Futbol Talk

[BM1090]

5th place Nottingham Forest had a 3 point advantage and a 5 goal differential advantage over 7th place Swansea entering the final day.

Facing a Stoke City team with nothing to play for, Forest lost 4-1. Swansea won their game 4-1 and jumped into 6th place and a playoff spot while Forest was eliminated. Crazy final day

[The Sultan]

5th place Nottingham Forest had a 3 point advantage and a 5 goal differential advantage over 7th place Swansea entering the final day.

Facing a Stoke City team with nothing to play for, Forest lost 4-1. Swansea won their game 4-1 and jumped into 6th place and a playoff spot while Forest was eliminated. Crazy final day

Forest gave up three goals in final 20 minutes.  The last one was a 90+8 own goal.  Swansea scored a 90+1 goal too.  So the entire season was decided in the span of just a few minutes.

On the other end of the table, Charlton wasn't in the relegation zone all season and Luton had been there since September.  Charton was relegated and Luton survived.

[JWags85]

5th place Nottingham Forest had a 3 point advantage and a 5 goal differential advantage over 7th place Swansea entering the final day.

Facing a Stoke City team with nothing to play for, Forest lost 4-1. Swansea won their game 4-1 and jumped into 6th place and a playoff spot while Forest was eliminated. Crazy final day

In their last 2 games, a mediocre Stoke team with no motivation and recently coming off having their doors blown of 5-0 by Leeds...proceed to outscore a pair of top 5 clubs 5-1 combined, and knock Brentford out of auto promotion and Forest out of the playoff spot. Even more absurd is that Forest was at home.  Crazy scenes

[shoothoops]

Patience, positioning, concentration, pace, technique:

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1287940414482386945?s=19

[BM1090]

Onomah and Kebano scored great goals for Fulham in the first leg @ Cardiff. One more decent performance and we're onto Wembley.

Brentford lost their first leg @ Swansea.

The playoffs are a pain. I'll be wound tightly for the next week.

[Its DJOver]

https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/CAS_Award_6785___internet__.pdf

Full 93 page CAS report following the decision to overturn the 2 year Champions League ban for Manchester City.  Excerpt from the conclusion:

The alleged breaches related to the financial statements for the years ended May 2012 and May 2013 are time-barred, but the alleged breaches related to the financial statement for the year ended May 2014 are not.

The charges with respect to equity funding being disguised as sponsorship contributions from Etisalat are time-barred.

The Panel is not comfortably satisfied that MCFC disguised equity funding from HHSM and/or ADUG as sponsorship contributions from Etihad.

Not a lawyer, and if one wants to take the time to read the full report and provide a more detailed summary feel free, but it seems to me that all violations are either outside the statute of limitations, or didn't have enough evidence to prove guilt.

Edit: MCFC= Manchester City Football Club
HHSM= His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan
ADUG= Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development

[JWags85]

Onomah and Kebano scored great goals for Fulham in the first leg @ Cardiff. One more decent performance and we're onto Wembley.

Brentford lost their first leg @ Swansea.

The playoffs are a pain. I'll be wound tightly for the next week.

Fulham winning promotion is the best case scenario for me. Craven Cottage is great, and I think they just add a fun element to the EPL. No love for Cardiff cause Vincent Tan is an idiot and they were cannon fodder last time they came up, and I wouldn't expect much to change from a far from dominant Championship squad. And Brentford deserves nothing given how they melted to end the season.

Fulham, West Brom with Bilic, and the long overdue return of Leeds would be a great promo trio.

Speaking of EPL movement, Eddie Howe has to move on now, yea? I'm all for loyalty, but you did everything you could at Bournemouth, and brilliantly. Don't stubbornly sink with the ship

[The Sultan]

Fulham winning promotion is the best case scenario for me. Craven Cottage is great, and I think they just add a fun element to the EPL. No love for Cardiff cause Vincent Tan is an idiot and they were cannon fodder last time they came up, and I wouldn't expect much to change from a far from dominant Championship squad. And Brentford deserves nothing given how they melted to end the season.

Fulham, West Brom with Bilic, and the long overdue return of Leeds would be a great promo trio.

Speaking of EPL movement, Eddie Howe has to move on now, yea? I'm all for loyalty, but you did everything you could at Bournemouth, and brilliantly. Don't stubbornly sink with the ship

Cardiff stunk the last two times they were up. 

