2018/19 Soccer Thread

It was all down hill after the streaker.

Oh my god my head is trying to explode.

He's denied it, to be clear.

He denied it by pubically releasing all the Whatsapp messages and nudes. Yeah so his defence is "i didn't rape but I'm willing to committ other crimes that are awful to prove that".

onewild wrote:

He denied it by pubically releasing all the Whatsapp messages and nudes. Yeah so his defence is "i didn't rape but I'm willing to committ other crimes that are awful to prove that".

Does he not have a lawyer to tell him this a terrible idea?

Prederick wrote:
onewild wrote:

He denied it by pubically releasing all the Whatsapp messages and nudes. Yeah so his defence is "i didn't rape but I'm willing to committ other crimes that are awful to prove that".

Does he not have a lawyer to tell him this a terrible idea?

Allegedly he's trying to win in the court of public opinion and keep his sponsorships. Based on reddit/soccer, it was working very well in the immediate aftermath - everyone was saying that he had exposed this women for what she was, etc. Maybe if I'd gone far enough down I would have found comments that none of this disproved rape, but those comments weren't getting the most upvotes.

He's got so much money that I imagine she could never win a civil suit unless he lost a criminal trial first, and it's going to be hard to prove, as it usually is with this crime. Personally I have no idea what happened, and I hope for justice, whatever that may be.

At face value, the Whatsapp messages seem pretty damning against the woman. She's coming on to him for two months with some very suggestive photos and text. The day after they had sex they're talking about getting together again, and she's asking for some jerseys.

Unless they've been tampered with, I'm really struggling to see how her story holds up.

Ooooof.

The final match of La Liga between Valladolid and Valencia was apparently Fixed.

Valencia needed to win the game to confirm Champions League involvement next season, while nothing rode on it for Valladolid. However, it looks like Valencia were not involved in any way, only Valladolid players.

Getafe however, who would have qualified for the CL if Valencia had lost are probably going to be extremely unhappy.

What a mess.

Anyone watching the Under-20's World Cup?
I lost most of my excitement after the early exit of Portugal, but some unexpected stuff is happening. For example, USA has eliminated France in the Round of 16.

I watched the US game. France were dominant but we converted when it mattered. Great play by Weah and Soto up top.

slazev wrote:

Anyone watching the Under-20's World Cup?
I lost most of my excitement after the early exit of Portugal, but some unexpected stuff is happening. For example, USA has eliminated France in the Round of 16.

I have, but the last two games were hidden on FS2. We're experiencing some shortsighted soccer broadcasting decisions in the US right now; they want to grow interest in the game, but this year they've been moving more of it into hidden, premium streams. As a result I'm watching less instead of paying more, which can't be what they're hoping for. Ad revenue is higher than zero.

This also can be applied to the Champions League broadcast, as I don't know a soul who has paid for Bleacher Report's streaming service.

Prederick wrote:

This also can be applied to the Champions League broadcast, as I don't know a soul who has paid for Bleacher Report's streaming service.

Yep, that's another, although at least the "preferred" matches were on TNT.

I just think it's nuts. I used to watch loads of MLS matches, but now they're mainly on ESPN+, so I don't watch any except the Dynamo games on local OTA broadcast. Some ARE on channels I have, but since I'm not expecting to be able to watch them, I end up not watching those as well.

A bunch of games that don't generate much interest are hidden on premium channels. All US Open Cup games are, as well.

As an outside observer, it seems like the cable networks offered "free samples" for a few years (ESPN, NBCSN, etc) and now are moving to a paywall model prematurely based on the assumption we'll pay. That or they underestimated the cost to provide these services. Either way, the growing pay options (ESPN+, NBC Gold, etc) is frustrating.

I don't include FSN in the above convo because Fox Sports has always been awful and premium.

Prederick wrote:

This also can be applied to the Champions League broadcast, as I don't know a soul who has paid for Bleacher Report's streaming service.

You know one who paid $3 for the final. They double charged me, and the game was meh. Good look for them.

bigred wrote:

As an outside observer, it seems like the cable networks offered "free samples" for a few years (ESPN, NBCSN, etc) and now are moving to a paywall model prematurely based on the assumption we'll pay. That or they underestimated the cost to provide these services. Either way, the growing pay options (ESPN+, NBC Gold, etc) is frustrating.

