a barely used Iniesta? Xavi? Not even my man Busquets? Tough crowd. You know, this whole world team selection thing would be much easier, if we could all just figure out a 3-6-1 already.
Anyway, the main point was really the hilarity of Juventus having more top-22 players than Barca and Real combined.
Terrorism, obviously.
Stop that!
I catch a bit of their news channel sometimes--it's on Time-Warner here in New York--and it seems kind of redundant. They have an American in Doha reading the news and it's just as pointless as CNN though, to their credit, it's not as loud and it's more even-keeled about international news. Still, it's cable news so blah. More importantly, my hope is that that channel becomes their de facto soccer channel for the upcoming season since it's already set up and running. Screw the rest of the country, only New York matters!
Group 1
Santos Laguna (MEX)
Toronto FC (CAN)
Aguila (SLV)
Group 2
Herediano (CRC)
Real Salt Lake (USA)
Tauro FC (PAN)
Group 3
Olimpia (HON)
Houston Dynamo (USA)
FAS (SLV)
Group 4
Seattle Sounders FC (USA)
Marathon (HON)
Caribbean Qualifier 1
Group 5
LA Galaxy (USA)
Metapan (SLV)
Caribbean Qualifier 3
Group 6
Tigres UANL (MEX)
Alajuelense (CRC)
Real Esteli (NIC)
Group 7
Chorillo (PAN)
Monterrey (MEX)
Municipal (GUA)
Group 8
Xelaju (GUA)
Chivas de Guadalajara (MEX)
Caribbean Qualifier 2
The price of freedom is eternal belligerence.
What's key is that they will not have a "draw" for the knockouts. I was afraid CONCACAF was again going to have a "draw" where all the Mexican clubs ended up on one side of the bracket so an MLS team could not encounter one until the final*. Instead, they will seed the knockouts depending on the group stage performance. Now, that's fairly stupid in that who knows how strong your group is, but as long as CONCACAF defines all the tie breakers, at least it's a fairly transparent process.
(*I want a MLS club to win someday, but think winning in such a fashion would take most of the accomplishment out of it. Monterrey this season beat the other 3 Mexican clubs in the knockout rounds to win.)
The new format reduced the group stage games by 2, which should help MLS clubs. The previous Group stage schedule was pretty tough on them with a stretch of 3 straight weeks of CCL games sandwiched among their weekend MLS games.
It would also help if MLS was more forgiving or fair with their schedules. This year LA opened up with a CL and MLS game in the same week and Seattle didn't.
Here are De Jong Assassins:
Eduardo
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Terry
Boulahrouz
De Rossi
De Jong
Van Bommel
Busquets
Ribery
Balotelli
If there's any interest, we can have a BTF league. Teams have to be picked by Friday.
How could we not want to do this? Will anyone NOT choose Terry?
How can I make sure I get into the BTF league? Will it ask me when I sign up?
I tried to resist taking John Terry, but I couldn't spare his superior twattiness.
This team plays 4-4-2 like a real men's team, not some sissy continental style.
GK
Gianluigi Buffon
DEF
Richard Dunne
John Terry
Patrice Evra
Adil Rami
MID
Kostas Katsouranis
Mark van Bommel
Nigel de Jong
Pontus Wernbloom
FWD
Nicklas Bendtner
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
You can go to the list of all leagues and click on it after you have signed up.
Awesome. I will do this tonight.
The scoring needs adjusting. These should be at least 20 points:
Sent on as a substitute and then subbed off again: 10 points
Clearly vomiting, urinating, or defecating on the pitch or immediate surrounds: 6 points
Player announces immediate retirement from international football while team is still in tournament: 5 points
The Van Bommel/De Jong midfield pairing is getting a huge amount of play.
Yeah, I'm trying really hard to be creative, but guys like Pepe, van Bommel, and de Jong are unavoidable.
The risk is that De Jong becomes a bit part player. But I think he can be a bigger #### from the bench than the rest can be as starters.
(*)I'm not a huge beer guy, but most folks I know seem to like it.
As long as they have a WC Twatball I'll be good. Jones is certain to start a few games.
