They don't even need her. They've been just plowing through the league.
NCFC MLS bid/General Soccer Bizzo
- Thread starter Paulie Walnuts
- Start date
They don't even need her. They've been just plowing through the league.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
Like Kevin Durant to Golden State? 
Like Kevin Durant to Golden State?
Hey O is good, but she's nobody's idea of KD.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
2 of 5 games in round of 16 went to shootout , so far .
But everything is perfect , don't change a thing, world's most popular sport, you stupid Americans don't understand how great this sport is , blah, blah, blah , lather rinse, repeat.
BTW American sports change rules too often, especially NFL and NCAA FB. But some things need changing.
But everything is perfect , don't change a thing, world's most popular sport, you stupid Americans don't understand how great this sport is , blah, blah, blah , lather rinse, repeat.
BTW American sports change rules too often, especially NFL and NCAA FB. But some things need changing.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
I see the old "heat exhaustion ' strawman comes up as expected. Any NHL players drop dead in the playoffs? With all the heavy ,hot gear they wear? And yes I know it's indoor but that gear makes a big, big difference.
Penalty kicks are not the real game, that's all. I wish the NHL had a 10 or even 20 minute OT to avoid more penalty shot games. Don't know why they went to 3 v 3 vs. 10 minute OT period. To me 3 v 3 is not good but it is exciting for fans.
For the last 2 rounds you just finish the game on the next day if needed. To avoid the heat issue, you allow more subs. But they have all these 'sacred' rules like 3 subs they won't touch to get rid of PKs. Many people don't like the PKs but they refuse to try to get rid of them due to not touching other rules, makes no sense.
Penalty kicks are not the real game, that's all. I wish the NHL had a 10 or even 20 minute OT to avoid more penalty shot games. Don't know why they went to 3 v 3 vs. 10 minute OT period. To me 3 v 3 is not good but it is exciting for fans.
For the last 2 rounds you just finish the game on the next day if needed. To avoid the heat issue, you allow more subs. But they have all these 'sacred' rules like 3 subs they won't touch to get rid of PKs. Many people don't like the PKs but they refuse to try to get rid of them due to not touching other rules, makes no sense.
CarolinaPen
Active member
My favorite from today was Neymer writhing in pain on the sideline for 4 minutes, only to pop up and happily jog back onto the field. NHL floppers have nothing on Soccer and the acting job that goes on their. The amount of acting that takes place makes it hard to root for some of the guys. Slow motion does nothing to help these guys out.....
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
Somebody on this very site predicted that dive from Neymar today!! Bravo!
Fake injuries and dives ... I counted one in the entirely of today's England/Belgium game. That's got the be the single most exaggerated thing about International football. It happens (I give you Neymar Jr) .
Bravo!Fake injuries and dives ... I counted one in the entirely of today's England/Belgium game. That's got the be the single most exaggerated thing about International football. It happens (I give you Neymar Jr) .
FIFA already allows an extra sub for matches that go to extra time. In both matches that went to penalties yesterday, both teams deployed their 4th sub. And finishing the game on the next day is potentially unfair to whichever team ultimately wins. The knockout round matches are set so opponents in the next round play on the same day. The winners of today’s matches come back on on Friday. With only 3 days off, it would be unfair for one of them to have to play to the death tomorrow.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
wow 4 subs!! They really went radical there.
In a Sweden vs. Denmark game the scoreboard would read SWE-DEN
and the extra letters not used are DEN and MARK
In a Sweden vs. Denmark game the scoreboard would read SWE-DEN
and the extra letters not used are DEN and MARK
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I’m sure FIFA and all the other governing bodies will yield to your obvious deeper understanding any minute.
Everything you suggest has been talked to death for decades and rejected for legitimate reasons. Like most Americans you might think about accepting the world’s most popular game for what it is rather than trying to twist it into what you want it to be.
Oh and Paulie, if all you’re going to do is whine about everything you don’t like about a sporting event, maybe consider another use for your daytime hours. Or another place to post your complaints aside from a HOCKEY board. This thread isn’t even a World Cup thread for crying out loud.
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Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
NC courage clinched a playoffs birth but the season has 7 more weeks to go.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
NC Courage won a tournament vs. good Euro teams even though 6 of their best players were not playing. One of the sub players they used starts college at UNC next Month.
Those 6 Courage players were playing in some other international tourney for the US or Brazil. Not sure why these 2 tournaments were held at the same time.
Those 6 Courage players were playing in some other international tourney for the US or Brazil. Not sure why these 2 tournaments were held at the same time.
US Soccer organized the Tournament of Nations last year for the top ranked national teams. The International Champions Cup that the Courage played in was an offshoot of the men’s tournament of the same name that brought Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund to Charlotte, for example. The women’s part was an afterthought and organized well after the ToN was set. The Courage were missing 6 players and the European teams are in pre-season, much like the men’s teams are. There were over 21,000 in Hartford last night for the UNWNT match against Australia and dozens of fans in the stadium for the Courage. But the men’s side has been a tremendous success, attracting 101,000 to The Big House for Liverpool and Man U over the weekend and 93,000 to the LA Coliseum for Man City and Real Madrid. Sun Life Stadium (or whatever the Dolphins stadium is called this week) will be bursting at the seams on Saturday for the first El Classico played outside Spain for 30 years.
