Futbol Talk

[Its DJOver]

When a majority of the competition doesn't field a full first choice squad it seems unwise to make sweeping generalizations at either end of the table.

Well considering that last year it was a two horse race, the team that spent the most over the summer is newly promoted Aston Villa, and spending in the Prem all together is down about 25%, I don't think saying that it will once again be a two horse race is anything earth shattering.  I also didn't comment on relegation at all so I'm not sure where you're getting both ends of the table.  Saying that not much has changed in the three month off-season is not a sweeping generalization.

[MUfan12]

The schedule is insane for any of the internationals. I have no idea why the PL pushed the start up a week.

City and Liverpool barely got out of second gear and cruised. It's a two horse race unless Alisson's injury is severe. He's that important to LFC.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

The schedule is insane for any of the internationals. I have no idea why the PL pushed the start up a week.

It has to do with the desire from the FA to have the Cup final on a weekend with no PL fixtures.  So the PL has to be done by May 17 to accommodate the Cup Final on the 23rd and the Champions League Final on the 30th.

My guess is that the PL will be pushing for less Cup replays and/or more midweek Cup dates, but the lower leagues and the FA don't like either.  They could drop the League Cup too, but that's not happening.

[jesmu84]

The schedule is insane for any of the internationals. I have no idea why the PL pushed the start up a week.

City and Liverpool barely got out of second gear and cruised. It's a two horse race unless Alisson's injury is severe. He's that important to LFC.

Pool internationals have logged a LOT of minutes in the last 12 months

[ZiggysFryBoy]

So week one of the Prem in the books, and surprise, it looks like it's really only going to be a two horse race again.  City made West Ham look like a high school team and Liverpool looked equally impressive against (an admittedly bad) Norwich side.  Spurs and Arsenal both looked so-so for long stretches and Sundays' United Chelsea game was more about how Chelsea couldn't strengthen and have a rookie manager rather than United being "back".  Expect top two to be another slug-fest, and then a solid 15-20 point drop off.

Spurs at city next weekend.  Could be an indicator for the season.  Will city cruise to victory?  Or will Spurs off season moves make them the 3rd horse in the race?

[Pakuni]

Spurs at city next weekend.  Could be an indicator for the season.  Will city cruise to victory?  Or will Spurs off season moves make them the 3rd horse in the race?

Saturday's match really showed how important Eriksen is to Spurs, especially with no Dele. He needs to start this week, and the club ought to be backing up the Brinks truck to extend him.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Saturday's match really showed how important Eriksen is to Spurs, especially with no Dele. He needs to start this week, and the club ought to be backing up the Brinks truck to extend him.

No Son either, he was suspended for that BS red. 

Need to resign CE, with a low release clause for Barca and RM, asap.

[JWags85]

City and Liverpool barely got out of second gear and cruised. It's a two horse race unless Alisson's injury is severe. He's that important to LFC.

Supposedly 3-4 weeks with a calf injury. It's not an Achilles which was my primary fear.

Mourhino joins the Sky Sports pundits and immediately comes out with gold. The only 4 clubs with a shot to win the title are City, Liverpool, Spurs, and City's reserves. He's gonna be so good in the studio

[Its DJOver]

So who ever thought that VAR would be the end of controversial decisions?

[Pakuni]

So who ever thought that VAR would be the end of controversial decisions?

The rule may be bad, but the decision/VAR was correct.

[tower912]

Helluva way to not get the win.   However, the rule was interpreted correctly. 

[Its DJOver]

The rule may be bad, but the decision/VAR was correct.

Consistency seems to be the problem. Don't know how it missed what should have been a penalty for City in the first half.

[Pakuni]

Consistency seems to be the problem. Don't know how it missed what should have been a penalty for City in the first half.

Whether it was or wasn't a penalty (it probably was) is subjective.
Whether the ball hit the guy's arm is objective.
I get why Man City fans are unhappy with the result, but these are not similar calls.

[Its DJOver]

Whether it was or wasn't a penalty (it probably was) is subjective.
Whether the ball hit the guy's arm is objective.
I get why Man City fans are unhappy with the result, but these are not similar calls.

The point is that if you have the means and desire to slow down and zoom in the replay, which you would need to see the handball, there is no excuse for missing that penalty.

[Pakuni]

The point is that if you have the means and desire to slow down and zoom in the replay, which you would need to see the handball, there is no excuse for missing that penalty.

OK, but so what? Are you really arguing that because the replay official arguably missed a subjective call earlier in the game, he/she shouldn't have made the correct objective call later?

[Its DJOver]

OK, but so what? Are you really arguing that because the replay official arguably missed a subjective call earlier in the game, he/she shouldn't have made the correct objective call later?

So you're in favor of following everything to the letter of the law? Every throw in taken exactly where the ball goes out. You're giving up a counter attack, go down holding your head. Immediate stoppage in play for a head injury.  It's like calling every single travel in basketball. If you follow the laws to the letter, you kill the entertainment value.