I also just realized I have to time-shift my watching of the Ireland-Croatia game on Sunday, which means I need to stay far away from here until I watch it 2 hours after everyone else, which is a bummer.
All that said, I hope Cal FC wins--way more fun story if they do.
Still, good on Cal FC for getting this far.
Steve Sampson, is that you?
Too bad about Cal FC losing, but I have to say, I have a new found respect for Eric Wynalda.
pull out that giant knife that is currently sticking from their back.
Wojciech Szczesny
Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Richard Dunne, John Terry
Darijo Srna, Scott Parker, Mark van Bommel, Nigel de Jong, Sergio Busquets
Mario Balotelli
And in real basic terms, this 100MM investment is complete BS. If Malaysians wanted to invest that much in a team, they could buy an established PL team outright. Fernandes bought 2/3 of QPR for 35 million. This is not going to end well even setting aside the vulgarity of forcing this marketing gimmick on the supporters.
Euro's Most Infamous Rogues
Which is why, as we talked about before, it's probably actually a loan. If I were a fan I'd leave too.
I'm starting to think the money is just a fantasy, loan or not. Would you loan a hundred million pounds to a club worth only a fraction of that? Even in a liquidation you'd get screwed. Meanwhile Swansea just keep plugging along with their local ownership and Supporters Trust...
The club probably just has a piece of paper that say says "IOU 100M£ KTX BYE THE OWNERS".
Good for PR and they control the club anyway and can throw that scrap away* if it becomes inconvenient.
*) EDIT: Metaphorically, that is. Please don't try at home, your accountant will be very angry.
6/16 @ Montreal
6/20 v KC
6/24 @ Portland
6/26 @ San Jose (US Open Cup)
6/30 @ NE
7/4 @ RSL
7/7 v Colorado
If the 6/24 game were against anyone but Portland, they'd probably work something out to move it to a mutually acceptable time, but the chances of the Timbers cutting the Sounders a break are essentially zero. The Sounders have the $$ to break out a charter jet for some of these, but I think the league restricts how often teams are allowed to do that. Travel fatigue is a different animal in the US compared to Europe, particularly for those teams on the corners of a map.
Agreed. I bet that if there is a 100M "loan", a lot of it is some kind of marketing agreement, one where Cardiff doesn't get any money until the "investors" see a certain amount first, so it's "up to 100M."
The trip's date is set in stone, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed Spurs are in town. Or if not, I'd check out West Ham or QPR if possible. Last time I let Citibank take me to a game but this time I want to go on my own so I also need to figure out how to get tickets, which may take a while. Spurs tickets are hard to get. The Citibank people told me they are the toughest football ticket in England for them to get for clients because of the size of the stadium coupled with the high demand. They tried to talk me into Man U tickets instead. Heh!
Or he can go to Millwall and gawk at authentic yobs.
"It was in an FA Cup match my first season. It's just after halftime, and in the corner of my eye I see people fighting on the pitch, and the police, and I'm kind of looking around going, 'Uh, we're still playing here.' I see a fight just to my left, on the sideline, and this guy suddenly comes running right across my 18 [yard line], looks at me, says, 'Oh, hi, Kasey,' then keeps running and punches a cop in the back of the head. And I'm thinking, What is going on here?"
-Kasey Keller
I think AFC Wimbledon and possibly Leyton Orient would be on the list ahead of Millwall.
They're probably the best in MLS at rotating their roster and having scrubs come through for them. But it's still tough when your subs are mostly sub $80,000 guys.
Hey, Millwall is the local team for the City of London (well, geographically, I may have to concede that Emirates is slightly more popular among bankers).
What about Fulham?
(** only slight hyperbole, I believe they did play twice on Saturdays in 2012)
Balotelli-Gekas
Alonso-de Jong-van Bommel
Pepe-Terry-Khacheridi-Ramos-Šimunic
Andersen
Ah, you've been reading John Berylson's rubbish too, about how Millwall could become "the club of the City". He's American, unsurprisingly.
Charlton's ground is really nice, and worth a visit. Much nicer than Orient's ground, and definitely less smelly than Kingsmeadow, which is down the road from a sewage plant.
No, I'm quite aware that no one from the City has ventured south of the Thames since the Globe Theatre was shut down by the puritans. I'm just trying to get Shooty to load up on Millwall souvenirs.
