News: 2018 Other Teams Discussion Thread (spoilers)

I'd add Dele Alli to that esteemed group of English gentlemen.

asitis

 

You're Barca fan right? You know all about that. [emoji4]

 

Every Italian forward ever:

 

AHHAHAHAHA I saw that video, what an idiot that guy...

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A fire tore through the sprawling training complex of one of Brazil’s biggest soccer clubs Friday, killing 10 people and leaving three teenagers injured, firefighters said.

Firefighters were called in just after 5 a.m. to battle a blaze at the Ninho de Urubu training ground of the Flamengo soccer club in Rio de Janeiro’s western region, a fire official told The Associated Press.

There was no word yet on the cause of the fire.

“Flamengo is in mourning” the team posted on its Twitter account.

The ages and identities of those killed were not released but the three injured were 14, 15 and 16 years old, the fire official said. The injured were taken to local hospitals and their conditions were not immediately known, said the official, who asked his name not be used due to his agency’s rules.

Local media reported that the fire started in a dorm where youth soccer players sleep. The fire official said that could not be confirmed.

https://apnews.com/d2cdc4d52119488ba7d62931bfb1b638

 

BeIn started showing the Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, which honestly is a nice breath of fresh air over the predictable Champions League, where the team with the fattest wallet always make it on the others, quality of game is not the same but the games in these competitions are less "calculated", it probably is that away goals do not count (or at least they didn't till last edition) and that there are no extra times, but immediate penalties, which may lead teams to look more for a win. One thing that surprised me a little bit is that some of the stadiums were half empty, I had not imagined that. But I have seen a great home and away Palestino vs Independiente Medellin, and that was really true south American football.

 

I correct myself, away goals now count, still it's a very well fought competition, I just finished watching Sao Paulo getting eliminated from the Libertadores by Talleres Cordoba, definitively not as famous as a team as Sao Paulo.

 

The Copa Libertadores is still in the qualifying rounds. The groups are all nearly set, with only the winners of the qualifying rounds to be determined and put into the groups.

I'm always in favor of ANYTHING that gets in the way of PKs deciding elimination rounds. The Away Goal TIE-BREAKER rule does this. It rewards teams that try to score while AWAY. Thats always a good thing.

 

Don Garber has signed a new five-year contract to remain commissioner of #MLS through the end of the 2023 season: https://t.co/bLGCBVwWMS

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) February 14, 2019

 

Hopefully some Gulf or the Chinese league will take him on a transfer.

 

Looking like the MLS will bend the DP rules for LA?

Lot more rumors spreading around.

We only have 1 DP right?

 

We have 3, if the MLS lets LAG have 4 then Kasper needs to find another DP before the window ends

 

I agree with you, but knowing that a game will have no extra time but will go straight at penalties, puts extra pressure on you.

 

yeah - I've seen lots of ET games where neither team wants to take a risk on scoring a goal - too often both teams are trying not to lose instead of trying to win

also, the no Extra Time periods are for the qualifying round games only - I would want that too if I were managing a club - you're just grinding your best players an extra 30 minutes in the middle of the week when you still have to play league games on both week ends

 

Just to make you understand in which conditions Italian serie C is today, Pro Piacenza (the second team of Piacenza) after missing a few games for losing all its players for economic reasons (could not pay them anymore), in order to avoid missing todays game as well, which would have taken them to be ousted from the league mid season, they put on the field 7 youngsters, the oldest one being 18, with no coach (one of these players declared to be the coach as well) and no technical staff. The other team (Cuneo, another team that has financial problems and may not survive as well) won 20-0. First half closed on 16-0.
In the meantime, in the same group, Juventus fields an U23 team (Juve U23 indeed), in which one of the players value is already €2mln, more than the value of most other teams rosters.

 

Speaking of the haves, and the have-nots! That's ridiculous!

 

Its funny how geeked the OC followers are about the Nani announcement. I remember last year's Rooney speculation an announcement. Like we could barely be troubled and at 32 it was a marketing ploy (still think that was the motive) that panned out famously well.

Just interesting to see how a long abused fanbase responds vs one thats been enthusiastic and kept engaged by the club, because lets face it, Nani was never Rooney nor was he all that close.

 

He isnt Rooney because Rooney os a striker and Nani is a winger. So yeah he isnt Rooney.

Funny thing is starting from the winter of 2009 till 2012, Nani actually was United best player. Rooney was busy requesting a transfer and Nani was in the form of his life with Berbatov.

Orlando is a mess, they need more than Nani for sure.

 

That was some team back then, the least (?) regarded of the ManU GKs Van de Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Rafael & Fabio, Michael Carrick, Giggs, Scholes, a young Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, Berbatov plus Nani and Rooney. What a murders row and thats far from all the players they had.

 

Latest from Pro Piacenza 20-0 last sunday, 4 or the 7 players fielded were not regularly registered players, the game vs Cuneo has been invalidated, meaning Pro Piacenza forfaited its 4th game in a row, which led to the team being excluded from the championship and its affiliation to the Lega Calcio revoked. All results of the other teams vs Pro Piacenza so far have been invalidated as well.

 

That's too bad they couldn't find someone(s) to put up some money to keep them afloat. I am a fan of Racing Strasbourg in France, and they had a similar problem when their owner bailed on them, and they were demoted down to CFA2 in 2011. They have since found financially stable owners, and with decent players (some of them on loan), and a good coach, they are mid-table in Ligue 1. I hope that Pro Piacenza can do things in a similar manner.

 

Hopefully if a businessman comes along they know what they are doing. Don’t want to see a Mike Piazza 2.0 kind of situation.

 

Pro Piacenza is only the tip of the iceberg, the showcase of serie C. every year there are clubs that fold during the summer because they have no money to pay taxes, past salaries and especially the annual fee they owe to Lega Calcio (€400K). Some of them make the payment of the fee, but then during the season they pay taxes and salaries late, getting several points of penalization, or they stop paying at all, and they fold during the season (it has just happened to Pro Piacenza and Matera, last year it happened to Modena). A lot of clubs are run by incompetents or people who search visibility and are not honest. This is not only a serie C problem, but serie C is the category most affected by far. But serie B lost 3 clubs last summer, three historical clubs like Avellino, Cesena and Bari folded and had to restart from serie D. And do you remember Parma a few seasons ago? They finished all their money in March (they were in serie A), the Lega Calcio had to sustain all their expenses till the end of the season in order to avoid being sued by Sky for violation of TV rights. But they will do that for a serie A team, definitively not for serie C ones. The truth is, the cost of running a club has become too high, and especially there are way too many clubs, serie C has 59 teams (because they couldn't get the 60th one), that's way too many, they should be at least one third less. Hopefully with this brand new Lega serie C and Lega Calcio presidents, things will start to change.

 

Way too many teams for sure. Just in my favorite part of Toscana, you have Empoli in Serie A, Livorno in Serie B, and Pisa, Pontedera and woeful Lucca in Serie C. Not sustainable. You are right that Serie C is the biggest mess, there is no reason to have 59 teams in 3 divisions playing in the third division.

 

USMNT close to deal to play June friendly at Audi Field. Cincinnati the favorite for the other Gold Cup tuneup - The Washington Post https://t.co/Cy7ZLwhWAf

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) February 19, 2019