The Beautiful Game thread, season 2015/16

[Jimmydeicide]

[XXXIV]

Squirrel with a nut and a silver spoon....Little linesman has no clue...

[GB_Simo]

At least it's only your linesmen who are incompetent. The problem we're having up Hartlepool way is our strikers. There are so many things wrong with this effort (sorry - "effort") from Scott Fenwick that not even Martin Tyler is quite sure where to begin. You'll have to skip to 4 minutes 48 seconds - unless you've some burning desire to watch the rest of it, in which case I'm not responsible for what you're about to do - because I can't seem to make the YouTube link add a start time:

[tjung0831]

Nobody is more fun to watch than Leicester City right now. Mahrez is an amazing player.

[10spro]

UEFA Matches.

Round of 16:

Gent(BEL)-Wolfsburg(GER)


Roma(ITA)-Real Madrid(ESP)


Paris(FRA)- Chelsea(ENG)


Arsenal(ENG)-Barcelona(ESP)


Juventus(ITA)-Bayern(GER)


PSV(NED)-Atletico Madrid(ESP)


Benfica(POR)-Zenit(RUS)


Dynamo Kyiv(UKR)-Man City(ENG)

[10spro]

Nobody is more fun to watch than Leicester City right now. Mahrez is an amazing player.

Oh the Algerian Messi. Is that why I am doing well all of the sudden in the fantasy league?

[Macca00]

Vardy is on methamphetamines.

Messi is the Argentinian Mahrez.

Taxi for Jose? Perhaps a bus would be more fitting.

McClaren still out, PK?

Simon Mignolet is my new Glen Johnson.

[tjung0831]

Oddly enough, playing against Mahrez and Vardy tonight, they pretty much scored a goal just like they did against Chelsea today! That's pretty amazing!

[pk500]

Nobody is more fun to watch than Leicester City right now. Mahrez is an amazing player.

Indeed. I LOVE Vardy. Yes, he is talented. But he has achieved most of his success through unrelenting hard work. Dude never stops running.

My favorite moment of Chelsea-Leicester game Monday came when Vardy tackled Costa from behind. Costa squared up to Vardy, who gave that piece of sh*t cheat Costa a death stare that caused him to back down.

Vardy's death stare reminds me of Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. Priceless.

[10spro]

Adios Jose.

[pk500]

Adios Jose.

Surprised Abramovich waited this long.

[wco81]

Can you imagine a coach winning the Super Bowl being ousted the next year?

[10spro]

Can you imagine a coach winning the Super Bowl being ousted the next year?

Money talk these days. No matter which sport. I always say it, people don't forget how to coach overnight. But if the W's are scarce usually the coach is the first guy to fall.

But Hoodie will have his day too.

[wco81]

No European soccer is different from US sports.

No salary cap so they don't care about any semblance of competitive balance.

And player movement, especially of top players, is much easier, especially from poorer clubs to the richer clubs.

EPL has a TV contract comparable to the NFL, in that it's difficult to get into financial difficulty.

Of course, Abramovic may not care as much about the club's finances, though he may have been affected by the state of the Russian economy.

[pk500]

Can you imagine a coach winning the Super Bowl being ousted the next year?

Chelsea won the Champions League last year? That's news to Barcelona.

The CL is the Super Bowl of European club soccer. Winning the league is a lot like winning the division or conference title. But the ultimate goal for every club is the Champions League trophy and its associated riches, regardless of what club chairmen tell their supporters about the importance of the league to keep them happy.

Plus you must consider Abramovich. He is not a patient man and has clashed with Mou a number of times. The closest comparison in the NFL might be Dan Snyder. If Jay Gruden won the Super Bowl, was 2-6 the next season and fighting with Snyder, Danny Boy would open the trap door on Gruden mid-season, too.

[wco81]

To the Brits it is, though I'm sure they know deep down that Barca, Bayern and Real would probably dominate the EPL.

[pk500]

To the Brits it is, though I'm sure they know deep down that Barca, Bayern and Real would probably dominate the EPL.

Don't be so sure of that. The Premier League is far deeper than La Liga and deeper than the Bundesliga, so let's see how strong those super teams would be after a 38-game slog against tougher competition.

[10spro]

To the Brits it is, though I'm sure they know deep down that Barca, Bayern and Real would probably dominate the EPL.

Don't be so sure of that. The Premier League is far deeper than La Liga and deeper than the Bundesliga, so let's see how strong those super teams would be after a 38-game slog against tougher competition.

Dominate? Nope. Being among the top five, a certain bet. Although Barca's front trio would make a lot of damage for sure.

[Macca00]

No doubt on their day Bayern, Real, and Barca would beat the top teams in the EPL. But in a full domestic season you have to contend that in the UK they'd have to deal with TWO domestic cup competitions and NO winter break. I know that doesn't seem like much but particularly for a manager like Pep who meticulously prepares for his next opponent and doesn't rotate as much it would provide a new challenge.

For example, when Bayern won the treble a few years ago (before Pep arrived) they played a total of 54 games. When United won their treble they played 63 games. Might not seem like a lot but that's a more than a few weeks with an extra match.

Anyway, Leicester City would beat any team in Europe right now. How much fun must it be to be a Leicester City fan right now? They're an absolute riot.

[10spro]

Pep looks like he will leave Germany for City next season. And since a lot of coaches are in the hot seat lately, what has Van Gaal done really for United?

[Jimmydeicide]

Heysus Christo!!!

[Jimmydeicide]

Jesus Christ our lord Amen. DP
.

[RobVarak]

Jesus Christ our lord Amen. DP
.

First game in many years that I didn't watch at all, live or recorded. Seems like I picked a good time.

[XXXIV]

Jesus Christ our lord Amen. DP
.

First game in many years that I didn't watch at all, live or recorded. Seems like I picked a good time.

Glad I slept through it. Looks they were sleeping as well.

[fsquid]

To the Brits it is, though I'm sure they know deep down that Barca, Bayern and Real would probably dominate the EPL.

Don't be so sure of that. The Premier League is far deeper than La Liga and deeper than the Bundesliga, so let's see how strong those super teams would be after a 38-game slog against tougher competition.

that's what they get for chasing the mighty dollar. Also thinks it hurts the English team in WC and Euros