2019/20 Soccer Thread

LOL OKAY NORWICH IS NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME YET

sheesh

You're a Norwich defender and you watch Liverpool put four past you in the first half and then... you take the last shot of the half right in the plums and need a spelunking team to find your testicles.

Great first half!

Mr Bismarck wrote:

You're a Norwich defender and you watch Liverpool put four past you in the first half and then... you take the last shot of the half right in the plums and need a spelunking team to find your testicles.

Great first half!

To be fair, they did win the second half.

....and still lost by 3 goals.

Acutally, that's not fair, from what I've read and seen, Norwich absolutely went Kamikaze at them and should be a sh*tload of fun this year if that's how they're going to approach the the big teams. Good on them, and I hope they stay up (or stay entertaining if they go down).

And they scored in both halves...

Mr Bismarck wrote:

And they scored in both halves...

Ouch.

Speaking of ouch, Alisson went down in the first half and was subbed off. I haven't heard the verdict, but that could be a big blow.

He'll miss the Super Cup, but it appears to be an ankle injury, which shouldn't have him out for too long, and I'd argue Adrián is a more than serviceable replacement.

Starting on a Friday threw me off. Had no idea the game was going on until it was over.

Iwobi had a tear jerking farewell post to Arsenal. He's been part of the club since he was a kid. At 23 he thanked them for the memories over the past.... 17 years.

Prederick wrote:

He'll miss the Super Cup, but it appears to be an ankle injury, which shouldn't have him out for too long, and I'd argue Adrián is a more than serviceable replacement.

4-8 weeks for Alisson with a calf injury. I still suspect they'll be okay.

2-0 over Blackburn and the first win of the season. Better.

Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

He'll miss the Super Cup, but it appears to be an ankle injury, which shouldn't have him out for too long, and I'd argue Adrián is a more than serviceable replacement.

4-8 weeks for Alisson with a calf injury. I still suspect they'll be okay.

That’s longer than I was hoping for. Mignolet must be cursing his luck.

Pretty sure I just watched a very convincing Christian Eriksen commercial. Of course, Spurs were without Dele, Son, and last-minute addition Lo Celso.

Harry Kane seems to be in good form. And how wonderful for Ndombele to score in his first EPL match, especially from his position!

Bizarrely, the highlight I want to rewatch the most was Harry Winks tackle to win the ball followed by spinning on the ground to distribute it. I'll try to find a clip.

Come on you Spurs!

Looks like I'm going to have to retire my Harry Kane "Fernando Torres Memorial Elevator Shaft" jokes.

Are there any real arguments against VAR that don't boil down to "preservation of tradition and afraid of change?"

I know we Americans are all about video replay but I still don't see any real arguments against VAR other than some sanctimonious "it ruins the game" argument. It doesn't.

Found that gorgeous Winks tackle and dribble:

https://streamable.com/bjhz1

bigred wrote:

Are there any real arguments against VAR that don't boil down to "preservation of tradition and afraid of change?"

I know we Americans are all about video replay but I still don't see any real arguments against VAR other than some sanctimonious "it ruins the game" argument. It doesn't.

I think the issue here isn’t the idea behind VAR, it’s how it’s used. The Premier League ha made it clear it will only be used in cases of ‘Clear and Obvious’ errors, or to reverse blatant ‘injustices’.

Whether or not that works in practice is another matter. The VAR ref will make the call if they need to contact the on field ref. While the on field ref can request help from VAR, they are only supposed to do so if they are genuinely unsure.

Of course people being people some will use it a lot more than others, and players/managers are likely to agitate for it too, just because it’s there.

It’ll all be about how it’s used at the end of the day. If they can keep it to clear and obvious errors then I think people will learn to get along with it. If it ends up getting used for every decision, it won’t last long.

The NBC Sports app isn't properly showing this game on my ipad, but is showing fine on my Roku TV. Once I select the game on my ipad, it just shows a blank screen.

The scoreline is fine, better than I expected before seeing the Arsenal lineup, and the team played well defensively but no midfielders on the bench and the subs not knowing where to play when they came on doesn't look good for Steve Bruce.

Woof, bad start for the Lampard experiment (and Pulisic). The fight for 4th should be very interesting this year.

Paul Pogba not taking penalties is ruining my FPL team!

Prederick wrote:

Woof, bad start for the Lampard experiment (and Pulisic). The fight for 4th should be very interesting this year.

David Mosse was just saying on his podcast with Alexi Lalas that this might be the year for a big six team to fall to the pack. He might be right! He also mentioned the emerging second tier of the EPL. For many years it seemed like Everton was almost nailed on for seventh, but now it seems like they, Leicester, and Wolves are solidifying as perennial top ten sides.

I know I assigned Mo Salah as my captain when I sent my fantasy team on Wednesday. he's not my captain now I check my points though.

A strongly worded email has been sent to fantasy league support!

Daily Mail, so bleh, but the content is hilarious: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...

It did not look good for Newcastle boss Steve Bruce, screaming 'what the f*** is happening?' towards his backroom team as the left wing-back he had just brought on charged around the centre of midfield.

Eventually, after two minutes of confusion and much enthusiastic running from substitute Jetro Willems, a livid Bruce got his message onto the field.

Mr Bismarck wrote:
Dimmerswitch wrote:

* Luke Garbutt - ✅ (Ipswich Town) Loan

He's scored 100% of our goals so far this season, by the way.

Two games in and this is still true.

Damnit, Chambers.

bigred wrote:

Are there any real arguments against VAR that don't boil down to "preservation of tradition and afraid of change?"

I know we Americans are all about video replay but I still don't see any real arguments against VAR other than some sanctimonious "it ruins the game" argument. It doesn't.

Didn't you watch the Copa America or the Women's WC?
The idea is sound. The application not so much.

Oh Celtic - losing at home to crash out of the Champions League already.

FFS.

onewild wrote:

Oh Celtic - losing at home to crash out of the Champions League already.

Same happened to Porto. Shocking.

Chelsea playing Liverpool off the park in the Super Cup. It’s a little alarming to be honest.

Second half has kind of flipped a bit, hasn't it?

That Pulisic kid though. I think he's the truth.

Prederick wrote:

Second half has kind of flipped a bit, hasn't it?

That Pulisic kid though. I think he's the truth.

Whats happened so far? forgot to tune in watching the last 10m of the game atm?