The new footy thread

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Well, in Roma's favour, another 3-0 home win will do the trick.

 

[dash]

From the "sometimes we forget how lucky we are that we live in the country that we do" file...

Canada coach Bev Priestman was preparing her team for a game Sunday against Costa Rica when CONCACAF pulled the plug on its 2018 Women's Under-17 Championship following violence in Managua, Nicaragua.

The Canadians had blanked Bermuda 3-0 Friday in their first game of the tournament.

"It happened so quickly," Priestman said late Monday from Miami as the Canadian team made its way home from Central America. "One minute you're about to play Costa Rica and then you find out about the tournament being cancelled.

"I do believe they made the right decision," she added. "Safety comes first."

Nicaragua has been rocked by a week of protests in which more than two dozen people have been killed. The protests quickly spread nationwide, with scenes of massive rock throwing, burning barricades, tear gas and gunfire.

Dozens of shops were looted in Managua, the Nicaragua capital where the tournament was taking place.

Canadians head home after violence ends women's U-17 soccer tournament | CBC Sports

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Roma's away support not doing them any favours.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Big win for Real in Munich.

Of course, they won 2-1 there in the QF's last year. Bayern wound up sending the tie into extras in the return leg before Ronaldo tore them a new one.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

At least TFC made a go of it. Sucks losing in pens but good on them for the comeback.

 

[Jared]

Roma's away support not doing them any favours.

Ridiculous scenes. If you reverse the teams there, the press would be going wild. Yet Rome is affectionately referred to as "stab city" because the Ultras have the habit of stabbing people in the buttocks. (I didn't believe it myself. Google puncicate.)

Between the fan violence and out and out racism I really just loathe the Italian league. UEFA needs to give the league a multiyear ban from European competition like they did after Heysel. But it will never happen. This kind of stuff happens with Roma fans all the time and you rarely hear about it. Liverpool fans threw beer cans at the City bus and the world nearly came to end.

DISCLAIMER: I am completely biased and I know it.

Big win for Real in Munich.

Of course, they won 2-1 there in the QF's last year. Bayern wound up sending the tie into extras in the return leg before Ronaldo tore them a new one.

Madrid were lucky to win that one. Or maybe it was just how sloppy Bayern looked. They had so many chances and couldn't convert. That is an aging team and they really showed it.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Ridiculous scenes. If you reverse the teams there, the press would be going wild. Yet Rome is affectionately referred to as "stab city" because the Ultras have the habit of stabbing people in the buttocks. (I didn't believe it myself. Google puncicate.)

Between the fan violence and out and out racism I really just loathe the Italian league. UEFA needs to give the league a multiyear ban from European competition like they did after Heysel. But it will never happen. This kind of stuff happens with Roma fans all the time and you rarely hear about it. Liverpool fans threw beer cans at the City bus and the world nearly came to end.

DISCLAIMER: I am completely biased and I know it.

I think a lot of the Italian fans' reps come from the two capital teams. It's almost always either the Roma or the Lazio fascists in the middle of this shit.

As for the rest of the country, it seems more like this:

Madrid were lucky to win that one. Or maybe it was just how sloppy Bayern looked. They had so many chances and couldn't convert. That is an aging team and they really showed it.

Bayern had about a 20 minute period in the first half and a 15 minute period towards the end of the game where they could've gotten 3 or 4. They just kept whiffing.

Madrid didn't have as much of the ball but they made sure to capitalize when they did have it and did so despite Ronaldo having a rare off day.

Anything can happen in the second leg of course but if Ronaldo shows up for that game Bayern's cooked.

 

[puckhead]

how fucking stupid is this.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

how fucking stupid is this.

