Soccer discussion thread

[ReignOnU]

Soccer is definitely on the upswing in North America. As a life-long "football guy" I'm very happy to see it. I spend as much time paying attention to futbol now as I do football. I think it's great.

If/when Zlatan comes to the US, I WILL see him play in person and become an immediate fan of that team... even if it's Chivas, lol.

[nick]

only shitty thing is u get like 2-3 DPs and toronto used them all up .. Gilberto is the under the radar signing. nothing like a 24 yr old Brazilian striker

[ReignOnU]

It's 3... but I think that's a good place right now so that we don't have teams absolutely running away with titles. A good advantage, but not a complete dynasty.

[jsence2]

The meeting went great, I think we are going to get the team.

I met Phil Rawlins (Orlando City/Orlando MLS owner and chairman of Stoke City), really cool guy. He said Brek Shea's hair truly is that awesome

We have investment backing, the biggest thing will be a venue. The only real option is Louisville Slugger Field, but we will have to get an agreement in place with the Cincinnati Reds, as they own the rights to the field and the Bats have primary scheduling rights. We should know within the next 90 days, and then it will be a mad rush to get things in place to be ready to play in March 2015.

Our regional rival would be the USL team in Dayton, so we might have to do some sort of an NDL get-together for games between the two clubs. We would get about 6-8 players from the current club, and then we would have an affiliation with Orlando to have four MLS players on loan. This is a big deal; the striker who started for Sporting KC in the MLS Cup was actually with Orlando City for much of the season to get playing time, did so well (league record 15 goals in 13 matches) that Sporting called him back and started him.

Could be big not just for soccer here, but in the eastern midwest as well.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/24451076/loca ... e-pro-team

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... me-stadium

[nick]

when youre old and grey you will tell your kids about the time Louisville got a minor league soccer team..

[jsence2]

when youre old and grey you will tell your kids about the time Louisville got a minor league soccer team..

You joke but this market compares in size (population/area) to cities like Nashville, Portland, Seattle, and Kansas City. Three of those cities have thriving MLS franchises, and all four have professional teams in the other sports. Orlando's market is smaller (albeit more diverse in their population) and with this same club, they did so well that they landed an MLS franchise in three years. For soccer fans in the midwest, we have Chicago and Columbus....and that's it. St Louis, Nashville, Memphis, Louisville, Indy, etc have no MLS teams. It would be nice to have one in one of these cities.

That's the goal--establish that there is a market here, and have a legit shot to land the final MLS spot when the league expands to 24 teams (Miami and Atlanta are all but locks for teams #22 and 23). Getting the minor league team and being a grassroots founder of the group that helps get them here is nice; getting an MLS team is the ultimate goal, though.

[Uuaww]

honesty, all they have to do is locate the cities with the largest hipster populations and put teams there.

[LetsGoPeay]

Huge blow for Colombia. Falcao will miss the World Cup after tearing his ACL.

[jsence2]

Huge blow for Colombia. Falcao will miss the World Cup after tearing his ACL.

That's beyond a huge blow. He's pretty much their entire team.

Huge blow to Monaco as well, they spent a ton on him and were looking to move him and recoup their investment. That isn't gonna happen anytime soon.

[ReignOnU]

I should be thrilled that Mata is heading to Man U... but then I look at that back line and it ruins any positive vibes. My lasting memory of Phil Jones is now going to be Eto'o completely breaking his ankles, then drilling him a shot from the edge of the box. Tim Hardaway would be proud.

[jsence2]

I should be thrilled that Mata is heading to Man U... but then I look at that back line and it ruins any positive vibes. My lasting memory of Phil Jones is now going to be Eto'o completely breaking his ankles, then drilling him a shot from the edge of the box. Tim Hardaway would be proud.

The problem is that Moyes keeps rotating guys. He keeps moving Jones to RB, then CB, then CM. He isn't getting a flow. "Jack of all trades, master of none" applies here. Give him a role, let him focus on it. And stop rotating guys in and out.

Moyes just doesn't get it. At Everton, he ran the same guys out, no issues. Now, he's trying to "rotate" instead of simply managing. He started Buttner yesterday. Anybody who has watched Buttner for five minutes knows that he is AWFUL at defending, and yet (while trying to hold a lead, which was stupid to begin with) he leaves him out there. He's too cautious, he sat back and played for extra time for the final 40 minutes of the match, instead of going for goal #2 to settle things right then and there. Fergie wouldn't have done that.

Mata coming in is nice, but it's not what we need. We need a central midfielder who can transition the play from defense to attack, who can free Carrick up to move around. Carrick's best years have been when Fletcher was that ball-winner in midfield, and mabye w him healthy he can return to that form. Someone like Gundogan would be great for that role, or Pogba, or Marchisio. But Mata's just another 10--like Rooney, like Kagawa.

