All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

The Dutch will fall flat. They always do!

See, with Nike stuff, it is true that they stuck it in the corner. But if they had the contract for the league, MLS would be promoted alongside the US stuff. It was a conversation I was having with the guys from the Onion Bag.

Gabe was real high on what Nike would have done. He simply stated that Nike should have been given the contract, despite the lower bid, base purely on their advertising. Adidas merely put out the money to block Nike and they won't put forth as much of an advertising budget for the league or their equipment.

 

Maybe they would live up to their potential if they could pick a team of players that didn't hate each other....


Speaking of potential, explain this to me: How is Spain considered a perennial underachiever, while England always seem to end up among the favorites to win major tournaments? Does one World Cup (and two World Wars, doo dah, doo dah....) 40 years ago still resonate that much?

 

Trooper, you got me! I looked down the odds for the World Cup and England is ranked number 1. Why? What the hell have they done?

 

Don't know where you were looking. This is from a site I found, and it makes sense:

Brazil 5/2
Argentina 7/1
Germany 7/1
England 13/2
Netherlands 11/1
Italy 8/1
France 10/1
Spain 13/1
Portugal 18/1
Czech Republic 22/1
Sweden 33/1
Ukraine 50/1
Mexico 38/1
Croatia 60/1
Serbia & Montenegro 83/1
Ivory Coast 82/1
USA

England made the 16 in France and lost to Argentina because Beckham couldn't keep his feet to himself. England made the 8 in Japan/Korea and lost to the eventual champion because the Ron Jeremy look-alike in goal was past his prime. When's the last time England lost ugly in one of these things, aside from not making it in '94?

 

Could it be that England is apparently populated with people obsessed with sports books? And that there's a lot of money down on England? And that, as a result, they are the betting favorite?

That doesn't wash, of course, if you're talking about Joe Sportswriter putting out his odds. If that's the case, you got me.

 

Going to see Chelsea-West Ham on sunday...my work gets free tickets so this is the second game for me (sadly no Fulham tickets yet). This will be the first time i see two london teams play so hopefully the crowd will be pretty crazy....

I have to say, I'm really enjoying the soccer here. I love the champions league, i love the pub culture before/after games, etc, and i love the passion the fans have for their teams and the sport....

Believe me, there is nothing i love more than coming home and watching north American sports net, but I'm definitely having a good time expanding my sports knowledge....

 

Should be a fun game -- Howard alum Shaka Hislop should be in goal for the Hammers.

Boro had an unreal comeback in the UEFA Cup yesterday. Needing to score 4 straight goals to advance against Basle, they did and won 4-1 with a last second goal.

 

Enjoy the time. I know I'm happy to hear your enjoying it. It is certainly an exciting experience.

 

Webster, if you would like to kill a few minutes, give this site a try:
http://www.metrofanatic.com/other/power.jsp

Just hit refresh to see it update.

 

SI.com has a take on the Red Bull New York home opener

So, what were your thoughts about last night? The goal punched the ticket for Heijduk to go home. Ralston did nothing to impress me and I thought he should have been pulled at half and sent back up to New England.

Ching has looked dangerous in MLS which means he's more valuable than Wolff. What is up with that guy? He says he wants to go to Europe. What is his selling point? "I am a forward that does the little things, not the goal scoring things."

I liked Noonan and didn't mind Dempsey. Twellman came back too much. Donovan sucks at dead balls.

 

His girlfriend must be thrilled.

I totally forgot about the game until yesterday a.m.  Mrs. W. would not budge from DVRing the Gilmore Girls/Idol combo from 8-9, and I didn't get home until about the 85th minute, so I missed the almost all of the game.  Needless to say, Fat Tony didn't exactly give The Bruce anything to think about.

 

No, Tony did nothing to help his cause. The goal wasn't his fault as the defense got beat bad. But, Tony, for whatever reason, is in the mindset of punting the ball up to midfield and then allowing the teams to fight it out. He has no desire to generate the offense out of the back and allow team to build an attack.

Every goal-kick, every punt was launched up to midfield. Just pass it off to the defender so that the US can at least have some possession to build off of.