[Pakuni]

So you're in favor of following everything to the letter of the law? Every throw in taken exactly where the ball goes out. You're giving up a counter attack, go down holding your head. Immediate stoppage in play for a head injury.  It's like calling every single travel in basketball. If you follow the laws to the letter, you kill the entertainment value.

This seems to fly in the face of your earlier complaint about a missed call. Now you're in favor of missing calls.
I guess I don't understand your point here. Basically you're mad because of a correct call.
Fair enough.

[Its DJOver]

This seems to fly in the face of your earlier complaint about a missed call. Now you're in favor of missing calls.
I guess I don't understand your point here. Basically you're mad because of a correct call.
Fair enough.

Not at all. I just believe that in it's current state, VAR takes away from the game .

[Its DJOver]

https://twitter.com/ForwardMSNFC/status/1163541216362999813

You gotta love minor league sports.  Go for the atmosphere more than anything.  Giving out pretzels and crosswords too.

[JWags85]

https://twitter.com/ForwardMSNFC/status/1163541216362999813

You gotta love minor league sports.  Go for the atmosphere more than anything.  Giving out pretzels and crosswords too.

Everything about that club is corny from the name, to the flamingo usages, to the colors.  However, they are a success story early on, so I give them credit, they are doing something right.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I've been following the stories around the English Football League and the financial problems of its members for awhile now.  The EFL are the three leagues underneath the Premier League.  Essentially one team is about to be kicked out of the League, with another team not that far behind.  And rumors are that a lot more are going to be in similar straights within the next decade.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/08/20/experts-warned-efl-two-years-ago-clubs-like-bolton-bury-faced/

The basic problem is that interest, and the money that follows it, is concentrating more and more at the top.

[MUfan12]

Everything about that club is corny from the name, to the flamingo usages, to the colors.  However, they are a success story early on, so I give them credit, they are doing something right.

Peter is a master promoter. They're killing it at the gate so far.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Everything about that club is corny from the name, to the flamingo usages, to the colors.  However, they are a success story early on, so I give them credit, they are doing something right.

Fun to go to, not bad soccer, reasonable prices, good atmosphere.   They have been drawing 4500 most of the summer, better than a lot of USL championship teams.

[JWags85]

I've been following the stories around the English Football League and the financial problems of its members for awhile now.  The EFL are the three leagues underneath the Premier League.  Essentially one team is about to be kicked out of the League, with another team not that far behind.  And rumors are that a lot more are going to be in similar straights within the next decade.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/08/20/experts-warned-efl-two-years-ago-clubs-like-bolton-bury-faced/

The basic problem is that interest, and the money that follows it, is concentrating more and more at the top.

Its really an interesting predicament.  The way I see it, and sort of understand it, is promotion, especially to the Premier League, is tantamount to making a substantial capital investment in your company. 

Looking at it through that lens, That first year is rough, cause you're spending on machinery, personnel, etc..  But once the orders and sales come in, things stabilize and you're ok.  But if you don't make it to year 2 and the sales that follow, you're in trouble.

Similar for these clubs.  You're forced to invest in higher wages for better players, outspending your revenue coming in, and you've not yet got the "bump" from being an EPL club.  If you get sent down straight away, its a financial disaster.  I looked, and clubs like Brighton, Huddersfield, Burnley who got up, spent reasonably and stayed up, turned nice profits last year.  Bournemouth is another example, they ran a loss but a lot of it was due to debt from buying out their minority owners.

The EFL has 2 real options it seems.  Either get some sort of funds distribution from the EPL (unlikely) or explore better TV deals.  The US appetite for soccer continues to increase.  A lesser network taking on Championship matches and maybe a weekly League One match makes a ton of sense.

[Its DJOver]

Its really an interesting predicament.  The way I see it, and sort of understand it, is promotion, especially to the Premier League, is tantamount to making a substantial capital investment in your company. 

Looking at it through that lens, That first year is rough, cause you're spending on machinery, personnel, etc..  But once the orders and sales come in, things stabilize and you're ok.  But if you don't make it to year 2 and the sales that follow, you're in trouble.

Similar for these clubs.  You're forced to invest in higher wages for better players, outspending your revenue coming in, and you've not yet got the "bump" from being an EPL club.  If you get sent down straight away, its a financial disaster.  I looked, and clubs like Brighton, Huddersfield, Burnley who got up, spent reasonably and stayed up, turned nice profits last year.  Bournemouth is another example, they ran a loss but a lot of it was due to debt from buying out their minority owners.

The EFL has 2 real options it seems.  Either get some sort of funds distribution from the EPL (unlikely) or explore better TV deals.  The US appetite for soccer continues to increase.  A lesser network taking on Championship matches and maybe a weekly League One match makes a ton of sense.

I think that this is really the only option.  We're still so vastly untapped compared to many of the other huge markets out there.  Throw in that the unpredictability is so much larger at the lower divisions and you can really pour it on.  Weird that IMO, we're seen as the most viable long term solution for aspects of English soccer.