The new footy thread

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Cool.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Chelsea score in the 89th minute to go up 2 - 1 and Conte celebrates with fans ??? need to see this lol

 

[jstewismybastardson]

lol excellent

 

[dash]

Chelsea score in the 89th minute to go up 2 - 1 and Conte celebrates with fans ??? need to see this lol

I don't have video of that, but somehow Costa (already on a yellow) doesn't get sent off for the following...


Do I need to tell you who scored the go-ahead goal?!?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Do I need to tell you who scored the go-ahead goal?!?

da bad guy???

 

[dash]

Hey yo, that's funny.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

What the UEFA Champions League changes mean and how they happened

But what we do know is that the top four leagues, according to UEFA coefficients (right now it's Spain's Liga, Germany's Bundesliga, England's Premier League and Italy's Serie A), will each qualify four teams directly to the group stage.

Well, that should ensure that the rich get richer. FWIW I'm almost positive no 4th place qualifier has ever made the Final of the competition.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Looks like Sportsnet found somebody to give Gareth Wheeler a run for his money:

La Liga's elite no longer the forces they once were - Sportsnet.ca

Just some excerpts and quick analysis:

There have been additions, but none that will significantly strengthen Luis Enrique’s squad. Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne, Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes have all arrived, with close to £70 million spent, but what have they really got for their money?

If I'm not mistaken, two defenders and two midfielders. All of them pretty decent, at that.

Rather than giving La Masia graduates such as Munir El Haddadi and Sergi Roberto the chance to prove themselves, the Catalans are going against the grain of their own identity by overpaying for second-tier talent in the transfer market. Enrique wants a back-up option to Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, but he reportedly wants Paco Alcacer to be that figure, ostracising Munir further.

They are likely keeping Munir and using him as a backup to the front three, while Sergi Roberto played a bunch last year because he was basically their only midfield sub and he, to put it kindly, wasn't that great so they went and signed two midfielders who can fill that role.

Barcelona’s activity in the transfer market this summer is reminiscent of Real Madrid’s wasteful summer ahead of the 2007-08 season, when the capital club made a number of mis-guided signings that ultimately proved unsuccessful and costly.

Yeah, besides the fact that Real didn't have the most deadly attack maybe in soccer history on their roster in 2007, they signed Pepe (who has made 316 appearances for them), Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben in 2007. Not sure how any of that was mis-guided - all were great players who Real just decided to sell 2 years later so Perez could bring in shinier names. Heinze had a couple of productive years there too.

Conversely, Real Madrid have been almost static in the transfer market this summer. Only Alvaro Morata has arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu, and even he was signed through the activation of a buy-back clause.

Real has only signed one of the best young strikers in the game, and only did so through a lowly buyout clause!

I don't even know what point he's trying to make there.

That transition means there could still be many to leave the club in this transfer window, with Isco and James Rodriguez both linked with a move away from the Spanish capital. Their departure would signal a departure from the Galacticos approach that has come to characterize Real Madrid, especially with the promotion of youngsters Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez into the first-team fold.

He laments Barcelona's (false) unwillingness to promote from within, then criticises Madrid for not buying any big names followed by "oh, maybe they're changing tact and trying to use the cantera more".

Your go, Wheeler.

 

[RangersReds03]

What the UEFA Champions League changes mean and how they happened

But what we do know is that the top four leagues, according to UEFA coefficients (right now it's Spain's Liga, Germany's Bundesliga, England's Premier League and Italy's Serie A), will each qualify four teams directly to the group stage.

Well, that should ensure that the rich get richer. FWIW I'm almost positive no 4th place qualifier has ever made the Final of the competition.

Liverpool won it in 05 as 4th place qualifier.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[forty_three]

Watching Arsenal/Leicester and I told my wife I wanted to cut the front yard like that pitch.

She rolled her eyes and waked away.

 

[pixburgher66]

Liverpool-Burnley was just so ugly today. And not just because of those awful neon kits. Liverpool had the ball for what seemed like 80% of the game, Burnley parked a dozen buses in the box all game and won 2-0.

 

[dash]

Burnley parked a dozen buses in the box all game and won 2-0.

COWARDS!

 

[pixburgher66]

COWARDS!

Oh, don't get me started on my hate for her. Fun story time! So, I work with women's soccer at my university and our coach is a former D1 soccer player who was on the USWNT development teams, was a star in college, played pro in NWSL until an injury ended her playing days. She's in her late 20s so she knows pretty much all the women on the USWNT. I was chatting with her about their disappointing Olympics, picking her brain about why they played so poorly, etc. Hope Solo's name comes up and I say just how much I dislike her, and our coach agreed. She said once they were at a game before Hope was married and her boyfriend was in attendance. Then, unbeknownst to her, her sidepiece showed up. So she had her friends take the sidepiece to one side of the stadium, and her family take the boyfriend to the other, just so they wouldn't run into each other. Such a gem. Our coach had some great points on what they need, but in the top three changes was dumping her ass. And I agree.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So Saturday Arsene Wenger said "I will spend £300m if I find the right player, and we have £300m. But we also have 600 employees and we need to have a responsible attitude as well."

Today:

 

[forty_three]

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Good to see Neymar is happy in victory. Oh...