Mata doesn't liek to play wide. If he's going to get Rooney/Mata out there together, Mata will have to play wide. He also keeps trying to put Januzaj in the middle. He plays best cutting in from the right and taking that left footed shot.

Simply put, Moyes is in way over his head, and unless they make some major charge the last half, we now have to win Champions League or we may miss Europe completely next season. Moyes needs to go, along with Nani, Rooney (sorry but I'm tired of his crap), Anderson, and Cleverley. It's time to bring in a manager who knows how to win, rather than one (Moyes) who made his living avoiding losing. I'm tired of watching United get a 1-0 lead and then watching them play to defend it the rest of the match.

[ReignOnU]

I know part of the lineup issue has been stirred by injuries, then him trying to figure out what to do... which was basically throwing crap against a wall and praying something stuck. (unfortunately, he was tossing diarrhea.)

I think Mata can be ok playing wide, as long as Moyes doesn't try to press. If he thinks he's going to press with him wide, then we're going to get smoked.

As for scoring early and then defending.... it has been more like scoring early and then not defending. That back line (and holding mids) have been horrible.

I get what you're saying about Jones playing various positions, but that was irrelevant in this situation. He was squared up and just got broken down... completely embarrassed.

I still have hope that the team can silp into the top 4. No matter how bad the D is playing, if they put Mata-Rooney-Januzaj-RVP at the top, they should be able to score plenty. It'll come down to Moyes deciding to keep attacking with the ball. The fact is, we're going to give up 1-2 every game, whether we sit around and wait for it or not. So I say just keep on firing, to hell with defense right now.

I doubt there will be another transfer, as much as I like the rumors of Vidal / Guarin. Either player would be a large boost. The real change for this team (outside of Moyes), is going to have to come on the back line this summer.

[jsence2]

I know part of the lineup issue has been stirred by injuries, then him trying to figure out what to do... which was basically throwing crap against a wall and praying something stuck. (unfortunately, he was tossing diarrhea.)

I think Mata can be ok playing wide, as long as Moyes doesn't try to press. If he thinks he's going to press with him wide, then we're going to get smoked.

As for scoring early and then defending.... it has been more like scoring early and then not defending. That back line (and holding mids) have been horrible.

I get what you're saying about Jones playing various positions, but that was irrelevant in this situation. He was squared up and just got broken down... completely embarrassed.

I still have hope that the team can silp into the top 4. No matter how bad the D is playing, if they put Mata-Rooney-Januzaj-RVP at the top, they should be able to score plenty. It'll come down to Moyes deciding to keep attacking with the ball. The fact is, we're going to give up 1-2 every game, whether we sit around and wait for it or not. So I say just keep on firing, to hell with defense right now.

I doubt there will be another transfer, as much as I like the rumors of Vidal / Guarin. Either player would be a large boost. The real change for this team (outside of Moyes), is going to have to come on the back line this summer.

The problem is, without a holding midfielder, Carrick has to sit deeper. This forces Rooney to have to come very deep to get the ball, and it stunts that attack when Moyes has the team sitting back so much. As for Jones, he was doing great when he could focus on only being a CB. He's getting worse as a CB as Moyes keeps making him play elsewhere. The best form of defense is to keep the ball, and when we press we get it. But as you pointed out, Mata isn't good at that, and he isn't happy playing wide. I'm not sure how this is going to work, tbh. That's why Kagawa struggles wide, and our defense pays the price when Evra comes forward.

Rio's too old, Vidic is getting slower, Rafael is a hot head, Jones can't stay consistent, Smalling seems lost at times, and Evra is getting old. Evans (as much as I used to hate him lol) is the only person who is consistent lately, but he isn't staying healthy.

Moyes has been given a huge war chest, he's using 1/4 of it on Mata. I think Gundogan or Vidal would be awesome, but I'm not sold on Guarin. Too much attacking, like Fellaini.

[LetsGoPeay]

Zlatan being Zlatan

[nick]

TFC to get Julio Cesar on loan

[Mattdaddy]

Evans (as much as I used to hate him lol) is the only person who is consistent lately, but he isn't staying healthy.

WHAT IS THIS?!

[Cnasty]

This real!?

[jsence2]

Yup it's real

Domenico Zampaglione plays for Serie D (4th division) team Vigor Lamezia, it was the only goal in a 1-0 victory

[nick]

thats fucked up if someone scored a goal like that on me in FIFA my controller would be thrown off the balcony, let alone in real life

[Cnasty]

That's a powerful slide tackle as thing went like 70 yards it seemed.