The Beautiful Game thread, season 2013/14

[RobVarak]

This Brazilian chick presenting the ceremony deserves some sort of award for chestal excellence.

Sadly, all she'll get is Sepp Blatter groping her like a bag of cash after the show.

[RobVarak]

So that sucks, then.

[wco81]

Lalas said US should at least get out of the group, regardless of what kind of group of death they go into. He said this before the draw, but he claimed Klinsman has the most talent and experience a US team has ever had.

Surprising that Portugal is #5 in the FIFA rankings, higher than Italy, Netherlands, Brazil and England, despite having to qualify to get into the WC.

Of course, beating Ghana is not a given either.


Oh well, this must be the last go round for Donavan and Dempsey?

[Zeppo]

It's the group of revenge! We want revenge against Ghana and Germany for past World Cup humiliations, and Portugal want revenge on us for 2002.

It's a shame the Germany game is last because that matchup is just crazy. Half our players are German (I exaggerate a little)! And Klinsmann! But with it being last it will likely be far more critical for us than for them. Of course that could change and it could be do or die for both.

I don't like that we are last in the last group, so I'm assuming (having not looked at the schedule yet) that our first game will be the final game of the first round. The long wait will probably kill me.

[RobVarak]

How the hell is Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan even a group??? And please spare me the bit about how good Colombia were in qualifying.

[10spro]

Brazil' group is not easy, neither England who will face the likes of Uruguay and Italy.

[XXXIV]

How the hell is Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan even a group??? And please spare me the bit about how good Colombia were in qualifying.

Tis the season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[10spro]

How the hell is Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan even a group??? And please spare me the bit about how good Colombia were in qualifying.

They finished second behind Argentina. I wouldn't take them lightly, having said that they should have never been seeded ahead of Italy and the Netherlands. That was a Fifa farce.

[RobVarak]

They finished second behind Argentina. I wouldn't take them lightly

I thought I made it clear that this is precisely what I'm doing.

[wco81]

According to the WC Wiki, a Euro team has never won the WC outside of Europe until Spain won in South Africa.

And IIRC, every time the WC has been held in South America, a South American nation has won it.

Brazil seems to have traveled the best, winning in several continents.


Maybe the host and neighboring team advantage or record is due to some FIFA shenanigans?

[XXXIV]

Granted it was a long time ago but I believe we are covering all of its history..... Brazil has hosted a WC once before no?

Did they win?

[fsquid]

We will be lucky to get a point.

[10spro]

CL round of 16 draw features the likes of Arsenal vs Bayern and Barca against City. Other favorites got off to an easier path.

[pk500]

So where does AVB end up next? Very unlikely that it will be a big English club. His record of achievement at Chelsea and Spurs is underwhelming.

Villas-Boas probably is overrated. He talks a good game. He looks the part. But his results in England don't show he is worthy of leading a big club.

[RobVarak]

He's incredibly inflexible tactically. He's twice gone into big English clubs and demanded that they play a high defensive line with tremendous pressure on the ball despite having rosters that are completely unsuited to the style.

That Spurs performance yesterday was shockingly bad. Asking his regulars to play that style was bad enough, but asking that makeshift back-four to do that against Liverpool was suicide. Seeing Michael Dawson in that set-up was an early Christmas present for Suarez.

[Macca00]

AVB had the highest winning percentage of any manager in Tottenham's history. He was also 2 points away from being the fastest Spurs manager to reach 100 league points.

I'm not super surprised that AVB got the sack because it seems like the fans and the players didn't like him but Tottenham are still only 6 points out of second. It's a bit nuts if you ask me, especially since no one is expecting David Moyes to be sacked and his team (you know, the team that walked to a league title last year) has LESS points than Tottenham.*



* Not that I am complaining. David Moyes should be given all the time in the world.

[RallyMonkey]

Hey guys. Is there a central location (web site) that does a good job of explaining the different euro leagues, players, etc? My daughter is a big soccer player and has started watching games on tv. We also play FIFA together but I'm about as clueless as can be when it comes to how leagues are run, who the great players are outside of Messi, contract structure, etc...does Pele still play? Anyway, any help/suggestions are appreciated as ill do anything I can to show my kids I'm the s***!!

Oh and feel free to PM. I don't want to clutter up your thread. Thanks again.

[RobVarak]

Hey guys. Is there a central location (web site) that does a good job of explaining the different euro leagues, players, etc? My daughter is a big soccer player and has started watching games on tv. We also play FIFA together but I'm about as clueless as can be when it comes to how leagues are run, who the great players are outside of Messi, contract structure, etc...does Pele still play? Anyway, any help/suggestions are appreciated as ill do anything I can to show my kids I'm the s***!!

I studied up the old fashioned way. Books.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Soccer-Book-D ... occer+book

That book can't be beat if you're starting off with a blank slate. It explains the rules, techniques, equipment, leagues, international competitions etc. There are also any number of encyclopedia-type books that will list the important clubs and leagues, basic history and all-time greatest players.