I don't include FSN in the above convo because Fox Sports has always been awful and premium.

At least FS1 is part of almost all cable packages. The move to put games on FS2 is a step backwards. They also have a Fox Soccer Matchpass that I have seen advertised nowhere except the Alexi Lalas podcast. I think that's where they hide Bundesliga games.

Dan from The Solid Verbal college football podcast was saying he thinks we're in a steaming bubble right now, and that the explosion of various premium providers has people yearning for the simplicity of cable. Between Netflix/Hulu/Disney/etc on the non-sports side and everything we're discussing here, I'm somewhat inclined to agree.

slazev wrote:

Anyone watching the Under-20's World Cup?
I lost most of my excitement after the early exit of Portugal, but some unexpected stuff is happening. For example, USA has eliminated France in the Round of 16.

And Mali kicked Argentina to the curb.

Today starts the final phase of the Nations League. Here in Portugal it's all about João Félix, João Félix, João Félix... I'm afraid we have another Renato Sanches on our hands. Talk about Bernardo instead, goshdarnit. He's our real star.

Oh, and according to UEFA I've been speaking bad Portuguese all of my life. I pronounce R's!
There's some really atrocious things there. And I can't even imagine how bad it is for the Dutch/Swiss names.

slazev wrote:

Today starts the final phase of the Nations League. Here in Portugal it's all about João Félix, João Félix, João Félix... I'm afraid we have another Renato Sanches on our hands. Talk about Bernardo instead, goshdarnit. He's our real star.

Actually, it appears to be that other guy....

IMAGE(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b8fe5198fe3f0c529879b206a29c3250aec9e388/0_347_3386_2032/master/3386.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d07f8ff77627a87829ea802ad9ee8257)

Another hat-trick. I think I've sad this here before and I know it's not the right opinion to have in our current hot-take-iverse, but honestly the best comment I can give him is that the only player on earth who could reasonably be called better than him right now is Messi, and I still think the order you put them in is largely down to your own preferences.

The next U-20 game for the US is Saturday morning, and yep, it's on FS2 again.

Lots of good US soccer in the next couple weeks. USMNT friendlies tonight and Sunday, USMNT U-20 on Saturday, and our USWNT start next week in the WC campaign.

Prederick wrote:
slazev wrote:

Today starts the final phase of the Nations League. Here in Portugal it's all about João Félix, João Félix, João Félix... I'm afraid we have another Renato Sanches on our hands. Talk about Bernardo instead, goshdarnit. He's our real star.

Actually, it appears to be that other guy....

IMAGE(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b8fe5198fe3f0c529879b206a29c3250aec9e388/0_347_3386_2032/master/3386.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d07f8ff77627a87829ea802ad9ee8257)

Another hat-trick. I think I've sad this here before and I know it's not the right opinion to have in our current hot-take-iverse, but honestly the best comment I can give him is that the only player on earth who could reasonably be called better than him right now is Messi, and I still think the order you put them in is largely down to your own preferences.

When he shows up, he shows up.
Overall, a bad game from Portugal.

So has Hazard to Madrid been confirmed yet? I'm seeing ye olde scuttlebutt that it has for a mere 88.5M.

Prederick wrote:

So has Hazard to Madrid been confirmed yet? I'm seeing ye olde scuttlebutt that it has for a mere 88.5M.

Looks like but not officially.

+ Luka Jovic. Real are getting their business done and quick.

Prederick wrote:

So has Hazard to Madrid been confirmed yet? I'm seeing ye olde scuttlebutt that it has for a mere 88.5M.

I read today that it was going to be 100, and also read that it wasn't a done deal because Chelsea were trying to squeeze every last dollar out of Real.

So, uh, this video about Neymar came out.
The rough translation is after she firsts slaps him, he says he doesn't like that and tells her to stop, then when she starts going at him she says she's doing it because he hit her the day before and left her all alone.
Seems to be a money grab.

Despite that, he might be in trouble. Dumping the whatsapp messages to the public without her consent is a crime and could give him 1 to 5 years in prison. Eh, definitely, won't happen.

Nearly as dull as the CL final this England v Netherlands nations league game......

I don't agree. It hasn't been dull at all.
Netherlands deserves to win. They're playing really well, but lack a cold finisher.

Man, that English defense was horrible today.