2018/19 Soccer Thread

Leeds blowing promotion, Liverpool blowing the League - it's happened before, it will happen again.

What is making me smile is all the Man Utd fans trying to take the mick out of us and Liverpool. Straws are needed when you're a mid table side I suppose.

Misery loves company!

I've always wondered what it's like to live like this.

Meet Jamie. He’s a Leeds United supporter who was proper chuffed when his beloved club made it to the English Championship playoff semifinal, and was likely chuffed even further after they took a 1-0 lead against Derby County in the first leg. Jamie was so excited, in fact, that he decided to preemptively get a tattoo celebrating the playoff victory on his shoulder. He told the BBC that he got it because he “felt like the team needed a bit of a boost.” Sadly, the boost was not enough to help his squad after his interview aired on Wednesday, as they fell 4-2 in the second leg to come up short with a 4-3 aggregate score.

But diehard fans getting celebratory tattoos isn’t anything special. What makes ol’ Jamie a true ledge is that tattoo on his hip that celebrates England winning the World Cup in 2018. The only problem with that tattoo is that England not only missed out on the final itself, but they also lost the third-place game against Belgium. It’s a rare bad tat double-whammy.

Honestly, it's weirdly admirable. I exist in a state of near-perpetual fatalistic pessimism about my teams. It'd be amazing to live with this kind of irrational confidence.

Aw hell.

Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek ruptures achilles and faces long spell out

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is facing a period of rehabilitation that will stretch well into next season after rupturing an achilles during Chelsea’s Final Whistle on Hate charity match against New England Revolution.

The England midfielder, who had surgery on Thursday, fell awkwardly barely 20 minutes after his introduction as a half-time substitute at Gillette Stadium, near Boston. He had to be helped back to the dressing room by two of the medical staff and departed on crutches wearing a protective boot on his left foot.

Loftus-Cheek, who will miss the Europa League final and next month’s Nations League finals in Portugal, is the second Chelsea player to have an achilles injury in the season’s run-in, with his international teammate Callum Hudson-Odoi having had surgery after fully rupturing the tendon during last month’s draw with Burnley. “Callum and Ruben would definitely have been in this squad,” said Gareth Southgate, as the England manager named his initial party for the finals.

Chelsea are confident N’Golo Kanté will have recovered from a hamstring complaint to feature against Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku but Loftus-Cheek’s absence constitutes a considerable blow.

The midfielder has enjoyed the best form of his Chelsea career since overcoming the latest bout of back trouble this year, and has been a driving force through the midfield over recent weeks and contributed 10 goals in all competitions. Four of those came in the Europa League, in which he has been a regular. The incident confirmed Maurizio Sarri’s worst fears about the timing of the charity match, which raised around £3.1m to combat discrimination with around 27,000 in attendance. Chelsea play in Baku on 29 May and the manager had hoped his players might benefit from a more prolonged rest rather than flying immediately to the US on the conclusion of the Premier League campaign.

I remember seeing that match on their schedule and mentioning it to my Liverpool friend at work. We agreed the timing was bizarre, even before they made the Europa final. What a terrible spot to get injured in.

Yeah, the match was for a great cause, and injuries like that aren't predictable, but still, weird and sad to see happen to a player who was coming into his own. I really hope this doesn't derail his or Hudson-Odoi's careers.

Prederick wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Meanwhile, I swear to God, if Villa goes up while Fulham goes down.... please God, Leeds or Derby, please beat them.

Is something evil with Villa? Or is this just a personal anti-preference?

Just about the symmetry of it. For Fulham to squeak past Villa in the Playoff Final, then completely poop the bed and go down while Villa goes up the next season would be... disappointing. Great for Villa though!

Ah, got it. That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

I saw that the FA Cup Final is on ESPN+ tomorrow (totally worth it, FYI) and I was equal parts thrilled that I'd get to see the game and annoyed that I'm going to have to get up early (for me, I work nights) to watch it.

EDIT: Also, wow, Arsenal's seriously going to have to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan at home because they can't guarantee his safety due to a international conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Yeesh.

(Also, hey, maybe we shouldn't have given the final to Azerbaijan just because $$$$$$$$ but that's a different discussion.)

I would happy pay $5 for a month of ESPN+ to watch the final, but as a dad I'm not 100% sure I'll be free to actually watch it at that time! XD

Also, damn, there are already infinity ESPN channels, it's not college football season, and the game is on in the morning. They can't put it on one of their existing channels (or just WatchESPN) and show ads?

Prederick wrote:

I saw that the FA Cup Final is on ESPN+ tomorrow (totally worth it, FYI) and I was equal parts thrilled that I'd get to see the game and annoyed that I'm going to have to get up early (for me, I work nights) to watch it.

EDIT: Also, wow, Arsenal's seriously going to have to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan at home because they can't guarantee his safety due to a international conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Yeesh.

(Also, hey, maybe we shouldn't have given the final to Azerbaijan just because $$$$$$$$ but that's a different discussion.)

Chelsea and Arsenal were given 6k seats each for the final.

Arsenal filed a petition with UEFA because the seats were capped that low because of lack of transportation/safety. It's a 60k+ stadium btw.