It's almost beautiful to completely saturate the press conference with empty clichés:
I'm quite sure that there isn't even that much substance to the Cardiff "investment" as the Chef suggests.
The supporters are being played for chumps, and a really distressing number are doubling down.
161, my sense is that they are moved during the season, but with more advance notice than you get (for instance) in La Liga. The published fixture list in every country always show "unadjusted" fixtures. Fulham is a very nice day out, and Brentford has pubs in all four corners of the ground.
I guess Arsenal isn't in the cards if you're a Spurs fan but last September up to a week in advance tickets were still available online at the Emirates. I would imagine Chelsea, Fulham and Spurs would be more difficult because of the small stadiums.
Lambs to the slaughter...Thank god for Swansea and Dylan Thomas!
Luckily London has lots of options if I can't get Spurs. It'd be nice to catch a game in addition to Spurs but I'm not sure I should push my luck as this is the gf's birthday trip. What would a real fan experience at Orient or Wimbledon be? I'm assuming it involves beer and pies? I am intrigued.
I guess Arsenal isn't in the cards if you're a Spurs fan but last September up to a week in advance tickets were still available online at the Emirates. I would imagine Chelsea, Fulham and Spurs would be more difficult because of the small stadiums.
I don't hate Arsenal, but I'd just as soon avoid Chelsea or Arsenal. A lower division game seems much more interesting to me. Maybe Fulham. I get no sense of what Fulham-ness is, though, if that makes any sense.
June 5th 2012 Harry Redknapp responds to lack of clarity over his contract. 'The simple situation is, I've got a year left on my contract. It's up to Tottenham whether they want to extend that contract or not. If they don't extend it and I go into my last year, it's not an easy one when players know you've only got a year left. 'It's not a case of me looking for security. What it's about is players knowing you've got a year left on your contract, and knowing that it doesn't work, basically. I think it's a situation of 'well he might not be here next year.'
Hee!
I've never drunk around QPR or Chelsea as they are close enough to the centre of London not to have to bother. I like Loftus Road as the stands are close to the pitch and there's a good atmosphere.
There's nothing to do around Millwall and it has to be in the bleakest location of any London ground, sandwiched between a railway line, a gypsy camp and an incinerator/power station (I forget which). The area around Tottenham and West Ham is nothing to write home about, either. Leyton Orient is not the greatest either but I have always found the fans very friendly there.
Crystal Palace fans are a bunch of endearing cynics but the area around the stadium is a bit nondescript and the journey there is a pain.
Haven't been to Barnet, AFC Wimbledon, Dagenham and Redbridge or Fulham, though Craven Cottage is probably the most interesting stadium in London and I think it still has its unique "neutrals" section.
If you can't get Spurs tickets and you want to stay away from Arsenal or Chelsea I would go for Fulham: if you want a lower division experience I would go for Charlton or Brentford, with the former easier to reach.
As for Cardiff, changing the kit is an insenstive thing to do, but I suspect that if the team does well it will become less of a problem. I don't know what form the owners' investment takes but they are certainly extremely wealthy people. The other thing to remember is that if the Malaysians were not there, Cardiff would probably have gone into administration (at best) by now.
"Pass it towards the goal, lads! Towards the goal! No! No, the other goal!"
I don't hate Arsenal, but I'd just as soon avoid Chelsea or Arsenal. A lower division game seems much more interesting to me. Maybe Fulham. I get no sense of what Fulham-ness is, though, if that makes any sense.
The Emirates is a nice facility. It is very comfortable, modern, and well laid out and has respectable pies. I have been to one match there (CL qualifier vs Twente) and done the tour with my brother. As stadium tours go, Arsenal's is the best I've ever been on. In any sport. The drawbacks to the matchday experience there are mainly associated with the crushing foot traffic around the transport links and (for Spurs fans anyway) the fact that said foot traffic is principally comprised of degenerate Gooners and their smuggy smugness. It's also a little depressing to walk past the half-cannibalized corpse of Highbury. That looks like it must have been a gem of a ground.