ESPN Soccernet is a useful website, especially because if you're familiar with their North American sports offerings. You can explore there to see the league tables, fixtures and rosters.

The Guardian and BBC are also great for news. Reading match reports is a joy for me, as you just don't see that type of quality in American short-form sports reporting anymore.

[fsquid]

CL round of 16 draw features the likes of Arsenal vs Bayern and Barca against City. Other favorites got off to an easier path.

not looking forward to that. Arsenal can keep up with my boys.

[Macca00]

CL round of 16 draw features the likes of Arsenal vs Bayern and Barca against City. Other favorites got off to an easier path.

Arsenal can keep up with my boys.

No they can't - did you see the City game? I think you'll steamroller them (along with everyone else).

[RallyMonkey]

Hey guys. Is there a central location (web site) that does a good job of explaining the different euro leagues, players, etc? My daughter is a big soccer player and has started watching games on tv. We also play FIFA together but I'm about as clueless as can be when it comes to how leagues are run, who the great players are outside of Messi, contract structure, etc...does Pele still play? Anyway, any help/suggestions are appreciated as ill do anything I can to show my kids I'm the s***!!

I studied up the old fashioned way. Books.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Soccer-Book-D ... occer+book

That book can't be beat if you're starting off with a blank slate. It explains the rules, techniques, equipment, leagues, international competitions etc. There are also any number of encyclopedia-type books that will list the important clubs and leagues, basic history and all-time greatest players.

ESPN Soccernet is a useful website, especially because if you're familiar with their North American sports offerings. You can explore there to see the league tables, fixtures and rosters.

The Guardian and BBC are also great for news. Reading match reports is a joy for me, as you just don't see that type of quality in American short-form sports reporting anymore.

Perfect. Thanks Rob. Just grabbed the book from Amazon.

[wco81]

I'd just study the players a bit.

Do you want your daughter to idolize someone like Messi or Ronaldo?

[RallyMonkey]

I'd just study the players a bit.

Do you want your daughter to idolize someone like Messi or Ronaldo?

Idolize? Not at all. I want her to idolize me! Let me put it this way. We watch hockey, football (American), basketball, etc and most of what she knows about the teams/players/leagues she has learned from her dad. Just recently we've both just started watching soccer matches but I don't have any real knowledge about what/who we're watching. I mean I know the popular teams and players, but beyond that pretty clueless. I was looking for ways we could learn together so we can talk soccer the way we talk about the sports I listed earlier.

[wco81]

Like other sports, big-time soccer is to some extent star-driven.

So there's a lot out there about their personalities and their antics both on and off the pitch.

Your daughter might be drawn to certain players because of their skills, since she plays the sport. Maybe idolize isn't the best word but you now how kids can get about sports heroes.

The political and cultural history of the clubs can be interesting too but all the highlights available on Youtube will likely override these ancillary aspects.

[Macca00]

Gents,

Random nerdy thing I'd like to share with you, probably only the stattos will find it mildly interesting. Anyway, I've played a lot of indoor 6vs6 competitive football this year - I actually play on 4 different teams (hence the reason I'm often not on Xbox Live as I'm usually playing a game or trying to put the kids back to bed). In recent years I've been obsessed with football stats and tactics and at the beginning of the year bought an Adidas MiCoach Speed Cell sensor that I put into the sole of my left football boot/cleat. It tracks how much I run, the speed, distance, the number of sprints and so on and then I can upload the data to my computer. At the beginning of the year I switched to a more attacking midfield role and since I'm not the most skilled player I wanted to just track how much running/sprinting I was doing with the idea that I wanted to try to be constantly moving/pressing as often as possible.

The link below is to an Excel file with my stats but I've also cut and pasted a summary.

A few caveats - the Speed Cell doesn't differentiate between being completely stationary and walking so when I'm subbed off (you change on the fly in indoor) it will count that as % of time walking, so that stat isn't an accurate depiction of how much I am moving at a slow speed. The goals, assists, and +/- are recorded by me so are subject to human error/wishful thinking. Matches are two 21 minute halves.

Not sure why I'm posting this, just wanted to share my nerdyness. And yes, I did play 117 matches this year (that also doesn't include outdoor this summer)!

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=D ... le%2c.xlsx

Average Active Time per Match 26 Mins
Average Distance Ran per Match 3.04 km
Total Distance Ran 355 km
Average Speed Ran Per Match 23.05 km/h
Top Speed 28.01 km/h
Average HS Run Distance 456m
Top HS Run Distance 770m
Average # of Sprints per Game 18 sprints
Top # of Sprints per Game 32 sprints
Total # of Sprints 2052 sprints
Average % Spent Walking 39.60%
Average % Spent Jogging 30.20%
Average % Spent Running 15.37%
Average % High Speed Run 8.76%
Average % Sprint 6.06%

Matches 117
Goals 27
Assists 55
Plus/Minus + 29

Wins 55
Ties 17
Losses 45