Watford, despite not really playing badly have been annihilated by Man City in the FA Cup final. Still 10 minutes to play, City are 5-0 up.

All credit to the Watford fans though who are still there, still cheering and still waving their flags.

Nice to see Sterling get himself a hat trick.

Roke wrote:

Nice to see Sterling get himself a hat trick.

Allegedly. 6-0 final score. Feels a little harsh in Watford, there were better than that but no way were they ever going to win that.

I went back to bed after Gabriel Jesus's goal. All credit to Watford and their fans though, but lord, the gap between City/Liverpool and everyone else looks like the Grand Canyon.

Man of the Match went to a player who was on the pitch for 30mins.I mean come on!

Our Prince is coming home

I'll admit I got a bit emotional when hearing the news, as this is some fantastic news in a horrible season for Anderlecht. But the player-manager thing... I'm anxious to find out more on the specifics. Apparently another trainer will take Vince's place when he plays or something.

The Anderlecht chairman is also very much a stuntman. Before Anderlecht he owned KV Oostende, and brought national team player Nicolas Lombaerts back from Zenith St Petersburg. It quickly turned out that Lombaerts was on the decline and he never played much even for the mid-table Belgian club. But his wages are still dragging them down 1,5 years after their former president left.

So yeah, very excited, proud, emotional, all the fee-fees I had to do without this season. But also hoping that everything has been thought through.

dejanzie wrote:

Our Prince is coming home

I'll admit I got a bit emotional when hearing the news, as this is some fantastic news in a horrible season for Anderlecht. But the player-manager thing... I'm anxious to find out more on the specifics. Apparently another trainer will take Vince's place when he plays or something.

The Anderlecht chairman is also very much a stuntman. Before Anderlecht he owned KV Oostende, and brought national team player Nicolas Lombaerts back from Zenith St Petersburg. It quickly turned out that Lombaerts was on the decline and he never played much even for the mid-table Belgian club. But his wages are still dragging them down 1,5 years after their former president left.

So yeah, very excited, proud, emotional, all the fee-fees I had to do without this season. But also hoping that everything has been thought through.

This is a great story. Kinda crazy as it feels like I've blinked and Kompany is 33 and has been at City for 8 years. Wow.

Also captures what is great and unique about how football is setup. We can moan all we want about the money and how things have changed. He started there when he was 6 and now wants to go back to be part of the next generation. Thats special. No 2-3 year MLS tour for him.

Correction: he's been at City for 11 years (8 of those as captain).

This is self-sacrifice!

Good for Vincent! He'll always be a legend for one half of Manchester and I know i'll wish him well, even if i'm fairly skeptical of player-managers ever working out in the modern day.

slazev wrote:

This is self-sacrifice!

That's one of those ones where my body reacts just watching it happen.

And the ball was going to bounce wide anyway.

Probably only available to US viewers. A good list, but way too heavy on shots from distance. That said, Townsend/Kompany are clearly the 1-2 for Goal of the Season, in whatever order you prefer. Also, including Origi in the Top 5 means this list is clearly based on importance, because by no normal definition was that a "Goal of the Season".

Townsend’s was a better goal than Kompany’s but Kompany’s effectively won Man City the title. So most people put it first. Importance is definitely a factor.

Shots from distance are the best shots, when they go in.

Passing move >> Mazy dribble >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> long shot.

You must have loved Son's goal that got Spurs' GOTY, then. So did I!

The video’s unavailable where I’m at now, but if Sadio’s backheel chip vs. Watford didn’t make the cut it’s an injustice.

Mbappe, apparently not thrilled with life at PSG.

I don't think he's leaving though, only Manchester City (and maybe Real Madrid) can afford his fee/wages.

Meanwhile, it's probably going to get ugly between Bale and Real Madrid.

Prederick wrote:

Mbappe, apparently not thrilled with life at PSG.

I don't think he's leaving though, only Manchester City (and maybe Real Madrid) can afford his fee/wages.

Meanwhile, it's probably going to get ugly between Bale and Real Madrid.

Bale back to Spurs in some sort of Erickson swap? That would be cool.

As for Mbappe I don't think anyone ever thought he would stay at PSG forever but this seems a tad early already.

jowner wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Mbappe, apparently not thrilled with life at PSG.

I don't think he's leaving though, only Manchester City (and maybe Real Madrid) can afford his fee/wages.

Meanwhile, it's probably going to get ugly between Bale and Real Madrid.

Bale back to Spurs in some sort of Erickson swap? That would be cool.

I wouldn't like that deal, personally. Would it be cool for Bale to return? Maybe, but losing Eriksen would be a big blow. And even if we just look at Bale in a vacuum, I'm not sure there's a money solution that would make sense. He's under contract for three more years at Real for big, big wages.

And supposing we work the money out, would he gel with the team? Poch seems to have a great culture going, like Klopp does at Liverpool. I subscribe to the idea that a united locker room is a force multiplier in just about any sport.

Ironically considering all the kvetching about Spurs' lack of signings, if we just held onto the current squad, I'd be pretty pleased.

Y'know, they mentioned it on Football Weekly, but I had to check for myself and they're right. You could genuinely build a solid, title-winning team out of Manchester City's from the FA Cup final.