And I would rather see Brentford.  It's been a long time since they've been up and have a nice new stadium to show off.  And they'll deserve it if they win the playoffs like any other team.

[BM1090]

Fulham winning promotion is the best case scenario for me. Craven Cottage is great, and I think they just add a fun element to the EPL. No love for Cardiff cause Vincent Tan is an idiot and they were cannon fodder last time they came up, and I wouldn't expect much to change from a far from dominant Championship squad. And Brentford deserves nothing given how they melted to end the season.

Fulham, West Brom with Bilic, and the long overdue return of Leeds would be a great promo trio.

Speaking of EPL movement, Eddie Howe has to move on now, yea? I'm all for loyalty, but you did everything you could at Bournemouth, and brilliantly. Don't stubbornly sink with the ship

Haven't had the chance to get to Craven Cottage yet. Planned to go next year but who knows what the travel situation will look like at that time.

Hope Swansea finishes off Brentford tomorrow. They are in good form but just are not near the quality of Brentford. I think Brentford's team is mostly worn out due to the short rotation but maybe they have one or two performances left in them.

Agree on Eddie Howe.

[The Sultan]

Really the only place I can see Howe is West Ham if they get rid of Moyes.  The only other team I can see making a change is Newcastle with new owners, but I think they'll want a bigger name. 

[BM1090]

Turns out Brentford had something left in the tank.

[JWags85]

Really the only place I can see Howe is West Ham if they get rid of Moyes.  The only other team I can see making a change is Newcastle with new owners, but I think they'll want a bigger name.

West Ham should do it without question. Moyes is a good guy, but he's been atrocious since leaving United.

Brentford showing what made them a top club in the Championship all season. What a start and then that early goal in the second half was a back breaker to any enthusiasm Swansea had coming out of halftime

[BM1090]

Wasn't exactly convincing but Fulham is through to the final to face Brentford. Brentford is the better side and I'm glad to get them in the final instead of over two legs.

In a normal timeline I'd consider hopping on a plane this weekend. If only.

[The Sultan]

So RB Leipzig's manager left today.  Wonder if Jesse Marsch is named to that job.  Former assistant there and current RB Salzburg manager.

[JWags85]

So RB Leipzig's manager left today.  Wonder if Jesse Marsch is named to that job.  Former assistant there and current RB Salzburg manager.

Not current, Rangnick was the former manager. They bumped him aside when they got Nagelsmann. He'd been a sporting director type role, not the manager.

Marsch is in an interesting spot. He's done very well in Salzburg and could be tapped to get another German gig, but he's been with the Red Bull family for all of his success.  But Nagelsmann is only 33 and has dome quite well, so the only chance for Marsch to get that gig foreseeably is if Nagelsmann gets a look from Bayern or maybe one of the English powers. I don't think he would leave RB for even BVB

[The Sultan]

Not current, Rangnick was the former manager. They bumped him aside when they got Nagelsmann. He'd been a sporting director type role, not the manager.

Marsch is in an interesting spot. He's done very well in Salzburg and could be tapped to get another German gig, but he's been with the Red Bull family for all of his success.  But Nagelsmann is only 33 and has dome quite well, so the only chance for Marsch to get that gig foreseeably is if Nagelsmann gets a look from Bayern or maybe one of the English powers. I don't think he would leave RB for even BVB

Ah thanks for the correction.

[Its DJOver]

At what point does Pulisic's injury history start to cause real concern?  He hasn't had a major injury yet but my guess is it'll be at least 6 weeks for his hamstring to heal which will bleed into next season.  Fair amount of decent prospects coming through for the NT right now, but he's still the first name on the teamsheet when healthy.  All the talent in the world doesn't do you any good if you're hurt.

[JWags85]

At what point does Pulisic's injury history start to cause real concern?  He hasn't had a major injury yet but my guess is it'll be at least 6 weeks for his hamstring to heal which will bleed into next season.  Fair amount of decent prospects coming through for the NT right now, but he's still the first name on the teamsheet when healthy.  All the talent in the world doesn't do you any good if you're hurt.

Not worth even worrying about at this point. He played 29 and 30 league matches out of 34 for BVB in his first 2 seasons as a regular until his last season where he was knocked up and still played 20.