Its all around stupid ... the rule in general ... but its a rule i guess ... but then that techera would take his shirt off after he got his first yellow 5 minutes earlier

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I had never heard of this somewhat bizarre tournament. Conifa.org ... It will be in england the first week of june. Padania (northern italian region that has long wanted to seperate from italy) is ranked second in the non fifa world. Cascadia (bc washington oregon) is entered in this world cup. And it appears former whitecap and scottish international Kenny Miller will play for Cascadia

CONIFA is an international football federation for teams outside of FIFA, with members including states, de facto states, regions, minority groups and sports-isolated territories. CONIFA is a non-profit organisation registered in Sweden.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

The Famous Soccer Player Hiding in Plain Sight in a California Bakery

 

[RangersReds03]

The Famous Soccer Player Hiding in Plain Sight in a California Bakery

Wow, crazy story.

 

[dash]

Full time - Swansea nil, Southampton 1

/Saints not fully secure from relegation quite yet, they need to survive a 10 goal swing on the final match day. They can do that, right? Right?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Full time - Swansea nil, Southampton 1

/Saints not fully secure from relegation quite yet, they need to survive a 10 goal swing on the final match day. They can do that, right? Right?

 

[dash]

Reports: Wayne Rooney 'agrees deal in principle' with D.C. United - Sportsnet.ca

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Can Wayne Rooney even recover them $16 mil in revenue from an MLS club at this point? Seems like a waste.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Can Wayne Rooney even recover them $16 mil in revenue from an MLS club at this point? Seems like a waste.

honest non trolling question (with the release of MLS salaries yesterday), does TFC recover the costs of its DP's in revenue ?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

they were discussing bringing in a high priced DP in the cesspool since Vancouver MLS ownership does not want to do it at all and debating what kind of bump in attendance a Wayne Rooney would bring ... Im not sure it would do much ... then Zlatans name was brought up ... IF he had been brought in ... it was guesstimated that they could see a bump of 3000 per game on the high side ... Id probably agree with that ... but with an average ticket price of say $40, that brings in what? only 2 shmill????

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

honest non trolling question (with the release of MLS salaries yesterday), does TFC recover the costs of its DP's in revenue ?

I remember reading sometime around the MLS Cup that TFC revenues were up 30% since 2015 but considering that they were pretty much a tire fire in 2015 is a 30% rise in revenues taking into account all the success the team's had the past two years really enough to cover the costs they've incurred plus the stadium expansion?

Seems like they'd have been lucky to have broken even.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

they were discussing bringing in a high priced DP in the cesspool since Vancouver MLS ownership does not want to do it at all and debating what kind of bump in attendance a Wayne Rooney would bring ... Im not sure it would do much ... then Zlatans name was brought up ... IF he had been brought in ... it was guesstimated that they could see a bump of 3000 per game on the high side ... Id probably agree with that ... but with an average ticket price of say $40, that brings in what? only 2 shmill????

I started posting here almost 4 years ago and I said that the average quality of MLS play was akin to the 4th tier of England and while that caught some hell from you guys, the fact was a lot of players on teams at the time were of that quality or worse. I remember one recent XI I looked at back then had 4 guys who had played in England’s League Two within the previous 3 years, there were a few recent newcomers from El Salvador and Guatemala’s leagues, a few college picks…if the play wasn’t 4th tier quality it wasn’t for a lack of trying by some of the major teams.

The league is definitely getting better though. There are quite a few decent home-grown guys. Decent players from abroad, from Mexico and South America especially but also from Europe, are playing on the better teams. Many teams are using the DP much more smartly.


Atlanta came out of the gate with a balanced squad and in their second season they look great and boast great crowds (in a city known for sport ambivalence nonetheless). Orlando used a similar strategy (although the Kaka signing, at the end, seems like it was a waste), as did LAFC. NYCFC did the old DP guy thing but now they’re using their money much more smartly around their star DP (who’s still very good) and they look great, helmed by a manager who may very well be managing a big European club at this time next year.

Which is all to say that the fans have evolved greatly from being maybe piqued by a big-name to craving success and rewarding the club and ownership with attendance and other spending (merch etc.) when that success is obtained. So yeah, maybe a Rooney would boost attendance a little in a place like Vancouver but I think more than anything a place like Vancouver would be much better served by competitive product. A long playoff run would probably get them 5 or 6 thousand new fans per match more than watching Wayne Rooney half-ass it for 65 minutes a game.