Craven Cottage is charming in much the same way old Fenway Park was charming before all the renovations. It is tiny. Amenities are, shall we say, spartan. Some of the seats have an obstructed view due to the support columns and low roof (although the away/neutrals end is actually free and clear for the most part). The tea and pies are horrid.
But it's a fabulous spot to see a game, especially when the weather is still as pleasant as London can produce (not entirely a sucker's bet in October). It's in a beautiful residential area of the city, right on the Thames and adjacent to a lovely little park. You'll often see kids and families having a kickabout on the open fields next to the ground before a match. Occasional obstructed views notwithstanding, there's scarcely a truly bad seat in the place because everything is so close to the pitch. Contrast that to the Emirates, where you might want binoculars in the good seats on the second deck and the bloody Hubble in the nosebleeds on the third. The Fulham fans are generally an affable bunch, knowledgeable and clever in their support/abuse rather than outright vulgar.
In my mind, the best feature of the Cottage is the aforementioned neutrals section. Reasonably-priced tickets (around 30-40 quid) can still be had within a few weeks of a game, unless it's a big London derby or one of the Manchester clubs. Liverpool used to be a tricky score as well, but I don't know how their travelling support has held up. Probably just fine. Liverpool's in their top pricing tier regardless, so it'll be more like 50-55 quid in that case anyway. I digress. The point is, the neutrals section is great, affordable, accessible, and affords one of the better viewpoints in the whole ground.
The live TV (and hence non Saturday) games for the first few months appear in the fixtures when they are released: then the games for later dates start being chosen as the season goes on, with notice varying between a couple of months and a few weeks.
Wow.
You guys are selling me on Fulham as well as Brentford and Charlton. My #1 choice would still be Spurs, obviously.
Too bad, as it was a very cool idea. Abramovich will just have to use that money on a scheme to take over the moon or cover Ireland in a thin veneer of gold so it will look good as a backdrop for his yacht.
If only this were a joke.
Holy smokes, that's awful.
Villareal may be cursed, but it sounds like Preciado himself was too. Hayzeus.
What odds the Malaysian group ends up flipping it to Abramovich for a small profit?
I'd say the odds are better that they flip it to him for a song in a desperate attempt to cut their losses.
I am a value investor, sir! If I were cynical I'd expect a bizarre, glowing swamp creature to suddenly start haunting the Battersea project and driving the workmen away. Luka Modric, Younes Kaboul, Sylvie Van Der Vaart and a giant dog to investigate!
Considering the number of hands that site has changed through, that's not an unlikely thing to happen. It's the great white whale of London real estate.
You want to bring back Crouchie?
I said dog, not donkey!
Any interest in Kinsale's for some Euros action this weekend, soccer dorks?
It's official and stuff. If Niko had any footspeed whatsoever he'd be a hell of a player. I still really enjoyed his play, though. He did a terrific job filling in for Modric when he first arrived from the ruins of Pompey.
I'll never forget one pass of his. I think it was in the 9-1 demolition of Wigan a few years ago. Break was on for Spurs, and the ball came out to Niko on the left wing a few yards shy of the halfway line. Defoe (I think) was busting it through the middle. Niko looked up and curled an absolute peach of a ball about 35 yards with the outside of his right foot, hitting Defoe exactly in stride as he burst past the defender. If JD had finished off the chance, it would have been one of the greatest assists I've ever seen, but it doesn't even make the highlight reel from that game because of all the goals that *were* scored.
Carroll and Welbeck it is I suppose.
Can I intrest you in a barely used John Terry then?
I always thought he did a job for Spurs. Harry tried to play him as a deep lying midfielder when Modric was having his temper tantrum in August and it went is bad as could be expected and he was kind of buried after that. He's a nifty player, though. Redknapp burying players like Niko is my #1 complaint with him.
Yeah, the Defoe family is about as snakebit as the Preciado family it seems. His brother was beaten to death in the street about three years ago.
I think his grandmother died last year when he was on 99 goals, too, no?
Buyer Beware!
Euro 2012 Kit-palooza. It's a good thing Denmark didn't replace Greece in Group A.
That was earlier. She collapsed and died at his brother's funeral.
Jeez. That's awful.
Buyer Beware!
Death before stank, clearly.
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