He played 25 this year out of 38 EPL for Chelsea and that's including 5 where Lampard benched him.  He had that gnarly adductor injury, but otherwise was pretty fit. Until he starts missing huge stretches of season, I think it's just the up and downs of a smaller guy in a rough and tumble league. He's not like an Aron Johansson missing full seasons.

And with all due respect, it's silly to even talk about his place on the USMNT in regards to prospects. He's on his way to being the most successful US outfield player in the EPL, doing it for a top 4 club. He's in no danger and his injury history hasn't even been close enough to worry to that regard. A significant injury holding him out of a major international competition would be needed to even begin to have concern there

[brewcity77]

I think the injury history seems to line up more with the international windows. Feels like the third time that he's catching a knock either before or during international play. Hopefully he'll be back for a potential October window, but we'll see. I can understand those who feel like he's injured a bit more than we'd hope, the timing does seem to coincide with when our national team fans are most focused on his game.

[Its DJOver]

I think the injury history seems to line up more with the international windows. Feels like the third time that he's catching a knock either before or during international play. Hopefully he'll be back for a potential October window, but we'll see. I can understand those who feel like he's injured a bit more than we'd hope, the timing does seem to coincide with when our national team fans are most focused on his game.

I think this is a better way to say what I was thinking.  After taking a closer look, overall his injury history isn't as bad as I originally thought, but he's still not racking up the international caps the way the soon to be 'greatest American of all time' should be.  Since failing to qualify for the 2018 WC, the USMNT has played 31 games, Pulisic has appeared in only 14 of them, and only played the full 90 in 6.  Considering just how differently we play when he's in the line-up vs when he's not, I'd like to see those number bump up significantly going into 2022 WCQ.

[JWags85]

I think this is a better way to say what I was thinking.  After taking a closer look, overall his injury history isn't as bad as I originally thought, but he's still not racking up the international caps the way the soon to be 'greatest American of all time' should be.  Since failing to qualify for the 2018 WC, the USMNT has played 31 games, Pulisic has appeared in only 14 of them, and only played the full 90 in 6.  Considering just how differently we play when he's in the line-up vs when he's not, I'd like to see those number bump up significantly going into 2022 WCQ.

You also have to factor in the lull that comes with missing a WC. You have a lot of meaningless matches. He played the full Gold Cup. He played against Ecuador and Chile early in 2019, he played against Mexico. Played in the friendliest vs Italy and England in late 2018.  He went the full 90 in 4 of 6 matches in the Gold Cup, and one of those was a beat down against Guyana and the other he came on late as a sub against Panama. A good chunk of those 17 games he missed were either trying to get healthy for EPL or preparing for a new EPL season. Not to mention meaningless friendlies where mostly domestic players are called up or fringe guys getting an opportunity. Not to mention not playing a full 90 in a friendly is usually very common if it's not a direct tune up for a major comp.

I hear your point, and believe that as the USMNT finally starts playing meaningful matches again, you'll see CP as the centerpiece very often. And that's more important that a bunch of worthless caps and goals in lesser matches. His career and availability for random US matches will be different than Landon Donovan spending all his time feasting on the MLS and being within arms reach of US Soccer

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Premier League football back at the Cottage. Nice 

[BM1090]

So pumped. Hopefully they can stay up for more than a year so I can get out there to see a Premier League game.

I feel for David Raya but Thomas Frank can f**k off.

[Billy Hoyle]

Premier League football back at the Cottage. Nice 

I was hoping for Brentford to make it to the EPL for the first time. Instead, we get another Fulham yo-yo season. Brentford has only themselves to blame, choking away two opportunities to lock up automatic promotion.

[JWags85]

Great article but REALLY unfortunate timing to read it this afternoon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/11/sports/soccer/atalanta-bergamo-champions-league.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytsports

Atalanta played great this afternoon, but honestly it was more PSG being horrible and wasteful in the final 3rd. Neymar looked like Brazilian Gyasi Zardes and truly looked like he was trying to throw the match at times. But my god PSG's final 15 min was magnificent. The final counterattack to score the winning goal was brilliant and honestly they looked dangerous for a 3rd in the final moments after being DOA offensively for much of the match. Would be ironic if this was the year they finally won a CL trophy, with a manager who has followed Jurgen Klopp at every his previous stops now following him to a CL trophy. Not to mention PSG finally getting the monkey off the back in a season without fans.