Some clubs treat it more seriously than others. I saw Man U play Paris St. Germain in Chicago a few years ago. It was the last match of the tournament and both teams fielded pretty 9 or so starters. But today, Paris St. Germain played Atletico Madrid in Singapore and literally subbed out all 10 outfield players at halftime.
http://time.com/money/4868304/this-man-has-bet-100-million-that-he-can-make-americans-love-soccer/
The Champions Cup isn't worth that much for the Courage, although it's always nice to win hardware. Coming as it did during the International break and in the training camp period for the European clubs really rendered the thing all but meaningless. Still ... winning a meaningless exhibition tournament beats the crap out of losing it. Well done ladies.
Speaking of the International break ... the US women looked remarkable in clobbering a good Japanese team and then looked like a hot mess in salvaging a 1-1 draw with a LATE goal against Australia. Now, Australia are reaping the benefits of a youth movement that they have been patiently nurturing for the last 3 or 4 years, but still ... that's a team the US should be beating on the regular. As opposed to that exhibition thing the Courage just won, the Tournament of Nations is THE big prize in the women's game right now.
Speaking of the International break ... the US women looked remarkable in clobbering a good Japanese team and then looked like a hot mess in salvaging a 1-1 draw with a LATE goal against Australia. Now, Australia are reaping the benefits of a youth movement that they have been patiently nurturing for the last 3 or 4 years, but still ... that's a team the US should be beating on the regular. As opposed to that exhibition thing the Courage just won, the Tournament of Nations is THE big prize in the women's game right now.
Paulie Walnuts
Well-known member
left field, center field, right field. What are the other 7?
I hope these summer games don't mean much since Fulham got beat 7-0 combined in their last 2 summer games vs. Euro teams.
I don’t think Ellis’ tactical formation works (shocking, I know). Mo Brian and Julie Ertz are basically the same player, defensive minded midfielders. I don’t think Rapinoe had a particularly good game last night either. And the back 4 need to sort themselves out. Saurbrunn is coming off injuries and has lost a step, Davidson has promise but is only 19. Ellis has to decide if Dunn is a fullback, midfielder or forward. And, like Wambach was in 2015, Carli Lloyd is the elephant in the room.
Australia has 10 players in the NWSL, more than any other foreign country except Canada, including their keeper and 2 best forwards. That’s a huge assist to their development.
A total of 2,800 fans for the women’s tournament in Miami. But there was very little promotion of it.
Rapinoe has sadly entered that phase of her career where she's got it some nights and doesn't on others. She was dynamic against Japan, but the Aussie fullbacks neutralized her for the most part.
Ellis has some blind sports for sure. One is clearly Rapinoe, especially given the wealth of other quality option she has on that wing. The other seems to be that stupid formation. She's effectively playing three in the back since Ertz ends up playing like a central center back with the freedom to dribble out. Then she's got Dunn and Sonnett essentially laying forward as wing backs on the edges. That's fine, but those two aren't great tracking back and you end up getting the box attacked from out wide on the regular. I know she's got three generational talents at CB in Ertz, Sauerbrun and Dahlkemper but you can't be blind to what the rest of your squad has to offer. I know Ertz isn't really suited to being one of the 2 CDMs you'd need to play a 4-2-3-1 but pretty much everything else you've got available screams out for that setup. Karli is still the best passer on the team and you could get her up the field in the No 10 role in that formation and take the pressure off of her elsewhere.
Bah ... I'm probably just sick of Jill Ellis at this point, and I don't know why they extended her contract the last time. She's OK, but she's got the best roster in the world at her feet and never seems to quite know what to do with it.
Ellis has some blind sports for sure. One is clearly Rapinoe, especially given the wealth of other quality option she has on that wing. The other seems to be that stupid formation. She's effectively playing three in the back since Ertz ends up playing like a central center back with the freedom to dribble out. Then she's got Dunn and Sonnett essentially laying forward as wing backs on the edges. That's fine, but those two aren't great tracking back and you end up getting the box attacked from out wide on the regular. I know she's got three generational talents at CB in Ertz, Sauerbrun and Dahlkemper but you can't be blind to what the rest of your squad has to offer. I know Ertz isn't really suited to being one of the 2 CDMs you'd need to play a 4-2-3-1 but pretty much everything else you've got available screams out for that setup. Karli is still the best passer on the team and you could get her up the field in the No 10 role in that formation and take the pressure off of her elsewhere.
Bah ... I'm probably just sick of Jill Ellis at this point, and I don't know why they extended her contract the last time. She's OK, but she's got the best roster in the world at her feet and never seems to quite know what to do with it.
They exerted tons of pressure and scored their goal in essentially a 3-5-2 after the subs last night with Short, Sauerbrunn and Ertz in back and Rapinoe and Morgan up top. Dunn moved up to wing back where she’s probably most effective and Press played more as a mid than forward.
I only saw the end and it looked to me like a 3-7 ... 3 at the center stripe, everybody else GO. Kind of like Barcalona's 1-9 they use when they're truly desperate.