Ok, I had to look it up. You went to all that trouble to go see Real Madrid play Juventus in a friendly in Pasadena? Why?
Go to an exciting soccer match? Why would anyone want to do that?!? I would have stayed in LA the rest of the weekend though.
We had to come home for some commitments in the Bay Area the other day. Yes, it would also be less exhausting.
I actually watched that game and flipped back the Quakes game , fell asleep awoke to see RSL draw and went back to sleep.. Also, Juve sucked with the exception of Leonardo Bonucci's free kick that hit the crossbar.
Certainly. And also occasionally I need a nice dose of good soccer, you know, which the players understand the space, can pass, move, keep and advance the ball effectively. Plus the electric atmosphere even it is just a friendly. A weekly diet of back passes and pointless ball possession can be hazardous to health and leading to a coma. LOBINA doesn't help much. I can be a Quakes fan and a soccer fan at the same time.
I was there for Real Madrid, same as the majority at the game. It was like a true away game for Juve as they were booed by the "home" fans. They also didn't play well as you said.
Yeah, not sure they are taking this trip seriously as they used a lot of subs. I read the Italian newspapers and they went on and on about how the two games they played (vs. Chivas & Real) drew almost 200,000 fans. I don't know if the teams get any of that money but I'm assuming they get something for making an appearance.
That's the thing - if it comes down to seeing clubs go 80% in friendlies or 110% in league games, I'll take league games every time, even if the quality isn't the same. As Pablo Mastroeni says, "Clubs going 80% in friendlies will lose to the human spirit of teams playing in league games every day".
It’s so difficult for me to understand how 200,000 people are willing to go to meaningless practice games for $hundreds. Now, i got a big thrill watching the Barcelona open practice at Kezar years ago, but that only cost me $10. And I would like to see Liverpool play in person, but I would only watch them play in England/Europe at a real match, not here in a friendly. But it sounds like the fan atmosphere was a big draw. That’s interesting to hear.
We were at the Liverpool - A.C. Milan pre-season game at the 49ers stadium awhile back. They had just signed Mane, they beat the snot out of A.C. Milan, we had sushi & sake at the hotel across the street after the game and just had a blast. I don't think the tickets were more than $40. Would love to see them in England, but, would see em' in a heartbeat if they come back to the Bay Area.
Sorry that my comment kind of derailed the thread. Let’s get back to the game on Sat and remember we dropped two points at home in the 95th min.
Liverpool is the only team I would pay to see in a friendly. Would have been great to see the debut of Mane - such a great player who has been extremely important for the club. I wonder if he would ever end up in MLS?? Here's a goofy but fun video that was filmed when Liverpool played at Levis.
We sucked! We couldn’t figure out how to close out the game. And our defense is still disorganized. Go Quakesfans!!
For at least this season (and I think longer) the Quakes have been utterly unable to cope with a high-pressure strategy. We simply don't have the horses. I can't think of a single EQ I would call a speedster, and without that threat of a counter we have no way to neutralize the high press.
Espinoza, Cade, Benji, and Skahan are all speedsters. During preseason I believe Jebo said that we have the faster 4 or 5 (can't remember the number) players in the league. Can't find that quote unfortunately. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/n...1-pregame-thread.2120569/page-4#post-40459771
After watching a half-season of games, I do not believe that is true. Either that, or the plodding, painstaking pace of our play has negated those attributes, because I can't recall the last time I saw a Quakes player streaking past a defender...